“Kodoku…”
I could hear the heavy, repeated slithering. The skittering of insects, the flapping of bird wings. The uneven tunnel walls and the thick tepid air writhed with twisted sounds, like the insides of a monstrous womb.
The coiled shape inside the cell began to swivel slowly, its stomach, scaled like a lustrous brocade, rotating around completely. I saw a face in the glare of the flashlight through the open lattice of the bars. It was impossible to tell if it was a man’s face or a woman’s. Damp, sodden hair clung to its narrow features and sharp, protruding cheekbones. It resembled the faces of the people of this village. Drool dripped from its gaping mouth. Was this the god that protected them?
“Miyaki, get back!”
My shout was lost in the sound of a huge crash as the imprisoned serpent hammered its body against the bars. A shower of stones and dust whirled in the air. The bars bent, and a crack appeared. I grabbed Miyaki’s arm and began to run.
“Katagishi, wait!”
“What?”
“Look!”
Miyaki grabbed my flashlight and pointed it straight ahead. Light caressed the earthen ceiling, and the path forward dimly came into view. Instead of walls, the extensive cave passage was hemmed in on either side by thick wooden bars stretching off into the distance. Cells. This entire place was one giant oubliette. A myriad of shadows moved within the cells. I could hear dry wings scratching together, like cellophane paper, and a viscous, heavy sound, like raw meat smacked against the floor.
“Miyaki, run straight through. And whatever you do, don’t look!”
“Wasn’t planning on it…”
I lowered my eyes and began sprinting, focusing on my feet. The flashlight bobbed up and down in time with Miyaki’s pace, illuminating the path in random patches. I could see hair and insectile legs rubbing together at the borders of the circle of light. A thing like a human torso without a head or limbs crawled forward by bending and unbending its protruding back. I nearly screamed as I sensed what felt like tiny little arms palpitating down the nape of my neck. But only Miyaki was behind me. It was a hallucination created from darkness and fear.
I spotted a faint light up ahead. The path widened, with something sparkling toward the right. I quickened my pace. After making our way out of the warped cavern, which seemed to have been carved by human hands, we came across a broad scaffold and then another narrow passage. The light I had seen had apparently been a puddle reflecting the nighttime rays that streamed in through a hole in the ceiling. I checked that Miyaki was still with me.
“Katagishi, let’s get out of here quickly…”
Miyaki’s voice was hoarse and tense. She was staring at the puddle. I remembered what Itsuhara had said. Didn’t she tell us that the underground water had dried up?
The heavy sound from earlier began to toy at my eardrums again, slithering and scraping. My eyes darted to the right, the flashlight remaining where it was. The massive serpent, its elongated body like the surface of a rain-slick road, was right behind us. Its face, like a Noh mask, floated into view in the darkness.
Before its dull eyes had the chance to spot us, we sprinted down the shaky path. Showers of dirt spilled from the earthen walls, hitting me on my head and back. The underground path with its exposed tree roots was now surrounded by walls. There were no more cells in this area. I came to a stop, taking a deep breath to soothe my nerves.
“What kind of fun house did we stumble into…?!”
“Fun house? I don’t want to know what kind of carnivals you’ve been visiting!” Miyaki said, her voice trembling. I could tell she was doing her best to hold it together.
I felt my way along the wall as I began to catch my breath. I yanked my fingers back when they touched something rough and scratchy. I pulled my penlight from my breast pocket and illuminated the wall, only to discover the visage of a sickly tiger, its face like a Noh demoness. It was a painting—the same one we had seen back at the local history museum.
“I should have known…”
Shining my light down the dark path, I could see more paintings drawn on old pieces of Japanese paper and scattered at intervals along both walls.
“Should have known what…?”
“The people at the foot of the mountain…”
I coughed, trying to moisten my parched throat.
“Remember, they said they had seen things like snakes and venomous insects in the marsh. None of their statements matched, but the one thing they all had in common was that the creatures they’d spotted were dangerously toxic.”
Miyaki gasped.
“And that spring we passed on our way to the village. The sign said that the village had been visited by illness several times in the past but that they had relied on the springs to see them through. Whereas they dispose of impurities in the dried-up wells. In this village, I think they’ve come to view the spring water that comes from the top of the mountain as sacred and the underground water as filthy.”
“So does the local faith center on a water-related god? You mentioned kodoku earlier.”
“I think it’s more complicated than that.”
I heard a sound again, like metal being struck. Droplets that’d been hanging from the ceiling fell at our feet.
“Think about how much space they dedicated to epidemics at the local museum. This is just a guess, but I think waterborne illnesses may be at the crux of what this village believes.”
I flashed my light around the cavernous space.