Chapter 48: I'll Dance For You!
The cold night wind blew through the streets.
The dilapidated taxi emitted a desolate light.
"You brat, what are you doing in front of my house?"
Luke, having tidied himself up and changed clothes, walked out of the house and approached the taxi.
Seeing the familiar figure, he frowned and asked.
The driver ignored him, simply pointing towards the back.
"Look!"
Luke shifted his gaze to the back seat.
Miura Yumiko, who had been contemplating life, lifted her head.
"Miura-san?! Why is it you again!" Luke said with distaste.
Miura Yumiko tightened her grip on the chip bag dissatisfiedly.
"Is there something wrong with seeing me?!"
"Just surprised," Luke said, looking suspiciously at his phone and shivering.
Whether it was Miura Yumiko's glare or the chilly night wind, both made him feel a bit cold.
No new messages on his phone.
He looked suspiciously again at the ghost driver getting out of the car, already having a guess about this one.
Miura Yumiko followed her out of the car.
"Where did you meet her?" Luke asked, puzzled.
The driver put her hands on her hips and said bossily, "Do you even know her current state?"
Looking at Miura Yumiko, who looked mostly normal except for her makeup being gone, revealing her usual delicate and natural face...
Luke asked, "What state?"
"She's already very close to the spirit world now, like a streetlight in the night. If left unattended, something bad will happen."
"I know."
"You know... You kn-know?! Then... then you?" The ghost driver suddenly became incoherent.
Miura Yumiko, who had been staring at her fingernails, also turned her head to look at him.
"Nonsense. I just saved her from evil spirits a while ago, how could I not know?" Luke said speechlessly.
"Then... then you still?"
"I've already confirmed with the intelligence organization; there are no more evil spirits near Miura-san's house," Luke said.
After the mannequin incident, he had asked Granny Nanohana to have her acquainted benign spirits keep an eye on the vicinity of Miura Yumiko's house.
Otherwise, Granny Nanohana wouldn't have notified him when that big-headed evil spirit appeared.
After that incident, he suspected Miura Yumiko might have developed a spirit-attracting constitution due to his [Event Card] or other reasons and made some preparations.
Who knew this one...
The ghost driver, sensing trouble, edged closer to her taxi.
"And I found a colleague to patrol every night, just to prevent any unexpected evil spirits," Luke said, annoyed.
"This way, as long as she doesn't dwell excessively on the matter of evil spirits and lives normally for a few days with my calming talisman, her physical body will help her return to reality."
"But she, she ran into me today, didn't she? It means accidents can still happen. What if an evil spirit suddenly appears..." the ghost driver muttered softly.
Luke leaned his head close to the half-headed spirit, opened his mouth wide in disbelief, and said eerily, "Smart as you are, wouldn't you have thought: since I would find a ghost intelligence organization to confirm the location of evil spirits, wouldn't I also find a ghost to follow and protect her?"
"Th-then if I notified you then, wouldn't it be too late?"
"You don't think the ghost I found is weak, do you?" Luke stared back at the ghost driver, questioning her.
His colleagues had various skills; naturally, there were those who exorcised with guardian spirits.
So he found a colleague with a guardian spirit to come here and help watch over Miura Yumiko.
"I calculated everything, but I never accounted for a ghost like you popping up out of nowhere and picking her up directly. I estimate the ghost I found probably didn't even react."
Miura Yumiko added, "Yeah, I didn't hear any car sounds near me, then I just saw her stopped beside me."
"I meant well..." The ghost driver started rubbing her hands together, her bloodless face becoming even paler.
Luke glanced at Miura Yumiko, then continued speaking to the driver, "And you, storyteller, you must have told her quite a few ghost stories or urban legends, right?"
The spiritual vessel this one uses – the taxi – can travel on the border between the spirit world and reality.
But doing so would only broaden Miura Yumiko's spirit-attracting range.
Hearing this, the ghost driver's face started bleeding in fear.
Her whole body turned deathly white, emitting an ominous aura.
Miura Yumiko couldn't help but nervously hide behind him.
"Stop playing dead. You've already died once."
"Oh." The driver returned to normal.
Luke took out his phone.
No messages.
Looked like the guardian spirit watching Miura Yumiko hadn't returned to his colleague yet.
So he sent a text to his colleague, explaining the situation and telling him not to worry.
The ghost driver stealthily opened the car door...
"Stop," Luke called her.
Her steps froze.
"Wait for me."
Luke turned and went inside the house to find something.
The anxious ghost waited uneasily for the final judgment.
Then, she saw Luke come out with several sticks of soul incense.
Oh, so it wasn't the final judgment~ but the last supper.
She trembled looking at the soul incense.
Could this be the final meal before execution...
Seeing her reaction, Luke lowered his head and lit the soul incense.
"Consider it the taxi fare."
The ghost driver sighed in relief.
So it wasn't the final meal.
She took a satisfying whiff of the fragrance, but feeling undeserving, she hesitated, then suggested, "How about I tell you a story: A Thousand..."
"Shut up!" Luke interrupted her directly.
He had to listen to this one's stories every time he took her taxi; he'd had enough.
The ghost driver thought for a moment, then suggested again, "Then let me recite a poem for Chiba's strongest, most reliable exorcist. "If Life...""
She looked at the two new sticks of soul incense at her feet, then looked up at the cheerful Luke, saying carefully, "How about I dance for you~ I learned street dance when I was alive."
...
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