Why?
Why did this have to happen?
I'm... I can no longer...
(Wanting you to just be near, to feel your breath upon my ear)
(Wishing you would call my name, 'Cause only you can light the flame)
Constantly searching, still can't find
Ever illusive peace of mind
Sometimes it's near, but slips away
And I'm faced with another day
Of wanting you... (to feel your breath upon my ear)
...to just be near ('Cause only you can light the flame)
Of wishing you... (to feel your breath upon my ear)
...would call my name, to feel your breath upon my ear
Of wanting you...wishing you... (to feel your breath upon my ear)
Call my name, 'cause only you can light the flame
Um... Excuse me. Is it much further?
Great. I just wanted some material...
for "The 100 Stories," but now...
That eye...again.
He's still a retired owner.
You're so mean! What if he hears you?
I don't care if he hears.
Yeah! He's young, but he doesn't work!
Really! I doubt he's going to turn out to be worth anything.
Worth something, huh?
This is completely worthless!
Wha...? Aw, come on! I worked really hard on that one!
You're just not suited to thinking stuff up, are you?
Come on...
Well, you've always got your "100 Stories" to fall back on, right?
Well, about that...
If you can finish that, I'll drop by again.
As long as you finish it while I'm still alive, that is!
The sky looks creepy today.
You!
I came because he said I'd find...
some good ghost stories to write about...
but I guess that's turning out to be a bust, too.
Can't I get a little help here?
It's said that just before a person dies...
their life passes before their eyes. What did you see, Mr. Author?
B-But, I am still alive! Don't say such creepy things!
You helped me the first time we met.
Why?
Perhaps I did it on a whim.
Oh, so I'm only alive because of some whim of yours?!
Such amusing things you say. As I'd expect of a writer.
My life, huh? I saw nothing pass before my eyes.
Because I've done nothing worth seeing. Nothing at all.
Why? WHY?!
If it ends like this, for what sake did I kill people?
KARATACHl NO lZOU - BANDlT
Boss!
This place used to be full of foxes.
At that temple up ahead, they still tell the legend of Hakuzosu.
GRAVE OF THE FOREST FOXES At that temple up ahead, they still tell the legend of Hakuzosu.
Hakuzosu? That's strange.
Isn't that tale native to the State of Kai area?
Heh, I'm impressed.
Would you mind telling me the story?
Right. The story goes that there was...
an old enchanted fox who lived on Mt. Yume in the State of Kai.
The fox had many children...
but all but one were trapped and killed by a hunter.
The hunter had an uncle, an old priest known as "Hakuzosu."
The old fox transformed herself into him and warned that...
"The gates of Paradise will be closed..."
"to those who continue to kill."
Then she gave him some gold and asked him to stop hunting the foxes.
But once the gold was spent...
he returned to Hakuzosu to demand more.
The old fox, having predicted this...
killed the priest, transformed into Hakuzosu again...
and then remained at the temple.
One day, 50 years later, Hakuzosu went to observe a deer hunt...
was scented by the hunting dogs, and eaten by them.
I see. But the Hakuzosu in the temple here isn't dead yet.
Hakuzosu? She's alive?
And the hunter here, Yasaku, never gave up hunting foxes...
and seems to have ended up killing people, as well.
Wait, please!
What are you saying?
You aren't going to find this Yasaku guy to...?!
The traps I set are, in the end, for the purpose of capturing specters.
Specters?
You're saying Master Enkai and Kichibe were specters?!
They carried an inhuman darkness within them.
And that's why you killed them?
However, this time we face a slightly more powerful target.
The darkness within Yasaku.
The problem is that he's not aware of his sin.
Kill them! Kill them all!
I'm sorry, but my boss ordered me to.
If I disobey, he'll kill me. So...
Without a sense of guilt, he ended up enjoying killing.
Yes. To the point of killing his fiancee Towa.
But what you people do... What you people do is just murder.
I didn't think you'd understand.
W-Wait... You wouldn't kill ME, too?!
Only if you tell anyone about us.
Is that the reason you brought me out here?
Please do as I ask.
I'm going home!
What are you planning?
I'd think it was obvious.
Unless... Kyogokutei ordered it?
Nice weather we've been having lately, isn't it?
Indeed, it is.
By the way, what about that young author?
The one called Momosuke, you mean?
Yes, yes. Ol' Momo. Dear Momosuke.
A writer could expose your activities to the world at large.
And that could be trouble!
You'd better shut him up as soon as you can!
Yes, that'd be for the best!
Do it at once! Do it, and perhaps...
you'll even prove to be of some use to the Master!
To the Master!
Th-Thanks, but anything but that!
I'm sorry to always give you such difficult orders.
Trouble, huh?
Nothing new.
Then should we really be letting him go home?!
What of it? Even if we let him do it...
Oh, I get it, now.
Why'd this have to happen?!
Oh... My legs are so stiff!
At this rate I'll never finish "The 100 Stories!"
A hunter.
Excuse me. Are you...Yasaku?
This man... Is it Yasaku?
You shouldn't go beyond this point.
Have we met somewhere before?
Um, well...
There are people up ahead who want to kill you.
Excuse me, but... Is it true you've killed people?
Wha...?! What are you...?!
That you even killed your fiancee?
How do you...?!
Is it true?
How does this guy know?!
What's wrong?
Yasaku, not that way!
It won't come off! Why won't it come off?!
Oh, my. Excuse me.
Th-That's all right.
Anything wrong?
Such manly hands.
Th-There's blood on them.
Where?
How...?
Maybe you just imagined it.
Imagined it?
But I'm quite real.
I wouldn't expect to find such a pretty girl here in the mountains.
Oh, you sweet man.
How do you know I'm not a racoon dog or a fox?
There are no foxes left around here.
Why not?
I killed them all.
Are you a hunter? Ah...
You're stronger than you look, then.
I like men like you.
I'm coming with you...
so why don't we run away together?
You're a kind man.
You said with the foxes you catch in this forest...
we could live together, just the two of us!
Towa!
I know everything.
Even how you were used by lzou the Bandit.
It doesn't matter.
So run away with me!
We could live happily in some backwater somewhere.
But...the boss told me...
What?
Anybody who knows about us has to be killed!
Wh-Why?
I'm sorry, but it's not me. It's the boss. The boss!
It's all right. Your pain will be gone soon.
Y-Yasaku!
Yasaku!
- Are you all right?
- Wh-What was...?
Let's go. We shouldn't stay here!
I used to hunt foxes in these woods.
It was your job, right?
Not just that. I was too weak to resist...
the bandit chief here, so I killed people, too.
If you disobeyed him, you would have been killed.
You did it to survive.
Nobody can blame you for what you did!
Thank you.
Where are you going?
I wanted to have a little more fun.
Ah, well. You're too much.
Still, that writer came back sooner than I expected.
But he's not very bright.
He should have just gone back to Edo.
Not necessarily.
Oh?
Kyogokutei's in Edo.
I see. The second he gets back there...
Exactly.
Reverend Fugen?
It's me, Yasaku. I'm back.
Dogs?
Looks like nobody's home.
What is it?
There's no monk here.
Ten years ago...
Reverend Fugen came to tell me to stop hunting the foxes, and I killed him.
My boss lzou the Bandit used it to blackmail me.
Later, the boss took the place of that Reverend Fugen...
and turned this temple into a bandit hideout.
But... But after the boss was decapitated...
I don't have to kill any more. I don't...
You make fine excuses for yourself...
B-Boss?!
You killed people under my orders?
You've loved to kill since you were a child!
Isn't that true?!
You're a weak man.
That's why you kill defenseless insects and animals.
Just to make yourself feel strong!
You love the feeling of taking lives so much, you can't stand it!
No...
You kill because you enjoy killing.
That's why you keep on doing it!
No!
You could have run away with Towa...
but you chose the path of murderer!
- And then blamed me for it!
- No!
You're a murderer! A sick man who enjoys killing people!
Something's weird. Something's wrong here.
This lzou person... How would Yasaku's old boss...
know what he was like as a child?!
But the Hakuzosu in the temple here isn't dead yet.
Of course! Hakuzosu!
This isn't your boss lzou! It's a fox!
Come on! Hurry!
Wait!
If it really is Hakuzosu, he should be vulnerable to dogs!
The fox must have been behind the whole thing.
Huh? You mean, all this time, I've been tricked by a fox?!
Come on. We have to get away from here, fast!
For crying out loud...
I didn't hear Mr. Author was gonna come, Mata.
Don't look around!
Take me with you.
Help us.
Don't look!
Yasaku?
Yasaku, help me!
It's all over. For you, too.
This saves me the trouble of killing you.
I can't let you go when you know the truth about me.
You can't mean that.
Let me tell you a good story, as a parting gift to the next world.
Everything that Hakuzosu said was true.
I kill people because I like to.
Nothing gets me off more than...
watching a person's face as they die!
You really are a stupid man!
L-Let me go!
Help me, please!
If I let go, he can... But...
Save me, and I'll spend the rest of my life...
making up for my sins! Please!
This man is desperate to live. More than I am...
I won't lie ever again! I won't kill ever again!
You swear?
I won't! I won't kill another soul!
I'm saved. That guy was a fool!
His foolishness saved you, you know.
Step off the path of righteousness...
and you become trapped in the depths of sin.
Evil and ambition scatter in the darkness...
Ieaving behind dubious rumors to fly in public.
Wh-Who are you?
You're friends of that idiot? Well, spare me your sermon!
I'm not scared of anything at this point!
I've killed too many animals. Too many PEOPLE!
I won't let you die easily!
The lives you stole, the length of their lives...
I shall make you pay for!
Why did it turn into this?
I'm going to die.
Just as I thought, nothing's flashing before my eyes.
I guess my life really isn't worth remembering.
Am I dead now?
Maybe Yasaku wasn 't the only victim of this trap.
I was caught in it, too.
Still, this feeling of peace...
I've never felt anything like it before.
You're nothing but a big softy!
How do you expect to live...
by going against Kyogokutei's orders?
Why don't you head back, Ogin? Just you.
It's none of your business where I go!
Wind chimes whisper soft and sweet
Though there's not a hint of a breeze
Moonlight dancing on the garden walk
As it gently drifts through the trees
Romance takes flight on this perfect night
While all of the world lays sleeping
Find us here as we feel the moment of love
Draw near
Dream, sleep, with your hand in mine
Underneath a blanket of stars
Song birds singing in a distant glade
As we share the warmth of the dawn
Evil and ambition scatter in the darkness...
Ieaving behind dubious rumors to fly in public.
In many cases, a woman is like a flower.
Captivating and fragrant.
But what of a woman's karma?
What blossoms in Oyoshi's heart?
Next time, on Natsuhiko Kyogoku's "Requiem From the Darkness:"
Mai Kubi (The Dancing Head)
To the next world, we commit Thee!