Chapter 31: It's the Doctor's Fault (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 31: It's the Doctor's Problem ()

Ran Mouri climbed the scaffolding and landed gracefully, moving like a professional acrobat.

However, by the time she arrived at the scene, Jiang Xia had already stopped.

From Ran's perspective, Jiang Xia was standing next to a killer who was still clinging to life. He was looking at the child behind the tree; his expression was relatively calm, but he seemed somewhat unhappy.

Ran recalled the child who had darted behind the tree so quickly and guessed that Jiang Xia's spirit had been wounded by the brat's evasive behavior.

...That kid was a bit much.

Ran walked up to Jiang Xia and thanked him on behalf of the child: "Thank you for saving that child."

After a moment, she couldn't help but add, "Um... in the future, when you're performing acts of justice, please don't be so heavy-handed. You just need to subdue them and let the law handle the punishment."

Jiang Xia: "..."

He recalled the various images of Ran Mouri shattering utility poles with a punch, cracking walls with a kick, and sending criminals spinning into the sky with a "Lushan Rising Dragon" strike...

...Does your conscience not ache?

Jiang Xia turned his head and looked at Ran's angelically beautiful face.

Then he looked at her seemingly delicate fists.

Silently swallowing the words he wanted to say, he nodded: "I understand."

...

The other three hadn't climbed the scaffolding; they had taken the long way around and run down the stairs.

There happened to be a police station nearby.

By the time the three arrived, the police had already reached the scene.

Ogino's father could not find redemption on the ground. Seeing his plan fail, he let out an unwilling roar.

Dr. Ogawa held his son tightly, watching with complex emotions as Ogino was escorted into the police car. He decided that once he settled his son, he would immediately transfer the 25 million yen to Ogino at the bank; he didn't want to be involved with that blood money anymore.

...

The next day, Jiang Xia went to the police station again.

To supplement his statement.

And to see if Ogino's father's killing intent had dissipated.

After finishing his business and leaving the station, Jiang Xia checked his watch and found it was just past noon; there was still plenty of time.

There were no exams today, so no classes to attend.

The first batch of Ghost Mint raw materials had just been planted, and the new ones hadn't grown yet, so there was no rush to go home.

...

Out of habit, Jiang Xia turned toward the Amuro Detective Agency.

Although, so far, there weren't many murder cases linked to the agency.

But reputation needs to be built. Who knows, one day, a client carrying killing intent might be recommended by the regulars who come to find lost cats.

Furthermore, in the agency, besides murder cases, there was a certain chance of stumbling upon a randomly spawning Toru Amuro—the undercover agent sent by the police to the Organization.

—Jiang Xia was also still eyeing the "hotpot-scented" killing intent of Dr. Kazato.

Since Dr. Kazato's target was a police officer, Toru Amuro might intervene.

If the police took him into custody proactively, Jiang Xia would only need to take a stroll through the police station after Dr. Kazato was caught to have Xiao Bai extract the killing intent.

In a society governed by law, especially in this world, killing intent didn't seem difficult to harvest.

...

Jiang Xia arrived at the agency entrance and took out the door key.

However, upon closer inspection, he found the door wasn't locked—someone was inside.

Doubtful, Jiang Xia walked through the entryway and looked inside.

He saw Toru Amuro, appearing in the Amuro Detective Agency, which was rare.

Moreover, he had brought a client. Currently, he was sitting opposite the client, listening intently, looking ready to accept the commission.

Jiang Xia: "..."

...Something is fishy.

—Toru Amuro personally receiving a client suggested that the person opposite him was likely someone with a story, which would lead to cases involving ghosts and killing intent...

Thinking this, Jiang Xia approached quietly, wanting to overhear the details of the commission.

However, he was spotted by the sharp-eyed Toru Amuro and stopped: "Wait outside for a moment."

"..." Jiang Xia nodded, "Alright."

He retreated to the outer room and even thoughtfully closed the door.

The doors and walls here had been soundproofed; once the door was closed, the conversation inside could not be heard.

...But did they think a bit of soundproofing material could stop a medium with a ghost?

...

Jiang Xia sat on the waiting bench and summoned the Ghost Infant.

Xiao Bai very cooperately crawled onto Jiang Xia's shoulder and pressed against his ear.

Jiang Xia's hearing was instantly transferred to the ghost.

Then, Xiao Bai instinctively lunged toward the soundproof door, passing through it with a squelching sound.

In Jiang Xia's ears, the voices in the room suddenly became clear.

...

After eavesdropping for a while, Jiang Xia gradually understood the situation.

—A few days ago, the client's house was burglarized. No money or jewelry was stolen; the only thing missing was a precious piece of pottery.

They originally thought it was a thief with taste who only stole art.

To their surprise, the next day, the client found the shattered fragments of the pottery near their home, seemingly broken intentionally.

"..." Not for wealth, not for art, and even violently smashing the newly acquired pottery as if venting rage... This inexplicable behavior made the client's skin crawl.

They reported it to the police, but the police found no results.

Later, while the client was complaining about this to a friend in a cafe, a passing waiter suggested they try looking for a detective.

Thus, they came to the Amuro Detective Agency—that enthusiastic waiter was, of course, Toru Amuro, who was "coincidentally" working at the cafe.

...

While eavesdropping on the case, Jiang Xia recalled the plot he had read but couldn't remember a similar case occurring.

There were a few cases related to pottery, but the details didn't quite match up.

Jiang Xia: "..." It might have nothing to do with a case and could just be an Organization mission. Or, of course, it could be the Public Security Bureau.

...

Not long after, Toru Amuro took the client's contact information and saw them out.

Jiang Xia recalled the Ghost Infant, and his hearing returned with it. He stood up to help Toru Amuro see the guest out, while simultaneously looking for an opportunity to strike up a conversation.

After seeing the person out, Toru Amuro turned around and saw someone following behind. He immediately remembered Jiang Xia's request for leave to go to the hospital yesterday.

So, he asked casually, "How is it? Are you feeling alright?"

Jiang Xia hesitated, appearing as if he wanted to say something.

Toru Amuro froze.

He had only asked casually because Jiang Xia looked perfectly normal. Going to the hospital was likely just a routine check-up.

But why did his employee have that expression...

Sensing there was more to it, Toru Amuro focused his attention: "Did something happen?"

*It couldn't be that he was diagnosed with a terminal illness during a physical...*

Jiang Xia shook his head: "It's nothing much. It's just... that doctor who conducted the consultation... I always feel like he's killed people before."

Toru Amuro: "?"

Jiang Xia continued: "And my intuition tells me that it's not over—in the future, similar things might happen again."

Toru Amuro: "..."

He subconsciously rolled up his sleeves, his gaze becoming sharp.

—In short, there were currently two possibilities.

One was that Jiang Xia was a genius at reading people: he had deduced from a brief conversation that the doctor was a dangerous serial killer.

The other was that Jiang Xia wasn't as normal as he looked, but was instead harboring something like paranoid delusions.

Toru Amuro: "..." Regardless of which it was, it was worth being vigilant and needed to be handled quickly.

The former required dealing with the doctor. The latter required sending the employee to a hospital and, incidentally, having the Organization reimburse the medical expenses.

After Jiang Xia finished speaking, he felt Toru Amuro's expression was somewhat strange.

He cautiously took a step back and added more weight to his words: "Besides, that doctor had a gun in his bag. I wouldn't be mistaken."

...The gun was actually something Xiao Bai had seen. Ghosts had a unique advantage in searching—they could pass through objects to check unopened bags.

Toru Amuro: "Is that so..."

Toru Amuro finally reacted to the specific information about the "gun," gradually leaning toward the idea that "the doctor has a problem."

During a psychological consultation, even if a doctor intended to control the situation, it would be difficult to completely hide certain habits and mindsets.

He had heard that some people were extremely sensitive in this regard. And Jiang Xia was no ordinary patient with depression—on the contrary, he was connected to the Organization and had already been exposed to many killers.

Toru Amuro: "..." In his memory, the psychiatry department at Beika Yakushi Hospital was very famous.

As far as he knew, many police officers also registered there. As long as the doctor wanted, it wouldn't be hard to extract information from the police, or even exert influence over them.

If such a doctor truly had a problem...

Toru Amuro slowly realized the gravity of the situation.

...

However, no matter what he thought internally, he certainly couldn't say it on the surface.

—After all, he wasn't a policeman right now; he was Bourbon of the Organization. He should be happy if the police met with misfortune.

"You're overthinking it," Toru Amuro said, rolling his sleeves back down as if it were no big deal. "But since that doctor gave you such an impression, it means he isn't suitable for you. Switch to another hospital next time."

Jiang Xia nodded and said no more.

If he continued, his intention would be too obvious. If that happened, his fellow undercover comrade would certainly not move against Dr. Kazato to protect his identity, and Jiang Xia would have to do it himself.

...

Toru Amuro was also very busy today, and after chatting with Jiang Xia, another task was added to his heavy workload.

He didn't linger and left quickly.

On the way, Toru Amuro sent Dr. Kazato's information to his subordinates, ordering them to investigate.

Of course, he emphasized that the operation must be covert. Even if a problem was actually found, they had to make it so that Kazato Kyosuke "accidentally" exposed himself; they must not let anyone know this was a targeted investigation.

Otherwise, if Jiang Xia mentioned the man had a problem and the man was arrested by the police immediately after... given Jiang Xia's perceptiveness, he would likely realize something was wrong.

...

At the detective agency.

Jiang Xia was about to lock up and leave, but then, he accidentally caught a glimpse of the magazine rack in the entryway and froze slightly.

—On the rack sat a familiar book.

Jiang Xia walked over, pulled it out to look, and found it was indeed the detective manual he had borrowed from the library.

He had brought it with him when he applied for the job.

Later, after actually joining the agency, Jiang Xia had forgotten to take the book back.

The borrowing period at the Beika Library was quite short; ordinary citizens could only borrow books for 14 days.

Jiang Xia checked the date and found it hadn't expired yet. He didn't know how long it would take to randomly encounter this 14-day window again, so he might as well return it now...

Thinking this, Jiang Xia checked his watch and saw it wasn't time to clock out yet.

So, he hopped on his motorcycle and headed straight for the library.

...

Jiang Xia sped all the way to the library.

At this time, there was still more than half an hour left before closing time.

However, upon approaching, he saw the doors were locked. They had already closed for the day.

Jiang Xia was stunned. He walked to the notice board by the door and saw that today happened to be a holiday, so the library had closed two hours early.

"..."

Holding the book he intended to return, Jiang Xia looked at the darkness inside the building, feeling a bit disappointed.

He was just about to turn and leave.

But at that moment, Xiao Bai suddenly became alert, poked Jiang Xia, and reported in a mumble.

—There is something in the library.

Not only was there killing intent, but there also seemed to be a recently deceased Shikigami.

Jiang Xia: "!"

...

This library did not have anti-theft bars on the windows.

Jiang Xia circled the library halfway and found a locked window at a remote corner of the building.

He stopped in front of the window and raised his hand.

A few Shikigami flew out lightly, squeezed through the window gap, and landed on the library floor, gradually condensing into white puppets that looked like clay figures.

The puppets climbed clumsily onto the window, laboriously extending their short hands to click the lock open.

Jiang Xia put on his gloves, slid the window open with a clatter, and leaped into the building.

The moment he landed, the puppets collapsed back into paper Shikigami, vanishing into the tattoo on his chest.

(End of Chapter)