Chapter 174 T5 and Jiang Lai's [See you next time]...

After listening to the conversation of people on the playground, Jiang Lai fell into a brief silence.

This world... Even though Gojo Satoru chose to take the Curse Master's fork in the road himself, in a sense, he was actually forced into this one-way street.

In reality, all the hardships they have experienced have been overcome, and after the tragedy has turned the page, a new page has begun, and they all have a future.

Zui Qiang seems to have already let go of the scars of the past, calmed down, sorted out his thoughts, and moved forward hand in hand with his friends.

However, through this fork in the road tower that is good at amplifying negative emotions, it can be seen that the shadow of the past is always lingering in Gojo Satoru's heart.

As the strongest, he will not dwell on the past, nor will he be trapped in the shadows, and he will not show the slightest weakness.

Only occasionally, those shadows would sway before his eyes, reminding him of the tragedies that had passed him by and causing an imperceptible tremor in his fingertips.

Zhuang Zhouxiao dreams of butterflies, where beauty and pain are intertwined and he can't tell them apart in a daze. Is "overcoming tragedy" a wishful thinking or a real opportunity to turn things around?

The Tower of Forked Roads obviously grasped this point, swapping reality and falsehood, magnifying the shadow of memories, and erasing Jiang Lai, the biggest variable in existence.

To this, Jiang Lai only wants to say:

The regulator will make you do all the bad things! .jpg

He exhaled and his eyes fell on the people on the playground.

Nanami Kento didn't seem to want the students to fall into too heavy an emotion, so he quickly called them up and started the next round of physical training.

Jiang Lai did not continue to watch their training. He restrained his cursed energy and walked towards the high school's infirmary - he wanted to see Ieiri Nozomi's condition from a distance.

The infirmary is located at a side door, and you can smell the disinfectant in the air from a distance.

Inside the house, besides the woman with long brown hair and wearing a mask, there was another person—it was Yuta Otsukoi who returned to school.

Jiang Lai glimpsed the people inside through the window. He settled outside and stood silently behind a wall.

Through the comics, Jiang Lai learned that before returning to school, Otsutsuki Yuta met Gojo Satoru. On the rooftop, the white-haired man made a declaration to destroy Kyoto and asked Otsutsuki Yuta to convey it to the world of sorcery.

At this moment, Okkotsu Yuta seemed to have just finished telling Glass about that experience.

Ieiri Naoko pulled down her medical mask, and the scar on her face looked very prominent, but she didn't seem to mind showing it off.

Ieiri Naoko lowered her eyelids slightly and spoke softly, "...How foolish. Wu and Jie, both want to shoulder everything by themselves - even though everyone is still here."

"It's okay to let go a little bit, and the people around you can help bear the burden. Just like when they got into trouble during the college period, didn't I occasionally help cover the bottom?"

Naoko Ieiri's gaze fell far to the side, as if responding to Otsutsuki Yuta, or as if she was simply talking to herself, or as if she was transmitting across time and space to a friend who was not present.

"They keep things in their hearts that I don't care about." She twisted her hair with one hand and tucked the loose hair on her cheeks behind her ears, revealing the dark scar. "Carrying too much will make people collapse."

Outside the wall, Jiang Lai listened quietly.

Ieiri Nozomi held a thin cigarette between her fingers. Having quit smoking for a long time, she lit it up again. The rising smoke was hazy and blurred the space in front of her:

"…They are all arrogant fools."

The air became silent for a moment.

Okkotsu Yuta stood in front with his sword bag on his back, his head half lowered, and did not speak.

Ieiri Naoko lit the cigarette, took a deep breath, exhaled a faint smoke ring, and then said, "Since Wu asked you to tell him something, then tell him. Otherwise, that guy will definitely make a bigger fuss."

"Satoru's warning is probably to give most ordinary people in Kyoto some time to evacuate," said Ieiri Shoko. "He has never looked so cold."

Otsutsuki Yuta pursed his lips and raised his eyes: "Okay, I will tell the high-ranking officials of the Jujutsu." He paused here and said, "But I'm worried that they will use Yuhito to..."

"I'm afraid we can't really intervene in what happened to Mr. Hisahito. If the higher-ups want to use Ryoumen Sukuna to deal with Satoru, we can't stop them or protect them." Ieiri Nazawa turned her eyes away, "That's why if we want to save this child, we can only leave it to Satoru."

"If he's here, there's a glimmer of hope." At this point, Ieiri Naoko raised the corners of her lips, "After all, Satoru is now a curser - he won't obey the orders of a higher-up execution vessel."

Okkotsu was slightly startled, and his tense mind relaxed a little. However, after thinking about it, he suddenly remembered something and said:

"Now Yujin has absorbed 15 fingers. If the higher-ups gather a few more, then Ryoumen Sukuna will have nearly complete power. Gojo-sensei—"

"The battle between the strongest curser and the King of Curses is probably considered a great event by most people in the world of curses, regardless of the outcome of the battle."

Ieiri Naoko put one hand on the side of the shelf, "But I don't have so many positions, nor so many ideas, I just prefer acquaintances, so I hope Wu will win, maybe the other party can find a way to protect Yujin-san."

“But even if he really wins, it may not be a good thing for Satoru.” Ieiri Naoko took another puff of cigarette and leaned against the wall of the infirmary, her eyes drifting to the ceiling above her head. “If madness has no end, it will even devour the self.”

There was no more sound coming from the infirmary, and both Ieiri Shoko and Otsukotsu Kyouta fell into a kind of silence.

"..." Jiang Lai waved his hand to wipe away the remaining meager curse power and left quietly.

After listening to what Ieiri Nozomi said, he understood more.

If the higher-ups really intend to use Ryomen Sukuna to fight Gojo Satoru and make Kyoto the battlefield, then whether he wins or loses, it will be a kind of negative blessing for Gojo Satoru.

Jiang Lai was deep in thought.

If you lose, you will die or be injured. If you win, you will fall deeper into the whirlpool of madness.

What should I do? I should just become the third person in the battlefield and beat both of them, so that there will be no winner or loser between them?

It sounds good, but it seems unrealistic. Jiang Lai looked up at the sky silently.

After the head of the family [Gen] infused his power into Jiang Lai, Jiang Lai recovered some of his strength from thousands of years ago and was able to fight against Gojo Satoru and the nearly perfect Ryoumen Sukuna.

However, although their strengths were similar, their fighting spirits were different. Without the intention to kill, his moves lacked a bit of sharpness.

If a fight really breaks out, it will be even harder to end if the situation escalates. No one can predict how the fight between the top players will end.

Either we start with a two-on-one fight, or we don't start a full-scale battle and just interrupt at the critical moment...

While carefully thinking about the follow-up plan in his mind, Jiang Lai gradually walked out of the forest area where the Tokyo Jujutsu High School was located and arrived at the town closest to the high school.

I also have an impression of this town. When I was with Gojo Satoru during his high school days, they went out of high school together and had dinner here.

Back then, Gojo Satoru and Jiang Lai also talked about this place when they were chatting in high school.

The adolescent white-haired boy put his hands behind his head, looking arrogant and casual, and said casually:

"The location of the college is too remote, but fortunately it's in a good place. There's a delicious dessert shop in the town at the foot of the mountain."

He tilted his head slightly, his blue eyes behind the sunglasses were beautiful and lively, and he asked with some curiosity: "Hey, speaking of which, as a thousand-year-old monster who has been elusive and secluded for many years, you haven't eaten much dessert? Do you know what mousse Black Forest, cream puffs, and Haagen-Dazs are?"

"I know a little about this." Jiang Lai replied with his crescent eyes at that time, "I'm not that isolated from the world."

"That's true - if you really isolated yourself from the world, you wouldn't come to see me." Gojo Satoru put his index finger on his chin, curled his lips and said casually, "Next time I'm free, I'll take you to try the dessert shop I mentioned."

"When is the next time you are free?" Jiang Lai raised his eyebrows slightly, holding the book in his left hand and resting it on the palm of his right hand, and smiled, "Is it the same concept as what I said, 'See you next time'?"

"...Hey, so you know that your [see you next time] won't happen for a long time!" The six eyes behind the sunglasses of the white-haired boy were as bright as gems, and they glared back with some emotions.

Jiang Lai coughed, covered his lips with the book, looked nonchalant, and did not answer.

The white-haired boy snorted and put down his hand that was resting behind his head: "I'm not like you. My [Next time I'm free] is very real - I'll take you to eat tomorrow."

"Okay, then I'll wait for you to treat me." Jiang Lai replied with a smile.

However, in the end, they did not go to that dessert shop.

Missions come one after another, events are very tight, and there is not much free time.

The so-called "next time when I'm free" also became endlessly long and was forgotten in my memory.

At this moment, Jiang Lai's eyes wandered across the street, recalling the past.

He remembered that Gojo Satoru mentioned the name of the dessert shop, it seemed to be called [Seven Red Pomelo]?

It has been more than ten years since the college days. I wonder if this dessert shop is still open.

With thoughts flowing through his mind, Jiang Lai's eyes passed by the brand names of each store.

In front, there is an old-fashioned sign that looks quite old. Colorful neon lights surround a few large characters [七红柚], and there is a smiling dumpling mascot next to it.

Ah, this is the one. Jiang Lai recognized it.

He stopped outside the store and suddenly remembered something embarrassing - Jiang Lai had no currency to pay in this fork in the road tower where he had no idea who this person was.

...Even though this is a fantasy world, it's still not okay to eat and free meals, Jiang Lai thought silently.

Just at this moment, he heard a familiar voice in his ear.

"Huh? You again?"

The white-haired man who I had seen not long ago appeared here again, holding a cup of strawberry smoothie in one hand, looking leisurely.

Although he is a wanted curser, Gojo Satoru has no intention of hiding his whereabouts.

The cold atmosphere between the two of them when they parted on the shopping street last time seemed to have disappeared at this moment.

Gojo Satoru has now controlled the emotions that were leaked before, and has become the perfect, cool and strongest person again.

The white-haired man took a sip of strawberry smoothie and said casually towards the dessert shop, "I've run into you twice in a row at a dessert shop I've chosen... Should I say what a coincidence and compliment you on your good taste, or your excellent intelligence gathering ability?"

Jiang Lai paused and replied, "I'm just passing by. Do you want to come here for dessert?"

"Of course, I came here specifically for this." Gojo Satoru said casually, "Are you eating here?"

"If you treat us." Jiang Lai said half-jokingly.

He didn't really hold out much hope.

After all, although the two of them were able to communicate normally at this time, in reality, in this world, he was still an inexplicable stranger to Gojo Satoru...

"Sure."

Jiang Lai was slightly startled by the unexpected reply from Gojo Satoru.

He looked at the white-haired man, trying to determine whether he was joking or really intended to treat him.

Gojo Satoru held a smoothie cup in one hand and put the other hand in his trouser pocket. He walked forward, paused slightly at the door, turned around, and said in a normal tone: "I'm in a good mood. It's rare for me to treat you. Why, you're not coming?"

As the strongest, he always acts as he pleases and unexpectedly.

Jiang Lai thought. Maybe the other party was thinking that since he had nothing to do, he might as well get in close contact with the suspicious character to test him out, so he invited him.

Despite this, Jiang Lai still had a faint smile on his face and placed the ancient book on the corner of his raised lips.

He walked forward and caught up, thinking leisurely in his heart.

Now it seems that Wu’s [I’ll be free next time] and my own [See you next time] are similar.

——No matter how time passes and people change, it seems like it will take a long time, but it will eventually come true.