Chapter 161: Let's Go to Hawaii!

I see, no wonder Suzuka couldn't make it. What a pity, indeed."

Asano Arisu nodded repeatedly, though she simply couldn't hide the smile blooming on her face. She couldn't help but glance out the window. The plane had just taken off; the weather today was fine, and the evening sunset dyed the clouds in shades of orange. The city bathed in the twilight appeared quiet and serene, bringing a sense of deep comfort.

Although this was not Asano Arisu's first time traveling abroad, nor was it her first trip to Hawaii, previous journeys had always been with her family. This time, well, it could roughly be considered a trip between just her and her teacher.

"Wow, look, it's the ocean! Quick, look!"

"When we get to Hawaii, I wonder if we'll be able to meet some hula-dancing beauties."

"Scuba diving, sunbathing, I'm definitely going to have the time of my life!"

The passengers seated near them were ordinary tourists, chatting noisily and brimming with excited anticipation.

"Hehe." Asano Arisu swayed slightly in her seat, looking utterly delighted. "Has Teacher ever been to Hawaii before?"

"No, I haven't." Qiao Qiao shook his head. He rarely went abroad and was practically a stranger to the concept of tourism. Aside from finding it difficult to turn down the goodwill of the Kyoto Exorcist Association, his original intention this time was simply to bring Suzuka and Shrine Maiden Asano out for a little relaxation.

However, Suzuka had stubbornly refused to come, leaving only Shrine Maiden Asano.

Hmm.

A fifteen-year-old girl and a seventeen-year-old boy traveling to Hawaii together.

Something felt a bit off.

Still, since Shrine Maiden Asano's father had been comfortable letting her come, there probably wasn't any issue, Qiao Qiao figured.

Little did he know that back at the Asano Shrine branch, Shoji Asano suddenly let out a sneeze.

Saya the kitten was draped over the shrine's railing, stretching lazily. "How come I haven't seen Arisu at all today, I wonder?" Shoji Asano muttered with a slight frown.

...

A direct flight from Tokyo to Hawaii takes nearly seven hours. Factor in the time difference, and arriving there would put the local time at around seven-thirty in the morning. Consequently, many passengers chose to sleep on the plane to conserve their energy.

Qiao Qiao was holding up fine; nourished by spiritual energy, he could easily pull an all-nighter or two without any trouble.

"Where is Teacher planning to go in Hawaii?" Asano Arisu asked, flipping through the in-flight Hawaiian tourism brochure.

It was currently mealtime on the plane, and the cabin was filled with the murmur of intermittent conversations. When she had visited last time, she was only in the third grade, and her memory retained little more than beaches and sunshine.

"Oh, this volcano park looks wonderful, and the black sand beach seems quite pretty too. Ah, I wonder if scuba diving will be possible..." Asano Arisu said with keen interest.

"Well, as for Hawaii, there should be well-equipped shooting ranges there, right?" Qiao Qiao took out his small notebook. "I asked the boss before; he mentioned a friend of his is based in Hawaii. For a very small fee, you can experience all sorts of firearms at a shooting range and even practice target shooting."

"?"

On a rare trip to Hawaii, and the destination is a shooting range—wasn't there something fundamentally wrong with that?

"Hawaii is also quite close to Pearl Harbor. Going there now should allow us to see the Battleship Missouri Memorial and the Pacific Aviation Museum. How exciting."

"The Kyoto Exorcist Association operates at a very high level. To actually select a place like Hawaii—they cannot be underestimated."

"?"

This trip felt like it was veering off course.

Seeing Qiao Qiao's earnest expression, Asano Arisu didn't know what to say. With a whole week ahead, exploring all of Hawaii shouldn't be a problem, right?

After the in-flight meal, the passengers successively put on their sleep masks to court slumber.

After browsing the travel brochure for a while longer, Asano Arisu retrieved her own eye mask. It featured a cute cat pattern against a pink background, overflowing with girlish charm.

Qiao Qiao's eye mask was a very ordinary shade of black, but instead of resting immediately, he prepared to read a bit more.

Before long, Asano Arisu beside him began to emit soft, even breaths. Her head drifted over, and she shifted her posture to find a comfortable sleeping position.

Qiao Qiao had once heard a saying: those who can fall asleep on an airplane are truly fortunate. Therefore, he chose not to disturb Asano Arisu, simply closing his book bag and maintaining his original posture to rest.

Right at that moment, Qiao Qiao sensed a hint of discordance.

By then, the cabin lights had been mostly extinguished, plunging the space into deep quiet. The air conditioning was set rather low, so Qiao Qiao used one hand to retrieve a blanket and gently drape it over Asano Arisu.

Outside the window lay a boundless, lightless ocean. Moonlight pierced through the misty sea surface, casting a hazy, indistinct glow. Occasionally, a flight attendant glided softly down the aisle.

Qiao Qiao cast a glance her way.

On the back of her neck, he detected a trace of lingering yin energy.

"Hmm?"

This aroused Qiao Qiao's vigilance. After all, they were high up in the air.

If the plane crashed, survival was far from guaranteed.

He gently nudged Asano Arisu's head toward the window side, stood up, and retrieved the component parts of his revolver from his carry-on backpack.

Right.

As an exorcist, Qiao Qiao had naturally applied for and received clearance from the airport to carry exorcism tools on board. In fact, many major international airlines now stationed exorcists on vital routes to prevent disasters caused by anomalies—and Qiao Qiao was traveling under precisely such an assignment.

It took him less than thirty seconds to assemble the weapon, and he loaded it with rubber bullets.

Rising to his feet, he walked in the direction where the earlier flight attendant had headed.

Murmured voices seemed to reach his ears.

Reaching the very end of the cabin, Qiao Qiao pulled back the blocking curtain.

"Is there something I can help you with?" The on-duty flight attendant asked hurriedly upon seeing Qiao Qiao.

"I am this." Qiao Qiao flashed his exorcist credential.

The attendant paused, then looked at the weapon in Qiao Qiao's hand, finally refraining from pressing the emergency alarm.

"The cabin further back shouldn't have any passengers, correct?" Qiao Qiao glanced at the tightly drawn curtain. "I carefully cross-checked every passenger's face during boarding, and all waiting passengers were seated in the forward cabin. Therefore, the rear area should be completely unoccupied."

As he spoke, his spiritual vision revealed that the rear cabin wasn't merely empty—it was saturated with heavy yin energy.

"Ah, this is..." The flight attendant evaded the question, clearly reluctant to explain.

"Sister Himi, it seems a bit... over here?"

At that moment, a head poked out from behind the tightly sealed curtain—it was the very same flight attendant Qiao Qiao had noticed earlier.

Catching sight of Qiao Qiao and the hardware in his hand, she gave a start, which caused the curtain to pull open a fraction further.

And Qiao Qiao saw.

Beyond that curtain, the entire cabin was packed to capacity.

No, to be precise, they were not people at all.

They were corpses.

Every single one of them was a corpse.