The Correct Way to Steal Gold Coins~

Chapter 22: The Correct Way to Steal Gold Coins~

Inside the car.

Shu Yunwen looked at Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost in his hand and clicked his tongue, "What a weakling!"

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

With this level of ghost, even if Shu Yunwen, a professional, hadn't shown up, Ono Yoko could have just gone to any temple and had the monks chant some scriptures, and this guy would have turned to dust. No wonder Ono Yoko didn't have any trouble in the later plot of the original story...

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

Shu Yunwen glanced out the car window.

The sky had already darkened. The decorative lights and signs of the surrounding shops were all lit up, making the pedestrian street look like daytime under their glow. In the distance, Tokyo Tower, half-hidden by a commercial building, also lit up its neon lights.

This was the beauty of Tokyo at night.

Of course, the beauty of this scenery was not what Shu Yunwen was concerned about right now.

"The lights of Tokyo Tower are on, let's go to Tokyo Tower now. This time, I'm sure we'll find it."

"Hai!"

The car quickly drove to Tokyo Tower. Relying on his vague memory, Shu Yunwen searched for distinct light patterns and finally found the riverbank area about half an hour later.

Regarding this "urban treasure hunt" case, what Shu Yunwen remembered most clearly was the "glowing fish."

After getting out of the car near the riverbank, Shu Yunwen led Matsushita Heisaburo towards the building where the gold coins were hidden.

However, after walking a few steps, Shu Yunwen suddenly had a mischievous idea and asked Matsushita Heisaburo, "Matsushita-kun, do you have any plastic bags in the car?"

"Yes," Matsushita Heisaburo replied.

"That's good," Shu Yunwen nodded, pointing to the pebbles on the ground by the river. "Then pick up some pebbles and put them in the bags. Be careful, wear gloves so you don't leave your fingerprints, understand? Also, take a few more bags and pack them separately, in case a bag leaks."

"Ah? Yes." Matsushita Heisaburo was a bit stunned, not understanding what Shu Yunwen was trying to do.

Matsushita Heisaburo took out some plastic bags from the car's trunk and squatted down to pack the pebbles.

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

About five seconds later, as Shu Yunwen uttered the last note, a strange power emerged from Fujie Akiyoshi's soul nearby. Mist swirled, entwined with the pen, and gently glided across the paper, as if writing something.

[Ghost Sorcery: Spirit Control]!

This was a basic spell for a ghost sorcerer, with no strict level requirement. Even an introductory sorcerer could use it.

However, the power displayed would definitely differ based on one's strength.

For an introductory sorcerer like Shu Yunwen, he could only control weak nascent ghosts like Fujie Akiyoshi, and the duration was very short. All he could do was move small objects. Other than that, it was useless.

As for controlling ghosts to scare people? Without the ability of an intermediate sorcerer, he couldn't even think about it!

Furthermore, the Spirit Control spell had strict limitations. The spirit being controlled had to be captured by the ghost sorcerer. Additionally, a soul, depending on its strength, could only be used a maximum of three times. After three uses, it would definitely cause a backlash.

In short, this spell was a mere trifle for Shu Yunwen at this point.

The pen was writing on the cardstock when Matsushita Heisaburo walked over quickly, carrying the plastic bag. "Master Yunwen, look at these... uh... uh..."

Matsushita Heisaburo stopped mid-sentence. Following the car's interior light, he saw the pen moving on its own and immediately felt as if his throat was choked, making it difficult to even breathe.

At this moment, Shu Yunwen finished writing what he wanted to write, and the pen stopped.

Shu Yunwen grabbed the pen, put on the cap, and waved it in front of Matsushita Heisaburo. "Matsushita-kun, I'm taking this pen, is that okay?"

"Uh... of course." Matsushita Heisaburo nodded blankly.

"Don't be too surprised, Matsushita-kun. If you're surprised that the pen can move by itself, that's nothing. Since you're the vice president of the agency, you'll definitely see more strange and unusual things in the future. So, please calm down, okay?" As Shu Yunwen spoke, he put the pen away and continued, "What did you come over for?"

Matsushita Heisaburo paused for a moment, then held up the plastic bag. "Master Yunwen, I've packed the pebbles. Are these enough?"

Shu Yunwen glanced at them. "Hmm... a bit few, but it's almost enough. Alright, Matsushita-kun, please get the box ready for the gold coins, and then take a few more plastic bags and tie them to your feet. We're going to get the gold coins."

"Okay, Master Yunwen."

Shu Yunwen walked ahead, the plastic bags on his feet making some noise as they scraped the ground. They entered the building and went to the floor indicated on the treasure map.

Shu Yunwen first stood by the window and looked around for a moment, then slowly backed away to the position of the "fish's eyes." He looked up, then said to Matsushita Heisaburo, who was using a flashlight to find the mechanism, "Matsushita-kun, the gold coins are right above my head. Now, slowly lower them."

"Hai!" Matsushita Heisaburo nodded in response, then opened the simple rope mechanism, and the large bundles of gold coins finally landed on the ground.

Shu Yunwen opened the bundles, and under the illumination of the flashlight, he saw the glittering gold coins, a smile appearing on his face.

Matsushita Heisaburo was also smiling happily beside him.

Now that they had found these gold coins, they belonged to them! Not only would the agency's financial crisis be resolved, but he would definitely get a share of the benefits...

"Matsushita-kun, open the box."

Matsushita Heisaburo quickly opened the prepared leather suitcase. The gold coins from several bundles clinked and clanged as they were poured into the suitcase. After all the gold coins were poured out, Shu Yunwen closed the suitcase and, with a mischievous glint in his eye, filled the plastic bags with the pebbles. He then inserted the white card he had prepared into one of the bundles, tied it up, and had Matsushita Heisaburo hoist it back into the air.

After Matsushita Heisaburo secured the bundle, he asked, "Master Yunwen, what are we doing this for..."

"Ah... I just thought it would be fun. Think about it, when the police catch those robbers and find out the gold coins were hidden here..." Shu Yunwen said with a smile, looking as if he was eagerly awaiting the police to find the "treasure."

Beside him, Matsushita Heisaburo had large beads of sweat on his forehead. "To go to such lengths for a prank, you're something else!"

The two retreated along the same path. Shu Yunwen said with a smile, "By the way, Matsushita-kun, the traces we left here are a bit too much. Do you want to see how I erase the evidence of our visit?"

"You mean... footprints?"

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

Within the agency, there were several "masters" who were quite skilled at planting listening devices in clients' rooms to gather more information, which would then be used to deceive them. This was almost an open secret among the agency's higher-ups, and no one stopped it; it was basically tacitly accepted.

After all, the exorcist profession is a deceptive one. If you can't get any "client information," how can you make money?

It was precisely because of this that Matsushita Heisaburo knew some of the methods the police used to obtain evidence during investigations. For example, with a clear footprint, the police could infer the suspect's height, weight, gender, and even... age!

Since they were both wearing gloves, they couldn't leave fingerprints. That left only footprints!

He had already examined the ground here. It was a relatively secluded area, and it seemed no one had been here for some time, so the ground was covered in a layer of dust. Because of the dust, their footprints were very clear and could be seen at a glance.

"Mm... that's right," Shu Yunwen nodded, then chanted a sorcerous curse.

Ghost Sorcery: Ghost Eye!

Ghost Sorcery: Spirit Control!

With two consecutive spells, Ghost Eye landed on Matsushita Heisaburo, while Spirit Control was directed at Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost.

In Matsushita Heisaburo's eyes, Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost suddenly surged out of the ping-pong-sized ball of mist. Then, starting from where they stood, it slowly began to clean up the footprints they had left.

With the unique power of the spirit body, surrounding dust was gathered and then gently settled back down, covering their footprints.

Starting from the entrance of the building, about three minutes later, the ball of mist flew back into Shu Yunwen's hand, once again contained within the sphere. As for the footprints they had left, they were all completely erased. Under the layer of dust, indistinguishable from the surroundings, it looked as if no one had ever been there.

Matsushita Heisaburo was dumbfounded. Shu Yunwen pushed him gently, "Alright, Matsushita-kun, let's head back to the car."

The two returned to the car. The box containing the gold coins was placed in the trunk. Shu Yunwen sat in the passenger seat, put all the used plastic bags, gloves, scissors, and other items into a single bag, and then held Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost. "Matsushita-kun, do you want to know how exorcists deal with souls?"

As he spoke, Shu Yunwen didn't wait for Matsushita Heisaburo's reply and chanted another sorcerous curse.

Ghost Sorcery: Judgment!

With the sorcery cast, Fujie Akiyoshi's soul sphere was instantly shattered, turning into a mass of soul power.

Under Matsushita Heisaburo's shocked gaze, Shu Yunwen inhaled through his nose, drawing the soul power of Fujie Akiyoshi into his body. But after a few seconds, he suddenly opened his mouth and spat out the soul power. "...The soul power of a suicide victim really doesn't taste good!"

The stream of soul power drifted out the window, eventually ceasing to condense and slowly dissipating.

After a pause, Shu Yunwen looked at Matsushita Heisaburo again. "Matsushita-kun, you will keep all the events of today a secret, right?"

"Mm!" Matsushita Heisaburo nodded frantically.

Just now, Shu Yunwen had actually... eaten Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost?

"That's good..." Shu Yunwen smiled faintly. "Matsushita-kun, you've worked hard all day today. However, you can have ten percent of today's 'earnings.' Of course, don't say anything you shouldn't, understand?"

"Y-yes, I understand," Matsushita Heisaburo quickly replied.

Shu Yunwen nodded with satisfaction and leaned back comfortably in the car seat. "Alright, let's drive. Find a place with a public telephone nearby."

"Hai!" Matsushita Heisaburo drove with a tremble.

He seemed to understand something now.

This was probably Shu Yunwen's warning to him, right?

If he dared to speak about what happened tonight, he might also be killed by Shu Yunwen and have his soul captured and treated like that.

He cautiously glanced at Shu Yunwen beside him, his fear intensifying.

In fact, Matsushita Heisaburo's thoughts weren't entirely wrong.

Shu Yunwen had deliberately done this as a warning!

He didn't want Matsushita Heisaburo to suddenly have a change of heart one day and turn himself in to the police, dragging him down with him.

Giving the guy a warning now and some benefits to keep him quiet would save trouble later.

Otherwise, Shu Yunwen wouldn't be foolish enough to devour the soul of Fujie Akiyoshi, a suicide victim.

He had encountered the souls of suicide victims before in the hospital in his past life. While consuming them did strengthen his power, it also aged him, which was really not Shu Yunwen's "cup of tea"!

He did it solely to scare Matsushita Heisaburo.

Nothing more!

PS: When it comes to loyalty, Japanese people are actually quite good... mhm