The Visible Boy (2)

"Got it..." Following the guidance of the Bagua Compass in his hand, Qian Xiaoyi leisurely walked along the road carrying his bento, much like a "head-down generation" engrossed in their phones. The only difference was that the compass in his hand didn't glow, making it a bit difficult to see clearly at night.

He continued to follow the compass's direction, and the surrounding crowd gradually became noisier. Colorful neon lights flashed on the signs, and Qian Xiaoyi slowly arrived at the bustling commercial street.

"You want to escape being followed by going through a crowded place?" Qian Xiaoyi muttered to himself. "Very clever, but difficult to achieve. Once you're marked, it's hard to escape."

As expected, Qian Xiaoyi didn't walk very fast, but he still managed to catch up to the fleeing high school student. The reason was that the student seemed to have gotten into a conflict with someone. He saw a few hoodlums... no, sorry, adapting to the local customs, they should be called delinquents.

Three delinquents had surrounded the high school student, making practiced clicking sounds with their tongues and shouting, "Kora!!! You bumped into someone and you're trying to run away? Are your eyes just for show? Bastard!"

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to," the high school student replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Look over here! Are you trying to escape?" the delinquent snarled, grabbing his collar.

As for why the high school student didn't dare to look at them, it wasn't because the delinquents looked particularly fierce. They were just a few ordinary punks with dyed yellow hair and earrings, not even reaching 1.7 meters in height. The reason the high school student couldn't look directly at the delinquents was...

—The ghost, covered in blood, was standing behind the delinquents, staring sinisterly at the high school student.

"Please let me go!" the high school student began to struggle.

Passersby all watched this farce. The delinquents exchanged glances and dragged the struggling high school student into a dark alleyway nearby. The pedestrians pretended not to see and hurried away. If it were a serious crime, someone might have called the police. But these were just a few kids. Even if they called the police, they wouldn't receive much punishment, so no one bothered. After all, Japan had basically abolished the death penalty, and coupled with Japan's juvenile protection laws, if you interfered and got stabbed by a minor delinquent, you'd be at a huge disadvantage.

"Interesting~" Qian Xiaoyi murmured, looking at the dark alley. He put away his compass, took out a lighter, and lit the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth. A wisp of smoke slowly rose.

Inside the alley, the delinquents roughly threw the high school student against the wall. They had two of their members block the alley entrance, cutting off the high school student's escape route.

The high school student seemed terrified, crouching down with his head in his hands, trembling like a quail.

"Hey, hey, hey~ It's not that bad," the delinquent said with amusement. "I'm not some big villain. You were the one who bumped into me just now. How about this, if you pay a little compensation for emotional distress, I'll let you go. There are no cameras here, so take out the money if you don't want to get beaten."

The high school student was still trembling. The delinquent's face darkened, and he kicked the high school student. "Hey! Answer me, you punk!" Seeing that the high school student still ignored him, the delinquent frowned. He searched the high school student and found a wallet. Upon opening it, he saw only a few coins, totaling less than 1000 yen.

"What the heck! So stingy, you can only afford a few drinks..." the delinquent said disdainfully. He pulled out the student ID from the wallet and read, "Inuyama... Heita, the school is..."

The other two delinquents at the alley entrance were watching the commotion when they suddenly smelled a strange fragrance, somewhat like a mixture of incense from a Buddhist hall and cigarette smoke. As they were wondering about it, two hands suddenly landed on their shoulders from behind, one on each side.

"Is this what delinquents in Japan are like? I thought they'd be the type with slicked-back hair. I didn't expect just getting an earring to count?" Qian Xiaoyi said, holding their shoulders with a smile, a cigarette in his mouth. Then, he formed a strange hand seal with both hands and wiped the fingertips of each hand across their eyelids.

The delinquent who had been examining Inuyama Heita's student ID suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice and turned his head sharply. He saw Qian Xiaoyi with his arms around his two companions, who were looking at him with expressions of extreme terror.

"Who are you?!" the delinquent said, feigning toughness. "Don't meddle in other people's business, old man."

"Old man... I only haven't shaved for a few days. I'm only in my twenties," Qian Xiaoyi said, withdrawing his hands with dissatisfaction. The two companions beside him were already stunned. In their eyes, the alley, which had been empty moments ago, was now filled with many people. They stood scattered throughout the alley, some with pale faces, some with bloodied faces, but what they all had in common was that their lower bodies were flickering in and out of visibility, like a poorly received TV signal...

—Like ghosts.

"Run! Liang Ye! Run!"

"Wuwuwuwuwuwu..."

The two companions turned and ran out, leaving the blond-haired delinquent alone.

"Oh, your two buddies ran away," Qian Xiaoyi said, shrugging. "Or do you, kid, want to have a one-on-one fight with me, an adult? Like you said, there are no cameras here."

"Damn it, meddler!" Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, the blond-haired delinquent rushed past Qian Xiaoyi. Qian Xiaoyi's hands were quick, and he snatched Inuyama Heita's wallet back from the delinquent. "It's not good to take other people's things," Qian Xiaoyi mumbled.

He stuck the lit cigarette from his mouth into the ground nearby and handed the wallet to Inuyama Heita. "Hey, stop shaking."

Inuyama Heita smelled a strange, incense-like aroma that calmed him slightly. He looked up and saw a man in a plain gray hoodie, carrying a supermarket bag. The terrifying ghosts in the distance were no longer looking at them but were gathered around a spot, staring blankly with intoxicated expressions. The source of the fragrance was coming from there, where a cigarette was standing upright, quietly burning.

"Th-thank you..." Inuyama Heita hesitantly took his wallet. Although there wasn't much money inside, many important documents were there.

"Don't run around, kid. You made me chase you for a long time." The ghost with a blood-covered face suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Eek!!!" Inuyama Heita was startled.

"Don't be scared. Your name is... Heitaro, right?" Qian Xiaoyi said. "This guy isn't an evil spirit. He looks like he died only a couple of days ago and has very strong obsessions. He's bothering you because he has some unfinished business, and you happen to be able to see him, so he can only ask you for help."

If he keeps ignoring him, he might turn into an evil spirit, Qian Xiaoyi thought to himself.

"Help?" Inuyama Heita hesitated.

"Yes! Inuyama-kun!" the ghost with a blood-covered face said. "I'm Oda from next door to your apartment! There's something I need you to tell my sister..." Inuyama Heita looked closely and realized he had indeed seen this person before. It was just that his face was covered in blood and his head was slightly deformed, which was why he hadn't recognized him.