Traces

When Shen Yuanyi returned to Yamaga Shrine, he did not disturb anyone except Megumi Fushiguro, who was already sleeping lightly in the room. After roughly explaining the situation to him, it was too late to continue investigating, so the two went to rest.

When they got up the next day, Akashino Hiko's wife, Akashino Emi, had already prepared breakfast: fresh miso soup, rice balls, fried eggs and bacon, as well as Western-style fare like bread.

After politely thanking the gentle and virtuous lady, they took their seats at Akashino Hiko's invitation and met his son and daughter, Akashino Nobutaka and Akashino Natsuki.

Both took after their mother in appearance and seemed only a few years younger than Shen Yuanyi and the others. Of the two siblings, the older sister's personality actually resembled their father's more. Once the seven tourists arrived, she quickly became familiar with everyone.

Though she seemed more interested in Shen Yuanyi and Megumi Fushiguro, one wore a cold expression and spoke little, while the other was focused entirely on eating. Even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice.

After enjoying the delicious breakfast, Shen Yuanyi once again thanked Akashino Emi's family. Then he turned his attention to the conversation between Shu Jun's group and Akashino Hiko, who were discussing where to visit next.

That destination happened to be one of the suspicious locations Shen Yuanyi had noticed in the streamer's footage yesterday. It was atop the mountain behind the shrine, where an ancient tree stood tall and thick, supposedly several hundred years old. Visitors often went up to see it after praying at the shrine.

Yamaga Shrine worshipped a mountain god from local legend, and this ancient tree was sometimes regarded as the mountain god's incarnation in the human world. Naturally, many people came to pay their respects to it.

When Shen Yuanyi asked if they could come along, Akashino Hiko readily agreed. He called over his children as well, and after clearing the table, sent his son to summon the group. In his words, the boy needed more exercise.

Because of his personality, Akashino Nobutaka rarely interacted with others. Now that the siblings had returned home to the shrine for their vacation, Akashino Hiko intended to have both of them help with shrine duties.

Though Akashino Nobutaka did not socialize much, he understood basic courtesy. Before long, he returned with the group. Everyone was dressed casually, since the destination was not far and they were only taking a stroll.

From his conversation with Akashino Nobutaka along the way, Shen Yuanyi learned detailed information about the area and several nearby spots of interest. The two got along surprisingly well. Though Akashino Nobutaka was rather introverted, he became quite talkative when discussing topics he knew well, such as games and anime.

He learned that aside from Yamaga Shrine itself, there were not many attractions nearby. The ancient tree on the mountaintop counted as one, and there was also a road lined with cherry blossoms, though it was not blooming yet and had little to see. A river ran below the mountain, with clear water and a healthy ecosystem. People often visited it as well, but there were few visitors at this time of year.

Then there was that forest. It was neither particularly large nor particularly small, originally a scenic patch of untouched wilderness. But in recent years, people had kept killing themselves there. While it was nowhere near as infamous as the well-known suicide spot, Aokigahara Forest, news coverage, influencer explorations, and several people disappearing rather than committing suicide had quickly drawn the attention of online gawkers.

When the group reached the mountaintop, they indeed saw the conspicuous tree. The surrounding area had clearly been carefully maintained. White shimenawa ropes hung from the ancient tree, which required three to five people to encircle, its weathered trunk supporting a vast canopy overhead. It would surely have been even more spectacular in summer, when its branches and leaves were lush.

Then everyone began taking portraits and landscape photos, taking turns sincerely making wishes beneath the tree. Shen Yuanyi, meanwhile, wandered around the area. Such untouched scenery held little appeal for him; he had become thoroughly used to it at Jujutsu High.

He was searching for traces of curses, and after some effort, he really did find a faint remnant. The lingering aura was extremely weak, and White Wolf had detected it first. It was near the ancient tree, but without the dense foliage to conceal anything, Shen Yuanyi could not spot any curse.

Looking down from the mountaintop, he could see the shrine's eaves poking out from the forest. Shifting his gaze a little farther, he could also see a silver ribbon winding through the sleeping woods toward the distance.

Megumi Fushiguro gave Shen Yuanyi a look. Prompted by the latter, he had also noticed that faint lingering cursed aura. Megumi made a gesture, asking whether he should summon the Divine Dogs to search. There were no other Jujutsu Sorcerers present, after all, and the others would not be able to see them.

But Shen Yuanyi shook his head. He merely took a normal walk around the area, then at Akashino Natsuki's suggestion, took a photo in front of the tree with Megumi Fushiguro and White Wolf. After enjoying the view of standing atop the peak and looking down on the lesser mountains, the group descended again, this time following the path beside the river.

Babbling streams flowed between bluestones before converging at the foot of the mountain. In the clear forest water, tiny fish and shrimp could occasionally be seen. If one turned over a stone, perhaps they might even see crabs fleeing through the stirred-up silt.

After following the stream down, they came upon a stretch of gray-white riverbank. Several of them enthusiastically played at skipping stones, while Shen Yuanyi and Megumi Fushiguro continued searching for traces of curses. Perhaps drawn by so many people arriving, Shen Yuanyi actually discovered a curse. Its head emerged from the middle of the river, but it was only a flyhead, not their potential target.

The flyhead only showed itself briefly before vanishing again. Shen Yuanyi did not bother with it. There were no other abnormalities near the river. Judging by the information from the streamer's footage, they had probably encountered something unusual near the ancient tree. Perhaps the other companion they mentioned had accidentally come into contact with a curse, become tainted by cursed energy, and subsequently suffered physical discomfort.

But no curse had been found on the mountaintop, which meant that thing was wandering somewhere nearby. There were no traces by the river either. Did they have no choice but to search slowly using the most primitive method?

After having their fill of sightseeing, everyone returned to the shrine to prepare for lunch. Despite Akashino Hiko's refusal, Shen Yuanyi still forced payment for their food and lodging into his hands. Then he said that he and his friend needed to rest and asked to be called again for dinner.

After returning to the room, Shen Yuanyi called Megumi Fushiguro and prepared to head out. Their destination was the forest they had visited the previous night. Once there, Shen Yuanyi had Megumi summon the Divine Dogs.

One black and one white shikigami leaped out from Megumi Fushiguro's shadow and circled around him. After he gave them their orders, the two Divine Dogs and White Wolf split up to begin searching for curses.

In a place where so many people had committed suicide, they did find some curses after a careful search. But just as before, most were flyheads, hardly dangerous to humans. If they happened to be in the way, they were dealt with casually. If not, they were simply ignored.

Before long, White Wolf found something. It barked through the trees, and when Shen Yuanyi and Megumi Fushiguro arrived, they discovered they had reached the edge of another area. Below them lay a steep cliff.

As Shen Yuanyi looked down, he saw that despite the bright, sunny day, the area below seemed veiled in a layer of gray-black gauze.

"Found it?"

Megumi Fushiguro looked at Shen Yuanyi and asked. Shen Yuanyi nodded. "It hid its aura well. I just didn't expect it to be here."

He looked back toward that suicide "hotspot." Some of those people had probably jumped from here. Shen Yuanyi then erected a Curtain. Though there were few people nearby, necessary precautions could not be forgotten.

"Let's go."

Shen Yuanyi walked to the edge and jumped without hesitation. Megumi Fushiguro's eyelid twitched. Then he crossed his hands in a wing-like gesture, and the shadow behind him rippled.

"Nue."

A massive monstrous bird flew out from behind him. This was a shikigami he had only recently tamed. His Ten Shadows Technique corresponded to ten different shikigami. Aside from the initial Divine Dogs, which did not need to be tamed, he had to tame every subsequent shikigami himself before he could use them.

Aside from combat, this monstrous bird naturally had another use: flight. Under Megumi Fushiguro's control, Nue hooked him with its claws and flew down the cliff.

As soon as he descended, he saw Shen Yuanyi already standing on the ground. After dismissing Nue, Megumi Fushiguro looked toward the patch of black mist floating midway up the cliff and asked, "What is that? It seems to have a cursed aura. Can curses look like that?"

Shen Yuanyi stroked his chin. The black mist before them did indeed carry a cursed aura, and now that they were closer, he could sense it more clearly. If not for its outward appearance, Shen Yuanyi would have considered it a curse. But this mist-like form...

"Why not test it directly?"

Shen Yuanyi raised a hand and fired a limited amount of Cursed Energy. The flying energy stirred the black mist into a churning mass, as if it had disturbed something lurking within.

The spreading black mist suddenly contracted, converging toward a single point at its center. Within a few breaths, it condensed into a dense form, and an enormous black snake emerged from it, every scale lifelike.

There were no pupils on its head, and it was impossible to tell how it perceived its surroundings. But that was understandable for a curse. These things could hardly even be considered living creatures.

The black snake seemed to have been disturbed by the two of them. The moment it appeared, its displeasure was palpable. Its raised body made it obvious to anyone that it was preparing to attack.

Shen Yuanyi spread his hands and turned to Megumi Fushiguro. "I'll leave this to you first. No problem?"

Megumi Fushiguro drew Onikiri. The two Divine Dogs moved in from either side. The terrain in the dense forest was not well suited for Nue, so he did not summon it.

This curse looked to be only Semi-Grade 2. Shen Yuanyi estimated it would take just one slash, so he might as well leave it to Megumi Fushiguro. More practical combat experience could only be beneficial.

What he was considering now was the origin of this curse. Logically speaking, even the number of suicides here should have been insufficient, perhaps even unlikely, to give rise to a curse like this.

Moreover, this curse did not seem especially aggressive. If Shen Yuanyi had not attacked first, it likely would have remained motionless there.

It was also good at concealing its aura. If they had not noticed the anomaly in broad daylight first, it would have been difficult to find. No wonder they had found no traces in the forest last night. In the poor lighting of nighttime, that black mist had natural cover.