Chapter 141: The Final Ritual

Xu Nuo nodded expressionlessly, her gaze rapidly sweeping across the room.

Besides Gekka-ki, there was no one else.

Her line of sight landed on that tightly closed inner room door.

Is Little Sumire inside?

Behind that door, besides Little Sumire, were there ambush troops of the Crescent Group hidden as well?

"Teacher, help me look inside."

She urged anxiously in her consciousness.

"Okay."

Xu Yunzhou's illusory figure responded, floating directly toward the wall of the inner room.

As an observer outside the screen, he was equivalent to turning on a full-map wallhack, it was just that his movement range couldn't exceed twenty meters from the "anchor point" of Xu Nuo.

Xu Nuo slowly sat down on the cushion opposite Gekka-ki, her spine straight, yet her whole body's muscles were in a subtle state of tension, ready to erupt at any moment.

Gekka-ki seemed not to see the vigilance in her eyes, smilingly picking up a new sake cup, filling it with clear liquor for her, and pushing it in front of her:

"Congratulations to our Little Nuo on ascending to the Kisei throne. Come, this cup of wine is Sister's blessing."

Xu Nuo looked at that cup of wine without moving:

"Thank you."

She didn't dare to drink, nor did she want to drink at all.

Gekka-ki took in all her small movements. Far from being annoyed, she instead smiled even more charmingly:

"Little Nuo truly is getting more and more cautious. But this is good too; in this world, an extra bit of caution means an extra way to live."

Changing the subject, her tone remained soft, yet took on a few points of deep meaning,

"Truth be told, recently in the association, some sisters have... quite a few complaints about you, Little Nuo."

Xu Nuo's pupils contracted slightly:

"Why?"

Gekka-ki played with the sake cup in her hand, saying unhurriedly:

"They feel that Little Nuo is now successful and famous nationwide, and is afraid... no longer willing, nor able, to return to the shadows and be a blade that obeys orders and acts."

She raised her eyes, her gaze looking directly at Xu Nuo,

"Is that why, during the assassination of Takemiya Susumu, you let that little girl go... wanting to leave a way out for yourself, preserve a trace of goodwill, so you can pull yourself out in the future?"

Xu Nuo's heart chilled, yet a cold sneer appeared on her face, counterattacking with sarcasm:

"A way out? I even killed Takemiya Susumu, my hands stained with the blood of a high-ranking Nihon official, and this counts as leaving a way out for myself? Your suspicion is simply too ridiculous."

Right at this moment, Xu Yunzhou's illusory figure returned through the wall, rapidly informing her in her consciousness:

"Little Sumire is inside, lying on the tatami, looks fine, just asleep with steady breathing. But..."

His tone took on a trace of rare surprise and solemnity,

"There's another person inside. You will absolutely never guess who..."

Xu Nuo felt slightly relieved; Little Sumire was temporarily safe.

But hearing the second half, her heart hung in her throat again:

"Who? ...Could it be... Isumi Yoshitaka?"

It was Xu Yunzhou's turn to be shocked:

"...Holy shit! How did you guess?!"

Xu Nuo analyzed calmly:

"For Little Sumire to be brought away from a place with many eyes and ears so smoothly without making any noise, the most likely situation is—she knew and trusted the person who took her away."

"Secondly, he specifically brought Gekka-ki's words to me, drawing me here. This is the most direct connection."

"And Teacher, didn't you tell me last time that he wouldn't live past February... Now, February is almost over, and he's still healthy, so, hehe..."

Xu Yunzhou blanked for a moment, then suddenly realized!

Back when he saw the brief "sudden cardiac death" in Isumi Yoshitaka's materials, he thought it was a coincidence.

Looking at it now, that wasn't an accident at all! It was Xu Nuo's handiwork!

Gekka-ki didn't know about their rapid communication in consciousness. She still smiled like a flower, as if chatting about daily life:

"Actually, Sister is a hundred percent at ease with you, Little Nuo. The distinguished service Little Nuo has established for the organization over this past year or so is obvious to all. Especially that battle assassinating Take Miya Susumu, clean and neat, beautifully executed, even Lord Tsukuyomi commended you in person."

Changing the subject again, her tone became subtle:

"It's just... according to our Crescent Association's century-old rules passed down through generations, before core members officially debut and independently execute the most crucial missions, there is still one last... small ritual that needs to be completed.

Seeing earlier that Little Nuo was still young, Sister felt heartache for you, so I suppressed it and didn't mention it. But now..."

Gekka-ki's gaze slowly swept over Xu Nuo's young body, carrying an explicit meaning like evaluating an artwork:

"Now... our Little Nuo has grown up, mature, turning out this world-shattering beauty, making even Sister moved when looking at you. It's time... to make up this final, crucially important lesson."

The ominous premonition in Xu Nuo's heart grew thicker and thicker, her voice tightening:

"What ritual?"

Gekka-ki leaned forward, exhaling air like orchids, her red lips almost touching Xu Nuo's ear, using a voice carrying temptation and ruthlessness that only the two of them could hear clearly, slowly saying:

"Breaking lust, severing inner demons."

Xu Nuo's eyes widened abruptly!

"Little Nuo, you... are still a virgin to this day, right?"

Gekka-ki's voice was low, raspy, and full of innuendo,

"How can this be acceptable? A top-tier assassin, a perfect weapon, cannot have any weaknesses, especially... physical and emotional weaknesses."

"Lust is the sweetest and most lethal poison, the trap most likely to make people lose their minds and become fragile."

"If in the future during a mission, you accidentally get attracted by a target's charm, or get threatened and manipulated by someone using methods in this regard... the consequences would be unimaginable, even endangering the entire organization."

Xu Nuo clenched her fists tightly, her body trembling slightly due to extreme shock-anger, humiliation, and fear.

As if admiring an artwork about to be broken and reshaped by her own hands, Gekka-ki continued speaking with that tone so sweet it was cloying, yet cruel to the extreme:

"Therefore, this final purification ritual is to properly and thoroughly teach Little Nuo, letting you personally experience passion between man and woman, making this matter... become as ordinary as eating and drinking water, a tool that can be casually used or discarded, unable to stir up half a bit of extra ripple or bond in your heart ever again."

She leaned even closer, her red lips almost touching Xu Nuo's earlobe, murmuring like a devil's whisper:

"Only this way, peeling off this final layer of humanity's cocoon, can you metamorphose into a truly qualified, flawless blade with no weaknesses—the Blade of the Crescent."

"You guys... don't even dream of it!!"

Xu Nuo squeezed these words out from between her teeth, her voice distorted and changing pitch due to extreme anger and humiliation.

Almost instinctively, exerting force from her waist, she wanted to abruptly stand up and recklessly charge out of this nauseating place!

However, right at the instant she exerted force, a sudden, intense feeling of soreness and weakness swept through her limbs and bones!

Her legs went weak, and she actually fell right back onto the cushion, finding it extraordinarily strenuous to even raise her arm!

"What... did you do?!"

Mixed with shock and anger, she frantically recalled and analyzed in her chaotic brain.

She hadn't eaten anything, hadn't touched that cup of wine, and even after entering the room subconsciously held her breath for an instant, rapidly identifying the air with trained methods—no chemical smell of common knockout drugs or anesthetics!

"Don't waste your strength, Little Nuo. This is the "Qiluo Incense" personally blended by Lord Tsukuyomi, colorless and odorless, slowly taking effect through the skin..."

Gekka-ki unhurriedly stood up, walked in front of the limp and powerless Xu Nuo, squatted down, her cold fingertips gently brushing across Xu Nuo's cheek that was flushed due to anger and the drug's effect, exhaling air like orchids by her ear:

"Sister actually... quite envies you, Little Nuo. Do you know? The one presiding over the ritual for you tonight isn't just any Tom, Dick, or Harry..."

Gekka-ki's gaze cast toward that tightly closed inner room door, her tone becoming respectful and ambiguous:

"It is Lord Tsukuyomi, making a move in person oh."

Xu Nuo felt cold all over.

Tsukuyomi?

That was the highest level of the Crescent Group, legendarily like a divine dragon whose head could be seen but not its tail!

Gekka-ki continued whispering in her ear, her voice full of malicious inducement:

"Lord Tsukuyomi... will definitely teach Little Nuo very gently and patiently. After all, Little Nuo is our organization's most precious treasure in so many years..."

After saying that, Gekka-ki stood up, facing the direction of the inner room door, respectfully bowing, her voice soft and charming:

"Lord Tsukuyomi, Little Nuo is already properly prepared, awaiting your... favor."

Inside the inner room, there was a moment of silence.

Subsequently, a low, hoarse male voice, carrying a non-human weird magnetism, eerily transmitted out:

"Good."

"You, step down."

Gekka-ki bowed again. Without even taking a glance at Xu Nuo, who was limp on the floor with eyes full of anger and despair, she quietly exited the wooden cabin and gently closed the door.

"Click."

Under the warm yellow lighting, Xu Nuo sat limp helplessly, watching with her eyes wide open as that inner room door was slowly pushed open a crack...

It's him! It was actually him!