Since I finally had free time, I wanted to travel to relax my tense nerves. I planned to invite Chuyi as well.

“How about Japan?” suggested Yin Xinyue. It was the right season to visit Japan. She had been wanting to visit Kyoto for a long time, but she hadn’t had the time yet. It was a good opportunity to take her on her dream trip.

Although I wasn’t that fond of Japan, since Yin Xinyue wanted to go, I agreed.

I called Li Mazi, and he also agreed. He really wanted to take Ru Xue to Japan to enjoy sushi. Chuyi had no objections to this trip, either. As such, we finalized our trip to Kyoto.

One week later, we took a direct flight to the airport in Osaka. When we exited the airport, I saw a man holding a board with my name on it. He was the interpreter I had hired from a traveling website. His name was Xiao Gao.

Xiao Gao was a young bespectacled man in his twenties. He was a student in Japan who worked as a translator during the semester break to cover his tuition.

I called him, waving at him. Xiao Gao came over and shook my hand with great enthusiasm. “I’ve already booked your bus tickets to Kyoto. We’ll set out tomorrow at around 9:00 AM. As for today, do you want to visit the duty-free shop to buy some gifts?”

Xiao Gao had already helped us get some Japanese yen. My first impression of him was good. This young man was cheerful and competent. He should be a good interpreter.

“We can shop later. We should get a room first!” suggested Yin Xinyue.

Xiao Gao called two cabs. On our way to the city, he used his phone to book a good hotel for us.

We didn’t bring many belongings, just some spare clothes. We asked the receptionist to keep the luggage for us and went out for lunch.

Xiao Gao asked, “What do you want for lunch, Japanese or Chinese? In Japan, Chinese food is popular, especially the spicy Sichuan specialties. As Japanese people don’t like spicy food that much, most of the dishes are sweet.”

Of course, we had the same idea. Since we had come here to travel, we should try as many of the local foods as possible!

Xiao Gao brought us to a sushi restaurant where the diners sat around a high and round table. A conveyor belt carried food to and from the kitchen. The kitchen was separated from the dining area by a glass wall. We could see the chefs working with raw ingredients like fish and crab. After making the sushi dish, they would place it on the conveyor. We could choose anything we wanted, and they would count the number of empty dishes when we wanted to pay.

Yin Xinyue found something interesting. We could put the plates we finished into a box. After we had five empty plates, we could do a lucky-draw. Ru Xue and Yin Xinyue tried it out and received a few stickers. They asked us to try our luck as well.

Li Mazi tried a few times, but all he got was a badge. He immediately put it on his chest.

I got a small stuffed animal, while Chuyi drew a bunch of surprise eggs every time, which shocked us quite a bit.

The taste of sushi was good, and we really enjoyed the meal. Li Mazi gave a thumbs-up. “The Japanese waiters were nice. I felt like a god.”

“Japanese people are really interesting. Most restaurants have small games like this, so foreign tourists can play and enjoy the meals at the same time,” Xiao Gao explained.

“Will you stay here after you graduate?” I asked him.

“I’m studying ancient architecture. I plan to return to our country once I’m finished.” Xiao Gao smiled gently.

“Why did you come to Japan to study ancient architecture?”

“Kyoto has many structures built in the style of the Tang Dynasty, and they are very well-preserved. We can’t find any Tang Dynasty structures in our country anymore, so it’s necessary to come here to study. The famous architect Liang Sicheng also studied ancient architecture in Japan,” explained Xiao Gao.

I admired his ambition. After lunch, Yin Xinyue and Ru Xue wanted to go shopping around Osaka. Of course, Li Mazi and I followed them.

I felt a little sorry for Chuyi, though. He didn’t talk and carried the sword on his back the whole time. He didn’t look like he was from the same world as us.

Japanese schoolgirls often stopped when they saw him. They shrieked, “Kawaii!” and took selfies with him. The girls in this country were livelier than in China.

We walked around the mall for a while. Afterward, Yin Xinyue and Ru Xue went to a shop to check out the clothes, while the rest of us found a café and rested there.

“If you want to go to that kind of place at night, I can bring you there,” said Xiao Gao.

“What kind of place are you talking about?”

“Japanese social clubs. They are similar to the nightclubs in Mainland China. Most of the male tourists like to visit those places. However, they are the sort of places that require membership. You need to be introduced to get there.” Xiao Gao took a sip of coffee.

I gave him a wry smile. “Don’t you see that we’re here with our wives? Do you want us to kneel on the ground and wait for punishment when we go back?”

“Nah, it’s all right. I can help you fabricate an excuse.” Xiao Gao smiled. I thought that this kid really knew how to fawn over people.

While I felt a little conflicted, Li Mazi asked with a vulgar smile, “Xiao Gao, what fun activities are there in those clubs?”

In the end, we agreed to visit one of the mildest clubs to widen our knowledge.

As I was also curious, I told Chuyi, “It’s a rare chance to travel, you should come with us.”

“I’m a Daoist priest. How could I go there?” Chuyi shot me a cold glance.

Xiao Gao said, “Brother, we can go there to drink and talk. You won’t violate your rule.”

Chuyi hesitated then nodded. After dinner, the four of us excused ourselves, telling the girls that we were going to Osaka Comic City. Then, we took a taxi to go to a social club. The lavish but debauched atmosphere was hard to adapt to.

Soon, a middle-aged woman wearing a kimono came over and greeted us with a deep bow. Then, she turned to talk to Xiao Gao. It seemed they were close.

I found a spot and ordered drinks and some snacks. Soon, four young women wearing sexy dresses came to us. They greeted us with a bow as Xiao Gao introduced them to us. They then parted and settled next to us. They pulled our arms and started to chat.

I was a little overwhelmed by this situation. Chuyi, who was next to me, closed his eyes and directly entered a meditative state.

Li Mazi quickly found the right tempo. He even used the travel guidebook to talk to the Japanese hostesses. I admired his boldness for having fun even with the language barrier.

After a few glasses of champagne, Li Mazi became more shameless. He learned from the other customers and folded a ten-thousand-yen bill, shoving it into the girl’s cleavage. The girl pouted and pounded on his chest. I looked at his vulgar, smiling face and thought of taking a photo to show Ru Xue. I was sure it would earn him a harsh punishment later.

Xiao Gao was also having fun with those hot girls. I now understood why he brought us here. This place was high-end and expensive, and Xiao Gao was just a poor student. That was why he tried his best to promote the place to his customers. With that, he could also reap some benefits.

I sat next to Chuyi, feeling rather awkward. We didn’t even drink the juice we had ordered. As we didn’t talk to them, the two women that were sitting with us moved to Li Mazi and Xiao Gao.

I somewhat regretted coming here and wasting money. I turned and said to Chuyi, “Do you want to go out and get some fresh air?”

“Sure.” Chuyi stood up, before suddenly gazing in a direction.

Sitting on the sofa opposite us was a chubby, bald, middle-aged uncle, who looked like a warlord in an anti-Japanese soap opera. He was drinking with two hostesses. The women sat on both sides, laughing flirtatiously.

A young man wearing white clothes was sitting on his right. He looked around eighteen or nineteen years old. He had fair-skin and feminine features. He was holding a big bucket of popcorn and eating to his heart’s content.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. Chuyi’s strange look had piqued my interest.

“Monster aura,” Chuyi answered. “That young man in white isn’t human!”