(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
This is a nine-stage picture scroll.
This stage shows swelling, this next one shows blood-staining.
The next shows evisceration...
until the flesh is consumed by vermin.
Oh? What's wrong, Momosuke?
Oh, nothing. These sorts of things just affect me easily.
Kind of weak-stomached for a guy who collects horror stories.
Mr. Fushimiya, could we keep this brief?
Momosuke, may I present Mr. Sajuro Ogata...
magistrate of the Kyoto city government.
And over there is Mr. Genba Sasayama.
What we called you for here tonight is about a mystery...
at Katabira Crossroads which has the whole city talking.
I've heard. Women's corpses are being found at the crossroads--
Correct! And we'd like to ask for your advice in this matter.
Hold on a minute! I'm no expert in this!
If we were dealing with a human, it'd make no sense.
But if we're dealing with a monster...
What?!
It's said that Katabira Crossroads...
is where the death shroud of Empress Sarumi flew...
after the weather beat it off her corpse when she died.
The empress's body was left out on the street?!
Yes. It was in her will.
No matter how beautiful they are, everyone is doomed to rot away.
The spiritually-minded empress wanted to demonstrate...
the transience of the world using her own body.
She did it to sever the emperor's feelings for her.
Because of its origins, it's said the crossroads...
has always had a weird aura to it.
Which brings us to the current incidents.
Seven women so far.
Some were already dead, their bodies stolen.
Others were kidnapped and then killed. And then...
The bodies were dumped after reaching the right stage of decay!
And all were known throughout the city as exceptional beauties.
Word on the street is that it's the work...
of a lady ghost who appears at the crossroads.
And the magistrate's office has no hope of dealing with a ghost!
Which is why we were hoping...
your insight might be of help to us, Momosuke.
Even saying that...
Can you offer any help?!
No, but...
The truth is, a leading lady named Ohagi...
one of the top geishas here at Shimabara...
disappeared suddenly. She hasn't been seen in six months.
The top geishas have arrived.
We can continue the discussion at our leisure.
Now then, come along!
Yes, sir!
- Here's what you've been waiting for!
- Sasayama! You get over here, too!
Have a drink. My, what a handsome man you are!
Oh, you're just saying that.
Naughty boy.
Thinking dirty thoughts again, aren't you?
N- No! I wouldn't!
So, Mr. Author, are you going to see Mr. Fushimiya?
Yeah. He's a friend of my publisher, Mr. Tsutaya.
He knows Fushimiya likes ghost stories, so he asked me to come.
This may be a good opportunity to part company.
My dear Trickster, by any chance, are you...
I'm just saying Mr. Author and l live in two very different worlds.
Mr. Sasayama?
Oh, my! I lost! You got me!
Sato...
Sato!
Sato, wake up! Sato!
Sato!
That's how it supposedly started.
So, the first victim was Mr. Sasayama's wife, then?
He's been terribly depressed since Ms. Sato's death.
I try to get him to have a good time once in a while, like tonight, but...
He must have really loved his wife.
As did l.
To be perfectly honest, I was in love with Ms. Sato.
Of course, it was an unrequited love!
There was no way I could ever compete with Sasayama for her.
He really is a fine man.
And yet what happened to him was...
Sato! Sato! SATO!
Legend has it that even the god lzanagi was fearful of his wife lzanami's corpse...
in the underworld so he ran back home...
but Sasayama never left his wife's side once.
Since she died, each body would always be found with a drawing above it.
One each, in the order of that nine-stage scroll.
Ono no Komachi.
Hmm? Think of something?
Um, no. This all reminds me of another nine-stage scroll.
The one showing the death of the lady poet Ono no Komachi.
Ono no Komachi, huh? I see.
Komachi's vengeful spirit is jealous of beautiful women.
Um, look, I was just...
This is Katabira Crossroads.
Is that Ono no Komachi, Mr. Author?
Mataichi?!
Damn you, specter!
Ogin!
Who is it that steals my name?
Where's Ogin?!
Author, Ogin no longer lives.
My feelings will never fade. Never.
A vengeful spirit? Impossible.
Sasayama! I saw it with my own eyes!
The truth is, I still don't believe it myself...
but I wasn't alone. Momosuke saw it, too!
The spirit took the body of a woman Momosuke knew and vanished!
She left behind only the words, "Who is it that steals my name?"
OGlN!
Author... Ogin no longer lives.
Ogin died seven days ago.
She went off alone, saying she would get rid of the vengeful spirit herself.
Instead, it ended up killing her.
Author, give up on Ogin.
Ogin!
Do you still love me, even like this?
I said from the start that you and Ogin lived in two different worlds.
Meaning you really shouldn't get too close to us.
How can you...
However we may die should not affect you.
Do you understand?
The truth is, I'm caught in a sort of gray area.
I don't want to live in the physical world...
and I can't become a resident of the supernatural world.
Momosuke, a fast courier just arrived from Edo.
For me?
It appears to be from your big brother in Hachioji, by way of Mr. Tsutaya.
From my brother?
So you're from the samurai class, Momosuke?
Yes. I was adopted into the lkomaya family when I was still a baby.
So, what does your brother want?
Um, he says he wants to consult me about something.
You'll be returning to Edo, then?
It's not like I'll ever see them again.
Hmm? It's Mr. Sasayama.
Sato, why did you leave me behind?
Sato...
Huh?
Hi, Mr. Author.
N- Nagamimi! What are you doing here?
A little errand I'm running for that little Trickster.
Sorry, but can you carry one with me?
Y- Yeah, sure. Whoa! What is this thing?!
Sorry I'm late, Sato.
Sato? Sato!
How far do we have to carry these?
We're almost there.
Isn't Katabira Crossroads up ahead?
Okay, can you give me yours?
Now you, Mr. Author, should hide behind that thicket there.
What's about to happen?
Just watch and see.
That's...
How troublesome. It's too soon for him to appear.
Nagamimi!
Is that...?
Hey! You there!
What's in that basket?
All right, open it!
Why, you...
Stop!
Sato! Sato! Sato!
Sato! Here you are! I finally found you!
Are you the one who takes my name and places your sins upon me?!
What a horrible thing to do.
What...?!
Even though your wife no longer exists in this world.
Are you the one who carried Sato here?
You seem blinded by illusions. Look again, with clearer eyes.
Ogin!
Ogin, are you still alive? Or are you now a lost soul?
It doesn't matter. I just wanted to meet Ogin once again.
No matter how much you change, l... I...
What's this writer trying to tell me?
You're her accomplice?!
P- Please, calm down!
As we travel down the path of life, we are confronted by choices.
Step off the path of righteousness and you become trapped in the depths of sin.
In the end, this transient world is but a dream.
Evil and ambition scatter in the darkness...
Ieaving behind dubious rumors to fly in public.
Look carefully. That is not your wife Sato.
What?!
Madame Ohagi, prostitute of Shimabara.
You killed her six months ago.
There were others, weren't there?
Shizuno, the young geisha of the Gion district.
Otoku from the restaurant, and Okinu from Shirakawame.
Impossible!
They all looked like Sato, didn't they?
My feelings will never change!
No matter how corrupted her flesh may become!
Are you saying that's why you record the stages of their bodies' decay?
Like this!
Your wife and the other women are angry with you!
Wh- What are you saying?!
I love her even into death! Why would she be angry with me?!
Not only do you look at her as she most...
doesn't wish you to see her, but you record it in images!
Even the goddess lzanami would be angry.
You brought shame upon us!
To the next world, we commit Thee!
What shame have I brought?
I'll show you my love. Show you my undying faith!
By becoming a corpse, like my beloved Sato!
Good grief, so all nine pictures are together now?
Ogin! I KNEW you were still alive! Thank heaven!
I thought you said it didn't matter before.
Oh, I didn't mean it like that!
Nagamimi!
It was a lot of trouble supplying those corpses for you, Trickster.
You mean, the thing I was carrying before was...
A perfect ending, dying while killing the man who stole his wife's body.
I get it now. He removed the body from its coffin before the funeral.
But as the body began to rot, he regained his senses...
and dumped the body in terror.
But he relapsed and was driven to repeat the murder.
To think that his love for his wife remained that strong...
Heh. Awful, isn't it?
Author, as he gazed at his wife's corpse, he grew to crave her.
And as he did, his interest in living women disappeared.
And so he'd murder women and lose himself in ecstasy...
as he watched their bodies decay.
My God.
It's about time the monsters returned to the darkness.
How about it, Author? Will you vanish with us?
Or will you stay behind there?
Sasayama, you killed the murderer!
Well done! Well done!
Lord Ogata has no idea. I wonder if it's for the best.
In the end, this world is filled with lies, Author.
Lies fill the truth so that no one is sure of anything.
Isn't that how people manage to live their lives?
That applies to me. And to you.
Mataichi...
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.
A mystery troubles Momosuke's older brother.
A malicious shot buried in a samurai's forehead.
The weapon is "nodeppo" (field gun), fired from the darkness.
Next time, on Natsuhiko Kyogoku's "Requiem From the Darkness:"
Field Gun.
To the next world, we commit Thee!