Qian Xiaoyi carefully chose his words. "Heitaro, you have to understand that I'm a foreigner here. If all I had to do was look into the inner workings of an organization like this, or provide 'that kind of' protection for potential clients, I could manage. But bringing down a legally recognized religious group... that's difficult for me. After all, I'm at a disadvantage here, playing on away turf. I don't have much going for me, and being a foreigner could make every step a struggle. I might not be able to find out anything at all, so..."
"I understand." Inuyama Heita nodded, looking a little disappointed. The other man had made himself clear. He stood up, ready to leave.
"No, you don't understand." Qian Xiaoyi wagged a finger, his expression grave. "What I mean is... you'll have to pay more~"
Inuyama Heita froze for a few seconds, then looked at Qian Xiaoyi strangely. "How much?"
"Hey, hey, don't look at me like that. I'm not trying to rip you off. I run an agency, so I can't afford to take a job at a loss, can I?" Qian Xiaoyi spread his hands. "Think about it. I'm a foreigner, and if I want to investigate an organization that's legal in the eyes of the law, I'll have to cultivate connections in all sorts of places to get anywhere. Stopping them from using sorcery to hurt people is pretty easy for me, but how many times can I stop them? Unless I can eradicate them completely through legal means, they'll just keep at it. And if they find out about me, they could use the law, violence, or any number of other methods to come after me. Being forcibly deported would be the least of my worries. The risks are high... so if you want to hire me for this, you'll need to come up with at least one or two million yen."
"O-one or two million yen?!" Inuyama Heita's face went pale. He was just a student earning a thousand yen an hour, and he still had to save up for living expenses. Where was he supposed to get that kind of money?
Could this guy be after my apartment? Inuyama Heita knew how cruel people could be, so he immediately became wary. The price the other man had named seemed reasonable, but he must have known about Inuyama Heita's financial situation. How could he possibly expect him to come up with that much money? Inuyama Heita's mind immediately went to the worst possible scenario. They hadn't known each other long, after all, and something like that could happen.
Inuyama Heita asked cautiously, "Is there any other way, Mr. Qian? You know I don't have that much money right now." If the other man so much as brought up his apartment, he'd leave on the spot.
"Another way... There is one." Qian Xiaoyi rubbed his chin as if pondering it. "There's a way to bring the cost of investigating this down considerably. I could even give you a discount on the fee."
Hearing that there was such a good option—and that the other man hadn't mentioned his apartment—Inuyama Heita hurriedly asked, "What is it?"
"As a foreigner, having a local assistant would make things much easier, whether I'm investigating or doing anything else." Qian Xiaoyi finally revealed his true intentions. He gave Inuyama Heita a sly look. "If you're willing to help me with the investigation, we can forget about those investigation expenses, and I can pay my fee back to you as wages... To put it more simply, if you're willing to work for me, I'll take the job. You're in your first year of high school, right? Then we'll set the term at three years. After you graduate, you can decide whether to stay, go to college, or do something else. What do you think? Will you accept?"
Inuyama Heita thought it over. He'd already asked about working here before, but the other man had turned him down. Why was he bringing it up now? So he asked, "How would the pay and work hours be arranged?"
"Five to twenty percent of the fee, depending on how much you contribute. The hours depend on the job, and there's no minimum hourly wage," Qian Xiaoyi replied. "In other words, you get paid when there's work. When there isn't, you can't refuse if I ask you to do odd jobs. Of course, they won't be beyond your abilities."
"Understood. I'm in," Inuyama Heita said.
"You're agreeing that easily?" Qian Xiaoyi asked. "You don't want to think it over?"
"No need," Inuyama Heita replied. "It's more or less the same wherever I work."
Qian Xiaoyi laid his cards on the table. "But as you can see, my place is still completely dead. I might not get a single job for months. Are you still okay with that?"
Inuyama Heita thought for a moment before answering, "Yes, but in return, if you don't complete this job, then our deal is off, right? In that case, I won't be bound by these terms either."
"Of course." Qian Xiaoyi smiled and held out his right hand. "Then it's settled."
Inuyama Heita stared at the hand Qian Xiaoyi had offered and paused. Japanese people didn't usually shake hands. Then he caught on, reached out, and shook it. The two of them had made a verbal agreement.
Now that he had acquired some cheap labor, Qian Xiaoyi was in high spirits. He went back to finishing the task at hand and said, "Why don't you sit for a while? I'll be done here soon. Oh, and turn on the light for me."
Inuyama Heita flipped the light switch beside the door. White light immediately filled the entire room. After turning it on, he walked back and looked at the jade pendant on the table. He had recognized it earlier as the pendant the smoke-formed baby had crawled into. Now, to Inuyama Heita, the impurities in the jade seemed to form the outline of something, with smoke faintly swirling inside. The shape vaguely resembled a fetus in a womb.
"Um, Mr. Qian... since I'm your assistant now, could you tell me what that thing I saw today was?" Inuyama Heita asked.
"Hmm..." Qian Xiaoyi answered casually, "Since you have spiritual sight and saw the whole thing, I won't try to pull the wool over your eyes. Infant spirits exist in many parts of the world. The one we encountered was created through a type of sorcery from Southeast Asia called 'Kuman Thong.' The process involves using the ashes of a baby or fetus that died too young, along with corpse oil, to make talismans. Then you find an ordinary person and have them wear the talismans. Through the connection they create, you dispel the resentment of the abandoned infant spirits. As an aside, the Buddha amulets used for Kuman Thong at legitimate temples are usually gold."
"But the amulet I took a picture of was black," Inuyama Heita said.
"So their goal definitely wasn't to dispel resentment." Qian Xiaoyi smiled. "It was more like the sinister practice of raising little ghosts back home."
Inuyama Heita asked curiously, "Can this method really work? Can it make someone lucky or something?"
Qian Xiaoyi glanced at him. "What are you thinking? Of course not. If something that good were possible, fate would be far too cheap."
Inuyama Heita looked puzzled. "But lots of people say they've gotten lucky... So how did they manage that?"
Before you continue