Chapter 14: Are You a Pervert?

The kidnapper was startled.

The motorcycle lights were too bright, blinding him. He couldn't see the newcomer at all and could only throw himself to the side to dodge.

The motorcycle swept past his side.

In that moment of crossing paths, the kidnapper's forearm took a heavy blow. His hand jerked, and the baseball bat fell to the ground with a loud clatter, rolling away.

The motorcycle that had landed skidded in a perilous arc, braking sharply beside him.

...

Jiang Xia dismounted, took off his helmet, and set it aside.

The fallen bat happened to roll right to his feet. With a flick of his toe, he scooped it up. The bat spun through the air with a whistling sound before he caught it firmly in his hand.

Jiang Xia weighed the bat in his hand, looked at the human-shaped cluster of murderous intent before him, and flashed a heartfelt smile.

Then, he casually fabricated a suitable reason for the beating: "Is bullying kids really that much fun?"

Looking at Jiang Xia's inexplicably twisted smile, a chill rose from the bottom of the kidnapper's heart.

He jerked his head around and lunged toward the door, trying to escape.

However, just as he took a single step, the warehouse doors were kicked open by someone from the outside.

—Outside, a massive crowd of people had appeared at some unknown time. They were all young, strong men, with a row of motorcycles lined up behind them.

Their gazes bypassed the kidnapper and landed on Jiang Xia, who was tossing the bat. They bowed in unison and shouted in a single, synchronized voice: "Boss!"

The kidnapper shuddered in terror.

No matter how stupid he was, he could see that the people at the door were on Jiang Xia's side; there was no way he could escape through them.

Just as he turned to run toward the window, a sudden, sharp pain exploded in his shoulder, and he felt a sickening crack in his bone.

—Jiang Xia had struck him from behind.

The kidnapper's body lurched, and he stumbled into a pile of junk.

He let out a belated wail of agony and struggled to stand up.

However, a shadow suddenly fell over him.

Jiang Xia approached him like a ghost. Without saying a word, he raised his hand and delivered another blow.

With a dull thud, the kidnapper's brain went numb from the pain.

Trembling, he clutched his leg and glared at Jiang Xia with venomous eyes.

Then, he discovered with utter shock that Jiang Xia was looking back at him with an intense, eager gaze that implied a hidden longing.

After watching him for a moment, Jiang Xia whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear: "...It seems it really is quite fun."

"...?"

The kidnapper froze, finally understanding.

That sudden sentence was a self-answering follow-up to "Is bullying kids really that much fun?"

However, by this point, the kidnapper couldn't even bother to retort with something like "You're the real villain!"...his heart was nearly stopping.

...What was wrong with this young man? Why was he smiling so happily?

Had he accidentally activated some kind of psychotic killer...

...

As Jiang Xia watched the murderous intent on the kidnapper gradually loosen, his mood improved with every strike.

—To wipe out murderous intent in one go, one had to make the person producing it voluntarily abandon the emotion of "killing intent."

Previously, the kidnapper was filled with murderous intent toward the little girl and Conan.

But now, after being beaten several times and having his escape routes blocked, the kidnapper had realized deeply that "killing" was no longer an option.

Consequently, the murderous intent clinging to him was becoming loose, like overripe fruit.

If the situation had been different—if Jiang Xia had arrived late, if no other reinforcements had arrived, and if the kidnapper had successfully killed both children...

That wouldn't count as "voluntarily abandoning" it; it would simply be a wish fulfilled. The gathered negative emotions would be digested internally, and Jiang Xia wouldn't be able to pick them up.

...

Of course, if someone died, Jiang Xia might be able to pick up the soul of the deceased.

Generally speaking, souls were more valuable than murderous intent.

But right now, Jiang Xia didn't want to stand by and watch Conan kick the bucket.

A person should have a conscience. Strictly speaking, Shinichi Kudo had helped him before.

A year ago, Jiang Xia Tongzhi had been hiding in the bathroom, silently cutting his wrists.

His soul had been impatient to vanish, and Jiang Xia had picked up this body.

Jiang Xia had just finished transmigrating then; he was weak, and the new body he had picked up was even weaker. Suffering from both mental and physical trauma, even standing up was a struggle.

At the time, feeling dizzy and lightheaded, Jiang Xia had fumbled around his body for a long time, trying to find a phone to call an ambulance, but he couldn't find one.

Upon closer inspection, he realized the phone was submerged in the bathtub; by the time he fished it out, the screen was ruined.

At that moment, outside the door, Professor Agasa had seen that the gate to Jiang Xia's yard was wide open, felt it was strange, and came in to look for him.

Upon entering, he heard the sound of water in the bathroom. This absent-minded inventor immediately assumed Jiang Xia Tongzhi was taking a bath.

Being a polite man, the Professor felt it wasn't the right time to remind him to lock the door, so he scratched his balding head and turned to leave.

...Fortunately, as soon as he left the yard, he ran into Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mouri returning from school.

Among them, Shinichi Kudo, thanks to his high sensitivity to human life, sensed something was wrong from Professor Agasa's mutterings. Following that, relying on his habitual tendency to barge into people's homes, he forced his way in and saved the man, preventing Jiang Xia from having to risk searching for a new host while dragging a weary soul...

Although there were many dying people in this world.

But someone like Jiang Xia Tongzhi—young, handsome, orphaned, and with a relatively easy job—was truly rare.

For the sake of Jiang Xia Tongzhi's excellent physique and the inheritance left by his parents, Jiang Xia would try his best to help whenever Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mouri ran into trouble.

However, he could only "try his best."

After all, Conan was far too good at causing trouble, often running up to the Organization's executives for suicidal tracking missions.

Jiang Xia couldn't follow him around like a bodyguard all day.

So, if Conan were to suddenly die one day...

The only thing Jiang Xia could do would be to pick up his soul after his good classmate passed away. He would feed him plenty of good murderous intent, give him less work, and raise him plump and healthy, treating it as a way to repay the favor...

...

While thinking, Jiang Xia did not forget to keep hitting the man.

The kidnapper before him was clearly not a man of iron will.

After Jiang Xia had delivered only a few dozen light strikes, the murderous intent on his body began to loosen in large patches.

The Ghost Baby let out a series of delighted murmurs, ran over to grab a wisp of murderous intent, buried its face in it, and took an intoxicated breath.

—Though it wasn't as fragrant as the wine-scented murderous intent from that silver-haired woman this afternoon.

But this was something it could actually taste!

(End of Chapter)