Safeguard Measures

Xia Jie, Okkotsu, and Maki saw that they could get little more information from Takano Shinichi, so they stopped wasting time and stepped directly into the Curtain.

It was as though they had entered a freezing ghostly realm. The instant they stepped inside, all three felt the air become unnaturally cold.

"So cold!"

Xia Jie rubbed his hands together and exhaled a puff of warm breath. Then he turned to look behind him, only to find that the Curtain had vanished from sight.

"It looks like we've entered some kind of Innate Domain. That's not something a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit should be capable of!" Xia Jie said with a frown.

An Innate Domain could be seen as the external manifestation of a spiritual world. For Cursed Spirits, it meant materializing their curses and transforming the external environment into one more suitable for themselves.

Generally speaking, any Cursed Spirit capable of this had already reached the level of a Special Grade.

"When multiple High-Grade Cursed Spirits gather together, this occasionally happens," Okkotsu explained. "The curses emanating from them condense together and form a special kind of Innate Domain. Anyone inside loses their sense of direction and can't judge distances properly, creating an effect similar to being trapped in a ghostly maze!"

"I see!" Xia Jie nodded.

His experience exorcising Cursed Spirits was far inferior to Okkotsu's, and he was not even as experienced as Maki beside him. But judging from Maki's expression, this seemed to be her first time encountering such a situation too.

The three continued forward. Their view of the amusement park was gray and hazy, though they could occasionally make out rides such as a Ferris wheel and a carousel. Vague figures seemed to move atop them, but whenever they looked closely, they vanished.

Eerie children's laughter drifted through the fog. In that atmosphere, the creepiness was cranked to the maximum, sending a chill down Xia Jie's spine.

"You're a Jujutsu Sorcerer, yet you're afraid of curses? Xia Jie, can't you be a little less pathetic?" Maki snapped, irritated by Xia Jie's slightly timid appearance.

"Can't help it! I can't stay as calm as you and Okkotsu!"

Xia Jie felt certain his expression looked awful right now. Though he had been reborn and could even command a Cursed Spirit on Shadow Maru's level, unknown Cursed Spirit incidents still made his heart tighten.

Compared to him, both Maki and Okkotsu appeared remarkably calm and composed.

Just as Maki was about to mock Xia Jie again, the figures of seven or eight children suddenly appeared ahead. Their bodies radiated ominous cursed energy.

Their eyes had become hollow black voids, their clothes were ragged, and their twisted faces turned toward Xia Jie and the others as they shuffled closer. In muffled, indistinct voices, they said, "Big brother... big sister... play... let's ride the carousel together...!"

Xia Jie's scalp went numb, and he instinctively wanted to retreat. But Maki had already lowered her body and charged forward. The red spear in her hand was like a dancing flame, drawing brilliant red arcs through the air as it severed the heads of those Vengeful Spirits.

Strangely, the child Vengeful Spirits did not disperse even after their heads were cut off. Their faces wore expressions both eerie and sorrowful as they collectively let out a strange, synchronized chorus of childish sobs.

"Waaah—It hurts—"

"It hurts—My head got cut off—"

"She's a bad person—Bad people should die—"

It was as if some switch had been flipped. Strange, childish crying rose from every direction.

Grief and pain instantly flooded Maki's heart. Countless childhood memories flashed through her mind: towering shadows stood around her, laughing at her for having no Cursed Energy. She tried to break through their encirclement, but could never escape.

Okkotsu and Xia Jie's expressions changed as well, but they quickly broke free from the illusion created by the crying.

"Oh no! Maki's mind has been controlled!" Anxiety flashed across Okkotsu's face.

He was about to rush over when a huge, chubby blue fist suddenly appeared from the void and punched him flying.

"Okkotsu!"

Xia Jie stared at the scene in shock and could not help looking up at the fist as it withdrew into the void.

Countless streams of purple blood sprayed from that fist, and several fingers were about to fall from the void. Yet just as those fingers, as thick as pillars, were about to drop, the fist's owner caught them with his other hand and reattached them.

Then, the owner of the fist tore open the space above, revealing his true form.

A gigantic blue baby's head looked around in every direction, seemingly searching for the human who had injured him. By sheer bad luck, Xia Jie fell into his line of sight and met his gaze.

Fury shone in the blue baby's pitch-black pupils. Flailing his limbs, he uprooted the Ferris wheel and hurled it at Xia Jie.

"Shadow Maru!"

Xia Jie hurriedly called Shadow Maru's name. The shadow beneath him instantly transformed into a sharp blade, slicing apart the sweeping Ferris wheel.

The blade's momentum did not diminish. Like an arrow released from a bow, it shot toward the Cursed Child's eye.

Startled by the sudden black shadow, the Cursed Child wildly hurled amusement park rides at the blade formed by Shadow Maru.

Those objects naturally could not harm Shadow Maru, but the same could not be said for Xia Jie below. Shadow Maru nimbly shifted his body in midair, knocking each ride away to another location.

By the time he searched for the Cursed Child again, it had already vanished.

Elsewhere, the child Vengeful Spirits crying around Maki seemed to be drawn together by some force. Their bodies rapidly fused, forming a two-meter-tall, multi-headed monster.

A fist formed from several hands descended from high above, smashing down toward the dazed Maki.

A clone of Shadow Maru emerged from Maki's shadow, swiftly covering her body. It raised Maki's hands and blocked the punch.

The tremendous impact jolted Maki out of her confusion. Looking at the same black battle suit covering her body as Xia Jie wore, how could she not know what that guy had done?

Sensing that Maki had regained consciousness, Shadow Maru stopped controlling her body.

Maki pushed off the ground with both feet, and her body instantly shot into the air. The speed and height, far beyond anything normal, gave her an irresistible illusion: Right now, I can do anything!

The red spear descended from the sky like a fleeting meteor, piercing through the body formed from the combined Vengeful Spirits.

This time, the Vengeful Spirits finally dispersed completely.

Maki put away her spear, walked over to Xia Jie, and pointed at the "black battle suit" on her body. "What's this about?"

"Uh... a safeguard measure!" Xia Jie said evasively.

Before entering the amusement park, he had secretly concealed this from Okkotsu and Maki, having Shadow Maru create a clone and attach it to Maki's shadow. Since Xia Jie and the others were moving together and their shadows occasionally overlapped, Okkotsu had not noticed Xia Jie's little trick.

Xia Jie's reason for doing this was actually very simple.

This time, they were dealing with a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. Though it was still some distance from Special Grade, it was already an extremely powerful Cursed Spirit.

While it posed no great threat to Okkotsu or Xia Jie, things were different for Maki.

Maki's hand-to-hand combat and use of Cursed Tools were certainly exceptional, but her resistance to curses was far inferior to that of the late Toji Fushiguro. She could easily be affected by a Cursed Spirit's Cursed Technique.

To guard against any possibility, Xia Jie had Shadow Maru create a clone and attach it to Maki's shadow.

Because of Maki's strong-willed personality, Xia Jie had not told her directly. Otherwise, she might not have agreed.

Now that Maki had asked, Xia Jie saw that he could not hide it any longer and could only tell her the truth.

Xia Jie had already prepared himself to be thoroughly scolded by Maki. After all, Maki usually did not think much of him. Though he had done this with good intentions, Maki might not necessarily...

"Thank you," Maki said, pressing her lips together.

"Huh?" Xia Jie said in surprise. "You're not mad at me?"

"I'm not that stubborn and rigid!" Maki shot Xia Jie a glare. "Although having you make Shadow Maru protect me in secret did make me uncomfortable, you did save my life! In the end, it was because my training wasn't good enough that the Cursed Spirit was able to exploit an opening!"

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