Tokyo, but I'm a deceitful scumbag.

"Who are you calling a tigress!"

"You really want to catch me, don't you? But you have no clues, so you don't know where to start?"

"..."

"If you help me this time, I'll answer one question for you, okay?"

Chapter 42 The Fox and the Onmyoji made an appointment for the night

answer the questions?

Who knows if your answer is true or false! It's completely meaningless!

Facing the fox, Asuka Tendo dared not relax her guard in the slightest.

But then again…

The more you interact with the fox, the more clues you gather, and the higher the chance of eventually catching the fox and tormenting it—that's a sound logic.

This is definitely an opportunity!

Asuka Tendo sat on the bench in the changing room, deep in thought. Her tiny, white feet, unable to touch the ground, dangled back and forth, knocking her bunny slippers askew.

I vaguely remember an old saying from Tokyo University: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained..."

Returning favors, doing good deeds, and gathering clues... well, it's worth the risk!

"Okay, I agree to help you."

"Thank you so much! You truly deserve to be called a legendary super genius Onmyoji, powerful yet kind, kind yet powerful!"

"Hey, you little fox, don't think I'll be happy just because you're praising me..."

Asuka Tendo pinched the rabbit ears on her slippers with her small, delicate toes, twisting and turning, while saying in a deep voice, "Just this once, and it won't change our hostile stance!"

"I understand, I understand, I promise it will only be once~"

Hoshino Hideyuki smiled and said, "Well then, time is precious, let's get straight to the point. What exactly is going on with that vengeful spirit?"

After pondering for a moment and confirming that revealing the knowledge in her mind would not harm the countermeasures office, Asuka Tendo slowly said:

There is a book called "The Book of Obscure Events".

"It was written by a great-grandson of the great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei. Because it contains a large number of evil spells, it has been regarded as a forbidden book by Onmyoji throughout history."

"About 350 years ago, when the spiritual energy was waning but not completely waning, a turmoil occurred in the Tsuchimikado family, descendants of the Abe family, and the only original copy of the 'Ikujiki' that they were keeping was stolen as a result."

what?

Is Tsuchimikado a descendant of Abe no Seimei?

What does it mean that the spiritual energy is waning but not completely waning? Does it mean that the spiritual energy was more abundant in the past than it is now?

In just a short passage, the wild fox learned a lot of new knowledge.

Unfortunately, he couldn't ask any further questions.

The fact that Asuka Tendo can casually mention these things suggests that they are likely common knowledge in the supernatural world. If she were to show that she doesn't understand, she would be revealing too much.

Over there, the girl continued her explanation:

"This book was dismantled many times after it was lost, and despite the Tsuchimikado family's desperate efforts to find it, they only managed to recover half of it."

"The remaining half contains a special spell for controlling and manipulating vengeful spirits."

"Specifically, the practitioner must first make the person develop feelings for them, then kill them through a certain ritual, and finally extract their soul to control and cultivate it. It is said that the upper limit is extremely high, and it can raise vengeful spirits comparable to great monsters."

"When this spell is used, golden chains will appear..."

Hoshino Hideyuki interjected:

"So you're guessing that someone obtained a fragment of the 'Chronicle of Obscure Events' and learned the spells within it?"

"Yes."

"How do we break this spell?"

"To be honest, it's very difficult. The characteristic of this spell is its extremely high control over spirits. If you try to break it by force, the spirits will definitely be annihilated."

Asuka Tendo sighed:

"The only effective way is for the caster to free himself from the restraints."

"This requires scattering specially made sacred sake (a ritual sake used in Shinto ceremonies) on the ground, having the practitioner recite the incantation, and finally kneeling and bowing."

“But that makes it even more difficult, because once the bindings are broken, the caster will be devoured by the vengeful spirit, which is tantamount to suicide. No matter how you look at it, he would never do such a thing…”

Hoshino Hideyuki said, "It's alright, I'll take care of this."

Tch, that cunning fox is quite confident...

Asuka Tendo pouted, then said, "So, what about the sacred sake? Are you going to be in charge of that too?"

"Well... hehe, I do need your help..."

"can."

Asuka Tendo readily agreed, but then immediately chuckled and said, "But I want to hand this sake to you myself. Do you dare to come and take it?"

The girl straightened her back.

You stinky fox, you dare not answer now?

You tricked me before, now it's my turn to scare you!

Admit you're afraid, and then accept this genius's mockery!

"Okay~"

Hideyuki Hoshino's answer was equally swift and decisive.

"Hey?"

Asuka Tendo's eyes widened: "You just agreed so readily? Aren't you afraid I might be trying to kidnap you? Or set up a trap at the rendezvous point?"

"Oh dear, so Miss Tendo is a fan of bondage games. No problem, as long as we set safe words, I, the fox, am not averse to playing around with them~"

"What are you talking about?! I'm serious!"

"Okay, okay, I'll answer seriously too~"

Hoshino Hideyuki said in a deep voice, "The answer is that I'm not afraid. I believe Miss Tendo isn't that kind of person."

"Ha, believe? Doesn't it sound strange coming from a con artist's mouth?"

"On the contrary..."

Hoshino Hideyuki smiled and said, "Precisely because I am a con artist, I must believe in some things, otherwise life will turn into a rootless duckweed under countless suspicions and silently dissipate in the rain."

Even if you might be wrong about it?

"Unpredictable randomness is the best weapon against fate, and I'm happy to embrace it!"

"I don't quite understand your logic..."

Asuka Tendo rolled her eyes, but then she realized that the ball was back at her feet!

When she first suggested handing over the sacred sake in person, she thought the other party would refuse, so she suggested changing it to mail or some other method, and then she could make fun of the fox.

To my surprise, the fox agreed!

So, with such a great opportunity in front of me, what should I do?

Keep your promise and simply give them the alcohol? Or take advantage of the situation, break your previous promise, and secretly inform your colleagues in the countermeasures department to lay a trap...?

Ah, the trolley problem has arisen again!

This tram turned around, trying to do a Thomas Flair on the tracks!

On the other side, Hoshino Hideyuki then asked, "Miss Tendo, how much time do you need to prepare the sacred sake?"

"Uh, about three days..."

"How about we meet in four days?"

"well……"

"As the one being hunted, I'll decide the location. I guarantee it will be near Ginza."

"Um……"

In the end, Asuka Tendo and the fox agreed on a time and place.

Although she hadn't decided whether to keep her promise, given the circumstances, the girl couldn't refuse.

After hanging up the phone, she looked distressed, grabbed her pigtails with both hands, and decided that she should take another shower to calm down.

Meanwhile, inside the temple.

Hoshino Hideyuki quietly returned the phone to the sweeping monk, smiled, and walked out the door, drawing the vengeful spirit that was waiting to scare him like a puppy back behind him.

The request for help went relatively smoothly.

Although he had promised to personally hand over the sacred sake, he didn't find it scary at all.

Firstly, having met twice, he confirmed that Asuka Tendo was of decent character and highly likely to keep her promise.

Good girls should be teased in a righteous way~

Secondly, isn't this the classic scenario where kidnappers demand ransom and then escape police pursuit?

There are plenty of case studies, and plenty of methods passed down from our ancestors. We can adapt to any situation as it arises; it's not scary at all, but rather quite interesting!

Ever since.

Four days passed quickly.

That night, after once again using the temple to ward off vengeful spirits, Hoshino Hideyuki had Rikishi drive a rented car while he transformed into a bird and followed closely behind, heading towards Ginza.

He saw Asuka Tendo at the agreed-upon plaza without any problems.

Just as promised, the petite girl was all alone.

Under the neon lights, the evening breeze blows, and her beautiful blonde hair flutters in the wind, like a ray of sunlight that has forgotten to set.