Chapter 24 [Yesterday and the Past]
Jiang Lai's mind went blank for a moment when he saw this uninvited guest walking into the house through the curtains, and his hand holding the dessert bag tightened slightly involuntarily.
But he still maintained a calm expression on his face, raised his eyes calmly, and looked into the only six eyes in the two worlds.
The warm brown and the azure blue meet, the heavy earth that carries everything and the vast sky above the clouds converge at one point on the distant horizon.
...What is our relationship? Did you and I know each other in the past? What do we want to convey in this brief exchange of glances?
The questions that have been lingering for a long time will inevitably surface, and the answer will be found when the two meet.
The sunlight shining in from the window became brighter and brighter, like a rolling sun, gradually expanding and taking up the entire field of vision, exaggerating to an unbelievable degree, and everything in front of me turned into an invisible and violent white light——
Jiang Lai narrowed his eyes instinctively and raised his hand to block it slightly.
When he put his hands down again, the scene before him had completely changed.
The trees stacked one on top of the other formed a vast sea of green, lush and full of vitality. The gentle sunlight shone through the gaps in the forest, like golden sand leaking from the sky. Everything was extremely quiet and magnificent.
"?" Jiang Lai looked stunned.
Wait, how come the map changed in the blink of an eye? ? And shouldn’t it be winter now?
Time travel? He subconsciously sensed his own technique, but the longitudinal time technique was still in an unlocked, semi-shielded state.
It seems that it was not his technique that caused this scene. Jiang Lai analyzed it calmly. He reached into his pocket and took out his cell phone.
I went to the official website and saw a line of words clearly marked on it:
【Celebrate the next chapter of the new series - [Yesterday and the Past]! Go into the past and reveal the foreshadowing of the previous chapter! 】
Jiang Lai: “.”
Jiang Lai was silent for two seconds before finally reacting.
Sure enough, this sudden miraculous crossing was the result of the world's will!!
——But this is reasonable. Gojo Satoru's attitude and conversation after meeting him must be determined by the past. So we must talk about the past first before we can show the future.
It seems that this time he did not choose to add non-existent memories, but actually came back to experience and participate. Jiang Lai was deep in thought.
I just don't know what year it is or where this place is. He raised his eyes and looked at the endless forest in the distance.
Jiang Lai: What kind of savage start is this.jpg
In short, before everything starts, check your current supplies and equipment:
The modern winter clothes on my body have now been replaced with simple and elegant navy blue kimono summer and autumn clothes without any logo.
The chocolate cake in my hand disappeared.
The locust wood pendant strung with a red rope is still hanging on the side of the waist.
The necklace is worn around the neck, and the feather pendant is as cool as jade. However, it no longer has the function of changing transparency.
The phone is still there, and miraculously it is fully charged (no need to charge). The shadow of the phone is swaying with the outline of an old-fashioned book without a name. I guess other people can't see the phone, just a small book.
Jiang Lai tried it, and now the phone can still access the Internet miraculously - but it can only log in to the websites and group chat software to report safety to the three-dimensional world and to contact the scientific world. The Internet on this side of the cursed world cannot be accessed.
If the present is to complete the past, then the response of the curse in the future should be a state of time suspension. Jiang Lai thought. It is reasonable not to be able to contact.
He lowered his head and browsed the official website. There was not much information on the website. It just stated that the story would be transferred to the past chapters, but no details or more information were revealed.
So Jiang Lai immediately logged into the new series forum, intending to see if the analysts in the forum had any special discoveries.
【#[Yesterday and past] Latest information concentrated discussion post# (hot)】
[Family members! The official will start to reveal the past!! (Start doing radio exercises in a healthy way.gif)]
[This wave really continues the tradition of the original work, hhh, the main story is mixed with the past, just like the Huaiyu and Yuzhe chapters at that time. ]
[I'm so scared... Is jjxx preparing to stab you? Before Comrade One-Eyed Cat stabs you, I'll first give you a flashback (crying) My bitter summer ptsd is acting up again]
[Honestly, the brain flower incident made me realize that if the body is not cremated, there is a risk that it will be taken away by others... I only knew about the risk of being fucked by a corpse before.]
[Wait, the second half? What kind of lewd words are you saying above? The forum is not a lawless place, you can't just show off your XP! ]
[Let's discuss rationally. So far, no one has died in this new series, and those who were in trouble in the original work (such as Fushiguro Tsunemiko) are fine now because they were saved by Gojo Satoru.
I feel that the analysis made by a certain analyst before was very correct. Gojo-sensei either read the script or participated in the plot of "Back to High School" or "Once Upon a Time", hahaha.
In any case, if it is the second round, 5t5 will definitely be able to avoid all swords - believe in the strongest Gojo teacher! 】
[However, if Gojo-sensei is indeed the second round as everyone speculates, how did he start the second round? (He falls into deep thought) I always feel that this article is going to talk about this reason. ]
【Add one, I agree with the above point of view. I don't know if you have noticed that the name of the new chapter is [Yesterday and the Past]. It is very strange to put these two words together. It should not be used in this way.
Yesterday originally meant "the day before today". If we analyze it according to the meaning of the five clues in Act 2, "yesterday" here seems to be understood as "the day before Act 2's restart point". "Yesterday" as a whole refers to "the past events before Act 2's restart event".
Besides, there is Gojo Lai, who must be acquainted with 5t5, so we should talk about him. 】
[Wow, after analyzing it this way, it seems to make sense!!]
[Yes, in this [Yesterday and the Past] chapter, the new Gojo Rai should appear, right? I think the foreshadowing of [Clock] buried earlier might be revealed here - I can't wait! ]
[Hehehe, anyway, please update quickly! A new chapter has begun, why don’t you add an update to celebrate! 】
…
Jiang Lai did not continue reading the following content. He withdrew his mind and focused on the key points just discussed.
The connotation of the title [Yesterday and the Past], combined with the timeline problem I learned from Shinji, the analysis on the first floor of the forum sounds more reasonable - telling the story of the past and revealing the reason why the restart happened.
However, since the fixed point of Shiji already exists, the death of Fushiguro Shiji should not be reversible. Jiang Lai thought. The real loop point of restart should be after the astral plasma incident - if Shiji died here.
He withdrew his thoughts.
Speaking of which, my age and appearance have not changed at this time. Jiang Lai touched himself. If he was to complete the past timeline, he should also shrink to the corresponding age, right? But no.
Maybe I am frozen in time... or maybe I am not even a human being or something. He thought to himself as if jokingly.
Then, Jiang Lai jumped into the group and first told his family about his current situation, telling them not to worry. Then he put away his phone and prepared to explore the situation here.
He looked ahead, where the shadows of the trees overlapped and the jungle was quiet.
Jiang Lai: Starting the game in this deep forest, it can’t be a random chance... What kind of luck is this?
Fortunately, he had already practiced the technique well. Although he could not suspend himself in the air, he could use it as a stepping stone for short jumps.
Jiang Lai selected a tall tree with thick branches, and used his fingertips to lightly shape the fixed point. After a few consecutive jumps, he landed on it lightly and looked into the distance from the top of the tall tree.
This seemed to be a low mountain with dense vegetation. Jiang Lai squinted his eyes and scanned the surroundings, noticing the silhouette of some buildings not far away.
Building? Someone? Jiang Lai was slightly happy, but he did not relax his vigilance. After all, this was the cursed world, and a building in the deep mountains and old forests might not necessarily be a good family.
Better not to get too close, he thought.
So Jiang Lai gave up the idea of jumping over on the branches in the forest with the help of short-term code bricks - that would be too conspicuous.
After remembering the direction, he jumped back to the ground in two or three steps, intending to sneak away carefully on the ground.
There was no one on the road, only the shadows of trees and the sound of birds. It seemed that there were not many animals here.
After passing through the lush vegetation and getting closer, Jiang Lai finally saw the panoramic view of the building - it was a solemn and majestic shrine.
The overall structure of the shrine is very grand, perfectly integrated with the surrounding vegetation environment, standing in front of it with a natural divinity. From the appearance, it seems to have a long history, but it is well maintained, which shows how much attention it has paid.
There was a symbol (family crest?) outside the shrine, but Jiang Lai couldn't recognize what it was.
Never mind, let's go in and take a look. Maybe there will be some clues, he thought.
Jiang Lai did not feel any fluctuations in the magical power around him, nor did he see any trace of the guards.
But for the sake of caution, he still manipulated the code, carrying a few fallen branches and sweeping them forward a few times. After testing and confirming that there were no traps nearby, he took a step forward.
Jiang Lai: Yes, there should be no traps in front of the shrine, otherwise it is easy to accidentally hurt people who come to worship, which is a lack of virtue.jpg
The roads along the way were relatively clean and tidy, and it seemed that someone cleaned them regularly. Jiang Lai looked around and subconsciously analyzed them with a scientific investigation attitude.
He walked forward and entered through the main gate.
神社內部同樣是莊重肅穆的氣氛，所有物品的擺放都非常有條理。最中央最大的供奉位置擺放的木牌有許多修飾前綴，江萊定睛鎖定其中的人名——
[菅原道真]。
這個名字……江萊愣了幾秒，從腦海深處挖出與這一點有關的咒回情報——這似乎是五條家的祖先！
緊接着，他目光流轉，周圍其他供奉的牌樣字跡也給了他答案——确實是五條家。
這裏是五條家的神社！
在這個結論躍入腦海之時，背後也恰好傳來一道冷淡的童聲。
“你是誰？”
聽到聲音的江萊一瞬間開啓頭腦風暴的模式，但他表面上沒有任何顯露，只是平淡如常地轉身，看向不遠處站立的那道白發小身影。
是幼年五條悟。
很好，确定時間線了。江萊心中一頓。沒想到他們認識得這麽早？
此時的場景和未來那一幕遙遙相似——五條悟身處逆光的位置，玻璃珠般的藍眸明銳擡起。他們對視，湛藍與暖棕交彙。
這麽冷淡的臭屁臉以後就很少見了，且看且珍惜。江萊在心裏開玩笑般想着。
五條悟外在表現出來的日常性格與姿态，就像是逆着人流，從幼年的成熟冷漠一路到成年的歡脫不着調。
江萊沒有直接回答什麽，他勾勾唇角，浮起清淺的笑容：“你覺得我是什麽？”
——他沒說[你覺得我是誰]，而是從另一種更有趣的角度反問回去。
顯然，幼年五條悟聽出了這層意思。他略微蹙了蹙眉，盯着面前的黑發身影看了幾秒，而後才說：“……有霧。”
“？”江萊眨眨眼，對這個答案感到有些驚奇。但他沒多言，只是保持微笑。
幼年五條悟沉默幾秒，似乎對六眼的結果有些許郁悶，他略略偏過頭，又摻雜微不可查的好奇望了回來。
最後，他聲線冷淡地坦然承認道：“我看不出你是什麽，被一團雲霧擋住了，只能大體辨認出心髒處有什麽……特別的。”
雲霧嗎。難道是羽毛項鏈的模糊作用？江萊想。雖然它現在不能調節透明度改變身份了，但是模糊屏蔽作用還在？
此外，心髒那個……江萊第一反應是自己縱向術式裏顯露出的名詞。
腦海思緒流淌，江萊面色還是那副眯眼笑的表情：“既然如此，看不穿的話，不害怕嗎？”
“無所謂，反正你又贏不過我。”幼年五條悟擡了擡眼。
江萊：“。”熟悉的超級自信，出現了！
江萊內心默默想着。不過确實，人家有自信的資本，無敵的六眼基本上從小就無敵。
在原著裏，轟動世界的六眼自誕生起就被高價懸賞。但是各式各樣的暗殺者在這個孩童面前，全部無功而返，不少人只是遠遠被他瞥一眼，便被那其中蘊藏的力量所震撼到無法言語。
但江萊還是悠哉說了一句：“那可不一定吧？”
面前的白發孩童歪了歪頭：“至少你傷不了我。”
空氣沉靜了片刻時間。神社外的鼓起的清風攜裹草木香氣，繞梁三周後，飄然吹進，拂過衣角和鬓發。
江萊輕眨眼，首先打破安靜，他豎起一根手指說：“這樣，我們玩個游戲，你問我答，我問你答，一人一次輪着來，怎麽樣？”
幼年五條悟：“無聊。”
“啊、別這樣，反正閑着也是閑着，相逢便是緣分。”江萊眉眼彎彎，“你難道不好奇嗎？”
在柯學世界鍛煉出的觀察力和分析力，讓江萊能夠從微表情和肢體語言中發掘信息。
——幼年五條悟盡管神色冷酷淡漠，但是面對六眼無法完全看穿的存在，依然有着屬于孩童的單純好奇。
五條大家族日常教授和展現給幼年五條悟的，都是各種枯燥無味的正論和規矩。在這樣環境下，難得遇見一個貌似新奇的存在，總會想多了解一些的。
面前的白發小孩澄澈的玻璃珠藍眸擡起，面無表情，沒說話。
江萊略微偏頭，笑了：“好吧，那就當我好奇，陪我玩，行嗎？”他主動遞出臺階。
聽到此，面前小大人姿态的白發孩童才貌似勉強地略微颔首，表示同意。
“那我先問，你為什麽在這？”江萊首先抛出一個簡單的問題，作為話題的開始。
“他們太吵太煩了。”白發孩童撇撇嘴，“神社這邊清淨。”
他們？江萊反應了一瞬，接着理解過來。
大概指的是家族裏那些寸步不離的仆從、或者時不時過來說兩句彰顯長輩地位的長老們吧——對五條悟來說，即便是幼年态，也可以很輕松地甩掉那些人。
接着，幼年五條悟擡眸問：“你是誰？”
這個問題非常簡單，但也不太好回答。至少目前，江萊還不确定此時自己的身份。
于是，他用非常平常的語氣說：“萊。”
“萊？”幼年五條悟明曉過來對方告訴自己的是名字，“五條萊？”他補充上。
“怎樣稱呼都可以。”江萊模棱兩可地回複，沒肯定也沒否定，他笑道，“好了，你這算是問了兩次，該我了。”
幼年五條悟抿了下唇角，冰雪般的藍眼睛瞪過來。
“五條萊那句應該也算是問題嘛……好吧，不算。”江萊咳嗽一聲，開口問道，“你現在幾歲？”
幼年五條悟聞言眉眼微揚，但還是簡單回答了：“七歲。”
如此一來，就能确定當下的精準時間線了。江萊在內心快速算了一下。五條悟是1989年12月生的，如果這個七歲是還沒過生日的那種，那麽現在應該是1996年。
怪不得手機要虛化成書冊，畢竟這個年代，日本還是翻蓋手機的時候。為了符合時代氣息，手機君也需要變裝。
幼年五條悟注視着眼前人，他雪白的睫簾扇動，冷靜問：“你是什麽？”
“嗯？”江萊略微有些詫異，他沒太明白五條悟這句突然蹦出來的話，“抱歉，你的意思是……”
對此，幼年五條悟倒是多言了幾句，語氣平淡地解釋道：“這裏是五條家後山。五條家領地外圍有看守和結界，只有五條家的人以及經過允許的外人可以進入。”
“而後山神社這裏，有更為嚴格的篩選結界。只有我、家主和長老團平日可進，其他人需要佩戴令牌、或者等祭祀的日子放開後，才能來這裏。”
怪不得這裏沒有守衛。江萊想。原來是有結界，所以無需再特意派人。
……不過說來也怪，這個結界竟然沒有阻攔自己的踏入？為什麽？
“既然你不知道我的年齡，那麽肯定不是常駐在五條家的人，沒有準入令牌。”幼年五條悟繼續冷靜分析着，“可你又能進入這裏——你不是人類，也不是咒靈，那你是什麽？”
我是什麽？江萊張了張口，沒有立刻回複。
他能感受到有什麽不同尋常的力量潛伏在這個問題的背後——也許，自己的回答就會影響着自己的設定。
目前來看，他有一個[時鐘]的莫名稱號；在過去與未來，自己的年齡容貌卻均未改變；能夠自由進出原本有結界的地方——
這些都非常古怪。
江萊知道，自己現在當然也可以回複說“我是人”，然後世界意志大概就會依照人類的邏輯來簡單補全設定，比如在術式方面加筆。
但是，如果自己回答其他的……是不是也會有更多可能呢？
人類的身份會有局限性，如果開拓更多可能，自己說不定就有更廣闊的、可以自由發揮的空間了——這比讓世界意志早早定下要好得多。
腦海中湧動着思緒，江萊暖棕色的眼眸凝神聚焦。
林間忽起一陣大風，扇動排排樹葉發出沙沙的聲響，徘徊着從神社外一路游走進神社內，掀動懸挂的麻繩和銅鈴，叮叮當當的沉悶之音遙遙傳來。
天邊飄蕩過幾團聚集的厚重雲朵，緩慢地遮蔽耀眼的日光，周圍的景色反複過濾了一遍濾鏡，矮小的草苗低伏向泥土。
白發孩童穩穩地站立在原地，具有穿透力的湛藍雙眸始終盯着面前的黑發人影。似乎因為久久未聽到回複，他略微蹙了蹙眉，而後神色冷淡地重複了一遍：
“你是什麽？”
江萊略微擡了擡眸，全部的思緒在心底早已游走過一遍。
——他打算先試個大的，排面打開，之後再慢慢縮小範圍，直到确認合理。
于是，江萊咳嗽了一聲，說：“我是青山日月彈指如梭本君神。”
幼年五條悟：“？”
江萊一本正經：“就是說，我是神仙。”
幼年五條悟：“……”