Chapter 159 : Nanami and Crisis
Little Sheep Jiang Lai walked along the remote path at the foot of the mountain. This area was deserted, with vegetation growing naturally. Many wild cherry trees were already showing signs of budding.
It was early March spring now. Around mid-March, there would be the most beautiful cherry blossom feast.
However, at this moment Jiang Lai wasn't in the mood to appreciate the early spring scenery. His attention was focused on the surroundings, constantly watching for suspicious fluctuations nearby.
Yet the environment here was incredibly peaceful, naturally integrated with the world, without the slightest breath of the jujutsu world.
...It seems that so-called [Position Switch] tower isn't on my side? Little Sheep Jiang Lai thought to himself.
Going around a few cherry trees that already had pink blossoms, Jiang Lai's wandering gaze suddenly caught a glimpse of a black mark on a tree.
His steps paused slightly.
That mark looked like it was left by burning, appearing very fresh. But there hadn't been any thunderstorms recently, and this kind of burn mark appearing in the middle section of the tree's side didn't look like it was accidentally ignited by campers.
Jiang Lai felt somewhat strange, moving closer to observe the mark at close range.
At this moment, the brown-haired youth's height was just right, requiring no tiptoeing or bending. As the distance closed, he faintly sensed weak cursed energy fluctuations.
"?" Jiang Lai's brow furrowed slightly, his fingertip lightly brushing the edge of that burn mark.
This burn mark was very fresh, should have been left not long ago.
Having cursed energy fluctuations meant this abrupt burn mark was caused by a person or cursed spirit. But logically, such fresh marks should have more residual filth.
How could it be undetectable until such close range? Moreover, Jiang Lai's own five senses were more acute.
Was it a character very good at cleaning residual filth? But this didn't look like it had been deliberately cleaned either.
And this mark was too abrupt. If it was caused by battle, there should be more traces around.
Thoughts surged through Jiang Lai's mind. He walked several circles around the area, paying special attention to the ground and trees, but found no more cursed energy fluctuations.
Only that cherry tree abruptly retained burn marks and cursed energy.
"......" Jiang Lai returned to that burn mark again, pausing for a moment. He first took out his phone to look. There were no new emails, meaning Okkotsu Yuta's side also had no results for now.
Uncertain whether what was before him counted as a discovery. It was somewhat like a clue, but not much.
Jiang Lai thought for a while and decided not to message Okkotsu Yuta for now.
After all, he hadn't confirmed whether what was before him had value. Calling the other over might delay exploration. Better wait until he was certain.
Additionally, if this was indeed left by a special grade cursed spirit, searching alone would facilitate subsequent communication.
He touched that mark with one hand, pondering.
Assuming there was a Four Guardian Tower nearby, and the Four Guardian Towers had very strong concealment...
Then, could the extremely weak cursed energy fluctuations and near-zero cursed energy residue here be the effect of the Four Guardian Tower?
Perhaps the Four Guardian Towers had the function of hiding and weakening cursed energy, Jiang Lai thought.
Secondly, this burn mark seemed accidentally left during battle, but there were no other combat traces around.
Even if the battle ended quickly with one-sided suppression and instant kill, it shouldn't be this clean.
This mark was more like it appeared here out of nowhere.
Appearing out of nowhere... Jiang Lai thought along this line of reasoning. Either it was spatial transfer or spatial displacement. Did the Four Guardian Towers have their own independent space?
He stepped back two or three steps, shifting his attention from the physical tree to focus on the seemingly empty environment around.
The scenic arrangement here very likely resembled a ghostly maze, concealing the real path, while unknowing outsiders would only walk along the edges, moving away and leaving.
Jiang Lai's eyes were clear and bright, focusing cursed energy on what was before him. The overlapping tree shadows swayed in his vision, vaguely revealing another scene.
This time, Jiang Lai saw more brutal battle traces: broken trees, upturned soil, burning flames swaying like snakes.
But it was only a fleeting moment. The Four Guardian Tower's concealment power was too strong, and immediately after, the path just seen was obscured again.
To find the real path, it seemed one must maintain a highly concentrated state constantly to proceed along the route.
"......" Jiang Lai calmed his spirit. He collected his thoughts, didn't continue gathering cursed energy, but instead took out his phone and typed a few words, sending a message specifically to Morofushi Hiromitsu.
[I saw in the group chat that you're on vacation today. Does Hiromitsu have time to come over now? (dancing puppy gif)]
Yes, Jiang Lai planned to activate his skill: calling for backup!
In the game, the unicorn clan all possessed the talent of keen intuition. Morofushi Hiromitsu's spirit form was an original spirit cursed spirit outside the game, but also belonged to the unicorn clan.
This kind of special ghostly maze effect before him was too troublesome to explore with concentrated cursed energy. Better to directly find Morofushi Hiromitsu and use the keen intuition talent to advance quickly.
The reply came very quickly: [Yes, I have no problem. If needed, I can be summoned over right now.]
Excellent! Jiang Lai was quite delighted, gripping his phone and activating the [Electronic Spirits] technique!
After cursed energy fluctuated in the air, a pure white slender unicorn leaped out from mid-air.
The pure white unicorn without a trace of other colors landed on the ground. Beautiful and familiar blue upturned eyes looked toward Jiang Lai, his voice gentle: "I'm here. It's been a long time again."
"Hiromitsu!" With no outsiders present, Jiang Lai directly called his friend's name. He bounced forward, stood on tiptoes to hug the other's neck, enthusiastically giving an affectionate embrace.
Morofushi Hiromitsu also lowered his head to lightly nuzzle Jiang Lai, carefully paying special attention so the sharp spiral horn wouldn't hurt the other.
After the greeting hug, Jiang Lai let go, saying directly: "I'll have to rely on your keen intuition this time. This place has an effect similar to a ghostly maze, and I want to find the real path."
Now wasn't suitable for too much catching up. Jiang Lai could see the freshness of those battle traces, confirming this was a battle that had erupted not long ago.
He wasn't sure who the combating parties were... Jiang Lai knew Nanami Kento was also executing a mission in this vicinity. If he accidentally entered this area and was attacked by the tower-guarding special grade cursed spirit, arriving early could provide some help.
At least there wouldn't be the worst outcome.
Morofushi Hiromitsu also sensed the urgency of the situation. He nodded slightly: "Then let's go, I'll lead the way." The white unicorn knelt on one knee and lowered his body, indicating for Little Sheep Jiang Lai to get on.
"Thank you for the trouble, Hiromitsu." Jiang Lai hesitated for a second, then mounted. He hugged the white horse's neck, trying to keep his movements light so as not to make his friend uncomfortable.
"No need to be so tense." Morofushi Hiromitsu could sense Little Sheep Jiang Lai's state, his voice containing laughter: "I'm your cursed spirit shikigami right now. Hold tight, I'm about to start galloping."
Morofushi Hiromitsu's spirit state was very fast. Although he had no wings, he could achieve brief aerial suspension effects. When at full speed, he could even run on air in mid-air. So on the jujutsu world side, Jiang Lai called him "Pegasus."
Hearing Morofushi Hiromitsu say this, Jiang Lai finally tightened his arms slightly: "I'm ready."
The pure white unicorn's eyes curved slightly. He faced forward, and although everything in sight was ordinary forest, there was a natural intuition from the heart guiding the real path.
Morofushi Hiromitsu stepped forward steadily for a few meters, then accelerated with quick steps, like a flash of lightning, suddenly leaping out!
Howling wind sounded by their ears. Little Sheep Jiang Lai's braided hair flew up, and he half-squinted his eyes, concentrating on watching the path ahead.
After a brief overlapping scene, as they stepped into and went deeper into this real area, the ghostly maze effect gradually dissipated.
The original peaceful scene of thriving forest vegetation at the mountain foot disappeared. The ground was full of cursed energy residue, scorched trees crackling and burning in flames, with several deep furrows on the ground.
In the flames, the air temperature here seemed to have risen considerably. The wind carried intense burnt smells mixed with some bloody scent.
Jiang Lai's expression became serious. Bloody scent meant there were humans, because cursed spirits don't bleed.
Not far away, violent cursed energy was fluctuating, with explosive forest making piercing sounds. Morofushi Hiromitsu stopped his forward galloping, his alert gaze fixed on the situation ahead.
Little Sheep Jiang Lai dismounted. The moment he landed, he sensed the familiarity of this cursed energy.
Just at this moment, cursed energy exploded with a boom not far away. The huge shock wave carried tree debris, with rolling fire waves rushing toward them.
Morofushi Hiromitsu's spiral horn gathered cursed energy, controlling wind power to repel those sharp wood fragments.
A tall figure leaped out of the fire waves and black smoke. The person had golden hair blown by wind, holding a spotted talisman-wrapped cleaver in one hand. It was Nanami Kento!
His coat was gone, and his undershirt also had gray-black marks from being smoked in battle. His dominant hand was twisted at a strange angle, bloody, so Nanami had switched to his other hand to hold the blade.
When Little Sheep Jiang Lai noticed him, he also saw the brown-haired youth.
Rare astonishment appeared on Nanami Kento's usually calm face. He noticed that beside the brown-haired youth was only a white unicorn shikigami, without the special grade jujutsu sorcerer Okkotsu Yuta carrying a sword bag.
He had no time to think about why the brown-haired youth would appear here, only following instinct to immediately shout in a low voice:
"...Leave this place, go quickly!"
Nanami Kento changed from his previous evasive posture, holding his blade horizontally in front, preparing to block with all his might to leave sufficient retreat time for the brown-haired youth.
...Although his cursed energy was somewhat exhausted, he could still hold on a bit, he analyzed calmly in his mind.
However, the brown-haired youth didn't run away, but instead leaped forward in two or three steps.
Nanami Kento raised his hand wanting to push the other away, but forgot his dominant hand was currently injured to uselessness and couldn't be lifted.
The agile brown-haired youth instantly approached, gripping the bottom of the cleaver in Nanami Kento's other hand. Incredibly abundant cursed energy instantly appeared on the blade!
At the critical moment, Little Sheep Jiang Lai borrowed Nanami Kento's weapon and swung extremely quickly forward!
"?!" Nanami Kento was amazed by the other's abundant cursed energy, but what made him even more stunned was what happened after the swing.
The swung cursed blade collided with the incoming attack, not only neutralizing that cursed energy attack, but even having greater remaining force!