The Right Way to Steal Gold Coins~

The Right Way to Steal Gold Coins~

Inside the car.

Shu Yunwen looked at Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost 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 wouldn't even need a professional like Shu Yunwen to deal with it. Ono Yoko could simply go to any temple and listen to the monks chant sutras, and this guy would turn to ash. No wonder Ono Yoko had no trouble at all in the later parts of the original story...

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

Shu Yunwen glanced out the window.

Dusk had fallen. The decorative lights and sign lights outside the nearby shops were all on, making the pedestrian street look as bright as day. In the distance, the neon lights had also come on at Tokyo Tower, which was partly hidden behind a commercial building.

It was a beautiful sight beneath Tokyo's night sky.

Of course, just how beautiful it 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."

"Yes!"

The car soon reached Tokyo Tower. Drawing on his hazy memories, Shu Yunwen searched for the distinctive pattern of lights. After about half an hour, he finally found the area near the riverbank.

When it came to this "urban treasure hunt" case, the thing Shu Yunwen remembered best was the "glowing fish."

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

But after walking a few steps, Shu Yunwen suddenly felt a mischievous urge and asked Matsushita Heisaburo, "Matsushita-kun, do we have any plastic bags in the car?"

"We do," 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 a bag. Make sure you wear gloves so you don't leave your fingerprints, understand? And take a few bags, keeping them separate, in case one tears."

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

Matsushita Heisaburo took some plastic bags from the car's trunk, crouched down, 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 piece of white cardstock from the glove compartment. He rubbed it a couple of times, then used scissors to cut it into a palm-sized rectangle. Next, he took out a fountain pen and began chanting a Sorcerous Curse.

About five seconds later, as Shu Yunwen uttered the final syllable, a strange power welled up from Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost beside him. Mist swirled around the pen, and it glided lightly across the paper as if writing something.

[Ghost Sorcery: Spirit Control]!

This was a basic spell for a Ghost Sorcerer, with no strict limits on the user's level. Even an apprentice sorcerer could use it.

However, the spell's power varied greatly depending on the user's strength.

An apprentice sorcerer like Shu Yunwen could only control weak, newly formed ghosts like Fujie Akiyoshi. He could control them for only a short time, and all they could do was move small objects. Beyond that, the spell was practically useless.

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

Furthermore, 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 be used at most three times. After that, it would inevitably turn on its user.

All in all, the spell was little more than a dead weight for Shu Yunwen at the moment.

The fountain pen was scribbling across the card when Matsushita Heisaburo hurried over with the plastic bags. "Lord Yunwen, take a look at these... Uh... Uh..."

He had only made it halfway through his sentence when he saw the pen moving on its own in the car's light. He froze as though someone had grabbed him by the throat, struggling even to breathe.

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

Shu Yunwen picked it up, put the cap on, and held it up in front of Matsushita Heisaburo. "Matsushita-kun, I'm keeping this fountain pen. That's all right, isn't it?"

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

"Don't be so surprised, Matsushita-kun. If you're surprised that the pen moved on its own, that's nothing. You're the agency's vice president, so you'll definitely see even stranger things in the future. So try to stay calm, all right?" As he spoke, Shu Yunwen put the pen away, then continued, "Did you need something?"

Matsushita Heisaburo froze for a moment, then held up the plastic bags. "Lord Yunwen, I've gathered the pebbles. Are these enough?"

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

"Of course, Lord Yunwen."

Shu Yunwen led the way. The plastic bags on their feet rustled against the ground as they entered the building and went to the floor marked on the treasure map.

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

"Yes!" Matsushita Heisaburo nodded, then opened the simple rope mechanism. At last, several large bundles of gold coins came down to the floor.

Shu Yunwen opened the bundles. When he saw the gold coins gleaming in the flashlight beam, a smile appeared on his face.

Matsushita Heisaburo was grinning happily beside him, too.

Now that they'd found the gold coins, they belonged to them! That would resolve the agency's financial crisis, and he'd surely get a cut for himself...

"Matsushita-kun, open the case."

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

Matsushita Heisaburo had just finished hanging up the bundles when he asked, "Lord Yunwen, are we doing this because...?"

"Oh... I just thought it'd be fun. Just imagine: when the police catch those thieves and learn that the gold coins were hidden here..." Shu Yunwen wore a smile, looking as though he couldn't wait for the police to find the "treasure."

Beside him, Matsushita Heisaburo had sweat pouring down his forehead. He'd gone to all this trouble just for a prank—what a guy!

The two of them retraced their steps. With a smile, Shu Yunwen said, "By the way, Matsushita-kun, we've left a few too many traces here. Want to see how I erase all evidence that we came here?"

"You mean... our footprints?"

Strictly speaking, the Keqin Exorcist Agency wasn't exactly an honest business.

Several of the "masters" at the agency were very good at planting listening devices in clients' rooms so they could learn more about them and find it easier to put on their act. This was more or less an open secret among the agency's higher-ups. No one stopped it; everyone simply turned a blind eye.

Exorcism was a scam, after all. How could they make money if they didn't get their hands on some "client information"?

That was how Matsushita Heisaburo had learned about some of the ways the police gathered evidence. Footprints, for instance: a clear footprint could help the police determine a suspect's height, weight, sex, and even... age!

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

He had already checked the floor. This area was fairly secluded, and no one seemed to have been there for some time, so a layer of dust covered it. Because of the dust, their footprints were very clear and easy to spot.

"Mm... That's right." Shu Yunwen nodded, then began chanting a Sorcerous Curse.

[Ghost Sorcery: Ghost Eye]!

[Ghost Sorcery: Spirit Control]!

The two spells followed one another. Ghost Eye fell upon Matsushita Heisaburo, while Spirit Control was cast on Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost once again.

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

Using the strange power of its ghostly body, it gathered some of the surrounding dust, then let it fall lightly over their footprints.

Starting at the building's entrance, the cloud of mist returned to Shu Yunwen's hand about three minutes later, trapped once more inside the orb. As for the footprints they had left behind, they had all been erased. Covered by a layer of dust indistinguishable from the rest, it looked as if no one had been there at all.

Matsushita Heisaburo stared in stunned silence. Shu Yunwen reached out and nudged him. "All right, Matsushita-kun, let's get back to the car."

The two returned to the car, and the case of gold coins was placed in the trunk. Shu Yunwen sat in the passenger seat, gathered all the used plastic bags, gloves, scissors, and other items into another bag, then held Fujie Akiyoshi's ghost up. "Matsushita-kun, want to know how an exorcist deals with spirits?"

Without waiting for Matsushita Heisaburo to say anything, Shu Yunwen began chanting another Sorcerous Curse.

[Ghost Sorcery: Judgment]!

The moment the spell took effect, Fujie Akiyoshi's soul orb shattered, turning into a mass of spiritual energy.

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

The mass of spiritual energy drifted out the window. It stopped coalescing and slowly 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. "You've worked hard all day, Matsushita-kun. I really appreciate your effort. But you can take ten percent of today's 'earnings.' Of course, don't go blabbing about anything 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, let's go. Find somewhere nearby with a public phone."

"Yes!" Matsushita Heisaburo drove off with trembling hands.

He seemed to understand now.

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

If he dared to tell anyone what had happened tonight, Shu Yunwen might kill him, capture his soul, and do the same thing to him.

Matsushita Heisaburo glanced cautiously at Shu Yunwen beside him. His fear of Shu Yunwen only grew stronger.

In fact, Matsushita Heisaburo wasn't wrong.

Shu Yunwen had deliberately done it to warn him!

He didn't want Matsushita Heisaburo to suddenly come to his senses one day, go to the police station to turn himself in, and drag Shu Yunwen down with him.

A little warning, and some hush money to keep him quiet. That would save trouble later.

Otherwise, Shu Yunwen wouldn't have been foolish enough to devour the soul of Fujie Akiyoshi, a man who had killed himself.

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

He'd only done it to scare Matsushita Heisaburo.

That was all!

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