The Legend of Tokyo Taoist

Chapter 308 The New Year Begins (5)

Although this nickname seems unreliable, since it was introduced by Lingtang Yanci, he shouldn't be a gangster selling movies... right?

After typing "I'm Qian Xiaoyi, introduced by Mr. Lingtang" and applying to add a friend, after a while, the other party replied.

Pantyhose World Number One: [Oh, I know you. Are you the Chinese exorcist who beat up Hiruda? ]

Pantyhose World Number One: [You are quite powerful then. Although that guy is very mean and petty, he is indeed very strong. He has so many curses on him that it is very troublesome to deal with him, so no one dares to mess with him. You have done a good thing.]

Pantyhose World No. 1: [But even so, you can't disturb me on my day off. I haven't even gotten up yet. Normally I don't reply to customer messages on holidays, but I made an exception when I heard from the guy at the funeral that it was you.]

Pantyhose World No. 1: [Anyway, if you don’t have anything urgent, come back to me in a few days. I want to have a quiet vacation too.]

Pantyhose World No. 1: [I am afraid of trouble, so I will send you a price list. Please read it carefully before you come to me. ]

A series of messages came continuously, leaving Qian Xiaoyi no chance to reply. He could feel that the other party's hand speed was so fast that even the phone screen might have left afterimages.

"Just got up? It's almost afternoon now, right?" Qian Xiaoyi checked the time and thought, "So this guy's schedule is the opposite of normal people's?"

Then, the other party sent a picture, Qian Xiaoyi looked at it carefully, and it listed in detail the prices of various goods and services, as well as the store's opening hours.

Qian Xiaoyi muttered the name of the store with a strange look on his face: "Super Xingchangtang..."

The business hours are at the top of the picture, and they are marked in bold font as if to prevent others from seeing it. The store opens at 5 pm and closes at am. It is closed on weekends and holidays. Except for the strange opening hours, it looks just like a regular store.

Looking further down, there is a price list of goods.

The first table shows various instruments of worship. I won’t mention the common ones like pestles, Zen staffs, and prayer beads. In addition to these, there are also samurai swords, statues of gods, crosses, holy water…

All kinds of unrelated magical instruments are gathered together, even peach wood swords used by Taoists. It makes people feel absurd, but if you think about it carefully, in a big city like Tokyo, there are people of all kinds of beliefs, and it is a mixed crowd, so these things may really be useful.

The second table is the various materials for casting spells or making exorcism props. They are also all kinds of strange, even human blood. Of course, it is marked at the back that they are blood bags bought from the hospital.

The third one is the highlight, which actually sells various cursed items. These cursed items are all sealed, and they are very expensive and rare.

Although the types of cursed items seem to be few, Lingtang Yanci and Qian Xiaoyi mentioned before at Iwama Shrine that the real good things in this store are not sold openly, because cursed items have too many side effects, and they will only be sold if the buyer is sure that he has the ability to make good use of them.

The last form is for customized magical instruments and spells. There is no specific price and it requires an interview.

Qian Xiaoyi looked at the price list with great interest, and had a general understanding of the heir of the Xingchang family. Lingtang Yanci had told him that the Xingchang family was not an ordinary exorcist. They basically did not accept exorcism commissions, but specialized in the exorcist business, which was equivalent to logistics personnel.

Moreover, not every exorcist can enjoy their services. Their store is a membership-based one, and only those recommended by other members can enter the store. Qian Xiaoyi's recommender was naturally Yan Ci from the Lingtang.

I heard that in ancient times, the Hoshiba family was a blacksmith who specialized in making custom instruments for exorcists. Over the long years, they gradually learned the technique of sealing ghosts and monsters, and used the sealed ghosts to forge various powerful instruments.

With the accumulation of more than ten generations, their understanding of the characteristics of ghosts and monsters has been continuously improved. Until the time of the previous head of the family, Hoshiba Ken, the prestige of the Hoshiba family reached its peak. Therefore, Hoshiba Ken was called "Dr. Ghost". From this, it can be seen that their family has a rich heritage. Even if Hoshiba Ken died in the commission to conquer the Slit-Mouthed Woman, no one dared to underestimate their family.

"Continuous research, continuous accumulation..." Qian Xiaoyi thought: "To understand ghosts and monsters, and to use their characteristics to subdue them, this is consistent with the theory of cognitive school, so I can definitely go and say hello."

A few days later, Qian Xiaoyi saw that the other party's status had changed from "resting" to "open for business", so he took Inuyama Heita and rode to the Hoshiba family's dojo that night. This place is located on the edge of Tokyo, so there are no high-rise buildings. The Hoshiba family's yard looks quite large. If it were placed in the city, the price would be unimaginable.

"It's so cold..." Inuyama Heita hugged his arms and shivered. It was also very cold in Tokyo in January. He was very dissatisfied with having to travel by motorcycle at this time of year. He complained, "Brother Yi, the school vacation is not over yet. Can't I stay at home and enjoy the vacation?"

Qian Xiaoyi said, "You hide in the kotatsu every day watching TV and reading comics. Don't you feel bored?"

"That's better than running outside in the middle of the night to blow in the cold wind..." Inuyama Heita rubbed his face which was numb from the cold wind and said, "Besides, why should I come here? I can't afford the things here."

Qian Xiaoyi said, "If you don't come, how can you help me run errands in the future? Of course you have to come here to get familiar with the place. Besides, I heard from Mr. Lingtang that there will be a lively welcome ceremony for guests who come here for the first time."

"Welcome ceremony..." Inuyama Heita shrank his head: "It sounds bad, and is this place really open?"

The gate of the Xingba family mansion was closed. The weather today was not very good. There were thick clouds in the sky and not a trace of moonlight could be seen. The surrounding street lights also seemed a little dim, so the mansion in front of them looked like a haunted house.

“Just ask to see if there’s anyone there.” Qian Xiaoyi walked to the gate. There were two intercoms under the doorplate. One had “Xingchang Family” written on it, and the other had “Super·Xingchang Hall” written on it. So Qian Xiaoyi pressed the button of the second intercom.

"This is [Super Star Field Hall]." After a while, the intercom was connected and a man's voice came from inside. Qian Xiaoyi raised his head and looked at the monitor on the gate and waved.

"Oh, I see you." A man's voice came from the intercom: "Is this Mr. Qian? The door is open, come in by yourself, and remember to speak quietly, someone is sleeping at home."

With a creak, the door of the mansion opened, and a row of stone lamps lit up along the road, as if to welcome them.

"Let's go in." Qian Xiaoyi and Inuyama Heita took a step forward and walked into the yard.

(End of this chapter)