Chapter 165: Black Sand Beach

This way, please. This house of ours was actually left over from the Pacific War era, and it was used by high-ranking military officials back then, you know.

Manager Cheng spoke in Japanese while helping Qiao Qiao and Asano Ariko carry their suitcases into the room.

Just as Manager Cheng had mentioned earlier, the room was indeed very spacious.

It was presumably converted from a large room in the villa. Aside from a soft, massive bed large enough for Asano Ariko to completely sink into, there were also living amenities including a refrigerator and a simple kitchenette.

Beyond the huge floor-to-ceiling windows lay a small swimming pool and a garden, and further out was a stretch of sandy beach.

It could certainly be considered quite luxurious.

The price for a single night exceeded ten thousand yen. Under normal circumstances, Qiao Qiao would not even have glanced at it.

Fortunately, it was covered by the Kyoto Exorcists Association.

He sighed inwardly.

Manager Cheng left the room after helping arrange the bed, leaving only Qiao Qiao and Asano Ariko behind.

"Wow, there really is a pool and a private beach! This is so luxurious."

Asano Ariko walked out into the courtyard, feeling the breeze blowing in from the ocean.

"Mhm."

Qiao Qiao acknowledged, placing his backpack on the table before taking out a few items from inside.

"What is this?"

Asano Ariko looked at the objects Qiao Qiao was placing on the table, feeling a slight sense of familiarity.

"These are measures to prevent anyone from breaking in during the middle of the night. Since it's inconvenient to carry a lot of things on the plane, I can only use smaller-scale, simplified versions."

With that, Qiao Qiao earnestly began setting up traps in various spots around the courtyard.

"Generally speaking, public safety around here should be pretty good, right?"

Watching Qiao Qiao's focused expression, Asano Ariko felt too embarrassed to stop him.

Besides, in a sense, Qiao Qiao's seemingly redundant actions usually ended up working out fortuitously.

For instance, back at the Atsuta Shrine, the traps he set up effectively hindered the python's movements, buying time for subsequent reinforcements.

Therefore, Asano Ariko carefully memorized the locations of these traps to avoid accidentally triggering them.

After about ten minutes, Manager Cheng and his wife finished helping set up an extra small bed.

"Due to the space constraints, we could only set up a small bed, but I suppose it should be fine?"

Manager Cheng looked at the two of them, thinking that in the end, they would definitely only end up using one bed anyway.

As a hotel owner, he had seen plenty of scenarios where couples came in acting all reserved, but left clinging tightly to one another.

"Thank you for your trouble."

Qiao Qiao expressed his gratitude.

"Oh, by the way, our daughter Sakura is just starting elementary school this year, so she's a bit mischievous and loves running around the hotel. She picked up a cat last year and has been even more restless since. If there's anything that disturbs you, please feel free to let me know."

Manager Cheng added before finally leaving the room.

"Teacher, do you have any plans for the afternoon? I want to go play at the black sand beach!"

Asano Ariko said. True to its name, the black sand beach consisted almost entirely of black sand, making it a famous tourist spot in Hawaii that she had been eyeing while looking through the travel guidebook earlier.

"Alright, let's go there then. I happen to have some interest in it myself."

Qiao Qiao nodded.

At the same time, he quietly tucked the assembled revolver back into his portable backpack.

"Huh?"

Sensing a gaze fixed upon him, Qiao Qiao raised his head and looked around.

He only caught sight of a cat nimbly slipping away past the fence.

...

Hawaii's black sand beach is located in the southeast of the Kau Coast, about a twenty-minute drive from the hotel.

After having a lunch featuring distinct Hawaiian island flavors, the two took a car to the black sand beach.

"It really is entirely black!"

Asano Ariko had changed into summer-style denim cut-offs and a printed T-shirt, with small strawberry-patterned earrings dangling from her earlobes. Carrying a small bag and slipping off her sandals, she tried stepping onto the sand barefoot. Expecting it to feel quite coarse, she was surprised to find a delicate and soft texture instead.

"I heard the sand here has some kind of curse, and if you take it home casually, you might encounter misfortune."

She bent down and gently scooped up a handful of sand.

"Wow, sea turtles! Teacher, look, look! Such a big one!"

In the distance, at the boundary where the beach met the ocean, several massive sea turtles were lazily sunbathing, completely unbothered by the nearby tourists walking around.

"Speaking of black sand beaches, they are actually related to volcanic eruptions."

Unmoved, Qiao Qiao looked at the playful Asano Ariko and said.

"Lava is cooled by seawater, and unable to withstand the internal steam pressure, it shatters. After being continuously polished by the ocean over countless years, such fragments are formed. Well, if I remember correctly, the composition of these grains should be triiron tetroxide, which naturally appears black under normal conditions."

"Is—is that so?"

Asano Ariko blinked in a daze, then looked down at the sand in her hand again.

"As for curses and the like, they're probably just lies fabricated by the local tourism department. After all, the time it takes to form sand like this must be calculated in millions of years. If every tourist took a bottle home as a souvenir, this black sand beach wouldn't exist much longer."

Qiao Qiao walked over to a warning sign.

The warning sign bore text stating that taking the sand was prohibited and approaching the sea turtles was not allowed.

The black sand beach also seemed to be a wildlife sanctuary, as the tourists here mostly made brief stops rather than frolicking around like on other beaches.

He squatted down.

Less than ten meters away from him, a sea turtle suddenly opened its eyes.

"Hello, I am an acquaintance of the Midnight Diner owner. He asked me to send you his regards."

Qiao Qiao said to the sea turtle.

"?"

The sea turtle stirred.

Its gaze swept around the surroundings, and upon confirming there were no other tourists, it slowly began moving toward Qiao Qiao.

"Did you say... the Midnight Diner?"

The sea turtle's voice sounded quite aged, yet still full of vigor.

"Yes. He said he owes much to your care from back when he was young, and it's a great regret that he hasn't had the chance to see you all these years."

Qiao Qiao said.

To anyone else, it probably just looked like he was teasing the sea turtle.

Scenes like this were common on the black sand beach.

"Since it's from the Midnight Diner, he must have sent *that*."

After exchanging a few more words, the sea turtle's eyes suddenly brightened.

"Mhm, he asked me to bring it."

With that, Qiao Qiao reached into his backpack and pulled out two smooth, jade-like, crystal-clear stones.

With a gentle toss from him, before the stones even hit the ground, they were drawn by some force and fell straight into the sea turtle's mouth.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm. I didn't expect the taste to still be this wonderful after all these years."

The sea turtle chewed carefully and swallowed them into its stomach.

These were spirit stones nourished by a shrine's spiritual energy. Although they couldn't compare to specially crafted artifacts, they were still extremely rare and nourishing items for spirits and demons.

"That fellow really has a good disciple."

The sea turtle looked Qiao Qiao up and down with deep emotion.

"If you run into any trouble around here, come find me. I spend most of my time sunbathing right here."

The sea turtle spoke again.

"Hawaii isn't entirely peaceful lately either. You exorcists had better be careful."

"I understand."

Qiao Qiao watched as the sea turtle returned among its peers and flipped into the ocean, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to a demon over eight hundred years old.

"Shrine Maiden Asano, what shall we do next—"

Qiao Qiao turned around, intending to ask Asano Ariko about her subsequent plans.

Only to find that, at some unknown point in time,

Asano Ariko had vanished.