Chapter 156: French Profanity

Click—
The warehouse door closed.
The light from the energy-saving bulb appeared somewhat dim.
Hoshino Sasa persuaded Mr. Fred to leave the warehouse, leaving only herself and Qiao Qiao behind.
Qiao Qiao stood to the side, taking the opportunity to check the insurance status here.
He felt a wave of relief.
With this, there shouldn't be any major issues.
In the exact center of the warehouse, surrounded by piled-up sundries, a doll sat motionless on a chair.
Qiao Qiao glanced at Hoshino Sasa.
In a situation like this, Qiao Qiao's primary preference would also be to use fire to incinerate it.
Ah, how wonderful it would be if he had a single-soldier incendiary grenade right now.
Qiao Qiao thought to himself.
Bzzz—
The light from the energy-saving bulb suddenly flickered.
Amidst that brief moment of darkness.
The doll's posture shifted.
Originally, it had been placed casually on the chair like a lifeless object.
Now, the doll had straightened its torso, as if about to stand up at any second.
Qiao Qiao noticed that the malevolent spirit behind the doll was growing increasingly ferocious and massive, its tentacle-like Yin energy even beginning to spread outward into the surroundings.
Clack—
Qiao Qiao heard the sound of a case being opened beside him.
"Hmm?"
He saw a chainsaw resting quietly inside Hoshino Sasa's case, which looked far too large for her stature.
A chainsaw?
It was a long saw meant for cutting wood, marked with mottled stains, leaving one to wonder what it might have once sliced through.
Hoshino Sasa lifted it up.
One hand gripped the handle, while the other pulled the starter cord on the side of the chainsaw.
Vroom-vroom-vroom—
The cord drove the motor to start, and the saw's teeth began to rotate at an accelerating pace, emitting a harsh, roaring whine.
Bzzz—
At that exact moment, the energy-saving bulb went completely out.
Within Qiao Qiao's spiritual vision, the wooden puppet stood up.
The malevolent spirit behind it seemed to fuse with it, forming a suit of armor forged from Yin energy.
On the other side, Qiao Qiao looked toward his companion.
Dressed in a nun's habit and standing under a meter and a half tall, Hoshino Sasa lowered her center of gravity.
Her entire body coiled like a hunter poised to strike, save for the chainsaw in her hands, which roared like a cat with its fur standing on end.
The next instant.
The doll moved.
Violating every principle of kinematics, it instantly teleported right in front of Hoshino Sasa.
One hand, wreathed in Yin energy, lashed out with a fierce slap.
—Yet it struck nothing but empty air.

Because Hoshino Sasa had already vanished.
In the darkness, Hoshino Sasa, clad entirely in black, seemed to melt seamlessly into the environment.
Suddenly, two red lights flashed.
They were Hoshino Sasa's pupils.
Qiao Qiao instinctively stepped back a little.
In the lightless warehouse, that pair of red pupils even dragged behind them afterimages, resembling the swaying taillights of a speeding sports car.
The sound of the chainsaw drifted near and far, completely unpredictable.
The doll suddenly executed a backflip, narrowly dodging an attack from the chainsaw.
It crouched slightly, then leaped directly upward, clinging flat against the ceiling.
In a flash, the doll shot downward like a spring toward Hoshino Sasa.
"This move is called the Underworld Instant Shadow Kill!"
Hoshino Sasa whispered softly, shifting the angle of the chainsaw in her hands to meet the doll head-on.
Screeech-screeech-screeech—
A sound that set one's teeth on edge echoed throughout the warehouse. Qiao Qiao saw that the doll ultimately flinched in fear.
It altered the trajectory of its charge; otherwise, it would have collided frontally with Hoshino Sasa's chainsaw.
One of the doll's arms was easily severed by the chainsaw, slicing through it like a heated, razor-sharp blade cutting through frozen butter.
It dropped to the floor, while using its other shoulder to shove Hoshino Sasa back slightly.
"Trou du cul, you actually didn't die."
Hoshino Sasa retreated a few steps, her back coming to rest against the wall.
She removed her headscarf and hood, revealing long, silvery-white hair tied into twin tails.
"You are the first person to force me to use this move."
The chainsaw in her hands roared deafeningly, causing the very items in the warehouse to begin vibrating.
"Schwarze Fänge!"
Hoshino Sasa shouted loudly.
She lunged forward.
The chainsaw in her grasp gleamed with a faint shimmer.
"Was that German just now? Or Spanish?"
Qiao Qiao wasn't entirely sure; he only knew the swear words in those two languages.
The doll felt a momentary tremor of fear, but Hoshino Sasa was already right in front of it.
The chainsaw in her hands yanked forward viciously.
The collision between spiritual power and Yin energy was far more intense than the tearing of a chain saw through wood.
Instantly, the doll was cleaved in two from the waist.
Due to the immense pulling force, the doll was still spinning as it fell.
Hoshino Sasa maintained her original stance until the doll finally hit the ground, only then shutting off the chainsaw.
Qiao Qiao saw the malevolent spirit clinging to the doll emit a final, agonizing shriek before dissipating into nothingness.
No one knew why she had wanted to kill her husband, nor why she had chosen to attach herself to this doll.
Qiao Qiao turned on the lights.
At that moment, Hoshino Sasa carefully placed the chainsaw back into its case and locked it securely.
"I must say, Ghost Shark, your exorcism skills are quite impressive."
Although the chainsaw was somewhat prone to collateral damage, Hoshino Sasa's exorcism techniques truly gave Qiao Qiao a fresh perspective.
He had never expected the church's method of exorcism to be so remarkably novel.

His previous impression of Western exorcism methods had been limited entirely to movies, and Qiao Qiao had assumed Hoshino Sasa would use something like mirrors or crosses to banish spirits.
He never imagined it would be a chainsaw.
"It's the result of countless trials through fierce battles. This is a technique taught to me by my teacher, [White Wolf]."
Hoshino Sasa puffed out her completely flat chest as she spoke.
Her long silver hair was tied into twin tails, though one of the hair ribbons had come loose during the intense exertion, leaving her with a side ponytail.
Attired like this, combined with her height, she would undoubtedly turn many into lolicon mages.
"Ghost Shark, you dropped this."
Qiao Qiao helped pick up Hoshino Sasa's hair ribbon.
Rather than a ribbon, it was more like a folded silk scarf.
"Thank you, this is a very important item."
Hoshino Sasa took the ribbon and clutched it tightly in her palm.
"Was it a gift from someone important?"
Qiao Qiao glanced at it; the ribbon was pure white. To be honest, it didn't stand out much against silver hair. Since Hoshino Sasa treasured it so deeply, it must have been of great significance.
"Mm-hmm, my mother gave it to me. She said that at a crucial moment, this ribbon could protect my safety."
Hoshino Sasa unfolded the ribbon, restoring it to the shape of a rectangular silk scarf.
"Huh?"
Qiao Qiao looked at it.
Why did it feel somewhat similar to a white flag?
It was probably just his imagination.
Since it was a treasure left to her by her mother, it was bound to be immensely precious.
Qiao Qiao opened the warehouse door, helped thoroughly incinerate the doll, and sprayed a layer of spiritual water over the ashes before considering the exorcism complete.
After settling the payment, the two returned to the ground floor of the building.
"Today's exorcism went so smoothly, how wonderful."
Qiao Qiao sighed with emotion.
How long had it been since he encountered such a clean and straightforward exorcism commission?
And best of all, he hadn't even had to lift a finger.
Buzz—
His phone vibrated, and Qiao Qiao took a look.
It was a Line message from Miss Sakura.
[Sakura Kokoa]: Qiao-san, if you've finished the exorcism, could you please help out at this address? Oh, and bring Sasa along with you.
It seemed she had left a message earlier, unsure whether Qiao Qiao had completed the commission yet.
Qiao Qiao replied with an affirmative, then tapped on the link Miss Sakura had sent.
It wasn't a residential address at all, but rather a bustling commercial district not far from here.
Before Qiao Qiao could fully puzzle out Miss Sakura's intent, his phone vibrated once more.
This time, it was a Twitter notification.
It showed that just over ten minutes ago, a major multi-vehicle traffic accident had occurred in Tokyo, resulting in numerous fatalities.
And the location was precisely the one Miss Sakura had sent.