Chapter 219 : Shared Dream Connection
Thinking of this, Jiang Lai decided to try it immediately.
This intelligence was all about timing, the sooner the better. Who knew whether the Supervisory Committee, having learned of [Kuroi Misato]'s broken seal, would take some extreme action or trick Riko into signing more binding vows?
So, letting Amanai Riko know the truth as soon as possible was very important.
Jiang Lai turned over and got out of bed. He was wearing fluffy little sheep pajamas: these pajamas were bought at a nearby shopping mall. Money-powered Gojo Satoru was always too lazy to bring luggage when traveling, simply buying whatever he needed locally.
So at that time, Jiang Lai had only carried a small backpack containing homework before setting off with Gojo Satoru.
At this moment, Jiang Lai walked to the adjacent bed in a few steps.
The white-haired man on it was covered with a blanket, breathing steadily as he slept quietly.
Due to the Six Eyes' special nature, Gojo Satoru's sleep was shallow and brief. But with his good friend beside him, his relaxed mind allowed him to fall asleep faster than usual.
Although the two were familiar with each other, jujutsu sorcerers generally had instinctive defensive reactions. So to prevent being accidentally hurt, Jiang Lai kept some distance and called out softly, fitting his Little Sheep image: "Gojo-sensei?"
In the deep of night, the environment was very quiet. The lowered voice was clearly audible in such tranquility.
Gojo Satoru's eyelashes fluttered lightly, seeming about to open.
Because he was preparing to test the cursed energy fusion dream connection, Jiang Lai switched back to his true form using his phone ahead of time.
Although he could try to release some [Existence] power in his Little Sheep form, it wasn't as convenient as his true body. If he wanted to attempt cursed energy fusion with Gojo Satoru, using his true form was better.
Having switched back to his adult form, he stood beside the bed in a black windbreaker, his voice also changed as he asked again: "Satoru? Are you awake?"
"...Wasn't awake, but now I am."
A lazy voice came from the bed, and those azure eyes suddenly opened, glass-bead-like pupils turning toward the side.
Gojo Satoru sat up, looking at Jiang Lai who had switched to his true form. His eyebrow raised slightly, his expression serious: "This is... midnight horror?"
"Huh?" Jiang Lai was momentarily stunned by this comment.
Gojo Satoru tapped his right palm with his left hand, then put on an expression of sudden realization, saying carefully:
"But Lai, you're a bit unprofessional~ Logically, you should crawl out from a closet, or a TV, or at worst from under the bed or through a window. Just standing there is much less atmospheric~"
Jiang Lai: "..."
"Just kidding." Gojo Satoru's tone was light, and his expression became somewhat more serious. "What happened?"
Those frost-like delicate features showed some sharpness, and the white-haired man had obviously misunderstood Jiang Lai's appearance as some special situation developing, already prepared for battle.
"It's fine, no need to be tense." Jiang Lai explained first, indicating that the other didn't need to gather cursed energy, his appearance wasn't due to any unexpected developments.
Gojo Satoru relaxed his posture somewhat: "Then you're," he rested one hand on his chin, smiling, "can't sleep in the middle of the night and looking for me to chat? Your previous youthful appearance would be more suitable than your current adult form. After all, a child's image can act spoiled without any burden."
"I do want to chat with you, but it's serious business." Jiang Lai gathered the atmosphere, saying seriously, "Have I mentioned to you before? I can connect with my conceptual family members in dreams."
"Previously I tried connecting with [Birth], and in the dream, Amanai Riko, who currently serves as the container, appeared first."
Gojo Satoru tilted his head slightly, understanding Jiang Lai's meaning: "So, you can contact Amanai."
"Right." This was exactly what Jiang Lai wanted to say. "I can meet with Amanai Riko through dream connection and inform her about [Kuroi Misato]."
"Sounds good." Gojo Satoru approved of this. "This way, not only can we inform her about [Kuroi Misato], but we can also obtain more information about the Supervisory Committee from Amanai."
Then, Gojo Satoru raised an eyebrow: "So, you specifically woke me up to eagerly share this intelligence?"
"I specifically woke you up not simply to tell you these things." Jiang Lai sighed lightly, explaining the reason. "Amanai Riko doesn't know me, so she doesn't trust me. During the previous dream connection, she directly pushed me out of her mental world."
"Therefore, I specifically woke you to bring you along to meet with Amanai Riko in the dream, I think she trusts you."
Gojo Satoru paused slightly, his thoughts drifting back to memories of their Tokyo Jujutsu High days. He stopped for a moment, then responded: "We can go together?"
"I have some speculation, but it needs testing." Jiang Lai answered. "My preliminary idea is to perform dream connection under the premise of cursed energy fusion. This way, we can probably both enter Amanai Riko's mental world."
"Like the combination domains we experimented with before?" Gojo Satoru understood, waving his hand. "Come on, do we need to make hand gestures to sleep? Oh, it feels very strange, like some kindergarten animation."
"...Not necessary." Jiang Lai had a black line on his forehead for a second, then said, "This isn't Domain Expansion, we don't need to deliberately make hand gestures. For simple cursed energy fusion, we just need to consciously release cursed energy together."
Release cursed energy to fill the entire room with their combined cursed energy, creating the prerequisite background for cursed energy fusion.
Falling asleep in such an environment would probably achieve the effect of shared dream connection.
Gojo Satoru made a gesture: "OK~ Completely understood."
Pausing slightly, he reminded: "But speaking of this, if we both release cursed energy simultaneously, it'll attract [Window]'s attention, right? Lai, you'd better open a spatial barrier."
"I'll open it in advance." Jiang Lai nodded, jokingly continuing, "Otherwise, wouldn't it expose the fact that we're together? This doesn't fit our script's setting of [suddenly familiar strangers]."
"Actually, it doesn't matter," Gojo Satoru said playfully, "If [Window] notices our cursed energy, we can adjust the script anytime."
"Change it to what I mentioned before, the 'Midnight Horror' series. You, transformed into a vengeful cursed spirit, sneak to my bedside at midnight, and after deep contemplation with cursed energy fermenting, decide to assassinate me, this super invincible handsome guy."
Jiang Lai: "...I don't want to perform in such a script, thank you. And don't randomly attach strange titles!"
After bantering for a few sentences, the two prepared to try the dream connection.
Jiang Lai set up a perfect spatial barrier in advance, creating a transparent protective shield inside the room to isolate the leakage of cursed energy aura.
Both he and Gojo Satoru openly released cursed energy, letting it interweave and fuse in this small area.
"But can we fall asleep?" Gojo Satoru lay back down, casually pondering, "This situation of having important things to do is quite different from usual relaxed sleep."
Jiang Lai thought for a moment, then said seriously: "If you can't fall asleep, I can use my phone to knock you out. Your Limitless won't defend against that, you know. I'm definitely fast, accurate, and ruthless."
Gojo Satoru did a tactical sit-up, exaggerating: "...Hey, wait! That's not the correct way to answer!"
Jiang Lai chuckled: "Is that so? Then what's the correct way to answer?"
The white-haired man waved his finger, answering: "You should say something like 'Come, I'll tell you some stories.' The best way to treat insomnia is telling stories~!"
"You also like listening to stories?"
"How could I not? I've liked them since childhood." Gojo Satoru lay back on the bed, hands behind his head, his azure eyes gazing at the ceiling, his expression seeming to reach far into memory.
"I still remember those stories you told long ago... At that time, no one told me stories, so I remembered your words for a long time."
Jiang Lai tried hard to recall, only remembering that he had picked some interesting stories from his phone (books) to tell young Satoru.
But he couldn't quite remember what he had specifically told.
Although the strongest Six Eyes had amazing memory, the fact that he remembered such distant events, even from before the timeline reversal, still surprised Jiang Lai.
"Well, time is limited, let's sleep quickly." Gojo Satoru lightly brushed the topic aside, saying no more, and the air became quiet.
The playful interaction between the two also settled down, once again preparing to enter slumber.
Cursed spirits had no concept of sleep, so Jiang Lai used his feather necklace to adjust his state toward being more human.
Moonlight swayed through the gaps in the curtains into the room, drowsiness slowly rising like a tide.
Jiang Lai's upper and lower eyelids fought each other, and he followed his instinct to close his eyes, relaxing his mind in this reassuring cursed energy environment.
...
Surrounding them was an empty darkness, the boundless dark color seemingly swallowing everything. Only a faint glimmer in the distance indicated the direction forward.
Jiang Lai had seen this dark glimmer dream scene before when connecting with [Birth] (Amanai Riko), so it wasn't unfamiliar.
"Oh, this scenery is really dark. The Six Eyes don't seem particularly useful here."
A voice came from beside him. Jiang Lai turned his head and saw the white-haired man beside him with surprise yet logical acceptance.
Gojo Satoru turned halfway toward him, raising his hand to wave, smiling: "Hi~ Looks like your speculation was correct." He said, "This dream world is much safer for communication than the real world. Perhaps it could serve as a secret base in the future?"
Jiang Lai was amused but also heard the feasibility in it.
He responded: "Sounds good. In that case, should we invite Suguru next time? Though I wonder if three people's cursed energy fusion might cause inconsistency in dream connection due to the number."
"We can try it more~ If there's a chance." Gojo Satoru waved casually, not seeming too insistent. "If it doesn't work, forget it. Besides, Suguru probably doesn't have time to rest with us."
He moved past the topic, his gaze falling on the faint glimmer in the distance of this darkness, his blue eyes slightly narrowed: "The Six Eyes' function is limited here. But I can sense what's over there."
"Riko is there." Jiang Lai remembered the scene he had walked through before. In the depths of the dream, Amanai Riko, still in her girl form, was bent over a desk in the bright area, writing and drawing.
"Perhaps not just Amanai." Gojo Satoru said. "The one you mentioned called... [Birth] is also here, isn't she?"
"She might not have consciousness, but she's definitely there."