Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 78 A World-Shaking Book

As Hideomi Uyama looked at the five characters "Summer of the Ubume" on the manuscript, he was filled with emotion.

As if under a spell cast by Maijo Kyosuke, his hands couldn't help but clap a few times to express his reverence!

It's possible that the sound of Uyama Hideomi clapping was too loud, disturbing Maishiro Kyosuke.

Maijo Kyosuke stretched and yawned as he sat up from the tatami mat.

Seeing Uyama Hideomi clasp his hands together in prayer before the manuscript of "Summer of the Ubume," Maijo Kyosuke asked with some confusion:

"Mr. Yushan, how long have I been asleep?"

Have you finished watching "The Summer of the Ubume"?

Uyama Hideomi raised his hand and glanced at his watch, realizing that a full twelve hours had passed since he arrived at 5:30.

"The current time is 5:40 PM."

"Mr. Mai, I have finished reading the entire story of 'The Summer of the Ubume'."

Maijo Kyosuke rubbed his sleepy eyes with his hand:

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Yushan, I slept for so long."

"How did you feel about 'Summer of the Ubume'? Did it live up to the hype I made when I was on the Edogawa Ranpo Ryusho stage?"

Having just finished reading "The Summer of the Ubume," Uyama Hideomi had many questions and wanted to ask Maishiro Kyosuke for advice. Upon hearing Maishiro Kyosuke's words, he immediately smiled and said:

"To be honest, Mr. Maishiro, when you stood on the stage of Edogawa Ranpo's Ryusho Award and said that you were going to write a mystery novel that no one had ever read before, no one had ever heard of before, and that no one else could write, I personally had some doubts."

"But now it seems I underestimated your abilities, Mr. Maishiro. This is no mystery novel that no one has ever seen or heard of before, and that no one else could write!"

"This is simply an unparalleled masterpiece, one that no one else can achieve, even if they rack their brains!"

"It packages folklore, monsters, psychology, mental illness, hallucinations, and neuroscience into countless tiny mysteries, and then in the end, it directly writes nearly two hundred pages of furious and raging solutions, weaving all these mysteries together!"

"This sense of twists and turns is as if the book has been enchanted by a 'monster,' making it so captivating that you can't tear yourself away from it after just one glance!"

"Especially the way folklore is integrated into the mystery makes one nostalgic for Seishi Yokomizo at his peak—the same eeriness, the same chilling atmosphere, and the same sense of melancholy!"

"The only difference is that the murderers in Seishi Yokomizo's works have such simple explanations of their motives that it's hard to believe that the characters in the stories are real, living people."

"But Ms. Mai, you did it!"

"You've successfully used folklore to transform a twisted family called the Kuonji into a living, breathing family that exists in this world!"

"While other writers are racking their brains trying to make the murderer's motives more reasonable, you, Mr. Wucheng, have opened up a new track. You have used a lot of sophistry, as well as folklore, psychiatry, and psychology to construct a world that can make sense on its own."

"Although many of the claims in the book lack scientific basis, as the protagonist of the story, Tatsumi Sekiguchi, says, although Kyogoku-do's words sound like sophistry, they actually reveal truths that are consistent with the realities of this world."

"By using Kyogoku-do's words, you filled in the details of the murderer's motive and likened hysteria to demonic possession. This innovative approach gave me an incredibly wonderful experience!"

Hideomi Uyama was like a Gatling gun with endless ammunition, uttering hundreds of words of praise for Kyosuke Maijo!

Just as Maishiro Kyosuke was about to speak, Uyama Hideomi spoke first.

"Mr. Maishiro, I understand the general plot of the book, but Kyogoku-do's last words are a bit hard for me to understand."

"I can understand that Ryoko's maternal instincts were activated when Tatsumi Sekiguchi called out 'Mother,' which transformed her from a guhuoniao (a mythical bird) into a mother, and ultimately she handed the child over to Tatsumi Sekiguchi."

"But I don't understand what Kyogoku-do said to Sekiguchi Tatsumi at the end."

"Although female infants have no gender and their appearance can be determined by observers, why would Kyogoku-do say that Ryoko, Kyoko, Kikuno, and even Makirou are female infants?"

"I always felt confused about this statement, and I didn't get any explanation from Kyogoku-do in the book."

After asking the question, Uyama Hideomi stared intently at Maishiro Kyosuke.

The middle-aged man's eyes surprisingly reflected a clear, childlike gaze yearning for knowledge.

Seeing that Uyama Hideomi had finally stopped speaking, Maishiro Kyosuke sighed and pointed to his stomach:

"Mr. Yushan, what about food?"

"Don't tell me you ate everything. You can't expect me to answer your questions on an empty stomach, can you?"

When Uyama Hideomi heard Maishiro Kyosuke's words, he was stunned for a moment, then patted his head and walked towards the refrigerator with a smile.

The two spread the food out on the table, and while eating sashimi, Maijo Kyosuke answered the questions raised by Uyama Hideomi:

"Mr. Yushan, if you want to know why they all gave birth to daughters, you need to understand what 'giving birth to daughters' actually means."

"Kyogoku-do may have been somewhat vague in the book, so I'll give you a definitive answer here."

Upon hearing Maishiro Kyosuke's words, Uyama Hideomi immediately put down the chopsticks holding the sashimi on the table, sat up straight, and acted like a fervent fan.

Seeing Uyama Hideomi's expression, Maishiro Kyosuke gave a serious answer:

"The so-called birth of a daughter is less about the obsession of the mother and more about the fantasies that arise from humanity's obsession with motherhood and procreation."

"There's no need to say more about Ryoko. She lost her son when she was young and was even tied to the bed by her mother to watch her child being soaked in formaldehyde. This terrible experience caused her already fragile personality to split again, turning her into the 'Ubume' who kidnaps and kills other people's children. Through Tatsumi Sekiguchi's call, her maternal love was awakened, and she became Nanami."

"Gengzi is the same. Because of her twisted love, she had the illusion of getting pregnant in order to maintain her love with Makirou. In the end, she died because her illusion was shattered and her belly exploded. The so-called false pregnancy is just the illusion of wanting to give birth to a daughter."

Maishiro Kyosuke took a sip of sake to moisten his throat and continued:

"Kikuonji Kikuno was the same. Her original intention was to continue the Kuonji family, but due to folk customs and family rules, she would use stones to kill brainless children who could not survive. The mistakes she made ultimately led to the destruction of the Kuonji family."

"As for why Mu Lang gave birth to a daughter?"

"The root cause is that Mu Lang was influenced by the concept of carrying on the family line, which led to his infertility. However, the desire to have a child became his faith. His spirit was attached to Mu Lang until the moment of his death, so it is not wrong to call him Mu Lang!"

Upon hearing Maishiro Kyosuke's explanation, it seemed that Uyama Hideomi's consciousness was gradually merging with that of Sekiguchi Tatsumi, the protagonist of "The Summer of the Ubume".

It was as if the person in front of him, Kyogoku-do, was actually Maijo Kyosuke. Even though he knew these were all sophistry, he still listened with great interest.

Uyama Hideomi's confusion was completely resolved by Maishiro Kyosuke, and he felt extremely relieved, just like Sekiguchi Tatsumi in "Summer of the Ubume," his soul was cleansed!

Thinking of all this, Uyama Hideomi picked up his wine glass and took a big gulp, then smiled and said to Maishiro Kyosuke:

"Mr. Maishiro, if my number one mystery novel used to be 'Gokumon Island,' then from today onwards, the throne will change hands, and its name will be 'The Summer of the Ubume'!"