spooky love

'

Dema looked up.His somewhat dirty appearance looks obviously sloppy, but Ryoichiro still thinks he is so cute.

"I don't need a pen and paper anymore."

The other party's voice was as thin as a gnat.Ryoichiro hadn't heard Toma's "voice" since he was a child, but now hearing the other party's voice made him almost jump in fright.

"You, your voice..."

"I can already speak. But because I haven't spoken for too long, it's still a bit awkward."

Dema's voice was low and slightly hoarse.

"When did you start talking?"

Dema replied that "the voice came back the day he was arrested".

"Why did the voice come back?"

"Because I made an oath with the Marsh God, my voice was taken away by it as proof of the oath. But now that the oath has been fulfilled, the Marsh God returned my voice."

"Swamp God? What is that?"

Dema lowered his eyes.

"The other party is a youkai who lives in the swamp where Master Ryoichiro's real mother died."

Hearing the word "death", Ryoichiro's fingertips moved slightly.

"You may not believe it... 20 years ago, Master Ryoichiro's mother asked the Marsh God to save the sick Master Ryoichiro's life, but she gave her life instead. Because I made a vow with the Marsh God, I have not been able to tell the truth until today. , I'm really sorry for you."

Dema touched his forehead to the cell floor.Ryoichiro put his clenched fist on his thigh, his fingertips trembling slightly.

"...Didn't mother run away from home?"

Dema shook his head.

"Whenever I see Master Ryoichiro crying because he misses his mother, my heart hurts. Thinking of how much comfort it would be to you if I could tell you the truth, I feel that it is really painful to keep silent."

Surprised and confused, Ryoichiro was speechless.He hadn't recovered from the shock that De Ma was able to speak, and he also learned the truth about his mother's departure from home—knowing that his mother left in order to save his own life, he didn't know what to say for a while.Although happy, but sad; although grateful, but not reconciled.

Ryoichiro felt that he might not be qualified to be a human being.His mother was eaten and killed, so he survived, but he resented his mother for abandoning him.After knowing the facts, of course I should thank my mother... no, not only thank you, but also feel at ease that I am loved by my mother.Even so, he cared more about the man in front of him who was unable to bow his head.

Unexpectedly, Dema spat out something from his mouth.He picked up the thing that fell on the ground and wiped it carefully with the hem of his kimono.

"May I borrow your hand?"

After Ryoichiro stretched out his right hand, a white hand stretched out from between the grids, and put something on Ryoichiro's palm.

What Demar handed him was a thin white object, which he at first thought was a fragment of a shell.

"When I was caught by the police, everything on my body was taken away, and there was nowhere to hide except in my mouth."

"what is this?"

"It's your mother's nails. It's a relic I got with great difficulty. Please keep it."

Dema smiled for the first time since Ryoichiro came to the cell.

"I thought it would have a little color like the flowers of Polygonum halberd, but it's unexpectedly white just looking at it this way."

Ryoichiro put his mother's nails into his coat pocket, and grabbed the hand protruding from the lattice.

"Where did you hide the cow?"

As if afraid of the suddenly angry Ryoichiro, Dema trembled.

"Where did you take the stolen cow? If you return the cow, you will be given a lenient sentence. I will also ask someone in a position of strength..."

"I can't return the cattle."

Dema said categorically with a trembling voice.

"What do you mean they can't be returned? You can't kill them and eat them! Or where did you sell them?"

"The cow is dead, so I can't return it... It's not just this year that I stole it. I'm the one who steals the cows used by the gods in the music festival every year from the grounds of the shrine."

Dema didn't take his eyes off Ryoichiro.

"I made an agreement with the Marsh God that every year I must offer him a cow as a sacrifice...because I couldn't prepare it myself, I used to steal it."

Ryoichiro was about to blurt out: How is that possible... At this moment, he remembered that Dema would return to his hometown every year during the music festival.

"I know very well that I did something bad."

Even when he heard the confession from the other party, Ryoichiro didn't want to believe it.

"Nonsense! No matter how powerful you are, you can't steal the cattle from the shrine every year without telling everyone."

Dema lowered his eyes.

"It is indeed impossible for humans, but I can drive the little ghost. Every year I send the little ghost to steal the cow and bring the cow to the foot of the mountain. This year, when I walked the mountain with the cow that the little ghost stole, I was burnt as charcoal. People saw it."

Taking advantage of Ryoichiro's inattention, Dema pulled his hand from Ryoichiro's fingertips.Then retreat to the cell where the opponent cannot reach.

"I also told you before, I keep the little ghosts in my body, and the little ghosts become my subordinates, no matter good or bad, I can drive them to do whatever they want."

Dema stopped talking here, and he bent down:

"It's a good thing that I was arrested. For a person as bad as I am, it's better to go to prison. Please, Master Ryoichiro, forget about me and live happily."

"I do not accept!"

Ryoichiro banged on the grid.

"How can I accept it! I don't understand why. The one who begged to save my life is obviously my mother, so why do you have to sacrifice cows to some marsh god? What kind of agreement did you make with that monster?"

The other party did not answer, and the silence lasted for a long time, and the other party finally spoke in a low voice:

"The first time I stole a cow, I was seven years old. I felt that the act of stealing was horrible and my conscience was severely condemned. For a while, I couldn't look people in the face. But every year I repeated the same thing every year, and my sense of guilt gradually grew. Indifferent. Since the "cattle driving" ceremony, everyone is happy that the cattle are gone, so I no longer think that stealing cattle is so "sinful". I was very afraid that my heart would be eaten by the ghosts in my body during this process.”

The confession continued.

"I think I was arrested because the Buddha showed mercy. He felt that he couldn't leave people like me alone, so he let me go to the prison cell. I want to disappear quickly...I want to disappear with the ghost in my body."

Dema raised his head.

"The only regret was that I couldn't hand over your mother's relics to you. But now I have nothing to worry about."

Dema sat on his knees and pressed his fingertips together to the ground, bowing his head deeply.

"I didn't expect you to come to see me...I'm very happy to meet you at last. The Satake family arranged for my mother's funeral, but I broke my promise. Please convey my apology on your behalf. "

Ryoichiro finally understood that the other party wanted to die, and at the same time thought: "Even if I try my best, I won't let you die."

"It's too early to draw conclusions like this, think again."

After staring intently at Ryoichiro, Dema broke into a smile:

"Please forget about me. I can't repay you for your kindness. I'm very sorry."

"Dema! Dema!"

Dema leaned against the wall opposite to the lattice, with his back to Ryoichiro.Facing Dema's back showing firm determination, Ryoichiro has nothing to do.He lowered his head and clenched his teeth.

"Dema."

The hissing voice from his throat seemed to be able to hear his sadness.

"Dema, I beg you, just one last time, can you shake my hand again?"

It seemed to him that Dema was shaking his head.

"How can I be willing, how can I be willing."

Please... As he spoke, Ryoichiro knelt down and repeated "Please".At this time, he heard a voice sounding close to him.

"Please look up, you can't be humble for someone like me."

A white hand stretched out from the grid.Ryoichiro quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him towards him.Dema's body hit the grid with a "bang", and he took advantage of the approach of Dema to punch Dema in the stomach several times from the gap in the grid.Dema moaned "Woo" at first, and finally curled up weakly and fell down.

After confirming that Dama would not move, Ryoichiro ran to the corridor.He opened the door, and the police officer in charge of surveillance was waiting outside, so he pretended to be flustered and told him, "The prisoner I came to see seems to be dead."

"He seems to have hidden poison on his body, can you come and make sure he's dead?"

The police officer in charge of surveillance hurriedly took out the key from the cabinet and entered the prison.The policeman stood in front of Dema's cell for a long time, Ryoichiro grabbed his head from behind and slammed it into the grid. The policeman was hit by an accident and staggered. He fell to the ground.Even if he straddled him, the man didn't resist. I don't know if he lost consciousness due to the severe impact on his head. His mouth was wide open and his eyes rolled out.

He snatched the key from the police officer, opened the lock of Dema's cell, dragged the policeman who rolled his eyes into the cell, stripped off his uniform, and then took off the kimono for the weak Dema—seeing that he didn't Surprised by the loincloth, but had no time to pursue the matter—then dressed him in a police uniform, shoes and cap, and dragged him down the hallway.In the end, he put Dema's kimono on the naked police officer, let him lie in a corner of the cell, and then covered him with a rancid quilt.

The cell door was locked again.He picked up Dema, who was wearing a police uniform, and found that he was not as light as a man.

Ryoichiro put the key back in the cabinet as it was, and then walked with Dema in his arms.When he walked into the corridor, an older police officer came from the opposite side. Ryoichiro covered Dema's face with his hat, and ran towards the older police officer pretending to be flustered.

"