After the Wolf Hunt

By the time Shoko came back to her senses, Chúgǒu was nowhere to be seen.

Only the female werewolf's lower body remained standing there, and even that half was gradually scattering like a sand sculpture in the wind.

The only thing worth noting was that after the female werewolf cursed spirit vanished completely, she left behind a palm-sized metal cube covered in patterns of closed eyes.

"Ah!" Shoko Ieiri hurried forward two steps and picked up the cube. "Isn't this what we're supposed to retrieve...?"

With that, she casually tucked it under her arm.

The domain of Shadow Wolf Tomb naturally began collapsing as well, eventually returning to the original grassland scenery.

However, the area where they had fought was now scorched earth, riddled with craters of all sizes that stood in stark contrast to the lush green grass around it.

Shoichi Kano finally lost the ability to stay upright. His legs buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Shoko Ieiri's medical instincts instantly took over. She first used reverse cursed technique to restore herself, then ran over to Kano and hit him with several bursts of Cursed Technique Reversal: Output, finally pulling him back from the brink of death caused by physical exhaustion.

How could Shoichi Kano's current condition be described...? He felt as though he had worked overtime until midnight, then heard someone say, "You've got to work out at the office," and dragged his exhausted body onto the treadmill in the company lounge for a five-kilometer run.

"Can you stand?" Shoko asked casually after finishing her reverse cursed technique.

Shoichi Kano braced his hands against the muddy ground and slowly got to his feet, though his head was still a little dizzy.

Shoko promptly pulled his eyelids open, held up a finger, and moved it back and forth in front of his eyes. "Follow my finger with your eyes."

Once she confirmed that Kano was fine, she went to heal Suguru Geto.

Kano also noticed the object tucked under Shoko's arm. Having read the original story, he recognized it at a glance as the legendary sealing cursed tool, the Prison Realm. He just had no idea why it had ended up in China and become the material for reviving a disaster cursed spirit.

After restoring Suguru Geto to full health, Shoko still hadn't had enough and instinctively tried to give the Slit-Mouthed Woman a dose too.

"I'm a cursed spirit." The Slit-Mouthed Woman swiftly dodged the reverse cursed technique gathering in Shoko's hand, trying to bring her to her senses with the simplest statement possible.

Only then did Shoko realize her mistake. She grinned and dismissed the white light in her hand.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman put away the Wrongful Death Blade, strolled over to Shoichi Kano, and shot him a vicious glare. Apparently, with outsiders present, she couldn't say much.

Suguru Geto casually touched Kano's shoulder and retrieved his Cicada Cursed Spirit, which could be used to communicate inside their heads.

After the four of them dispelled the Curtain and followed the scenic area's guide map to the nearest visitor center, their bedraggled appearance left even the staff stunned.

The only one who looked relatively normal was the Slit-Mouthed Woman, since her cursed spirit constitution allowed her to restore her appearance.

Shoichi Kano made up a lie he didn't even believe himself to fool the staff. "Uh... would you believe me if I said we wanted to splash around near the Morigler River and accidentally fell in?"

The scenic area staff could only conclude that this young man took them for idiots!

If they had fallen into the water, they would have been soaked through, but they were covered in dirt and dust instead! Saying they had rolled around in the mud would have been more plausible!

They mainly borrowed the visitor center's restrooms to tidy themselves up a little and look less bedraggled.

Kano faintly overheard Shoko and Geto talking, including whether they should contact their assistant supervisor now that they had recovered the item and return home as soon as possible.

But Geto said they had just been through a major battle and ought to get some proper rest. There was no need to set off immediately.

In the end, Kano couldn't hold back. He pointed at the thing and asked, "Is that what you were supposed to retrieve?"

Shoko was using the metal cube as a ball, happily tossing it up and catching it. "Yep."

"Do you know what it does?" Kano asked again.

"No." Shoko Ieiri tossed it to Suguru Geto, but after inspecting it for a good while without figuring anything out, he tossed it back to her. "Don't tell me you do?"

"I know a tiny bit." Shoichi Kano made a gesture.

He suddenly found it darkly ironic-if no major changes occurred in the key events, this thing would most likely be used to seal Satoru Gojo during the future Shibuya Incident.

Yet the people retrieving this cursed tool... were Satoru Gojo's closest friend and his classmate.

"Let's hear it." Shoko put the Prison Realm into her pocket.

"It's called the Prison Realm. It's a special grade cursed tool. Basically, it can seal a target inside, and you have to use a specific method to release them," Kano said casually.

"How do you know that?" Suguru Geto rested both hands behind his head and strolled leisurely along the sightseeing trail.

"Uh... through... curse user channels, I guess?"

Shoko Ieiri's gaze changed instantly. "You're a curse user?!"

"I suppose so. I'm not a Jujutsu High student, anyway."

Shoko now understood a little of Geto's initial aversion to Kano. "Then have you ever killed anyone?"

"One person."

"An ordinary person?"

"Another curse user."

Shoko breathed a sigh of relief.

None of the four had any desire left to tour the grassland. Suguru Geto kept tapping away on his phone as they walked, though there was no telling who he was messaging.

Shoko bought another pack of cigarettes at a shop in the scenic area. She wanted to light one between her lips, but couldn't find a lighter, so she could only leave it dangling at an angle from her mouth.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman walked beside Shoichi Kano, seemingly wanting to say something. But with outsiders present, she said nothing and merely linked her arm through his in silence.

"Oh, right." Kano bought a few drinks at the next shop and handed them around. "Say, Ieiri, could you teach me reverse cursed technique? I'm pretty interested in it."

Suguru Geto curled his lips, glanced at Kano, and said nothing, merely sipping the Big Boss Iced Tea Kano had bought him.

"Reverse cursed technique?" Shoko's urge to teach kicked in. "It's really simple."

"Oh?" Shoichi Kano was rather curious. Could the changed storyline have turned Shoko into an expert who could actually teach reverse cursed technique?

"Miss Miyano." Shoko held out her hand to the Slit-Mouthed Woman. "Attack me."

Snip! Using scissors formed from cursed energy, the Slit-Mouthed Woman cut a shallow wound into the back of her hand, just enough to break the skin and draw a little blood.

Then Shoko raised her injured hand and pointed her index finger up at the sky. "It's easy. You just go whoosh, then swish."

"Huh?" Shoichi Kano felt as though he was about to reenact an iconic scene from the original.

"Whooosh-swiiish-" She deliberately drew out the sounds while giving her hand a casual shake. A soft white light flashed, and the wound on her hand healed completely. "You don't get it?"

"Who could possibly understand that?!"

Suguru Geto laughed at that. "Don't worry. Satoru and I couldn't understand it either. Satoru figured it out himself later."

"You guys really have no talent!" Shoko planted her hands on her hips, seemingly completely unaware of the serious problems with her teaching skills.

The four boarded a sightseeing bus back to the visitor center where they had started. On the bus, Geto and Shoko finally reached the assistant supervisor who had brought them to China for the mission.

Seated in front of Kano and the Slit-Mouthed Woman, Shoko knelt on her bus seat and turned around, hugging the seatback as she looked at them. "By the way, Mr. Kano, Ms. Miyano, which hotel are you staying at?"

The Slit-Mouthed Woman saw no reason to hide it and gave her the address.

"Okay." Shoko ducked back down.

Afterward, they heard things like, "Ah, Mr. Takizawa, sorry for the trouble, but could you change our hotel to XX Hotel?" and, "We've successfully retrieved the cursed tool. Mr. Yoshihara, sorry for the trouble, but could you arrange for someone to send it back to Japan?"

The sightseeing bus finally reached the stop. Kano and the Slit-Mouthed Woman had never expected this-they had only come for a vacation, yet had wound up tangled in so much trouble.

Unfortunately, there was still no word from Boss Zhao. Otherwise, they could have taken the cursed tool and gone home instead of lingering here.

They got off with the crowd and headed toward the scenic area's parking lot.

"Want to come with us?" Kano jingled the Crown car's key in his hand. Its casing had been battered and scratched all over during the battle, but fortunately, the key itself hadn't snapped, so it still worked.

Suguru Geto merely shook his head. "No, our assistant supervisor will send a car over in a bit."

"See you, then." He waved and headed toward the parking space with the Slit-Mouthed Woman.

"Until we meet again." Suguru Geto gave a slight nod.