24 I Am Just Taking Some Casual Shots

Even though Baishi Shū still found the entire story a little flaky, for the sake of money—ahem, no, for the sake of compassion, and also to help the needy and to relieve the distressed—he decided to have a look at the incident along with Asada Senna. 

Truth to be told, it was easy to tell whether or not there was a demonic occurrence. Even if they had no idea where the evil spirits were hiding during the day, the evil spirits would leave some traces that would later come to be known as ghost handprints or footprints in some urban folktales. Those traces would disappear in the span of one or two days, but if the location was a land filled with grudges, then they would stay longer. 

Baishi Shū could've easily detected those traces with the help of his Divine Eye. After that, he would be able to tell if an evil spirit had really appeared or not. As for other people like other monks or Shinto priests, he did not know much about their way of doing so since he had never actually come across one.

After they finished their dinner, both of them departed to their destination—the Daemon Animation Studio in Nerima City. 

The animation studio was not as famous as some of its peers like the Bones Animation Studio, J.C. Staff, and the Toei Animation Studio. In fact, it was considered a fledgling industry. It was a small start-up in which the main realm was the adaptation of horror genre mangas and light novels. 

Both of them spotted the client by the time they arrived at the Daemon Animation Studio. It was a lean and tall young man. He seemed very young but his face looked very haggard. There were two large bags and shadows under and around his eyes

It was fairly easy to take note of them since Asada Senna's attire was highly recognizable. When the young man saw them, he quickly went up to them. "Are you two Miko Asada and Master Baishi?" 

'Hey, why would you call me miko but address him as a master?' Asada Senna's eyelids twitched when the young man greeted them. 'Did he leave his eyeballs at home? Can't he see who the boss is here?' 

Well, apparently, there was only one conclusion those who had watched her video could draw: the miko was no good while the monk was a true holy monk. It seemed that the client had the same thought as well. That was why he expressed his innermost thought the moment he saw them. 

 'Cool down, Asada Senna. You can do this. You have to stay cool and be graceful.'

After that, she raised her head and whipped up a business smile, "Are you Mr. Nakano, our client from the Daemon Animation Studio? Hi, I'm Asada Senna, the miko sent over by the Yotsuya Suga Shrine to help you investigate the possible demonic threat. This is Baishi Shū. Nice to meet you."

"Yes, yes! I am Nakano. Thank goodness, you two have really come!" Nakano responded excitedly and gave a deep bow. 

"I have sought help from several shrines and temples, but after they learned that the ghost is coming out from a drawing, they drove me away before I could even tell them about the remuneration package. My studio has been closed for a week due to the evil spirit. If we can't get back in operation as soon as possible, the losses to my studio would be immeasurable. If we cannot fulfill the deadline, we have to pay a large sum of money to our clients as liquidated damages... I am really running out of options. You guys are my only hopes now." 

Baishi Shū remained silent as he stood behind Asada Senna. After he heard what Mr. Nakano had said, he thought inwardly, 'Well, you can't really blame them for not taking you seriously, even I will think that this is a prank. After all, a ghost coming out of a drawing is just too bizarre and hard to believe. Ghosts and evil spirits are the embodiment of resentment and grudge. There is no way a ghost could be born from a drawing. This is just unacceptable. However, Mr. Nakano does not seem to be pulling a prank on them. Perhaps there's something else that we don't know?'

Obviously, Asada Senna thought the same way as well. Therefore, she comforted, "Don't worry Mr. Nakano, Baishi-san and I will try our best to help you." 

Mr. Nakano's thoughts flew back to the video when he heard Asada Senna's words. The scene of Baishi Shū exorcising the Onryō was still vividly clear in his mind. His expression slackened a little as he nodded heavily. "Yes! I am counting on you two."

He had full faith in Baishi Shū's ability. Likewise, Baishi Shū was very confident in himself too. 

It occurred to him that whatever kind of ghosts the animation studio was facing, it probably was not something otherworldly strong. Human beings were very fragile in front of a true nightmare. Even though the saying was quite harsh to the ear, it was the truth. If it was a powerful evil spirit or one of those demon kings, there ought to be casualties. It would become a criminal case and the police department would have intervened. 

At that time, even if the shrine and temple in Nerima City did not believe that somebody had lost his or her life in that paranormal event, they would take over the case and investigate it seriously. If that happened, there would be no need for Baishi Shū and Asada Senna's service. Hence, although Baishi Shū had exorcised countless evil spirits this year, most of them were lesser spirits. 

This was also the reason why he could not tell how strong he was. After all, how was he supposed to gauge his own strength if there was no measure of comparison? 

What? Asada Senna? She was just a fledgling whose wings had not even fully developed yet. That being said, Asada Senna was still a miko no matter how weak she was and she had the ability to handle some lesser evil spirits. Otherwise, the Yotsuya Suga Shrine would not have dispatched her to help the police department investigate the paranormal events. As such, Baishi Shū felt that he may not have the opportunity to get the upper hand this time. 

As expected, as Mr. Nakano led them into the office building and told them about what happened in the past few days, Asada Senna took out several rather impressive-looking instruments such as spirit dust and a clairvoyant talisman to look out for any traces that the evil spirit might have left behind. 

'She looks really professional.'

As the thought flitted across Baishi Shū's mind, he turned his attention towards the clairvoyant talisman in Asada Senna's hand. 

For human beings, the eye was the most important organ in helping one see the world. When one attained spiritual power, the eye would be the first organ to become enhanced. 

This was what the clairvoyant talisman would do. It "opened" the eye of a normal human being, allowing those who did not possess the Divine Eye to be able to perceive evil spirits. 

Out of curiosity, he took one clairvoyant talisman from Asada Senna and put it on. The effect was similar to a massively nerfed Divine Eye. It could only penetrate through yin and yang, and even so, one's vision was greatly weakened. 

Everything seemed very fuzzy. He could only manage to vaguely see a little. If he wanted to put a description of the experience, it probably felt like seeing things with 8.0 diopters without putting on any glasses. After that, he took off the clairvoyant talisman and shifted to his Divine Eye. He activated the ability to see through yin and yang, and studied their surroundings. Right now, they were inside the elevator of the Daemon Animation Studio, and there were plenty of distorted footprints and handprints in every crook and nook of the elevator. 

After he changed his vision to his Divine Eye, he could even see the loops and whorls on the handprints. It was as if he was watching a full-HD television without any censorship. The clairvoyant talisman was not at the same level as his Divine Eye. 

The footprints and handprints had been left behind by the evil spirit, so a normal human would not be able to see them. For instance, Mr. Nakano was still kept in the dark as he continued to fill them in with the incidents from the past few days. 

"Several days ago, one of my colleagues heard movement when he stayed back to finish his drawing. He thought somebody was playing in the office, but just when he was about to shoo the person away, he saw nothing. However, he could still hear the sound. He was so frightened that he jumped off the building. Luckily, he was on the third floor that night, so he merely broke his leg. He's recuperating in the hospital right now... Erm, Master Baishi, what are you shooting at?" 

It was only then that Mr. Nakano felt something was not right. From the corner of his eye, he saw Baishi Shū shooting something with the camera in his hand. There was a smirk playing around on his lips as he panned the camera around from the ceiling to the floor and then to the wall. 

He followed Baishi Shū and looked at the wall but found nothing. 

"Oh, I'm just taking some casual shots. Please don't mind me, Mr. Nakano," Baishi Shū replied with a smile. He did not reveal what he saw with his Divine Eye. 

He was certain that there was an evil spirit in this animation studio, but he found no reason to tell Mr. Nakano about that as he did not want to scare him.

'Nevertheless, it's still very scary even if you don't say anything!'

Mr. Nakano fell silent. At the same time, the door of the elevator opened and light spilled in. The corridor was silent and devoid of any people. It was the same corridor he walked through every day, but Mr. Nakano felt his legs go a little weak right then. 

What should he do?