Ghost Detectives in the Detective World

Page 43

"It's all your fault," Conan complained. "Ran promised her friend that she would get Nachi-san's autograph."

"It's alright," Ran said with a smile and a wave of her hand. "I'll go find Mr. Nachi after we get back to the inn."

"What's so great about someone's autograph?" Matsuda shrugged. "There's Yoko over there, you can ask her for her autograph too."

"Sister Xiaolan's friends are all girls! They all like..."

Conan rolled his eyes, and was about to say something more...

At that moment, an old man dressed in a priest's robe suddenly walked out of the shrine, glaring at the crowd and shouting,

"Are you all done filming? If you're done, hurry up and leave!"

"The place where the gods reside is not to be blasphemed by people like you!"

"Especially you, and you too!"

The old man pointed at Yoko and Matsuda, his face full of dissatisfaction.

"You people who are accompanied by unclean things are not allowed to come to the shrine again!"

"Unclean things? What are those?" Yoko was stunned.

Matsuda immediately realized that both he and Yoko were accompanied by spirits. Could it be that this old man also possessed spiritual vision?

Thinking of this, Matsuda tentatively let the Ghost Knight peek out from his shadow.

Sure enough, the old man suddenly turned around, looked at Matsuda with a look of horror, and then ran into the shrine.

"Sorry, everyone! My grandfather sometimes does this..."

Taeko Mamegaki quickly bowed and apologized to everyone.

However, before she could finish speaking, the old man rushed out carrying a jar.

"Demons and monsters, get out! Demons and monsters, get out!"

While shouting, the old man took out tiny white crystals from the jar and sprinkled them on Matsuda.

"Grandpa, what are you doing!" Taeko Mamegaki quickly pulled the old man away. "This is Officer Matsuda, he's not a bad guy!"

"Hmph, what do you know? He has extremely strong ghostly energy on him; he must be possessed by a ghost!" the old man struggled to say. "I'm just trying to help him!"

Matsuda touched the white crystals stuck to his clothes and rubbed them with his fingers.

When the old man was wielding that thing, Matsuda clearly sensed that the Ghost Knight was somewhat hesitant.

"This is... salt?"

“This is protective salt used at the shrine to ward off evil spirits,” Taeko Mamegaki explained. “My grandfather was the head priest of this shrine, and he always believed in these things…”

"Heh heh, looks like we finally know who the Grim Reaper is today?" Conan laughed smugly. "Inspector Matsuda, you're a Grim Reaper, certified by the shrine!"

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than the old man sprinkled a handful of protective salt on him.

The old master blew on his beard and stared at Conan with wide eyes.

"You too! He's surrounded by ghostly energy, and you're surrounded by ominous energy. Wherever the two of you are, disaster is sure to follow! Get out of here right now!"

Chapter 52 Giving a Scented Sachet

Okay, now no one needs to laugh at anyone else.

Disliked by the shrine's owner, Matsuda and Conan had no choice but to leave the shrine.

"what about me?"

Yoko pointed blankly at herself.

She remembered that the old man had mentioned earlier that she also had something unclean on her body.

“The unclean thing that was with you just left with those two,” the old priest muttered to himself. “But you don’t need to worry about it for now.”

"By the way, wear this, and those unclean things won't be able to get close to you anymore!"

The old man took out a sachet and handed it to Yoko.

“…Thank you.” Yoko instinctively accepted it.

"Ten thousand yen for a sachet!" the old man said immediately.

Uh... so they were just selling amulets to ward off evil spirits. The crew members were all speechless.

"Grandpa!" Mamegaki Taeko called out helplessly.

“It’s alright, Miss Mamegaki,” Yoko said, glancing at the sachet. “I’d like two, is that alright?”

"of course can!"

The old man's face lit up with joy, and he took out a sachet from his pocket.

Judging from the color and pattern, it's a perfect pair with the one I gave to Yoko before.

"Thank you so much!" Yoko said again after paying.

The old man took the money and left happily.

Taeko Mamegaki stood next to Yoko and teased in a low voice, "This should be for Officer Matsuda, right?"

"Um……"

Yoko nodded subconsciously at first, then hurriedly waved her hand in denial, somewhat shyly.

"This, this is just for me to wear, two are a perfect pair..."

Having made up this much story, Yoko couldn't continue and had no choice but to nod and admit it.

"It is indeed for Officer Matsuda, Miss Mamegaki, please don't tell anyone!"

"Don't worry," Taeko Mamegaki chuckled softly. "When we were filming just now, you kept making mistakes, and I noticed that you were too concerned about Officer Matsuda's gaze."

"So that's why you suggested to the director that he play a dead body?" Yoko suddenly realized.

At that moment, Yuji Shimazaki, a member of the film crew, waved to Taeko Mamegaki.

"Myoko, you're all packed, time to go!"

"Understood," Miss Mamegaki replied with a wave of her hand.

On the street outside the shrine, Matsuda originally planned to return to the film crew's hotel with Conan and wait for Yoko to come back.

But to his surprise, a notification appeared in the system as soon as he stepped out of the shrine.

"An anomaly detected; a usurper has taken over the nest."

"An unusually weak spirit is enshrined in the Mihana Shrine."

"Although it is worshipped and called a god, the essence of this god is just a ghost formed by a crow absorbing resentment after its death."

"If the host sends it back to the underworld, he will obtain a puppet body of the Raven God."

"Through this body, the host can absorb the faith of the Mika Shrine, and the faith obtained will be converted into merit on a one-to-one basis."

"Warning: Although it is just a fake god of the mountain spirits and water monsters, it has extraordinary abilities. The host should be extremely careful when fighting against it."

Does this shrine actually have gods?

Matsuda stood on the street, looking back at the shrine.

"What's wrong?" Conan asked in confusion.

"Oh, right, I suddenly remembered I have something to do, so I'll be going now. Please tell Yoko for me."

After saying something to Conan, Matsuda turned and left.

You didn't seem to be in trouble just now. How come you suddenly have something going on?

Conan frowned as he watched Matsuda's retreating figure.

"Officer Matsuda, you still have a date with Yoko?" Teng Xiangming blocked Matsuda's way. "How can you leave at this time?"

"I do have something to do,"

Matsuda glanced at the sky; in at most half an hour, the sky would become completely dark.

"Let's find another opportunity later."

Matsuda waved his hand, and Teng Xiangming had no choice but to take his leave.

……

"What? Officer Matsuda has already left?"

Yoko returned to the hotel with the film crew and learned from Conan that Matsuda had already left.

"This hasn't even been sent out yet..."

Yoko looked at the sachet in her hand and sighed.

"What is this?" Conan asked curiously.

“The sachets that the old man at the shrine sold before,” Yoko explained, “These sachets contain protective salt, and it is said that carrying them with you can ward off evil spirits.”

"Speaking of which, Conan was also kicked out by that god back then. Should I buy one too?"

Xiaolan glanced at the elementary school students at her feet, her face showing hesitation.

Hehe, I don't have any ominous aura at all!

I would never accept such a deceptive thing!

Conan was speechless.

"Actually, it's better to believe it's true than not to believe it," Yoko said. "Many people in the entertainment industry believe this."

"Really?" Xiaolan was also somewhat tempted.

She was already somewhat afraid of ghosts, and in Xiaolan's opinion, the reason why Officer Matsuda was said to be possessed by a ghost by that shrine must be because he frequently handled cases and encountered corpses.

In Xiaolan's mind, a detective who was her childhood friend also lived a life where he frequently came into contact with corpses.

Or maybe I should just buy two, one Conan and one of that guy?

Xiaolan hesitated.

"How about it, Ran? Why don't we go over there now? That old shrine master should still be at the shrine!" Yoko suggested.