Chapter 167: Rescuing Shrine Maiden Asano

"Confirmed the Asano shrine maiden. Hmm, she doesn't seem to be under any coercion, does she?"

While Kamo Akira and Asano Arisu noticed Qiao Qiao's presence, he was likewise observing the villa.

Hiding amidst the gaps between the palm trees, Qiao Qiao surveyed the estate through camouflage-painted binoculars.

From the outside, this was merely an ordinary, expensive seaside villa.

Yet, Qiao Qiao's spiritual sight revealed that the entire perimeter of the villa bore the traces of spells and ritualistic manipulation.

These features endowed the villa with multiple layers of defensive barriers.

Not only could they ward off unrelated personnel and lower their presence, but they also resisted anomalies, gathered spiritual energy, and nourished the body.

They could even whiten the skin.

Clearly, this was not the handiwork of ordinary spirits or monsters.

Spirits had no need for such flashy embellishments.

An exorcist?

Qiao Qiao frowned in thought.

Could the Asano shrine maiden simply have been invited here as a guest by a local exorcist?

As a trainee shrine maiden of the Atsuta Shrine, Asano was naturally far more conspicuous than an unremarkable person like himself.

Through the binoculars.

A man in a button-down shirt stood beside Asano Arisu, the two of them seemingly in conversation.

"Quickly reveal everything you know, or else I will show you my methods."

"I will never betray my comrades. If you want information, you'll have to step over my dead body."

"Heh, I'd like to see if you can truly remain silent under those forms of torture."

Perhaps they were engaged in dialogue along those lines.

"Hmm?"

Had he served the shrine maiden a cup of tea?

Under Suzuka's guidance, Qiao Qiao had once watched some videos on the internet.

Things like black tea seemed to carry heavily suggestive undertones.

Was this a combination of coercion and enticement?

The Asano shrine maiden was in grave danger.

Although he could not spot any visible signs of physical force being used against Asano Arisu, Qiao Qiao knew that true interrogation experts disdained crude physical violence.

According to the KGB manual, violence was considered the lowest form of interrogation.

If it were up to him, Qiao Qiao would first seek out the target's weaknesses, then exploit exhaustion and tension to torment their body, before applying psychological pressure to cause a mental breakdown, thereby extracting the desired information.

Of course, these were purely theoretical concepts; Qiao Qiao had never actually used such techniques on a human being.

Therefore, while Asano Arisu might appear entirely free and safe on the surface, this was precisely where the greatest danger lay!

There was no time to delay.

Though Qiao Qiao was currently alone, he was not entirely unprepared for such a scenario.

Disguising himself as an ordinary tourist, he approached the main gate of the villa.

Guards were patrolling the area, denying entry to ordinary people.

Qiao Qiao circled the perimeter wall, assessing the security in the vicinity.

Rigorous.

From the spell barriers to the garrison personnel, it was practically airtight.

To think that such a high-spec building existed in the resort destination of Hawaii.

There had to be something fishy going on.

Qiao Qiao thought to himself.

The living corpse on the passenger plane earlier had been a product of exorcist techniques.

Exorcists were not necessarily all good people.

He made his way to the cliffside.

Drawing a grappling hook and cable from his tactical backpack.

Using his pistol to launch the grappling hook, he began scaling the side of the cliff.

Despite the heavy security, the cliffside was evidently an area with fewer surveillance cameras.

Qiao Qiao hauled himself up the cliff.

Before him lay a garden cultivated with a multitude of brightly colored flowers.

Under the afternoon sun, it appeared quiet and harmonious.

Qiao Qiao had taken merely two steps forward.

Buzz—

A blond man wearing a Hawaiian shirt leaped out.

"I am the tanuki Sanshiro, fighting to protect my master..."

His figure shifted and expanded, seemingly transforming into a giant.

Without catching what the other party was saying, Qiao Qiao opened fire directly.

Bang—

A rubber bullet imbued with spiritual energy struck the man squarely on the head, while Qiao Qiao charged forward and pumped several more rounds into his fallen body.

After all, this was a shikigami; using live ammunition outright might be inappropriate.

Qiao Qiao was well-versed in social tact.

Confirming that the entity had lost the ability to fight, Qiao Qiao secured him with nylon zip ties and, certain everything was in order, continued his advance toward the villa.

The moment he vaulted through a window into the interior, Qiao Qiao sensed a surge of spiritual energy.

A female figure clad in a maid outfit stood in the corridor, gently lifting the hem of her skirt to offer him a bow.

"I am Hoki. My master has instructed me to serve you well."

Her voice was cold and devoid of emotion.

"Pardon the intrusion."

Qiao Qiao smiled.

The next instant, the maid leaped upward.

She actually began running directly along the ceiling.

More importantly, the hem of her skirt did not invert downward at all—it was a defiance of gravity.

"My master once told me that speed is power, and any attack that fails to connect is utterly meaningless."

As she spoke, the maid adjusted her posture, evading any potential strike from Qiao Qiao.

"Well said."

Qiao Qiao nodded, then tossed a small lump of modeling clay wrapped around a black detonating cord out of his backpack.

His thumb pressed the switch.

Boom—

An explosion erupted in the hallway, the sudden smoke swallowing the maid whole.

Qiao Qiao maintained his vigilance until the dust settled, at which point he found the maid sprawled on the floor, her hair blown out into an afro and her clothes in tattered ruins.

"Therefore, as long as the blast radius is large enough, one needn't bother worrying about accuracy."

Following the same procedure, Qiao Qiao secured the maid's hands and feet with nylon zip ties and pressed onward.

The location where Asano Arisu had appeared earlier should be on the third floor.

The absence of other servants in the villa struck Qiao Qiao as somewhat peculiar.

He climbed to the second floor, paused briefly to ready himself, and reached the third.

"To think that Hoki failed to stop you."

A man dressed in a tailcoat and a monocle, sporting the attire of a butler, stood at the doorway of a room.

"I am Oki, fighting for my master."

Oki radiated a powerful sense of oppression, even kicking up a gale-force wind.

Qiao Qiao retrieved the detonator switch.

And pressed it gently.

Boom—

The floor beneath Oki's feet suddenly blasted outward, opening up a gaping hole.

Before he could react, his entire body plunged downward.

Rumble—

Another explosion seemed to echo from the floor below; glancing down, Qiao Qiao saw that Oki had crashed all the way to the first floor.

"As expected, preparing traps in advance is quite essential."

Qiao Qiao nodded and tossed another block of explosives downward; the struggling Oki instantly went still.

Meanwhile, separated by a single door, Kamo Akira wore an extremely grim expression.

Where on earth did this heretical lunatic come from?

Such exorcism methods simply didn't exist in the textbooks!

Even though he was the Asano shrine maiden's teacher, he could no longer afford to be polite!

Thinking this, Kamo Akira suddenly realized that Asano Arisu was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm? Asano shrine maiden, why are you hiding over there?"

After a brief search, he discovered Asano Arisu huddled with her hands over her ears in a corner beneath a table.

"I suggest you hide as well."

Asano Arisu said, hurriedly squeezing her eyes shut again.

Receiving no reply, the heavy door of the room was kicked wide open.

"Finally here?"

Kamo Akira cast his gaze toward the entrance, gathering spiritual energy into various spells at his side, poised for action.

Yet, no one entered the room.

Only a black, soda-can-shaped object was tossed in from the hallway outside.

"?"

The moment Kamo Akira registered it.

Light and sound tore apart in a blinding explosion.