Tokyo, but I'm a deceitful scumbag.

It was Tendo Ryuji.

At that moment, he held a nodachi in one hand and swiftly cut the long-haired demon in half at the waist. Then, with his other hand, he reached out and picked up the fallen Buddha statue—the statue was made of bronze, about the size of a fist, and could be held in one hand.

After doing all this, he nodded to Asuka Tendo at the top of the tree and turned to leave.

"Damn it, they beat me to it! Ugh!"

Tendo Asuka stomped her feet in anger, forgetting that she was in a tree. As a result, she broke a branch and fell on her bottom with a thud.

"Woooooooo..."

She rubbed her bottom, looked up at the treetop, and said, "Fox, why didn't you pull me up..."

Hoshino Hideyuki tilted his head and smiled: "Well, because I'd also like to see what you look like when you fall down~"

"How could your 36-degree mouth utter such cold words? Unforgivable! Death penalty!"

Half a minute later.

The girl and the fox, who had been kicked in the butt, continued on their way.

"We'll head a little south next, avoiding the direction Long Zhi left in... Let me emphasize, this isn't out of fear of him! It's my brilliant strategy of detour!"

"Hi hi hi~"

"Wait, the pointer is responding!"

Fortunately, the girl was lucky after adopting the new strategy and quickly found a target.

So the fox and the girl went there again and followed the compass needle to a wooden cabin in the woods. In front of the cabin, they saw two hairy ghosts.

Unlike their previous flamboyant counterparts, these two hairy ghosts took great care in their disguise. They wore shoes, gloves, and a long robe to cover their hair and horns—although their height was still quite noticeable, they certainly didn't look like ghosts at first glance.

At this moment, they didn't seem anxious about how to escape; instead, they excitedly sat around a small jar.

One of the ghosts asked, "Brother, what is this?"

"Imperial Jade Liquor!" another ghost laughed. "A fine product brewed by humans. It was originally going to sell for three small gold coins, but luckily I know how to bargain. I went up and showed my fist, and the kid got scared and sold it to me for cost price, two coins!"

"Haha, big brother is really amazing!"

"Of course! And not only am I amazing, I also know how to share the good fortune! Come on, let's have a taste!"

As they spoke, the two ghosts opened the jar, poured themselves a bowl of wine, and took a couple of sips.

"Hiss... why does it taste just like ten-cent wine..."

"What are you saying! This is wine worth two small gold coins, it must have some special aftertaste, we just can't taste it right away, let's drink some more!"

"That's right, let's have some more!"

At the top of the tree, the fox's mouth was stretched almost to its ears.

I came out and even saw the long-haired ghost buying fake alcohol. This dream is really interesting.

"Alright, stop laughing, get back to work!"

Asuka Tendo pouted, took out a talisman, and jumped down.

Pfft!

"who!"

The two hairy ghosts immediately stood up.

One of them pulled a stick out from behind his buttocks.

Another person took out a small gourd from their robes, pulled out the stopper, and released many tiny, bee-like monsters that buzzed and formed a dark cloud, looking quite frightening...

Then they were all blown away by Hoshino Hideyuki's Wind and Thunder Fan.

Hmm, let's experience a level 10 gale!

No matter how many bugs you have, if you're too light, say goodbye to them all!

Beside her, Asuka Tendo followed closely, swiftly and cleanly eliminating two demons with a single punch. Then, she crouched down and touched the corpses...

"I've got it! And it's two Buddha statues!" The girl held up the two Buddha statues, her smile revealing her canine teeth.

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from nearby.

Hoshino Hideyuki turned his head and saw familiar faces—three late-arriving Onmyoji from the Tendo family. Ah, it feels good to be one step ahead!

But he immediately frowned again.

Because one of the three was Tendo Ryuji, whom they had met not long ago.

However, in such a short time, this guy already had seven Buddha statues hanging from his waist!

Chapter 209 The fox suspects someone sold ditch

"How, how is it possible..."

Asuka Tendo, who also noticed this, was stunned, and the joy she had just felt from finding the two Buddha statues vanished.

The other two Onmyoji who arrived—ah, one of them was none other than Tendo Tomoya—were also stunned, but quickly convinced themselves and whispered among themselves:

"Although it's exaggerated, it's still Ryuji after all..."

"Indeed, Longzhi's strength is evident to all, unlike that annoying guy who relies on luck..."

Asuka Tendo glared at him: "What does this have to do with me!"

"Heh, who knows?" Tomoya Tendo sneered, said no more, and turned to leave with his companions.

Ryuji nodded to the fox and the girl again before disappearing into the depths of the forest.

Watching the two groups disappear into the distance, the fox narrowed its eyes and said in a deep voice:

"Something's wrong."

The girl turned her head and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Don't you think Tendo Ryuji is finding the Buddha statue a little too fast?"

The girl nodded vigorously: "I think so!"

"I suspect he's cheating!"

"what?"

The girl clearly disagreed with the fox's assessment, scratching her head and saying:

"Although I really want to defeat Ryuji, well... based on my past impressions, he is indeed very strong and a decent person, so he shouldn't do anything bad..."

"Of course, this genius wants to win, but I also want to win fair and square. It's not right to accuse others of cheating..."

"Besides, he shouldn't have this ability. Everyone here was sent in under the elders' noses..."

Hideyuki Hoshino shook his head.

"Although we joked around a bit along the way, we didn't waste much time. After turning around, we quickly locked onto new targets."

"Even so, we only found two."

"However, in the same amount of time, and even between the same starting point and the same destination, Tendo Ryuji found a full five more than us!"

"I can only think of two possibilities. One is that Tendo Ryuji was so handsome that Zeus in the sky took a liking to him, and Zeus turned into lightning and struck his groin, awakening his speed power and turning him into the Flash, who can run anywhere in a short time..."

Tendo Asuka: "?"

"You're just talking nonsense!"

"Well, then there's only one possibility left: he barely took any detours, searched, or even hesitated at all during his journey. Instead, as if he already knew where the long-haired demon would be, he went straight there to kill people and collect Buddha statues, and then immediately turned to the next place."

"So I suspect he was cheating."

Seeing that the girl was about to argue, Hoshino Hideyuki changed the subject and said:

"Of course, what you said makes sense. Maybe he was just lucky to encounter a hairy ghost carrying multiple Buddha statues, or maybe he has some kind of reasonable, albeit not cheating, secret technique."

"If everything is as usual, I won't bother to question him."

"But young lady, don't forget, this trial isn't normal. Someone is plotting something behind the scenes, otherwise I should be eating hot pot instead of being here!"

Upon hearing this, Asuka Tendo frowned and fell into thought.

Hoshino Hideyuki put his hands on his hips and continued, "Therefore, reasonable suspicion is necessary."

"It's not that we necessarily have to identify Tendo Ryuji as a cheater, the key is that we're afraid he might have some connection with those people in the shadows."

"Of course, all of the above is just my speculation without any evidence. The actual situation needs further investigation..."

As he spoke, Hoshino Hideyuki plucked a hair, first transforming it into a wrestler, then into a swallow, and sent it chasing after Tendo Ryuji in the direction he had left. Then he plucked two more hairs, which transformed into two wrestlers, and stretched out their hands toward Tendo Asuka.

Asuka Tendo blinked.

"W-what do you want to do?"

"I need to borrow a Buddha statue from you to do some experiments."

"what?"

Asuka Tendo instinctively hugged the Buddha statue tightly. After hesitating for several seconds, she pouted and reluctantly gave one of the statues to the warrior.

"You must repay what you borrow."

"No problem, I promise!"

"Ah, a fox's guarantee, that sounds reassuring..."

As she spoke, the girl began to grind her teeth.

However, Hideyuki Hoshino didn't care at all.

He clapped his hands, and then the strongman who had obtained the Buddha statue went back into the wooden house behind him and sat down, while the other strongman who was empty-handed transformed into a white-haired demon and ran into the woods.

The girl narrowed her eyes, vaguely understanding the fox's meaning, and said nothing more.

After making some arrangements, the two set off again.

This time they were lucky; within just ten minutes, they found another Buddha statue.

However, as the saying goes, fortune and misfortune are intertwined...

As they turned to leave, they found themselves surrounded by several people.