Chapter 206 : The Folding Fan and [Birth]
As Jiang Lai had thought, the manga updated very timely and had now finished updating the cursed spirit banquet portion.
He wasn't in a hurry and began reading from the beginning.
The manga from a God's-eye perspective revealed what this banquet venue was from the very start.
This massive underground banquet hall was actually inside the body of a giant cursed spirit. This cursed spirit had rather unique abilities, being able to use cursed energy to construct ideal buildings within its body.
Its true form was covered in branches, a combination of the primordial wood and earth of architecture.
The diamond-shaped deep purple leaves serving as admission tickets and the round deep purple leaves serving as game coins were both obtained from its body.
Because of this, it could sense the admission tickets and allow cursed spirits (curse users) holding these items to enter the venue. It could also create rules through game coins, allowing or ejecting certain characters.
Jiang Lai looked down at the manga. Thinking that where he currently stayed was inside some cursed spirit's belly made him feel mysteriously uncomfortable.
......Speaking of which, since these internal structures were all constructed by this cursed spirit, then the food and drinks at the banquet wouldn't also be created by it in its abdominal cavity, right?
He didn't know what those things were transformed from... Fortunately, he hadn't eaten any.
Jiang Lai was extremely grateful at this moment that he always maintained vigilance when out and wouldn't easily consume unknown foods.
Then he continued reading.
In the manga, Gojo Kyufuin constantly maintained an appropriate smile. Initially, he just leisurely leaned against a stone pillar somewhere in the venue without any particular actions. His slender, pale fingers held that folding fan.
Only when his gaze accidentally swept over Jiang Lai in the corner did it ripple with some difference. The man in moon-white robes fixed his gaze, his narrow light blue eyes immediately narrowing.
After waiting briefly, he stepped forward and walked straight toward where the black-haired young man was.
Seeing this, Jiang Lai's fingertip paused.
Though the manga didn't provide psychological descriptions, from the God's-eye view it could be determined that Gojo Kyufuin wasn't temporarily selecting him due to a bt attraction aura, but seemed to already know some information! His target was very clear.
"......" Jiang Lai's expression grew serious as he continued scrolling down the pages.
The subsequent plot was similar to what he'd experienced. Gojo Kyufuin lightly set him up, Geto Suguru's game coin rescue, Jiang Lai's return, Gojo Kyufuin's dance invitation, Geto Suguru's intervention, Jiang Lai's final choice of Gojo Kyufuin, the two dancing together toward the center.
The final moments were also depicted with exceptional detail in the manga.
When the purple light lit up, text explanations beside the panels revealed this banquet's purpose:
The purple lights that illuminated during the banquet's climactic moment had some hidden marking and identification function.
The umbrella-shaped chandelier at the center position was at this giant cursed spirit's heart location. Below the heart had no projection, making it a safe zone that wouldn't be bathed in purple light.
These purple lights with marking and identification functions were the Supervisory Committee's true purpose in organizing the cursed spirit banquet.
Befriending cursed spirits and realizing cursed spirit rights were merely surface reasons. The Supervisory Committee never made fair deals. Brain-kun would always set traps to obtain maximum benefits for his side.
So what appeared to be a collaborative benefit cursed spirit banquet also mixed marking and identification into its climactic celebration, laying groundwork for the Supervisory Committee to select 'feed' energy later.
Everyone present were Special Grade and Grade 1 cursed spirits, naturally rich in energy for the Supervisory Committee.
At key moments, they could follow the marks made early to find target cursed spirits for surprise conversion.
Moreover, after marking, they could make judgments based on mark locations. Specifically targeting scattered, solitary cursed spirits, making it nearly impossible for cursed spirits to notice anything wrong.
After reading the side explanations and extending his thoughts, Jiang Lai couldn't help but click his tongue lightly, sighing in his heart: That is to say, without absolute brains, don't make deals with Brain-kun. You'll be swindled out of even your underwear!
Back then, even the Curse King Ryomen Sukuna was momentarily careless and got tricked. How could these young cursed spirits now outplay Brain-kun who had been scheming for a thousand years?
After obtaining this intelligence, Jiang Lai finally confirmed that Gojo Kyufuin's action of raising his sleeves and opening his fan was to protect him from marking and identification.
But why he protected him, the purpose still wasn't very clear.
The manga didn't provide explanations for this. Gojo Kyufuin's actions also had no inner thoughts, only detailed close-ups focused on that beautiful face.
Those narrow light blue eyes rippled with strange luster under the purple light's illumination. Gojo Kyufuin's expression was very calm, his lip corners seemingly still curved in a slight arc.
When he closed his folding fan, his movements were incredibly smooth and beautiful.
When uttering "It's over," his eyelids lowered, his eyelashes casting light shadows.
Gojo Kyufuin at this moment appeared incredibly stable.
His next emotional fluctuation occurred when Jiang Lai called out to him and spoke those questions and answers about names.
The manga broke everything into slow motion. Gojo Kyufuin's expression was between some subtle surprise, understanding, and nostalgia, finally becoming some indescribable complexity.
But these emotional changes were too rapid for Jiang Lai to notice at the time.
Fortunately, the manga emphasized depicting the details, allowing Jiang Lai to analyze afterward.
It seemed Gojo Kyufuin also cared quite a bit about the feudal great family's name rights issue.
That expression, had someone once said similar words or made similar decisions?
Inexplicably, Jiang Lai thought of [Birth].
His elder sister (elder brother) initially had no feelings toward humans, but under Jiang Lai's influence, He also used unique eyes to recognize each human who originally had no distinction to Him.
[Birth] had a careful and gentle personality. When He made decisions, He would do so slowly.
For Him, names were the first step in His contact with humans.
As a transcendent [Existence] beyond the human world, He wouldn't care about feudal great families' bad customs, only seriously memorizing and calling others' names.
Perhaps He had once said similar words too: each unique name, each unique person.
In the manga, after brief emotional fluctuations, Gojo Kyufuin quickly readjusted his state and maintained his unchanging smile.
In the details, only the hand holding the folding fan tightened slightly.
The man in moon-white robes gazed at Jiang Lai, his brows relaxed. The jade structure at the fan's end reflected gentle light under the illumination. The iris mark carved on it was light but striking. The manga gave that spot a close-up.
When turning toward Jiang Lai, the iris on that folding fan's end seemed to brighten slightly.
Jiang Lai narrowed his eyes, noticing this detail.
This folding fan had special qualities, like the Four Guardian Towers' map, able to manifest when key characters approached.
But what could precisely recognize him should logically only be his conceptual family members.
......Was this folding fan related to [Birth]? Could Gojo Kyufuin have recognized him through this?
It seemed reasonable.
But if this were true, then Gojo Kyufuin probably already knew clearly that he was [Existence].
Yet he didn't inform the Supervisory Committee.
Later in the manga, they discussed the folding fan.
This part of the manga still didn't draw Gojo Kyufuin's inner thoughts. Jiang Lai was somewhat disappointed as he flipped pages, thinking he probably couldn't see what this guy was thinking for now.
But the next new page made Jiang Lai perk up again.
On the final page, the manga's God's-eye view finally depicted Gojo Kyufuin's inner landscape.
"If you're truly interested... perhaps you could take a trip to Hokkaido."
Along with these words, a half-blurred image hazily appeared behind Gojo Kyufuin.
A woman in maid attire with hands folded at her chest, eyes tightly closed, expression peaceful and calm, as if sleeping in boundless dreams.
The background was a vast expanse of ice crystals. The black-haired woman seemed to be in an ice cave or ice coffin.
After a few seconds of processing, Jiang Lai recognized who this sleeping woman was:
It was the Star Plasma Vessel Amanai Riko's guardian, Kuroi Misato!
During the Star Plasma Vessel incident back then, Kuroi Misato's whereabouts were unknown. Unexpectedly, the Supervisory Committee had secretly dealt with her too.
For Amanai Riko, Kuroi Misato was an incredibly important family member.
Perhaps the Supervisory Committee used Kuroi Misato to force Amanai Riko to become [Birth]'s vessel and do things for the Supervisory Committee.
Jiang Lai's mood tensed.
Previously, borrowing power transferred through [Origin], he had tried linking with [Birth] and finally saw Amanai Riko in dreams.
But Amanai Riko didn't trust Jiang Lai. Almost the moment she noticed him, she pushed him out of the consciousness space.
Jiang Lai had originally been thinking about how to find an appropriate way to contact Amanai Riko and make her believe him. Now it seemed he could perhaps start with Kuroi Misato.
At least, after secretly rescuing Kuroi Misato, he could reduce the Supervisory Committee's hostage bargaining chips by one.
By then, uniting with Amanai Riko and [Birth] to overthrow the Supervisory Committee would be easier.
What somewhat surprised Jiang Lai was that the one casually providing the key clue was actually Gojo Kyufuin......
Hokkaido's area was very large, being Japan's northern island.
He didn't know whether Gojo Kyufuin truly didn't know the specific location where Kuroi Misato was frozen, or hadn't made up his mind to reveal everything completely, so he half-revealed and half-concealed this statement.
The manga didn't depict more of his thoughts, leaving only a moon-white figure in the end.
Jiang Lai's gaze fixed on the figure in the manga, finally exhaling lightly.
Regardless of his true position or thoughts, currently he seemed trustworthy temporarily.
As long as he didn't make deep contact or truly expose his back, there wouldn't be risk of backstabbing.
Since he was now willing to silently help him, then he would calmly accept it. Jiang Lai had a good mentality. If he did something else in the future, then he would respond or counterattack accordingly.
For now, before the other changed his mind, he should unite with Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru for a team building trip to find Kuroi Misato.