Tokyo Fall Guys beats up the supernatural

Page 39

So long that Dou Tang thought she had fallen asleep, she finally spoke slowly, her voice tinged with weariness: "What would happen if you lost..."

Dou Tang was honest for once; he didn't want to lie in this place: "If I'm killed like the Green Ghost, those evil spirits will steal my crown."

But there's still half a sentence left unsaid: they certainly won't let Huaiyin off the hook either.

"I understand, I understand..." Lu Zizhen muttered, sniffing.

She seemed to muster her courage, raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears but not letting them fall, leaned forward slightly, and gave Dou Tang a light kiss on the lips, saying, "I won't let that day come true, and neither can you. You have to become stronger, really strong."

Her tone was like that of a frightened little child.

“Even if it means countless people and evil spirits pay with their lives, I will make you strong, so strong that you can destroy everything that stands in your way…” She paused, intending to say “kill,” but then thought it was too bloody and changed her words to “destroy.”

Chapter 73 The Story Told by Lu Zizhen

Dou Tang didn't know how to respond and remained silent.

But he finally made up his mind and said, "This is my business, you don't need to worry about it... at least, I don't want you to get involved in this."

Lu Zizhen ignored him, turned over and sat on the floor against the bed, slamming the wine bottle down on the floor with a thud.

She sniffed and said, "Have you ever heard the story about buying rice cakes?"

Before Dou Tang could reply, she added, "You've definitely never heard of it. Japanese schools probably don't teach this."

Then she began to narrate to herself.

“When I was in elementary school, the school held some kind of gratitude speech. You might not know this, but they invited a completely unknown speaker to tell stories to the entire school of elementary school students.”

"I remember it so well. I was so happy that day. I carried my little stool to school and sat with my classmates on the playground. I also brought a pot of plum juice with me. It was sweet and sour."

"Then a middle-aged man walked onto the stage. I still remember his face, which looked just like Professor Yang's... You don't need to know who Professor Yang is, but he was pretty disgusting."

Lu Zizhen picked up the wine bottle, took a sip, sniffed again, and said sadly. Dou Tang didn't know how to comfort her, so he could only listen quietly.

Huaiyin was behind him, clutching his pajamas with both hands; she didn't seem to be asleep either.

Lu Zizhen continued her story.

"He started by giving greetings, which were all nonsense, and then he began to tell stories."

He said that there was once a little girl with a limp whose father died in an accident. Her mother was the only one who took care of the family. Her mother worked very hard and came home very late every day.

"Although Mom works very hard, the little girl is very sensible and has hope for the future. Mom brings back a piece of rice cake every day. The rice cake is sweet and delicious, and that's what the little girl looks forward to every day."

"One day, it rained, and her mother hadn't come home for a long time. The little girl was very worried. Looking at the rain outside, she knew that the phone at home was a landline. She was afraid that if she went out, she wouldn't be able to answer her mother's calls. But she was also very worried and wanted to go out and look for her."

The rain was pouring outside the window, and Dou Tang listened quietly. He could almost feel that Lu Zizhen's unusual side was slowly being revealed.

Recalling that story made Lu Zizhen choke up. She paused for a long time, sniffling, before continuing.

"Then, then, the rain outside kept falling and falling for a long time without stopping, and the little girl got scared. She started frantically calling her mother, but no one answered the phone."

"She finally decided to go out and look for it. She picked up her crutch and limped into the rain. She kept searching and searching. The rain was particularly heavy that day, and she could barely see anything around her. The rain soaked her hair, and she hadn't even had time to untie her braids yet... Every day, her mother loved to braid her hair, and she liked to keep those braids until she went to sleep."

"She walked out into the street, where the rainwater had turned murky and tinged with blood. She looked ahead and saw her mother lying in a pool of blood, with her bicycle lying beside her."

"She went crazy, running frantically, falling to the ground, and crawling over on all fours."

Lu Zizhen gritted her teeth, tears streaming down her face, and said in a hoarse voice, "Mom fell into the blood, and the little girl ran over. When Mom saw her coming, she slowly handed over a plastic bag that she was clutching tightly in her hand."

The plastic bag was stained with blood, and the rice cakes inside had turned dark red.

The story was over, or rather, Lu Zizhen didn't continue the story.

She wiped away her tears, panting heavily as she forced herself to calm down. Then, her voice trembling, she said, "Many children cried that day, and I was terrified. I ran home like crazy, found my parents, and threw myself into their arms, filled with fear."

She slammed her fist on the ground: "What the hell is the point of telling stories like that to people like that? To scare people, to scare children? Is that interesting?"

"Do we have to tell stories like this to teach people to be filial and obedient? What did that little girl do wrong to deserve this?"

She suddenly rolled over, knelt down in front of the bed, and looked at Dou Tang.

Dou Tang saw the genuine emotion in her eyes, and the tears.

"From that day on, I was always on edge whenever my parents went out! I was so afraid that I would become like that little girl in the story, waiting at home with my sister for them to come home, and then one day I would never see them again!"

She held Dou Tang's head and cried, the dampness of her tears splashing onto Dou Tang's face. Behind her, Huai Yin pressed her hand hard on his back, clearly also frightened by the story.

“I wish I could go to work with them every day, and I wish I could be with them every moment. I wanted to know everything they were going to do. From that day on, the way I saw the world changed. I wanted to have everything under my control... I wanted everyone I cared about to be well.”

“I was terrified, I was really terrified. That story washed over me like a tidal wave, and I haven’t been able to forget it all these years!”

She was somewhat hysterical, hugging Dou Tang and groping his face with her hands. The empty wine bottle in her hand fell to the ground and rolled to the side.

This was the first time Lu Zizhen had acted so undignifiedly in front of Dou Tang, but he didn't know why.

Am I that important to her? This was the first time Dou Tang had asked himself this question.

Lu Zizhen leaned down and kissed Dou Tang's cheeks again and again. Tears fell onto Dou Tang's face. He did not reject Lu Zizhen's ambiguous behavior, but simply acquiesced.

Lu Zizhen stepped back a little and looked at Dou Tang. Dou Tang returned her a clear look and said, "No, I won't become like that."

Lu Zizhen's eyes were red, and she gasped for breath, almost convulsing, "Would you...would you lie to me?"

Dou Tang blinked.

"Will not."

Lu Zizhen calmed down a bit. She started looking at the ceiling, taking deep breaths, and slowly closed her eyes, trying to control the sadness that the alcohol had stirred up.

"Why did you drink so much today?" Dou Tang asked.

“You scared me today. I didn’t expect the Blue Demon to be so strong.” Lu Zizhen said honestly, “I was really afraid that you would lose. I didn’t want to disturb your battle, but I was also worried about you. I haven’t felt this kind of powerlessness for a long, long time… The feeling of being anxious but helpless reminded me of this past event.”

She lowered her head, lifted Dou Tang's blanket, and then forced herself inside.

Three people are sleeping in this double bed now...

But at this moment, Lu Zizhen did not notice why the bed was so crowded. She just wanted to get a sense of security from Dou Tang, so she nestled in Dou Tang's arms.

"Let me sleep for a while... Touch me if you want, whatever you want, just let me sleep for a while."

These two people are clearly not in a romantic relationship, yet they seem to have done all sorts of ambiguous things.

Looking at the bright moon outside the window and feeling the two trembling people, Dou Tang's mind was in turmoil.

Chapter 74 Life

In the middle of the night, after confirming that Lu Zizhen was fast asleep, Dou Tang carried her back to her own room.

At six o'clock in the morning, he woke Huaiyin up again. After dawn, Huaiyin stopped having nightmares. He drew back the curtains and went back to sleep in her room.

The morning light dispelled the rain clouds of the night, and today Nagano will be a sunny day.

The three of them are leaving today, and although it's not necessary, Dou Tang still plans to make them a nice breakfast.

Nagano gives the impression of being both vibrant and ancient. There are many schools in Nagano, but the streetscape is still dominated by low-rise buildings, giving it a sense of backwardness, as if it were still living in the Showa era.

Passing by several schools, it was a holiday, and only some clubs were active. Early in the morning, a group of people were running around the playground.

Passing by the school, Dou Tang came to a commercial street. The shops on both sides had put out some fresh ingredients on the street in the morning. They wouldn't dare to do this in two hours, as they would be fined.

Dou Tang was walking down the street, picking out ingredients for breakfast, when he suddenly heard a cry of surprise in the distance.

"Ah! You bastard, here it comes again! Stop right there!"

Dou Tang had just turned his head when he saw a cat rush over, then slip through the crowd by squeezing between his legs, hooking a fish and leaving without looking back. Judging from its posture, it seemed to be the black cat from last night.

The fishmonger behind him watched the black cat disappear around the corner, scoffed, and walked back angrily.

It really does resemble a plot point from some Showa-era anime. Following that pattern, that cat would most likely be...

Something like a special catgirl who can turn into a human, or a yokai kept by the protagonist...

Anyway, it has nothing to do with me.

Dou Tang walked up to the fishmonger's stall, picked out a few fish, and the fishmonger's face, which had just been dark, instantly became amiable, laughing heartily like a Maitreya Buddha, and said, "Young man, you have a good eye!"

Dou Tang laughed and replied, "I wouldn't call myself a discerning eye, but the fact that your fish was stolen by a cat means it must be very fresh."

The fishmonger scratched his head and then smiled awkwardly: "Well, even though they're fresh, if they're too fresh, the cat will bother me every day, which is quite a nuisance. And there's nothing I can do... even if I catch one, I can only send it back up the mountain."

"Send them back up the mountain?" Dou Tang asked, somewhat puzzled.

“After all… it’s the shrine’s cat, so even if it steals fish, no one will blame it.” The fishmonger tapped the fish tank with the back of his knife. “But still, it’s going too far to come here every day!”

The shrine's cat...

Dou Tang subconsciously sensed that something was wrong.

Why does it feel like a side quest is right in front of me?

Pah! Side quests are out of the question! My eyes are only on the main quest!

So Dou Tang nodded and brushed it off, bought the fish and headed back, planning to cook a grilled fish meal for the two of them.

But to his surprise, he saw the black cat again while walking down the street. It was standing on the outer wall of a house next to the street, holding a small fish in its mouth. Its eyes were very human-like, as if it was looking at Dou Tang.

Dou Tang scoffed and ignored it, continuing on his way.

The black cat seemed to be competing with him, jumping down from the courtyard wall and quickly following Dou Tang's pace, staring at him as it went.

Dou Tang's eye twitched.

What does that mean? This side quest is just nagging at me?

He turned around abruptly, his eyes flashing with a blue light, and the terrifying gaze of the Green Demon instantly appeared as he stared intently at the black cat.

An invisible sense of oppression caused the black cat to instantly bristle. Dou Tang then said sternly, "If you continue to follow me, you'll have cat meat added to your breakfast today!"

The cat purred menacingly, then turned its head away and quickly ran off.

Dou Tang snorted, returned to the house, and began cooking.

After grilling three fish and making miso soup and mashed radish, Lu Zizhen got up, yawning and rubbing her head, her hair a mess.

"Hey, good morning, Dou Tang." Unlike last night, she didn't call Dou Tang "Tang Dou'er" anymore. She greeted him and went into the bathroom.

Even through the bathroom door, you could hear her hangover complaints: "Ugh...! My head hurts so much!"

Dou Tang shook his head and continued cooking.

After a while, Huaiyin came downstairs, rubbed her eyes, looked at the closed bathroom door, and then suddenly perked up, sneaking off to the kitchen.

Dou Tang found it amusing and said, "Are you doing something like a thief so early in the morning?"

She didn't say anything, but rushed into Dou Tang's arms, her little head turning so fast it was like it had a motor, rubbing against Dou Tang's chest.

Helpless, Dou Tang pressed her head down and whispered, "Go wash up."

Having had her fill of freeloading, Huaiyin let out a howl and ran upstairs to the bathroom.

After a while, the three of them washed up, changed their clothes, and sat down at the dining table to eat.

Lu Zizhen, completely disregarding her image, was picking fish bones out of the water with her bare hands, saying as she did so, "Hey, Dou Tang, don't we look like a family of three?"

Dou Tang took a look.

Huaiyin was eating fish elegantly, deftly spitting out each fish bone. Just watching this little girl eat fish bit by bit was a pleasure.

Dou Tang turned his head and looked.

Lu Zizhen was like an office worker on vacation, lazy and unkempt, with one foot on the chair, hugging her leg and using chopsticks to dismantle the whole fish into pieces. She was still a little dazed from the hangover.

Then he nodded in agreement.

"...If you mean a father with two daughters, then that's quite accurate."

Lu Zizhen looked up at him, scoffed dismissively, and then lowered her head to continue dissecting the fish.

Dou Tang took a sip of soup and then asked, "Can you still drive like this? Wouldn't that be considered drunk driving?"

Lu Zizhen shook her head and said, "Come on, what kind of traffic police check for drunk driving this early in the morning? Are they crazy?"

"Besides, it's just a hangover. Oh, and by the way, don't take what I said last night seriously."

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but Lu Zizhen seems a little shy.

Dou Tang thought for a moment and asked, "What did you do last night?"

"Hmph, you're quite sensible, young man." Lu Zizhen smiled, seemingly quite satisfied.

Dou Tang actually enjoyed this time. The three of them were together, eating and chatting, living like normal people. There were no annoying evil spirits or trivial matters to deal with. Just living alone made them feel happy.

This kind of life is so much better than the self-destructive, solitary life he led in his last life. Now, he feels like he's truly alive.

This is why he told Huaiyin from the beginning that he was not Kiryu Toudou. Besides wanting Huaiyin to be strong, it was also because he had long wanted to live his own life.