The Ghost In The Tokaido Inn

Lord Hakuseki accuses Michiko of stealing his jewel, claiming she asked him to show it to her. Seikei is shocked by the daimyo’s lie and by his willingness to violate the samurai code of honor. Hakuseki wants Judge Ooka to torture Michiko to get a confession. Seikei blurts out that it wasn’t Michiko but a jikininki who put it there. Seikei’s father apologizes, calling him “half-witted” and untrustworthy, but Ooka asks Seikei to tell him everything Seikei saw and heard.

When Seikei does, the judge asks why he wasn’t scared. Seikei tells him that he reminded himself that samurai face death fearlessly, and the judge, a samurai himself, asks where Seikei learned this, his eyes “twinkling.” Seikei mentions a book he once read, which Judge Ooka knows, as he too read it as a boy. With Seikei’s help, the judge finds a tunnel underneath the hall floorboards, and he tells Seikei to follow it.

In the tunnel, Seikei is terrified. He forces himself to move forward and “not give in to fear” (49). When Seikei reaches the end, he climbs up into the light, finding Ooka waiting for him inside the temple grounds, where a troupe of actors slept the night before.