The Legend of Tokyo Taoist

Chapter 11 Lucky Mutual Aid Society (3)

Although he had already sat down, Inuyama Heita was still looking around in his seat, as if he was looking for something.

"Don't move." Qian Xiaoyi sat next to him, leaning against the back of the chair, playing with his iron cigarette case, and said to himself: "The person you are looking for is not in the audience."

Inuyama Heita turned around and asked, "Do you know where she is?"

"Your action is too obvious. I've already told you that we didn't come here together. Turn your head away so that no one finds out that we know each other, otherwise the other party might be on guard." Qian Xiaoyi opened his cigarette box, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, but did not light it. He replied, "As for your question, it's easy to answer. That guy has always claimed that this Lucky Mutual Aid Society is a legal organization, which should be true. With supernatural means, he doesn't need to violate public law. So he won't use coercive means to detain the girl, not to mention that she has a fanatical mother... Since she is not off the stage, she should appear on the stage, which is why the man in the suit asked you to come here."

"I see." Inuyama Heita lowered his voice.

At this time, the party finally started. An old man who looked very successful walked onto the stage. Like Matsui, he was dressed in a suit and had his hair combed back. He looked very impressive. No one would question if he was a government minister. But he didn't have that kind of high-ranking and overbearing attitude. Instead, he walked to the center, picked up the microphone, and said with a friendly smile, "Everyone, how are you? It's been so long since we last met. Are you all happy?"

"LUCKY!"

The members in the audience responded in unison as if they had seen their idol. Some people in the first row even couldn't help but stretch out their hands and shouted excitedly: "President Oiwa! President Oiwa! Shake my hand! Grant me good luck!" Once this person took the lead, others around him also rushed to stretch out their hands, fearing that they would be a step behind others.

"Hahaha~ It seems that everyone is still so energetic, so I feel relieved." President Oiwa laughed heartily and said, "Shake hands, huh? It's a piece of cake." After that, he walked to the stage and shook hands with the members. Everyone who touched him had a rosy face and looked energetic. Seeing that the person in front had touched the president, the people behind him did not want to be outdone and stood up to approach him.

However, President Oiwa had anticipated this and returned to the stage after a brief interaction with the people below the stage. The remaining people were also comforted and sent back to their seats by the security guards who had already been in place in the venue. No chaos was caused, but the atmosphere was already heated up.

"Everyone will have the chance to shake hands," President Oiwa said enthusiastically, "but if we spend all our time on this, it might delay everyone from going home for dinner."

"It's okay, I've already filled my stomach with the free snacks!" A reply came from the audience, filling the venue with cheerful laughter. In this peaceful and joyful atmosphere, there were only two people who didn't fit in. Qian Xiaoyi lazily leaned on the stool, his eyelids half-closed, holding an unlit cigarette and looking at President Oiwa on the stage. The suddenly lively atmosphere around him made Inuyama Heita feel a little uneasy.

"Oiwa..." While President Oiwa on the stage was still greeting the members, Inuyama Heita took out the flyer, looked at it, and read: "'President and founder of the Lucky Mutual Aid Association - Oiwa Satoru, the mentor of lucky life, will help you walk out of the gloomy life and embrace a colorful future...'"

Looking at the crowd that was so enthusiastic about Oiwa Satoru's appearance, he said worriedly, "Speaking of which, how did they do it? How could so many people believe in them? Don't they understand that it's unreasonable to bring good luck to others just by shaking hands?"

"When people are in a low point, they always need a spiritual support." Qian Xiaoyi replied boredly: "As for why they become like this, just take a closer look at the people around them and you will understand."

Inuyama Heita looked around at the excited members around him. At first he couldn't see anything, but after a while he found that the identities of these people seemed to be different. There were middle-aged women in ordinary clothes, a pot-bellied Mediterranean uncle, a young man with a Shamatte look who looked like a gigolo, a beautiful woman wearing a mask, a middle-aged office worker with a miserable face, and even a male sister with a scruffy beard but heavy makeup. Although their identities were unrelated, they had one thing in common, that is, many of them were marginalized people in society. Although there were also elites who looked like successful people, there were not many of them. Most of them were the lower class who had not achieved financial freedom. They all had a pilgrimage-like piety on their faces, staring fanatically at President Oiwa on the stage.

"Get it?" Qian Xiaoyi said, "When escaping from reality, many people will find excuses for themselves, attributing their inability to succeed to various reasons to comfort themselves. People with religious beliefs will say that all this is arranged by God, and that God will give great responsibilities to people, and so on. Those who do not believe in God will use common reasons such as social injustice and bad birth. There are even strange groups that blame all failures on masturbation... cough cough, I'm getting off topic. In short, no matter what the reason is, these people are similar, just looking for a reason to shirk responsibility and keep each other warm. The world is too chilling, and only here is their harbor of refuge. Of course, these guys without money are just the atmosphere group in the game, which is equivalent to free players in the krypton gold game. They are responsible for being the game content of the krypton gold players and serving as a foil for them. Although they are inconspicuous, they are indispensable."

Seeing Qian Xiaoyi's eyes scanning back and forth in front of him, Inuyama Heita said, "So... are you looking for their real target?"

"Yes." Qian Xiaoyi fixed his eyes on a middle-aged male member in front of him who was dressed more elegantly, and said casually: "Either he has money or he has a social status that can endorse the association..."

Chairman Oiwa on the stage was still chattering away with empty inspiring words, saying things like "no one is born a waste", "the future is bright", "reach the peak of life", etc. And because the atmosphere in the venue had been heated up, this guy was simply a hundred people responding, and no matter what he said, everyone was very excited. If he had added a few words of "applause if you understand" at the end, Qian Xiaoyi would not have doubted that he had come to some MLM conference.

Finally, after President Oiwa's ten-minute warm-up, Matsui, who had already cleaned the cream off his clothes, appeared and took the microphone from President Oiwa. He smiled and said, "Thank you, our respected president. Now it's time to move on to the next stage. Let's listen to the voices of our brothers and sisters in the association."

(End of this chapter)