Monster Girl

The dim yellow streetlamp illuminated a bench in the corner of the residential complex, while several moths the size of fingertips fluttered around the light.

Xia Jie stood beneath the streetlamp, staring at the lit windows of a building in the distance. Only after a long while did he look away.

"Forget it. I should go up and take a look no matter what," Xia Jie muttered to himself.

After arriving in Jiangcheng, he had first wandered around the city to familiarize himself with the place that existed in his memories before finally coming to the residential complex where his home was located.

More than ten years had passed. Though the old complex was somewhat rundown, it was still fairly tidy overall.

Following his memories, Xia Jie arrived beneath one of the buildings, climbed the stairs, and soon reached the apartment marked 402.

The brass-colored number plate was covered in rust, but the numbers on it were still barely legible.

Xia Jie had intended to go straight in, but then he remembered that he had not returned in over ten years.

Although his father had entrusted the house to a friend, he had no idea whether anyone was currently inside.

If he barged in recklessly and got mistaken for a burglar, that would be troublesome too.

With that in mind, Xia Jie raised his right hand and lightly knocked on the door.

"Knock, knock—"

Xia Jie waited outside for a while. Seeing that no one answered, he had Shadow Maru open the door.

Xia Jie stepped into the apartment. To his surprise, it did not smell dusty as he had expected.

He had just turned on the lights and had not yet gotten a clear look at the room when a black shadow flashed before his eyes. Then, a sharp rush of wind swept past his ear.

Xia Jie was startled and hurriedly raised an arm to block.

A slender, snow-white leg traced an arc through the air and struck Xia Jie's right arm.

Feeling the force behind the blow, Xia Jie was somewhat surprised.

The leg before him was pale and long. There was no doubt that it belonged to a woman.

But what Xia Jie had not expected was for her kick to carry such power.

Her strength is about the same as Maki's... Xia Jie narrowed his eyes and reached for her ankle with his other hand.

Her body spun, using the momentum and inertia of the rotation to drive her waist, and another whip-like kick came flying at him.

Xia Jie flung her away, only then seeing clearly that the one who had attacked him in the brief gap between light and darkness was a slender girl.

But the erect, furry ears atop her head made his eyes widen.

"M-Monster?" Xia Jie said in surprise.

Judging by her appearance and aura, she was clearly neither human nor a Cursed Spirit or Vengeful Spirit. That left only one possibility—a Monster.

Besides Cursed Spirits and humans, supernatural lifeforms known as Monsters also existed in this world.

Monsters were special lifeforms capable of using curses.

Unlike Cursed Spirits, they were truly "alive" and possessed basic intelligence.

Therefore, even ordinary people could see them.

Because of their life signs that differed greatly from humans and their immense power, early humans had given these creatures names such as "Monsters," "gods," and "demons."

A thousand years ago, or even a little over a century ago, humans could still witness Monsters wreaking havoc across the world.

But with the gradual advancement of human technology, as well as the extermination of Monsters by Jujutsu Sorcerers throughout the ages, active Monsters had become rare in modern society.

Xia Jie had heard of Monsters at Jujutsu High, but during several missions to exorcise Cursed Spirits, he had never encountered the sort of Monster that even ordinary people could see.

Even his teacher, Gojo Satoru, could probably count the number of times he had seen a Monster on one hand.

Monsters in the modern world had gone into hiding and were rarely discovered by Jujutsu Sorcerers. Xia Jie had not expected that this visit home would bring him face-to-face with one of these creatures. He could not help but be astonished.

The moment Xia Jie called her a Monster, the Monster girl's gaze turned murderous.

She suddenly leaped up. Her near-perfect long leg came crashing down from above, carrying a violent gale as it shot straight at Xia Jie.

It was a supreme technique that only a master of legwork could perform—the Leo Kick, the signature move of the fighting master Leo.

If Leo himself used this move at full strength, he might even be able to kick the Earth apart.

Though the girl before him was far inferior to Leo, the power of her attack was still not something Xia Jie could take lightly. After all, he was not some little monster himself.

The Monster girl's snow-white jade foot filled Xia Jie's vision, carrying a beauty that could make one lose oneself.

Yet beneath that intoxicating beauty lay the heavy makeup concealing death.

Xia Jie had no doubt that if the girl's jade foot landed squarely on his forehead, he would very likely lose his life.

That was assuming it could hit him.

Without hesitation, Xia Jie could no longer afford to hide his strength. Shadow Maru behind him used Shadow Binding, freezing the Monster girl in place for an instant.

In the next moment, Xia Jie moved with lightning speed and knocked the Monster girl unconscious with a single blow.

"Shadow Maru's Shadow Binding really is useful!"

Looking at the unconscious Monster girl lying on the floor, Xia Jie thought to himself.

It had been the same when dealing with Tenshu's members last time, and it was the same with this Monster girl. As long as he could hold them still for an instant, he could swiftly take them down.

If they were prepared, however, Shadow Maru might not have been able to catch them so easily.

Shadow Maru's Shadow Binding could bind a target's shadow, thereby restricting their movements.

Based on the Grade system, when there was a difference of two Grades or more, Shadow Maru could directly immobilize Grade 2 targets and below.

When the target was Semi-Grade 1 or Grade 1, it could hold them still for one to three seconds if they were completely off guard.

If the opponent used Cursed Energy to protect their entire body and forcibly break free, that time would be drastically reduced.

As for Special Grades, whether they were prepared or not, they could likely break free the instant they were immobilized.

But Special Grades were not so easy to encounter. The opponents Xia Jie met were generally around Grade 1.

Xia Jie would still have some difficulty dealing with Grade 1 opponents using his own strength alone, but with Shadow Maru's Shadow Binding and the element of surprise, he could take them down almost every time.

That had been true of Tenshu's members, and it was true of the Monster girl before him as well.

But... why was this Monster girl in my house?

Xia Jie felt utterly bewildered. Could this Monster girl have bought his family's home?

He examined the furnishings in the apartment. Although many years had passed, the memories in his mind were so clear that he could still tell there had been little change from more than a decade ago.

If the Monster girl had bought the place, the apartment should have changed over the past ten years.

It seemed that his father's friend had continued looking after the place all this time.

Then what was the deal with the Monster girl before him?

Had she been secretly living here? Or perhaps... his father's friend was not an ordinary person either, and the Monster girl was also his friend, so she had been arranged to stay here?

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