Chapter 21 True and False Summer Oil

At the moment the accident happened just now, Jiang Lai actually didn't have time to take action. It was Fushiguro Shigeu who arrived at the scene the fastest and forcibly stopped the arrow shot by the cursed spirit.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Lai followed suit and visually entered his own code world again. He edited and manipulated the code with incredible brain and hand speed to reverse the arrow claw, and entangled the guy and threw him down heavily!

After a series of operations were completed, Jiang Lai's brain had time to think about the scene just now.

——Fushiguro Shiori, who had just made his move, was able to forcibly stop the cursed spirit's attack!!

Could it be that the spirit body could also interfere with the cursed spirit? Although the cursed spirit is indeed a non-living being in a sense, this is too...

Jiang Lai couldn't help but glance at Fushiguro Shier who was floating on the side, but found that he had his eyes half closed and was floating backwards to the edge of the wall.

——He looked very tired and didn’t seem to be in good condition.

Mr. Gui relaxed, then turned his head and looked up at Jiang Lai at the entrance of the alley. He said in a low voice: "...Don't relax, this is not the end, there are bigger troubles at the alley wall."

A bigger trouble? Jiang Lai was stunned. In this case, what is called a bigger trouble... could it be a special grade cursed spirit!?

But Jiang Lai didn't sense anything, and apparently neither did Fushiguro Megumi. Perhaps it was because the cursed power of the one-eyed six-armed cursed spirit that had just been knocked down was too thick, interfering with their judgment, or perhaps it was because the cursed spirits on the alley walls would hide their existence.

Obviously, the latter who actively hide their existence are more difficult to deal with.

Generally speaking, if a passing cursed spirit senses a cursed magician stronger than itself, it will quietly flee. It will not lurk in the alleys and walls like it is now, watching the whole process with interest... or perhaps it is waiting for the cursed magician to consume its power before attacking.

Currently, Jiang Lai has just mastered the ability and is not yet fully proficient, so he certainly cannot battle directly with the special-level.

Given Fushiguro Megumi's current condition and the fact that there is an unconscious child, it may be difficult to deal with.

Jiang Lai's thoughts flashed through his mind in just a moment as he quickly made a decision - outside the alley, he adjusted his coat with one hand, and at the same time very naturally brushed the necklace in front of him, adjusting his state to that of a human and a cursed spirit with imperceptible movements.

The fuzzy chaotic state is most suitable for performances.

Watching Fushiguro Megumi exorcising the one-eyed six-armed cursed spirit with his shikigami, Jiang Lai slowly stepped into the alley. He had already used code to build a barrier around him, so the rain and snow could not fall on him.

Although he really wanted to hand his unwanted umbrella to Megumi Fushiguro who was caught in the rain and the unconscious child, the situation before him was obviously not suitable for some friendly and caring actions.

Jiang Lai stood firmly in place, adjusting his expression and posture.

According to the floating ghost's hint, the being on the alley wall showed no intention of leaving and seemed to still be watching them like a hunter staring at its prey.

In this case, taking the initiative in this situation and pointing out the existence of the other party can put you in a more advantageous position.

——Show that you have already seen through the other party's hidden thoughts. This will make the other party more or less jealous.

So, he remained alert and prepared, raised the tip of his umbrella, pointed it at the place Fushiguro Shiori had mentioned before, and said with a smile:

"Friends over there...won't you come out for a while?"

The word "friend" has a deliberately changed tone, and behind it lies a hint of teasing towards the hider.

After the words came out, Fushiguro Megumi next to him widened his eyes in shock, then suddenly looked in the direction Jiang Lai pointed, and prepared his hands for fighting again!

...He didn't even notice there was something there! !

Fushiguro Megumi's body was as taut as a string.

However, after being reminded and the residual power of the one-eyed six-armed curse spirit gradually dissipated, he could sense what was there by concentrating his attention.

Rain and snow were falling continuously, and the air was filled with the smell of dampness. The world was covered with dark clouds, and the only sound on the quiet street was the occasional sound of cars speeding by.

At this time, no one in the alley spoke.

The wound on Fushiguro Megumi's forehead was still bleeding, and the blood was sliding down his cheek. He didn't bother to wipe it off, but just kept his hands moving, while his eyes were fixed on the position where Jiang Lai's umbrella tip was pointing.

...something dark and deep was lurking there.

After a brief silence, a wet sound of splashing water came from the alley wall.

At the same time, a white mist suddenly rose in the alley, slowly occupying the entire space and blocking people's vision.

Jiang Lai was tense, but kept a calm smile on his face. He just folded up the long-handled umbrella slightly and supported himself on the ground with one hand.

Normally, Fushiguro Megumi should have summoned the shikigami by now. However, nothing happened nearby, and it was even too quiet.

"..." Jiang Lai's heart sank. Did something happen?

Fushiguro Shiori emerged from the white mist. He was still as tired as before, but his voice was still clear: "He passed out, but he's fine for now... I think."

The cursed spirit attacked!? Was it a subtle mental attack? Jiang Lai was slightly surprised and quickly made a judgment in his mind.

Fushiguro was moving, his voice hoarse. He approached Jiang Lai and half lowered his head: "...I'm a little tired, I'll rest first."

After he finished speaking, he did not linger any longer and quickly returned to the locust wood tablet in Jiang Lai's shirt pocket.

Although Jiang Lai really wanted to care about his ghost roommate, the current situation obviously did not allow him to have the time and energy to be distracted.

He remained alert, manipulating the codes floating around him to orderly surround him, forming a flexible layer of defense with no limit.

I don't know if I can defend against that kind of attack...

In the white mist, the sound of clattering gradually approached, and Jiang Lai's eyes were as sharp as torches, fixed steadily in front.

Through the mist, in the humid air, a pool of black unknown liquid with strong curse power appeared swaying.

The black unknown liquid gathered and deformed, and finally turned into a thing with pointed ears and fox-like appearance. Its body was undulating like a stream. The deep red eyes on its face were filled with circles of mosquito coil-like patterns, which brought a certain sense of dizziness when staring at it.

It opened its mouth, and the edge of its sharp mouth extended all the way to the base of its ears, looking as terrifying as a huge crack.

——Compared to the general appearance of cursed spirits, this one looks pretty good (meaning you can tell what it is).

"..." Jiang Lai did not speak first. He just smiled and stared at the unknown cursed spirit that appeared in front of him.

"Hungry—" The liquid fox curse spirit gurgled and bubbled when it opened its mouth, but the sound was like that of a child, forming a weird feeling at this moment, "You look delicious—"

Delicious? Jiang Lai was alert, and at the same time, he thought for a second: this pool of liquid animals in front of him must have something in common with the man-eating Lord Sukuna.

But on his face, he just tilted his head slightly and said softly: "Oh?"

The black liquid fox walked around Jiang Lai for two steps, mumbling, "It is not affected by my ability. It is not a human, not a cursed spirit, and not in a flesh state."

What this means is... Is the ability of this cursed spirit in front of me targeted at a certain type? After clarifying whether it is a cursed spirit or a human?

Jiang Lai narrowed his eyes and thought in his mind.

It seems to be ineffective for me. It seems that choosing a state between human and cursed spirit is very effective.

"You can think of me as your peer." Jiang Lai frowned and put one hand on his chin. "Don't you think it's fun to blend in with humans?"

Liquid Fox tilted its head and repeated, "Fun?"

"Very interesting." Jiang Lai continued to say with a smile. He raised the tip of the umbrella again, aimed it at the place beside him, and said lightly, "I haven't played enough with this human yet. Don't break my toy."

"Toys," Liquid Fox repeated, tilting his head a little more, twisting his head into an impossible angle, "I didn't play with your toys."

Jiang Laiduo asked, "They will wake up soon, right?"

"Yes." It was quiet for two seconds, then opened its mouth to its ears and said, "Hungry—"

Jiang Lai narrowed his eyes and stared at it.

This pool of liquid in front of me looks like a powerful cursed spirit with intelligence, but its personality and mind are more like that of a young child?

The white mist around us grew thicker, and the sounds from the street outside seemed to be blocked by a thin film.

The cursed spirit in front of him didn't seem to have any intention of attacking, but it also had no intention of leaving. Its mosquito-coil-like red eyes stared at Jiang Lai in front of it.

"Hungry——" The Liquid Fox squatted on the ground with a gurgling sound.

Jiang Lai: "..." It seems that they won't let me go until this problem is solved. Now it looks a bit like the quiz game of the slit-mouthed woman.

Jiang Lai didn't know what the success rate was of a head-on confrontation, but under the current circumstances, using force against the enemy was the worst option.

He still maintained his indifferent smile, not rushing to say anything, thinking and analyzing in his mind.

This guy keeps complaining about being hungry... It's reasonable to say that cursed spirits don't need to eat. Is this a habit of repeating negative emotions, or does he really want to eat something?

Also, why did it just say to itself 'You look delicious'?

If the need to eat was truly a purely human one, then they would have already attacked the unconscious Megumi Fushiguro and the child against the wall.

Jiang Lai thought about it and didn't rush to reply. He planned to test the water first. He turned the handle of the umbrella and threw the long-handled umbrella forward.

The liquid fox that was squatting on the spot suddenly stretched and twisted its body, tremendous magical power surged up, its pointed mouth grew to an incredible size, and it swallowed the long-handled umbrella in one gulp!

Witnessing this horrifying scene of deformation, Jiang Lai was able to think divergently for a second: the umbrella was gone, it looked like he would have to pay the store when he got back.

一口吞噬掉長柄傘的黑色液體扭曲的身形逐漸平複，再度恢複成剛才的模樣，咂咂嘴說：“不夠不夠，餓——”

江萊棕眸緩慢眨動，心中冷靜分析。吃掉了傘，看來目标不是人。這東西是什麽都吃嗎？

他擺擺手，将身邊代碼攔截的雨夾雪抖落，平靜道：“你可以自己找吃的。”

江萊本想直接說“你可以去翻垃圾桶找飯吃”，但這似乎與人設不太相符。而且他想了想，日本街邊幾乎沒有垃圾桶……

液體狐貍咒靈咕嚕着：“你，好吃。餓。”

怎麽還在執着于自己？江萊心中略微一頓，垂下的手指動了動。雖然眼前的咒靈遲遲沒有對自己顯露出攻擊意圖，但是他并未放松警惕。

似乎是見江萊遲遲沒有動作，液體狐貍咒靈在原地伸縮變形，拉扯成黑色的不明物體，在白霧中竄到江萊的面前！

江萊：“！”

代碼組成的牆在範圍內自動觸發，快速阻攔住撲過來的不明黑色液體！

不過，這灘黑色液體本身并沒有攻擊的意思，只是靠得很近，然後聚攏出狐貍頭，咕嚕着說：“餓。想吃飯。請給我你。”

“你想吃我？”江萊略微挑眉，直接挑明話題試探道。

那灘黑色的液體狐貍聞言，再度一百八十度歪頭，紅色的眼睛蚊香圈緩慢轉動幾下，像是望穿一切的探測儀，它聳動了下鼻子，而後慢吞吞回答：“不可食用。時鐘。”

時鐘！江萊敏銳捕捉到一個非常莫名的詞彙。這是什麽意思？

心中疑惑，但江萊并未開口。眼前的咒靈并不是适合交流的對象。

——況且這東西看起來不太聰明的樣子，從它口中應該問不出什麽。

“那麽你想吃什麽？”江萊保持耐心，繼續問道。

“你的東西。”液體狐貍咒靈終于說出更多的話語，“你的東西，好吃。”

江萊：從別人那裏搶來的就是香是吧.jpg

心中下意識刷出一張表情包，江萊決定再試探一下，看看這只咒靈的意圖到底是什麽。

于是，他從口袋裏摸出從店家離開時拿的廣告小冊，向旁邊丢給它。

液體狐貍扭曲變形，張大口，毫不遲疑地将其一口吞下！吃完後，它咂咂嘴，看起來頗為滿意。

……很好。江萊冷靜分析。看來眼前這只咒靈中意的是自己所短時觸碰過的東西。

為什麽？

此刻，江萊極速運轉的思維，将眼前的情景與之前遇到的咒靈的情況聯系起來。

雖然自己心中一直調侃着說“變态吸引光環”超進化成“咒靈吸引光環”類似的話，但江萊其實明曉，這些事件的背後一定有在這個世界的合理化設定原因。

壽喜鍋店裏壁虎吞午的靠近，出門在外經常性遇到的附近的奇形怪狀咒靈——

總體剖析，它們不可能無緣無故的聚集，一定是有什麽吸引了它們。就像某些特級咒物（例如詛咒之王的手指）會吸引咒靈一樣。

但是，咒靈被咒物吸引的原因，是想要吞噬咒物獲取力量。而從眼前這只咒靈的表現來看，自己似乎不可食用（雖然這麽形容有些奇怪）。

那麽咒靈的湊近，是本能尋覓後發現不可食用（？），于是待在了那裏麽。以及自己吸引它們的原因，是它剛才口中的那句[時鐘]的因素？

不管怎樣，眼前的這只液體狐貍咒靈，似乎對自己短時觸碰過的東西頗為感興趣。這是一個可以利用的點。

吞噬完剛才的小冊子，液體狐貍安靜了不到幾秒，又開始張口喊餓。

江萊腦海中已經将信息分析完畢，他面帶淺淡的笑容，側眸看着身邊的黑色液體：“我給了你吃的——既然如此，你拿什麽回報我呢？”

那灘液體在空中變形重組，構成狐貍頭後向另一側歪：“回報？”

“就是說，你想從我這裏拿吃的，也得給我些我想要的東西。”江萊笑眯眯道，“我現在不想給你了，除非你能有什麽交換。”

這句話說出其實是有風險的，江萊不确定拒絕的話語會不會激怒眼前的未知咒靈，從而爆發二者之間的戰鬥。

但是，因時為自己争取利益是聰明的做法。

江萊保持冷靜與警惕，周圍漂浮的代碼排列編輯成只差一步便能觸發的形式——

“魇狐，又跑到哪裏去了？”

另端忽起一道新加入的聲音，讓江萊心中猛然一驚！

聽到呼喚，一側的黑漆漆的液體狐貍從江萊身邊離開，它分散聚合，重新徘徊到地面上。

被稱為魇狐的黑色液體咒靈抖擻身子，稚嫩的聲音回頭答複：“在找吃的。餓了。”

江萊目光盯緊前方。潮濕的白霧中，慢慢踏出另一道身形。

身穿黑金色袈裟，丸子頭下披着半長發的男人單手撐傘，緩緩從霧中走出——

……夏油傑！？

目睹到面前人相貌的一瞬，江萊瞳孔驟然收縮了一瞬，但他又很快調整好自己的狀态，只是視線下意識凝視向他的額頭——！

來者額頭處纏繞着一圈白色繃帶，将前額完完全全遮蔽住，根本無法看出那裏是否有一條縫合線。

因此，江萊也無法據此判斷眼前的是真夏油、還是占據着夏油傑身體的腦花。

“……”

來者眯眯眼笑着，寬大的黑色衣袖自然垂下。在液體狐貍湊過去的時候，他擡起空閑的另一只手，拍了拍它的頭：“不要亂跑。”

那灘液體樣态的咒靈蹭了蹭對方的掌心，身形扭曲，順着衣袖徘徊而上，變成一只合适大小的墨色狐貍，趴到來者的肩頭。

而直到此時，來者才擡眸看向江萊。

——跨越半模糊的朦胧白霧，隔着不近不遠的巷中距離，他們視線交彙于一處。

“……”江萊保持着恰到好處的微笑神情，什麽也不顯露。

他的內心繃緊成一條拉扯到極致的直線。

眼前無論是真夏油還是假夏油，都絕對是危險人物！江萊沒想到竟然會在這裏遇見他。

總不能是那個鑰匙的緣故吧，像是什麽rpg游戲，擁有特殊物件，觸發關鍵人物劇情什麽的……

思維發散吐槽僅是一瞬，江萊手指微動，保持身邊代碼鏈條蓄勢待發的狀态，以免對方突然發難。

雖然依照原著來看，無論對方是真夏油還是假夏油，都沒有随意出手的緣由，但誰知道這個新系列裏具體是什麽狀況呢？總之還是做好準備。

他眸光凝聚，棕色沉沉。

然而，面前的來者似乎真的沒有什麽別的意思，他摸了摸肩上的狐貍頭，單手撐傘，輕笑了一下，在視線交彙後又輕描淡寫地錯開。

——他們全程沒有交流。

來者只是伫立在原地，周邊的白霧變得愈加濃厚，逐漸遮蔽住面前黑金袈裟之人的身形。一切就像是夢境一般，在無聲無息中遙遙消失。

江萊輕輕眨眼，呼吸之間，巷中的白霧就像來時一樣、如潮水般褪去了，唯餘下冰涼潮濕的空氣觸感。

街道汽車疾馳而過、濺起水花的聲響隔了幾秒，複又重新傳回耳中。

——仿佛從虛幻一轉回到了人間。

巷中除了他以外再無站立的人影，江萊沉默兩秒，視線敏銳掃過周圍，判斷确實沒有其他存在後，才緩緩放松下挺直的脊背。

牆側靠着的海膽頭少年依然在昏迷中，旁邊的小孩也是同樣的狀态。之前的雨夾雪淋濕他們的發絲和衣服，黏在身上。

不過好在此時的雨雪之勢已經消減，只剩下飄落的零星雪花，看樣子馬上就要停住了。

江萊幾步走過去，柯學習慣影響下，他下意識先戴好随身攜帶的手套，才彎腰從伏黑惠的口袋裏拿出他的手機。

這種情況下救護車不方便，還是聯系下高專那邊的人來吧。他心中想着。雖然那只狐貍貌似沒下手，但萬一殘餘了某些詛咒，還能及時清除。

好在伏黑惠沒有設置鎖屏密碼，不然江萊還需要花費一段時間破解。

此刻，他打開對方的手機，直接找到通訊錄頁面——發短信或者郵件，對面可能沒法第一時間看到。為了伏黑惠和小孩的安全考慮，江萊打算直接打電話。

通訊錄裏的名字不是很多，他一眼就掃到了那幾個熟人的名字。

猶豫僅一秒，接着，江萊選中虎杖悠仁那一欄，按下撥號鍵。

“嘟——嘟——”

“嗯、伏黑？”等待只是片刻，電話接通後，對面很快傳來少年充滿活力的聲音，“你回家放完東西了？我們還在剛才的地方。”

江萊側頭看了眼巷口外的标識，确認此處的精準位置，開口平靜道：“三村町，春田書屋對面的小巷。”

電話對面安靜兩秒，接着語氣徒然一變：“是你？！你為什麽會有伏黑的手機——”

江萊有些意外虎杖悠仁竟然還記得他的聲音，竟然能夠秒速認出。不過他依然保持平靜，打算繼續多說一句，讓他們盡快過來。

However, before he could open his mouth, someone else spoke on the other end of the line.

Another frivolous voice said "Give it to me", and then the person being called changed.

Jiang Lai's body froze when he heard the voice on the phone. He immediately realized who was on the phone—Gojo Satoru! !

“…”

“…”

The person who answered the phone did not speak first, and Jiang Lai subconsciously remained silent.

Then, for a moment, there was only silence, and the only sound transmitted in the communication was the clear and steady breathing of the two.

The silence was broken by the sound from the background opposite. Yuji Itadori and Norose Kugizaki didn't know that although Jiang Lai didn't speak, they were anxiously asking what happened and whether Fushiguro was okay.

Maybe there is no need to say more, Jiang Lai thought. They will definitely come soon.

When no one spoke, he hung up the phone.