Changes

With Gojo Satoru's near-forceful guarantee, Xia Jie finally entered Jujutsu High.

At the same time, however, the Higher-Ups of Jujutsu High put forward a condition: without Jujutsu High's permission, Xia Jie was absolutely forbidden from materializing Imaginary Cursed Spirits.

Gojo Satoru wrangled with the Higher-Ups for a while longer and changed the condition to this: without Jujutsu High's permission, Xia Jie was absolutely forbidden from materializing Imaginary Cursed Spirits beyond his own strength.

Xia Jie therefore made the relevant Binding Vow.

In the school corridor, Gojo Satoru led Xia Jie toward the classroom where Okkotsu and the others were.

Looking at the enormous school building, Xia Jie truly could not understand it. Jujutsu High barely had any students, so why had they built such a huge teaching building?

Gojo Satoru: Don't ask. The answer is money!

"Come to think of it, I haven't asked you yet. Xia Jie, where did you learn about Jujutsu High?" Gojo Satoru asked as they walked forward.

Xia Jie fell silent for a moment before saying, "Sensei, you know I was originally from China, right?"

"Yeah. I even had an argument with the Higher-Ups over that," Gojo Satoru said calmly. "They didn't want to admit a Chinese person into Jujutsu High."

"But after learning about your Cursed Technique, they gave up on that idea."

"You understand the reason, don't you?" Gojo Satoru asked.

"Probably because my Cursed Technique is extremely 'valuable,' and they found it hard to choose?" Xia Jie said with some sarcasm.

When Gojo Satoru nodded, Xia Jie asked again, "Then why did they want to carry out some kind of death sentence on me?"

"First, to assert Jujutsu High's authority over both you and me. Second, to use that as leverage to make you establish the previous Binding Vow," Gojo Satoru said.

"If they had simply asked you to make a Binding Vow, you probably wouldn't have agreed."

Xia Jie had no answer for that and could not help sighing. "Human nature always prefers compromise and moderation."

"For example, if you say this room is too dark and a window should be opened here, everyone will surely object. But if you propose tearing off the roof, they will come to mediate and agree to open a window."

"Mr. Lu Xun's famous words never become outdated," Gojo Satoru said with a soft laugh.

"Sensei knows Mr. Lu Xun too?" Xia Jie asked in surprise.

"After all, he studied in our country. I've read his works too, and they gave me a great deal of inspiration," Gojo Satoru said with a nod.

Then, changing the subject, he said, "Back to the point. You still haven't told me how you learned so much about Jujutsu High."

"My father, Xia Changqing, was originally surnamed Jiang. He was also a Chinese Jujutsu Sorcerer," Xia Jie said quietly. "But because of certain family matters, he changed his surname when I was very young and brought me to Tokyo."

"He was the one who told me about Japan's Jujutsu Society."

"Jiang?" Gojo Satoru stopped walking and looked at Xia Jie solemnly. "The Jiang from Jiang Shang?"

Xia Jie gave a quiet "Mm" and said nothing.

Gojo Satoru was silent for a moment, then suddenly revealed a strange smile. "Xia Jie—no, should I call you Jiang Jie? No wonder you possess a Cursed Technique like Imaginary Becomes Real!"

"It is said that Jiang Shang enfeoffed three hundred and sixty-five righteous gods. The Cursed Technique he possessed may very well be the one you have inherited!"

"For thousands of years, countless Jujutsu Sorcerers have tried to uncover the secret behind Jiang Shang's enfeoffment of the gods. I never expected to learn of it by chance!"

"Xia Jie—no, Jiang Jie! You've really brought me a huge problem! If the people at Jujutsu High learn that your original surname was Jiang, I'm afraid they won't let you off so easily!"

"Please keep calling me Xia Jie, Sensei. The Jiang surname stopped having anything to do with me long ago," Xia Jie said quietly.

Xia Jie had expected Gojo Satoru's reaction, because his background truly was a massive pitfall.

To a certain extent, it would not be wrong to say that he had schemed against Gojo Satoru.

Xia Jie himself had not expected that the Jujutsu Kaisen world he had transmigrated into would be an altered version.

For one thing, from the memories he had inherited from the original body, Xia Jie discovered that besides Japan, other countries in this world also possessed extremely powerful Jujutsu Sorcerers.

China in particular had Jujutsu Families with histories stretching back thousands of years, and the Jiang Clan Xia Jie had been born into was one of them.

The fact that Xia Jie had awakened a Cursed Technique like Imaginary Becomes Real truly carried a certain sense of destiny.

Xia Jie did not know whether these changes to the Jujutsu World were good or bad, but from his perspective, they had actually patched the biggest plot hole in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.

What was the biggest plot hole in Jujutsu Kaisen?

Was it that human souls could not become Cursed Spirits after death? Or that Cursed Spirits below Special Grade almost possessed no intelligence and even struggled to speak?

Neither. The biggest plot hole in Jujutsu Kaisen was what Yuki Tsukumo had said: "Jujutsu Sorcerers and Cursed Spirits overseas are extremely rare."

That claim practically elevated Japanese Jujutsu Sorcerers to an unattainable height.

But anyone with even a little sense knew how unlikely that was.

If Japanese Jujutsu Sorcerers were truly so powerful, why would the Japanese government have acknowledged the United States as its daddy after World War II?

And besides, humans all over the world could produce Cursed Energy, so why were Cursed Spirits everywhere in Japan while they were exceptionally rare in other countries?

Could it be that Japanese people had really gained special abilities from drinking nuclear wastewater? Obviously not!

After all, Cursed Spirits and Jujutsu Sorcerers had existed in this world as early as a thousand years ago, not as some anomaly that had only appeared in the last decade.

Therefore, based on his own background and all the bizarre discoveries he had made, Xia Jie was certain that the Jujutsu World he had transmigrated into was anything but simple. At the very least, it was not entirely the world written by the One-Eyed Cat.

Xia Jie attributed all these changes to adjustments in the world line. In other words, the will of the world had self-adjusted, rationalizing all natural things and their development.

Xia Jie could not tell anyone about any of this, yet he found it wonderfully fascinating.

Because of everything involved, he occasionally felt that he was not entirely acting of his own will either.

So now, faced with Gojo Satoru's half-joking, half-angry questioning, he did not know how to respond.

It was true that he had concealed his background from Gojo Satoru, and it was also true that he had used Gojo Satoru's obsession with students to seek protection.

Xia Jie could only tell Gojo Satoru that he had completely severed ties with the Jiang Clan, hoping to earn his forgiveness.

"You had clearly already deceived me. Why tell me about it now?" Gojo Satoru turned to look at Xia Jie, his expression unreadable.

"Because trust gained through deception is like a castle built on the beach. It may look bright and beautiful, but once the wind blows and the waves come, it will collapse in an instant," Xia Jie replied. "I don't want to gain only this level of trust from you, Sensei. So I have to tear it all down and rebuild it."

Something unusual flashed through Gojo Satoru's eyes, but he wore a blindfold, so Xia Jie could not see it at all.

"Aren't you afraid I'll restrain you and take you to see the Higher-Ups?" Gojo Satoru said in a deliberately grave tone, though he was mostly joking.

"If even someone like you, Sensei, would do that, then I can only accept my fate," Xia Jie said helplessly.

"Xia Jie, you... are strange!" Gojo Satoru said with a peculiar expression. "Why do you trust me so much?"

"Because Sensei is the strongest!" Xia Jie answered without hesitation.

"Just because of that?" Gojo Satoru found it rather baffling.

"Yes, that alone!" Xia Jie nodded. "Sensei, what do you think the strongest can do?"

Gojo Satoru froze and said nothing.

To be honest, he had never seriously thought about that question.

"Rule the world, intimidate humanity, take whatever you want... With your strength, Sensei, you could easily do all of that," Xia Jie continued. "Yet you chose to teach students at Jujutsu High, and you even obey the orders of the Higher-Ups you dislike."

"Isn't a teacher like that worthy of trust?"