"Can you understand, Mr. Beichuan? A place completely devoid of anything, yet the survey team claid there was an ancient house there. And it wasn’t just one person who saw it; every mber insisted that there was a group of mansions in that area."
Beichuan Si furrowed his eyebrows tighter as he listened. He pondered and then said, "That can certainly be verified by an on-site investigation."
Nakajima Hiroto shook his head, "In fact, I did go to survey the site afterward. That place is just a basin; there are no mansions at all. Surely those surveyors must have been out of their minds... That’s what I initially thought—"
"But, at midnight, the survey team that stayed behind suddenly called ."
Nakajima Hiroto mimicked the survey team’s tone at the ti, "’There’s sothing in the basin! The mansions have appeared out of thin air!’ soone said."
"This ti I went there personally."
His contemplative gaze revealed a flash of shock, "You could never imagine what I saw at that mont, Mr. Beichuan."
"In the middle of the basin... mansion after mansion materialized from nowhere. They appeared punctually at midnight and vanished with the arrival of the first rays of sunlight at dawn."
Beichuan Si did not speak; he was constructing the scene in his mind.
The solemn, neatly divided, traditional Japanese-style mansions that suddenly erged in the middle of the night, then dispersed like smoke with the first light of morning breaking through the clouds.
"There was light inside the mansions; it seed as if soone was living there."
Nakajima Hiroto took a deep breath, "After that, so of the surveyors wanted to go inside to check it out, and I agreed. But of the five people who entered the cluster of mansions, only one ca out, and he was clutching tightly to a stone... It was like a piece of glassware, glowing with a halo."
"No matter how the buildings were damaged, they would appear intact the next day. The small animals that were placed inside would completely vanish from this world the mont the mansions disappeared in the morning, never to be seen again."
"The wooden planks and sticks that were torn off would turn into black mist and dissipate at the instant of sunlight."
Just thinking about that eerie and terrifying group of buildings made Nakajima Hiroto look quite uneasy.
Beichuan Si watched Nakajima Hiroto’s face closely, and his heart stirred.
Could it be that the other party was speaking of a spiritual realm?
Different from the previous spiritual realms he had encountered at Sanmu Puppet Factory, Yuchuan Elentary School, and Mirror Apartnt, this ti the spiritual realm could even affect reality.
A spiritual realm that spanned an entire large basin...
How powerful must the Spiritual Body be, how intense must the grudges be, to allow it to temporarily linger in this world?
With these thoughts, Beichuan Si then spoke:
"May I know where that stone is now?"
"I’ve brought it with this ti, but that stone always makes one feel uncomfortable, so I went to the trouble of keeping it in a bank safety deposit box."
Nakajima Hiroto was not foolish.
He kept a full guard against these unexplained things and did not carry them around.
"Could I ask Mr. Nakajima to bring the stone here?"
"You can just call Uncle Nakajima," Nakajima Hiroto said with a smile, nodding his head, "Indeed, Mr. Beichuan, you are just as Miss Ying described, always intrigued by these peculiar matters."
"Is that so?" Beichuan Si wasn’t very convinced by this statent.
It sounded as if he couldn’t survive without these strange supernatural tales, which felt odd.
Seeing his perfunctory attitude, Nakajima Hiroto also laughed, then his expression beca serious as he said earnestly:
"Well, I can give that stone to Mr. Beichuan as it coincides with your interests. Furthermore, I hope you will take good care of Shihua; as long as Mr. Beichuan fulfills my request, the Nakajima Conglorate will owe you a favor."
A favor from the Nakajima Conglorate?
Beichuan Si was sowhat astonished.
That was not simply an individual’s favor from Nakajima Hiroto, but a favor from a conglorate.
A fee of twenty or thirty million yen, compared to the favor of the Nakajima Conglorate, was rely a trifle, not even worth ntioning.
"I will do my utmost to help Miss Nakajima."
Beichuan Si was not pretentious.
Such opportunities might never co again, and even if Nakajima Michika had a little sister he had to look after, Beichuan Si wouldn’t refuse.
But—
Nakajima Hiroto had said as much, and the implication was quite clear.
Beichuan Si looked up, eting Nakajima Hiroto’s gaze head-on.
"Heh heh... This old man really just ca to see my daughter this ti. It’s just... I think Michika will never forgive ."
Nakajima Hiroto wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t, so he could only stiffly curl his lips into a forced smile.
If an expression of a ’bitter smile’ exists in this world, it must look just like the one he wore now.
"I don’t believe the conflict between Uncle Nakajima and Miss Nakajima is impossible to resolve," said Beichuan Si.
Hearing this, Nakajima Hiroto sat helplessly on the small steps of the little courtyard, his whole being appearing years older: "Mr. Beichuan, you don’t know the awful things I’ve done to Michika."
He lifted his head, looking at the blue sky with white clouds, where birds flew past.
Nakajima Hiroto seed to reminisce about sothing from long ago: "I never supported her dreams, never respected them."
"Even music was sothing I only got her involved with because I thought ’as the eldest daughter of the Nakajima family, she should learn it.’ So, regarding her dream of entering the entertainnt industry and taking the stage to sing... I never truly cared."
Nakajima Hiroto’s face was bitter.
At this mont, he was unlike the dazzling successful person who lived in high society.
He was just a father.
And he had only been a father once.
Perhaps as the Head of Nakajima, his decisions were correct.
But as a father, to be unable to even respond to his child’s dreams was undoubtedly a dereliction of duty.
"Everything is hard in the beginning. I didn’t believe Michika could make it in the entertainnt industry, nor did I want her to encounter disgusting rules, so I always prevented her from joining those music companies. But in fact, she succeeded; she beca a pop queen of the younger generation, and in terms of popularity among youths, she’s even more well-known than the Nakajima Conglorate."
"So, I’ve been pondering if perhaps I was wrong from the beginning. This question... it wasn’t until recently that I finally found an answer."
Nakajima Hiroto turned his face to look at Beichuan Si: "I was wrong. I nearly killed my own daughter with my own hands."
Due to the Nakajima family’s constant pressure, and the leukemia, Michika Nakajima had lost the will to live.
What if she hadn’t t Beichuan Si? That was sothing neither Nakajima Hiroto nor Nakajima Reni dared to consider.
From this, he had his answer—
"My daughter is all grown up... It’s ti for her to fly on her own."
Nakajima Hiroto sighed deeply.
The Nakajima Conglorate was a ss; maybe he really shouldn’t expect Michika Nakajima to take over.
"So, what does Uncle Nakajima think, then? What are your thoughts on Michika’s current situation?"
Beichuan Si asked, his tone utterly even.
"...I just hope that she can live happily... as herself..."
Nakajima Hiroto’s eyes were slightly moist: "I don’t want... I don’t want her to resent for a lifeti..."
The words he spoke sounded sowhat childish.
But it was just a simple wish.
For this, Beichuan Si just lifted his head, looked toward the inner room, and swept his emotionless gaze over: "That’s what he said, Miss Nakajima."
Huh?!
Nakajima Hiroto lifted his head in surprise, only to feel a familiar embrace, and—
The voice of Michika Nakajima crying out:
"Daddy—"
It turned out... unbeknownst to him, Michika Nakajima had already been standing behind him, hearing the words he had just spoken.
Nakajima Hiroto looked at Michika Nakajima in astonishnt, then glanced at Beichuan Si.
His heart understood.
So... that’s how it was...
He gently stroked his daughter’s hair.
Tears fell.
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