# 615
**Chapter 616: The Thriving Asylum**
“Sorry, the place is a bit of a mess,” Yuzuri Nana said apologetically.
“Did those punks do all this?” Lin Qiye glanced around. “They even tore out the base of the chandelier—are they bandits?”
“It’s worse than when I came back last time. They must’ve broken in a few more times since then,” Yuzuri Nana sighed.
Lin Qiye nodded and sent his mental power sweeping through the house.
If anything was hidden here, it might have escaped those thugs, but it couldn’t escape his perception. His mind could inspect every brick and tile—no blind spots.
Yuzuri Nana slipped off her shoes and padded through the rooms. She pulled a photo album from beneath the bedroom floor, rescued a few intact sheets from a shredded newspaper, and pocketed some hairpins.
All trinkets heavy with memory. She never glanced at the TV or fridge—bulky items they couldn’t carry when they fled; they’d only draw attention.
Lin Qiye’s scan finished: nothing. The place looked perfectly ordinary.
“Did your mother leave you this house?” he asked, watching her from the sofa.
“She did,” Yuzuri Nana replied, “but the deed is in someone else’s name.”
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow. “Why put her own house under another person’s name?”
“I only just found out. Mother never mentioned it while she was alive.”
Lin Qiye pondered.
“Huh?” Yuzuri Nana stared at the telephone, puzzled.
“What is it?”
“Starting four days ago, the same number calls every day.” She scrolled through the log. “The last three digits are 110—some police station? And the middle digits, 06… that’s Osaka’s area code, I think?”
Suddenly the phone rang.
Ding-ling-ling—!
Yuzuri Nana jumped, stumbling backward, then looked at Lin Qiye.
He hesitated, then nodded. “It’s the police—answer it.”
She lifted the receiver and hit speaker.
“Hello, Osaka Prefectural Police. Is this Yuzuri Nana, civilian ID 42857494?”
She froze. “Yes…”
Instantly she regretted it—she’d committed a serious crime trying to drown herself two days ago. Admitting her identity felt like turning herself in.
But the calls had started before her suicide. And she lived in Yokohama; if they wanted her, why Osaka?
The female officer continued: “Your father, the ‘Fierce Ghost’-class wanted criminal Yuzuri Kurotetsu, was shot by Osaka police four days ago. We have personal effects to release to next of kin. Can you come to Osaka?”
Yuzuri Nana stood motionless.
“Hello? Are you there?”
She said nothing, then quietly hung up.
“Not going to see him one last time?” Lin Qiye asked, brows raised.
“I… don’t know.” She stared at the floor. “I haven’t seen him in years. After he abandoned us, I cut ties…”
“Maybe his belongings hold what the gangs are after—answers.”
“I…”
Lin Qiye sighed and stood. “I’m an outsider; I can’t choose for you. But he’s still your father. If you can, see him once—then it’s forever goodbye. I’m headed to Osaka anyway; I can go with you. Think it over.”
He couldn’t truly empathize—he didn’t even remember his parents’ faces.
Distracted, Yuzuri Nana finished packing a cardboard box and followed him toward the container.
Night had fallen. In the bleak darkness an old woman with white hair waited outside the container, clutching strings of paper cranes against the cold, murmuring prayers.
“Granny Tsuru!” Yuzuri Nana ran up.
“Little Yuzuri!” The old woman’s cloudy eyes lit up. “You’re back! Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine, Grandma. I got lost; this brother brought me home.” She pointed to Lin Qiye.
He smiled politely, keeping back with Hongyan and Black Pupil to let them reunite.
When they finally parted, Yuzuri Nana carried the snacks Lin Qiye had brought and followed Granny Tsuru inside. Lin Qiye excused himself—the tiny container was cramped enough for two; with him and the two dogs there’d be nowhere to stand.
He found a spot on a nearby hillside, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes—entering the Asylum of the Gods to continue his hiring spree.
With prior experience he worked faster, processing the remaining two hundred “mysteries” in under two hours.
Standing on the asylum’s second-floor balcony, he gazed down at the courtyard packed with attendants and sighed.
My Asylum of the Gods is truly thriving…