第49章 回到高专

Qian Chun frowned slightly, noticing how excessively concerned she had become.

She immediately cut off that irrational thought in her mind.

That was someone else's personal trial of cultivation.

Even she, a bona fide Grade 1 Sorcerer, had nearly capsized in the gutter and died tonight.

That guy, who was officially only Grade 2 but whose actual combat strength had already crossed the threshold of Semi-Grade 1, would only be facing exponentially greater pressure.

Why am I worrying about that so much?

She silently warned herself.

However, the female sorcerer's thoughts soon drifted in another direction.

Once the rewards for this extermination mission were settled—

she might as well use the family contribution points she had saved up to exchange for a [Ten Shadows]-series cursed tool from the Treasure Pavilion.

She could treat it as a recovery gift to celebrate his return after healing from his injuries.

She told herself that this was an investment in a promising prospect based on rational judgment.

In this dog-eat-dog world of jujutsu, since they both belonged to the Three Families Alliance, it could only be beneficial to befriend a future top-tier powerhouse in advance.

Naturally, Lu Ping had no idea what Kamo Chitsubaki was thinking as she led the group.

He was walking shoulder to shoulder with Suguru Geto toward the village entrance.

The two casually discussed their speculations and observations regarding the core structure of cursed spirits.

As they neared the archway at the village exit, Lu Ping's stride paused almost imperceptibly.

His gaze swept rapidly across the surroundings.

Suppressing the exhaustion coursing through his body, he silently awakened the dormant Three Corpses within him.

That spine-chilling enhancement of his senses spread outward in an instant.

Combined with the keen scent-tracking ability of the shikigami Shadow Wolf lurking in the shadows, he began conducting a carpet search of the surrounding area.

His target was very clear.

It was the middle-aged woman who had stopped them at the village entrance that evening to warn them away, only to die by the roadside after her heart stopped.

His sensory network swiftly contracted.

Lu Ping looked at the patch of ground ahead, concealed beneath weeds. There was nothing there.

"As expected, the corpse is gone."

There were no bloodstains left behind.

No remains had been left behind.

Even the faint traces of cursed energy that had dispersed at the moment of death had been cleaned away completely.

Considering the thousand-year schemer Kenjaku they had deduced earlier, this was absolutely no coincidence.

The scene had been handled far too cleanly and efficiently.

He silently memorized the faint residual fluctuation of cursed energy lingering there.

The moment they passed through the ruined archway at the village entrance, a tall figure approached them from the front.

Mei Mei toyed with the massive battle axe in her hand.

She smiled as she assessed the somewhat bedraggled trio.

"My, my. It's wonderful that you all made it out in one piece."

There was little genuine concern to be heard in the silver-haired sorcerer's tone.

"After all,"

she raised one long finger and waved it,

"high-risk rescue operations deep within the village's core weren't on my task list this time."

The sorcerer who treated money as her sole faith smiled like a crafty fox.

"This falls under an off-budget assignment beyond the scope of my duties, so it'll cost extra."

Chitsubaki rolled her eyes.

As fellow classmates from the same year, she had long grown accustomed to Mei Mei's mannerisms and could not be bothered arguing with this miser who had crawled into the money pit.

She briefly explained the remaining work at the scene.

Chitsubaki bundled up the cleanup of residual cursed energy, the removal of the outer Curtain, the handling of the villagers' corpses, and every other matter, then dumped them all on Mei Mei and the accompanying assistant supervisors.

Afterward, the three of them climbed into the familiar black SUV.

The engine gave a low roar.

The vehicle drove out of those eerie mountains and sped toward Tokyo Jujutsu High.

The atmosphere inside the car was unusually quiet.

The moment he sat down, Lu Ping completely ceased maintaining the Three Corpses.

Sustaining that strange and domineering power demanded an immense amount of mental energy. He still could not make it operate automatically.

Before long, the Three Corpses within him fell silent.

Without cursed energy forcibly keeping him going, overwhelming exhaustion engulfed him like a tsunami.

Lu Ping's vision kept going dark.

Every bone in his body seemed to ache faintly.

Fortunately, they were basically safe now.

On the verge of collapse, he slumped limply against the spacious back seat.

Within moments, he fell into a deep sleep.

From the rearview mirror, Chitsubaki watched every movement in the back seat.

The female sorcerer's lips curved upward slightly.

Suguru Geto sat beside him.

Looking at Lu Ping's bloodless profile, he fell into a long silence.

The black-haired sorcerer turned his head and quietly watched the nighttime scenery rush past outside the window.

The shadows of the trees swayed.

The horrific sight of ordinary villagers being slaughtered that night replayed endlessly in his mind.

His conviction to protect non-sorcerers felt somewhat heavy at that moment.

The vehicle moved steadily through the deep night.

By the time they reached the gates of Jujutsu High, a faint strip of dawn had already appeared on the horizon.

The moment everyone opened the doors and stepped out,

a tall, white-haired figure wearing round sunglasses came dramatically pouncing toward them.

"A warm welcome home to our triumphant heroes!"

Satoru Gojo was even holding two party poppers.

With a muffled bang,

colorful scraps of paper sprayed over everyone's heads and faces.

"Are you three years old?"

The veins on Suguru Geto's forehead throbbed.

He disgustedly brushed the paper scraps off his shoulders, his previously low mood instantly shattered beyond recognition.

"I came here specifically to wait for you guys, you know."

The white-haired youth shoved his hands into his pockets.

His tone carried its usual arrogance and ease.

"By the way, the group of curse users that attacked Jujutsu High's headquarters has already been casually cleaned up by me."

He curled his lips, looking somewhat disappointed.

"I thought I might hook a big fish, but they were all little nobodies who didn't even deserve names. What a bore."

He pushed up the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose.

The Six Eyes sorcerer's swagger was as steady as ever.

Suguru Geto sighed.

He took the blame for the near-disaster of this mission upon himself.

"I underestimated the enemy. I never expected the intelligence to be this far off."

He turned to look at Lu Ping, who had just gotten out of the car and was still not fully awake, his steps unsteady.

"We were lucky to have the two of them rush over to support us. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Chitsubaki waved a hand, smoothly offering the customary polite response.

"It was merely my duty. Don't dwell on it."

She glanced at the bustling activity inside Jujutsu High.

"There's still plenty of security cleanup work to handle here, so I won't get in the way."

She stepped on the gas and drove the SUV away, preparing to return to the Kamo Clan to report on the mission.

The moment the vehicle disappeared from sight, Lu Ping's legs went weak.

The aftereffects of fighting beyond his limits finally erupted completely.

He was about to lose his balance and crash headfirst onto the hard stone-paved road.

A pair of hands carrying a faint scent of tobacco reached out from the side and firmly caught his arm.