A crimson arrow of blood sliced through the air, neatly severing the web of intertwined cursed energy threads.
A violent gust howled through the narrow tunnel, filling the air with a strong, metallic stench of blood.
The phone that had been ringing nonstop in his pocket suddenly fell silent.
The glow of the screen went out, and the underground sewer sank back into darkness.
Tap, tap.
Steady, crisp footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor.
Heavy black combat boots stepped into the muddy water, producing a rhythmic, muffled sound.
The newcomer walked slowly, unhurriedly emerging from the depths of the darkness.
She was a tall woman.
She wore a modified black Jujutsu High uniform. Her neat black hair was tied into a high ponytail that swayed lightly behind her with every step.
Her complexion was fair, and her sharp gaze cut through the layers of mist like a blade, instantly locking onto Mitarai Shizuru in the distance.
She raised her slender right hand, with several wisps of crimson blood still lingering around her fingertips.
"Having a Grade 1 Sorcerer deal with a Grade 2 Sorcerer really is a little unfair."
She tilted her head, her ponytail tracing an arc through the air. Her voice rang especially clearly through the empty underground tunnel.
"Count me in too."
Lu Ping stood where he was and relaxed slightly.
Looking at the blood aura coiling around her fingertips and sensing that viscous, heavy, overwhelmingly oppressive cursed energy, he immediately came to a conclusion.
This was not ordinary cursed energy discharge.
It was a technique that used one's own blood as a medium, compressing and controlling it to the limit through cursed energy.
One of the Three Great Families, the Kamo Clan's inherited technique—[Blood Manipulation].
The woman before him was a genuine Grade 1 Sorcerer.
Lu Ping's gaze swept over the badge on her collar, his expression remaining calm.
Sorcerers trained by the Three Great Families were fundamentally different from independent sorcerers.
There might occasionally be one or two exceptionally gifted geniuses among independent sorcerers, but after a thousand years of inheritance, the Three Great Families had long developed an extremely efficient system for refining their core techniques, allocating combat resources, and accumulating experience with curses.
Even at the same grade, a Grade 1 Sorcerer from one of the Three Great Families possessed a higher floor, a higher ceiling, and more trump cards.
That sort of foundation was far beyond what a Grade 1 Curse User hiding underground through underhanded means could rival.
Sensing the gaze from across the tunnel, Mitarai Shizuru's expression changed completely.
He stared fixedly at the great net of cursed energy that had been cut in two by the bloody gleam.
He had spent an enormous amount of cursed energy using the terrain to construct that absolute stronghold.
Yet in her hands, it had not even lasted a single move.
As a seasoned Curse User who had lived for more than forty years, Mitarai Shizuru had survived this long not through bravery or recklessness, but through an almost beastlike instinct for danger.
The newcomer's cursed energy was unfathomably deep, and her technique naturally countered his [Binding Spirit Lock].
Blood flowed faster than his threads and was far more destructive.
"Someone from the Kamo Clan..."
Mitarai Shizuru's voice was hoarse as the runes on his black iron gloves instantly dimmed.
He did not leave behind a single threat, nor did he spare Lu Ping another glance.
The moment his stronghold collapsed, his massive body slid sharply backward through the remaining shadows in the tunnel.
Boom!
A dense cloud of black mist exploded beneath his feet, mixed with rotten mud and water as it instantly swallowed his figure.
By the time the airflow dispersed the black mist, a ventilation shaft above had already been smashed apart by brute force, and Mitarai Shizuru's presence was more than a hundred meters away.
He had fled with extreme decisiveness.
The high-ponytailed woman looked in the direction Mitarai Shizuru had vanished, but did not choose to pursue him.
This was a labyrinthine underground pipeline network. Blindly pursuing a Grade 1 Curse User skilled in concealment would not only waste her blood for nothing, but could also lead her into an unknown trap.
She withdrew her gaze, turned around, and looked at Lu Ping.
"Lu Ping, so you were here."
She looked him over from head to toe. Seeing no obvious injuries on him, the chill in her eyes faded somewhat.
The two of them had crossed paths a few times at Jujutsu High.
"I'm Kamo Chitsubaki, a third-year Grade 1 Sorcerer at Jujutsu High," she introduced herself in a steady voice.
"I originally came here to investigate a case involving a suspected Cursed Spirit attack on female high school students. I followed the cursed residue through this drainage system, and when I traced the commotion over here, I didn't expect to see this."
Lu Ping nodded slightly. "I was also tracking a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit here when I was attacked by Curse Users."
Kamo Chitsubaki raised an eyebrow slightly, then revealed a relieved smile.
"It's normal for unexpected things to happen during missions. You have to learn to protect yourself."
"When I was getting routine treatment from Shoko the day before yesterday, she specifically asked me to keep an eye on you. She didn't want Jujutsu High's younger combat strength to get wiped out before it could grow."
"Thanks for the concern." Lu Ping put away his horn bow and answered blandly.
"Enough. We can catch up later." Kamo Chitsubaki turned to look in the direction Mitarai Shizuru had fled, as well as the dark room farther inside where faint light seeped through.
"There's something strange about this place. The smell of blood in the air is too mixed up. It doesn't seem like it came from a Cursed Spirit. It smells more like human blood."
Lu Ping continued, "If I'm not mistaken, there's a Pan Star Religious Group hideout inside. They seem to be conducting some kind of experiment."
"The Pan Star Religious Group... that gathering of fanatical ordinary people?" Kamo Chitsubaki's eyes turned cold.
"It seems they've finally reached into territory they shouldn't touch. Come on. Let's go in and take a look."
The two walked side by side toward the dark room deep within the tunnel.
The air grew increasingly damp, while the fluorescent lamps overhead crackled with electric current.
After the blockade of the "Curtain" was broken, the place's true appearance was completely exposed before them.
They pushed open the iron door that had been blasted apart by [Nue's Feather], and the scene within the dark room came clearly into view.
At the center stood a cold steel operating table. The dark red bloodstains on it had dried into layers, giving off a nauseatingly foul stench.
The iron racks along the walls were lined with densely packed glass containers, each holding mutilated limbs and mutated tissue soaked in formalin.
Large quantities of yellowed documents were scattered across the floor, each one clearly stamped with the black seal of the "Time Vessel Association."
Kamo Chitsubaki walked to the table and casually picked up several scattered pages.
They recorded extensive experimental data, all concerning attempts to use external stimulation to awaken cursed energy in ordinary people.
The pages were filled with cold anatomical terminology and shockingly high mortality rates.
"Conducting long-term biological human experiments... Were the attacks on female high school students also meant to replenish their experimental materials?"
Kamo Chitsubaki's fingers tightened slightly, crumpling the documents in her hand.
"What a bunch of vermin hiding in the dark. This evidence alone is enough to make those old men in Jujutsu High's upper ranks squirm. Take every document we can carry. We need to submit a detailed mission report when we return."
Lu Ping crouched down, sorted several core experimental logs, and placed them into his shadow space without any haste.
As Kamo Chitsubaki cleared the scene, she observed Lu Ping from the corner of her eye.
Since entering the room, the boy's emotions had not fluctuated in the slightest.
Whether he faced the life-and-death threat of a Grade 1 Curse User or witnessed such horrific experiments, he had remained far too calm.
Too calm for a teenager.
"Hey, Lu Ping." Kamo Chitsubaki leaned against the damaged wall, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Outside just now, I saw the bodies of three Grade 2 Curse Users. One had been smashed into a wall, one had his heart blown apart from the front, and the last one... had his head exploded by an arrow."
She paused, her gaze blazing. "Did you deal with all three of them by yourself?"
Lu Ping zipped up his backpack, rose to his feet, and calmly met her gaze.
"Luck."
Kamo Chitsubaki took a deep breath. She had personally inspected the three bodies.
The cursed energy remaining in the fatal wounds had been incredibly violent. That kind of pure destructive power and long-range precision was not something an ordinary Grade 2 Sorcerer could achieve.
What was more, the three Curse Users had been killed one after another in an extremely short time, barely putting up any meaningful resistance.
"Without using the Ten Shadows Shikigami, you relied solely on that cursed tool bow to kill three opponents of the same grade in succession."
Kamo Chitsubaki looked at Lu Ping and spoke slowly.
"Looks like Shoko wasn't exaggerating. Your combat ability is more than enough for you to apply to Jujutsu High for a Semi-Grade 1 evaluation. At your age, there aren't many people in the entire Jujutsu World who can do this. If we had to rank the current Grade 2 Sorcerers..."
She straightened up, walked over to Lu Ping, and said each word distinctly, "Calling you the 'strongest Grade 2' wouldn't be an exaggeration."
Lu Ping's expression did not change. He merely said, "It's not enough."
Against monsters at Grade 1, he still did not have a guaranteed chance of victory.
"Tch. You're really no fun. Would it kill you to be a little proud?"
Kamo Chitsubaki looked at his indifferent face and suddenly sighed.
Then, her body swayed. She had to press half her weight against the wall before she could steady herself again.
"That [Piercing Blood] I used to make such a stylish entrance might have been a little too much."
Lu Ping tilted his head slightly and looked at her somewhat pale profile. "Anemia?"
"Yeah. It's a hereditary Kamo Clan problem. Whenever I lose too much blood, my blood sugar drops."
Kamo Chitsubaki rubbed her temples weakly, then gave Lu Ping a curious look.
The future heir of the Zenin Clan probably wasn't poor, right?
Forget it. I'll just have him treat me to a meal to call it even. Shoko mentioned that a new beef hotpot place opened in Shinjuku recently, and apparently it's pretty good.
Having made up her mind, Kamo Chitsubaki cleared her throat and spoke.
"Ahem. I just saved your life from a Grade 1 Curse User, so no matter how you look at it, you have to treat me to a huge lunch today. I want meat—lots and lots of meat. I need to replenish the blood and blood sugar I lost, understand?"
Lu Ping smelled the faint metallic scent of blood on her and knew she had indeed shed that blood to help him.
Although he had just spent quite a bit of money on oxygen tanks, treating her now would undoubtedly cost him dearly, but he still nodded in agreement.
"Fine."
Before you continue