Chapter 77: Are bystanders more likely to see clearly than those involved?

In May, Gojo Satoru took his classmates and juniors to the village to work.

The new house is about to be completed. The boys are assigned to the new house to carry building materials, while the girls are assigned to help Gong Zhili build a greenhouse.

This greenhouse is planned to be built behind the warehouse of the new house. The warehouse can protect the greenhouse from some wind and rain, and the grown tomato and cucumber seedlings will be transplanted into it.

Nanami Kento, wearing a hard hat and carrying a bundle of planks, walked down the road. His voice was even deeper than the previous year. "How did Miya Chiri do it? Every time she comes to the village, I can feel her barrier getting stronger."

Every time they come here to work, they are exhausted. It seems that they have not made any progress. Compared with this, the barrier at the middle school is like a basic version.

Huiyuan Xiong laughed bitterly: "It's just like a sprint improvement class, right? The only difference is that we are not attending a cultural class, but a physical education improvement class."

Geto: "What a fitting metaphor, Haibara."

The girls' work was not easy either. They had to lay a good foundation first - no deep holes were needed, and then set up the frame of the greenhouse. Several people worked together to stretch the greenhouse cloth, with Gojo Satoru assisting them. The greenhouse was not very big, and the girls finished their work in half a day and rushed to the lake to pick lotus leaves.

Gong Zhili prepared to make lotus leaf steamed pork at noon, and also caught some river shrimps to make fried mixed dishes.

"We missed the spring vegetables—" Tenriko said ruefully. "I heard from Kuroi that spring vegetables are super delicious. If we miss them, we'll have to wait another year."

She looked at Gong Zhili eagerly: "Is it still available now?"

Gong Zhili: "Maybe there are still some young bracken in the deep mountains, but the taste can't compare to the freshly grown wild vegetables."

Tenriko looked disappointed. "Well... I won't miss it next year."

Gong Zhili smiled and said, "But I still have some pickled bracken that I made. They taste pretty good too. Would you like to try it?"

Nakano Riko: "Of course!"

After wiping his sweat, Jia Ruxiaozi walked back home with them and said, "You grow so many kinds of vegetables. Is it easy to take care of them?"

Gong Zhili: "Basically, just pulling out the weeds is enough."

Without weeds competing with crops for nutrients, they grow well on their own and pests and diseases don't have a chance to appear.

This was recognized by the whole village. They found farming much easier this year than in previous years, so they sent many more offerings. Gong Zhili took out some and cooked them for them to try.

"Chiri, your cooking is still amazing." Ieiri Naoko was satisfied after eating the food cooked by Miya Chiri. She felt soothed both physically and mentally, and she did not hesitate to praise him.

Gong Zhili: "Maybe it's because it's spring. The ingredients are always full of vitality, and the food tastes better than before."

Ieiri Naoko put down her chopsticks and clasped her hands together: "I'm full~ Thank you for the treat."

She looked around the living room and was not used to not hearing the children's laughter. "Isn't today a holiday? Where did they go?"

Gong Zhili: "I'm going to a classmate's house to play and won't be back for dinner."

She seemed used to it, and a thought suddenly occurred to her: "Don't you get lonely when you're home alone?"

Gojo Satoru was sitting opposite Gong Zhili. Upon hearing this, his eyes also fell on Gong Zhili's face.

Ieiri Shoko and Geto Suguru were looking at Gojo Satoru together.

Gong Zhili: "No, it's very comfortable to be alone at home. I don't have to worry about how many dishes to prepare for lunch. I can just make whatever I want. The cooking time is greatly shortened."

In fact, sometimes she would fool herself. It’s not that she doesn’t want to eat good food, but she is simply lazy. She would eat lunch alone at home while watching TV. It’s a bad habit.

There was no need to talk about these things. Gojo Satoru lowered his head and continued eating.

Tenriko was uneasy: "Will it be a bother for you if we come here to eat?"

Gong Zhili drank the last bit of chrysanthemum tea and said calmly: "If you don't come, when will all the food be used up?" The children have a meal at school, so the rate of food consumption at home slows down. If they don't come, some of the food will be wasted.

“If it really bothers me, I’ll tell you directly,” she said. “So just eat quickly and don’t overthink it.”

In the afternoon, everyone went to help at the new house. The craftsmen from the village who came to help were laying tiles on the roof, while others were carrying the tiles in boxes to the scaffolding.

Gong Zhili squatted on the other side of the path and continued to pull weeds diligently. She planned to make this side into an irregular flower bed in the future, so she had to clear the land now.

As Huihara Yu was passing by the path with a basket full of tiles in his arms, he stepped on some grass leaves that she had thrown on the roadside. His foot slipped, and the heavy basket fell out of his hand and hit the back of the head of Miya Chiri who was squatting and pulling weeds nearby. Although she was wearing a safety helmet, it was still extremely dangerous for her to fall!

Before Huiyuan could even exclaim—

A shadow had already blocked Gong Zhili's back. Gojo Satoru appeared at some point and held the bottom of the falling basket steadily with one hand. The tiles did not move in the basket, and no one could see when he moved.

"Watch your step, Haibara." There was no emotion in Gojo Satoru's voice, but he did not let go of the hand holding the basket immediately. The other hand subconsciously protected a few inches above Gong Zhili's head, as a posture to prevent a second impact. Gong Zhili looked back blankly, only seeing the bottom of the basket and the tense lines of his forearm.

"Ah, it's okay..." Gong Zhili reacted and touched his helmet, "I won't get hurt, but thank you."

Gojo Satoru: “That’s not the question.”

The noise here attracted other people to gather over. Geto Suguru forgot to put down the towel he used to wipe his sweat, Naoko Ieiri whistled in her heart, Kento Nanami remained silent, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Riko Tenchi blinked, looked at Gojo Satoru's hand that was protecting Miya Chiri's head, and then looked at the lazy expression on Gojo-senpai's face that was no different from usual.

Haibara Yu apologized repeatedly, and Gojo Satoru stuffed the basket back into his arms a little too hard. "Focus." He said this, turned around and left as if nothing had happened.

Gong Zhili said, "I won't squat here to pull weeds anymore. It feels a bit in the way. I'll go to the back of the house to dig bamboo shoots. We'll have pickled pork with preserved vegetables tonight!"

Xia Yujie walked over to Ieiri Nozomi and asked, "How far was it just now?"

Ieiri Shoko pointed to Gojo Satoru's initial position and lowered her voice, "At least ten meters."

Geto Suguru was silent. He said, "Should I say, you are worthy of being called Satoru?" This instant reaction ability and distance control of teleportation, as well as the instant mobilization of cursed energy under the suppression of the barrier, are all so precise that it is unimaginable.

Gojo Satoru somehow ended up wandering to the back of the house. Ieiri Naoko glanced around and whispered, "He was really angry just now, wasn't he?"

To be honest, ever since she knew Gojo Satoru, she had rarely seen him really angry. He was too at ease, and most of his emotions were superficial, more like emotions expressed in response to the situation at the time.

Ieiri Shoko wasn't sure if there was anything wrong with her feelings, but at certain moments she could indeed sense Gojo Satoru's inner calmness.

And now, the person who can arouse his emotions has appeared.

Geto Suguru nodded: "I can't say I'm mad at Haibara... but I am definitely angry."

Gojo would not be angry with his junior because Haibara accidentally slipped, nor would he be angry with Miya Chiri. So, he was angry about the accident itself.

Geto Suguru couldn't think any further. If he continued, he would start to feel that Wu was a little scary.

Even if it's first love, it shouldn't be so intense, right?

Seeing that the two seniors had fallen silent, Tennen Riko leaned over and whispered, "Gojo-senpai, there's something strange going on."

Ieiri Naoko remained calm: "What's so strange about that?"

Nariko: "Why was he angry just now?"

Wow, this girl saw through it. Glass and Geto immediately realized that Gojo Satoru could no longer hide it.

But what does this have to do with them?

Xia Yujie said: "Who knows, maybe he just happened to be in a bad mood."

It looked like Wu had no intention of hiding anything; this kind of place was actually very much his style.

Ieiri Naoko picked up the basket again and said, "Keep training. We have to hurry up before summer comes."

Riko went to see Nanami Kento again and asked, "Do you think Gojo-senpai is angry?"

Nanami Kento asked back, "Why do you think he's angry?"

Tenriko's eyes were blank. "Yeah... why?"

Gong Zhili squatted behind the house, using a shovel to dig out the large number of bamboo shoots. Bamboo grows so fast in spring that she keeps digging. She digs the ones near her home every day. There are too many bamboo shoots accumulated in the basement, and the ones that cannot be eaten have to be dried into bamboo shoots.

Gojo Satoru also squatted next to her and said, "Aren't you afraid?"

Gong Zhili snapped back to his senses from the joy of mechanically digging bamboo shoots. After a moment of confusion, he remembered, "Ah, are you talking about what happened just now? Don't worry, the barrier won't hurt me. Even if I didn't realize it, the box of tiles would probably still be floating in the air."

She really didn't take this matter to heart.

Gojo Satoru stood up and walked around her twice, wanting to say something. Finally, he found a rock to sit on, bent his long legs, rested his elbows on his knees, and asked, "If you weren't in the barrier, you would be hurt."

Gong Zhili slowed down his movements and began to think: "This situation is rare, and I was wearing a helmet at the time. As long as my head is not fatally injured-"

"I won't let you get hurt," Gojo Satoru interrupted her, "Just like before, it's very simple."

Gong Zhili's muddy hands stopped in mid-air, and she simply looked directly into Gojo Satoru's eyes. He never wore sunglasses in the village, and his extremely beautiful eyes were not covered. She could directly see the blue sky. There was only concentration and seriousness in his eyes.

Miya Chiri and he looked at each other quietly for a few seconds. Gojo Satoru couldn't stand this direct eye contact, and his head began to boil like boiling water again.

Gong Zhili was still staring at his face, and the corners of her mouth even curved up into a very subtle, inquiring arc.

She said, "But you said that when I come of age, you will have to fight me again. If I can get your approval, I won't be so weak that I need protection."

Gojo Satoru looked even more annoyed than before. He rubbed his fingers and said, "This is different..."

He couldn't continue and stood up: "Forget it, there won't be a next time anyway."

Gong Zhili's mouth curled up even more: "No next time? What? How interesting, Gojo."

After Gojo Satoru left, she withdrew her gaze and lowered her head to continue digging bamboo shoots. She dug quickly with the small hoe, but the smile on her lips never disappeared.

With so many people helping, the progress of the new house was faster than expected. The house was completely handed over during the children's summer vacation. None of Gojo and his friends came when the house was handed over.

Because summer is coming.

Gong Zhili had heard them say before that summer was the time when cursed spirits were most active, but she had never experienced it herself. However, after the new house was built during the summer vacation, when she went out of the village to buy furniture for the new house, she faced several moments when cursed spirits were taking shape.

The timing was really coincidental. Because there were so many things to buy, she asked Shin'o Zenin, who was with her (now almost her exclusive driver, he drove her whenever she left the village), to buy daily necessities, while she went to the electronics store.

The electronics store was air-conditioned and comfortable, but the prices of the appliances were not so great. Gong Zhili was not short of money, but she could see that most of the customers shopping in the electronics store had upset expressions.

Before the curse spirit took shape, Gong Zhili had already sensed that something was wrong in the entire electronics city.

The aura emanating from every dissatisfied customer gradually formed a cursed spirit covered with tentacles of electronic components on the largest price billboard. It climbed onto the latest air conditioner, emitting meaningless roars, and purple-black rusty water flowed from its shapeless mouth.

At the moment, it seemed that she was the only one who could see the cursed spirit. The people in the shop continued to be upset. They seemed to be discouraged by the unsatisfactory price and quickened their pace to leave.

Therefore, Gong Zhili's inaction became very conspicuous.

The lights in the originally cool and bright air-conditioned shop suddenly flickered. The store manager and the staff hurried to the workshop to check the circuit. Now, only Gong Zhili was left to face this new cursed spirit.

"Cursed spirits also have different levels. What level are you?" Gong Zhili approached it and observed it carefully. "Gojo said that special-level cursed spirits can communicate with humans. Looking at you...it seems that can't happen."

As she approached, the decorative potted plants inside and outside the store began to grow wildly out of their pots. The leaves of one pot of spider plant were so dense that they covered the entire floor of the store, forming an encirclement around the cursed spirit.

Gong Zhili stood at the edge of the encirclement, facing the angry curse spirit, his lips curved up. "I don't know why, but Gojo and the others have been trying to stop me from capturing the curse spirit—even though they've been covering it up well. Maybe they're afraid I'll swallow it?"

However, after seeing the ugly appearance of the cursed spirit, she completely gave up the idea and expressed her highest respect to Xia You for swallowing so many cursed spirit jades.

Were the cursed spirits she had seen before so ugly? Or was it because the cursed spirits had been beaten so badly by Gojo and the others that their true appearance could not be seen, so she didn't realize it?

The cursed spirit seemed to be angered by her sweeping gaze, and a tentacle wrapped in a sharp circuit board suddenly lashed out at her face! The fishy wind it brought up lifted Gong Zhili's hair.

"Born from darkness, darker than black, all filth and impurity shall be purified!"

The cold spell was like a sharp blade, suddenly tearing through the air!

Before Gong Zhili could mobilize any defense or counterattack measures, Gojo Satoru's figure had already appeared beside her. He put his arms around Gong Zhili's waist and let her fall into his arms. A boundless technique unfolded in front of him. The ferocious tentacle, along with the rusty water dripping from it, was all frozen less than an inch away from her face, frozen in the infinite distance, unable to move.

What followed was a dazzling pale blue light, like a divine punishment. Without a loud noise, the newly born cursed spirit was completely annihilated, and everything turned into nothingness, as if it had never existed.

Gong Zhili blinked and turned his head around, as if he was still trying to find some remnants of the cursed spirit, but there was really nothing.

She then slowly turned her head and looked into...Gojo Satoru's chest.

She took a few steps back, and Gojo Satoru loosened his hand, his right hand still maintaining the posture of making a seal with one hand. The blue eyes behind the sunglasses were cold without a trace of warmth, and her figure was reflected in the sunglasses.

The air pressure around him was so low that it was almost solidified.

“…” Gong Zhili opened his mouth.

Gojo Satoru moved faster than her. He leaned over slightly and scanned her face, as if to confirm whether she was intact.

"You..." His voice was so low that it seemed to be squeezed out from under the ice, "Why don't you hide?"

You must be scared silly, right?

Gong Zhili tilted her head and moved her fingers, causing the unnatural plant bodies on the ground to quickly shrink back. She lowered her head and signaled, "I'm going to tie up the cursed spirit and see what's going on..."

The terrifying low pressure around Gojo Satoru seemed to freeze for a moment, and a variety of emotions surged in his eyes. Finally, he closed his eyes, straightened up, took a deep breath, and said, "If you want to study curse spirits next time, I must be by your side."

He knew this person's curiosity wouldn't be easily diverted! If he really couldn't let her obtain the cursed spirit, maybe next time she would go looking for it herself. He always felt that once she turned eighteen and got her driver's license, she would begin her mundane "travel," and it wouldn't be surprising if she encountered any kind of cursed spirit along the way.

Gong Zhili didn't nitpick the "must" in his words at this moment. After all, he had just protected her, so she simply nodded in agreement and suggested, "Actually, besides here, there's also a cursed spirit about to hatch in another part of this mall. Since you're there... come with me to take a look?"

Gojo Satoru's forehead was almost bulging with blue veins: "How do you know a curse spirit is about to form here?"

Gong Zhili gave a slightly embarrassed smile, and reached out her hand to gently brush across the display cabinet next to her. The moment her fingertips left the glass, a small, fine shadow quickly spread across the smooth glass. In Gojo Satoru's eyes, this power merged with the ground beneath his feet.

"It's probably...this feeling?" Although there are few plants in this building, people carry too much pollen on their bodies. After all, in summer, plants are very passionate and unrestrained.

Gojo Satoru watched as Miya Chiri withdrew her hand, that embarrassed smile still on his face, his eyes clear and frank.

He understood: it was her talent at work again. In such an environment, she learned how to "predict" the formation of cursed spirits without any instruction.

He suddenly felt that it was a good thing that Gong Zhili stayed in the village.

After all, the external environment has given her too much stimulation. Next time, there might be an unformed special-grade curse spirit that will attract her. By that time, will she be able to cope with it?

"Let's go." Gojo Satoru put aside his premonition of danger, his voice muffled. He didn't ask any more questions, but just stretched out his hand, lightly and with an unquestionable strength, he put his arm around Gong Zhili's shoulders and brought her to his side, making sure she was completely within his range of one step.

Gojo Satoru's tall body almost half-covered Gong Zhili in his shadow.

The corners of Gong Zhili's mouth curled up slightly again.

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The author has something to say: Guess if this person knows this? Anyway, there won't be any emotional interactions before adulthood. Just pull it out, pull it out hard, I want to write about adulthood!