The law of Buddha Amida states that the killer sacrifices his own body to the one he killed, and then descends into hell. Torumon Rayden, a samurai from the Karp-and-Dragon service, investigates cases of violent deaths and wondrous resurrections. But people whose souls burn in the fire of passions sometimes lose their human form. The dead bother the living; in the mountain wilderness, dangerous creatures hide; and on the Isle of Nine Deaths, events unfold that require the attention of an all-powerful inspection of secret supervision. No one may be killed. But could it be that someone still can? The second book of the novel “The Dragon and the Carp” includes “Tale of the Hungry Son and the Sated Mother,” “Tale of the Unfortunate Hermit and the Living Dead,” and “Tale of the Lost Head.”