Inuyama Heita continued, "Then, Mr. Matsui, what do you need me to do?"
"Children need a proper education." Matsui's face darkened. "They have to learn what they can and can't do. You can't just spoil them unconditionally, or you'll raise monsters who feel no gratitude, have no sense of boundaries, and just keep taking without limit. This child has been getting a little carried away lately, playing quite a few pranks on me. If this keeps up, it'll turn into a bad child and might go on to harm others. So I need someone with your abilities to teach them a little lesson. That should also suppress the resentment inside them."
"But how am I supposed to..." Inuyama Heita suddenly stopped and looked at the willow branch in his hand.
"This is a method a high-ranking monk at a temple taught me," Matsui said. "To them, willow branches are a special medium. A spiritual medium can touch them with one, so you know what to do, right, Heita-kun? Give it a little punishment."
Inuyama Heita stared at him in disbelief. "You want me to beat them with a willow branch?!"
"You're the only one who can do it. Those of us without your abilities can't," Matsui said. "To be honest, our president, Oiwa, is a spiritual medium just like you. He's always been the one doing this, but lately... he's changed a lot. He keeps saying terrifying things to me, like how he wants to use these children to control the members. It's gotten to the point where I'm afraid to go see him. Thank goodness I met you. So, for everyone's sake, are you willing to help me with this?"
"...I understand." Inuyama Heita pretended to hesitate for a moment, then said firmly, "Leave it to me."
"Go ahead." Matsui spread his arms.
Inuyama Heita picked up the willow branch and aimed a strike at the little ghost on Matsui's chest. The instant the branch touched it, he felt an icy sensation travel through it and into his body. At the same time, the little ghost let out a silent, shrill scream. Its mouth gaped open, black as pitch, and its face twisted with pain and savagery as it glared viciously at Inuyama Heita, baring a mouthful of fangs.
"Keep going, Heita-kun!" Matsui seemed to feel a little better and encouraged him.
Inuyama Heita gritted his teeth and kept striking...
"An adult and a high school student alone in a locked room, with the adult looking delighted while he gets beaten..." Qian Xiaoyi said with a strange expression. "It sounds really weird. And the high school student's a guy, too..."
"Now that you put it that way, it really does..." Inuyama Heita realized it, too. The two of them fell silent for a moment. If anyone who didn't know the situation had seen that, they'd definitely have taken them for perverts.
"What happened after that?" Qian Xiaoyi asked. "After you beat that little ghost with the willow branch, did Matsui take you out and have you beat up everyone else, too?"
"Please don't put it in a way that's so easy to misunderstand..." Inuyama Heita said awkwardly. "After that, Matsui took out a porcelain bottle and had me dip the willow branch in the water inside, then tap the little ghosts on everyone else. He said it was a purification ritual, but the other little ghosts didn't look nearly as scary as the one on Matsui, so it was easy."
"Of course they didn't," Qian Xiaoyi said disdainfully. "If I'm guessing right, the little ghost on Matsui was probably the first one in the Lucky Mutual Aid Society. Judging by when the society was founded, it had likely been attached to him for about a year. After being suppressed with his method all this time, its resentment must have built up enormously. Heh. Willow Branch Ghost Striking? What a ridiculous idea..."
Inuyama Heita asked, puzzled, "What's wrong with doing it that way?"
"Wrong? It's practically asking for trouble." Qian Xiaoyi sneered. "Willow Branch Ghost Striking is a kind of folk ritual from our country. It's a crude, homespun method and has nothing to do with Raising Little Ghosts. If the person who taught him wasn't an incompetent practitioner, then they must have had bad intentions from the start. At any rate, they definitely weren't the high-ranking monk he claimed. This method is way too haphazard and amateurish. Properly raising little ghosts requires several rituals working together, like special scriptures, techniques, and materials. Without those, it's easy to suffer a backlash. Beating them with willow branches will only make them submit temporarily, while their resentment keeps building. Heitaro, you actually dared to treat those little things with their viciously vengeful natures that way. You'd better be careful from now on~"
"R-really?" Inuyama Heita shivered. He remembered the resentful looks the little ghosts had given him back then, and a wave of fear washed over him.
"Of course it's true," Qian Xiaoyi said. "When you were beating those little ghosts with the willow branch, did you feel a chill spreading from them? That crude method was enough to establish a connection between you and those things. If you do it enough times, they'll gradually shift their resentment onto you. Before you die, the original owner of the little ghosts will get some breathing room and won't be targeted by their resentment for a while."
Inuyama Heita felt as if he'd fallen into an icy abyss. He said angrily, "So that's what Matsui was planning! What a despicable bastard! He was using me as bait?"
"Mm. Now we know how they're raising the little ghosts. We've got the last piece of the puzzle." Qian Xiaoyi rubbed his chin and muttered to himself in Chinese, "No backing, no real skill. It's like heaven's helping me. If I don't make a move now, when will I?"
Inuyama Heita asked, "What did you say, Mr. Qian?"
"Nothing." Qian Xiaoyi waved a hand. "It's getting late, and I've got plans to drink with someone today. Let's call it here for now."
"Is it President Oiwa?" Inuyama Heita asked. "You've been drinking with him for several days in a row. Isn't that bad for your health?"
"Mm, I'm fine. That guy can't hold his liquor nearly as well as I can." Qian Xiaoyi took off his tracksuit and changed into a slightly shabby light windbreaker. "I've got the main information I need. Next, it's just a matter of deciding when to act. It'll probably be soon. Today should be the last time I go drinking with him. If I keep this up, I'll go broke. So keep your eyes open lately, Heitaro, and don't let them catch on to anything."
"Got it. I should head to work, too," Inuyama Heita said. "I already told the manager I might be late, but it'd be best if I could get there on time."
They turned off the lights and headed downstairs together toward the station. Then they boarded separate trains and went to their respective destinations.
Before you continue