The Legend of Tokyo Taoist

Chapter 2 The Visible Boy
Three months later.

Qian Xiaoyi slumped on the sofa in the office, an unlit cigarette in his mouth, staring blankly at the red clouds outside the window.

For three months, a full three months, he did not receive a real commission. He survived by relying on some Chinese people introduced by Brother Zhang to help him with feng shui and the like, otherwise he would have starved to death. Of course, he did not make much money. After all, he had boasted that he would get a 50% discount on the people introduced by Brother Zhang, and he did not encounter any evil spirits, so he could barely make a living.

It's not that Japan doesn't have as many ghosts as Lingkong Taoist thought. There are really too many ghosts in Japan compared to the mainland. Qian Xiaoyi can see one or two ghosts in the crowd when he walks on the street, but no one can notice them. Qian Xiaoyi was kind at first and went to the crossroads in the middle of the night to perform rituals to help these harmless ghosts. But unfortunately, after two or three times, passers-by called the police and he was arrested as a suspicious person. In the end, it was Brother Zhang who came and took him out.

Then he understood that the social atmosphere here determined that these harmless ghosts could not be completely exorcised. If he didn't care about them, they would dissipate on their own and new ghosts would be created. So he decided to just forget it.

During these three months, Qian Xiaoyi tried various advertising methods, such as posting ads online and printing flyers himself. But no one took it seriously. It must be said that the Japanese are indeed very xenophobic, especially those in Tokyo. Although they appear polite on the surface, they are extremely indifferent in their bones. Most people will only follow the general trend. If one person does something that no one else does and appears to be different, he may be bullied. This kind of bullying is usually expressed through words and actions, which is probably the cold violence routine of "no one wants to play with you", occasionally mixed with some sarcasm, which is very effective for ordinary Japanese.

As a foreigner, most Japanese people would stay away from Qian Xiaoyi, let alone ask him to exorcise ghosts. But Qian Xiaoyi is not Japanese, and he doesn't care what those people think. He lives his life as usual, and now he is just giving up.

After lying down for a few more hours and checking the time, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening. Qian Xiaoyi stretched, got up and went out with a cigarette in his mouth. He was going to the nearby supermarket to grab discounted bento boxes, which were his meals for the next few days. If he went too late, there might only be plum bento boxes left, which were the kind of "Hinomaru" bento boxes with a box of rice and only a pickled plum in the middle. I don't know how the Japanese can eat all of them.

Humming as he went downstairs, a fat figure stood by the electric pole downstairs. Seeing Qian Xiaoyi, he greeted him respectfully, "Hello, Brother Yi!"

"Ajian, are you still here? Why don't you go and become a Buddha?" Qian Xiaoyi said.

"No!" the fat man replied, "I have to wait until the game is released!"

"Oh, then it's up to you." Qian Xiaoyi waved his hand and strolled towards the supermarket, completely ignoring the strange look of an old lady passing by.

The fat guy just now is a ghost, as you thought, invisible to normal people. He is different from a lonely ghost in that this guy is a ground-bound spirit. Qian Xiaoyi's first floor is a video store, specializing in selling some two-dimensional things that fat otaku like, and also selling some electronic games and other products. Fatty Ajian is a local. A few years ago, he suddenly had a heart attack while queuing to buy games in the middle of the night and died next to a telephone pole. His last wish before his death was to play the sequel of a game called "Tokimeki Bishoujo Adventure". The strong resentment turned him into a ground-bound spirit and he has been guarding outside the store.

——To be honest, Qian Xiaoyi has only seen ghosts created by this kind of obsession in Japan.

But the game just didn't release a sequel, and the store even removed the game from the shelves. The fat otaku Ajian's resentment became stronger and stronger, and he was about to turn into an evil spirit to attack the store clerks and players who had forgotten the game. Qian Xiaoyi, who happened to rent the second floor here, passed by. Before he really started to perform the ritual, he just opened his mouth and said a few words to Ajian, and Ajian was frightened and turned back into an earthbound spirit. "I'm sorry! I've caused you trouble! I'm really sorry!" Ajian knelt down in front of Qian Xiaoyi at that time, prostrating himself. When he found out that he could be seen by others, he was so scared that all his resentment disappeared, and he dared not do anything bad.

Qian Xiaoyi discussed with him about performing a ritual to help him to be reincarnated, but the fat otaku was too obsessed and insisted on waiting for the game to be released. Qian Xiaoyi just let him go. He didn't want to leave, and forcing him to be reincarnated would be against the harmony of nature. It wouldn't matter anyway, so Qian Xiaoyi just left him alone.

"When you lose your ambition, you can't help but complain; when you are down and out, you can't help but feel scared..." Humming a song, Qian Xiaoyi came to the supermarket, ready to buy a few discounted lunch boxes and put them in the refrigerator to eat for two days. As expected, several people who were ready to grab the discounted lunch boxes had already gathered near the lunch box area, including office workers who looked very depressed, several middle-aged and elderly aunts, and poor high school students in their teens. When the time came, the clerk just put a half-price label on the lunch boxes, and those who had gathered reached out to grab the lunch boxes.

Qian Xiaoyi calculated the timing, arrived at the right time, occupied a favorable position, and was quick in his hands. He successfully grabbed two boxes of half-price fried pork chop bento and some discounted fruits. When he was about to take them to the counter to pay, he saw an interesting scene.

The high school student who was trying to grab the lunch box was squeezed to the back and only got a box of fried dried fish. When he was about to take it to the checkout line, he stopped in the shelf because the passage in front of him was blocked. He wanted to go around, but the man always blocked him and wouldn't let him pass.

"Um... could you please make way?" the poor high school boy said weakly.

“Sure enough…” The figure heard the high school student’s request and actually laughed. He raised his head and said with a smile on his face: “Sure enough, you can see me!”

"?!" The high school student was shocked. He hurriedly dropped his lunch box and, under everyone's strange gazes, he rushed through the ghost's body and escaped from the supermarket.

"...You can't escape! I will find you! You can't escape!" The ghost said to himself with a smile, and the smile looked very hideous against the blood on his face. Then, he passed through the wall and followed the high school student.

Qian Xiaoyi originally wanted to stop him, but after looking at the discounted lunch box in his hand, he thought about it and decided to pay the bill first. Otherwise, it would be a shame to throw away the lunch box he had snatched with great difficulty like that high school kid.

When he finished waiting in line, paid for his purchases and left the supermarket, the man and the ghost had long disappeared.

However, Qian Xiaoyi had anticipated this. He took out a small Bagua compass from his pocket, and after fiddling with it for a while, the needle in the middle began to sway slightly in a certain direction.

(End of this chapter)