"Good morning Hara-san!" father went ahead and greeted him.

"Morning-morning...how was the journey?" He greeted back.

"It was great! Thanks for taking care of everything." father bowed.

"Mention not." Hara-san bowed back. "I hope your lives blossom here with fortune and joy."

He handed over the keys. "I've cleaned everything up and prepared the rooms. You can move your stuffs in."

"Oh Hara-san, you didn't have to do so much for us." father smiled out of embarrassment.

But Mr. Hara wasn’t listening. He seemed distracted. He looked somewhere above, towards the green of the branches, like he had noticed something. A mild breeze blew, creating murmurs in the woods. For a moment it felt like some grim shadow had fallen over his face. He said in a sombre tone, "Perhaps it would be best if you do not venture into the Yaksha Yashiki..."

"Axe sick what?" Rin asked.

At that moment father stepped in to explain, "Actually there are two houses here, the new one and the old one, also called as the Yaksha Yashiki. We would be living in this new one. I only own that much. Everything else belongs to the temple authority."

"You mean all these lands and woods?"

"Yes, everything. Otherwise how do you think I would be able to pay the taxes?"

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

That was fine, but I wondered what was so precious in that house that led Hara-san to kind of warn us in that way.

But Rin was straight enough to ask the question, "Fine, we are not intruding. But what's the hidden treasure do you have there Hara-san?" She asked in a mocking manner.

And at that moment we realised that Hara-san was nowhere to be seen.

We were all startled but his sudden vanishing. He was just standing there just a moment ago. Where did he go that none of us four noticed. A cold shiver went through me. First that strange laughing crow, and now that vanishing priest, something was telling me about some ominous forthcoming.

"O Haaaaaaraaaaaa-saaaaaan!" I was more startled by father’s sudden shouting.

"Silence!." mother scolded him "He must have gone back to the temple."

"But how?" I asked.

"Geez. Through the jungle, dumbo." Rin said. "It's his territory. He knows short-cuts."

"Still it's unusual of him to leave so suddenly." father muttered.

But before we could probe further into this topic, Mother's phone rang. After talking to the other side she informed that the movers were at the gates.

The whole noon went by as we moved in our stuffs. The quiet garden became quite noisy. The front of the house had a big drawing room right next to the entrance door, attached to it was the kitchen cum dinning space. There were few more rooms, and a spacious washroom. The floor was made of wood; the ceiling was made of ancient clay tiles with solid wooden beams for support. A wide veranda had encircled the whole house. The rooms were partitioned mainly by using sliding paper door, as expected of a traditional house. The house was very much spacious and had enough rooms for fresh air and sunlight to come in. It was kind of alien to me compared to our previous abodes.

After all the arrangements were done and the movers were gone, I noticed this narrow corridor at the corner. Father was at the gates to pay the movers. Mother was in the kitchen, and Rin was in her room. So I decided to venture on a solo exploration.