Chapter 85 : Departing for the Gojo Family of a Thousand Years Ago
The comforting words and eating remarks overlapped. After the eerie silence continued for a while, Jiang Lai paused and pointed to the distance: "Do you see over there?"
"What?" Ryomen Sukuna raised an eyebrow slightly, his crimson eyes glancing over carelessly.
The night wind blew, bringing a jumbled mix of odors.
Under moonlight and gunpowder smoke, the tragic scene after the jujutsu battle left only incomplete building debris, chaotically overturned earth, and charred wood nearly burnt to coal.
Jiang Lai said flatly: "If you want to eat, go over there and gnaw on tree bark."
Ryomen Sukuna: "......"
The black-haired child who heard this exchange first froze, then his lip corners moved slightly, unable to help but curve into a very shallow arc.
The next second, a sudden whooshing sound rang out!
The aimed killing intent cursed blade was blocked by a transparent barrier just before reaching the child's side, hitting it and fragmenting apart.
"!" The black-haired child who noticed the whooshing sound straightened his back, instinctively widening his eyes to stare at the four-armed youth after being threatened, his posture like an alarmed puppy with raised hackles.
Ryomen Sukuna looked down at the child, his face showing contemptuous malice, the strange and mysterious black patterns on his upper body moving with his breathing.
"Enough, stop bullying the child." Jiang Lai waved his hand, removing the barrier that had blocked Ryomen Sukuna's attack, and said to him, "Go see if there are any normal ingredients around here."
"Are you ordering me?" Ryomen Sukuna's tone was unfriendly.
Jiang Lai half-moon eyes: "So do you want to eat or not? Didn't you want me to cook?"
The cherry pink-haired youth's crimson eyes stared at Jiang Lai. After half a second, he suddenly squeezed out an inexplicable light laugh from his throat, his words taking an abrupt turn:
"......Speaking of which, your current state looks mediocre. Are you going to enter hibernation again?"
Beast-like intuition allowed Ryomen Sukuna to keenly observe subtle changes in Jiang Lai. He sensed some imperceptible weariness hidden beneath the other's calm expression and demeanor.
"Reviving this child could drain you this much. From this perspective, Ten Shadows is quite something."
Ryomen Sukuna rested one hand under his chin, his villain tone drawling with somewhat ambiguous rising inflection.
"Work a little harder, put more effort into exercising your excessive kindness. Maybe next time, my cursed blade will be able to slice right through you. Looks like I need to find a cook quickly."
Jiang Lai frowned slightly, then relaxed his expression: "Excessive kindness? But I don't save indiscriminately. I have my own principles when it comes to saving people." His demeanor was calm. "As for future matters, no one can say for certain. You'd better not fantasize too much."
"Having powerful strength yet allowing yourself to be worn down, how foolish, how foolish! There's nothing in this world more important than oneself." Ryomen Sukuna laughed heartily, enunciating each word of the latter half: "You will definitely fall from your divine pedestal."
He had long seen that the black-haired youth before him was no ordinary person. His words were like a curse and a prophecy, carried by the cool night wind to his ears.
But the person in navy kimono before him smiled upon hearing this: "Even if that's the case, so what?" Jiang Lai's eyes held an extremely carefree and detached ease. "I've never been attached to it."
In fact, Jiang Lai truly didn't care. His position wasn't here.
He was willing to step into his own mortal world bit by bit. After all, he was originally an ordinary person walking hand in hand with friends, not some lofty divine [Existence].
Moreover, he was going home eventually, not staying here forever.
Only after uncovering the final secret, dealing with the villains, and bringing the jujutsu manga to completion could Jiang Lai break through the dimensional wall to return home.
Furthermore, Jiang Lai knew he had traveled back through time to a thousand years ago. He already knew his future state. The weakening of divine status was inevitable, an already determined fact that couldn't be changed.
Therefore, this past period was merely a time for gathering intelligence and preparing for the future. There was no need to worry about [Existence] power issues.
Under the vast starry sky, the black-haired youth tilted his head back slightly. When he spoke the words "never been attached," his expression held no trace of falsehood, openly and honestly revealed.
"......" Ryomen Sukuna half-narrowed his eyes, meeting those frank and calm brown eyes.
After the air remained quiet for a while, Ryomen Sukuna made an ambiguous low hum from his nose and turned to leave first.
He lifted his feet in large strides, going deep into the remaining parts of the village to search for 'normal' usable ingredients among the wreckage.
The black-haired child was stunned for a moment. After Ryomen Sukuna left, he seemed to finally come to his senses. He pressed his lips straight, then said: "Thank you."
He had heard the earlier exchange between the two. Though he didn't fully understand the content, he could tell that the black-haired youth with mist on his face had saved him.
Jiang Lai withdrew his gaze from Ryomen Sukuna and said gently: "Mm, you're welcome. What's your name?"
The black-haired child paused and answered: "I don't have a name."
No name? Jiang Lai was somewhat surprised. Logically, at six or seven years old, he should have a name.
"What do your parents usually call you?"
"My mother died early. My father didn't really care about me normally, then later went somewhere and never appeared again." The black-haired child said, "Before, it was just casual things like 'hey' or 'little brat.'"
Jiang Lai: ......So casual!!
But for the commoner era of Heian-kyo a thousand years ago, it was understandable.
Commoners of this era weren't valued, couldn't live long in times when demons ran rampant, and their living scope was basically just the size of a village. Therefore, names were sometimes very casual, sufficient as long as people around knew who was being referred to.
"Alright." Jiang Lai said, "What would you like to be called then? You should have some form of address."
The black-haired child looked hesitant, as this seemed to challenge his vocabulary.
Jiang Lai: "Hmm......how about calling you Little Dog?"
Black-haired child: "???"
Jiang Lai: "Just kidding. I remembered you have Divine Dogs, so it wouldn't be convenient to distinguish."
No, even without Ten Shadows Technique's Divine Dogs, it still shouldn't be a name like Little Dog! The child couldn't help but quietly complain internally.
After pondering, Jiang Lai spoke again: "Then, how about Little Black?"
This also sounds like some dog's name! The child raised his blue-green eyes, silently staring over.
"Just kidding." Jiang Lai coughed again, his mind quickly cycling through names. After thinking, he finally tapped his book against his palm. "I know, I'll call you Spiky Ball!"
Black-haired child: "???"
The child finally seemed unable to bear it and spoke: "......Shuuki."
"Hm?" Jiang Lai tilted his head.
"The mountain behind our village is called Mount Shuuki," the black-haired child said. "Then I'll be called Shuuki."
"Oh, that works too." Jiang Lai nodded.
Actually, those random naming attempts earlier were intentional, meant to test whether the child truly had no name or didn't want to tell him.
Currently, the other using the mountain's name as his own made it hard to tell if it was a temporary cover or a genuinely chosen name.
But forget it, no need to dig deeper here.
Thinking this, Jiang Lai raised his hand to ruffle the other's hair: "Then from now on, I'll call you Shuuki."
"Okay." The black-haired child Shuuki nodded.
"Do you want to return to your original village, or somewhere else?" After settling the name, Jiang Lai asked him.
"......My original village is probably gone." Shuuki said quietly, pressing his lips straight like a dejected puppy. "That person at the time probably made all the village people......"
Jiang Lai understood. The jujutsu sorcerer who used parasites had apparently controlled the village people as his puppets.
......Speaking of which, these actions were hardly different from Ryomen Sukuna's village massacres, right?
It's just that these people probably acted covertly, while Ryomen Sukuna never bothered to hide himself, so only Sukuna's infamy spread far and wide.
Given this, what should he do with the child before him? Jiang Lai pondered internally.
Keeping him by his side wasn't quite appropriate, since the other needed to integrate into society, logically requiring interaction with worldly people and mastering Ten Shadows Technique under good education.
Moreover, he himself might fall into long sleeps from time to time, unable to care for the other.
And Ryomen Sukuna beside him certainly couldn't help raise a child, might even really eat the black-haired child as food......
So send him to the Zenin family? This thought emerged but was soon dismissed by Jiang Lai himself.
Currently, it didn't seem quite suitable either.
Though Shuuki inherited Ten Shadows Technique, such a lonely, nameless child returning on his own would find his inherited ability becoming a target instead.
Many factions within the Zenin family might act against this child who broke the balance.
Thinking it over, only one final option remained in his mind: dump the child on a friend to raise.
In the Heian-kyo of a thousand years ago, someone in the world who could teach jujutsu, had considerable ability, fearless personality. These elements accumulated, that name seemed ready to emerge: it's decided, Gojo Satoru!
Jiang Lai silently decided in his heart.
Of course, dumping him on the other didn't mean staying at the Gojo main family to be raised. After all, Ten Shadows Technique involved the neighboring Zenin family, making such an arrangement inconvenient.
However, with the thousand-year-ago Gojo Satoru's ability and wealth, finding a place outside the family compound to settle the child wouldn't be difficult.
Thinking this, Jiang Lai patted Shuuki and said: "I'll take you to meet a friend later, someone who seems unreliable but is actually reliable at crucial moments."
The black-haired child, hearing that long string of descriptors, fell into eerie silence. But after half a second, he still raised his head and nodded in reply: "Okay."
Having settled this, Jiang Lai planned to immediately take the child and depart.
The weariness from reversing space-time to revive the Ten Shadows Technique child now surged like a tide in his heart. He knew his conscious time before the next hibernation wasn't much left.
This time, Jiang Lai didn't plan to travel with Ryomen Sukuna.
After all, sending the child there was already troubling others. Bringing along a god of death......seemed like picking a fight, not very moral.
Moreover, this period of interaction had made Jiang Lai realize that Ryomen Sukuna would absolutely never change his nature of despising human life. Carefree indulgence was his way of life.
Watching and restraining him would only accumulate murderous intent for later rather than eliminate it. The pent-up energy would eventually explode in the future. Therefore, temporary detention wasn't a solution.
Additionally, Jiang Lai wasn't sure how long this hibernation would last. Better to find a safe place away from Sukuna to rest.
Lest the other accumulate day by day and actually manage to break through his barrier over long years while guarding him, delivering a dream assassination.
In any case, he planned to make dinner for Sukuna tonight as a farewell meal, then take the black-haired child to depart for the Gojo family, meeting the long-haired Gojo Satoru of a thousand years ago once more.
In the distance, Ryomen Sukuna emerged from the forest, carrying two wild rabbits in his hand.
He walked toward them with large, steady and powerful strides.
Jiang Lai watched him, thinking for a second whether to tell Ryomen Sukuna about his departure and the other's coming freedom.
But soon, he dismissed this thought.
To be safe, better not reveal his upcoming whereabouts for now. Jiang Lai thought this way.
He had a feeling that if Ryomen Sukuna, who was already prepared to continue traveling with him, knew about this, the other would ignite with cold anger, lip corners slightly pulling back to reveal sharp fangs, saying loudly:
[I haven't seen enough of your bleeding-heart entertainment yet. What, you wanted to restrain me so you restrained me, now you want to leave so you leave, just treating me like an object to be thrown around?]
Jiang Lai completed the imagined dialogue in his mind, adding his own response: [Can't help it, being powerful means being this willful, catching and releasing at will.]
Then the other would be even angrier. Certain.
Having mentally rehearsed words he would never actually speak, Jiang Lai watched the other approach.
Ryomen Sukuna glanced at him, his keen beast instincts surfacing again: "What's that expression? Are you plotting something?"
"Planning how to prepare these two rabbits." Jiang Lai pointed, naturally responding, "It's getting late. After eating, we should rest early."