Shrine

"Ding-dong."

Shen Yuanyi stood outside the Fushiguro Household's door after ringing the bell, with White Wolf crouched beside him. He had already imagined the "Surprise!" scene he would spring on them shortly.

Yet even after ringing the bell three times, no one came to open the door. Yuanyi pulled out his phone in puzzlement and checked the time. It should have been vacation, right? But today was the weekend. Could they have gone out to have fun?

After some thought, Yuanyi called Megumi Fushiguro. The call connected after two rings. Before the other side could say anything, Yuanyi asked, "Megumi, where are you? I'm back, so why aren't you guys home?"

The other end fell silent for a while. Just as Yuanyi was about to frown, Megumi's voice finally came through. "My sister and I are at the hospital."

Yuanyi's expression changed. "Tsumiki? What happened to her? Send me your address."

"It's nothing. She just isn't feeling well—" Megumi was about to explain, but Yuanyi quickly cut him off. Left with no choice, Megumi sent over the hospital address.

After hurriedly hanging up, Yuanyi first took the gifts he had brought back home. He left White Wolf there as well, then activated his technique and rushed toward the hospital. It was not far away; they had gone to the nearest one.

Emerging from a corner without surveillance cameras, Yuanyi headed straight for the room number Megumi had given him. When he pushed open the door to the private ward, the people inside looked over at the sound. Sitting on the bed was a gentle-looking young woman, who had been talking to a boy seated beside her when Yuanyi entered.

One look at her eyes and brows made it easy to imagine how gentle she must have looked when she smiled. The boy beside her had a familiar sea-urchin hairstyle, and his face was filled with surprise as he looked over.

"Genichi, you got here so quickly."

Tsumiki welcomed Yuanyi over to sit down. Seeing that her complexion was still decent, Yuanyi finally relaxed a little before turning toward Megumi.

"How did you get here so fast? It's barely been any time at all."

Ignoring Megumi's confused look, Yuanyi took the apple Tsumiki had been about to peel from her hands. Once the rosy, plump apple reached Yuanyi's hands, its peel vanished in no time.

After arranging the neatly sliced apple wedges on a plate and handing it to Tsumiki, Yuanyi finally asked Megumi, "What happened to make Sister Tsumiki end up in the hospital?"

Megumi frowned. "Sister said she'd been feeling a little unwell these past few days. I thought it was just a cold or something, but today, she suddenly fainted at home."

"I hurriedly brought her to the hospital for an examination. It's fine, though. The test results just aren't out yet."

Now it was Yuanyi's turn to frown. He remembered that Tsumiki did not have issues like low blood sugar. Why had she suddenly fainted for no reason?

As Tsumiki ate the apple, she offered some to both of them as well. Hearing that, she smiled and comforted them. "It's fine. Didn't the doctor say before that they couldn't find anything wrong with me?"

"Then we'll wait for the report. Sister Tsumiki, give me your hand."

Tsumiki obediently held out her right hand. Yuanyi grasped her wrist and used Reverse Cursed Technique. No matter what was wrong, he would treat her first. It was a pity that this was something physiological; if it had been a recent injury, he could have simply reversed it directly.

Tsumiki felt a warm sensation spread from her wrist. It was as though a current entered her arm from there before flowing into every part of her body. That languid feeling was like basking beneath warm sunlight.

She immediately felt her slightly weakened body recover considerably. She cried out in surprise, "Genichi, how did you do that? Was that the cursed technique thing? That's amazing!"

Yuanyi's smug expression afterward earned him Megumi's speechless stare. As they chatted and laughed, Yuanyi began telling them about interesting things he had seen after going to Jujutsu High. From time to time, he made Tsumiki giggle, while Megumi wore an indifferent expression but listened intently as well.

When Yuanyi mentioned having returned and brought up Megumi's plans to enroll at Jujutsu High, the person in question immediately looked dissatisfied and opened his mouth to say something.

"Megumi!"

Under Tsumiki's serious gaze, Megumi still shut his mouth. He turned around and went back to peeling apples, while Tsumiki curiously asked Yuanyi about his life at Jujutsu High. He told her everything in detail.

They remained at the hospital until the afternoon. The examination report came out, showing that everything was normal. The doctor gave them more or less the same answer after they asked, saying it might have been fatigue or some other cause. Since Tsumiki also looked much better now, they decided to go home.

After returning, Yuanyi even simmered a pork rib soup with ribs he had bought at the supermarket. Amid Tsumiki's praise and Megumi's calm but harsh critique, Yuanyi flew into embarrassed anger. He ladled Megumi another huge bowl and watched him drink every last drop.

"A mission? You plan to bring me along?"

Hearing Megumi's confusion, Yuanyi nodded as though it were only natural. "Gojo-sensei told me to help prepare you. I thought actual combat would be faster."

Megumi asked again, "What about my sister?"

Yuanyi patted his shoulder. "I've already arranged it. They should be here soon. While I take you to complete the mission, someone will come look after Sister Tsumiki for the time being."

Just as Yuanyi had said, a temporary babysitter soon arrived at the house. The service company was highly skilled and professional, and safe as well. Its only drawback was probably the price. It generally provided services for wealthy families, but that meant nothing to Yuanyi.

"Let's go. If we get this done quickly, we can come back earlier."

Megumi glanced at the sky, which was nearly dark, his expression a little strange. "At this hour?"

Yuanyi carried a specially made instrument case containing three Cursed Blades and called White Wolf over. Hearing that, he explained, "It's not far. If things go smoothly, we can finish it tomorrow."

It really was not far. After hailing a taxi and paying generously, Yuanyi and Megumi reached their destination in less than an hour: a rather untouched mountain forest.

"Kids, you don't look like you came here to kill yourselves. But if you're here to explore, I'd advise you to leave quickly. A few young people like you supposedly ran into ghosts here some time ago and got scared half to death."

"No idea whether that video was real or not."

After bidding farewell to the kindhearted driver, Megumi looked at the deep, dark forest and asked curiously, "Is this one of those suicide hotspots? Your mission is here? Don't tell me it's another legend or something."

Yuanyi stepped onto a small path into the woods while checking the navigation on his phone. He casually answered Megumi, "No. This place only started showing signs of becoming a suicide hotspot in the past two years. I got the mission because some people came here to explore before and actually hit the jackpot—they supposedly encountered a cursed spirit."

"Based on the video they leaked before it was quickly deleted, it caught the attention of the Windows, the intelligence personnel. And because of the location, Gojo-sensei assigned this mission to me."

As he spoke, Yuanyi played the video on his phone, one that could no longer be found online. The terrified, constantly shaking perspective in the footage made it easy to feel the person's extreme fear at the time, as though it could seep through the screen.

Yuanyi took out the three Cursed Blades and tossed the instrument case to the roadside for now. He would retrieve it when they came back. Then he handed Onikiri to Megumi. "Take this for protection."

As they went deeper, the forest became even more sinister in the deep night. Still, it was nothing to Jujutsu Sorcerers who surpassed ordinary humans. Yuanyi usually spoke little during missions, and Megumi's temperament meant he did not say much either. Thus, aside from the cracking sounds of dead branches and fallen leaves beneath their feet, the two remained quiet.

As they walked, White Wolf, who had been leading the way, suddenly stopped and looked ahead with slight vigilance. Yuanyi naturally noticed something there as well, his hand already resting on Dojigiri's hilt.

"There's no cursed presence. It isn't a cursed spirit. Who would wander around a place like this so late at night?"

Thinking this, Yuanyi signaled White Wolf to hide itself as it moved forward, while he headed diagonally toward that direction. Before long, Yuanyi saw beams of flashlight light swaying through the forest.

"You people."

Yuanyi's sudden voice triggered a string of frightened screams. Even Megumi could not help knitting his brows.

"Wait. The people over there seem to be human!"

One man among the group of seven, who was considerably calmer than the others, spoke up. Then the flashlights on the other side shone toward them. Only after seeing the two boys did the group gradually calm down.

"What are you doing here?"

Hearing Yuanyi ask that, a short-haired woman on the other side said angrily, "Shouldn't we be asking you that? We couldn't see anything, so we thought we'd run into—"

Her words were cut off midway. A young, fairly handsome man who seemed to be the leader of their group spoke to ease the situation. "Don't mind her. We came here to explore. My friends were frightened when they suddenly ran into you two, so they spoke a little harshly. Please forgive us."

"Shu Jun, neither of them has any lighting equipment, and they seem to be carrying swords!"

The smile on Shu Jun's face stiffened. And that quiet dog crouching on the ground—was it a dog, or a wolf? His heart began pounding as well, and even breathing seemed to become difficult.

"Don't mind them."

Yuanyi raised his phone and prepared to follow the navigation again. Looking at the two strange boys, who were at least not some intangible ghosts, the group of seven recalled the recent news about this place and all its bizarre stories. Could these two have come to join in on the excitement too? Among the seven, the most beautiful woman, with long black hair, spoke up. "You aren't going to Yamaga Shrine, are you?"

Yuanyi immediately stopped. That shrine was indeed one of the locations involved in this mission. It was quite close to the new suicide hotspot where the incident had occurred. The shrine was small and had likely been here for several decades.

According to the intelligence, when those explorers went missing, it had been people from the shrine who called the police. Yuanyi had originally planned to head there on foot, hoping to encounter the unknown mission target along the way.

But things did not go as he wished. Instead, he had run into this group of people whose purpose here he did not know. Seeing Yuanyi and Megumi remain silent as though acknowledging it, the other side continued, "It's already very late. It might not be safe for you to walk around alone. How about we go together? We were heading there too."

The moment she said that, her companions all wore different expressions. Yuanyi and Megumi looked strange, but they were at least human. And since they were only two boys while there were seven of them, the group felt slightly more at ease. Besides, who went out carrying swords like those nowadays? They were far too conspicuous. Someone with bad intentions would carry a short blade like a dagger instead. Could these two be cosplaying and looking for thrills in these woods?

Moreover, the two looked so relaxed that the group believed the swords were likely props bought online. They had seen similar videos before. They also got a good look at White Wolf. It was clearly a Husky. They recognized that large dog, which was popular online. Wasn't it just a big, dumb goof? They had nearly mistaken it for a wolf and scared themselves senseless.

Perhaps out of goodwill toward the two boys, the seven people reached a unanimous decision to head to Yamaga Shrine together with Yuanyi and Megumi. Megumi said nothing, leaving Yuanyi to make the decision.

Yuanyi only considered it briefly before agreeing. With nine people, the chances of attracting an attack from a cursed spirit might be greater than if it were just the two of them. Thus, two people and one dog joined the group and headed toward Yamaga Shrine together.