Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 255: The Missing Ling Ishikawa

Lu Tianya nodded and took out a compass, saying, "This compass has the ability to detect ghosts, just like now. It has been pointing at you all along. Yesterday, when I heard that someone died in the old school building area, I secretly took out this compass and checked. I found that it was not pointing at Suzuki Ryu but at the old school building. At that time, I thought it was strange, and now it seems that the Red-Clothed Female Ghost is probably behind this. After all, this compass can be influenced by the strength of ghosts."

Liu Xing glanced at the compass in Lu Tianya's hand. The pointer remained fixed on himself, causing Liu Xing to furrow his brows. This compass seemed to be specifically targeting him, considering he had so many Vengeful Spirits as a Cult Leader. If he was nearby, the compass would likely lock onto him.

In that case, this compass had become a tracking device for him.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing calmly asked, "Lu Tianya, how large is the effective range of this compass? What if both Red-Clothed Female Ghost and I are within its search range, and it still locks onto me? Wouldn't the compass be useless then?"

Lu Tianya shook head and smiled, "Ryusei, you can rest assured. When I control this compass, it prioritizes locking onto Wandering Spirits, which are individual ghosts. Cases like yours, with Vengeful Spirits possessing you, would be its secondary target. Also, this compass's range is limited; it can only lock onto targets within a radius of fifty meters."

Liu Xing breathed a sigh of relief, as it seemed that the compass posed no significant threat to him.

"Very well, Lu Tianya. If you're free, let's go to the old school building together on the night of the school opening. We'll rely on your compass to locate the Red-Clothed Female Ghost," Liu Xing suggested.

Lu Tianya nodded confidently, saying, "You can count on me. As long as the Red-Clothed Female Ghost isn't some powerful malevolent spirit, I should be able to locate her. However, I'm highly suspicious that there are many Vengeful Spirits in the old school building. After all, those students who committed suicide must have harbored grievances. So, we'll be facing quite a few enemies."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, suddenly remembering his Main quest. He asked, "In that case, Lu Tianya, can you communicate with these Vengeful Spirits? Maybe we can gather some useful information from them."

Lu Tianya shook head and said, somewhat helplessly, "It's true that we could, but there are two problems. Firstly, my cultivation level is not high enough yet, so I can only communicate with lower-level Spirits. Secondly, those lower-level Spirits are usually in a confused state, wandering around the places they died, and are unable to communicate... Unless we're incredibly lucky and come across a Spirit that has regained its senses and is willing to communicate with us, we won't be able to obtain useful information from them."

Liu Xing nodded, feeling somewhat frustrated. "I see. By the way, can the Red-Clothed Female Ghost command these Spirits? If she has that ability, it could complicate things for us."

Lu Tianya stroked chin, pondering for a moment before saying, "I can't be sure about that at the moment because I don't know the Red-Clothed Female Ghost's level. However, if she can send dreams to ordinary people and create ghostly handprints on them, it suggests her level is not low. It's just a step away from being able to control lower-level Spirits."

After discussing the details of their plan to explore the old school building on the night of the school opening with Lu Tianya, Liu Xing decided to take his leave. There wasn't much more to discuss, and he didn't want to suspect that he was deceiving the other party.

So, after exchanging phone numbers with Lu Tianya, Liu Xing left the house.

Returning home, Liu Xing realized that Ling Ishikawa was nowhere to be found.

"Where did Ling Ishikawa go?" Liu Xing asked Ming Hanxing while taking a sip of water.

Ming Hanxing replied, "Ling Ishikawa said he wanted to visit Honda Tetsuya again at this time. After all, if Honda Tetsuya is going to leave the house today, it would only be during this time frame. So, Ling Ishikawa wanted to try his luck again."

Liu Xing nodded and checked the time on his phone. It was already half-past nine in the evening, and Ling Ishikawa should be back soon.

Half an hour later, Liu Xing had initially planned to wait for Ling Ishikawa to return before sharing the results of his conversation with Lu Tianya. However, Ling Ishikawa still hadn't returned, and he hadn't responded to Ming Hanxing's text messages or calls either.

Frowning, Liu Xing couldn't help but worry, "Do you think something has happened to Ling Ishikawa? There's no news from him yet."

Ming Hanxing nodded and said, "I'm starting to think the same way. Ling Ishikawa wouldn't just disappear like this without a trace. Although it's possible that he's currently tailing Honda Tetsuya and has his phone on silent, not noticing our attempts to contact him."

Liu Xing sighed and leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes as he contemplated Yin En's current situation.

First, Yin En likely hadn't torn his card yet, as the game's admin would notify them if a player had torn their card. So, Yin En probably wasn't in immediate danger of losing his life.

However, Liu Xing was almost certain that Yin En had encountered trouble by now. Yin En was cautious and had prepared a distress message in case he started surveilling and tracking Honda Tetsuya. If anything unexpected happened, Yin En would have sent an SOS message to Liu Xing. Since there had been no messages from Yin En so far, it indicated that Yin En had indeed run into significant trouble, something beyond his control. Liu Xing suspected that Yin En had been captured by someone.

However, if Yin En had truly been captured, it raised questions about Honda Tetsuya's true identity. Yin En's character card had decent attributes, and he belonged to the Swordsmanship profession, a combat-oriented character card. It seemed unlikely that he could be captured without resistance or even sending a distress message. Whoever had captured Yin En must be someone extraordinary, either an NPC like Sawada Yinyin or Otonashi Takuya, the "superhumans," or perhaps even a mythical creature.

Regardless of which category Honda Tetsuya fell into, it suggested that his identity was far from simple. His acting skills were impressive, as he had successfully lured Liu Xing and Yin En from the previous module into this one.

With these thoughts in mind, Liu Xing called over Honekawa Suneo and said seriously, "Suneo, go find out what happened to Yin En. If I'm not mistaken, there should be a convenience store or caf opposite the apartment where Honda Tetsuya lives. Ling Ishikawa should be staking out Honda Tetsuya there. Check with the staff at these places and see if they've seen Ling Ishikawa."

Honekawa Suneo nodded and quickly arranged for someone to investigate Ling Ishikawa's whereabouts.

"If Ling Ishikawa has indeed encountered trouble, then we need to reconsider Honda Tetsuya's true identity. Miguel might even be Honda Tetsuya. The current Honda Tetsuya could very well be an artificial creation by Mi Ge," Liu Xing remarked with a serious expression.

Nobi Nobita, who had been informed of the Miguel and Mi Ge situation by Ming Hanxing, chimed in, "But here's the problem: if Honda Tetsuya is indeed an artificial creation by Mi Ge, what is his purpose in being a teacher at our school? Mi Ge couldn't possibly have truly allied with these cultists. However, that doesn't make sense either. If they have already formed an alliance, why didn't Honda Tetsuya intervene when you, as the cult leader, killed that cultist during the ritual on Yueshihao? After all, as a high-tech artificial creation by Mi Ge, he should not be affected by mind control. So, when you killed that cultist, Honda Tetsuya should have had the ability to stop you."

Nobi Nobita made a valid point, and Liu Xing nodded, lost in thought.

Who was this Honda Tetsuya?

Or had he wrongly accused Honda Tetsuya, and someone else had captured Ling Ishikawa?

Liu Xing found himself without clear answers, as there were no additional clues at the moment.

At this point, Honekawa Suneo approached with his phone, his expression grave. He reported, "It seems that Ling Ishikawa has indeed encountered trouble. According to my friend's investigation, Ling Ishikawa was staking out Honda Tetsuya at a caf half an hour ago. Then, suddenly, he settled his bill and left. It appears he started tracking Honda Tetsuya. At the time, Ling Ishikawa seemed puzzled and anxious, asking the caf's staff if there was a public phone booth nearby. It seems his phone might have malfunctioned."

Liu Xing nodded. It was now confirmed that Ling Ishikawa had run into trouble. "I see. So, are there any public phone booths nearby? Can we determine Ling Ishikawa's next moves?"

Honekawa Suneo shook his head regretfully. "The caf's staff only remembered that Ling Ishikawa left in the direction of the left side. Unfortunately, there are hardly any public phone booths along that road, as almost everyone has a cell phone nowadays. Public phone booths have become rare."

"To the left, huh?" Liu Xing took out his phone and began searching for notable locations to the left of Honda Tetsuya's apartment. He soon discovered a bar called "Flame Bar," located about a kilometer away to the left of the apartment.

"Flame Bar. It's highly likely that Ling Ishikawa followed Honda Tetsuya to Flame Bar. In that case, Ling Ishikawa might not have been captured yet. Teacher Ming, please contact Miguel and check if he's at Flame Bar. If he is, instruct him to abandon surveillance on Alice for now and look for Ling Ishikawa in the bar. Gian, Suneo, and Junichi, the three of you will accompany me to Flame Bar," Liu Xing instructed as he stood up, signaling for Gian and the others to join him.

Ten minutes later, Liu Xing and his group arrived at Flame Bar. Ming Hanxing had informed Liu Xing that Miguel was not at Flame Bar but on the rooftop of an apartment building not far from Flame Bar. This location provided a good vantage point to monitor Alice's residence, as she had not gone to Flame Bar today.

Liu Xing decided to leave Miguel to continue surveilling Alice and instructed Gian, Suneo, and Junichi to accompany him to the bar.

Flame Bar, as the most renowned bar in the Kyoto area, was located in the basement of a shopping center and covered an area nearly the size of a football field. Liu Xing couldn't help but marvel at the wealth of these cultists, as they managed to secure such a large space for a bar in the prime real estate of Kyoto. No wonder Flame Bar had become the most famous bar in the region.

However, Liu Xing also noticed that Flame Bar didn't bother checking the ages of their patrons. In Island Nation, individuals under the age of twenty were not allowed to drink alcohol, and bars typically checked the driver's licenses or medical insurance cards of those who appeared underage. Since Island Nation didn't issue identity cards, driver's licenses and medical insurance cards were used to verify age.

Among Liu Xing's group, only Gian looked to be in his twenties. Liu Xing and the other two clearly appeared to be under twenty, yet the staff at Flame Bar didn't seem to care.

"No wonder Flame Bar is so popular. They don't even check the age of their customers," Honekawa Suneo remarked in surprise.

Liu Xing nodded in agreement. "Of course, because the Chief of Police is their protector. If the police ever come to inspect, they'll surely be informed in advance, and they'll ask the underage folks to leave. Even if they get caught, the worst that can happen is a fine. Do you think the Deep Sea Gospel Society would care about such a small amount of money?"

Liu Xing's group found a booth and sat down, continuing to observe the surroundings.

As a bar, Flame Bar had dim lighting, and it was crowded due to being the peak hours for bars. Liu Xing couldn't spot Ling Ishikawa anywhere.

Liu Xing decided to send Gian and Junichi Oshima on separate missions to search for Ling Ishikawa. He remained with Honekawa Suneo to continue observing the situation inside Flame Bar.

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