# 619
**Chapter 620: The Advancing Mummy**
“What’s wrong?” Yuzuri Nana asked, puzzled by the change in Lin Qiye’s expression.
“Someone’s tailing us,” Lin Qiye replied, glancing at the rearview mirror. “A lot of them. And they’ve got guns.”
His mental perception had already enveloped the entire street. The moment those dozen or so cars merged into the traffic behind them, he sensed it. A closer scan revealed a large number of firearms inside the vehicles.
These people were clearly no ordinary pursuers—and chances were high they were after Yuzuri Nana.
At the mention of guns, Yuzuri Nana’s brows knitted tightly. She leaned close to Lin Qiye’s ear and whispered, “Is it… the yakuza?”
“Very likely.”
“How did they know we were here? Didn’t those thugs already…”
Lin Qiye’s mind raced. Within seconds, he pieced together a likely scenario, and his face darkened.
“Didn’t expect the yakuza to be in bed with the cops.”
Yuzuri Nana froze. Quick-witted as she was, she instantly understood. “You mean the Osaka Police lured me here with my father’s belongings?”
“Looks like they had a two-pronged plan,” Lin Qiye analyzed coolly. “A powerful syndicate wouldn’t stake everything on a bunch of small-time punks. The day after Yuzuri Kurotetsu was killed, they used police contacts to call your house, baiting you to Osaka with the promise of his effects—an invitation to walk straight into their trap.
But they didn’t expect those idiots to drive you out of your home while searching for whatever they wanted, so you never got the call. We only found out when we returned to your place.”
“So we still ended up walking into their trap?” Worry crept into Yuzuri Nana’s voice. “What do we do now?”
Lin Qiye fell silent.
Unable to use his Forbidden Ruins, the safest move was to summon Hongyan and escape underground—but running solved nothing. If the yakuza had both black and white connections, they’d eventually track Yuzuri Nana again. Next time, she wouldn’t face mere thugs but one of Japan’s largest crime families.
Their biggest problem was lack of intel: why the yakuza wanted her dead, what Yuzuri Kurotetsu had left her—none of it was clear.
This might be their chance. Capture a few alive, and they could learn the truth.
Decision made, Lin Qiye glanced back. On the wide street, the dozen gun-laden cars hung well back, keeping the taxi in sight while maintaining distance—professional work.
Too bad you’ve already been spotted.
He pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket and began drawing on the taxi’s ceiling.
“Hey! Wait! What are you doing? This is a cab—no graffiti!” the driver yelped.
Lin Qiye eyed him, then tossed a wad of eighty thousand yen onto the passenger seat. “Shut up and drive.”
“Understood! Feel free, sir!” The driver smiled politely.
Lin Qiye sketched while watching the tailing cars out the corner of his eye, eyes narrowing.
“Any streets ahead with lighter traffic?”
The driver blinked. “Yeah—two blocks up, turn right then left onto Yamazaki Bridge. Wide lanes, but poor routing, so almost no one uses it…”
“Head there.”
“But you said Dotonbori—that’s the opposite direction.”
“New destination.”
“…Got it.”
The yakuza convoy, unaware they’d been spotted, continued lazily behind. After two blocks they rolled onto Yamazaki Bridge.
By then, Lin Qiye had finished the final stroke of the second magic array. The two overlapping formations on the roof were so intricate they made the eyes spin. Yuzuri Nana stared, baffled.
“No matter what happens, keep driving straight. Floor it. Don’t stop, don’t look back—understood?” Lin Qiye told the driver.
“Sir, there’s a speed limit on the bridge—if I floor it I’ll get fined…”
“…” Lin Qiye stuffed his last thirty thousand yen into the man’s hand. “After you clear the bridge, drop her at Dotonbori.”
“Yes, sir!”
Lin Qiye turned to Yuzuri Nana. “Stay safe.”
He slapped both arrays overhead, yanked the door, and slipped out like a ghost.
BOOM—!!
Two blinding bursts of magic light erupted from the roof.
The trailing cars braked instinctively; their occupants gaped.
He jumped?
“Mr. Igari, they’ve spotted us—the young man just bailed,” someone reported from one car.
“Ignore him. Get the girl.”
“Roger!”
Engines roared. Exposed, the yakuza stopped hiding. Every vehicle was heavily tuned; they surged forward, tires screaming on the bridge.
Suddenly, a small, skinny mummy stood up in the middle of the road.
“Heya~?”
It tilted its wrapped head at the oncoming cars.
Mumu: (O_o)??
“What the hell?” a front-seat thug squinted. “A doll? And it’s moving?”
“Screw it—run it over!”
VROOOM—!
The lead car shot straight at Mumu.
“Mumu, blow them up,” Lin Qiye’s voice echoed in its ear.
Mumu perked up. With a cheerful “Heya!” its bandages bulged, and a massive rocket launcher extended from its tiny body, settling on its shoulder. The barrel aimed at the speeding car.
The driver’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull.