Chapter 952: One Soul, Two Bodies |
Shi Zixuan was well aware of his current situation—he was dependent on others, so Liu Xing could sense that Shi Zixuan was very active after joining his group.
Therefore, Liu Xing could be sure that if he told Shi Zixuan about Ii Naoyoshi finding a decoy, Shi Zixuan would definitely have ideas about the Ii Naoyoshi in the neighborhood and want to confirm whether he was real or fake.
Of course, Liu Xing guessed that Shi Zixuan was already eager to try, preparing to enter the neighborhood to see what Ii Naoyoshi was up to. So, Liu Xing also wanted to tell Shi Zixuan about the decoy to relieve Shi Zixuan's pressure. After all, the Ii Naoyoshi in the neighborhood was probably a decoy with a 70% chance.
From the missions Ii Naoyoshi had undertaken over the years, the Great Old One seemed to favor him. So, Ii Naoyoshi should be considered one of the best among the Great Old One's followers and was unlikely to take such a risk at this time, leaving Lu Wu to come to the downtown area of Kagoshima City.
In the end, Liu Xing still decided to send Shi Zixuan a text message, telling her that Ii Naoyoshi might have found a decoy. After all, Liu Xing was also curious to know whether the Ii Naoyoshi in the neighborhood was real or not.
As expected, as soon as Liu Xing sent the text, Shi Zixuan replied with two words, "Understood."
Obviously, Shi Zixuan was preparing to enter the neighborhood.
Putting down his mobile phone, Liu Xing continued to watch TV.
More than an hour passed like this, and Liu Xing's mobile phone remained silent. Neither Zhang Jingxu and the others nor the Li Hanxing duo, nor even Matsui Yui and Shi Zixuan, sent him any more messages.
If Ii Naoyoshi had come from Lu Wu to the high-end neighborhood in downtown Kagoshima City specifically to meet with the Ii Trio, then the Ii Trio, who was currently being held up by Shima Mitsuhiro, should have found an opportunity to send a message to Ii Naoyoshi, telling him that they couldn't meet up for the time being. Or, they should have found a way to get rid of the guest, Shima Mitsuhiro, and then hurried to the high-end neighborhood to meet with Ii Naoyoshi.
But nothing happened, and everything was calm.
So, Liu Xing's guess was probably wrong.
Liu Xing shook his head. Although his guess was wrong, it was still good news. At least it confirmed that the Ii Family had not fallen into the arms of the Great Old One.
Just as Liu Xing was thinking about whether to take a bath, Li Hanxing suddenly called him.
As soon as Liu Xing picked up the phone, Li Hanxing said directly, "Shima Mitsuhiro is now leaving the room with the Ii Trio. It seems they're planning to go somewhere together, so Sun Huiwen and I are going to follow them. Do you want to come along, Liu Xing?"
Could the Ii Trio be planning to take Shima Mitsuhiro to meet Ii Naoyoshi?
This was unlikely. After all, the Ii Trio probably wouldn't take Shima Mitsuhiro, their "arch-enemy," to see Ii Naoyoshi unless they had already made plans to get rid of Shima Mitsuhiro. But no matter what, Shima Mitsuhiro was a strong candidate to be the next head of the Shimazu Family. So, if a group of Ii Family members got rid of the Shimazu Family's heir on the Shimazu Family's own turf, it would be like declaring war on the Shimazu Family.
At that time, regardless of whether the Ii Trio lived or died, they would definitely not be able to stay in Kagoshima City.
Unless...
Liu Xing suddenly thought of a possibility—the Ii Trio was planning to use Shima Mitsuhiro as a decoy to attract Shima Takeshi's attention.
As long as the Ii Trio had done their homework before coming, they should know how bad the relationship between Shima Mitsuhiro and Shima Takeshi was and that they would be under surveillance from various parties after arriving in Kagoshima City.
So, the plan they came up with was to use Shima Mitsuhiro as a decoy. After leaving the hotel in Shima Mitsuhiro's name, they would go to a bar or other crowded place to create an opportunity to cause chaos and then slip away.
Of course, Liu Xing's guesses were still based on the premise that the Ii Family had already sided with the Great Old One.
Thinking of this, Liu Xing said, "Forget it. You can just monitor Shima Mitsuhiro and the Ii Trio. I might be going somewhere else later, and I have other important things to deal with. But if you find anything, remember to contact me immediately."
"No problem. We're already following the vehicle that Shima Mitsuhiro and the others are in. It seems they're heading west." Li Hanxing replied immediately, "Then we'll leave it at that for now. We'll contact you later."
West?
Liu Xing opened the map of Kagoshima City and saw that the northwest part of the city had many famous bars, nightclubs, and other entertainment venues. It seemed that Shima Mitsuhiro and the others were going to have some fun... or perhaps it was just as Liu Xing had thought.
Liu Xing had just put down his mobile phone when it suddenly rang again.
However, to Liu Xing's surprise, the caller was Juri Sonoda.
Could something have happened in Osaka?
Liu Xing quickly answered the call.
"Liu Xing, can you get in touch with Yin En now?"
But it was Sawada Yinyin speaking on the other end.
As soon as Sawada Yinyin spoke, Liu Xing knew why she had called, "Oh, it's like this. Earlier, Shima Mitsuhiro found an external support and put on a show for us, and he also took Yin En's phone. So, Miss Sawada, it's normal that you can't get in touch with Yin En right now. But don't worry, Miss Sawada. Yin En is doing very well. It's just that his mission is different from mine, so we're not together."
After listening to Liu Xing's explanation, Sawada Yinyin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I see. I was wondering why I couldn't get in touch with that guy Yin En. I thought something might have happened to you. Well, I'll leave it to you, Liu Xing. Can you pass on a message to Yin En for me later? Tell him that I've found out about the matter he asked me to investigate."
"What matter?" Liu Xing asked curiously.
If nothing unexpected happened, the matter Yin En asked Sawada Yinyin to investigate should be related to this side quest.
"It's like this," Sawada Yinyin said seriously. "A few days ago, Yin En asked me to investigate the temple that Shima Mitsuhiro often visits. It took me several days to find out some information about that temple."
"The unnamed temple should have settled in the local area within the last thirty years or so, and it has never accepted worship from ordinary believers. Therefore, the surrounding residents have complained about the temple, thinking that it might be a rich man's private estate disguised as a temple.
"Although the temple doesn't accept ordinary people's worship, it provides various items for comfort during local disasters. So, the locals don't have much to say, and they just ignore the temple's existence. However, in recent years, many young people who want to become internet celebrities have tried to take pictures inside the temple, hoping to become popular with the gimmick of a 'never-before-seen temple.' But when these young people enter the temple's premises, they find that their mobile phones have no signal, and their video cameras show static."
"Obviously, the temple has installed various jamming devices on its premises, causing these young people to return empty-handed. But this has also made some young people more curious about the temple. Finally, three like-minded young people decided to sneak into the temple at night. However, shortly after they set off, they returned with a dazed look on their faces, enough time to walk to the temple and back, and left with their companions who were waiting at the original spot."
"After leaving the temple, the three young people gradually returned to normal. They said that when they first arrived at the temple, they were scared by the temple in the darkness. It was an indescribable feeling of fear that made them want to run away uncontrollably. But before they ran away, they saw something—a huge bronze bell placed behind the temple, estimated to be over five meters high and two to three meters in diameter. Strangely, two of the young people thought the bell was motionless, while the other young person felt that the bell was constantly trembling slightly."
Hearing this, Liu Xing couldn't help but ask, "Is there a problem with that bronze bell? Is it actually a magic item?"
Sawada Yinyin answered seriously, "Yes, the bronze bell is indeed a magic item, and it's a product of an ancient civilization that has been lost for over a thousand years, said to be related to the Yis People."
"The Yis People?!" Liu Xing frowned, "I thought the Yis People were into high-tech. When did they learn how to cast bells?"
"It's like this," Sawada Yinyin explained. "The bronze bell was made by an ancient civilization that has long been extinct. The last king of this ancient civilization was once possessed by the Yis People, and after the possession was lifted, he retained some memories. These memories included the various high-tech he had witnessed on the Yis People's planet. So, after returning to Earth, he combined the high-tech of the Yis People with the related technology of his civilization to cast the bronze bell. With the help of the bell, he lived for several hundred years. Keep in mind that the average lifespan of this ancient civilization was only around thirty years."
Liu Xing stroked his chin and said with increased curiosity, "Interesting. I never would have thought that a bronze bell could be related to the Yis People's high-tech. So, does this bell have the ability to control time, allowing those inside to live longer?"
"No," Sawada Yinyin continued. "The true ability of this bell is to allow the bodies and souls of two people to swap!"
"The last king of that ancient civilization, after returning to his body, remembered how the Yis People could travel through time and space and swap bodies with other beings. However, due to the limitations of his own body, he couldn't replicate the Yis People's ability. But his civilization had a special ability—they could use a special frequency of sound waves to vibrate the souls of living beings."
"So, the bell was created. Simply put, the bell can emit two different types of special sound waves. One type can cause the souls of living beings inside to leave their bodies, while the other type can return the souls in the bell to their bodies. In this way, the last king of that ancient civilization could constantly change bodies, achieving a form of immortality. However, in the end, he and his people were destroyed by another race."
"You should know, Liu Xing, that during that time, ancient civilizations were like fish in a river, constantly appearing and disappearing on Earth. So, the bell kept falling into the hands of different ancient civilizations, and some of them had their own ideas. The bell was constantly modified. The last time the bell appeared, its ability had changed. It could use a special frequency of sound waves to affect two living beings of the same species, causing their souls to gradually synchronize... or, to put it another way, the stronger soul would devour the weaker one."
"One soul, two bodies?" Liu Xing said in disbelief.
Sawada Yinyin sighed and said seriously, "Yes, that's right. One soul can control two bodies, and when the soul controls one body, the other body will act autonomously based on previous memories. Liu Xing, you should understand what I'm trying to say, right?"
Liu Xing nodded and sighed, "I understand what you mean—Shimazu Nakano and Shima Takeshi are actually the same person!"
"Yes, that's what I think," Sawada Yinyin affirmed. "From the information we have now, it's highly likely that Shimazu Nakano used the bell to synchronize his soul with Shima Takeshi's and then devoured Shima Takeshi's soul. This is actually quite easy to do. As long as Shimazu Nakano puts Shima Takeshi into a comatose state beforehand, Shima Takeshi's soul will also fall asleep. However, the bell might be a bit old, so to maintain the effect, Shimazu Nakano has to take Shima Takeshi's body into the bell every year. That's why Shima Mitsuhiro mentioned that Shimazu Nakano visits that unnamed temple every year and never allows him to enter the backyard, because Shima Takeshi is in the backyard."
Liu Xing rubbed his temples and said with a headache, "What's Shimazu Nakano up to? Why is he working against himself? Could he be a spy for the Public Faction?"
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Next Chapter >>Chapter 953: Repeating the Same Mistakes