Chapter 28 Jiang Lai: Departing in Style ()

“Are you from the regulatory agency?”

When the white-haired boy finished speaking, a round of fireworks had just ended. The popping sound echoed and disappeared, the sky returned to silence, the curtain of night extended to the distance, the light dimmed, and the atmosphere gradually became heavy.

Jiang Lai's heart skipped a beat when he heard the question from the young Gojo Satoru.

Hearing the name again at this moment made him instinctively tense up, but at the same time, he perked up and prepared to search for more information.

On the surface, he kept smiling as usual, and did not confirm or deny it first. Instead, he tilted his head slightly and asked, "Why do you think so?"

"Because you're weird." The white-haired boy's reply was very direct, and he said it openly.

"Strange?" Jiang Lai put his hand on his chin. "I thought you meant that I looked like a supervisor who was inspecting the goods and visiting the mall incognito."

Young boy Gojo Satoru: “.”

Jiang Lai said calmly: "Why do you think the people from the Regulatory Commission are weird?"

The white-haired boy in front of him said lazily, "Because I always feel that it is impossible for those old friends who are high-level in the art of sorcery to create such a reputable organization. It's too weird - those who can convince those rotten oranges to participate must be some strange people."

Jiang Lai: “…”

How should I put it? This analysis may sound a bit absurd at first, but it also seems very reasonable.jpg

Then he reacted——High-ranking sorcerers? This organization really has the participation of the sorcerer community!

It seems that the high-level sorcerers were also an important part of the establishment of this organization at that time... Given their corrupt and conservative character, it would be difficult for them to take the initiative to create such an organization.

Jiang Lai thought.

But their participation is also normal. The reach of the Regulatory Commission has gradually expanded to every corner of this land. For those high-ranking sorcerers, this satisfies their desire for control very well - perhaps this is also the reason (one of the reasons?) for their participation in the first place.

"Do you hate them?" Jiang Lai asked, and at the same time reached out to take the lighter from Gojo Satoru to light the incense stick fireworks in his hand.

"Our family is also involved, and the elders are mainly responsible." The young boy Gojo Satoru threw the lighter with one hand. "I don't have a good impression of the regulatory committee, but I can't say I hate it. I'm just a little annoyed by their omnipresence."

The Gojo family is also involved... It seems that the three families should also have a part. Did they take the initiative to join, or did the regulatory agency's influence spread to the three families? It is important to know who occupies the leading position in it.

Jiang Lai sorted out the clues in his mind. He said jokingly, "Your family also participated? For the sake of reputation?"

"I don't know. Who knows what those guys are thinking?" The young Gojo Satoru shrugged and said casually, "Maybe they want to get more information. After all, those iris signs are posted everywhere."

It was pretty much what he had guessed. Jiang Lai ticked the clues in his mind. The signs placed above the entrances of various shopping malls and stores might have some monitoring function.

But this shouldn't be the only reason. Just based on this information, it seems that it is not enough for the arrogant elders in the three families to set their sights on organizations outside the family.

Jiang Lai still remembered that the original pilot manual said that because there were people in the Yu San family who were suspected of being bribed by the cursed spirits, for safety reasons, most of them were self-enclosed and strictly censored, and rarely united. So would this supervision be an exception to the cooperation project?

"You haven't answered my question yet." The words of the young Gojo Satoru revealed Jiang Lai's inner thoughts. His sky-high eyes raised, extremely bright and deep, with the power to see through the hearts of human beings.

"Regarding this question, no matter how I answer, you have your own judgment. You can't be shaken by a single word from me."

Jiang Lai looked natural. He smiled and said he understood.

"If you want to be more reassured, or hear me say yes or no, then my answer is - I have nothing to do with them."

At least it doesn't matter for now. Jiang Lai finished speaking and added silently in his heart.

"..." The person in front of him raised his glass-like blue eyes.

"Don't worry," Jiang Lai blinked lightly. He knew what the person in front of him really wanted to ask. "You and I, our encounter in the past and now, is not a coincidence created by those 'omnipresent' people. There is no targeted plan. If you have any doubts..."

"I have no doubts." The young Gojo Satoru suddenly interrupted. He stroked his white hair with one hand and waved it away, "I'm just asking! Don't think too much."

His arrogant face slightly raised, and he immediately added: "Looking at the way you looked like you knew nothing just now, I knew you had nothing to do with that place."

"Huh? You were staring at me with that scary look just now." Jiang Lai joked.

"Hey - what? I just looked up at you and listened to what you said. I didn't put any pressure on you, okay?" The young boy Gojo Satoru complained, "But you, you hit my head casually not long ago, but now you say this. You are obviously not afraid of me."

The next second, he added: "Of course, what I said doesn't mean that I agree with you to continue hitting my head." His Persian cat-like eyes widened and his expression was bright.

Jiang Lai narrowed his eyes and smiled. He coughed and changed the subject to the previous question: "Actually, I'm still a little curious."

He tilted his head slightly and said, "You said that there are people in your family whose appearance has not changed much despite the passage of time?"

It can't be a feature of this unknown regulatory board in the new series, he thought.

"Well... that is to say," the young Gojo Satoru looked up at the sky, "how come those old guys still have wrinkles after so many years?"

Jiang Lai: “?”

The old man? The elders? He understood what he meant.

Jiang Lai said, "I thought that when you said that your appearance remained unchanged, you meant that someone was immortal like me. Wait, you didn't mean to deceive me by not explaining it clearly just now, did you?"

He suddenly reacted, his brown eyes swept over and his eyebrows raised slightly.

"..." The young Gojo Satoru put his left fist in front of his lips, coughed, and raised his voice in an exaggerated tone, "No, how could it be--! I really find it strange, how come after so many years, those elders are still the same familiar old looks, it stands to reason that they should have been buried and replaced by the next batch."

Gojo Satoru's words are very direct. Although these words sound a bit outrageous, Rokugan obviously doesn't care about the so-called moral principles.

So Jiang Lai didn't know whether the other party was really doubting the longevity of the elders, or was just casually complaining and cursing those rotten oranges.

At the beginning of this conversation, Jiang Lai thought that [immortality] was a characteristic of the core members of the Regulatory Commission, but it seems that it is not the case?

But on second thought, it makes sense. It is said that the core members of the regulatory commission are kept secret, so naturally they cannot be so high-profile.

Even if they are really immortal, they would probably change their identities in public and continue living like Vermouth in the scientific world.

And he would not change his identity and move around in front of the Six Eyes, otherwise he would most likely be seen through by the Six Eyes who can see through everything.

According to what Gojo Satoru said just now, "It should have been buried long ago, but it hasn't changed yet", if this is not emotional language but real information, then one of the characteristics of the regulatory board is that there is a certain probability of extending life (similar to Tengen's immortality?) - but this is only a guess at present, and there is no definite evidence.

Anyway, let's write this down first, and then slowly study and verify it when we have the chance. Jiang Lai thought. Maybe it's not just as simple as extending life span.

After all, the important behind-the-scenes character in the original novel, Brain Flower (Noose), has not made any appearance in this new series. I wonder if it is hiding behind this organization, using this to plan its ultimate research on human mutation and evolution.

Come to think of it, this sense of mystery and manipulation of life sounds a little familiar.

Jiang Lai thought about it for a few seconds and suddenly realized it. It turned out to be you, the black organization (bushi) in the world of sorcery!

When he saw Jiang Lai's thoughtful expression, the young Gojo Satoru seemed to feel a little guilty about his fishing behavior just now, so he added one more thing:

"Actually, I'm not talking about just those old men. There is indeed one person in the elders' group who is relatively young, and it has always been like this."

Very young? Jiang Lai's mind flashed back to the man he had seen outside the shrine. He lowered his eyes and asked, "Really? How young?"

"Younger than those old guys with wrinkled faces." The young boy Gojo Satoru briefly mentioned, "Looks to be in his early thirties. But that's probably because of his technique."

Early thirties... The man with light blue eyes wearing a gorgeous kimono and long black hair tied up low that I caught a glimpse of at the shrine seemed to be in his early thirties.

Are you referring to him? What specific technique does he possess?

His thoughts were wandering, but Jiang Lai did not ask.

Intelligence is accumulated step by step. It is not wise to find out too much information about others at one time.

But just in case, he asked one more question: "The man you are talking about, does he have any scars or stitches on his forehead?"

When the brain flower takes over the body, the six eyes see and feedback the information of the original owner of the body. Therefore, if that person is a brain flower, the six eyes cannot judge that the core inside has been replaced.

"Huh? Of course not." The young Gojo Satoru was somewhat puzzled by this question. "The elders don't often participate in exorcism of cursed spirits, so they won't get hurt like that. And even if they did, they would have been cured long ago."

After hearing Gojo Satoru's reply, Jiang Lai felt relieved. It seemed that he was not a fool.

腦花雖然掌握着反轉術式，但換身體是有束縛的，那道傷疤（縫合線）不允許用反轉術式進行治療。

于是，江萊話頭一拐，又回到了最初：“所以，現在你是怎麽看我的？”他眉眼略挑，噙着幾分笑意。

“我現在相信你不是人了，”少年五條悟眨眨漂亮的藍眸，“真的。你肯定不是人。”

江萊：雖然是滿意的答案，但不知道為什麽，聽起來總覺得怪怪的（）

——面前人果然是故意的皮吧！雞掰貓的個性已經開始初步顯露了！！

沒等江萊開口，少年五條悟又接着嘟囔道：“反正，我也就是和你這種超脫于人間之外的[存在]玩玩了。”他低頭甩了甩手中已經燃盡的線香煙花，“其他人都太無趣了。”

天生就超脫于衆人的孤傲神子，從小就有一種與周圍世界的割裂感——許多人與他相處的模式，是自以為掩蓋得很好的試探、利用、畏懼或讨好，這些都讓他覺得非常無趣。況且大部分人都跟不上他的步調。

強大的力量讓他擁有無與倫比的肆意，但似乎也注定了他的孤獨。六眼很難找到真正能夠相處自在的朋友。

幼年五條悟年齡尚小沒有多餘的想法，成年五條悟已經成熟到能夠在世間與世俗之外游刃有餘，但還是少年的他正值最為敏感的青春期，是思慮最多的時候。

到此，江萊才算是徹底明白，面前的白發少年最初問出監管會的那個問題究竟是為何——更多的不是懷疑，而是一種吐露。

少年的他不習慣直接向別人傾訴心聲與煩惱，日常表現出的是肆意妄為。

但是到了某些吐露內心的時候，就會憋着說不出口，最多借助其他的話題半遮半掩地提起些許。

就像是長相俊美皮毛锃亮的傲慢白色大貓，從不主動來黏糊表現煩惱，只會制造些好似無意的小麻煩用以吸引注意，然後渾身上下抖擻着“快來問我關心我，我就勉為其難地告訴你”。

江萊知道，這個年齡段的五條悟，雖然會外出各地祓除咒靈，但日常生活軌跡依然是以五條家為主偶爾會與另外兩個禦三家有接觸。

這些人群中沒有他能夠相識相交的真誠的朋友。

在他未來前往咒術高專上學的時候，才交到真正能讓他暢快大笑的朋友們——夏油傑和家入硝子。

江萊眨了眨眼，他按下打火機，搖曳的溫暖火苗觸碰到自己另一只手中的仙女棒，短暫的寂靜後，一簇簇的閃亮火花噼啪炸起，劃破昏沉的夜晚，如同在手中亮起的萬千星辰。

“看這個。”

江萊沒有将它握在自己的手裏，也沒有将其遞給五條悟，反而用術式操縱着，指間一挑，将其飛揚上天空。

少年五條悟下意識擡頭，目光追随那道高沖上去的線香煙花。

遠處的又一輪煙花盛宴再度開啓，噼啪燃燒着的仙女棒向上騰空，星點般的亮光很快融入到天空五彩絢爛的煙花群中。

超強的視力，讓他能夠遠距離看清夜幕中的線香煙花——在漫天衆多星點中，它的燃燒方式是特別的，但又與周圍其他煙花火光的綻放相互作伴。

它們共同閃耀在遼闊無邊的夜幕中。

“五條家很大。”江萊和身邊的少年同樣仰頭望着星空，緩聲說着，“但是比起世界來，它又很小。”

“如果家族裏沒有能與你玩到一起的朋友，就踏出那道門檻，去更大的天地尋找吧。”他笑，“總會找到的——茫茫人海中，陪你嬉戲玩鬧、共度青春的摯友。”

晚風遙遙帶來遠處的煙火氣，又夾雜樹林的草木清香，環繞在他們的身邊。

少年五條悟澄澈透明的藍眸，倒映着天際的景色，那些漂亮的絢爛煙花就像是綻放在他的眼中。此刻的他難得安靜下來

江萊沒有率先說什麽，他只是在旁邊耐心等待着，直到這輪煙花盛宴結束，少年五條悟收攏視線。

江萊掂了幾下，将那把打火機又丢了回去，同時笑道：“你的側布包裏還有煙花嗎？要不要再放幾支？”

少年五條悟頓了幾秒，才恢複日常的神情，嗓音輕快道：“還剩下幾支，一并放了吧。”

他們在這片空地中放完最後幾支煙花，而後将燃盡後的仙女棒扔進官方專門設置的煙花大會垃圾桶中。

少年五條悟神色輕松，他雙手随意地搭在腦後，好似無意間提起：“我記得京都和東京有咒術高專，那裏是一些咒術師去上學的地方。”

“上學嗎？很不錯啊。”江萊點頭，笑道，“遇到來自各處的年齡相仿的同學，肯定能交到好友的。”

“……我才不是為了交朋友去上學，又不是需要人陪。”少年五條悟撇撇嘴，此時還在固守高傲神子形象，拖長尾音道，“只是太煩家裏那些老家夥們了，不想再在家裏學習咒術，以後想離他們遠一點——”

“不過去上學好像也有點麻煩啊。”少年五條悟略微昂着頭，“學校有各種束縛的的規矩，還有老師叨叨叨。”

“有什麽關系？”江萊眨眼，精準點破，“反正你從來也不聽——我猜得沒錯吧？”

“我在你心中竟然是這種形象？”少年五條悟眉毛高高揚起，在身邊人的微笑中，又平複下來，哼聲道，“不過，好吧，确實如此。因為我最讨厭別人大言不慚地說正論和管教我了。”

江萊：（微笑）

他繼續順着對方之前的話語，說：“你要去哪一所高專？”

少年五條悟思考了片刻，開口說：“五條家在東京和京都都有駐地。老宅在京都，新宅在東京。不過因為最初的祭祀神社在京都，所以大部分老家夥們都待在那邊。”

“既然如此，我去東京咒術高專好了。”少年五條悟颔首，下了決定，“正好，屆時學校放假了回東京那邊的新宅，就不用回京都去見那些老家夥的臭臉了。”

“挺好的，”江萊說，“長到上高中的年紀，你就可以辭家去學校了——那個時候你就長高了吧。”

“喂喂、我現在也不矮好不好？”少年五條悟比劃着，“而且我還在青春發育期！哼哼，未來絕對比你高不少——”

他頓了兩秒，又好奇道：“你應該不會再長了吧？[存在]還會長個嗎？”

提起這個話題，白發少年的興頭好像被點燃，他藍眸眨動，後面又吐出一連串的詢問：

“[存在]有幼生與成熟的概念嗎？世間還有其他[存在]嗎？你們會有生與死這回事麽？你的力量是怎麽衡量的啊？”

江萊：“……”

好問題，他也不知道啊——！！

目前這個[存在]的設定，都是他前不久才演戲出來的，後續還沒有想好如何延展——随意加改設定自然是不可以的，會面臨合理考驗和悖論問題，必須要在合适的情況下進行豐富。

長個大概是不會長了，雖然江萊很想再長高一點。

會不會有其他[存在]，這個可能得看世界意識吧。他還真不清楚。

幼生和成熟的概念，也許會有？

至于生與死的問題……世間沒有什麽是永恒的吧。江萊想。就算不是人，也不代表就能跳脫出這道輪回。

至于力量的問題，江萊倒是能回答，便是“靠演技來獲得，靠練習來提升”。但是這當然不能直接地說出口，畢竟不是所有事實都能坦誠交代。

腦海中思索着少年五條悟蹦出來的這些問題，江萊打算繼續暫且用謎語人表現揭過去。他已經展露出恰到好處的神秘微笑，端好姿态準備說些什麽。

少年五條悟藍眸充滿好奇地凝視着。

就在江萊即将啓唇的時刻，這場煙火大會迎來了最後的收尾盛宴，巨大的砰砰聲響接連不斷，各式各樣的所有煙花一齊向着天空發射，五彩缤紛的光亮填充滿整片天空。

過于絢爛的光景湧入，少年五條悟本能地意識游離一瞬，等他再度凝神的時刻，面前已經沒有剛才那人的身影了。

六眼能夠一眼望穿密集的人群，然而人群裏面沒有絲毫雲霧的痕跡。

黑發棕眸的未知[存在]，在煙花綻放最絢爛的時刻再度潇灑離場，不知道去往了何處。

——

一陣天旋地轉，熱鬧的花火大會場景在一瞬間消失，面前的景象再度一變。

江萊頓了頓，反應過來。

……剛才一直在逛廟會看煙花閑聊，忘記看一眼手機的倒計時了！

沒想到這個倒計時結束得恰到好處，正好卡在最後五條悟的問題和煙花的落幕處。

不過也好，就不用謎語人回複了……雖然在五條悟面前，自己走得可能有點潇灑随意。江萊默默想着，擡起眼眸。

好吧，回歸當下，現在又在哪裏？