Chiba took us to the chamber behind the main hall where they stored the offerings. This warehouse was neatly arranged. A strong smell 

filled

 the entire place. 

E

xquisite costumes, small drums, fans

,

 and other items were neatly stacked on the ba

mboo shelf

. 

She went deep into the warehouse until she reached a red wooden cabinet. She brought her palms together

 and prayed 

for a short moment before pulling the drawer. 

Inside the drawer was a

 wooden box with copper handles on each side. It looked old. She took out the box. 

W

e recognized that the box was tied with a red rope and a few tattered 

Ksitigarbha

 Talismans. I was surprised. “Where did you get these talismans?” 

“These talismans were from my grandmother’s time. 

At that time, there

 was a ghost that troubled this box. A master from China 

came

 and subdued it. He was the one that left these talismans.” 

There were different ways 

of drawing

 a 

Ksitigarbha

 Talisman. 

D

ifferent 

people

 would perform the same set of moves differently. I checked the talismans and found familiar traces of my grandpa. 

Could it be my grandpa? But my grandpa had never been to Japan. Perhaps it was someone else from the Zhang family in Jiangbei. 

“Can I look inside the box?” I asked. 

“Yes, you can.” Chiba nodded. 

I moved the box in front of me. The seal on the box looked interesting. It was a hexagonal seal formation,

and the 

Ksitigarbha

 Talismans reinforced the seal. 

It

 was a masterpiece 

created by

 a

n expert

. However, the talismans weren’t 

intact 

and the red rope was torn. The seal 

had been

 broken. 

“Have you kept this drawer locked the entire time?” I asked. 

“Only the Kannushi and I have the key of this cabinet,” answered Chiba. 

Chuyi found a small broom and swept away a small pile of dead houseflies.

Chiba looked 

startled

. “What happened?”

I checked the bottom of the box and found a hole there. Then, I pinched a fly

 and brought 

it under my nose to take a sniff. It smelled of blood. 

Chuyi and I exchanged looks. We 

understood

 the cause. Someone 

ruined

 this box deliberately! 

I explained to Chiba, “These flies were fed crow blood

, so t

hey all 

have

 thick Yin energy. Someone drilled a hole at the bottom of this box and put them into the box. The seal itself 

has

 thick Yang energy. 

Since

 Yin and Yang 

oppose

 each other, the houseflies would instinctively break the seal.

Although a fly isn’t strong, many flies could nibble the seal and break it in the end.” 

It was also a smart idea. I had a feeling that the trouble-maker was familiar with Chinese magic techniques. 

Chiba didn’t understand the teachings of Yin and Yang. She blinked

 and asked,

 “What 

will

 happen if the seal is broken?” 

“The ghost or monster sealed inside 

will

 escape.” 

“Mr. Zhang, can you seal it again?” 

I shook my head. “You can’t take back the water you splashed away. The thing inside has escaped. There’s no meaning 

in sealing

 this box again. 

By the way

, can we open this box to check?” 

“Yes!” Chiba untied the red rope and opened the box. 

My eyes brightened. A fox statue was carefully put inside the box

. It was 

protected by layers of silk.  

Still, 

I was puzzled. “Miss Chiba, we saw 

a similar

 statue this evening. It was put on a float during the parade

.

However, this one

 has a thick layer of dust. It seems 

it has been

 locked for quite a long time.” 

Chiba just smiled. “Ah, the statue that we use for the festival every year is just a copy. We asked a master to 

create

 it. The real statue is precious

, so e

ven a low-rank Miko isn’t eligible to see 

it

.”

I wanted to pick it up to observe. 

“Hold on, I’m going to get you a pair of gloves,” said Chiba. 

This fox statue was made of pure silver. It felt so heavy

. T

he surface was oxidized

 and had 

a dark color. Chuyi and I wore gloves

 and

 carefully lifted the statue and 

placed

 it on the silk cloth. The statue had the shape of a squatting fox with 

pointy

 ears. It looked a little lanky, like a dog. At the same time, the statue was cast beautifully, with realistic fur.   

It wasn’t a normal item. 

After all,

 items forged under 

an

 Emperor

’s rule

 would often have something else inside when they were cast. For example, it could be 

a

 great monk’s relic, the Emperor’s blood, or even monster bones. 

However, there 

wasn’t even a

 wisp of 

Y

in energy. It was strikingly different 

from

 the copy I saw in the evening. 

Back then

, I 

felt

 threatened. 

“Why did they make these places empty?” Chuyi pointed at the fox’s eyes. 

“The Silver Fox-sama’s sockets are empty all the time, aren’t they?” Chiba didn’t get it. 

“No, there should be two eyeballs,” said Chuyi. 

“I don’t know. I’ve seen Silver Fox-sama three times

, and

 I have never seen the eyes.” Chiba was puzzled. 

I made a guess

.

 “We encountered a fox spirit that turned into a 

teenage

 boy wearing white clothes in Osaka. 

Earlier

, we met the little foxy girl. Are they this Silver Fox

’s eyes

?” 

If so, the fox statue we saw this evening during the festival was the little girl. She 

had

attached

herself to

 that statue, 

which made

 us think that it was an otherworldly item. She 

also saw me give 

the oden chef a 

Ksitigarbha

 Talisman. She later took it from his food cart

 and

tricked

 us 

into coming

 to this shrine. I 

didn’t

 understand why she had to do that. It 

didn’t seem advantageous

 for her. 

I told Chuyi my assumption. He answered, “Perhaps she wants us to help Miss Chiba here?” 

“In other words, that boy’s assisting bad people. The little girl wants him to come back, but she’s not strong enough. 

So

 she 

did those

 things to 

bring

 us here

. 

But that white-clothed boy is in Osaka... 

S

hould we really 

go

 back there?

 T

he Yamaguchi 

group

 may be still looking for us.” 

“Jiulin, who do you th

ink 

broke this seal?” asked Chuyi. 

“That boy

?

” I got it now. “You mean, he will come 

back here

?” 

Chuyi nodded. 

Chiba didn’t understand

, so 

I briefed her about the situation we had encountered in Osaka and what the little girl 

did 

this evening. 

After listening

 to me, Chiba covered her mouth in surprise. “You mean, they are the incarnations of our Fox Immortal?” 

“I think so,” I told Chiba. “I don’t want to hide it from you, but my 

job

 is to deal with otherworldly items.” 

“

W

hat are these 

otherworldly items you speak of

?”

I explained to her 

what

 otherworldly items were. Afterward, Chiba said, “It’s pretty good then. Mr. Zhang, please help our shrine. I will tell the Kannushi to repay you!” 

“Our price is high, though!” I smiled. 

Chiba frowned

 and said in a serious tone, 

“We don’t have 

many

 properties in the shrine. Mr. Zhang, I hope you

’ll 

give us a reasonable price…” 

Seeing her face, 

I 

couldn't bear to tell

 her the rules of my business

, 

that we were s

upposed to take away 

the otherworldly item after the 

case was solved

. 

However, the thing in front of us was 

a 

national

treasure. Chiba couldn’t 

make this decision 

and the Kannushi of this shrine would never agree. 

I shot Chuyi a glance

 and asked 

for his idea. He gave me a faint answer.

“We accept this case.”

I thought it was a good deed to maintain 

a

 good relationship between the two countries. 

“

That’s

great

!” Chiba was 

delighted

. “Thank you, thank you, Mr. Zhang

 and

 Mr. Chuyi!” 

At this

 moment, Yin Xinyue calle

d me.

 “Brother Zhang, why aren’t you back yet?”

I 

noticed

 it was 11:00 PM already. We bid Chiba farewell

 and left

.