Since 

I finally had free time

, I

 wanted to travel to relax my 

tense

 nerves.

I planned to invite Chuyi 

as well

. 

“How about Japan?” suggested Yin Xinyue. It was the right season to visit Japan. She had 

been wanting

 to visit Kyoto for a long time, but she hadn’t had the time yet. 

It was a good opportunity

 to take her 

on her

 dream trip. 

Although I wasn’t 

that

 fond of Japan, since Yin Xinyue wanted to go, I agreed. 

I called Li Mazi

, and

h

e also agreed. He really wanted to take Ru Xue to Japan to enjoy sushi. Chuyi had no objections to this trip, either. 

As such,

 we finalized

 our

 trip to Kyoto. 

One week later, we took a direct flight to t

he airport in 

Osaka. When we 

exited 

the airport, I saw a man holding a board with my name on it. He was the interpreter I had hired from a 

traveling

 website. His name was Xiao Gao. 

Xiao Gao was a young bespectacled man in his twenties. He was a student in Japan

 who worked as a translator during

 the semester break to cover his tuition. 

I 

called him, waving at him

. Xiao Gao came over and shook my hand

with great 

enthusiasm

. “I’ve already 

booked

 your bus tickets to Kyoto. We

’ll set out t

omorrow at around 

9:00 AM. As for today,

d

o you want to visit the duty-free shop to buy some gifts?” 

Xiao Gao had already helped us

 get some

 Japanese yen. My first impression of him was good. This young man was cheerful and 

competent

. He should be a

 good

 interpreter. 

“We can shop later. We should get a room

 first

!” suggested Yin Xinyue. 

Xiao Gao called two cabs. On 

our

 way to the city, he used his phone to book a good hotel for us. 

We didn’t bring many belongings, just some spare clothes. We asked the receptionist to keep the luggage for us and went out for lunch. 

Xiao Gao asked, 

“Wh

at

 do you want for lunch

, J

apanese or Chinese? In Japan, Chinese food is popular, especially the spicy Sichuan specialties. 

As

 Japanese people don’t like spicy food that much

, m

ost of the dishes are sweet.”

Of course, we had the same idea. 

Since

 we had come here to travel, we should try as many of the local foods as possible! 

Xiao Gao 

brought

 us to a sushi restaurant where the diners sat around a high

 and 

round table. A conveyor belt 

carried

 food 

to

 and 

from

 the kitchen. The kitchen was separated from the dining area 

by a glass

 wall. We could see the chefs working with raw 

ingredients

 like fish and crab. After 

making the

 sushi dish, they would 

place it

 on the conveyor. We could choose anything we wanted

, and 

they would count the number of 

empty dishes

 when we wanted to pay. 

Yin Xinyue found 

something interesting. 

We could put the 

plates

 we finished into a box

. A

fter we 

had

 five 

empty plates

, we could d

o a

 lucky-draw. Ru Xue and Yin Xinyue 

tried it out and

 received a few stickers. They asked us to try our luck as well. 

Li Mazi tried a few times, 

but

 all he got was a badge

. He

 immediately put it on his chest. 

I got a small stuffed animal

, while C

huyi 

drew

 a bunch of surprise eggs every

 time, which shocked us quite a bit.

The taste of sushi was 

good, and we really enjoyed the meal

. Li Mazi gave a thumbs-up. “

T

he Japanese waiters 

were

 nice. I felt like 

a g

od.” 

“Japanese people are really interesting

. M

ost 

restaurants

 have small games like th

is, so f

oreign tourists can play and enjoy the meals at the same time,” Xiao Gao explained. 

“Will you stay here after you graduate?” I asked him. 

“I’m studying ancient architecture. I plan to return to our country once I

’m finished

.” Xiao Gao smiled gently. 

“Why did you come to Japan to study ancient architecture?”  

“Kyoto has many structures built in the 

style of the

 Tang Dynasty

, and t

hey are very well-preserved. We can’t find any Tang Dynasty structures in our country anymore

, so i

t’s necessary to come here to study. The famous architect Liang Sicheng also 

studied

 ancient architecture in Japan,” explained Xiao Gao. 

I admired his 

ambition

. After lunch, Yin Xinyue and Ru Xue wanted to go shopping around Osaka. Of course, Li Mazi and I 

followed

 them

.

I felt a little sorry for

 Chuyi

, though.

 He didn’t talk

 and carried 

the sword on his back the whole time. He didn’t look like he was from the same world 

as

 us. 

Japanese schoolgirls often stopped when they saw hi

m. They shrieked

, “

Kawaii!

” 

and took selfies

 with him. The girls in this country were livelier than in China. 

We walked around the mall for a while. Afterward, Yin Xinyue and Ru Xue went to a shop to check out 

the

 clothes

, while the rest of us 

found a café 

and rested there. 

“If you want to go to 

that

 kind of place

 at night, I can 

bring you there

,” said Xiao Gao. 

“What kind of place

 are you talking about

?” 

“Japanese

social

 clubs. 

They are similar to the nightclubs in

Mainland China. Most of the male tourists like to visit th

ose places

. However, they are the sort of places that require membership. You need to be introduced to get there.” Xiao Gao took a sip of coffee. 

I gave him a wry smile. “Don’t you see that we’re here with our wives? Do you want us to kneel on the ground and wait for punishment 

when

 we 

go

 back?” 

“Nah, it’s all right. I can help you fabricate 

an

 excuse.” Xiao Gao smiled. I thought that 

t

his kid 

really knew how to fawn over people

. 

While 

I felt a little 

conflicted,

 Li Mazi asked with a 

vulgar

 smile, “Xiao Gao, what fun activities 

are there

 in those clubs?” 

In the end, we agreed to visit one of the mildest 

clubs

 to widen our knowledge.

As I was also curious, 

I told Chuyi, “It’s a rare chance to travel, you should 

come

 with us.” 

“I’m a Daoist priest. How could I go there?” Chuyi shot me a cold glance. 

Xiao Gao said, 

“Brother, we can go there to drink and talk. You won’t violate your rule.” 

Chuyi hesitated then nodded. After dinner, the four of us excused ourselves

, telling 

the girls that we were going to Osaka Comic City. Then, we took a taxi to go to a 

social club

. The lavish but debauched atmosphere 

was hard

 to adapt to. 

Soon, a middle-aged woman 

wearing a kimono came over and greeted

 us with a deep bow. Then, she turned to talk to Xiao Gao. It seemed they were close.  

I found a spot and ordered drinks and some snacks. Soon, four young women wearing sexy dresses came to us. They 

greeted us with a bow

as

 Xiao Gao introduced them to us. They then parted and settled

 next to us

. 

They pulled

 our arms

 and 

started to chat. 

I was

 a little 

overwhelmed 

by

 this situation. 

Chuyi, who was 

next to me

, closed his eyes and

 directly entered 

a

 meditati

ve

 state

.

Li Mazi 

quickly

 found the right tempo. He even used the travel guidebook to talk 

to

 the Japanese hostesses. I admired his boldness for having fun 

even

 with the language barrier. 

After a few glasses of champagne, Li Mazi became more shameless. He learned from the other

customers 

and folded 

a ten-thousand-yen bill

, shoving it 

into the girl’s cleavage. The girl pouted

 and pounded 

on his chest. I looked at his

 vulgar, 

smiling face

 and thought of taking a photo 

to show Ru Xue. I was sure it would earn him 

a harsh

 punishment later. 

Xiao Gao was also having fun with those hot girls. I now 

understood

why he brought us here

. This place was high-end and expensive

, and 

Xiao Gao was just a poor student. That

 was

 why he tried his best to promote the place to his customers

. With that, he could also reap some benefits

. 

I sat 

next to

 Chuy

i, feeling rather

 awkward. We didn’t even drink the juice we had ordered. 

As we didn’t talk to them, the

 two women that were sitting with us moved to Li Mazi and Xiao Gao

. 

I somewhat 

regretted

coming

 here 

and wasting

 money. I turned and 

said to

 Chuyi, “Do you want to go out 

and get

 some fresh air?” 

“Sure

.

” 

Chuyi

 stood up

, before suddenly

gazing

 in a direction. 

Sitting on the sofa opposite us was a chubby, bald, middle-aged uncle, who looked like a warlord in 

an

 anti-Japanese soap opera. He was drinking with two hostesses

. The women sat on both sides, laughing

flirtatiously

. 

A young man wearing white clothes was sitting on his right. He looked around eighteen or nineteen years old

. He had 

fair-skin and 

feminine features

. He was holding a big bucket of popcorn

 and eating 

to his heart’s content. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked. Chuyi

’s strange look had piqued my interest

. 

“Monster aura,” Chuyi answered

.

 “That young man in white isn’t human!”