The Pendulum of Life is not at the Ise Grand Shrine?

Zhou Huai raised an eyebrow.

He was in no rush to express his opinion, only calmly looking at the emotionally agitated Egyptian prince before him.

"Tell me in detail."

"We've been tricked by that bastard Kujo Kazuya!"

He pointed angrily at Kujo Kazuya beside him, who wore a guilty expression.

"This fellow swore up and down to us that he found the specific location of the Pendulum of Life from the Clan's secret scrolls, right inside the Kaguraden of the inner sanctum of the Ise Grand Shrine."

Kalen's chest heaved violently, his lingering anger evidently not yet subsided.

"He said the Kaguraden is personally guarded by his uncle, who is the head of the Kujo Family, and its defenses are the strictest."

"We formulated a meticulous plan, with me handling the Restriction and Formation inside the shrine, and Polina responsible for controlling the shrine priests and Onmyoji along the way."

The more he talked, the angrier he got, almost spitting as he spoke.

"And what was the result? We went through great and arduous effort to sneak in, turning that so-called Kaguraden upside down. Inside, apart from a few tattered ritual vessels, we didn't even see a shadow of the Pendulum of Life!"

Zhou Huai listened quietly, his face still maintaining the gentle expression belonging to "Mr. Matsutake".

He ignored the furious Kalen and instead cast his gaze toward the pale-faced Polina on the sofa.

"There are upwards of a hundred shrines inside the Ise Grand Shrine."

"Perhaps the Pendulum of Life was placed in another shrine."

Zhou Huai's voice was unhurried, as if stating a simple fact.

"What makes you so certain that the Pendulum of Life isn't in the Ise Grand Shrine?"

Zhou Huai paused and continued:

"Besides, are the Restriction and Formation inside the Ise Grand Shrine something you can handle?"

"According to my intelligence, Prince Kalen, you don't have this kind of ability."

In Zhou Huai's impression, this Prince Kalen seemed to have no redeeming qualities other than having thick skin.

He wasn't even a Formation Master, so how could he possibly handle the Formations inside the Ise Grand Shrine?

Zhou Huai's words precisely pierced Kalen's already inflated self-esteem.

He suddenly turned his head, his bronze face instantly turning flushed red, his eyes widening like bronze bells.

"Your intelligence is long outdated!"

"Right now, I don't care at all about those lousy Formations in the Ise Grand Shrine!"

Kalen straightened his chest, lifting his chin high, striking an arrogant posture.

"As for the issue of the Pendulum of Life."

"Anyway, I just know it's not at the Ise Grand Shrine. Whether you believe it or not is your business!"

Zhou Huai gave a deep look at this arrogant Egyptian prince.

He didn't speak again.

If it weren't for seeing this fellow being rubbed against the ground by Thor with his own eyes back in the Kaslandis Ruins,

Zhou Huai would have really thought he had some great capability.

Just as the atmosphere fell into a deadlock, Kujo Kazuya on the side suddenly spoke.

His voice was hoarse, filled with guilt and self-blame.

"Regarding the Pendulum of Life... I can also prove that it is indeed not within the Ise Grand Shrine."

"I also caused Young Miss Polina to be severely injured because of this, and all of this... is my fault."

Hearing this, Kalen's anger was reignited.

He indignantly kicked over the chair beside him with one foot.

"We clearly didn't steal anything, yet you Kujo Family members went around proclaiming everywhere that we stole the shrine's treasures!"

"You used this as an excuse to launch an attack against the Omiya Family while the momentum was in your favor. What a calculating scheme!"

Kalen's eyes were filled with disdain and disgust as he pointed at Kujo Kazuya's nose and cursed loudly.

"Not a single thing in the Kujo Family is any good!"

"You're just a bunch of venomous snakes hiding in the dark, good at plotting!"

Zhou Huai subconsciously glanced at Kujo Kazuya beside him.

Thinking to himself that this kid was at least a direct descendant of the Kujo Family.

Cursing like this right in front of him, isn't that a bit inappropriate?

However, to his surprise,

faced with Kalen's merciless insults, Kujo Kazuya actually showed an expression of agreement and nodded heavily along.

Zhou Huai: "..."

Zhou Huai was somewhat speechless.

Thinking to himself, is Polina's control over this guy a bit too successful?

Or is the person in front of him simply an ultimate brainless lover?

Willing to betray his Clan for his love?

However, Zhou Huai didn't ponder these issues too much.

His mind was currently entirely on the Pendulum of Life.

If it was as Kalen said,

the Pendulum of Life was not inside the Ise Grand Shrine.

Then where on earth was it now?

Was it still inside Tokyo City?

Had the Kujo Family already launched unknown actions centered around the Pendulum of Life?

At present, all answers were unknown.

Zhou Huai could only let Caesar's Intellect Core AI dispatch more Information Bugs to search for the answers.

Mr. Matsutake, whom he was roleplaying, looked at the few people present.

"I already know everything I wanted to know."

"Next, please forgive me for taking my leave first."

Before leaving, he glanced at the weak Polina on the sofa.

"I will think of a way regarding Young Miss Polina's curse as soon as possible."

Polina raised her head, her emerald eyes staring at the man in front of her bearing Matsutake's face.

"I hope you keep your word."

"If it drags on too long, I really won't accompany you anymore."

As Mr. Matsutake left the villa,

Kalen walked to the window, watching the back of the black sedan slowly driving away with a gloomy expression.

"Are we really going to cooperate with this person from Great Xia Nation?"

"In my opinion, he is completely untrustworthy."

On the sofa, Polina gently sighed.

She aggravated her wound, her brows furrowing imperceptibly.

"At present, we can only take it one step at a time."

"For some reason, this fellow gives me a very dangerous feeling."

"The level of danger is even above that Forbidden Spell Mage from Great Xia Nation."

"What?"

Kalen let out an exclamation, his face full of disbelief.

"How is that possible?!"

He strode over to Polina, leaned down, and raised his voice a few decibels.

"Polina, did you get injured too heavily, causing your perception to malfunction?"

"That's Gandalf! An SS-rank Forbidden Spell Mage!"

In Kalen's mind, Gandalf's God-level performance back in the Kaslandis Ruins instantly surfaced.

With his own strength, he fought against several peers of the same level.

Even Thor had both legs crippled by him.

That stunning and brilliant performance still shocked him to this day.

"Doesn't Great Xia Nation only have two SS-ranks, Zhao Qingcang and Gandalf?"

Kalen's brows locked tightly.

"Could it be that he is the third SS-rank hidden by Great Xia Nation?"

Polina slowly shook her head.

"Unclear."

Her voice carried a trace of exhaustion.

"But the feeling he gives me is completely different from Gandalf."

Gandalf's danger was exposed externally.

He was powerful, like a drawn sword with its sharp edge fully exposed, making people dare not look directly at him.

But the man just now was like an unfathomable ancient well.

You never knew what kind of undercurrents and monsters were hidden beneath that calm water surface.

"The other party seems to know us very well."

Polina's gaze swept past Kujo Kazuya.

"Our hiding place here is an absolute secret."

"Yet he was able to find his way here so easily, and even perfectly disguised himself as a member of the Kujo Family."

"Just based on this intelligence capability and infiltration method, he is definitely not simple."

She leaned back against the sofa, adjusting to a more comfortable posture.

The intermittent stabbing pain from her wound made it impossible for her to concentrate.

"Right now, we are trapped in Tokyo City, unable to move an inch."

"The Kujo Family cannot be relied upon, and the Omiya Family is even more our enemy."

"Cooperating with him is also not a bad choice."

Kalen was still somewhat unwilling.

"But he..."

Polina interrupted him.

"At least, our goal is consistent."

"Before finding the Pendulum of Life, he will not pose a threat to us."

Meanwhile,

Zhou Huai sat in the back seat.

He patted Hayata on the shoulder.

The force was not heavy, but it made Hayata's body tremble violently.

"You didn't leave without permission while I entered the villa."

"It's a wise choice."

"Next, as long as you can safely send me out,"

"your life will also be safe."

Hayata's Adam's apple rolled up and down, and cold sweat had already soaked his back.

"You... everything you asked me to do, I've done it."

"I hope you can keep your promise."

Zhou Huai nodded, saying no more.

Hayata hurriedly restarted the car and returned along the original route.

Arriving once again in front of that heavily guarded black forged iron grand gate.

This time, the guards at the entrance did not offer the slightest obstruction.

The leading Patrol Team captain even squeezed out a flattering smile, very tactfully pressing the door-opening button himself.

The vehicle smoothly drove out of the estate.

However, not long after driving out the door,

"Beep—Beep—!"

a series of rapid and piercing horn sounds came from behind.

Zhou Huai frowned slightly.

He looked through the rearview mirror and saw an extremely luxurious black sedan pursuing closely from behind.

That car logo, Zhou Huai didn't recognize.

But just looking at the smooth body lines and heavy texture, he knew it was expensive.

The other party was obviously coming for him.

Could his disguise have been seen through at this critical juncture?

It shouldn't be.

If it was really seen through, it shouldn't just be honking the horn so simply.

They probably would have attacked long ago.

Hayata evidently also saw the car behind; he showed obvious panic.

His body began to tremble involuntarily again.

Zhou Huai controlled Caesar to ask calmly.

"Whose car is that?"

Hayata said stammeringly:

"It's... it's Madam Kaori's car!"