"Make way, everyone—make way… ow!"
Just as Arden was studying what percentage of Hoshimi Miyabi's height was made up by her ears, he felt something bump into him, followed by a sudden chill at his upper thigh.
He looked down.
The hem of his Daoist robe was soaked with liquid, a tipped-over cup on the ground.
And there was also a little imp with horns on her head, wearing a Hollow Special Operations Section 6 uniform, blue skin, holding an iced cola and a hamburger in her arms, looking up at him with an apologetic expression.
"S-sorry!"
The blue-skinned little imp apologized.
Soukaku?
With a brief thought, Arden immediately understood what had happened.
Soukaku had been rushing back after buying something, accidentally ran into him, and spilled the cola.
"Soukaku, what happened?"
At this moment, Miyabi had already entered the HIA Club, and Deputy Section Chief Tsukishiro Yanagi hurried over to check on the situation.
"I'm sorry!"
Yanagi quickly clarified what had happened and offered a sincere apology. "If I'm not mistaken, the two of you are Daoists from Yunkui Summit, correct?"
Given their Daoist robes, Yanagi—who handled Hollow Special Operations Section 6's practical affairs—naturally recognized them.
"Hello, I'm Arden Xu. This is—"
"The Senior Sister of Yunkui Summit, Ju Fufu!"
Ju Fufu jumped down from Arden's shoulders, puffed out her not-so-impressive chest, and declared proudly.
"Senior Sister, huh—hehe."
Yanagi smiled politely.
"Someone this small can really be a Sen—mmph!"
Before Soukaku could finish, Tsukishiro Yanagi covered her mouth.
"This isn't the place to talk…"
As she spoke, Yanagi glanced at the crowd gathering around them.
With different types of pretty girls gathered together, plus Arden the Daoist with a wet lower half, it was clearly giving rise to some unfortunate rumors.
"Let's go inside."
"Mm."
…..
The group entered the HIA Club's lounge.
"I'm truly sorry for the trouble caused to Daoist Arden."
Yanagi apologized once again.
"I'm sorry!"
Soukaku was also pressed down by Yanagi to apologize.
"Heh, it's nothing—just some spilled water. A wash and it'll be fine."
Arden waved it off.
"A wash…"
Yanagi seemed to think of something. "If I remember correctly, the club has washing machines and dryers as well. Section Chief and Sect Master Yixuan still have many test items to go through, so there should be enough time."
"Then… I'll trouble you."
Arden didn't refuse. The cola-soaked robe was sticky and genuinely uncomfortable to wear.
"I'll help!"
Yanagi proactively helped Arden take off his Daoist robe.
A capable, mature secretary-type onee-san… that doesn't seem bad at all!
At close range, experiencing Yanagi's presence—ahem, refined, intellectual, glasses-wearing, well-endowed—Arden, being a normal man, couldn't help his imagination from wandering.
"….."
Then he felt the soft flesh at his waist get twisted.
"Don't think nonsense!"
Ju Fufu's warning followed.
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Arden pinched Ju Fufu's puffed-up cheeks.
"Hehe, you two really have a good relationship!"
Yanagi smiled knowingly, then grabbed Soukaku with one hand and Arden's Daoist robe with the other, leaving the lounge.
...
The lounge.
At this moment, without his Daoist robe, Arden was left wearing only a pair of loose shorts. Half-leaning on a chair, he took out his phone, found a comfortable position, and scrolled through online videos while waiting for Master Yixuan and the others to finish.
"Hahaha… Fufu, look at this—this person is way too dumb!"
Arden laughed heartily at the video.
"Where, where? Let me see too!"
Seeing him laugh so happily, Ju Fufu—sitting beside him—immediately grew interested. She leaned forward, bringing her eyes close to the phone screen.
Creak…
At that moment, the lounge door was pushed open. A girl wearing a Hollow Special Operations Section 6 uniform, with a pair of long fox ears standing upright on her head, a katana at her waist, and an expressionless face, walked in.
It was Hoshimi Miyabi, who had just finished her test.
"!?"
And then she saw the scene before her.
A half-naked grown man wearing nothing but boxer shorts, and opposite him a beast-eared loli. The man, ignoring the loli's "struggles," was "forcibly" pressing her head down toward his crotch.
"…."
Miyabi's expression darkened.
She had encountered situations like this before while enforcing the law.
"Pervert—prepare to die!"
To prevent the beast-eared loli from suffering further harm, Miyabi decisively drew her blade.
"!!"
Sensing killing intent and turning just in time to see a flash of steel, Arden hurriedly drew his sword to block.
"Vortex!"
Arden swung his sword in a circular arc, sword qi mixed with water flow spiraling together, forming what looked like a vortex in front of him.
Unlike the previous two forms, the third move of the Torrent Swordsmanship—Vortex—was both offensive and defensive, emphasizing cooperation and using softness to overcome hardness.
Pff~!
Even so, facing Miyabi's iai-slash, after a dull impact, Arden was still sent flying.
"Brother Arden!"
Fortunately, Ju Fufu was there. She caught Arden in time—otherwise, just like when he helped flush the toilet for Yixuan, he would've smashed human-shaped holes into the wall again.
"Huh!?" x2
Voices of confusion rang out almost simultaneously from Miyabi and Arden.
Arden couldn't understand why Miyabi had suddenly attacked him, and judging from her calling him a "pervert," she clearly had misunderstood something.
As for Miyabi, she was puzzled that her strike had actually been deflected.
Although that iai-slash wasn't at full power, it wasn't something an ordinary person could block. The fact that he came out of it unharmed greatly exceeded her expectations.
"Wait, listen to my expla—"
Arden tried to explain.
"Words are useless!"
Miyabi had no intention of listening. One of the criminals she hated most were perverts, not to mention her current cultivation.
"Section Chief, Daoist Arden… what's going on here?"
Thankfully, Yanagi arrived in time, stopping the misunderstanding from escalating.
"Miss Yanagi, you're finally back."
Arden took a quick step over, took the freshly washed and dried Daoist robe from her hands, and put it on.
"Yanagi, you…?"
Hoshimi Miyabi still hadn't fully processed the situation.
"Section Chief, this is Daoist Arden from Yunkui Summit. I believe… there's been some kind of misunderstanding between you."
Yanagi looked at Miyabi with a slightly odd expression. The Section Chief wasn't usually impulsive—but then again, considering her normally airheaded demeanor, maybe anything was possible?
"So, it's a Daoist from Yunkui Summit—my apologies."
Miyabi finally realized her mistake. When she apologized, her expression still didn't change, only her fox ears twitching slightly. "I am currently undergoing a cultivation that requires all perverts to be castrated, so I acted a bit impulsively."
"….."
Hearing Miyabi's explanation, Arden felt a chill clench his backside.
He was extremely glad that his reaction had been fast enough to block that draw-slash—otherwise… the rest of his life might've been spent as a eunuch.
"Pfft pfft pfft~~~!"
Ju Fufu couldn't hold back her laughter.
"What are you laughing at?"
Arden shot Ju Fufu an annoyed look. "If I had… ahem! Wouldn't you have to live as a widow?"
"Widow?"
Hearing that, Miyabi narrowed her eyes, her hand once again resting on the sword hilt. "Laying hands on such a small girl—sure enough, you should be—"
"Section Chief!"
Yanagi quickly pressed down the hand Miyabi was using to draw her sword. "Don't be fooled by how small Daoist Fufu looks. In reality, she is Yunkui Summit's Senior Sister."
"What!? Senior Sister?"
Miyabi found this hard to accept. "She's clearly such a tiny Tabby Cat Thiren!"
"I'm not a tabby cat!"
Miyabi had hit Ju Fufu's taboo. Despite her surname being 'Ju,' she had nothing to do with tabby cats. "I'm a Tiger Thiren! A very fierce Tiger Thiren!!"
Ju Fufu shouted in rebuttal.
"Yes, yes—my tiger is the fiercest."
As he spoke, Arden picked Ju Fufu up to show her off.
"Rawr~~!"
Ju Fufu even raised her tiger claws, striking a threatening pose.
So kawaii! I want to keep her! x2
However, Ju Fufu's display seemed to have the opposite effect—both Tsukishiro Yanagi and Hoshimi Miyabi wore expressions that looked suspiciously like lechers.