Chapter 190: Cage

Seeing the stall owner’s expression, as if he had just suffered a great tragedy, Lei Yin turned to Hayama Akiji, who was about to start removing his clothes, and said, “If you’re willing to compensate the owner, we can consider this matter settled.” After all, Hayama Akiji was Takeda’s cousin, so Lei Yin decided to give Takeda some face. Besides, in Lei Yin’s eyes, people like Hayama Akiji were less significant than street thugs, not worth his energy.

With a mix of fear and embarrassment in his eyes, Hayama Akiji replied, “Alright.” His tone was devoid of the overbearing arrogance he had displayed earlier.

Unexpectedly, Hayama Akiji agreed to pay, and the stall owner was so moved he nearly wept tears of joy.

After negotiating the compensation amount, it turned out Hayama Akiji didn’t have enough money on him and had to borrow from Takeda Kurashi. With a helpless smile, Takeda Kurashi paid the amount. Thus, the farce finally came to an end.

After leaving the stall, Hayama Akiji and his classmates naturally stayed at the back of the group, not daring to get too close to Lei Yin. In their minds, Lei Yin was no longer an ordinary human but a member of some biomechanical superhuman category.

Although equally shocked, Takeda Kurashi quickly regained his composure and asked Lei Yin, “Gennai-san, have you trained in boxing before?”

“No, I just have a bit of brute strength. By the way, I heard you’ve been in business for a long time, Kurashi-san. What kind of business do you do?” Lei Yin didn’t want to continue the topic and changed the subject.

“I’m in the import-export trade. Initially, Father wanted me to take over the family’s tea ceremony business, but it wasn’t my passion. Now, he’s hoping Eishun will take over in the future.”

Glancing at Takeda, who was holding a skewer of grilled squid in one hand and a bag of goldfish in the other while still managing to look like a delinquent even in a yukata, Lei Yin couldn’t help but think that Takeda Kurashi’s hopes seemed far-fetched.

“Hey, what’s with that look?” Takeda, overhearing his brother’s comment, noticed Lei Yin’s peculiar gaze and glared at him indignantly.

“Nothing. It’s just hard to imagine you running a tea ceremony business.”

“Who said I’m going to run that old shop? I’m only interested in cars. The tea ceremony stuff can go to my sister.”

As the two talked, Takeda Kurashi silently observed Naoko, who stood beside Lei Yin.

It was his first time seeing such a graceful and pure woman. With the elegant yukata fitting her perfectly, she was like a mesmerizing painting just by standing there. However, her gentle gaze was entirely focused on that man, oblivious to anyone else watching her.

Not long after, the group reached the shrine’s main gate. The area was packed with people, making it impossible to enter. Many visitors simply tossed coins toward the shrine as offerings for good fortune. The people in the front rows were often hit by flying coins, prompting Takeda to burst into loud laughter.

Since they were already there, Takeda and the others followed suit, tossing coins toward the shrine. Lei Yin, who didn’t believe in such practices, stood to the side holding Amy and watching.

After making their offerings, the group decided to draw fortunes at a nearby booth, but because of the crowd, they had to line up and wait.

At that moment, Amy said she needed to use the restroom. Lei Yin informed the others and then took her to the restroom behind the shrine.

The back of the shrine was incredibly quiet, a stark contrast to the noisy and lively atmosphere at the front. It felt like stepping into an entirely different world.

After a while, when Amy came out of the restroom, Lei Yin was about to take her back when he suddenly heard the sound of something stepping on the grass coming from the roadside bushes.

Immediately, he picked Amy up into his arms, his gaze fixed on the source of the noise, all the while staying cautiously alert.

The footsteps grew louder, accompanied by faint animal growls and the sound of something heavy being dragged on the ground.

Finally, a figure emerged from the bushes.

It was a tall man, whom Lei Yin recognized as the new laborer hired by the Takeda family. At the moment, he was dragging four large iron cages, each holding a dog. Three of the dogs were particularly large.

The man noticed Lei Yin standing under the streetlight but only glanced at him before continuing down a deserted path beside the shrine, dragging the cages behind him.

During this time, Lei Yin observed the cages and the dogs carefully. He noticed that the cages seemed to have been modified into traps for catching prey. The mechanism was similar to a mousetrap: bait would be placed on a wire inside the cage, and when the target triggered the wire, the cage door would shut immediately.

The dogs in the cages, though not small, were filthy, with unkempt fur, and their emaciated bodies revealed their ribs. Clearly, they were stray dogs with no one to care for them.

As in many developed countries, a large number of people in Japan kept pets. However, many adopted them on a whim, and when the responsibility became burdensome, they abandoned the animals. With no one willing to take them in, many pets became strays. Stray dogs were often caught by city animal control teams, forcing them to wander in rural areas where their plight was even more miserable.

It might have been due to the festival that the stray dogs in the area came here to scavenge for food.

But why was this man catching these stray dogs? If it was merely to eat dog meat, this was far too many, and stray dogs usually carried various diseases or skin infections, making them unappealing for consumption.

Feeling slightly worried about Naoko, Lei Yin decided not to investigate further. Holding Amy, he headed back.

When they returned to the fortune-telling area, Lei Yin saw Takeda and Yoshikawa tying their fortune slips to a rack beneath a sacred tree, following the shrine’s custom. The rack was already crowded with tied slips. Takeda Kurashi stood nearby, chatting with Naoko.

Seeing Lei Yin return, Naoko joyfully walked over and said, “Lei, I just drew a daikichi (great fortune) for you!”

Seeing her as happy as a child, Lei Yin smiled. “You haven’t told me what wish you made just now.”

Naoko blushed. “I can’t say it; otherwise, it won’t come true.”

“Does it have anything to do with me?”

“Mm.” Naoko nodded softly, her head lowered.

Amy, holding Lei Yin’s right hand, pouted unhappily as she stared at Naoko.

No one noticed Takeda Kurashi watching Naoko and Lei Yin with a forlorn expression as the two shared their cheerful banter.

※※※

The next morning, Lei Yin, accustomed to rising early, strolled leisurely through the garden.

Most people were still asleep, but some were already at work in the courtyard.

As he walked, he spotted Bryn, focused on pruning a peony with a pair of scissors. Lei Yin suddenly noticed that Bryn’s left wrist was wrapped in white gauze, occasionally visible beneath his sleeve.

Sensing something unusual, Lei Yin walked over.

“Good morning,” he said.

Bryn glanced up at Lei Yin but didn’t respond, merely nodding politely before resuming his work.

Lei Yin watched him for a moment. “If I may ask, why are you catching those stray dogs?”

At his question, a guarded look immediately appeared in Bryn’s eyes.

Seeing his reluctance, Lei Yin continued, “I mean no offense, just asking out of curiosity. If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine.”

Noticing that Bryn’s wary expression didn’t diminish, Lei Yin realized pressing further would be futile. He bid him goodbye and walked away. Behind him, Bryn silently watched his retreating figure.

Lei Yin headed to Naoko’s room, knocked on the door, and then stepped inside. He found her sitting in front of the mirror, brushing her hair.

“Lei, you’re up so early,” Naoko said with a touch of surprise, still dressed in her pajamas.

Lei Yin nodded and sat behind her. Taking the comb from her hand, he began brushing her hair gently.

Though it wasn’t the first time he had done this, Naoko’s heart still melted as she relished the care from her beloved.

After finishing, Lei Yin casually took a strand of her silky hair and played with it for a moment before wrapping his arms around her slender waist. In a soft voice, he said, “You look best with long hair.”

“Lei…” Naoko leaned into his embrace, utterly content. The two stayed quietly in each other’s arms, savoring the intimacy.

Over the next few days, Takeda and Yoshikawa continued driving Lei Yin and the others around during the day. At night, they took them to various entertainment spots, such as bars and cabarets. However, mindful of Amy and Naoko’s presence, they only chose relatively calm and respectable venues.

By this time, Yoshikawa’s true playboy nature began to surface. Each time he joined them, he brought along a beautiful woman, changing companions almost daily.

Meanwhile, more of Takeda’s high school friends and acquaintances started gathering at the Takeda family home. Among them were some eccentrically dressed individuals who greeted others with overly familiar and often vulgar remarks. Though Lei Yin didn’t mind, he didn’t want Naoko to feel uncomfortable. Whenever such people showed up, he would either stay in their room to watch TV with Naoko or take her and Amy out for a stroll. By now, he had become quite familiar with the surrounding area.

During these days, Lei Yin kept an eye on Bryn.

Since noticing the bandage on Bryn’s wrist a few days ago, Lei Yin had observed that new injuries kept appearing. On the third day, he noticed Bryn limping, suggesting a serious injury to his thigh, even though the wound itself was not visible.

By the fifth day, it was his shoulder.

On the sixth day, it was his chest.

Possibly due to blood loss, Bryn’s complexion grew increasingly pale.

What Lei Yin admired, however, was that despite being covered in injuries, Bryn never showed it. He completed his daily tasks diligently and maintained a composed demeanor. Aside from his worsening pallor, he concealed his condition well enough that anyone less experienced than Lei Yin might not have noticed.

This piqued Lei Yin’s curiosity. What was causing Bryn to get hurt so often? After all, he didn’t seem like the type to provoke trouble.

That evening, Takeda’s group of eloquent friends came to his house. As usual, Lei Yin and Naoko stayed in their room watching TV, while Amy was taken by Takeda’s cousins to play with fireworks.

Noticing Lei Yin seemed a bit distracted, Naoko asked, “Lei, is something on your mind?”

Lei Yin thought for a moment, then told her about Bryn.

“Do you want to go check on him?”

“It’s not that serious. I just find it a little strange.”

Naoko suddenly smiled gently. “You’re lying. You’re worried about leaving me here alone, aren’t you?”

Lei Yin was a bit surprised and looked at her. After a moment, he gave a wry smile. “How did you know?”

Naoko gave a playful smile, then leaned into his arms and said softly, “If you want to go, then go. Just promise me to be careful and don’t get hurt, okay? Don’t worry about me. If I feel bored, I’ll just watch TV. But if you can, come back early.”

Feeling touched, Lei Yin held her tightly in his arms. “Naoko, you’re so wonderful.”

“Idiot,” she murmured, blushing as she raised her head to give him a light kiss on the lips.

After Lei Yin left the room, Naoko hugged a pillow to her chest and rested her head on it. After a while, she placed her index finger on her lips, as if savoring the warmth he had left behind, lost in thought.

Near the Takeda household was a three-story apartment building designated for the family’s servants. Lei Yin asked one of the other servants for Bryn’s room location and then made his way there.

Japan is a highly hierarchical society. Even in a servant’s residence like this one, there were rules of division. Typically, the longest-serving and most senior servants lived on the top floor, where the air quality was best, while those with less tenure were assigned to the lower floors. Bryn’s room was on the first floor, in a sunless, dimly lit corner.

Standing outside the door, Lei Yin listened for a moment to confirm Bryn was inside, then quietly moved to wait outside the building.

Around 11 PM, after waiting long enough to feel slightly annoyed, Lei Yin finally saw Bryn’s tall figure emerge from the apartment.

Cursing under his breath, Lei Yin began tailing him.

When it came to tracking someone, few could rival Lei Yin. He didn’t need to follow his target closely. By locking onto Bryn’s energy, he could easily track his movements without being seen.

Lei Yin strolled leisurely behind Bryn, as though out for a casual walk. Occasionally, he stopped at roadside stalls to sample some snacks.

After about half an hour, Lei Yin noticed Bryn heading toward a shrine. Was he planning to catch stray dogs again?

As expected, Bryn went to the back of the shrine. Near the same spot as before, he dragged out three iron cages filled with stray dogs from the bushes. Then, just like during the festival, he carried the cages down a deserted path.

It looked like the real show was about to begin. Lei Yin finished the last bites of his snack and continued following him.

Meanwhile, shortly after Lei Yin left Naoko’s room, someone knocked on her door.