A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Just as Lu Guan was at his wit's end, "Sora's" voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.

"The weakness of a Desolation lies in the entity that makes it up..."

"Find it, and you'll understand where its weakness lies..."

After giving him those two hints, she said nothing more.

"The entity that makes it up..." Lu Guan looked down at the monster baring its teeth at him and began to think.

If, as "Sora" had said, Desolations were born from the influence of people from other worlds, then Lu Guan, being from another world himself, should have been able to discern the essence of what made it up from its appearance.

Looking closely, rather than a sheep-headed wolf, this thing was more like a wolf in sheep's clothing...

"I see..." A flash of understanding crossed Lu Guan's eyes. "If my guess is right... then your weakness should be... the sheepskin you're wearing!"

With that, he stopped holding back.

Hollow Technique: Purple!

The "sheep-headed wolf" immediately tried to dodge, but when it failed, it decisively chose to take the attack head-on with its belly. After the injury briefly slowed it down, it recovered completely.

"Just as I thought! You're so fixated on protecting the wool on your body... That proves you're the wolf in sheep's clothing from Aesop's Fables!"

A wolf put on a sheepskin and joined a flock, pretending to be docile as it waited for a chance to prey on them, deceiving everyone and the sheep alike.

It secretly slaughtered lambs, but its true form was eventually exposed. The story warned people not to be fooled by a false appearance: a kind exterior did not necessarily mean a kind heart. They should recognize a person's true nature and beware of hypocrites with evil intentions.

In other words... all he had to do was strip off that sheepskin to bring about the ending of the fable and exorcise this Desolation!

"Hollow Technique was easy to take... but what about this?"

"Dragon scales, recoil, twin meteors!"

"Dismantle!"

King of Curses, your technique was the best!

The finest shearer stood in Qichi Village!

Invisible slashes began flying from in front of Lu Guan. After taking a few hits, the Desolation realized it had no way to dodge them and could only try to protect the fleece on its back by pressing itself against a wall.

At the same time, a humanlike expression appeared on its face, and it kept letting out faint whimpers. If one disregarded his appearance, one might really have thought it was a pitiful lamb.

Unfortunately, he couldn't disregard it.

As Lu Guan kept unleashing Dismantle, the resonance energy in his body continued to drain. Now it was a question of whether the "wolf in sheep's clothing" could survive until Lu Guan ran out of resonance energy, or whether Lu Guan could shear off all its wool before then.

"Don't run... Let Uncle Lu give you a nice, fresh haircut!"

At that moment, Lu Guan looked just like a barber hired by a principal to cut students' hair before their high school military training. Though his words were gentle, he showed no mercy with his hands.

The problem now, however, was that as the wool on the Desolation grew sparser, there were fewer areas it needed to protect, making it several times harder for Lu Guan to shear it.

At this rate, Lu Guan would never be able to shear off all the wool before his resonance energy ran out.

But who was Lu Guan? Already a divine man, he had spent a full semester studying at Stardust Academy and successfully mastered the core of being a divine man once again!

He dropped the hand sign for Dismantle and began to sing-

"The sparrow outside the window chatters on the utility pole

You say those words, and they feel so much like summer

The pencil in my hand moves back and forth across the paper

In a few lines, I describe what you are to me..."

It was "Common Jasmine Orange" by Jay Chou, a famous singer from his previous life!

Why was he singing those seemingly meaningless lyrics?

For their literal meaning, of course!

When he finished the song, seven pale-skinned, ugly monsters appeared behind Lu Guan. They were Rika, the shikigami of Yuta Okkotsu, a special-grade sorcerer from Jujutsu Kaisen.

Once connected to Rika, he could be said to possess a near-infinite amount of cursed energy for five minutes.

"Common Jasmine Orange" = seven Rikas!

"Iku zo! Rika!" × 7

Lu Guan... put on seven Rika rings!

Five minutes later.

"How boring..." Lu Guan watched the Desolation slowly dissipate before him, the corner of his mouth curling upward. "I'll probably forget you the very next second!"

He reached into the Desolation's body and pulled out a book.

"Aesop's Fables... So that's what it was?"

Lu Guan looked at the book's cover, overcome with emotion.

This was the first item from home he had obtained in the other world. As a child, he had often listened to his parents tell stories, and his feelings for these fables had been sealed away when his parents from his previous life passed away.

After he obtained the book, a mysterious power was awakened within it and entered Lu Guan's body. The way to use the book of fables immediately appeared in his mind...

As long as he injected Resonance Power into it, he could use the book as a medium to summon characters from the fables to fight alongside him. Their precise strength depended on how much Resonance Power he injected.

Moreover, because the original owner's influence on it had completely vanished, the book now belonged entirely to Lu Guan.

In other words, even if Lu Guan didn't use it himself, he could give it to someone else to use.

As for why it had appeared in the form of a "wolf in sheep's clothing," it was probably inseparable from the upheaval that had occurred in Qichi Village back then.

"Good thing I dealt with it now... If I'd let this thing keep growing, I'm afraid the Tacet Discords that appeared by then wouldn't have been limited to a single wolf in sheep's clothing..."

Lu Guan closed his eyes. That power just now seemed to have done more than tell him how to use the book of fables; the energy accompanying it had also strengthened his body.

His first Desolation exorcism was a complete success!

"Sniff, sniff~"

"I smell dust..." Dania narrowed her eyes slightly. "Tell me honestly, what were you sneaking around doing last night?"

He had returned rather late and hadn't had time to deal with the smell on him. He hadn't expected Dania's nose to be so sharp that she would detect it right away.

"I couldn't sleep last night, so I went out for a run." Left with no choice, Lu Guan told a white lie.

Until he had enough power to protect others, he still intended to keep "Sora" and the Desolation a secret from Dania.

Besides, he really had been running last night.

"A run? Really?"

"I really did go for a run! If you keep doubting me, I won't be able to take it!" Lu Guan took off his shirt and showed Dania the six-pack he had just acquired. "Look, isn't my figure much better than before?"

"It really is..." Dania blushed and touched Lu Guan's abs. "They do feel much better than before..."

"But... can you get them just by running for one night?"

"Uh..."

Lu Guan was at a loss for words. He really didn't seem to have considered that.

"...Oh, well."

Although Dania felt certain that Lu Guan was hiding something from her, she chose not to press him because she trusted him.

"You didn't sleep all night, so if you're tired now, go lie down on the bed for a while," Dania suggested. "I'll bring you food from the cafeteria at noon, so just get some rest..."

With that, she got up and left without giving Lu Guan a chance to refuse, closing the door behind her as she went.

"Is she... angry or not?"

A woman's thoughts were impossible to figure out...

Lu Guan scratched the back of his head. After that thrilling battle, he was indeed a little mentally exhausted. He didn't dwell on it any further, quickly washed up, and fell into a deep sleep.