Chapter 29 : Jujutsu High's Gojo and Geto
Jiang Lai's equipment remained basically unchanged, except for the addition of the side bag he had purchased at the last fireworks festival.
Although he didn't know how much time had passed, the side bag on him still looked as good as new, clean and attractive.
He looked around. This seemed to be the interior of a tall, abandoned building. Gray wall paint had peeled off, leaving patches of mottled traces. The ground was covered with a thin layer of dust, and pale golden sunlight streamed through the empty windows, stopping at his toes.
Jiang Lai: "......"
What kind of opening was this again, what place was this?
He squinted, gathering his thoughts, faintly sensing cursed energy fluctuations in the air, the cursed threat was a bit far away, probably somewhere above.
There were cursed spirits in this building. Jiang Lai's thoughts flashed through his mind.
But he didn't move to find the cursed spirits. Instead, he stood calmly in place and took out his phone.
Jiang Lai: Why actively go looking for cursed spirits? Better to rest first and wait for the cursed spirits to come find me.jpg
The enemy doesn't move, I don't move. Jiang Lai felt it was better to check his phone here first, understand the specific situation, then step out of this uninhabited area.
However, he still cautiously set up several trigger-type cursed energy codes around the area, just in case.
There was no countdown pattern on his phone, probably because there was still some time before the transfer, so it wasn't displaying?
He scrolled up and down, confirming there was no countdown before opening the official website to check manga information.
The latest update of the [Yesterday's Past Days] chapter was the fireworks festival Jiang Lai had participated in last time. He clicked it open and quickly browsed through it. The basic content was about the same as what he and teenage Gojo Satoru had experienced.
Because it was a color manga with a fireworks festival background, these few chapters were particularly brilliant in color, beautiful and dreamlike.
The overall art style filter continued the warmth of this past chapter, with only one area of dark light and shadow, that was when teenage Gojo Satoru asked "Are you someone from the Regulatory Committee?"
In the manga, it coincided with the end of a round of fireworks. The relatively secluded road end was dimly lit, and the black-haired, brown-eyed unknown [existence] stood at the boundary between light and dark, with distant street lanterns illuminating half his profile.
Although it was still the same light smile as before, under this rendering, it mysteriously gained a few notes of unusual atmosphere.
At this moment, it was hard to say what kind of emotion this situation would bring to people.
Jiang Lai paused, didn't have any particular thoughts, just silently sighed: After getting lost in time and space, has the grim filter finally found its way back? Not easy! (not)
Looking at the manga alone, there wasn't much intelligence information to gain, since these were all things he had personally experienced once.
Therefore, Jiang Lai opened the brainstorming new series forum again, planning to see if any analysts had appeared.
【Oh oh oh! This [Yesterday's Past Days] chapter is indeed told in fragments! Woo woo woo, these recent chapters are all so beautiful, so beautiful I'm frantically screenshotting. Lai Lai and teenage Gojo are both so wonderful, gentle like the wind... It makes me doubt whether I opened the legendary Jujutsu Kaisen】
【Grass, this classification is too real, dying of laughter.
Seriously, it's been really heartwarming lately. Both the art style and content are very healing. For a moment I thought I was watching "Natsume's Book of Friends."
I suggest Comrade One-Eyed Cat absorb more healing anime essence. Past chapters could have "Gojo's Book of Friends," main story chapters could have "Itadori's Book of Friends." I love watching it. I've been slashed by the original work so much I only want to watch healing anime now (tears)】
【jjxx: Understood, I'll make everyone cry】
【Hahahaha, danger! Big danger! Seriously, I also have some unease. I always feel the previous warmth is all for the later slashing. Something must have happened, otherwise how would Lai in the main story have that kind of art style…】
【Damn, no slashing, woo woo woo, I really like their interactions! Why must there be angst…】
【Mm, honestly speaking, I think maybe Gojo Lai was originally the main story image? Has everyone noticed that in the manga, when teenage Gojo asked about the Regulatory Committee, the atmosphere around Lai was obviously wrong!!】
【......I also think God Lai should know about the Regulatory Committee. Those questions were asked on purpose, right?】
【I feel God Lai knows a lot. He also mentioned suture lines in his words, should know of Brain's (Kenjaku's) existence. Just not clear how much He actually knows, and what His attitude toward it is.】
【Also, when Gojo Satoru mentioned someone in his family whose appearance doesn't change due to techniques, God Lai's expression seemed thoughtful. I feel that person isn't simple either. Although they haven't clearly appeared yet, it should be foreshadowing.】
【Ah? No way?? There won't really be conspiracies or something, right?? If God Lai is pretending, deliberately making contact with little Gojo, I'll never believe in father-son relationships again woo woo woo!! QAQ】
【Hhhh what the hell is father-son relationship, upstairs!!】
【Everyone relax, we should believe in heaven-sent father-son relationships (manual dog head). Maybe to cooperate with Gojo, God Lai acts a bit grim to conveniently infiltrate the villain's interior hahaha!】
【Don't worry everyone, in Jujutsu Kaisen, don't the righteous protagonists always look more villainous than actual villains? God Lai's grimness in the main story further proves his righteous identity! (manual funny)】
【Family, someone drew a fan video of the Yesterday's Past Days chapter! Quick rush! Absolutely beautiful!】
Jiang Lai roughly browsed through the forum content. Most of the plot discussions were about the same as his speculation at the time.
Regarding the Regulatory Committee analysis, everyone was also intently analyzing the conditions for the Big Three families' elder councils to participate.
Additionally, obviously, they had also noticed the elder council member Gojo Satoru mentioned who was younger than the others, but due to lack of more information, they couldn't analyze specifically.
Speaking of which, the title God Lai... After the pronoun changed to [He], the nickname also became God Lai?
Jiang Lai was silent for two seconds, feeling that besides writing Detective Conan autobiographical novels, he could also write a human evolution history, or an immortality manual, which would surely sell very well.
Right, after returning to the Detective Conan world or the 3D world, he'd start another story about this Jujutsu Kaisen world! It would surely be very exciting too.
His thoughts flowed casually as he opened the group chat.
In the group files, various intelligence analyses were clearly stored by category, convenient for Jiang Lai to search through.
Jiang Lai curved his eyebrows with a smile, sharing in the group the beautiful fireworks and lively festival photos he had taken, plus several close-up speechless expressions of teenage Gojo Satoru.
[#Big Cat's Whiskers#: Summer fireworks festival? There's a sense of seasonal time travel, it's still winter on our side (^^)]
[#Sunglasses Working Overtime Again#: I heard that in a few days, the street next to Mihua Park will also organize a winter fireworks festival. I'll send you some photos then to appreciate together.]
[#Good Luck Lai Coming#: That sounds great, I'll look forward to it then (curly dog grooming.gif)]
[#Akina Mountain Car God#: Ya, is the little teenager in these later photos Gojo Satoru? He's actually quite cute www]
[#Good Luck Lai Coming#: Right! Like a pretty blue-eyed kitty! Such genuine speechless expressions will be rarely seen in the future, so I quickly took photos]
[#Akira Doing Serious Research#: These photos are good reference, I'll draw several expression packs of him based on them. Then add a few expression packs of you to increase tag activity]
[#Good Luck Lai Coming#: ......Expression packs?]
[#Akira Doing Serious Research#: Don't worry, Brother Jiang Lai, I've been researching for a long time. I'll definitely make expression packs with super wide circulation. I'll definitely draw the essence that makes people share and forward]
Jiang Lai leaned back tactically: What kind of essence! The kind of demon creation essence that makes people share and forward?
But dampening his enthusiasm didn't seem good, after all Kurosawa Akira had already been researching for so long... and expression packs did seem to help with popularity spread.
Jiang Lai paused, replying in the group:
[#Good Luck Lai Coming#: Alright, then I'll look forward to it. Do you need photo references of me?]
[#Akira Doing Serious Research#: No need, I'm familiar.]
Seeing this response, Jiang Lai instinctively recalled whether he had any weird facial expressions in daily life, then realized Xiao Zhao should be familiar with his face, and they had photo archives there.
As he was about to reply with an emoji, his sharp nerves detected something approaching at high speed, while those few codes were also triggered, feeding back information alerts like alarm bells to Jiang Lai!
A black figure suddenly leaped through the empty window of the abandoned building. A teenager with a topknot and strange bangs quickly and agilely jumped in, cursed spirits floating beside him, his forehead wrapped with several layers of bandages.
It was Geto Suguru! Jiang Lai immediately recognized him, then his eyes focused. But these bandages were...?
Seeing Jiang Lai inside holding a phone, the other was obviously also stunned, then quickly shouted outside: "Hey wait, Satoru, there's someone inside!"
Before his words finished, a huge "boom" came from overhead, the entire building began shaking violently, rubble and debris falling from above.
Before Jiang Lai could activate his own technique barrier, a dragon-shaped cursed spirit had already risen to block above, stopping the collapsed building debris from falling, it was a cursed spirit summoned by topknot Geto Suguru.
As dust filled the air, an arrogant, swaggering voice came from overhead: "What did you just say, Suguru? I already destroyed that cursed spirit with one attack."
"There's someone here!" Geto Suguru recalled the cursed spirit blocking his view, looking upward, "I just said to wait for me to finish checking the building interior before attacking."
"I already checked with Six Eyes, there's no one inside," the voice came from high up.
Floating overhead was a white-haired person in pure black jujutsu high uniform, posture quite graceful. He lightly descended from above, eyebrows raised, casually removing his sunglasses with a grand gesture, revealing the brilliant bright sky-blue pupils behind.
Gojo Satoru glanced at Jiang Lai in front of him, then held his sunglasses with one hand, patted his friend's shoulder with the other, drawing out his tone:
"Where's the person, Suguru? What's in front of us is a monster, a monster, an evil old demon that specializes in deceiving children."
"Hey, Satoru, don't talk like that." Geto Suguru showed a half-helpless smile, then turned to Jiang Lai in front, "Sorry, and don't be afraid, the current situation..."
Jiang Lai showed a smile: "It's fine, I understand, exorcising cursed spirits." Then he turned to Gojo Satoru, "You were quite cute when you were little."
"Hah?" Gojo Satoru snorted, "Last time I asked you questions, you didn't answer. At the end you didn't even say goodbye, ate, drank, played and then left."
"Saving the world is too busy, you have to understand." Jiang Lai blinked, "Actually my attitude was very serious, look, I'm still carrying this side bag you gave me."
Geto Suguru heard these few exchanges and reacted, recalling: "Oh... I remember now, is this the [friend you get along well with] that Satoru mentioned in casual conversation before?"
"When did I say that!" Gojo Satoru immediately widened his beautiful blue eyes, "I never said that phrase, right?"
"But it sounds like a good friend relationship." Geto Suguru smiled with fox-like features, then said to Jiang Lai, "Satoru's personality is proud, his mouth is stubborn, but he actually considers you a friend. He told us about previous stories."
"Hey, Suguru!"
"Then I'm truly moved." Jiang Lai curved his eyebrows with a smile.
"But Satoru never told us your name," the topknot teenager said politely, "Nice to meet you, I'm Geto Suguru, please take care of me."
"Nice to meet you." Jiang Lai said, "No need for honorifics, call me Lai, or Gojo Lai, either is fine."
"Or?" Geto Suguru was stunned for a moment.
"That is to say, it's not a real name." Gojo Satoru said lazily, "When we met at the shrine, I initially thought he was from the Gojo family, so I added the Gojo surname. But later when he asked my age, I knew he wasn't."
"Probably used as the monster's alias in the human world." Gojo Satoru hummed, "Convenient for blending into crowds." He played with his sunglasses in his hand, then put them back on.
"Satoru, stop saying that, you should respect elders." Geto Suguru reminded.
"Ah, Suguru, I can't hear what you're saying clearly!" Gojo Satoru put his hands in his pockets, tilted his head back to look at the sky. When he noticed a rectangular object approaching, he suddenly jumped to the side to avoid it, "What are you doing? I already said my head is very precious!!"
"When did I say I was going to bonk your head?" Jiang Lai smiled, controlling his phone (ancient book) with his fingertips to leisurely circle in the air before returning to his hand, "I was just taking my book for a walk."
"......Books need walking?"
"Of course, it has spirituality." Jiang Lai nodded in reply, "In a certain sense, it has more spirituality than me." Although it sounded like nonsense, it was actually the truth.
Gojo Satoru: "..."
Geto Suguru was a bit surprised: "Satoru, you still dodged? Aren't you keeping Limitless active?"
"That ridiculous thing can break through Limitless," Gojo Satoru strode back on his long legs, swaying, "Probably some special cursed tool."
Geto Suguru stared at Gojo Satoru for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled with squinted eyes: "So you've been bonked on the head before? So the genius Six Eyes also gets his head bonked. I have to share this with Shoko when we get back."
"Hey, Suguru!" Gojo Satoru drew out his voice, playfully throwing a punch, "Let's fight!"
Jiang Lai smiled as he watched the two's completely non-serious scuffling from the side. After a few seconds, he suddenly spoke: "By the way, when you came to exorcise cursed spirits, did you set up a [veil]?"
Geto Suguru & Gojo Satoru (with bean eyes): "......Eh? Seems like, we forgot."
Jiang Lai paused for a second: "Looks like today's news will have another gas pipe explosion incident."
"Although, but gas pipe explosions can't really explain upper building damage." Geto Suguru sighed, "Upper building damage is a bit hard to explain, we can only trouble the auxiliary supervisors and logistics to hurry over before civilians gather around."
"No problem, no problem, I'll handle it. You two just go outside." Gojo Satoru waved his hand, indicating for Geto Suguru and Jiang Lai to go outside.
"What are you going to do, Satoru?" Geto Suguru frowned slightly.
"Don't worry, I have plenty of experience!" Gojo Satoru lifted his chin, bright sunlight streaming down from the sky, illuminating the unrestrained smile on his face, "Just leave it to me." He said confidently.
Afterward.
Under the gaze of Geto Suguru and Jiang Lai, another "boom" of violent explosion, the remaining lower half of the abandoned building not far away collapsed with a rumble!
Gojo Satoru came out happily: "Alright, I blew up the remaining half too!"
Geto Suguru: "......"
Jiang Lai (smiling): "Looks like we need to think of an explosion bigger than gas pipes to explain such ruins."
Hearing this, the white-haired teenager in front raised his eyebrows high, then threw another [Blue] backward, another earth-shaking tremor, a big crater appeared in the ground, the abandoned building that once stood here completely disappeared, only debris remained on the ground.
"Done, no more ruins, clean." He patted his hands quite satisfied, "How's that?"
Geto Suguru: "......"
Jiang Lai (smiling): "Not bad, we can consider the more reasonable explanation of a meteor strike."
"Great, let's head back!" Gojo Satoru wiggled his finger, voice cheerful.
He turned his head to look at Jiang Lai, his sunglasses sliding down his nose bridge, revealing the dazzling blue eyes behind, "Are you going to say goodbye before disappearing this time... or come back to the high school with us?"
Jiang Lai glanced at his phone (book), there was no countdown on it, probably wouldn't be time-space teleporting anytime soon. Finding a place to stay would be best at this time.
He blinked and smiled: "May I come?"
"What's the problem? The high school has so many empty dormitories." Gojo Satoru casually spread his hands, "Just clean one out for you to stay in. Or do you actually not need it? After all, you're an [existence]."
"I mean, can outsiders enter?" Jiang Lai said.
"Guests can enter." Geto Suguru said gently, "Just need to register and record, then pass through the barrier."
"Maybe he doesn't need registration to pass the barrier." Gojo Satoru pondered, "[Existence] is neither human nor cursed spirit, should be like air, sunlight, wind, not among those to be intercepted, right?"
Jiang Lai's heart paused, feeling Gojo Satoru's explanation was very reasonable.
Jiang Lai: Very good, taking it to supplement settings!.jpg
So he smiled appropriately as a kind of affirmation.
"......" Geto Suguru was stunned for a second, "That miraculous?"
"Actually you can think of me as a deity." Jiang Lai blinked, saying to the topknot teenager beside him, "Wouldn't that be easier to understand?"
"It's a thousand-year-old demon!" Gojo Satoru chimed in from the side.
"However, going to your school, I should naturally register and notify in advance." Jiang Lai said, "On one hand it's politeness, on the other it's for peace of mind, mainly to put your teachers at ease."
"Mm, I'll tell Principal Yaga." Geto Suguru took out his phone, sending a message to register with the teacher. He also sent a message to the auxiliary supervisors, informing them of the current state of this building.
When he lowered his head, hair on one side naturally slid down, the black strands forming a sharp contrast with the white bandages.
Jiang Lai's attention returned to the bandages the other was wearing. He still remembered the "Geto Suguru" who came looking for the liquid fox cursed spirit in the main timeline alley.
At that time, the other hadn't conversed with him, face also wearing a smile that revealed no information. Only the white bandages wrapped around his forehead made Jiang Lai's emotions fluctuate.
Jiang Lai had read the original work's official book. He knew that due to binding constraints, Brain couldn't heal the suture line scar on top of his head.
But whether it could be covered, One-Eyed Cat didn't mention. Brain in the original work never covered that suture line, probably because the mark on the forehead couldn't be completely hidden by hair, and constantly wrapping it with bandages or similar would also arouse suspicion, essentially useless.
(Of course, another possibility should be One-Eyed Cat wanting readers to recognize easily).
In any case, encountering "Geto Suguru" at that time immediately raised clouds of doubt about authenticity in Jiang Lai's mind.
But at this moment, after brief interaction, Jiang Lai believed the person in front should not be Brain, but the real Geto Suguru from the high school period.
The bandages weren't wrapped later. In the new series, high school period Geto Suguru already used them to cover his forehead, but why? What was under the bandages?
Seeming to sense Jiang Lai's gaze, Geto Suguru, who had finished sending messages, looked up, his gaze turning over, asking gently: "What's wrong?"
"Mm......" Jiang Lai paused, momentarily unsure how to ask.
Gojo Satoru beside them strode over in a few steps, grinning and joking: "What's up, Mister Monster? Why keep staring at Suguru? Although Suguru does have some good looks, of course I'm more handsome, at least my eyes are much bigger!"
Geto Suguru: "......Satoru."
Being interrupted by Gojo Satoru, Jiang Lai's forehead showed black lines for a moment before returning to calm, replying with a smile: "Looks have their own merits and can't be compared, but Suguru-kun's personality is indeed better."
"Hey hey, what's that supposed to mean!"
"Thank you." Geto Suguru smiled, then pointed to his forehead, "Mm... were you wanting to ask about this?"