Kid was in a very complicated mood. He felt like all the good yokai cards he'd just played had gone straight into the trash.
He'd stormed off earlier, but now a cold mountain wind hit him in the face.
Kid's footsteps slowed. He stopped in the shadowy woods and looked around at the cold, terrifying darkness stretching out in every direction. It was then that he realized—maybe he'd been a bit impulsive.
If the Tengu is actually some devious monster, he thought, then me running off like this makes me the cannon fodder guy—about to expose the villain's true face and then get brutally silenced.
Heroic. But dumb.
He was just about to turn around and go back to the car to rummage for some proper gear—
When suddenly, he heard a scream.
It was high-pitched and sharp, definitely nearby, but also weirdly muffled—like the person yelling had something covering their mouth.
Kid's instinct for survival screamed "RUN!", but his thief hero complex kicked in harder. He grit his teeth, pulled out his tranquilizer gun, and ran toward the sound.
He stopped by a thick bush, pushed the leaves aside—and then immediately regretted having eyes.
He'd expected something horrific: maybe a man in black dangling from a tree, the Tengu tearing into him like a chicken wing.
But… nope.
The scene was surprisingly peaceful. In its own twisted way.
The Tengu was just standing there with a wooden stick—God knows where it got that—and smacking a man in black who had a black cloth over his head. Whenever the guy tried to struggle up, the Tengu would casually smack him back down with one wing, then resume the stick-beating session with focused dedication.
Kid froze.
Then suddenly, he was hit with déjà vu.
This looks like one of those cooking shows, he thought, where the chef beats the meat with a rolling pin while explaining how it tenderizes the fibers to make it juicier.
But after watching for a bit, Kid realized this wasn't tenderizing at all.
The Tengu wasn't being even remotely professional—it was just hitting wherever looked painful.
In short: a good old-fashioned beatdown.
Kid winced as each thwack echoed through the forest. The man in black screamed, rolled, tried to crawl—and got whomped again.
Kid began to form a theory.
Okay… judging by this, the Tengu's target might be that stolen gem.
And as far as he knew, the men in black were always after fancy gems too. So maybe, just maybe, they were natural enemies.
Maybe this guy shot at the Tengu earlier, Kid thought, watching the poor soul flail, and now it's payback time.
Which of course led Kid to recall the time he had launched a few non-lethal gadgets at the Tengu during a heist. A nervous sweat trickled down his back.
Just earlier, he'd been feeling smug—"Wow, it let me go! Maybe we're friends!"
Now, not so much.
Compared to this guy, I was spared. I got released into the wild.
Maybe the Tengu just didn't think Kid was worth the effort. His gadgets weren't really damaging—more annoying than anything.
Kid glanced at the man in black, who was now barely twitching, and discreetly slid the tranquilizer gun back into his belt. He carefully tucked it under his cloak and arranged his expression into one of innocent curiosity.
Totally just arrived. Definitely wasn't peeping.
The man in black stopped moving. Either unconscious or just very committed to playing dead.
The Tengu poked him with the stick. No reaction. Shrugged and stopped.
Then, with eerie precision, it turned and locked eyes with Kid through the bushes.
Kid froze like a kid caught sneaking snacks. Then, realizing hiding was useless, he awkwardly pushed through the bushes and stepped out.
He pretended to just notice the scene. "You know this guy?" he asked casually.
Jiangxia Tongzhi nodded.
Kid felt enlightened.
So that's what happened. The Tengu didn't drag him off to be eaten—it was just some personal beef.
He felt relieved.
If the Tengu wasn't into human flesh, then that meant it really was just into gems. Which, all things considered, was a pretty decent deal.
If I get robbed by it again—er, I mean, if I lend it gems again—it'll be for the sake of saving human lives. Totally noble. Totally worth it.
Since no one had died in the woods, Kid's attention shifted back to the man in black.
If they're here, he thought, then this mountain compound might be one of their secret bases. Maybe even one with a boss inside.
The man's screams had been muffled by the mask, the trees, and the background noise of wind and water, so maybe—just maybe—no one inside had heard anything.
Kid started getting ideas.
He quickly changed into his disguise as Snake, planning to sneak into the base and snoop around.
The Tengu stood silently nearby, watching him change like it was grading his cosplay.
Kid noticed and hesitated. Those black-clad folks usually had guns. This could get dangerous.
So he looked at Jiangxia Tongzhi beside him and hinted diplomatically: "They probably have other stolen gems in there too. If I get out safely, I'll pack up a snack bag for you."
Please understand what I'm really saying: Help me if I'm about to die.
Jiangxia glanced at the compound.
According to the ghostly shikigami surveillance, there were no energy cores in there. So probably no gems.
But still—Kid, as the current largest producer of energy sources (read: gem thief), was much more valuable alive. Worth watching over.
So Jiangxia nodded blandly.
Kid saw the nod and felt instantly safer. Even if his monster ally seemed low-energy, it was better than nothing.
…
Kid changed into Snake's clothes, returned to the car, and found the support team just waking up from the tranquilizer bombs. They were still woozy.
But these minions were pure emotionless. Seeing "Snake" looking confident, they didn't ask questions and simply followed him into the compound to report to the base manager.
Earlier, Kid had faked a sapphire in preparation.
He now handed that fake gem to Snake's boss—a bald uncle in a kimono.
The uncle smiled as he took the gem. "Good job, Snake. I'll report this to the higher-ups right away."
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 36/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*