Upon opening the leather cover, the pages inside the diary were found to have yellowed. Fushen Pingyuan's name was hastily scrawled on the title page, the handwriting crooked and childishly clumsy.

The diary's entries were all in Japanese, the oldest dating back 42 years, to when Fushen Pingyuan was nine years old.

"3.10, Sunny. Uncle returned from abroad and brought us gifts. He gave me an English and Latin dictionary, books about Ancient Greek, Ancient Babylonian, and Ancient Egyptian mythology, along with several of his own studies on Japan Islands folklore.

Ah, how annoying!

Though Uncle is a famous folklore scholar and often appears on TV, and I admire him, I still hate studying...

What's more infuriating is his insistence that I keep a diary. He expects me to learn English and Latin every day and write about my reading impressions and daily thoughts. Still, considering he said he'll take us abroad during summer vacation, I'll reluctantly give it a try."

"3.11, Read manga, ate daifuku."

"3.12, Read manga, ate Akafuku Mochi."

"3.13, Read manga."

"3.14, I can't go on like this. If I play every day, I'll fail my exams. I must study hard starting tomorrow."

"3.15, Read manga."

Xing Hechou flipped through the diary, a metaphorical dark cloud seeming to form over his head.

The first dozen pages of Fushen Pingyuan's diary were filled with such content; each page held only a few sparse words, with occasional rudimentary stick-figure comics.

"3.20, Spring break started, and we returned to our old home in the countryside. A festival is held here every year at this time. Saw some old friends."

"3.21, Spent a whole day finishing my spring break homework."

"3.22, Played on the mountain and checked the secret base we'd built before. It was indeed well-hidden; no one else had found it, so we could continue working on it! We were making a secret base that only Xiu Lai, Jie Yue, and I would know about."

"3.24, Finally finished building our secret base! We dug deeper into an existing hollow on the hillside. We lined the bottom with newspapers, used tree stumps as supports, and then covered the top with unwanted thin wooden boards and fallen leaves. It was completely invisible from the outside, hehe.

We played in the base for an entire afternoon. We nearly failed to get home before dark and got a scolding from Mom."

"3.25, Uncle returned to the village for the festival too. He checked my homework and praised me. I told him about the secret base, hoping he would commend my handiwork. Instead, he became very, very angry. His expression was frightful. Perhaps he was worried the wooden boards or tree stumps might fall and injure us."

"9.1, Summer vacation ended, back to school."

"10.2, Returned to the countryside to visit Xiu Lai at my paternal uncle's house. Along the way, I secretly paid my respects to Uncle."

"10.5, My paternal uncle's family called to say Xiu Lai's illness had worsened, and he might need to be sent to a sanatorium for treatment. Mom and Dad are very worried about him. I haven't told Mom and Dad that I've been getting headaches sometimes recently. I'm afraid I'll end up like Uncle..."

Looking at the diary's contents, Xing Hechou's brow furrowed. "This is strange," he said. "The diary has entries from March, so why does it suddenly jump to September?"

"Perhaps it was just a child being playful and lazy," Wanli Fengdao said. "After all, Fushen Pingyuan was only nine at the time. That's quite normal. Oh, right, it's also possible his uncle died. Did you notice? On October 2nd, the diary mentions he visited Xiu Lai at his paternal uncle's house. (Xiu Lai is probably his cousin, suffering from some illness.) He also secretly paid respects to his (other) uncle along the way. This suggests his uncle died sometime between March and September."

Liu Wu Dai said, "Based on the sentence 'I've been getting headaches sometimes recently. I'm afraid I'll end up like Uncle,' we can surmise that Fushen Pingyuan's uncle's cause of death was related to headaches. It could have been a hereditary mental illness, or it might be related to some anomalous event—his uncle was a renowned folklore scholar, so it's possible he got caught up in some kind of paranormal incident."

Li Ang said, "Hmm... the diary mentions that Fushen Pingyuan's uncle often brought him learning materials and urged him to study hard. However, Fushen Pingyuan eventually majored in Mechanical Electronics at a university in Tokyo Metropolis. After graduation, he began working for a mid-sized electronics company in Wakayama City, where he currently holds the position of section chief. This role is similar to that of Shinnosuke Nohara's father from the anime 'Crayon Shin-chan' and is considered a middle-management position in a Japan Islands company. His study contained no books on English, Latin, or European mythology. Instead, it held only literature, biographies, philosophy, law, and social science books. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that he abandoned his folklore studies due to his uncle's death..."

Before Li Ang could finish speaking, Xing Hechou distinctly heard muffled sobs coming from behind him.

SOB... SOB... SOB...

The sound, seemingly muffled by something, was indistinct. Occasionally, the sound of a hand banging against a door panel could also be heard.

Xing Hechou's spine tensed instantly. He was currently in the Japanese-style room where Fushen Pingyuan and his wife usually slept. Behind him should be the room's recessed closet, used for storing bedding (much like the small compartment where Doraemon usually sleeps).

Xing Hechou had already searched the closet earlier. He found its two-tiered compartments, edged with blue embroidered dust-blocking cloth, were empty.

So, what was making the sound now?

As if his neck were a rusted hinge, Xing Hechou slowly turned his head.

The sobbing and the banging on the door panel grew louder, seeming to beckon him, urging him to approach and open the closet door.

Xing Hechou instantly recalled a scene from the movie 'Ju-On': after Kayako was murdered by her husband, her limbs broken, she was hidden inside a small closet in a room...

A chill seeped through his entire body. Though Xing Hechou wanted to flee, his body wouldn't respond. He could only watch helplessly as he stepped toward the compartment.

"Quick! Flip through the diary again!"

Li Ang's voice echoed in his ear. Xing Hechou's right hand trembled as he brought the diary before his eyes, rapidly flipping through it. Meanwhile, his other hand reached for the compartment door. With a SWISH, he slid the large doors of the compartment open.

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