Dangerous Package Unboxing

When Jiang Xia got home, he found a Delivery Van parked outside his door.

At first, he thought Sherry had sent him some strange new supplements again.

But on closer inspection, the sender's address had changed this time. The signature was no longer the initial "S" from Sherry's English name, but something like "Hanako"—a name in the same vein as Zhang San, Tom, and Tanaka Taro.

Xiao Bai watched for a moment, then landed on the tightly sealed delivery box and poked its head through to take a look.

But the contents were pressed tightly against the box, so it could not make out the packaging. It could only see the shape of the objects.

Jiang Xia: "..."

...Suspicious. Extremely suspicious.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Xia chose to sign for it.

He did not receive many packages, so now that one had suddenly arrived, he was genuinely curious.

—Looking on the bright side, perhaps some criminals had randomly mailed out hazardous goods. Maybe there was a poison gas bomb hidden inside. If he followed the Investigation, he might uncover a whole gang of great thieves wrapped in Killing Intent...

Thinking of that, Jiang Xia eagerly carried the package inside.

He first took it to the Basement and ran it through a scanner. It detected neither explosives nor radioactive materials.

After a brief moment of disappointment, Jiang Xia placed the package in a sealed compartment.

Then he left the Basement and went to the room farthest from the package.

—The absence of explosives and radioactive materials did not mean there were no other risks.

A mature Spirit Medium should not personally open an anonymous package. This sort of thing was better left to a puppet.

Inside the room.

Jiang Xia drew the curtains and turned around.

Several Shikigami Flew Out from beneath his feet, landing in the middle of the room and gradually gathering into a bulky Clay Person.

—As the number of Shikigami Jiang Xia possessed increased, the Clay Person's formation speed and sturdiness had both improved slightly.

Jiang Xia walked over, picked up Xiao Bai, and placed it inside the Puppet Clay.

The Clay Person began to boil as though a basin of boiling water had been poured over it. Soon, it gradually solidified into a fixed shape.

A few seconds later, a little boy who looked six or seven years old stood before Jiang Xia.

A puppet's appearance was influenced half by Jiang Xia's soul and half by the Ghost used as filler. This puppet child was equal parts cute and handsome.

On the left side of the boy's neck was a black, ornate "Z" Pattern Seal, in exactly the same position as the one on Xiao Bai.

Jiang Xia admired the puppet for a while. A few seconds later, he gradually sensed that something was off. "...You're actually a male Ghost?"

If he remembered correctly, Xiao Bai had whimpered quite a few times before.

Back then, Jiang Xia had assumed it was definitely a cute little girl... Tch. The last time it whimpered, he had flicked it too lightly.

The little boy stood there without moving and did not answer him.

Jiang Xia was not surprised.

Although this "body" was also a product of mysticism, it was still far too heavy for a Ghost.

—After a Ghost Fetus was placed inside Puppet Clay, it could "support" the Clay Person into a proper human body.

But Xiao Bai had not yet been strengthened. It could only serve as a support frame and had no spare energy to control the puppet.

Jiang Xia still had to handle the actual movements himself.

Jiang Xia sat down at his desk and transferred his consciousness into the puppet.

A second later, he opened his eyes inside it.

Jiang Xia moved his limbs, curiously looked around, and spent a moment in silent dismay at this low Elementary School Student perspective.

Then he came back to his senses and headed to the Basement to open the package.

Guiding the little puppet into the sealed compartment, Jiang Xia picked up the delivery sent by an unknown person. Without the slightest hesitation, he swiftly tore it open.

Clatter.

Two tightly bound stacks of Albums fell out of the delivery box. They were all Kinoshita Yoko's works.

On closer inspection, the one on top was precisely the album he had wanted to buy earlier but had failed to get.

Seeing them, Xiao Bai could not help letting out a delighted murmur, even while still inside the puppet.

Jiang Xia: "..."

Could the sender, "Hanako," be Kinoshita Yoko?

Perhaps In the Darkness, she had sensed that Xiao Bai had no new Albums to listen to, so she had mailed these over along with the previous ones.

The bond between mother and child truly was miraculous... Jiang Xia sighed and put away the Albums.

Once he had finished opening the package, he dismissed the puppet.

The puppet collapsed on the spot into several fluttering Shikigami and a Ghost Fetus.

A second later, the Ghost Fetus and Shikigami returned to the Pattern Seal over Jiang Xia's heart as though returning to a respawn point.

Note:

In the manga, the One Billion Yen Robbery Case only happened once. The robbers were Miyano Akemi and her two unaffiliated accomplices.