Due to the bookshelves blocking, the light in the secret room became even dimmer,

Li Ang discovered an arc-shaped track on the ground behind the left side of the bookshelf,

When the mechanism is activated, the left side of the bookshelf with pulleys installed would slide backward along the track, making the secret room appear—the bookshelf must move backward,

If it moves forward,

it will leave sliding marks on the study floor, exposing it easily.

"Watch my back."

Li Ang instructed Wang Congshan to stand at the secret room entrance with a gun,

while he turned his body sideways, held onto the edge of the bookshelf, and entered the secret room,

and used the Heart Monkey Staff to jam the mechanism, preventing the secret room from suddenly closing.

He turned around and saw on the wall of the secret room, a rectangular net woven with wire was nailed.

On the left side of the net hung two human-faced Noh Masks, one red and one black, corresponding to happy and angry expressions, judging from the remaining wooden nails on the net, it could still fit four more Noh Masks.

On the table beneath the wire mesh, there were several pieces of wood, a box of engraving tools, and a photo frame, inside which was a clipped newspaper.

"If the secret room is just an ordinary workshop, there is no need to hide it with such effort."

Li Ang contemplated and glanced at the wall.

The Noh Masks in the outside room were already exquisite enough, but the four Noh Masks in the secret room were exceptionally skillful,

Clearly only carved from wood, yet perfectly simulated even the textures and pores of human skin.

"They can actually be taken down..."

Li Ang took down the two Noh Masks from the net and, judging from the touch, they truly were just wood, not horrific props made from human skin.

He held the Noh Masks in his hands, flipped them over, and found two small faded slips on the forehead on the back, with the word "Matsuga" written on them.

"Matsuga?"

Li Ang frowned, remembering that on the way there, he indeed saw a house with this surname on the nameplate, quite far from the Fujimura Family, and appeared much more rundown.

"Why would these two words appear behind the masks? Is this a sign to visit the Matsuga house again?"

The questions grew more plentiful, so Li Ang decided to hold onto the masks first, and then looked down at the table, noticing the scattered wood was quite special.

Traditionally, Japan Islands Noh Masks follow ancient methods, mostly carved from hinoki wood (collective name for red hinoki and flat hinoki), which contains oil, has a fragrant aroma, beautiful grain, and after processing, has a layer of gloss that can be stored long-term without rotting.

However, the wood on this table was sturdy and heavy, almost like lifting a lead block when held.

"This should be some type of cypress wood?"

Frowning, Li Ang used the engraving knife to cut off a small piece from the wood and placed it in his pocket, then picked up the photo frame and took out the newspaper clipping from it.

The headline of the clipping was [New York International Noh Mask Exhibition Successfully Held] 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The content stated [On July 14th, the second international Noh Mask Exhibition was successfully held at the Manhattan Museum of Modern Art in New York, with 781 exhibits from 45 Moh Mask Masters worldwide. Among them, Mr. Fujimura Xiuping from Fate Carving Village, Gumma County, won the first prize for his Prajna Noh Mask made for the Fate Carving Village festival.]

"Fujimura Xiuping? This is the name of the Moh Mask Master?"

This clipping did not indicate the year on the front, luckily, the news on the back mentioned the impending launch of the Apollo 11 rocket by America’s NASA.

Apollo 11’s launch was in 1969, which translates to Showa 44.

"Fate Carving Village festival, moon landing, Noh Mask exhibition..."

Li Ang murmured, folded the clipping, and placed it in his pocket, then searched the secret room to ensure nothing was missed before coming out, holding the Heart Monkey 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 the safe."

Because neither of them had pockets, carrying the Noh Masks wasn’t very convenient,

so Li Ang and Wang Congshan went to the children’s bedroom, took Fujimura Yangyi’s backpack from the closet, removed the notebooks and test papers (also blurry) from the backpack,

placed the Noh Masks inside, carried by Li Ang, and walked downstairs, once again entered the master bedroom, and dialed the safe’s Mechanical Compass lock.

Adjusted to the date when Moh Mask Master Fujimura Xiuping won the first prize at the Noh Mask Exhibition, i.e., 690714.

Click.

The safe opened with a sound, and Li Ang and Wang Congshan exchanged glances, pulling it open.

The safe wasn’t holding much,

consisted of a stack of identity documents, a small amount of cash, jewelry, a certificate, and a locked rectangular metal box.

The certificate was for the first prize at the second international Noh Mask Exhibition, it seemed Fujimura Xiuping was indeed very proud of his Moh Mask Master profession,

not only setting the safe to the award date but also storing the winning certificate inside.

The rectangular metal box was about the size of a child’s stationery box, with a small lock hung outside, after weighing it, it felt like some kind of metal plate might be inside.

As for the stack of identity documents, they were photocopies of "運転免許証" — driver’s licenses for the male owner Fujimura Xiuping and the female owner Fujimura Masumi.

Japan Islands don’t have a nationwide resident ID card; a driver’s license typically equates to identification, proving the identity of an adult citizen.

Aside from the driver’s license, the safe also contained health insurance cards, resident cards, and other important documents,

alongside important documents were the couple’s personal stamps—in Japan Islands, personal stamps are almost as important as signatures, used for signing letters, bank loans, land and house sales.

After obtaining these documents, Li Ang and Wang Congshan learned the specific birth dates of the Fujimura family members and got a key piece of information: the Fujimura family’s younger son, Fujimura Ryosuke, born in September 1970, was adopted, the proof being an adoption certificate.

On the adoption certificate, Fujimura Ryosuke’s original name was Matsuga Ryosuke,

with connections to the Fujimura Family,

being the son of Fujimura Masumi, originally named Matsuga Masumi, the Fujimura Family’s female owner, and her brother’s son.

Li Ang speculated thoughtfully, "Seems like some incident happened to the Matsuga family, the Matsuga couple unfortunately passed away, so after marriage, Matsuga Masumi, who changed her surname to Fujimura, adopted her nephew Matsuga Ryosuke and completed his name change."

"Yes,"

Wang Congshan nodded, "The two children of the Fujimura family, Fujimura Yangyi and Fujimura Ryosuke, shared a room,

wore and used the same things.

Judging from the family photo taken in summer, both children wore short sleeves, showing no signs of abuse.

Even though Fujimura Ryosuke, or Matsuga Ryosuke, was adopted,

he shouldn’t be like the storyline in ’Harry Potter’ where the adopted child suffers long-term abuse and eventually manifests superpowers..."

Before the words finished,

a desolate child’s scream echoed through the corridor,

Li Ang’s pupils shrank, he picked up the items from the safe, grabbed the Heart Monkey Staff, and jumped into the corridor,

only to see the shoe cabinet door forced open, the Daffodil Pot placed before it toppled over, the shoe cabinet now empty, no longer seeing the inverted head of the child’s resentful spirit.

Li Ang gripped the Heart Monkey Staff tightly, standing in the Fujimura Family’s corridor, he could see a layer of fog rising outside on the street,

a multitude of bizarre, distorted creatures slowly emerged from the fog, surrounding the house.