Qian Chun frowned slightly, noticing how excessively concerned she was.
She immediately cut off that irrational train of thought in her mind.
That was his own training challenge.
As a bona fide Grade 1 Sorcerer, she herself had nearly capsized in the gutter and died tonight.
The guy before her, who was only publicly rated Grade 2 but whose actual combat strength had already crossed the threshold of Semi-Grade 1, would only be under exponentially greater pressure.
Why am I worrying about so much?
She silently warned herself.
However, the female sorcerer's thoughts soon turned 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 congratulatory gift for his recovery and return.
She told herself that this was an investment in a promising prospect based on rational judgment.
In the survival-of-the-fittest Jujutsu World, since they both belonged to the Three Families Alliance, it was always beneficial to befriend a future top-tier powerhouse early.
Naturally, Lu Ping had no idea what Kamo Chitsubaki, who was leading the team, was thinking.
He was walking side by side with Suguru Geto toward the village entrance.
The two casually discussed their speculations and observations regarding the structure of cursed spirit cores.
As they neared the archway at the village exit, Lu Ping's stride paused almost imperceptibly.
His gaze swiftly swept across the surroundings.
Suppressing the exhaustion coursing through his body, he silently awakened the dormant Three Corpses within him.
That chilling sensory enhancement instantly spread outward.
Combined with the keen scent-tracking abilities of the shikigami Shadow Wolf lurking in the shadows, he began conducting a thorough sweep of the surrounding area.
His target was clear.
It was the middle-aged woman who had stopped them at the village entrance that evening to warn them away, before dying by the roadside after her heart stopped.
His sensory network swiftly closed in.
Lu Ping looked toward the patch of ground concealed by weeds ahead. It was empty.
"The body is gone, just as expected."
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 Kenjaku, that millennia-old schemer they had deduced was involved, this was certainly no coincidence.
The scene had been cleaned up far too neatly.
He silently memorized the faint lingering fluctuation of cursed energy at the site.
The moment they stepped past the ruined archway at the village entrance, a tall figure approached them head-on.
Mei Mei toyed with the enormous battle axe in her hand.
With a smiling expression, she looked over the somewhat bedraggled trio.
"My, my, it's wonderful that you all managed to come out in one piece."
There was not much genuine concern to be heard in the silver-haired sorcerer's tone.
"After all,"
she raised a slender finger and lightly waved it.
"Venturing deep into the village's core for a high-risk rescue wasn't on my mission list this time."
The sorcerer who regarded money as her sole faith smiled like a cunning fox.
"That's an out-of-budget project beyond the scope of my assignment, so it costs extra."
Chitsubaki rolled her eyes.
As former classmates from the same year, she had long grown accustomed to Mei Mei's mannerisms and could not be bothered to argue with this miser obsessed with money.
She concisely explained the follow-up work at the scene.
Chitsubaki bundled up the cleanup of residual cursed energy, the removal of the outer Curtain, and the handling of the villagers' bodies, tossing all of it to Mei Mei and the accompanying assistant supervisor.
Afterward, the three of them got into the familiar black SUV.
The engine let out a low rumble.
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 released his hold on the Three Corpses.
Maintaining that bizarre and domineering power consumed an immense amount of mental energy, and he still could not make it operate automatically.
Before long, the Three Corpses within him fell dormant.
Without cursed energy forcibly sustaining him, overwhelming exhaustion crashed over him like a tsunami.
Lu Ping's vision repeatedly darkened.
Every bone in his body seemed to ache faintly.
Fortunately, they were basically safe now.
On the verge of collapsing, he limply leaned back against the spacious rear 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 night scenery rushing past outside the window.
Shadows of trees swayed.
The horrific sight of ordinary villagers being slaughtered that night replayed over and over in his mind.
His conviction to protect non-sorcerers felt somewhat heavy at that moment.
The vehicle moved steadily through the thick darkness.
By the time they reached the gates of Jujutsu High, the sky was already beginning to pale with dawn.
The moment everyone pushed open the doors and stepped out,
a tall, white-haired figure in round sunglasses came flamboyantly lunging toward them.
"A rousing welcome home for our triumphant heroes!"
Satoru Gojo was even holding two party poppers in his hands.
With a muffled bang,
multicolored paper scraps sprayed all over them.
"Are you three years old?"
The veins on Suguru Geto's forehead throbbed.
He disgustedly brushed the scraps from his shoulders, and his already low mood was instantly shattered.
"I came here specifically to wait for you guys."
The white-haired boy shoved both 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 lip, looking somewhat disappointed.
"I thought I might hook a big fish, but they were all minor flunkies not even worthy of having names. What a bore."
He adjusted the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose.
The Six Eyes sorcerer's arrogant demeanor remained as steady as ever.
Suguru Geto sighed.
He took the blame for the mistake that had nearly caused this mission to go off the rails.
"I was too careless. I didn't expect the intelligence to be so far off."
He turned to look at Lu Ping beside him, who had just gotten out of the car and was still not fully awake, his steps unsteady.
"We have the two of them to thank for rushing over so quickly. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
Chitsubaki waved a hand, smoothly giving the customary polite response.
"It was merely my duty. Don't dwell on it."
She glanced at the busy activity within Jujutsu High.
"There's still plenty of cleanup work to do regarding Jujutsu High's security. I won't stay here and meddle."
She stepped on the gas and drove the SUV away, preparing to return to the Kamo Clan and report on the mission.
The moment the vehicle disappeared from sight, Lu Ping felt his legs go weak.
The aftereffects of fighting beyond his limits finally erupted in full.
He was about to lose his balance and pitch headfirst onto the hard stone path.
A pair of hands carrying a faint scent of tobacco reached out from the side and firmly caught his arm.
Before you continue