第33章 高专遇袭

The boiling red hotpot broth bubbled with great bursts, the rich aroma of beef tallow and the numbing spice of Sichuan peppercorns running rampant through the air.

Yet around the small square table for four, the previously relaxed atmosphere froze in an instant.

Ieiri Shoko's fingers holding her cigarette stopped in midair, a long strand of ash hanging unbroken from its end.

Kamo Chitsubaki still had half a slice of Kobe beef in her mouth. Her cheerful chewing came to an abrupt halt, thick sesame sauce sliding from the corner of her lips, but she did not spare it a glance.

On the wall, the image on the LCD television continued to shake violently.

The aerial camera passed through layers of rolling gray fog, vaguely revealing an ancient village buried deep within the deathly silence of the mountains.

"Gas leak."

Ieiri Shoko slowly exhaled a plume of smoke. "In the eyes of the ordinary people's authorities, as long as a Curtain is broken and traces of curses are exposed to the public, it is always written off with that excuse."

"The barrier's broken."

Lu Ping set down his glass. His sharpened senses, enhanced by the Three Corpses, had already caught the fleeting trace of dark cursed residue at the edge of the television screen.

If even long-range aerial footage could capture the village's outline, then the screening barrier set up in advance by Jujutsu High's auxiliary supervisors had completely failed.

In the worst-case scenario, not only had the auxiliary supervisors responsible for cover met with disaster, but Suguru Geto, who had gone to carry out the mission, was likely caught in a brutal fight he could not escape.

He was a wielder of Cursed Spirit Manipulation with Grade 1-level strength.

Lu Ping did not waste words. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and skillfully dialed Suguru Geto's number.

Beep—beep—beep—

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable or outside the service area."

The cold mechanical prompt sounded especially piercing within the noisy hotpot restaurant.

Lu Ping hung up and looked at Shoko beside him.

Shoko had already dialed the number of Masamichi Yaga, their teacher at Jujutsu High.

The call was answered after only two rings, and Yaga's normally steady voice came through the receiver.

"Shoko? Where are you right now?" Masamichi Yaga's voice carried a trace of impatience.

"Sensei, I saw the news. That's where Geto's mission was, isn't it?" Shoko asked bluntly.

"It is. Ten minutes ago, we completely lost contact with the personnel stationed there. Jujutsu Headquarters is urgently mobilizing people nearby, but—"

Before Yaga could finish, an intensely shrill burst of electrical static suddenly erupted from the other end of the line.

Crackle—screech!

The sound was as piercing as iron nails frantically scraping across glass.

"Sensei?" Shoko frowned tightly.

"...Listen... you mustn't... act on your own..."

Masamichi Yaga's signal began cutting in and out heavily, as though separated by a thick, tangible wall. Then, with a sharp snap, the call was forcibly cut off.

The line went completely dead.

Kamo Chitsubaki finally swallowed the beef in her mouth.

With a cold expression, she took out her personal phone, opened an encrypted photograph that had just been sent back through the Kamo Clan's intelligence network, and pushed it toward the other two.

The photograph had been taken from an overpass. In the distance, the continuous mountains on Tokyo's outskirts could vaguely be seen.

Above the Jujutsu High campus, where the sky should have been clear and bright, an immensely heavy dark-red membrane now completely shrouded the area.

The translucent membrane looked like a giant bowl of blood overturned across the mountaintop.

"Jujutsu High has been sealed by a Curtain."

Kamo Chitsubaki lifted a large beer mug and took a hard gulp, her gaze icy.

"Looks like those curse users hiding in the gutters calculated that Satoru Gojo was away on assignment and Suguru Geto was tied down in the deep mountains. That's why they launched a surprise attack on headquarters at this critical moment."

"Lure the tiger from the mountain, then besiege the point to strike the reinforcements." Lu Ping used the serving chopsticks to stir the tofu in the pot, his tone calm. "They've made quite a scene."

"But Jujutsu High has Lord Tengen's barrier protecting it. Inside are thousands of constantly shifting doors. Even if those curse users got in, they would not find the core anytime soon."

Kamo Chitsubaki gave a cold snort and put away her phone. "As long as no one above Special Grade 1 is involved, the personnel stationed at Jujutsu High will be enough to handle it. What I find strange is what their real objective is."

As she spoke, she casually sent a message telling a nearby auxiliary supervisor to drive her SUV to the entrance of the hotpot restaurant.

Ding.

Lu Ping's phone screen suddenly lit up, and a pinned group message popped up.

Satoru Gojo: [A selfie flashing a peace sign high in the sky]

Satoru Gojo: "I already know what's happening. You don't need to worry about the small fry at the campus. I'm rushing back at full speed and will be there soon."

Seeing those words, so distinctly personal and arrogantly overbearing, the heavy mood at the hotpot table finally eased somewhat.

The strongest current wielder of the Limitless Technique was on his way back.

Since Satoru Gojo had already received the news and was using that nearly cheating-like targeted teleportation to return, the crisis at Tokyo Jujutsu High was essentially close to being resolved.

"Since that idiot has gotten involved, nothing serious will happen at the school."

Ieiri Shoko crushed out her cigarette in a dish, rose to her feet, and grabbed the coat beside her.

"But I can't just sit around. Hoshimi Shrine isn't far from Jujutsu High. Mei Mei, the Grade 1 Sorcerer hired by Jujutsu High, is stationed there right now, protecting the two brats in the shrine as well. I'm going to meet up with her. My Reverse Cursed Technique will be indispensable for treating the wounded afterward."

Lu Ping stood as well. "Chitsubaki and I will go to the mountain village. We've lost contact with Geto. He needs support."

Kamo Chitsubaki raised an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth curling into a somewhat battle-hungry smile.

"Agreed. After all, someone still owes me the rest of the feast we did not get to finish at noon. If I let you die out in the wilderness, who am I supposed to get reimbursed by?"

The division of forces was settled in an instant.

As pure medical support, Shoko's safest choice was to head for the shrine guarded by a powerful Grade 1 Sorcerer. Lu Ping and Kamo Chitsubaki, meanwhile, were currently the best choices to reinforce Suguru Geto.

Lu Ping walked to the counter and skillfully paid for their hurried lunch with his phone.

The three pushed open the hotpot restaurant's glass doors and were greeted by the thick, sweltering, chilly wind blowing through Shinjuku's streets.

Dark clouds hung low overhead, and the bustling commercial district seemed gloomy and deathly still at that moment.

Lu Ping suddenly felt watched. His gaze shifted slightly and landed on a gray utility pole across the street.

A huge crow rested silently upon the empty crossbeam.

Its jet-black feathers held no sheen under the dim light. It tilted its head slightly, its faintly dark-red eyes quietly watching Lu Ping and the others from behind.

The crow did not caw. It was as silent as a poorly made specimen.

"Black Bird Manipulation."

Kamo Chitsubaki had naturally noticed it as well. She walked toward her SUV and snorted as she stepped into the driver's seat.

"That woman Mei Mei's eyes really are everywhere. Looks like she got hold of the higher-ups' movements even earlier than we did. Come on. Forget that woman who only has money on her mind."

The black vehicle's engine roared, tearing through the chill of Shinjuku's streets as it plunged onto the highway leading toward Tokyo's outskirts.

Two hours later.

The prosperous city's neon lights had vanished completely, replaced by rolling mountain forests and increasingly dense gray fog.

The mountain road was narrow and rough, muddy water splashing in every direction beneath the wheels.

When the vehicle reached a mountain pass two kilometers from Snakebone Village, the road ahead was completely blocked by several police cars parked haphazardly, their red and blue lights flashing.

Their doors stood open, walkie-talkies and scattered police caps lying across the ground, yet not a single person was in sight.

What filled the air was not the smell of gas at all.

It was a strange, fishy stench mixed with heavy sulfur, rotting flesh, and the smell of old funeral paper burning.

To sorcerers, the cursed residue here was so dense it could be seen everywhere.

"Finally, we're here."

Kamo Chitsubaki pushed open the door, her boots sinking into the thick mud.

She undid the leather guard around her wrist. Cursed energy slowly began to flow through her body, and her instinctive control over blood caused a faint red glow to emerge across her skin while her eyes turned scarlet.

Lu Ping took out his longbow, his vision piercing through layer upon layer of fog under the cursed-energy enhancement of Three Corpses Manipulation.

Both of them possessed abilities that enhanced their eyesight.

In the distant mountain hollow, the backward, isolated village was being swallowed by fire.

More than half of the dozens of traditional wooden homes had already collapsed. Charred beams crackled under the unbearable heat, while thick black smoke surged into the sky.

At the village entrance was a sight like a living hell.

Beneath a ruined wooden sign bearing the words "Snakebone Village," a row of corpses had been neatly arranged across the muddy ground.

They were not cursed spirits. Every one of them had been an ordinary villager.

The corpses of men, women, the elderly, and children had their limbs broken and bent in an exceptionally cruel manner that defied human anatomy.

Dozens of incomplete corpses with twisted faces had been joined, bent, and arranged in the mud to form a giant serpent dozens of meters long.

Severed limbs had become the serpent's scales and ribs.

The tail of this Great Serpent made of flesh and blood pointed directly toward the mountain road outside the village, like an unmistakable line forbidding passage. Its grotesque snake head, pieced together from more than a dozen mutilated skulls, was raised at an extremely strange angle, stretching toward the depths of the village.

Negative emotions and resentment so dense they made one want to vomit swirled above the flesh serpent, turning into strands of gray thread visible to the naked eye.

Sensing such immense and pure malice, the Three Corpses within Lu Ping's body fell into a sickening frenzy.

They raced wildly through his meridians, ceaselessly converting the scattered resentment around them into cold, surging cursed energy that roared through Lu Ping's body like a rushing river.

Lu Ping's face grew ever paler in the firelight.

He lifted one foot slightly, showed no hesitation, and stepped directly across the forbidden line marked by the serpent's tail.