Vodka took a few uneasy steps back, looking at Gin in horror. "B-Big brother!"
Gin calmly stepped over, crouched beside the bag, and unzipped it.
Inside was a child with a bluish tinge to his face.
His eyes were closed, head and limbs twisted at unnatural angles, folded into the bag like a crumpled coat. It looked very much like his neck had been snapped before being stuffed inside.
Vodka felt a chill crawl up his spine and involuntarily stepped back again.
After a couple of steps, he felt something was off. He glanced behind and met Jangxia Tongzhi's gaze—an expression filled with quiet judgment.
Vodka immediately broke out in goosebumps. He cleared his throat and awkwardly shuffled back next to Gin like nothing had happened.
Gin stared down at the "corpse" in the bag with some satisfaction.
He took a couple of pictures, then tossed the bag and its contents into a roaring incinerator.
There was a soft crackle as the flames caught, and Gin calmly shut the furnace door. Then he turned and looked back at Jangxia, who was still sitting in the car.
"I'll let you go—for now," he said, his voice still cold, but no longer radiating imminent-murder vibes.
"But if this kid gets reported as missing in the news, and the police start sniffing around, and they eventually trace it back to you—remember to 'suicide in fear of crime' before they can catch you."
Jangxia nodded coolly. "Got it."
…
And so, Jangxia hitched another ride back into town in their car.
On the way out, he retrieved all his personal belongings—and kidnapped an extra ghost while he was at it.
It was already super late, so Jangxia decided to postpone the current case until tomorrow. First priority: ghost-wrangling.
On the ride home, he casually typed up an email to Amuro Toru detailing the night's events. Of course, he trimmed some bits, embellished others, and added a little artistic flair.
After all, if he didn't say anything, Amuro would definitely come sniffing around. And if he didn't ask, he'd probably already investigated the whole thing on his own, which was even worse.
Proactive reporting was smarter. Gave him a little bit of "first to speak, first to frame" advantage.
…
Ghost babies retained some memories of their lives, but their thought process was wildly different from humans—instinct-based more than logical.
Put simply, they were even more childish than actual children.
Now, since Jangxia's parents had sacrificed themselves to save Miyano Akemi's sister a year ago, that made him—rounding up—the savior's kid.
So Miyano Akemi's initial affection level toward Jangxia was naturally higher than whatever leftovers the ghost baby felt.
Which meant less resistance when it came to forming a contract.
Back home, Jangxia took out some Ghost Mint and fed it to both ghosts.
—Xiao Bai had returned, of course.
Since puppets have physical bodies, they can still burn just like humans.
But when they take enough damage and collapse, their forms revert into metaphysical ghost/shikigami states, which are basically flame-proof and respawnable. One click: back to base.
The Ghost Mint disappeared fast.
Once Miyano Akemi was full, she flopped onto the floor, rubbing her stomach while basking in the moonlight.
Jangxia gently poked her head. "Would you like to form a contract?" he asked politely. "I can fulfill a small request in return."
Of course, this whole asking thing was just a formality.
—No psychic just lets go of a ghost once they've got one.
Thankfully, Miyano Akemi nodded.
Maybe it was her fresh trauma from being hunted down by the organization, but her request was simple: "Please take care of my sister as much as you can."
The words "as much as you can" made the whole thing feel much more manageable. The mood suddenly turned kind of cozy.
Jangxia agreed and led the new ghost down to the basement. There, with all the calm and grace of someone brushing their teeth, he stabbed himself and splashed the ghost with blood.
The blood hissed like sizzling oil as it hit her skin, then crawled across her body in glowing lines.
Eventually, it stopped beneath her right eye, solidifying into a Z-shaped mark.
Miyano Akemi tilted her head, confused, and touched her cheek with a big question mark over her head.
Meanwhile, Jangxia received a flash of new data—info about the freshly bound ghost.
—Turns out, Miyano Akemi had awakened the same type of ability as the original ghost baby.
But hers was way stronger than the baby ghost's "forced confession" skill—it could make Jangxia completely invincible for a full second.
Of course, there was a cooldown. After using it, she'd be drained for a bit, like after using a big move in a game.
You could let that energy recharge naturally… or shove a Murderous Ghost Mint down her throat to recover faster.
Jangxia did some quick calculations in his head and sighed—both impressed and weary.
Sure, this new power was very useful. But it was also very expensive in terms of murderous aura.
Fortunately, he'd stocked up.
Plus, back in the car with Gin, he'd managed to snag a little extra supply on the sly.
When Amuro Toru started talking earlier, Gin's murderous aura had poured out like a faucet.
Jangxia had quietly siphoned it off the whole time, maintaining a nice, steady reserve.
—As long as the person radiating murderous intent refused to let go of their urge to kill, that aura couldn't be detected.
And with enough storage capacity, you could scoop up a decent amount from someone like Gin.
Thinking back on how productive his night had been, Jangxia even considered dragging Amuro out for another joint ride with Gin sometime soon.
Unfortunately, Amuro rarely got that close to Gin. And when he did, it wasn't always that classic yin-yang spice…
Jangxia sighed.
Then looked at his new ghost and felt better again.
He gave her head a little scratch, then climbed into bed with both ghosts in his arms.
Before turning off the lights, he released all his other shikigami and counted ghosts like sheep on his blanket.
And so, peacefully, he fell asleep.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 3/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS*
Glossary:
Yin and yang (weird) – Slang for someone with a passive-aggressive or sarcastically two-faced demeanor.
Ghost Mint – A fictional ghost snack/energy item that feeds or recharges ghost abilities.