Hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm-hmm~
Kamo Xu hummed to himself as he put on his solid-black blindfold and strolled through the city at night.
He had to admit, Sendai might not have had much going for it, but the scenery was pretty nice.
Every few steps made him want to head into a field and plant something~
He reached into the bag of Kikufuku he had just swiped from Satoru Gojo, pulled out the last one, and popped it into his mouth. Then he casually tossed the trash onto the street and swaggered onward.
"Man, who would've thought? It's already time for Itadori to enroll."
He wiped the stains on his trench coat and continued wandering toward the less crowded areas.
Still, for someone supposedly strolling around like a layabout, Kamo Xu moved pretty fast.
Sorcerers could make out a trace of his silhouette, but ordinary people could only feel a gust of wind-and get a bag labeled "Sendai Specialty: Kikufuku" plastered across their faces.
Pretty damn eerie...
Cursed spirits~ sweet, soft, adorable cursed spirits~ where could you be?
Uncle Kamo is coming to lull you to sleep~
Time always passed slowly at night. Two hours had already gone by since he had left Satoru Gojo.
It was the deepest part of the night, when ordinary cursed spirits and curses ran most rampant.
Yet Kamo Xu had wandered all over Sendai without finding more than a handful of halfway decent monsters. Every one of them looked malnourished, as though something had sucked them dry.
What a joke...
Kamo Xu had no interest in even stopping. Curses as tiny and feeble as boogers gave him no urge to torment them to death.
He simply passed them along his route, exerting a little of his immense cursed energy to crush and burst them like pimples on a face.
"Weird. Why are they all small fry?" Kamo Xu pouted as he finally entered the last deserted spot in Sendai.
It was an abandoned building. From the looks of it, it had once been part of a red-light district, a place dedicated to providing special services to certain unsatisfied customers.
Still, although Japan did not crack down on this industry, running a business that needed a steady flow of customers in a place like Sendai... it was hardly surprising it had gone under.
Hmm...
Well, I'm already here, aren't I?
Some indescribable gene that had flowed through Chinese blood since ancient times compelled him to go inside and take a look. Of course, his purpose was to check for cursed spirits or cursed objects.
It absolutely was not because dirty thoughts had seeped into his heart. He was not that filthy.
Absolutely not!
Hehehe~
Kamo Xu walked up to the entrance and could not help admiring the decor. Even the facade looked far more professional than those slapdash establishments.
He gently pushed the door, but it did not budge. Was it locked... no, locked from the inside? A shuttered business, locked from within. Interesting.
Bang!
Kamo Xu could not be bothered to fiddle with it. Gathering cursed energy, he kicked the door, shattering the fairly lavish entrance in one blow and punching a hole straight through the lock.
Kamo Xu had controlled his strength very precisely. The hole he had kicked open was just large enough for him to walk through.
He stepped inside... and a whole new world opened before him!
On the walls... oh~
Wow! And those sculptures... hmm~
Whoa, there's something special about this table and these chairs!
Wait, what's this?
Kamo Xu casually picked up a long, crystal-like rod from a shelf, but it would not stay straight at all. For a moment, he could not figure out what it was for.
Feeling along it, he found a line of lettering in the middle-"Twin-Headed Dragon."
Twin-Headed Dragon... could that mean nunchucks?
They sold weapons here, too?
Kamo Xu understood what went on between men and women, but he knew nothing about the things Japanese people played with.
In his previous life, he had been a thirty-year-old Chinese bachelor who did little besides watch anime and fiddle with figurines. Who was going to give an orphan like him sex education? Teaching himself what men ought to watch was already an achievement.
So Kamo Xu took the "nunchuck"-like thing along with him. If he ran into a cursed spirit later, perhaps he could use it to attack.
After one last look around the outer area, he headed farther inside.
Sniff, sniff...
Is that... a fragrance? This place has been closed for so long, yet there's still such a strong scent...
Strange. Something's off everywhere!
Kamo Xu suddenly grew excited. This sort of inexplicable eeriness could only mean one of two things.
A person pretending there's a ghost, or a ghost pretending there's a person!
If there was a person in a place like this, Kamo Xu would laugh, then dive right in and enjoy himself.
If there was a ghost in a place like this, Kamo Xu would laugh even louder, then dive right in and enjoy himself.
He strode through the door leading to the inner courtyard. With a single step, the world changed.
Everything seemed to have been covered by a filter. Pink mist curled around him like clouds entwined in midair, brushing past Kamo Xu's body.
The scenery suddenly changed as well, transforming from a dark, unlit interior into Peach Blossom Land...
That strange fragrance came from the flowers blooming here. Kamo Xu glanced around. Mountains encircled the place, while shallow water filled the area within...
Beneath his feet lay a mirrorlike surface of water, reflecting the sky and his own pitch-black silhouette.
He raised his head and saw a towering tree. It resembled a peach tree, but its fruit looked more like pears, tinged an eerie pink and swaying precariously on slender branches.
Is this... a domain?
Kamo Xu studied this world with interest. He could take in all the surrounding scenery at a glance, yet there was no sign of anyone here besides him.
Interesting... a rule-based domain? Unless certain conditions are met, there's no way to see the master behind it.
He tried to stir his cursed energy, only to find it thick and murky, as though filled with sludge, clogged and difficult to use.
It jammed at the outlet, refusing to obey him.
Can't expand my domain? Then let's play.
I'll call it a little exercise after dinner and keep this unknown [curse] company!
Kamo Xu took a deep breath, drawing a cloud of pink mist into his body...
"Asahi... Asahi!"
Hmm? Who's calling me? That voice sounds so familiar...
"Kamo Xu, get up this instant!"
Kamo Xu: !
The boy scrambled up from the grass. Kamo Xu barely managed to open his sleep-fogged eyes and looked toward the woman being supported by someone a short distance away.
Anger and a hint of displeasure showed on her face, but the gentleness in her eyes betrayed this softhearted woman.
"You're skipping training to laze around here again! Kamo Xu, don't you have even the slightest ambition?"
Mom?
The woman being supported before him was named Kamo Kimie. She was the boy's birth mother, the one... he had always missed.
But why had he missed her again?
"Are you even listening to me?"
His mother's scolding interrupted the boy's thoughts. She had gradually drawn closer and was now looking with displeasure at this child who showed no desire to better himself.
Her words were filled with exasperation at his failure to live up to his potential, as well as an abiding concern.
It was love-the familial love Kamo Xu had pursued all his life, the happiness he craved, the... regret he had once tried with all his strength to protect.
As though still muddled from sleep, the boy rubbed his eyes hard, quietly wiping away the tears that had come with waking, and asked in disbelief.
"Mom...?"
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