“If he’s not human, what is he then?” I asked Chuyi.

Heshook his head. “I’m not sure, perhaps a monster. Moreover, hisstrength is nothing to scoff at.”

In Japan,yokai, or monsters,appearedinmany legends and folklores.However,I had never expected to meet one right in the middle of abustlingcity.

We sat back on our sofaand watchedthe young manin white. Soon, a woman wearing a long, tight dress came and bowed to the bald uncle. Sheseemed to be in her thirties. Although she was older than the other girls, shehad the sexy curves of amaturewoman. Theway she moved wasenchanting, and her thighs were porcelain white.

The bald man immediately asked one of the hostesses togiveup her seat. Then, the youngergirlrespectfully poured wine for the older woman.

“Xiao Gao, do you know that woman?” I asked.

Xiao Gaowas a little drunkalready. He pushed his glasses up his nose bridgeand said,“Ah, she’s the top hostess of thisclub.Ms. Mei Imai. The customers who want to talk to herhave to booka few monthsprior. Sheonlycomeshere to welcomeVIP guests.”

If so, that bald man must be important...

Xiao Gao gazed at Meilustfully. Then, he turned back to play dice with Li Mazi and the other hostesses.

The bald uncle gave the two young girls some tips and sent them away. In the meantime,the young man in white picked up an empty glass and spat in it. Then, hediscreetlypassed it tothe bald uncle.His actions didn’t escape my eyes.

The bald uncle poured top-quality red wine into theglass and offered it to Mei. Meirefuseda few times.In the end, she drank half of it.

“Thatboy is usinghis magic,” Chuyi told mein a coldvoice.

“Can we take the girls here outtoa hotel room?” I asked Xiao Gao.

Xiao Gao thought that I wanted to take a girl to a hotel. He shook his head. “No, no, this pub doesn’t provide such services. You shouldn’t act rashly. I don’t want to be putontheir blacklist…”

Li Mazi’s speech was slurred.“LittleBrother Zhang, I thought you were a righteous man. Yougot to knowthe girl for a few minutes and youalreadywant to have her in your room? Bold, you’re bold!”

I ignored the two drunk menand saidto Chuyi,“Could it be charming magic?Perhaps that bald uncle wants to sleep with the top hostess of this pub, and he has invited a monster to help him.”

Chuyi nodded. If so, we didn’t need to put our nose in this.This wasn’t our field.

After Meidrankthe wine, nothing strange happened to her. She got up and bid farewell to the man.

The young man in white noticed usandshot us a strange smile. Then, he gotup andwalkedtoward the toilet.“Jiulin, look at his shadow,” said Chuyi.

Thesocialclub was dimlylit, so the young man’s shadow on the ground was faint. However, I could see that his shadowhada long tail that moved like a snake. The young man’s shadow also had a pair of triangular, pointy ears.

“He’s a fox spirit!” I was surprised.

Rightat thismoment, more customers arrived. They were a group of men wearing black suits withgloomyfaces. They all wore sunglasses. The leader was puffing a cigarandhada long scar above his right eyebrow.He worea thick golden chain on his neckandlooked rather fierce.

The middle-aged womanhurried to welcome them. She smiledbrightlyas she ledthem to the sofa.

“Xiao Gao, who are they?”

“The Yamaguchi group. They are underworld criminals.”

Some shady activitieswerelegal here, and these guys were involvedinloansharking, nightclubs,andthe movie industry.Most of the time, theykept their distance fromordinary people. It was a wonder how Japanese society worked.

Not long after the group of yakuzasat down, the hostesses came to serve them. Soon, Mei also arrived. She bowed and satnext to the boss.

Those people looked fierce, but they were disciplined. They didn’t touch the girls, whichwascompletely different from what we had seen in the movies.

Chuyi silently walked toward them. The henchmen sawhim and became vigilant. He was suspicious as he carrieda sword on his back. Xiao Gao was so scared that heimmediatelysobered up. He rushed to stop Chuyi.I alsofollowedhim.

“Brother, brother, please come back here! They’recarrying knives!” Xiao Gao screamed.

Rightat thismoment, Meiclosedher eyes. When she opened her eyes again,they looked lifeless. She suddenly grabbed the fruit knife on the tableand aimed atthe boss’s neck.

The boss reactedquickly. Heraisedhis hand to parry, whichcausedthe knife to pierce through his wrist. He screamed in pain.

His henchmen immediately drew their daggers, butMei kicked the table toward them. She was strangely strong right now.

Mei raised her fruit knifeand attackedthe boss again. The boss covered his woundand ran away, screamingfor help. The entiresocialclub was now amess.The othercustomersstood in placeand watched the scene. The band playing on the stage halted, too.

Mei tore her inconvenient short skirt, which exposed her creamy thighs. She then stepped on the sofaand chasedafter the boss. When she passed by us, Chuyi suddenly hacked his swordather.

She jerked back to dodge his attack and landed with one hand placed on the floor.She then opened her mouthand baredher teeth. She behaved exactly like a wild beast.

Then, she roaredand tried to stab Chuyia few times. Chuyicontinued to hackhis sword, whileMei used her knife to parry. The impact created dazzling sparks.magicAs hefoughtagainstthe woman, Chuyi called me.“Jiulin, think about how todispelthemagicaffectingher!”

I had taken out aKsitigarbhaTalisman, but the two were moving toofast. Icouldn’t find a chance to join.

Li Mazi came. He had alsosobered up. “What’s going on?”

“Goto the toilet. If you see a young man wearing white clothes,useall of your means to stop him from performing his magic.”

“How do I stop him?” Li Mazi looked puzzled.

“Do you have refined salt? Sprinkle the salt on him. If you don’t, just pee on him!”

“Er… Okay!” Li Mazi gave me a confirming nod then dashed to the toilet.

“Guys, move!” Chuyi suddenly screamed.

Mei jumped off a tableand attackedChuyi recklessly. It wasn’t that Chuyi couldn’t beat her. He didn’t want to kill her, so he didn’t attack heractively. He was in a passive situation.

The gangsters were petrified. They surrounded the twoand hesitatedwhether to help Chuyi or not.

After around three or four minutes, Chuyi grabbed Mei’s wrist. Iseizedthe chanceand quickly immobilizedher from behind. Then, I stucktheKsitigarbhaTalisman on her forehead.

Meiconvulsed, andher bodyfellbackward. Sheraisedher head one last time before losing consciousness.

“Bakayaro!”

When the boss saw that the woman was finally subdued, hesnatched a dagger from one of his henchmenand stormedtoward the unconsciousgirl.As soon as he arrived, a sharp sword stopped him,almostcuttinghis throat. Chuyi held the swordand coldly said,“This woman was controlled by magic. She’s not the one that wanted to kill you…”

Xiao Gao interpreted. The boss blinkedand saidsomething. Xiao Gao interpreted again. “Mr. Saitosaysthat you look competent.Ifyou help him find the murderer, he will pay you generously.”

“How did you know his name is Saito?” I asked.

Xiao Gao gestured at theman’s chest. He was wearing a crest that had the word‘Saito’written inJapanese. “He’s the leader of the Saito Group. This group specializesinloan sharking. He’s a famouspersonin this area.”

Ididn’t want to risk my life fora member of the Japanese underworld. Moreover, thatbaldunclehad seized the time to runaway whiletheclubwas in chaos.

Itold Xiao Gao, “Tell him that we’re here to travel. We don’t want toget involved any further.”

Xiao Gao interpreted it for me. Saito frownedand stutteredsomething. Although I didn’t understand Japanese, I knew‘bakayaro’wasn’t something nice as he kept repeating the phrase.

“Xiao Gao, what did he say?”

Xiao Gao wiped his cold sweat. “Mr. Saito said that if you know the woman was controlled, you must know something else, too! You should behave and cooperate withhim ashehasdozens of ways to deal with you!”