The Legend of Tokyo Taoist

Chapter 150: Training trip (23)

"So, why did Inuyama stay with Teacher Qian? And he didn't even pick up his luggage from the hotel, but went straight to the city." Kawasaki asked this question on the train.

Inuyama Heita didn't know how to fool him, so he looked at Qian Xiaoyi, wanting to see how he would explain. Qian Xiaoyi thought for a moment and replied, "Didn't strange things happen when I was away before? For example, Miss Ono and Heitaro both fainted, and yesterday Miss Ono lost consciousness and did a weird dance. In fact, Heitaro also had similar symptoms at that time. By the time he realized what was happening to him, this guy had already walked to the road outside the village."

Everyone looked at Inuyama Heita in surprise. Inuyama Heita was also surprised, but he quickly calmed down and coughed, "Ahem... That's right, thanks to Brother Yi for finding me, otherwise I would have been lost."

Qian Xiaoyi said, "Actually, after I knew what happened between Miss Ono and him, I was looking for a car to go back, but I didn't find a car until yesterday. I saw him on the road. In order to prevent the child's condition from getting worse, I didn't return to the village. Instead, I went to a nearby city and found a hospital to check him out. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with him."

"I see." Kawasaki asked anxiously, "Um, Mr. Qian, what happened in the village? Why did Inuyama and Ono appear in that situation? What about those foxes?"

The others were also very curious, hoping to get answers from Qian Xiaoyi. Qian Xiaoyi said, "It should be something left over from the shrine. Miss Ono and Heitaro, you two have played pranks at the shrine and disrespected the gods, right?"

Ono Haruna recalled for a moment, covered her mouth and said in surprise: "You... you knew? I think I used lipstick to graffiti on the fox statue last year."

Inuyama Heita also cooperated and said, "It seems... it did happen."

Everyone looked at Qian Xiaoyi in disbelief; he was actually right.

Kawasaki suddenly realized: "So that's how it is! No wonder they all had accidents at the shrine. And there was a fox attack at the festival yesterday. What a pity! If Teacher Qian was here yesterday, this wouldn't have happened! Damn fox."

Qian Xiaoyi said leisurely, "That can't be said. The shrine was indeed abandoned by the village. There was a large-scale fox expulsion incident more than a decade ago, so it is normal to be retaliated. It can be regarded as a punishment for the villagers' disrespect for the gods. By the way, Kawasaki, you said before that your grandparents were taken to Osaka... You must be lying, right?"

When investigating the fields before, Qian Xiaoyi discovered that there were smaller scarecrows next to the scarecrows of the deceased elderly people in the village. Those should be the scarecrows of the young people in the village, so he made this speculation.

Kawasaki's pupils shrank when he heard this, but he did not refute.

Sato asked in surprise: "Huh? Is that true? Why would the minister lie like that?"

Kawasaki was silent for a while, then said, "Actually... my grandparents died one after another when I was a child, but that summer, I saw them in the village with my own eyes, and they even talked to me. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared. I told other people about this, but they didn't believe me and said I was a big liar. Even my parents didn't believe me and thought I was making up an excuse to go back to the countryside to play..."

Komaeda Yui asked: "But... why do you say they are still here?"

Kawasaki said: "When I return to the village, I always feel that they are still by my side... Maybe it's just an illusion, but as long as they are there, I will feel extremely safe, so I don't want to talk about it. The strange thing is that after yesterday's incident, that sense of security disappeared for some reason."

"Is it because of this experience that you are so persistent in finding evidence of the existence of ghosts?" Qian Xiaoyi said.

Miyamoto Yuzhi then asked: "Um, Mr. Qian, will there be any problems with Hina in the future? After all, that kind of thing has happened several times..." Qian Xiaoyi said: "Don't worry, as long as she doesn't go to that village again, nothing will happen to her."

Ono Haruna said with a lingering fear: "I don't know what I was thinking. I actually wanted to go back there before. I will never go to that village again! I've had enough of that experience."

Suzuki, who had been silent the whole time, said, "It's strange to say, but I always feel that the people in that village... seem to have some unspeakable secrets. Those festivals and the atmosphere all have a very suspicious feeling. I feel like Inuyama-san is hiding something, and it's strange that Mr. Qian left so suddenly. Did you do something else to cause those strange things to happen?"

"How...how could this be?" Inuyama Heita was a little embarrassed. His intuition was still so sharp.

Qian Xiaoyi also laughed dryly: "Ahahaha~ You really have a rich imagination~ That village is just an ordinary village, there are no secrets at all. Except for yesterday, you have been living a very comfortable life these days~ Just treat this as a special experience, don't think too much~"

"By the way." Inuyama Heita changed the subject and said, "Speaking of strange things, I did find something strange."

Everyone looked at him, and Sato asked, "What's strange?"

Inuyama Heita said: "We have been calling 'that village' and 'the village' all the time. Have you noticed that from the moment we entered the village, we didn't seem to see any village name? So, what is the name of that village?"

Kawasaki scratched his head and said, "Ah... is there such a thing? I didn't notice this before. Now that I think about it, it's true. But as for the name of the village, there is no secret at all. The name of the village is..."

"——White Fox Village."

After returning to the office, Qian Xiaoyi breathed a sigh of relief. He first took out the jade pendant with the fox on it, opened the storage room and walked in, saying, "Before I buy the fox statue, you stay here for a while, play with the children well, and don't bully them."

He lit the incense in the incense burner, put the chocolate bought from the convenience store outside into the offering plate, and left the utility room. The moment he closed the door, the cheers of children and the whimpering of foxes broke out, as if they were having a lot of fun.

After doing all this, Qian Xiaoyi opened the door of his room and walked in dragging his suitcase.

The room was still the same as before. It was originally a study room, which he converted into a bedroom. A folding bed was placed in the corner, and on the bedside table next to it was a photo of two Taoists, one old and one young, with their hair in buns. They were smiling happily without any respect for age.

On the other side of the room was a bookshelf against the wall, on which were placed Qian Xiaoyi's various magical instruments and some books left by his master. Qian Xiaoyi took out the notebook he had bought from Baihu Village and turned to the page with the drawing of the magic circle. Then he pulled out a thread-bound book titled "Notes on the Compilation of Orthodox Taoist Canon - Chapter on Magic Circles" from the bookshelf and found one of the pages to compare.

"Sure enough... basically the same." Qian Xiaoyi murmured.

(End of this chapter)