第17章 里侧

The inner Hoshimi Shrine looked eerily desolate and deathly still beneath the moonlight.

In the middle of the bluestone steps leading to the main hall was a clearly sunken footprint.

It was the partial shoeprint of an adult man, its edges exceptionally crisp, without the slightest scorch mark left by cursed energy friction.

There was not even a trace of cursed residue. It was so clean that it looked as if the earth had naturally caved in.

"Ah, what a perfect 'proof of innocence' left behind by an uninvited guest."

With both hands in his pockets, Satoru Gojo lazily lowered his head to look at the footprint, a teasing curve on his lips.

Ieiri Shoko, however, paid no attention to the strange mark. Her gaze passed over the desolate stone lanterns covered in moss and settled on the slightly open crack of the old wooden door to the inner main hall.

There, two little heads poked out from the shadows, one above the other, timidly sizing up the four unexpected visitors from the technical college.

They were the same two little girls Shoko had casually treated to local sweets earlier in the bustling city.

Shoko paused slightly, then asked in a puzzled whisper,

"That rumored special-grade cursed object finger was just forcibly taken away. These two children weren't even that frightened, and they still dared to stay in the innermost main hall?"

Suguru Geto brushed back his hair. "Because there's a second barrier inside."

A barrier within a barrier—were they playing with nesting dolls here?

Lu Ping rubbed his temples, which were throbbing after the consecutive battles. He did not want to think any further. "The outer barrier was infiltrated without being damaged, yet the inner barrier could not be infiltrated. Why?"

"Who cares? We'll find out if we go over and try."

Ignoring the discussion behind him, Satoru Gojo headed straight toward the main hall. He wore an obvious fake smile as he waved while walking.

Starting from the vermilion torii at the entrance, they had crossed about half the approach when the unexpected happened.

"Duang~"

Gojo walked straight into an invisible transparent wall with an unmistakable thud.

"So that's it. This is an ancient barrier technique. Its screening rule isn't the usual 'cursed energy inspection,' but rather 'identity restriction'—

"In other words, anyone other than those two little brats will be denied entry."

Suguru Geto stepped forward as well and pressed a hand against the space ahead. Ripples spread through the air, but the barrier remained firmly in place.

"Though I don't know what method the person who took Sukuna Finger used, they probably could not enter this inner barrier directly."

"Besides, that guy's objective had been exceptionally clear from the start. He took Sukuna's finger and left, with no intention of wasting time on irrelevant civilians.

"Otherwise, if he had been delayed for even half a minute before the second barrier, Geto and I would probably have trapped him at the exit of the inner shrine by now."

Gojo turned to look at a small, dilapidated shrine standing in the middle of the approach. It was now completely empty, but the intense cursed energy fluctuations lingering inside undoubtedly came from the Sukuna Finger that had been housed there for years.

Ieiri Shoko and Lu Ping followed behind the two of them and slowly walked over to the shrine.

Perhaps recognizing Shoko's familiar face and gentle smile, the two girls hesitated behind the door for a moment before finally pushing it open and emerging.

Though the blonde, curly-haired girl in front was still young, her eyes held a liveliness and wariness far beyond her years. She puffed out her chest and introduced herself first in a clear voice.

"Hello, big sister... My name is Suzune Dairenji. She is Ren Hoshimi."

At her introduction, the black-haired girl hiding behind her shrank her shoulders slightly.

The little girl named Ren Hoshimi was a full half-head taller than Suzune Dairenji. She looked thin and frail, and even the cuffs of her old shrine maiden outfit were worn fuzzy and pale.

Her delicate little face was pale and sickly, filled with fear of strangers. She gently clutched Suzune Dairenji's hem and, like a startled fawn, did not dare meet the outsiders' eyes.

"Dairenji and Hoshimi... Those are truly ancient surnames." Suguru Geto murmured thoughtfully.

Satoru Gojo had already deftly pulled his flip phone from his pocket. His long fingers flew across the buttons as he typed blind, sending the technical college's assistant supervisor a location message.

While notifying the relevant personnel to come immediately and handle the cursed residue left at the scene, he strode over to the two girls and crouched in front of them.

Even crouching, his tall body carried an overwhelming sense of pressure. With a slight sweep of his eyes behind his sunglasses, he saw two utterly different but equally astonishing potentials for jujutsu within the girls.

Gojo raised a brow and asked in the casual tone of someone practically luring children away. "Hey, brats, where's the current person in charge of this shrine? Something this big happened, and they're really letting you two little runts stand at the front?"

At his words, Suzune Dairenji's lively eyes instantly dimmed. Biting her lip, she said softly, "Grandpa... the head priest of Hoshimi Shrine passed away from illness a week ago. Now, there are only the two of us left here."

Upon hearing that answer, the three from the technical college fell silent.

Gojo looked deeply at them, his Six Eyes clearly reflecting the nearly overflowing talent for jujutsu within the two girls.

If these orphans raised by the shrine were left in this desolate place after losing its protection, they would sooner or later be devoured whole by black-market curse users or wild cursed spirits.

He immediately said, "Then come back to Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College with us. That place is a boring cage too, but at least there are people strong enough to train you into jujutsu sorcerers who can stand on your own."

Before Suzune Dairenji could respond, however, Ren Hoshimi, who had been shrinking back the entire time, shook her head desperately like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Her pale little hand tightened abruptly around Suzune Dairenji's hem. Though her voice was as faint as a mosquito's, it held an extraordinary stubbornness.

"I won't leave... I want to guard Grandpa's shrine. This is Ren's home."

Suzune Dairenji immediately spread her arms before Ren Hoshimi, lifting her chin as she stared stubbornly at Gojo.

"If Ren doesn't want to go, then I won't go either! We can take care of ourselves, and... and my cursed technique is useful too!"

Seeing the two little ones assume a stance as though they were ready to fight for their lives at any moment, Gojo clicked his tongue in boredom, stood up, and shrugged.

"Tch. What ungrateful little brats. Fine, do whatever you want. I'm not in the habit of forcing people to become jujutsu sorcerers."

The training plan was temporarily scrapped.

Ieiri Shoko sighed helplessly and stepped forward, gently ruffling Suzune Dairenji's fluffy blonde curls.

She pulled out her wallet and waved it at Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo.

"Since they aren't planning to leave, they should at least stay in contact. You wait here for the assistant supervisor. I'll take these two children to a nearby mall to buy them phones and arrange emergency contact numbers within the technical college."

Half an hour later, the group of four from the technical college boarded the train home after completing the initial handover at the scene.

It was already deep into the night. The swaying carriage was empty, and the cold white fluorescent lights emitted a faint buzz.

Leaning his head against the train window, Satoru Gojo watched Tokyo's nightscape rush backward outside. He suddenly turned his head and joked,

"Come to think of it, Lu Ping, that blonde curly-haired brat Suzune Dairenji has cursed energy flowing through her body in a way that's somewhat like yours. Her spiritual energy is extremely sensitive when it comes to eroding and empowering external matter. If I'm not mistaken, that kid will probably awaken some kind of shikigami-user technique capable of manipulating external objects in the future. Heh, heh. When that happens, you'll have a little junior sister."

Lu Ping sat calmly on the bench, the Three Corpses within him slowly digesting the lingering anxiety from earlier. He merely smiled noncommittally.

By the time the four of them finally passed through the quiet mountain path and returned to Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College, immersed in the night, it was already past three in the morning.

The successive vicious battles and prolonged mental strain had left everyone somewhat exhausted. After exchanging a few simple words, they returned to their dormitories.

Lu Ping pushed open the door to his sparsely furnished single room and locked it behind him.

He did not turn on the lights, allowing only the cold moonlight to spill through the window lattice onto the wooden floor, drawing out a long, slightly twisted black shadow.

Just as he was about to sit cross-legged and regulate the Three Corpses' cursed energy, which had grown restless after absorbing too many chaotic emotions, the phone in his pocket suddenly began vibrating violently and urgently.

Lu Ping frowned slightly, pulled out his phone, and pressed the button to light the screen.

Under the cold blue glow of the screen, a message from [Naobito Zenin] came into view.

The message was extremely brief, without any unnecessary pleasantries or nonsense.

[Return to the Zenin Clan immediately.]