Chapter 153 : Four Guardian Towers
Okkotsu Yuta directly issued an invitation, his smile bright.
"Of course, no problem." Jiang Lai nodded in agreement. Going to raid towers together with a capable teammate was naturally the best thing possible.
However, regarding the [Four Guardian Towers], Jiang Lai still had some questions.
"If we go destroy the Four Guardian Towers, won't the Supervisory Committee notice?"
"Generally speaking, no." Okkotsu Yuta replied in a steady tone. "Because the [Four Guardian Towers] are mostly in relatively closed locations where information doesn't flow easily, and the setup characteristics themselves don't allow other monitoring techniques to be installed outside the formations."
"Plus, the characters responsible for guarding don't all know about the existence of the [Four Guardian Towers], so they won't notice the tower's destruction and inform the Supervisory Committee."
Relatively closed... no wonder Okkotsu had mentioned earlier that Satoru might not have signal where he went.
But the reasons for choosing such locations and maintaining secrecy were understandable. After all, the [Four Guardian Towers] were important formations for maintaining contracts and needed relatively safe environments.
Speaking of closed environments, Jiang Lai's first reaction was the Zenin family.
The Zenin family in the new series had always practiced isolationism, and Lady Zenin's evaluation of this was 'both sanctuary and breeding ground.'
Could the Zenin family be one of these [Four Guardian Towers]?
Jiang Lai's thoughts flowed, and he didn't keep his doubts to himself but asked the person in front of him who knew more about this type of intelligence: "How do we find the [Four Guardian Towers]? Has Satoru already confirmed the locations?"
If not, it wouldn't be easy to confirm in the vast world. The difficulty wouldn't be much different from finding the Supervisory Committee's headquarters.
"Naturally." Okkotsu Yuta nodded, dispelling Jiang Lai's concerns. "Gojo-sensei chose to go destroy the most troublesome one and had me return to handle the rest with you precisely because he confirmed the locations of the [Four Guardian Towers]."
Not bad, taking action after determining complete intelligence... somehow Satoru has become more steady too. Jiang Lai blinked inwardly.
Probably because he recalled the memories from a thousand years ago, experienced the second playthrough, and worked inside and outside with Geto Suguru for so many years, his actual years of growth were longer than his age.
At this moment, the two had walked to the edge of the street.
There was a dilapidated two-story shop that had been closed for a long time. This was exactly where Okkotsu Yuta had come to exorcise a Grade 1 cursed spirit for his mission.
However, Okkotsu Yuta wasn't in a rush to go in and exorcise the cursed spirit. He first took his long sword from the sword bag, drew it from the sheath, then placed one hand on the handle and pressed something from the side seam, opening a small flat hidden compartment.
Inside the compartment was a folded white paper.
Okkotsu Yuta unfolded the white paper. It was completely blank.
Jiang Lai: "?"
Jiang Lai's expression showed some confusion. He looked up at the black-haired youth beside him, waiting for an explanation.
He was certain that what Okkotsu Yuta had taken out was definitely not an ordinary piece of white paper.
"Wait a moment, you can't see it yet." Okkotsu Yuta smiled sideways.
He held the long sword in one hand to break open the dilapidated door, while holding the white paper between his fingers with the other hand. As he stepped into the shop, he said: "Follow me, senpai."
Jiang Lai didn't ask many questions. He trusted both Gojo Satoru and Okkotsu Yuta, so he straightforwardly followed the other's steps into the store.
This shop had been abandoned for a long time, with a thick layer of dust accumulated on the floor. The air was filled with a pungent smell, a mixture of mold and some kind of stench.
"Several accidents have occurred around this shop. After investigation by [Window], it was cursed spirits occupying the shop that attacked humans and dragged the corpses back here." Okkotsu Yuta explained calmly, his eyes focused.
"......" No wonder there was this strange smell, it was the stench of corpses.
Jiang Lai tilted his head slightly, gripping his phone with one hand, preparing to summon electronic spirits with his technique later.
Although this battle probably didn't require his participation, he was also alertly preparing in advance, just in case.
Okkotsu Yuta turned his face, his eyelids lowering, his voice gentle: "Is senpai's current state inconvenient for fighting? It's fine, just leave it to me."
"It's not exactly inconvenient to fight." Jiang Lai knew that the white paper between Okkotsu Yuta's fingers must have some purpose, so he deliberately said this: "You do what you need to do, don't worry about me."
"Alright." Okkotsu Yuta didn't say many polite words either. He nodded decisively in agreement, just unconsciously adding: "I won't keep you waiting long, I'll be quick."
Then, he faced the direction where the cursed energy was most concentrated ahead, his expression changing.
The black-haired youth holding a sword with one hand, after entering combat mode, had a somber face combined with the release of nearly infinite cursed energy, bringing deep oppressive force to people.
The cursed spirit lurking in the darkness was stimulated by this cold cursed energy and triggered its combat instincts, making threatening unknown sounds from inside. A cursed spirit with a body like a pile of rotten meat, writhing with countless bulging eyeballs, crawled out from inside.
"...Special price... special price... clearance sale...!"
This cursed spirit looked extremely disgusting, not to mention its body seemed to have some human corpse chunks embedded in it.
However, Okkotsu Yuta's expression didn't change at all. He just lightly stepped forward.
With a light whoosh, the long sword in Okkotsu Yuta's hand was wrapped in burning colorless cursed energy.
Jiang Lai, standing diagonally behind Okkotsu Yuta, felt the other's different aura from when they were at the Jujutsu High training ground. Now he was in true combat mode.
"Senpai," Okkotsu Yuta suddenly spoke, "please stand behind me, farther away."
His voice in combat mode was much lower than usual.
Oh... being protected by a junior.
Jiang Lai blinked, showing a smile, stepped back a bit, and said cheerfully in his current youthful shell voice: "Okay! Go for it, Brother Okkotsu!"
This "Brother Okkotsu" made the other's figure pause slightly.
But soon, Okkotsu Yuta quickly readjusted his state. He lifted his wrist lightly, raised the long sword and rushed forward in an instant!
It was also at this time that Jiang Lai understood why Okkotsu Yuta had told him to stand back.
This Grade 1 cursed spirit had no ability to resist against Special Grade jujutsu sorcerer Okkotsu Yuta, but it would explode!
Jiang Lai, standing in the back, perfectly avoided those products that needed to be censored, while Okkotsu Yuta in the field moved nimbly and successfully avoided most of the splattering rotten flesh.
His long sword surged with cursed energy, giving the cursed spirit no chance to escape, directly finishing it off with another decisive slash!
At the last moment, Okkotsu Yuta held the white paper forward.
The exorcised cursed spirit let out a final wail, its rotten cursed energy seeped into the floor and dissipated in the air.
The black-haired youth holding a sword with one hand straightened up. He retrieved that white paper.
Now, the white paper was no longer blank but revealed some symbols and text.
Jiang Lai raised his eyebrows slightly and stepped forward: "This is... text that can only be revealed with cursed spirit's cursed energy?"
"That's right, this is a special writing material that requires a certain amount of cursed aura to reveal text. So just by observation, you can't see anything." Okkotsu Yuta used cursed energy to brush away the remaining debris on his long sword, cleanly sheathed it, and turned to Jiang Lai.
"Even the Six Eyes can't see it?" Jiang Lai asked casually.
Okkotsu Yuta was somewhat surprised by Jiang Lai's question but still answered accordingly: "Probably. Gojo-sensei said he discovered it by accident, and before that, the Six Eyes hadn't seen anything special either."
In that case, the secret of that white paper Geto Suguru received during his time at Jujutsu High was also revealed. Jiang Lai thought. Probably the Supervisory Committee had written something to him using this special material.
Since Geto Suguru was a cursed spirit manipulator, summoning cursed spirits could release enough cursed aura to see the text above.
The Supervisory Committee really collected all sorts of miscellaneous things. Jiang Lai couldn't help but complain inwardly. Worthy of the result of Brain-kun hoarding for a thousand years.
Of course, those past things weren't important now.
The current Geto Suguru had already seen through the Supervisory Committee's conspiracy and truly stood on his, Gojo Satoru, and Shoko's side.
Jiang Lai refocused his attention on that paper: "This is the map of the [Four Guardian Towers]?"
"Yes, it's a map." Okkotsu Yuta held the paper showing symbols and text, walked to Jiang Lai's side, and thoughtfully half-squatted down, unfolding it: "Look."
Jiang Lai was silent for a second upon noticing Okkotsu Yuta half-squatting down, but had to admit that Okkotsu Yuta was very considerate.
After all, his current height as a first-year middle school student was indeed quite short. If the other stood up, he would have to slightly tiptoe and straighten his back to see.
Jiang Lai's gaze fell on that paper.
The paper had place names and routes like a map, with black ink outlining somewhat abstract symbols, but the text was clear.
Although the text was quite abstract and cryptic too.
[Crossroads] - This landmark was located abroad. Jiang Lai guessed that Gojo Satoru was heading exactly there.
[Noble and Base] - Located in Kyoto. Based on his previous speculation, Jiang Lai guessed this should refer to the Zenin family.
[Position Switch] - Located in the central-southern part of Honshu Island. Jiang Lai thought for a few seconds but didn't remember any special connection between this place and the jujutsu world, though Mount Fuji seemed to be located there.
[Front and Back] - The location showed Tokyo. The symbols and text for this place were the strangest, different from the previous ones. Its ink was lighter. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but it seemed to be moving.
Okkotsu Yuta said: "Gojo-sensei went to find the supposedly most troublesome [Crossroads]. Let's handle [Noble and Base] and [Position Switch] together first."
"What about this [Front and Back]?" Jiang Lai pointed at that location on the paper: "It seems different from the others."
"Yes." Okkotsu Yuta nodded, paused, then continued: "This one is actually a bit troublesome too... because it's mobile."
"Mobile?" Jiang Lai was slightly stunned.
"Meaning, unlike other fixed formations, this should be a... living [Tower]." Okkotsu Yuta spoke steadily, saying calmly: "It's very likely on a person."