Cursed Spirits That Appeared Late at Night

"Hey! Yuta, did you find anything?" Zenin Maki asked Okkotsu Yuta, who was staring at the ground beside her.

The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons in Shinjuku had only just passed. Some of Jujutsu High's Jujutsu Sorcerers were busy dealing with the aftermath, while others seized the time to exorcise Cursed Spirits stirring in other places.

As for Shinjuku... the Cursed Spirits here had been thoroughly cleared out, leaving almost no stragglers. The Jujutsu Sorcerers had instead paid little attention to the area.

But recently, Window members reported to Jujutsu High that new Cursed Spirits had been spotted on several streets in Shinjuku Ward. Their appearance clearly matched the Son of the Ghost Mother that had been spreading across the internet!

However, the Cursed Spirit's presence was not nearly as oppressive as expected. It was probably only around Grade 3.

Although Jujutsu High's members were surprised by the appearance of the Son of the Ghost Mother, they did not actually believe that the Cursed Spirit discovered by the Window was truly the so-called Son of the Ghost Mother.

In their eyes, it was merely a fabrication invented by bored internet users for attention. After all, they knew perfectly well what had truly happened in the Shinjuku Incident.

As for why someone had managed to photograph a Cursed Spirit, Jujutsu High did not take it too seriously. The odds of successfully capturing one on camera were small, but it was not unprecedented.

Since the Window's report classified it as a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit, Jujutsu High decided to treat it according to Grade 3 standards. They dispatched Grade 4 Jujutsu Sorcerer Zenin Maki and Okkotsu Yuta, a Jujutsu Sorcerer demoted from Special Grade to Grade 4, to investigate.

"Like the other places, the residual Cursed Energy is very faint. It's hard to tell where the Cursed Spirit went." Okkotsu stared at the ground thoughtfully. "But just as the Window members said, it really doesn't feel like a particularly strong Cursed Spirit!"

"Is that so..." Maki widened her eyes, trying to observe the Cursed Spirit's residual traces as Okkotsu Yuta did.

Yet the ground was still just the ground. She saw nothing at all.

Maki clicked her tongue inwardly and said to Okkotsu Yuta, "This Cursed Spirit is really strange. Most Cursed Spirits have a sense of territory. Unless some Cursed Object or food draws them away, they would never leave the places they inhabit!"

"Yet this Cursed Spirit has appeared all over Shinjuku. Could it be... they're looking for some Cursed Object?"

"Probably not! I haven't sensed any Cursed Object presence here or anywhere else!" Okkotsu Yuta shook his head.

"How strange! What exactly is this Cursed Spirit doing?" Maki's tone was irritated. "What do we do now? The Window probably doesn't have any more information!"

It was only a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit. With her strength, dealing with something at that level would take almost a single slash.

But those two Cursed Spirits refused to play by the rules, wandering everywhere and making it impossible for her and Okkotsu Yuta to find them.

The thought of an evaluation like "unable to handle a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit" being added to her record, only for the Zenin Clan to mock her for it, filled Maki with anger.

Okkotsu Yuta glanced at Maki. He knew what was troubling her.

He wanted to comfort her, but he still did not open his mouth.

He understood Maki's personality. Rather than hollow words of comfort, she would prefer to find a lead on the Cursed Spirit as quickly as possible.

Okkotsu Yuta stopped thinking about unnecessary things and began considering the information provided by the Window.

From December 25 to 27, photographs of a Cursed Spirit named Shadow Maru began circulating online.

On December 30, at 23:36, a Window member first encountered the Cursed Spirit named Shadow Maru in Golden Street, but it did not harm anyone.

On January 3, at 23:15, a Window member encountered the Cursed Spirit Shadow Maru again in Kabukicho. It still did not harm anyone.

On January 6, at 00:19, the Cursed Spirit Shadow Maru was suspected of appearing on several streets in Shinjuku. More than thirty people claimed to have been attacked by the Cursed Spirit, including one Window member.

Shadow Maru attacked these people without hurting them, merely asking one question: "Have you seen my mother?"

Some heard those words, while others did not. The Window member naturally heard them and reported Shadow Maru's information to Jujutsu High once more.

The suspected appearance of a talking Cursed Spirit in Shinjuku finally drew a bit of interest from Jujutsu High. Still, they did not place much importance on it and merely sent Grade 4 Maki and Okkotsu Yuta over.

"According to the information provided by the Window, this Cursed Spirit seems to only appear at night, probably between eight and nine in the evening," Okkotsu said slowly.

Maki thought for a moment. "It does seem that way. You mean... wait by the tree stump for a rabbit?"

"That's right!" Okkotsu nodded.

"But Shinjuku is so big. Even if it appears, we won't be able to pinpoint its location!" Maki said with a headache.

Okkotsu's suggestion was no suggestion at all. They were not Gojo Satoru; even if they waited until the Cursed Spirit appeared, they could not possibly locate it somewhere in Shinjuku.

"Um, Maki..." Okkotsu said quietly. "As long as it appears and uses Cursed Energy, I think I can determine its location!"

"Huh?" Maki stared wide-eyed at Okkotsu and said in disbelief, "Are you serious?!"

Xia Jie sat beside his computer and browsed the information on several websites, discovering that interest in the Shinjuku Incident had begun to gradually fade.

That was no surprise. As early as ten days ago, Japan's government had begun suppressing discussion of the Shinjuku Incident. By now, very few people online were still talking about it.

This small move by the Japanese government had not drawn the notice of ordinary people. After all, to most internet users, enough time had already passed since the Shinjuku Incident.

Although the cause of the Shinjuku unrest had still not been conclusively determined—the official explanation was a natural disaster, though no one believed it—people seemed to have stopped caring and had begun turning their attention elsewhere.

Only the people living in Shinjuku were still waiting for the truth.

The official designation of the Shinjuku Incident as a "natural disaster" could not possibly soothe their wounded hearts.

That explanation had gained less acceptance than Xia Jie's fabricated claim that "Kishimojin had caused the chaos."

At least one-third of Shinjuku's residents believed the claim that "Kishimojin had caused the chaos," while another third remained doubtful.

The reason he had achieved such a good result was naturally because Xia Jie had brought Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru out night after night, appearing throughout the corners of Shinjuku where people gathered.

During the first few days, Xia Jie had operated between eleven at night and two in the morning, carefully sensing his surroundings to avoid being spotted by some nocturnal Jujutsu Sorcerer.

Later, he discovered that the Jujutsu Sorcerers seemed to have completely withdrawn from Shinjuku, so he began acting more boldly.

Gradually, people finally saw Shadow Maru and Thunder Maru's true forms. A new wave of online discussion followed, allowing Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru to fully evolve into their complete forms in just over ten days.

After Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru evolved into their complete forms, Xia Jie began having Shadow Maru control Shadow Clones to continue operating late at night in order to earn them more Legend Points, while Thunder Maru stayed by his side to protect him.

The reason was that once an Imaginary Cursed Spirit consumed Cursed Energy, it could not recover it automatically. Legend Points had to be consumed to restore it instead (at a normal recovery rate, not instantly).

So... there was no harm in earning more Legend Points.

Because of Shadow Maru's activity, he and Thunder Maru had accumulated many Legend Points once again.

[Shadow Maru: 3.876 million]

[Thunder Maru: 2.919 million]

Thunder Maru had somewhat fewer Legend Points than Shadow Maru, but that could not be helped. After all, Shadow Maru was active far more often than Thunder Maru.