Change the world with entertainment with Yokai Girl

"Heh heh heh. Since that's the case... Haha." Upon receiving the reply, the figures all burst into laughter, some like muffled thunder, some like sharp bird calls, and some like wild tiger roars.

The slender woman stretched, her long, pointed ears twitching slightly, and said with a coquettish laugh, "In the end, waiting for him like this every day, without being able to do anything, would be too boring!"

"Yes... then let's play a little trick on those ignorant humans. Bring Qin Jing, a descendant of the Qin family, here, under the pretext of kidnapping!" The slender woman with black hair raised her wine glass, drank it all in one gulp, and announced.

"Great!" The guests at the banquet cheered.

"As expected of Lord Su Jiu!" The little demons under his command exclaimed in admiration.

"Yuyuyu!" Upon hearing this, Yuyuyu the Snow Child also flashed with white light and began to dance in the air.

The woman with blue eyes, known as 'Su Jiu', stood up. She was dressed in a blue and gold dress similar to that worn by a shaman in a ritual, with black sleeves peeking out from under the dress. Thin gauze shawls were wrapped around her arms, and her long black hair, cascading down like a waterfall, was adorned with gold hairpins and jade ornaments.

She was a peerless beauty from the East, capable of captivating a city with a single smile and a nation with a second. She was not a deity here, but merely someone temporarily managing these shrines on behalf of her predecessors. Undoubtedly, she possessed power here equivalent to that of the local gods.

Behind him stood a row of red and white fox spirits on either side, standing respectfully, ready to serve at any time.

The guests flanking the chairman were a red-faced, long-nosed, black-winged old man; a powerful and imposing man with towering bull horns; a woman with a pointed, long face, bird beak, and purple kimono; and a black-haired girl with deer antlers sitting inside a snail shell.

"I am also interested in meeting that boy," said the red-faced old man, waving a maple leaf fan. With his long nose and jet-black wings, he was none other than the famous Tengu from the legends of the Kingdom of Wa.

The burly man with horns had bulging arms, his body a mass of powerful, muscular muscles. His long, spiky hair cascaded down to his waist, and a tiger stripe with the character for "king" adorned his forehead. He exuded a ferocious and savage aura. He glared at them and said:

"Kidnapping? Stop beating around the bush. If you ask me, let's just grab it!"

"Qiongqi, this is no longer an era where brute force can prevail. What we should be thinking about now is 'how to take that child away...'"

A woman with a bird's head, dressed in a kimono and with what looked like blue butterfly wings behind her, carrying a paper umbrella, said:

"Great! I love kids, so why don't I raise this child myself? All those other parents are useless cowards who can't even protect their own children..."

"No, no, I think it's better not to interfere too much in human family matters. Even if the parents are really incapacitated, there are still child protection organizations." The antlered girl spoke, sitting inside the giant blue clam, gently advising her.

"What are you talking about! Those organizations are even less trustworthy! I don't know how many of those scumbags I've killed!" the bird-headed woman retorted urgently.

"Ugh! Auntie, you're being too extreme! There are indeed places like that, but they're a minority. Compared to the days when corpses littered the fields decades ago, humans have changed a lot now," the antler-wearing girl poked her head out of the clam and puffed out her cheeks in rebuttal.

"What! You, a half-baked, confused dragon girl, dare to lecture me!" Guhuoniao said unhappily.

At this moment, the black-haired, blue-eyed woman sitting at the head of the banquet spoke up: "Alright, Qiongqi, calm down. Guhuo and Jiaotu, stop arguing. Let's discuss the plan now, the perfect crime to make humans run around in circles and have no clue what to do!"

For the bored monsters who lead long, uneventful lives, playing pranks on humans is a great source of amusement.

Several large demons curled their lips, revealing sharp teeth, or widened their round eyes, all showing expressions of great interest...

Section 35: Monsters and the Kidnapping Plan

The next morning, after the banquet, Su Jiu appeared in a solemn and ancient old courtyard in Tokyo with four great demons: Dragon Girl Jiao Tu, Qiong Qi, Great Tengu, and Gu Huo Niao.

Emerging from the gap in the doorway, the Great Tengu asked, "Why did you bring us here? Isn't this human's home?"

"Since we're going to kidnap someone, we really need to call in professionals," Su Jiu said with a smile.

"You want to ask humans for help? I've never heard of that before! Fox! Humans are all untrustworthy guys who will betray their promises for a little profit. I can't trust them!" Guhuoniao glared at Su Jiu in front of her, gripped the umbrella handle tightly, and assumed a posture as if she was about to attack at any moment.

"Don't worry, I am, after all, a god recognized by the mortal world. Humans are all my followers. They have developed to this day thanks to the favors I have bestowed upon them since the pact made a hundred years ago. They are quite good partners. As long as they continue to crave power and money, then humans will not disobey my will." Su Jiu was not nervous at all. She turned around gracefully, unfolded her fan to half-cover her face, and smiled at the Guhuoniao.

The moment Su Jiu pushed open the door, her aura changed. She hid her ears and tail, and her whole body exuded a sacred and solemn aura. Wearing a magnificent blue dress with gold patterns, her shawl fluttered in the wind, making her look like a fairy descending to earth.

Inside the door sat several elderly people having a mahjong meeting; each of them possessed an extraordinary air and clearly held a distinguished status.

Some of them were originally high-ranking officials, some were leaders of wealthy conglomerates, founders of large enterprises, and some had worked in special professions or were related to the military.

Upon discovering that the door had been suddenly opened, the alert security personnel around the elderly rushed out and stood in front of them as a shield.

"Who goes there!"

"What are those people outside doing! They let so many people in here!"

"Stop! Hands up and heads covered!" The bodyguards in black tensed up and drew their pistols, aiming them at Su Jiu and the others.

"How dare you trespass here! Explain your identities!" The old man with the slicked-back hair slammed his hand on the table, stood up menacingly, and accidentally swept the mahjong tiles off the table in the process.

"Ah! My unparalleled hero! He's already been cleared out! Old man An! You're too despicable!" The bald old man next to him was indignant and grabbed the collar of the slicked-back haircut, shouting.

"Wait, this isn't the time to talk about this! Calm down. We're retired anyway, so we can play mahjong anytime, right?" The old man with the slicked-back hair waved his hand and said.

"That was a peerless hero! You bastards! So you politicians are all a bunch of brilliant scoundrels and liars!" The bald old man jumped up and down in anger.

"Mr. An, don't you remember me?" The shrine maiden walked forward with a light laugh and said to the old man sitting at the head of the table.

The old man sitting in the main seat opened his eyes wide.

"Ah...you...you are...Lord Su Jiu." The dignified old man was shocked when he saw the newcomer!

"Put it down quickly! This is our most distinguished guest! Go and prepare to entertain our honored guest!"

"Hey... Old Man An, who are these people?" the old man next to him asked in a low voice.

"Where did the Inari come from..." the old man on the shore whispered.

The other three elderly people nodded in agreement, their expressions showing understanding, and their attitudes became more polite.

In their position, as they get older, they inevitably come into contact with things that seem unbelievable by common sense, things that have been quietly infiltrating human life since ancient times, only they haven't been exposed.

Even from a secular perspective, the Shintoist forces represented by Mount Inari have a significant influence among believers, and it is rumored to have a close relationship with the Hourai Company.

"Come, come... Lord Su Jiu, and all the other guests, please take your seats." The old man bowed and respectfully invited them.

"Just call me Su Jiu." The priestess explained her purpose to the elders and handed them a photo of their target.

"In short, we want to meet this child, return him safely without harming him, and also play a prank on the people over there, right?" Old Man An looked at the photo, then took off his glasses and asked.

"Well, this time we've decided to use 'kidnapping' as a pretext to commit what we call the perfect crime. We won't go too far, since it's better for us to keep our presence hidden for now. So we'll take the person away, but how you play the prank is up to you," Su Jiu said with a light laugh.

“Kidnapping…” Old Man An nodded, pondering the implications. He had received support from the theocracy when he rose to power, as religion had a considerable power to unite believers. His family would need their support in future elections.

No matter what, he couldn't refuse, but the problem was the old people around him... This witch chose to barge in at this time because she wanted to drag the others in as well.

"Hey? This pretty child looks familiar. Isn't this my eldest niece's child? Yes, I have a niece who married into this family. I saw her in China two years ago; she's family. This child is my grand-nephew." Looking at the photo, one of the elderly men exclaimed with delight, "Haha, so we're all family! Family!"

"Your Wei family can have such a handsome grand-nephew? This child must be a relative you were more than five degrees of kinship with a hundred years ago..." another old man said in disbelief.

The old man surnamed Wei stroked his beard proudly and laughed, "Anyway, we're relatives! The Wei family has produced many handsome men and beautiful women since ancient times. Don't you believe me, old man? My family genealogy clearly records that the Wei family originated from the Mi clan of Qin, the younger brother of the Queen Dowager Xuan, the maternal uncle of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, and the Grand Chancellor Wei Ran! Even Bai Qi was an ancestor of our family."

"Haha, stop bragging. I know you Chinese families. It's been over two thousand years, and you're still trying to ride on your ancestors' coattails. China doesn't have an aristocracy anymore. You're just a merchant!" the elder laughed dismissively. "If we're talking about noble families, the Yuan family is the legitimate one that can attend the Emperor's banquet every year."

“Your son is out in the public eye selling jewelry now! You were just a gold and silver jewelry seller back then. Where is the refined elegance of a true nobleman?” Old Man Wei retorted, unconvinced.

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Old Man An and Lord Su Jiu are still waiting," the last old man who hadn't spoken yet advised.

"Ahem... So, what do you all think?" Old Man An asked.

"Of course...we'll participate!" the two elderly people said in unison.

“Then I’ll participate too.” The last short, thin old man said with a smile. He used to work in intelligence, and now his pension is nominally held by a company. Although he doesn’t have the power and money of the people present, he has a lot of information and is very knowledgeable.

"That's right, after I retired, my family all treated me like an unwanted old man. Why don't they just bring my granddaughters over here too..." Old Man Yuan slapped his forehead and said with a hearty laugh.

"That's a great idea! I've actually been wanting to find something to do for a while now! My brain's practically rusting."

"I've done plenty of bad things in my life, but this is my first time kidnapping. There should be a ransom exchange involved, right? Not bad, not bad, I'm itching to try it out!"

"But... how do we kidnap the child? Do we need a black car? Or mercenaries?"

"Bringing them here will be handled by us; ordinary people won't notice. Let's settle them on the mountain near the shrine; there will be places to stay and places to play there," Su Jiu replied with a smile.

"Oh, that's really reliable. It's like they've vanished into thin air."

"Then we'll leave the rest to you. We'll bring the children over as soon as the plan is complete, so don't worry about this place being exposed."

"I have already given orders to prepare a banquet. Please, Lord Su Jiu and all those who have come with you, move over there and wait."

"But I really didn't expect that these boring monsters and gods would join forces with this boring old man. The old saying 'old people are wise' is really true. Hahaha." Old Man Wei sighed with a hearty laugh.

Elsewhere in the houses, the monsters were being entertained. Relying on their exceptional hearing, they savored the feast while listening intently to the human conversation. The cunning and shrewd ones offered their opinions and began to meticulously plan their next move…

Section 36. The Kidnapping Plan in Progress

"Now that you've figured out how to kidnap him, let's move on to the next step. How much ransom should we ask for?" Old Man An asked.

"I just had someone inquire about it, and according to the current market rate, it would generally be around five million," the short, thin old man said.

"Euros? That's a bit of a dilemma. My niece's family doesn't seem to be wealthy," Old Man Wei said, frowning.

"It's alright, my son can help him pay it off later," the old man said, waving his hand.

"No, it's Hualian currency," said the knowledgeable, short, thin old man.

"What? Hualian currency? A mere five million? The ransom!" Old Man An exclaimed in astonishment.

"How is this possible? Are you kidding me? This is being used to exchange for lives!" the elder exclaimed in surprise.

"Don't say that. This is common sense. Ordinary families can't afford that kind of money," Old Man Wei said, spreading his hands. That's why he disliked these noble families; they were completely unaware of the hardships of life.

"This is outrageous... This is money to exchange lives, and it's the lives of Xiaolin and Xiaoying..." The old man felt a surge of anger as he thought about it. This was the price of a club membership fee, or the price of a simple house of more than 70 square meters.

The elder grew angrier the more he thought about it, and said defiantly, "Even if this is the market price, we don't necessarily have to follow suit. Let's just set it at one hundred million, no! One billion! That would be more reasonable!"

“I understand how you feel, but this way the kidnapping can't proceed smoothly. For the sake of the plan, we have to stick to the conventional approach,” the short, thin old man advised. Imagine if Li Ka-shing's son were kidnapped, and Li Ka-shing received a call saying, 'Hello, your son has been kidnapped! Quickly bring 500 million RMB!'

What do you think Li Ka-shing's feelings were at that time?

'500 million? 500 million! The plaster on the wall alone is worth more than 500 million!'

The elder statesman felt the same way he did.

"Alright then." Although Old Man Yuan agreed, he still muttered, "This is too undignified. The Yuan family will lose all face. If word gets out, our granddaughter will never be able to get married. No way! Old Man An! What do you think?"

"Could it be that kidnappers in this world go through all the trouble and risks to abduct children just for such a small amount of money?" Old Man An said, rubbing his head in disbelief.

"Sigh..." The old man sighed, "Isn't this idiotic? If he had used that kind of courage and brains on something worthwhile, he would have easily earned a hundred million and achieved his life's small goal by now."

"What are those people thinking? We can't understand it," the old man said, shaking his head.

"Why are we racking our brains like this for such a small amount of money? I really can't accept it," the old man sighed.

"I'm sorry, I made you all fool around with me for such a small amount of change," the old man said apologetically.

"Forget it, take it easy, don't worry about the money. Let's just have some fun with this prank."

"Then let's talk about this again. What if they call the police? Won't that cause too much of a fuss?"

"That's no problem. The commissioner of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department happens to be my former subordinate. I'll just give him a call and ask him to cover it up. We'll have to be careful not to expose our tracks."

"Don't worry about that. I just bought a secure, eavesdropping-proof satellite communication phone from a spy. When I make a call, I don't have to worry about being traced at all."

"Then let's discuss the matter of receiving the ransom."

"Why bring this up? It's just a little money..." the old man said, waving his hand.

“In that case, leave it to me. Actually, I have some toys that are suitable to receive these. I can return the money later.” The short, thin old man nodded. He used to work in intelligence.

"No need, I already feel bad enough. I'll arrange for the Metropolitan Police Department to handle the money. You can keep all the loose change, brother," said the old man.

“That won’t do. We’ll have to pay this money back eventually.” The short, thin old man shook his head firmly. Although he was indeed very poor compared to everyone else present, he still had a retirement pension, social security, and medical insurance.

"It's alright, my proud and foolish son will definitely take care of this ransom himself," the elder said.

"Let's talk about that later. In short, let's prepare first, and then just wait to kidnap the target," the old man decided.

The elderly people were discussing the specific details.

The next morning, on a street in Tokyo, Qiongqi, disguised as a burly man in a black leather jacket and with a spiky hairstyle, grabbed a child with his arm and vanished without a trace.

...................

Meanwhile, at the primary school...

"Report, the homework is on the table, teacher."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Qin."

Goodbye, teacher.

As Qin Jing closed the door and left, the two teachers in the office were whispering to each other.

"I heard that Hanako from the Higashino family in Class C has gone missing. Her family said that Hanako left home early this morning but did not come to school. They have searched everywhere but have not found her."

"Could they have been kidnapped? This world is really dangerous."

Qin Jing, who was only there to submit her homework because it was her turn to be on duty, never expected to hear such news.

'Hanako has been kidnapped?!'