Chapter 144: After many years, I still can’t beat Jiang Lai’s straight…
Zenin Naoya had imagined countless times when he passed by the corridor with red ropes and copper bells that he would see the man in the fox mask again.
The pride honed in youth and the innate admiration for the strong are intertwined, accumulating into a kind of stubbornness as the years go by.
He gritted his teeth and practiced his skills, fantasizing about giving the other party a counterattack that would leave a deep impression when they met again one day.
He regarded Shen'er, whom he had seen with surprise at first glance in the corridor when he was a child, as his idol, and regarded Jiang Lai, with whom he had a brief confrontation in the corridor when he was a teenager, as his target.
He admires and yearns for powerful idols, and pursues the goal of defeating and proving himself.
Naoya Zenin believes that he is the most talented youngster in the Zenin family, and has grown into a special first-class sorcerer.
His projectile spells were mastered to perfection, and Zenin Naoya was certain that if he could go back in time and return to the scene of that day, he would be able to gain the upper hand in a blink of an eye.
——After all, almost no one can see through their own abilities at the beginning and react in one twenty-fourth of a second. As long as they start to exert their strength, they can gain the upper hand.
Zenin Naoya believed this.
However, when yesterday happened again and the mysterious demon wearing a mask appeared before his eyes again, Zenin Naoya found that he was once again held in the invisible space - the fantasy scene was ruthlessly shattered by reality.
Different scenes, two similar people, a repeating situation. Zenin Naoya couldn't move at all, let alone perform his own technique.
"..." He gritted his teeth and tried his best to break free from the restraints, unwilling to accept this outcome of being knocked down in an instant.
It shouldn't be like this!!
As long as I get out of control a little, I can take the initiative again...
But the fox-masked visitor in front of him did not give him a chance.
In fact, the reason why Jiang Lai sneaked in with the mist and attacked silently with full power of spell was to not give Zenin Naoya any chance to resist, so as to avoid excessive noise and trouble.
He moved decisively, appearing like a ghost and trapping Naoya. He did not even give the opponent a chance to breathe, and directly raised the sharp long scissors in his hand and rushed towards the blond young man!
Zenoin Naoya widened his foxy eyes in astonishment, the approaching blade reflected in his mother's beautiful pupils.
Bound by the invisible cursed force in the air, he could only watch helplessly as the scissors reflecting the cold light separated to the sides, encircled him, and then ruthlessly snapped and clamped in the middle -!
"!!"
However, the imagined pain of being cut open at the waist did not come. At the moment when the sharp scissors closed, Zenoin Naoya only felt a chill that seemed to penetrate into his bones, stirring up a tremor in his soul.
A kind of suffocating dizziness as if from lack of oxygen came over him, and Zenoya felt his fingers getting cold, and at the same time he had a vague feeling of being in a trance.
The soul seemed to leave the body in an instant, and then was pulled by some force from the side and stuffed into another bulging shell.
At this time, Zenoin Naoya was still in a daze, his mind tense, and he seemed to be stuck at the moment when his waist was broken by the scissors cursed weapon.
It was not until he took a few deep breaths that he came to his senses and realized that he was still alive.
...I'm not dead yet. That's great!
He didn't care whether the man opposite him was temporarily merciful or made a mistake. His first reaction after coming to his senses and breaking free from his restraints was to fight back fiercely!
but--
Before making his move, Zenin Naoya first realized something was wrong. He was stunned and turned over suddenly. He found that his vision had completely changed. Everything around him seemed to have expanded several times... No, he had shrunk! !
He looked down at his body, and his golden, furry paws appeared before his eyes.
“……” Zenoin Naoya’s mind went blank for a moment, and he subconsciously reached out his hand and touched himself from head to toe.
Its whole body is covered with soft animal-like hair, and it has a pair of long ears curled upwards, like a rabbit or a bat-eared fox, with a short round tail behind its butt.
——What on earth is this! ! ?
Zenin Naoya suddenly raised his head and couldn't help shouting, "You bastard...what on earth did you do!?"
Jiang Lai looked at the small golden cursed skeleton that looked like Stitch standing up in front of him, and the corners of his lips behind the mask slightly curled up.
He looked calm and was not worried at all about Naoya's impotent rage.
Just now, he had used the space magic power code editing cage to cover the room, forming an invisible internal soundproof wall, so he was not worried about the question that Zenoya was shouting out at this moment.
In fact, he had already prepared for the other party to go crazy.
Zenin Naoya, whose soul was stuffed into the Cursed Corpse, tore at the fur on his body, and then noticed a familiar body lying crookedly on the bed - the body without a soul fell on the bed with its eyes closed.
Zenin Naoya had never seen himself up close like this before, and not through a mirror.
His green eyes, which belonged to the Cursed Skeleton, widened and he stopped his crazy actions stiffly, just staring at his original body in a daze.
After half a second, he said, "...Am I dead, or am I alive?"
Seems a little dazed.
Jiang Lai put away the long pair of scissors, and after canceling the curse, it returned to its original small shape.
He took one or two steps forward, and used the space curse to straighten Zenin Naoya's body on the bed, and even kindly covered him with a quilt.
Facing Zenin Naoya's whisper, Jiang Lai replied in a calm voice: "Of course you are still alive. Your body has entered a long sleep state because your soul is gone, but this does not affect the body's original physiological activities."
This explanation made Zenin Naoya feel a little better. He turned around and stared at the black-haired young man wearing a mask: "So what on earth did you do?! What on earth is this body... this plush doll body!?"
He was full of energy, and his words were mixed with ruthlessness, "Don't take the Zenin family lightly. Pranks or conspiracies should be kept within a certain limit."
The sharp tone carries with it the viciousness of a venomous snake spewing venom, but because it looks like a small cursed skeleton similar to Stitch, to be honest, it doesn't have much intimidation.
Jiang Lai calmly raised his wrist, used a magic ritual to sweep away the fluff on the ground that Naoya had pulled off, wrapped it up and blew it out of the window, sending it farther away to prevent any servants from noticing anything the next day.
At the same time, he nodded slightly and said, "Don't be excited. This is just part of the deal. Your current state of cursed skeleton is your mother's decision."
Jiang Lai directly pointed out the source, without hiding the source of the curse.
In this situation, directly pointing out Mrs. Zenin would be more conducive to Zenin Naoya's calmness and understanding.
Besides, the lady of the Zen temple herself did not tell him to keep it secret, so she could have just said it directly.
Upon hearing his mother's name, Zenoin Naoya was visibly stunned for half a second. He rarely calmed down and stopped pulling at the fur on his body in a self-torturing manner.
The cursed corpse itself does not have a sense of pain, but probably because the soul is human, Naoya still retains some sense of touch, so he confirmed the reality of what was in front of him by tearing it apart.
Jiang Lai didn't say much and didn't take any other action.
He knew that the brief silence did not mean the end, so he waited in his heart for what Zenin Naoya would do next.
After a while, Zenin Naoya sneered, perhaps in self-mockery, and said:
"Why, are you planning to abandon me? Since you can't just kill me outright, you're going to turn me into a vegetable? Oh, that's right. After all, I have never met their expectations of an heir."
Jiang Lai raised his eyebrows slightly behind the mask, a little surprised that Zenin Naoya was so self-aware.
Seeing his arrogant and conceited look on weekdays, I thought he didn't know how bad his character was.
Zenin Naoya's guess seems to make some sense...
Perhaps Mrs. Zenin's actions were also made with the future of her family in mind, so she quietly deprived Naoya of his ability to inherit the family?
But Mrs. Zenin doesn't seem to be so cruel. The purpose of this transaction should be more to give Naoya a chance to escape from danger and get out of the cage.
Jiang Lai lowered his eyes, but did not directly comment on Naoya's previous speculation.
Because a straightforward reply could not convince the emotional Naoya, not to mention that he did not want to get involved in their family's internal affairs.
Therefore, Jiang Lai changed his approach and continued naturally: "She asked me to take you out of the Zenin family and send you to the Tokyo Jujutsu High School."
Hearing this, Zenoin Naoya's mocking expression slightly subsided and he paused.
The Zenin family is based in Kyoto, which is quite a distance from Tokyo.
Jiang Lai was originally expecting Zenoya to go crazy and say something about being abandoned by his family, or to complain about Tokyo High School having six eyes or something, but Zenoya was silent again, which was a rare moment for him, and only spoke after a break.
He snorted and said in a long tone: "It's really disgusting to compensate after such a long time, and in this way - I am totally not interested. Who wants the body of the cursed corpse?"
"Besides, I'm no longer interested in the outside world. There are too many idiots out there, so it's better for me to stay in the family."
Zenin Naoya seemed to have caught some of the reasons behind the transaction, and he said this in a deliberately disdainful tone.
Jiang Lai did not point out the hidden expectation for the outside world behind the words of the cursed corpse.
"Hey, come to think of it, are you someone they think is a feasible helper?" Zenin Naoya's next sentence attracted Jiang Lai's attention.
The Naoya Curse Corpse who looked like Stitch in front of him snorted and said slowly: "Are you not going to continue to be a turtle and prepare to counterattack immediately? Kick me out in advance... Well, it doesn't matter. I didn't intend to get involved in this in the first place."
"The old man and the old woman should die soon, and I can take care of the family." Zenin Naoya put his claws of the cursed corpse together, his voice mocking, but his expression was not so calm, "Just don't squander all the family property, I don't want to inherit an empty shell."
From the moment Jiang Lai heard the word "help" just now, his gaze fell on Jumukai Naoya. He narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling a little surprised.
He originally thought that Zenin Naoya was just an ignorant bystander in this undercurrent, but now it seems that he is not so stupid as to know nothing.