The Right Way to Steal Coins

~

Inside the car.

Shu Yunwen looked at the ghost of Fujie Akiyoshi in his hand and clicked his tongue twice. "What a weakling!"

Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost was even weaker than Shu Yunwen had imagined.

A ghost of this caliber could have been reduced to ashes just by Ono Yoko visiting any temple and listening to the monks chant—not even a professional like Shu Yunwen would have been needed. No wonder Ono Yoko had been completely fine in the later parts of the original story...

Matsushita Heisaburo started the car and asked, "Lord Yunwen, where are we going now?"

Shu Yunwen glanced out the window.

Night had fallen. The decorative lights and signs outside the shops were all lit up, and their glow made the pedestrian street look as bright as day. In the distance, the neon lights on Tokyo Tower shone above the half of it that wasn't blocked by a commercial building.

It was a beautiful sight on a Tokyo night.

Of course, how beautiful the scenery was wasn't what Shu Yunwen cared about right now.

"Tokyo Tower's lights are on. Let's go there now. We'll definitely find it this time."

"Understood!"

They soon arrived at Tokyo Tower. Drawing on his hazy memories, Shu Yunwen searched for the distinctive pattern of lights. About half an hour later, he finally found the spot near the riverbank.

Of all the details in this "urban treasure hunt" case, the one Shu Yunwen remembered best was the "glowing fish."

After getting out near the riverbank, Shu Yunwen led Matsushita Heisaburo toward the building where the coins were hidden.

After walking a few steps, though, Shu Yunwen was suddenly struck by a mischievous impulse. "Matsushita-kun, are there any plastic bags in the car?"

"Yes," Matsushita Heisaburo replied.

"Good." Shu Yunwen nodded and pointed to the pebbles on the ground by the river. "Pick some up and put them in the bags. Make sure you wear gloves so you don't leave fingerprints, understand? And get a few bags and divide them up, in case one tears."

"Huh? Yes." Matsushita Heisaburo looked confused, unable to figure out what Shu Yunwen was planning.

Matsushita Heisaburo took some plastic bags out of the trunk, crouched down nearby, and began filling them with pebbles.

As for Shu Yunwen, he returned to the car, put on a pair of white gloves, and took a white piece of stiff paper from the glove compartment. He rubbed it hard a couple of times, then used scissors to cut it into a palm-sized rectangle. Next, he took out a fountain pen and began reciting a sorcerous curse.

About five seconds later, as Shu Yunwen finished the final syllable, a strange force welled up from Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost nearby. Mist swirled around the pen, which glided lightly across the paper, seemingly writing something.

[Ghost Sorcery: Spirit Control]!

This was a basic spell for a Ghost Sorcerer, with no strict restrictions on the user's level. Even a beginner could use it.

However, the power of the spell depended entirely on the user's strength.

A beginner like Shu Yunwen could only control weak, newly formed ghosts like Fujie Akiyoshi. The control lasted only a short time, and the most he could make them do was move small objects. It had no other real use.

As for controlling a ghost to scare someone? Without the abilities of an intermediate sorcerer, he could forget about it!

Moreover, the Spirit Control spell came with strict limitations. The spirit being controlled had to be captured by the Ghost Sorcerer first. And depending on its strength, a spirit could only be used three times at most. After that, it would inevitably turn on the sorcerer.

All in all, the spell was more or less useless to Shu Yunwen at his current level.

The fountain pen continued scribbling on the paper. Just then, Matsushita Heisaburo hurried over with the plastic bags. "Lord Yunwen, take a look at these... Uh..."

Matsushita Heisaburo had only gotten halfway through his sentence when the light from the car revealed that the fountain pen was moving by itself. He froze as if someone had grabbed him by the throat, barely able to breathe.

By then, Shu Yunwen had finished writing. The pen came to a stop.

Shu Yunwen picked up the pen, capped it, and waved it in front of Matsushita Heisaburo. "Matsushita-kun, I'm keeping this fountain pen. Is that all right?"

"Uh... Of course." Matsushita Heisaburo nodded woodenly.

"Don't be too surprised, Matsushita-kun. If you're surprised because the pen moved by itself, that's nothing. You're the agency's vice president, so you're bound to see much stranger things in the future. So take it easy, all right?" As he spoke, Shu Yunwen put the pen away, then continued, "Did you need something?"

Matsushita Heisaburo snapped out of it and lifted the plastic bags in his hands. "Lord Yunwen, I've filled them with pebbles. Do you think this is enough?"

Shu Yunwen glanced at them. "Hmm... It's a little short, but it should do. All right, Matsushita-kun, get the box we prepared for the coins, then grab a few more plastic bags and tie them around your feet. We're going to collect the coins."

"Yes, Lord Yunwen."

Shu Yunwen walked ahead, the plastic bags on his feet rustling against the ground as he entered the building and made his way to the floor marked on the treasure map.

He stood by the window and looked around, then backed away step by step until he reached the "fish's eye." After looking up, he turned to Matsushita Heisaburo, who had found the mechanism with his flashlight. "Matsushita-kun, the coins are right above my head. Lower them down slowly."

"Understood!" Matsushita Heisaburo nodded and opened the simple rope mechanism. At last, the several large bundles of coins descended to the floor.

Shu Yunwen opened the bundles. As the flashlight illuminated the glittering coins, a smile spread across his face.

Matsushita Heisaburo was grinning happily beside him, too.

Now that they had found the coins, they belonged to them! Not only would this solve the agency's financial crisis, but he would surely get a share of the proceeds...

"Matsushita-kun, open the case."

Matsushita Heisaburo hurriedly opened the prepared suitcase. The coins from the bundles clinked as they were all poured into it. Once the bundles were empty, Shu Yunwen shut the case, then mischievously filled them with the pebbles from the plastic bags. He slipped the white card he'd prepared into one of the bundles, tied them all up, and had Matsushita Heisaburo hoist them back up.

After putting the bundles back in place, Matsushita Heisaburo asked, "Lord Yunwen, why are we doing this...?"

"Ah... I just thought it'd be fun. Imagine when the police catch those robbers and discover the coins hidden here..." Shu Yunwen smiled, looking as though he could hardly wait for the police to find the "treasure."

Beside him, Matsushita Heisaburo had a huge bead of sweat running down his forehead. He'd gone to all this trouble just to play a prank?

The two retraced their steps. Smiling, Shu Yunwen said, "By the way, Matsushita-kun, we've left a few too many traces behind. Want to see how I'll erase all signs that we were here?"

"You mean... our footprints?"

Strictly speaking, the Keqin Exorcist Agency wasn't exactly a clean business.

There were several "masters" at the agency who were very good at planting bugs in clients' rooms to learn more about them and make their performances more convincing. The agency's higher-ups more or less knew about it, and nobody stopped them. Everyone simply turned a blind eye.

Exorcism was, after all, a business built on deception. If they couldn't dig up some "client information," how else were they supposed to make money?

That was how Matsushita Heisaburo had learned a few things about the evidence-gathering methods used by the police. Footprints, for example: a clear footprint could help the police work out a suspect's height, weight, sex, and even... age!

They were both wearing gloves, so they couldn't have left fingerprints. That only left their footprints!

He'd already checked the ground here. It was secluded and probably hadn't seen any visitors for a while, so a layer of dust had settled over it. Because of the dust, their footprints were clear as day.

"Mm... That's right." Shu Yunwen nodded and began reciting a sorcerous curse.

[Ghost Sorcery: Ghost Eye]!

[Ghost Sorcery: Spirit Control]!

The first spell, Ghost Eye, fell upon Matsushita Heisaburo, while the second spell, Spirit Control, once again targeted Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost.

In Matsushita Heisaburo's eyes, Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost suddenly poured out of the ping-pong-ball-sized orb of mist, then began slowly clearing away the footprints they had left, starting right in front of them.

The ghost's strange power gathered some of the dust nearby, then gently scattered it over their footprints.

Starting at the entrance to the building, it took about three minutes for the cloud of mist to fly back into Shu Yunwen's hand and be trapped inside the orb again. As for the footprints they had left behind, they'd all been erased. Covered by a layer of dust indistinguishable from the rest, it looked as if nobody had ever been there.

Matsushita Heisaburo stared in stunned silence. Shu Yunwen reached over and gave him a nudge. "All right, Matsushita-kun. Let's get back to the car."

They returned to the car, and the case of coins went into the trunk. Sitting in the passenger seat, Shu Yunwen gathered the used plastic bags, gloves, scissors, and the rest into one bag. Then, holding Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost, he asked, "Matsushita-kun, want to know how an exorcist deals with a spirit?"

Before Matsushita Heisaburo could say anything, Shu Yunwen began chanting another sorcerous curse.

[Ghost Sorcery: Judgment]!

The spell took effect. In an instant, the orb containing Fujie Akiyoshi's soul shattered, and its spiritual energy dispersed into a cloud.

As Matsushita Heisaburo watched in shock, Shu Yunwen inhaled through his nose and drew Fujie Akiyoshi's spiritual energy into his body. But a few seconds later, he suddenly opened his mouth wide and spat it back out. "...A suicide's spiritual energy really doesn't taste good!"

The spiritual energy floated out the window and gradually dissipated.

After a pause, Shu Yunwen looked at Matsushita Heisaburo again. "Matsushita-kun, you'll keep everything that happened today a secret, right?"

"Mm!" Matsushita Heisaburo nodded frantically.

Had Shu Yunwen just... eaten Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost?

"Good..." Shu Yunwen smiled faintly. "Matsushita-kun, you've worked hard all day today. Thanks for all your effort. You can have ten percent of today's 'earnings.' Of course, don't go telling anyone what you shouldn't. Understand?"

"I-I understand." Matsushita Heisaburo answered hurriedly.

Shu Yunwen nodded in satisfaction and leaned back comfortably in his seat. "All right, drive. Find somewhere nearby with a public phone."

"Understood!" Matsushita Heisaburo drove off, trembling.

He seemed to understand now.

This was probably Shu Yunwen's way of warning him, wasn't it?

If he dared to tell anyone about tonight, Shu Yunwen might kill him, capture his soul, and treat it the same way.

Matsushita Heisaburo glanced cautiously at Shu Yunwen beside him, and his fear only grew stronger.

As it happened, Matsushita Heisaburo wasn't entirely wrong.

Shu Yunwen really had done it on purpose to warn him!

He didn't want Matsushita Heisaburo to change his mind someday, go to the police station to confess, and drag him down with him.

Better to give the man a warning now, then pay him off to keep quiet. That would save trouble later.

Otherwise, Shu Yunwen wouldn't have been stupid enough to devour the soul of a man who'd died by suicide.

In his previous life, Shu Yunwen had devoured the souls of people who'd died by suicide in a hospital. It did make him stronger, but it also made him look older. That really wasn't his "cup of tea"!

He'd only done this to scare Matsushita Heisaburo.

That was all!

P.S.: Japanese people are actually pretty loyal... Mm-hmm...