After taking the train, Lu Ping and Ieiri Shoko entered the outer grounds of Hoshimi Shrine side by side.
The summer afternoon sun shone through the torii gate, casting dappled light across the Approach Path.
Faint birdsong could be heard from the far end of the path.
A tall woman leaned against the vermilion torii gate, radiating the distinctive Cursed Energy of a Grade 1 Sorcerer.
Children's laughter rang out from the courtyard. A blond girl and a black-haired girl were playing together: Suzune Dairenji and Ren Hoshimi, whom they had met several times on their last visit to the shrine.
Mei Mei, who was stationed at the shrine, stood nearby, teaching them the basics of sensing Cursed Energy.
She wore a tailored dark-blue suit and sat with her long legs crossed, holding a small folding fan. Her voice was languid.
"Do this first, then that. Feel it? Yes, hold on to that feeling."
Her long silver hair framed eyes that always seemed to calculate precisely what the world was worth.
Lu Ping stopped beneath the torii gate.
He looked at the Grade 1 Sorcerer, famous throughout the Jujutsu World for her love of money, and recalled what he knew of her.
In his experience, she was exceptionally strong and put money above everything else.
Almost nothing but money could hold her interest.
They had crossed paths briefly during the evacuation of Snakebone Village, but only when they were handing matters over to the assistant supervisors dealing with the site.
Later, when Lu Ping was nominated as a Semi-Grade 1 Sorcerer, the last person to endorse him alongside Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, and Kamo Chitsubaki had been Mei Mei, despite how little they knew each other.
Someone so driven by profit did nothing out of pure goodwill. Every favor she