The Legend of Tokyo Taoist

Chapter 17 Lucky Mutual Aid Society (9)

Qian Xiaoyi continued to work on the task at hand, lowering his head and speaking slowly, "Although I am not familiar with the schools in Southeast Asia, we have similar magic there. This kind of evil magic is basically the same in essence, which emphasizes harming others to benefit oneself. This black Buddha amulet version of the little ghost takes a similar route. The wearer will not eliminate its resentment, but will find ways to increase its hostility and let it influence the people around him to create the illusion of 'good luck'."

Inuyama Heita stared at the jade pendant and asked in confusion: "How can such a thing be done? It sounds incredible. How exactly is it done?"

Qian Xiaoyi blew away the sawdust on the wooden sign in his hand and said, "It's very simple. The existence of this little ghost will disturb the emotions of the people around the host, such as making them occasionally dazed, having nightmares and sleeping poorly at night, or making wrong decisions in certain judgments. It sounds like no big deal, but if it is affected for a long time, these people will have so-called bad luck because of their difficulty in concentrating. Things like falling, forgetting to turn off the gas, not bringing keys, etc. may happen, and it will get worse and worse.

At this time, the host of the little ghost can take advantage of the situation. Because of the influence of the little ghost, the other party will make mistakes in judging the host of the little ghost, thus leading things to a situation that is favorable to the host of the little ghost, such as gamblers will lose a lot of money, or suddenly feel that the host of the little ghost is very pleasing to the eye. But there is a reason why the evil ways are evil ways... Hey, assistant, help me move that table to the utility room and put the flowers aside. "

"Ah, OK." Inuyama Heita looked in the direction Qian Xiaoyi pointed. There was a small table with a vase on it. He put the vase on the coffee table, then picked up a half-person-high square decorative table and followed Qian Xiaoyi to the utility room. Qian Xiaoyi opened the door, revealing the ceiling pipes and various sundries piled up inside. This utility room is very small and has no lights. Various water pipes are right above the head. They are so complicated that you can hit your head if you jump a little. The space is just enough for one person to pass through. Qian Xiaoyi cleared out the things inside, then signaled Inuyama Heita to move the small table in and put it at the very back.

Just as Inuyama Heita put the table away, he discovered that there were spots of dark brown stains on the wall inside the utility room, as if something dirty had suddenly splashed on the wall and spread out in a radial shape. So Inuyama Heita asked, "Mr. Qian, there are obvious stains on the wall here. Could it be that the water pipe above is leaking? But this shape is a bit strange."

"That? No." Qian Xiaoyi answered from outside: "The water pipe is fine, I checked it. The stain is the trace left by the previous owner of this office. I heard that guy was a private detective. Because he was involved in some serious incident, he was killed in the office. Your place is the murder scene. I guess the landlord thought that no one would notice the innermost utility room, so he was too lazy to repaint it?"

“Ah hey hey!!! Murder… Murder scene?!” Inuyama Heita was so frightened that he took a few steps back and almost fell down. He shouted in surprise: “Someone… died here?!”

"Where hasn't someone died?" Qian Xiaoyi said nonchalantly, "If this wasn't a haunted house, how could I have gotten such a good location near the Roppongi business district? And don't forget that you can see ghosts. If it was haunted, you would have discovered it long ago, right? So what's so scary? Even if it's really haunted... don't forget what I do."

"That's true." After hearing Qian Xiaoyi's explanation, Inuyama Heita calmed down a little. Although he was still a little scared, he also understood that there was nothing to be afraid of here. "Okay, come out. It's very crowded in there with two people." Qian Xiaoyi pulled him out, holding some things in his hand, and went in by himself. He instructed inside: "It's too narrow in here, and it's not easy to move. I'll put the toolbox at the door. You just help me pass the tools. I can do the rest myself. Pass me the hammer and nails first."

Inuyama Heita handed the tools in as instructed, and soon the sounds of carpentry work could be heard from inside.

After that, Qian Xiaoyi stayed inside, making some noises. Inuyama Heita stood at the door, occasionally handing him tools. He felt a little bored and suddenly remembered the previous topic, so he asked, "Well, Mr. Qian, you haven't finished what you said before. The reason why the crooked ways are called crooked ways is that the little ghosts will also affect their masters?"

"Influence? Of course there is." Qian Xiaoyi answered in the utility room, "They are still ordinary people after all. They don't know how to suppress these little ghosts. At the beginning, the little ghosts may cooperate with their hosts because they are not very aggressive. But as I said before, the 'good luck' these people feel is actually created by the misfortune of others.

Since there is misfortune, other people will naturally have resentment, and the little ghosts who are both children and spirits are easily affected by these negative emotions. Under these influences, they will become more and more evil and greedy, and finally even become the masters and regard themselves as beings superior to the host.

They will indulge in bringing misfortune to others, just for the sake of happiness, and this misfortune will bring them strength. You should know that if children are not educated, they are innocent and cruel creatures. Such a vicious cycle will happen. By then, those who raise little ghosts will know what regret is. "

After listening to Qian Xiaoyi's explanation, the image that appeared in Inuyama Heita's mind made him shudder, but he had a new question: "So, if these little ghosts are out of control, won't they bring disaster to their owners? Then why would the Lucky Mutual Aid Association use this kind of thing to deceive believers? Aren't they afraid of being exposed?"

Qian Xiaoyi replied, "I'm not them, so I can't say I understand their thinking 100%, but based on my personal speculation, there may be two reasons. First, they never thought about the follow-up treatment at all. They just want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, squeeze the believers' existing interests dry and then run away. Second, they have a way to suppress the little ghosts. When the little ghosts start to run wild, they use the saying "bad luck is coming again" to fool the believers, and then use this method to control them in the long run. I am more inclined to the second statement... Phew, it's done, Heitaro, help me get the incense burner and incense sticks. They are in the drawer of my desk. I'll be ready soon."

(End of this chapter)