The Legend of Tokyo Taoist

Chapter 50 On-the-job Training (9)

"However, because Japan is within the sphere of influence of Chinese culture, some of the orthodox Taoist spells can still work, but..." Qian Xiaoyi said painfully, "When I was planning to use these spells as a makeshift, you guys came up with a new trick for me, which is - urban legend."

Inuyama Heita asked, "What about urban legends? The spell doesn't work?"

Qian Xiaoyi sighed and said, "It's useful for dealing with obvious urban legends of the undead, but can you tell me whether the Slit-Mouthed Woman is a human, a ghost, or a demon? What spell should I use to deal with her?"

"She should..." Inuyama Heita began to think. The Slit-Mouth Woman is an old urban legend in Japan. It is said that a woman went for plastic surgery, but the surgery failed and her mouth was cut open. So she wandered the streets with a mask on all day, holding a pair of scissors in her hand to ask people who were alone if their faces were beautiful. If they answered yes, she would cut them like hers and stab them. If they answered no, she would be furious and stab them anyway. They would die anyway.

However, in recent years, someone added a new setting, saying that the doctor who performed plastic surgery on the slit-mouthed woman applied a lot of hairspray, so when you meet her, you just need to take out the hairspray to scare her away.

Inuyama Heita carefully sorted out the context of this urban legend and found that he had no idea how to classify it. If he said it was a ghost, she had her own entity and the story didn't say she was dead. If he said it was a monster, she had plastic surgery. If he said it was a person, this urban legend had been circulating for decades and there were eyewitness reports...

Ignoring Inuyama Heita who was still thinking, Qian Xiaoyi sighed and said, "Another one, what do you think of Granny Turbine? Is she a human, a ghost, or a monster?"

Turbine Granny, another well-known urban legend, says that there is an old lady running faster than a car in a tunnel. She never hurts anyone, she just runs. She is also called the High Speed ​​Granny or the Sonic Granny. It is said that you can occasionally see her running past your car when you are driving. This legend is like in a battle royale game, when you are driving through a poisonous circle, and suddenly a player runs over to you at high speed and asks you if you want to buy a cheat. It makes people feel a little bit annoyed and confused.

"Also, a human-faced dog." Qian Xiaoyi added, "It is said that it has the head of a middle-aged office worker, the body of a dog, and no special abilities... What is this? Is it a real office worker?"

Inuyama Heita was stumped by Qian Xiaoyi's question, and he didn't know how to classify these monsters in urban legends.

"It seems that you understand my pain." Qian Xiaoyi said: "Whether they are monsters formed naturally in the ghost domain, or just cognitive products that appear due to the spread of rumors, these things are difficult to classify. I can only call them weird, or weird. This weird is a monster among monsters, which is a brand new thing for me. These urban legends are very popular in Japan. We also had similar ones in the last century, such as rumors about cat-faced grandmothers and water monkeys. However, they are too old and these stories have no market and gradually disappeared from the public's view. But it is very strange here in Japan. They are obviously urban legends from decades ago, but they are getting more and more intense and have been passed down to the present day. Moreover, new types of urban legends continue to appear, such as the Ruzuki Station and the Red Raincoat."

Finally, Qian Xiaoyi concluded: "So, for me, how to deal with monsters in urban legends has become a topic that I cannot avoid. I have never encountered such a thing before. Now you understand why we need to investigate urban legends before a large number of commissions come in? This is a new type of modern ghost. I don't know if it can be subdued with spells, because some commissions may contain this factor. So it is better to figure out how to deal with them now than to be at a loss when you encounter them by chance."

"I see." Inuyama Heita nodded. "So where should we start?"

Qian Xiaoyi said, "Tokyo is very big. It's hard to find the relevant ghost areas by running around. Let's start by collecting eyewitness reports and gossips. Collect information about various urban legends from various websites and forums, then slowly sort them out, designate targets, and then confirm the locations where those rumors occurred... It's already so late without realizing it? Let's go and take the tram back. You can go back to school and chat with your classmates. Students in school are the most enthusiastic group of people about this kind of topic. Maybe you can get a few related locations."

Afterwards, the two left the ramen restaurant and took the train back to their respective homes.

The next day, at Qian Xiaoyi's instruction, Inuyama Heita not only read ghost stories on various supernatural forums on his smartphone, but also took the initiative to chat with his classmates to see if he could find some information about urban legends.

"Urban legends?" A boy who was quite familiar with Inuyama Heita asked, "Why? How come the busy part-time worker Inuyama Heita suddenly became interested in these things? But the legends I know are all the old ones, such as Hanako in the toilet and the slit-mouthed woman. I don't know the others... Oh, by the way, if you are interested in these bizarre stories, you can go ask those people." "Those people?" Inuyama Heita was a little curious: "Who are they?"

"It's called something like 'Supernatural Fiction Research and Writing Association'." The boy answered, "It's a group of chuunibyou formed by some shady people. It's not even a club, just a club. On the surface, it's a writing association formed by horror fiction enthusiasts, but that's just an excuse they made up to apply for an activity room. They call themselves the Supernatural Phenomenon Research Department, saying they want to find evidence to prove that ghosts are real, so they can win the Nobel Prize. These people are very keen on these weird stories, and often get together to do some weird activities."

"Nobel...Prize..." Inuyama Heita's mouth began to twitch. It didn't sound like a serious group at all.

But in order to obtain first-hand information on urban legends, after school, Inuyama Heita stayed in school for the first time in a long time and found the activity room where the Paranormal Research Department was located. On the door of the activity room, there were three big words "Paranormal Department". When he looked closely, he found the tiny handwriting sandwiched between the three big words on the note: Paranormal (Novel Research and Creation) Department.

"Hmm...it seems completely unreliable." Inuyama Heita sighed, and finally turned around and wanted to leave. He didn't want to have anything to do with this kind of weird-looking hobby group.

With a bang, the door of the activity room was suddenly opened, and a hand was placed on Inuyama Heita's shoulder.

"Young man, are you here to join the club? It's very difficult to get into our club. Only those who pass the entrance test can join us..." A boy's voice came.

"No, no, I'm just passing by." Inuyama Heita wanted to leave here, and started walking forward without looking back.

"——Originally it should be like this, but because today is the one-year anniversary of our club, the test will be waived! There are also free snacks and tea inside."

"..." Inuyama Heita continued walking forward in silence, but the man behind him refused to let go.

"Please... please~" the man begged.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind.

"Inuyama-san?"

Inuyama Heita looked back and found Suzuki sitting in the activity room with tea and snacks on the table in front of him.

(End of this chapter)