Mariko Aokawa's grandmother is named Fumie, which is a name with a sense of the times. She is in her seventies, with silver hair and laughter lines at the corners of her eyes. She is a very kind old lady, but she has had a few nightmares recently, which has affected her mental state. Although she appears a bit downcast, she still behaves properly and is extremely polite.

After being brought back home by her granddaughter, she did not underestimate Nanahara Takeshi and Kiyomi Ruri because they were young "demon exorcists". She immediately expressed her gratitude to them. Nanahara Takeshi discreetly observed her condition and politely asked, "Although I already have a general understanding of the situation, could you please describe the specific details of the dream?"

This was expected, but Fumie's smile faded significantly. She sighed and said, "I never thought that I would encounter such a thing at my age. The dream... it's a bit blurry. I don't know where I was, but I vaguely saw two men arguing. One of them seemed to be shouting at Aiomari-san, saying that he couldn't do that, while the other was scolding him, saying something like 'then just do your own thing.' He even directly called him Kameda-san and kept threatening him. Then they started fighting, and the man surnamed Kameda seemed to be shouting not to kill him. After that, Kameda-san was probably killed. I... felt like I should call the police, so I kept walking, but I couldn't find a koban (police box) and I can't remember what happened after that."

Nanahara Takeshi asked softly, "Did you wake up the next day?"

"Yes, I woke up feeling groggy the next day, and I felt very uneasy." Fumie shook her head. "I don't know why I had such a nightmare, but I had the same dream three times, once every other day. Each time, it became clearer. So..."

Nanahara Takeshi asked thoughtfully, "Do the two men feel familiar to you?"

"No." Fumie had obviously already thought about it and replied affirmatively, "I have never seen those two men before."

Nanahara Takeshi nodded and began to ask her in a gentle and patient voice about when she had the first nightmare, where she had been before, and who she had interacted with.

Fumie answered truthfully, but her answers were not much different from what Mariko Aokawa had described earlier. At her age, she couldn't go far, and her daily activities were limited to the vicinity of her home, such as going to the supermarket, town parks, flea markets, etc. She didn't chat or gossip with others. She didn't get along well with the housewives in the town, and they only exchanged nods.

After Fumie finished speaking, Nanahara Takeshi patiently asked, "What do you usually do at home?"

"I do some housework, read books, watch old movies, and listen to music." Fumie always felt that Nanahara Takeshi's voice was very magnetic, and his attitude was extremely gentle. There was a strange rhythm to his speech. After chatting for a while, she felt slightly more relaxed and smiled, saying, "I'm already old and can't do much."

"In thirty years, it won't be too late for you to say that. It's too early now." Nanahara Takeshi complimented with a smile and then asked with concern, "What songs have you listened to and what old movies have you watched?"

Fumie casually mentioned the names of some old singers and movies. Nanahara Takeshi became interested and discussed them with her. They even talked about the scooter ridden by the female protagonist in the movie "Roman Holiday," which was the world's first pedal-powered motorcycle at that time.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Fumie seemed to enjoy talking about these things with others. It was rare for her to find someone with similar interests, so she became quite enthusiastic. However, after listening for a while, Mariko Aokawa couldn't help but interrupt and ask, "Nanahara-kōhai, my grandmother's previous nightmares and this house..."

Mariko Aokawa didn't pay Nanahara Takeshi to know how black and white movies were made forty years ago. Nanahara Takeshi turned to her and smiled, "There's no problem. Your grandmother just unknowingly absorbed a bit of resentment from somewhere. The house is also clean and doesn't affect anything. If Miss Aokawa is worried, you can stay outside for a few more days. It's no problem if you want to come back and stay directly."

"Resentment?" Mariko Aokawa's scalp tingled when she heard this word. These past few days had really scared her. She asked cautiously, "Where did this resentment come from?"

"It's very faint, so it's hard to determine for now." Nanahara Takeshi smiled and said, "Of course, don't worry. I will investigate and clarify the situation in two or three days. I will inform you then. But this kind of thing is quite common. As long as you relax and don't let it affect your daily life."

"Alright, thank you for your hard work. I'll wait for your news." Mariko Aokawa was a bit disappointed that there wasn't an immediate effect and a scene of demon exorcists battling vengeful spirits. But since she had already paid the money, she could only listen to the expert for now. If the situation didn't improve after observing for two days, she could always consult another demon exorcist.

Fumie was also concerned about the "resentment" she had absorbed. After all, no one wants to have nightmares. She took out an amulet and a talisman and asked, "Nanahara-san, do I still need to wear these?"

Nanahara Takeshi casually took them. The amulet couldn't be opened, as it would lose its effectiveness according to tradition. It was hard to determine what was inside at the moment. However, he only glanced at the talisman and immediately started dismantling the mistakes made by his colleagues. "No need. This is useless. The shrine didn't have an expert, and they copied it wrong."

Mariko Aokawa couldn't accept this blow and looked at the talisman hesitantly. "Why do you say that? I spent 12,000 yen to get this..."

Nanahara Takeshi didn't care about hitting his colleagues. He pointed to the chaotic lines on the talisman and smiled, "This part is used to indicate the name of the deity. The part it's pointing to is Kiinadahime, so it can't ward off evil."

Mariko Aokawa glanced at it and was stunned. "Kiinadahime?" Kiinadahime was quite famous in Japanese mythology. She was the wife of Susanoo-no-Mikoto and was believed to be in charge of "family happiness," "marriage fate," and "many children and grandchildren." It turned out that the talisman she paid 12,000 yen for was completely unrelated. It might even bring her more trouble if she wore it for a long time.

"Use mine instead." Nanahara Takeshi wasn't just talking. He was willing to give some valuable information to his esteemed client. In the blink of an eye, he had a small wooden carving covered in talismans and a small brocade bag in his hand.He put the small wooden carving into a small bag and handed it to Fumie, smiling, "You can carry it with you, it's even better to wear it on your chest, you don't have to take it off when you sleep."

The small bag had a faint fragrance, and Fumie felt a slight calmness in her heart when she held it in her hand. She had two more confidence in Nanahara Takeshi and wore it on her chest as instructed. Nanahara Takeshi also instructed her to buy some longan and lychee and make some wheat porridge to replenish her yang energy and ward off evil spirits, and she remembered them all.

There was nothing else to do at Aokawa's house. If there was anything they wanted to ask, they could just call. Nanahara Takeshi directly bid farewell, but before leaving, he took away everything that Fumie had bought from the flea market before the nightmare. He wanted to take them back and examine them carefully.

Fumie certainly didn't object. The Japanese pension system was very friendly to the elderly. She could receive different amounts of pension and retirement benefits from three accounts every month. She was a wealthy old lady and didn't mind buying second-hand goods. In the end, she filled a whole box with over a hundred boxes of cassette tapes, over ten video tapes, dozens of old magazines, over ten second-hand books, and some small ornaments and toys. She had been buying and collecting these things all year round, and she couldn't remember when she bought many of them. She simply let the exorcist take them away for examination.

Aokawa Mariko was not very confident about leaving her grandmother alone at home. She even decided to stay outside for a few days and come back after there was an explanation for this matter. At this moment, she couldn't send Nanahara Takeshi and Kiyomi Ruri off, so she directly called a taxi for them, paid the fare, and politely sent them away.

............

After Nanahara Takeshi got into the car, he asked the taxi driver to drive to the police station and closed his eyes to contemplate.

Kiyomi Ruri sat next to him and whispered unhappily, "You're lying again. Can you stop lying in the future?" She saw Nanahara Takeshi talking about "grudges" just now and endured it, afraid that if she spoke, she would sell this fraud and charlatan.

Nanahara Takeshi didn't even open his eyes and said indifferently, "The shrine is also doing the same thing as me. Before accusing me, why don't you dismantle the shrine first? Don't just bully weak groups like me."

Weak my ass!

Kiyomi Ruri cursed him secretly in her heart, but Nanahara Takeshi, who played tricks, was willing to solve the problem. It was better than the shrine that only collected money without doing anything. It was still within her tolerance. She then asked, "Is that talisman really pointing to the goddess Kito Hime?"

She suspected that Nanahara Takeshi was causing trouble within the industry, trampling on his peers to expand his business.

Nanahara Takeshi glanced at her and said, "Use your brain. It's a lie to say such things. If Aokawa Mariko goes to ask someone who understands, wouldn't I be ruining my own reputation? That talisman is indeed nonsense. There are not many people nowadays who have the leisure to study talismans. That shrine doesn't have any capable people. It probably got a book from somewhere and didn't understand it before copying it randomly."

That's true. It's not good to lie about such things. Kiyomi Ruri felt that the shrine was indeed not as good as Nanahara Takeshi. At least Nanahara Takeshi was deliberately fooling people, but that shrine didn't even bother to do that. It was simply morally corrupt.

She cursed the shrine a few more times in her heart and asked again, "The small wooden carving you gave, I saw that it also had many ghost talismans carved on it. Which deity does it point to?"

"Nanahara Daifukujin."

"Nanahara Daifukujin?" Kiyomi Ruri suddenly had a bad feeling. "Could it be..."

Nanahara Takeshi smiled and said, "Yes, it points to me. As long as he is willing to pay me, he's not a scumbag, and I can definitely ensure that he is satisfied. Isn't that better than the useless deities who only take money and do nothing? Besides, I'm willing to invest more money than the shrine. The shrine sells a piece of waste paper for over ten thousand yen, but my small bag contains ingredients like chicken tongue incense, cypress seeds, mimosa bark, cardamom, and polygala, which can calm the mind and help sleep. It's definitely worth it."

Kiyomi Ruri had nothing to say. All fraudsters were the same. Nanahara Takeshi might be slightly better than that shrine, but he still wasn't that great. In the end, he was still fooling people.

She no longer cared about how the fraud industry was causing trouble. She began to worry about how to truly solve this matter. "Are we going to the police station now to find Miss Nakano and see what exactly happened in that murder case?"

Nanahara Takeshi's expression became serious, and he stopped joking. He pondered and said, "Yes, there's no problem at home. The old lady's dream was too clear. It's necessary to understand that case and compare it with her dream. If the two are basically the same, we need to consider the connection between the victim or the murderer and the old lady."

Kiyomi Ruri also thought for a while and didn't expect how these two could be connected. She hesitated and asked, "So you still suspect those second-hand goods?"

Nanahara Takeshi nodded, "Not suspecting, but she just bought these second-hand goods, especially those cassette tapes, video tapes, and magazines. Problems occurred right after she bought them. These things have some suspicion. It's not appropriate to leave them with her. Just in case, we should take them away. It's not... um, it's not troublesome to move them."

That's reasonable. Kiyomi Ruri felt relieved. She said happily, "I thought you were going to freeload and watch other people's things. It's good that it's related to the commission."

"I don't need to watch. I already have a general understanding of those old singers and movies. It's a waste of time to watch and listen to them again." Nanahara Takeshi looked at her and smiled, "You go and watch, listen."

This couldn't be done at Aokawa's house. It would take at least an hour for a movie, and the cassette tapes were the same. It would take at least half an hour to listen to one. Fumie had bought too many of them. It took them more than ten minutes just to look at the covers. It would be impossible to go through the content without dozens of hours. They could only move them back home.

Kiyomi Ruri was stunned. She didn't expect this matter to fall on her. She said in surprise, "Should I check them?"

Nanahara Takeshi didn't hesitate at all and said, "Of course, let's move them to your place. There's no rush. Take your time to check. Currently, these things seem to have very little suspicion."

"We have to move them back home?" Kiyomi Ruri hesitated for a moment and muttered, "Why don't you check? What if I start having nightmares too?"Nanahara Takeshi supported her shoulders and said seriously, "Don't be afraid. It concerns the health of an innocent old man. We have accepted the money and the commission, so we must have a result. Therefore, we must have the spirit of sacrifice and be willing to take necessary risks. We must be bold and thorough in our investigation!"

Kiyomi Ruri looked at him incredulously, "Where is the sacrifice and risk for you? Isn't it me who is sacrificing and taking risks? You're clearly using me as a guinea pig!"

Nanahara Takeshi guaranteed without hesitation, "You really don't have to worry. It has been said that the suspicion is very small. You shouldn't have to sacrifice. I promise!"

Kiyomi Ruri was still dissatisfied and muttered under her breath, "Hmph, you say it so lightly. After all, it's not you who will be in trouble. You always push the unlucky things onto me."

In fact, she had agreed, but she was complaining. She was not likable at all. Nanahara Takeshi looked at her disdainfully and said, "Look at how scared you are. You're such a coward. I've said it several times already. I asked you to investigate just in case. Nothing will happen. Didn't you notice a detail before?"

Kiyomi Ruri looked up in surprise, "What detail?"

Nanahara Takeshi touched his chin and said, "The murder happened six days ago. The old lady mentioned her nightmare and going to the Shinto Shrine also happened six days ago. That means..."

He felt that it was unreasonable last night, but he didn't think much of it at the time. He thought it was just an inaccurate description of the timeline when Aokawa Mariko conveyed it orally, or maybe there was some internal family problem in the Aokawa family that coincidentally happened. However, he had patiently asked Fumie just now and confirmed that she didn't get the timing wrong. He had also worked with Nakano Eri before, and she couldn't have remembered the wrong time when flipping through the files. That's why things became troublesome and they received less money.

Of course, this still needed to be confirmed at the police station, but it was almost certain. Aokawa Mariko and Nakano Eri had both jumped to the conclusion that it was related to ghosts as soon as they heard that the old lady had dreamed of a murder. They didn't even think carefully about the order of events.

Even now, it seemed that Kiyomi Ruri, the Tibetan Fox, hadn't considered the order of events either. She had been thinking about whether it was related to ghosts.

Kiyomi Ruri was indeed stunned for a moment, and after a moment, she was shocked and couldn't help but mutter, "Are you saying it's a premonition dream? If the murder happened during the day, or even at night, did Aokawa Grandma really have a premonition dream? Did she dream of Turtleda being killed in advance, or was she influenced by some magazine videotape?"

Damn it, no wonder this guy didn't care much about those second-hand goods and just sent me to look through them. It turns out he was using my time to rule out any possibilities. But if that's the case, the situation becomes even more bizarre. Could it really be a supernatural phenomenon?!

Is there really such a thing as a premonition dream in this world?

(End of this chapter)