Chapter 2 The Secret Room

Due to the bookcase's obstruction, the light in the secret room was even dimmer.

Li Ang noticed a curved guide rail on the floor behind the left side of the bookcase.

When the mechanism was activated, the left side of the bookcase, equipped with pulleys, would slide backward along the guide rail, revealing the secret room. The bookcase had to move backward.

Moving it forward would leave sliding marks on the floor of the study, easily exposing it.

"Watch my back."

Li Ang instructed Wang Congshan to stand at the entrance of the secret room with her gun.

He then turned sideways, holding onto the edge of the bookcase, and stepped into the secret room, using the Xinyuan staff to jam the mechanism and prevent the secret room from suddenly closing.

He turned around and saw a rectangular net woven from iron wire nailed to the wall of the secret room.

Hanging on the left side of the net were two Noh masks depicting human faces, one red and one black, corresponding to expressions of joy and anger. Judging from the remaining wooden nails on the net, there should have been room for four additional Noh masks.

On the table beneath the wire mesh were several pieces of wood, a box containing carving tools, and a photo frame, with a newspaper clipping pasted inside.

"If the secret room were just an ordinary workshop, there would be no need to put so much effort into hiding it."

Li Ang pondered, looking at the wall.

The Noh masks in the outer room were already exquisite enough, but these four Noh masks in the secret room could be described as breathtakingly skillful.

Although they were only carved from wood, they perfectly simulated even the texture of the skin and the distribution of pores on a human face.

"It can actually be taken off..."

Li Ang removed the two Noh masks from the net. Judging from the feel, they were indeed just wood, not terrifying props made from human skin.

He held the masks in his hands, turned them over, and found very small, faded strips of paper pasted on the forehead of each mask. The words "Matsuoka" were written on the strips.

"Matsuoka?"

Li Ang frowned. He remembered seeing houses with nameplates bearing that surname on the way here, farther away from the Fujimura house and seemingly more dilapidated.

"Why are these two words appearing on the back of the masks? Is this telling us to take another look at the Matsuoka house?"

With more and more questions, Li Ang had no choice but to hold the masks in his hands for now, looking down at the table, and noticed that the scattered pieces of wood were rather special.

Normally, Japanese Noh masks follow ancient methods and are mostly carved from cypress wood (a general term for red cypress and flat cypress). Cypress wood contains oil, has a natural fragrance, beautiful patterns, and a luster after processing, making it suitable for long-term storage without decaying.

However, these pieces of wood on the table were solid and heavy, feeling almost like picking up lead blocks.

"This should be some kind of cypress family wood?"

Li Ang frowned, using a carving knife to shave off a small piece of wood and put it in his pocket, then picked up the photo frame and removed the newspaper clipping from it.

The headline of the clipping read: [New York International Noh Mask Exhibition Successfully Held]

The content was: [On July 14th, the second International Noh Mask Exhibition was successfully held at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, New York. A total of 781 exhibits from 45 Noh mask artists from around the world were on display. Among them, Mr. Fujimura Shuhei from Ennoki Village, Okasen Prefecture, won first prize at this Noh Mask Exhibition for the Hannya Noh mask he created for the Ennoki Village festival.]

"Fujimura Shuhei? Is that the name of the Noh mask artist?"

The front of the clipping did not indicate the year of the newspaper, but fortunately, a news item on the back of the clipping was about the upcoming launch of NASA's Apollo 11 rocket.

The launch time of the Apollo 11 rocket was 1969, which translates to Showa 44.

"Ennoki Village festival, moon landing, Noh mask exhibition..."

Li Ang muttered, folded the clipping, put it in his pocket, searched the secret room again, confirmed that nothing was missed, walked out, and picked up the Xinyuan staff.

Wang Congshan asked, "Did you find anything?"

Li Ang smiled and waved the two Noh masks in his hand, "I think I know the password to that safe."

Since they didn't have any pockets, it wasn't very convenient to carry the Noh masks.

So Li Ang and Wang Congshan went into the children's bedroom, took out Fujimura Yoichi's schoolbag from the cabinet, took out the workbooks and test papers inside (also blurry),

Put the Noh masks into it, and then Li Ang carried it on his back, went downstairs, entered the master bedroom again, and dialed the mechanical combination lock of the safe.

Adjusting it to the date when Noh mask artist Fujimura Shuhei won first prize at the Noh Mask Exhibition.

Click.

The safe opened with a click. Li Ang and Wang Congshan exchanged a look and pulled open the safe.

There weren't many things in the safe.

There were a stack of documents, a small amount of cash, jewelry, a certificate, and a locked rectangular iron box.

The certificate was the first prize certificate from the second International Noh Mask Exhibition. It seemed that Fujimura Shuhei was indeed very proud of his profession as a Noh mask artist.

He not only set the safe to the date of the award, but also kept the award certificate in the safe.

The rectangular iron box was about the size of a children's pencil case, with a small lock on the outside. After weighing it, it felt like it contained some kind of iron sheet or something similar.

As for the stack of documents, they were photocopies of the "Unten Menkyo Sho," or driver's licenses, of the male owner, Fujimura Shuhei, and the female owner, Fujimura Masumi.

Japan does not have a unified national ID card, and a driver's license is basically equivalent to an ID card, which can prove the identity of an adult citizen.

In addition to the driver's licenses, there were also health insurance cards, resident cards, and other important documents in the safe.

Together with the documents were the couple's seals—in Japan, personal seals are almost as important as signatures, whether for signing for letters or for bank loans, land and house sales, seals are required.

After obtaining these documents, Li Ang and Wang Congshan learned the specific birth dates of the Fujimura family and also obtained a key piece of information: Fujimura Ryosuke, the second son of the Fujimura family, born in September 1970, was adopted, as evidenced by the adoption certificate.

On the adoption certificate, Fujimura Ryosuke's original name was Matsuoka Ryosuke.

His relationship with the Fujimura family was that the Fujimura family's female owner, Fujimura Masumi, whose original name was Matsuoka Masumi, was the son of Fujimura Masumi's younger brother.

Li Ang said thoughtfully, "It seems that something happened to the Matsuoka family. The Matsuoka couple unfortunately passed away, so Fujimura Masumi, who married and changed her surname to her husband's, adopted her nephew Matsuoka Ryosuke and completed the change of surname for him."

"Yeah,"

Wang Congshan nodded, "The two children of the Fujimura family, Fujimura Yoichi and Fujimura Ryosuke, share a room.

They wear and use the same things.

Judging from the summer family photos, both children are wearing short sleeves, with no signs of abuse or domestic violence.

Although Fujimura Ryosuke, or rather Matsuoka Ryosuke, was adopted,

It shouldn't be the kind of plot in 'Harry Potter' where the adopted child suffers long-term abuse and finally unleashes superpowers..."

Before she could finish speaking,

A mournful child's scream came from the hallway.

Li Ang's pupils shrank. He grabbed the objects in the safe, picked up the Xinyuan staff, and jumped into the hallway.

He saw the shoe cabinet door being knocked open, the narcissus flower pot that had been placed in front of the shoe cabinet door overturned, and the shoe cabinet was empty. The figure of the upside-down child's vengeful spirit was no longer visible.

Li Ang gripped the Xinyuan staff tightly, standing in the hallway of the Fujimura house. He could see a layer of fog rising in the streets outside,

A large number of bizarre and twisted monsters slowly walked out of the fog, surrounding the house.