After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

To make the dead speak was indeed a luxury.

If detectives had this ability, there wouldn't be so many unsolved cases every year.

However, communicating with earthbound spirits also had its dangers.

What if they suddenly went berserk or turned malevolent upon hearing your question, just like a second-stage boss triggered by a mechanism?

Was there a "Communication Handbook" specifically for ghosts in this world? If so, I really wanted one....

Kagura Hikaru cautiously observed the shrine maiden ghost in front of him, constantly watching her expressions, ready to stop immediately if she changed her demeanor, and slowly asked, "Mizuno Yuna, do you know how you died?"

"Hmm? Calling me by name directly, you should show more respect to your elders, little brother!"

Mizuno Yuna stood on the steps, slightly leaning over and stretching out her index finger as if to tap Kagura Hikaru on the forehead, who then stepped back to avoid it.

"Are you changing the subject?" Kagura Hikaru looked at her and said, "Is there more to this? Or perhaps, you don't want me to find the murderer."

"I never said that, older sister," she replied.

Mizuno Yuna jumped down to the ground, and Kagura Hikaru noticed that she had no shadow, further confirming the fact that she was a ghost.

But the fact that a ghost could appear in the sunlight was strange enough.

Maybe because it had been a long time since she recalled the memories of her death, her expression turned somewhat despondent.

After pausing for two seconds, she said, "The villager from the hill below killed me, someone I knew."

The shrine maiden turned around and pointed at the spot near the offertory box. "It happened right there, he attacked me, striking my head with a glass sake bottle."

"First he raped, then he killed, first he raped, then he killed! Guhahaha~~~"

Komori Ai let out a mad laugh, yet her figure timidly hid behind Kagura Hikaru, clinging to his clothes.

The shrine maiden jumped up and yelled, "Nonsense, I was pure when I died! Believe it or not, I'll curse you!!"

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"A shrine maiden actually saying she'll curse someone...." Kagura Hikaru was speechless.

"Uh, wait, it's not like that, don't look at me that way. I am a proper shrine maiden!"

"..."

"Alright, back to the main point." Mizuno Yuna scratched her head, touching the spot where the sake bottle had hit her.

The body of a ghost had no wounds, yet the pain seemed to linger there, leaving her feeling melancholic.

"It was at night, I can't remember the exact time... I was cleaning the shrine at that time, and suddenly heard noises from outside. When I went out to check, I found that man drunk, trying to steal money from the offertory box. Of course, I had to stop him, but during the struggle, he hit my head with the sake bottle."

A thief, a murder out of impulse, what a mundane yet realistic cause.

Such cases were a thousand times more common than premeditated murders.

"So you died here?"

"No, that blow wasn't fatal."

"Hmm?" Kagura Hikaru expressed surprise.

"I must have been knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I was already in a well. The well lid above was sealed, not a shred of sunlight could get through, and everything was pitch black. I was fully submerged in water, and whether from hunger or a head injury, I didn't have the strength to climb up. No one could hear my cries for help, I could only drink the well water to keep going... After a while, when I wasn't discovered, I just died like that."

Although the Shrine Maiden spoke in a very calm tone, Kagura Hikaru could imagine some terrifying things.

Her cause of death was not blunt force trauma but starvation amidst darkness and despair, and even in the best imaginable scenario, it was death from complete blood loss.

Either way, it was not a death any normal person could endure.

She must have suffered greatly before her death.

Although it was just a faint echo from thirty years ago, it still slightly shook Kagura Hikaru's soul.

The man who killed Mizuno Yuna, thinking she had died on the spot, buried her body in a panic in a well. Perhaps to mislead the police, he cunningly didn't bother to hide the body in this mountain but instead took it back to his own home.

The scene viewed in the prophetic fragment provided enough proof, showing a remote private house nearby.

The reason Kagura Hikaru was certain it was the murderer's home was because of the well.

Mizuno Yuna had mentioned that there was still water in the well when she died, which means the well was not abandoned and was in use, but the murderer suddenly sealed the well, allowing the Shrine Maiden to sink to the bottom and remain hidden for thirty years without a trace.

The disappearance that occurred thirty years ago seemed to have caused quite a stir; according to grandma's words, the entire village had mobilized to search for her. If the murderer had sealed a well belonging to someone else during this time without a reasonable explanation, he would surely have been suspected by the police, yet that didn't happen.

So it must be concluded that the well was the murderer's own property, unlikely to be checked by anyone else, thus safely concealing the body until thirty years later.

That man has been at large for so long, who knows what he is doing now, or where he is hiding.

Hopefully, he is still in this village.

"Young Hero, having heard my tragic tale, I suppose your sympathy is welling up by now?.... It should be, right?"

The Shrine Maiden suddenly became coquettish, her body twisting exaggeratedly as if to deliberately showcase her figure and clothes, and spoke in a strange tone: "Young Hero, I entrust you with a mission! I hope you can find the murderer who killed me and bring him to justice, and if you can find my body in the process, that would be even better. I have been adrift in this world for thirty years, and I wish to be laid to rest."

Mizuno Yuna flicked her long hair, "You and this young girl are the first humans I've encountered in many years who can see me, I can only entrust this to you."

She stealthily gauged Kagura Hikaru's expression, "Will you... agree?"

Kagura Hikaru and Komori Ai exchanged a glance.

Komori Ai: "Rape first, kill later, rape first, kill later...."

Kagura Hikaru: "Shut up...."

He shook his head helplessly and turned to Mizuno Yuna, "I understand, I'll help you."

He had come with this intention anyway, having asked Mizuno Yuna about her death, and held no sympathy for the murderer, with no reason to refuse.

"Really? That's great!"

The Shrine Maiden was extremely happy, showing her gratitude by lunging at Kagura Hikaru.

But naturally, a ghost's body had no physical impact, resulting in her passing right through him.

Being 'passed through' by a ghost, the coldness of that instant nearly made Kagura Hikaru's bones rattle, his muscles involuntarily trembling.

"Ah, sorry, sorry.... you good?"

"..."

Kagura Hikaru subtly increased the distance between them.

This reckless Shrine Maiden!