# 594
Chapter 595 – What Is a Host?
Crime of suicide, serial numbers, Pure Land, divine gifts…
None of these elements sounded like products of normal social evolution. Japan’s history had broken off a hundred years ago, and since then these inexplicable things had popped up one after another.
What had happened in Japan a century ago?
What exactly was the Pure Land?
The questions crowded his mind; the more he heard, the more certain Lin Qiye became of his first impression of this place.
Beneath the calm, peaceful surface there had to be an extremely dangerous secret.
Perhaps this was why Wang Mian would send him here in the future?
After thinking for a long while, Lin Qiye finally wrote on the paper:
—I want to go out and look around.
Right now he was like a wanderer lost in fog, understanding nothing of his surroundings. After hearing Yuzuri Nana’s stories, an inexplicable urgency had taken hold of him; he had to figure out what was going on.
The language barrier was gone. As long as he moved carefully there shouldn’t be any major problems. Staying inside the shipping container wouldn’t get him anywhere—he needed to touch this mysterious city himself.
Yuzuri Nana considered, then wrote:
—You can leave, of course, but where will you stay tonight? Do you have any money?
Lin Qiye froze.
—No.
—Don’t look at me like that, we don’t have money either, there’s nothing we can do.
Seeing the hopeful gleam in Lin Qiye’s eyes, Yuzuri Nana scribbled hastily, her small face deadly serious, practically crossing her arms and shouting “No way!”
Lin Qiye sighed in disappointment.
—It’s fine, I’ll find a way to get money. Thank you for helping me.
When she read that, her expression softened. She lifted her pen, began two characters, then suddenly blushed and stopped.
She muttered quietly: “Actually, with your looks, if you became a host you’d be super popular and earn tons of money…”
Lin Qiye blinked.
A host?
What was that?
Lucrative?
He made a mental note: try it if he got the chance…
Outwardly, of course, he pretended he hadn’t heard.
Yuzuri Nana didn’t write the suggestion down; instinct told her it wasn’t proper. She scratched the words out and replaced them:
—Since you’ve decided, go ahead.
Lin Qiye stood, gave her a small smile, and turned to leave.
Just then, old Granny Tsuru rose shakily from her chair; Yuzuri Nana hurried to support her.
“Please wait,” the old woman rasped.
She shuffled to a crate, fumbled about, and produced a glass bottle tied with a pretty ribbon. Carefully she bent down, lifted several paper cranes from the floor, and slipped them inside.
With both hands she offered the bottle to Lin Qiye, her wrinkled face breaking into a smile.
“We’ve not been the best hosts; please accept this small gift.”
Lin Qiye stood motionless.
Thinking he hadn’t understood, Yuzuri Nana quickly wrote the words on her pad and added:
—Granny Tsuru used to fold paper cranes for a living. Decades ago they could be sold for money. No one buys them now, but it’s her way of saying thank you. Please take it.
He stared at the delicate bottle of cranes, then reached out and accepted it.
He bowed politely.
Granny Tsuru’s smile widened; she bent even lower, silver hair catching the dim light. Beside her, Yuzuri Nana also bowed, slight frame folding nearly in half beneath the old sakura kimono.
“Please take care on your way.”
Unused to Japanese farewell etiquette, Lin Qiye felt awkward, but finally he pushed open the container door and stepped out.
Inside, the old woman and the girl remained bowed until his figure vanished into the night.
…
Lin Qiye left the wasteland where the containers stood. Glancing at the neon-lit sky in the distance, he turned and walked the opposite way.
The city was lively; even at night the center glowed with bars and billboards, no different from a modern metropolis in Great Xia. But he had no interest in foreign nightlife—he needed to verify something.
He retraced his steps toward the sea. Twenty minutes later he stood on the pebble beach where he had first washed ashore.
Waves rolled in with a soft rustle. He gazed at the black water, eyes narrowing.
If he wanted to learn what had happened to this country—and where the fog had gone—the most direct route was to look beyond the ocean. He might even pick up the trail of his teammates.
He raised a hand and tapped the air.
A wisp of cloud condensed beneath his feet.
【Somersault Cloud】.
The instant he activated his Forbidden Ruins, a violent shudder ran through him; an unprecedented sense of crisis clamped down on his heart.
A heavy, oppressive gaze pierced the void and swept the area, as though some mysterious being in the night sky were waking and searching.
Something was looking for him.
The moment that gaze arrived every hair on his body stood on end; his heart nearly leapt from his chest. Instinctively he cut off the Forbidden Ruins, and the cloud forming in front of him dispersed.
Splash—splash—splash—
The waves continued their steady beat. Lin Qiye stood like a statue, not daring to move.
With the Forbidden Ruins shut down, the presence in the void lost its target. It swept the beach once more, drifted over him without noticing anything, and slowly faded.
Only when he was sure it was gone did he dare to breathe. His back was soaked in cold sweat.
He lifted his eyes to the dark sky, face grave.
What… was that?
He had sensed nothing until the instant he used his Forbidden Ruins.
Did its appearance have something to do with the power he’d just used?