Chapter 47 Determination and Indecision

The assistant supervisor had other tasks to do after sending them off, and since the bus was a public bus, it was not convenient for him to keep their belongings for them. Therefore, they got off the bus with the three small bags of black sesame cookies.

The small bags are not big, and Grandma Nakamura carefully tied a thin rope to each bag, just like the beautiful konpeito bought at the scenic spot. It is very convenient to hold it between your fingers or put it in your waist pocket.

"The destination is along this main road, and you'll be almost there once you get there." The assistant supervisor wiped his sweat and said, "This road is not very convenient to drive on, so, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, it's not far to walk there. And Lai happened to be here to chat with me." Xia Yujie took over the assistant supervisor's words and replied gently, "You go ahead and do your work. I'll take care of the rest."

"Okay, okay, then I'll leave this mission to Geto-kun. Thank you for your hard work!" The assistant supervisor bowed and said, "After the mission is completed, call us again and we'll send someone to pick you up."

"Just go back on your own." The ball-headed boy waved his hand. "It's not far. I won't bother you anymore."

After the assistant supervisor left, Xia Yu turned his head, showing his foxy face, and said to Jiang Lai beside him with a smile: "There is no need for them to pick us up. We can still play for a while before going back. Otherwise, if we go back early, we will have to immediately arrange a new task."

Even though the boy with the ball-head hairstyle is precocious and sensitive, and has a lot on his mind, certain details still reveal his youthful nature - after all, he is still a teenage student.

"Okay." Jiang Lai nodded naturally.

Together they walked along this dirt road towards the remote village in the forest, chatting about interesting rumors, the changing scenery around them, and some miscellaneous daily life.

At this time, Xia Youjie and Jiang Lai have become familiar with each other and get along as friends.

Although he is not as relaxed as when he is with Wu and Gaozi, when walking beside Jiang Lai, Xia Yujie has already opened up the transparent shell of defense he once had, and naturally revealed some of his inner thoughts.

In the eyes of Geto Xia Yu, the illusory title of "existence" is like a veil of unreality. Therefore, when he chats with Jiang Lai, it is like whispering to the wind, the trees, and the earth, and he will unconsciously reveal a little.

"Since I entered the third year, I've been given more missions. It seems like there's no end to the cursed spirits."

Xia Yujie's eyes fell on his feet and he smiled.

"Although I was called the strongest together with Wu before, but now, Wu is the strongest alone... There is no need for our combination anymore."

"Simply speaking from the perspective of strength, Wu is the most invincible one." Jiang Lai nodded, and then changed the subject, "But life is full of many aspects - together you two are the strongest combination, with both soft and hard strengths."

The last sentence seemed to make Xia Yujie laugh, and he couldn't help but curl his lips: "What is it to have both soft and hard strength?"

"Strength, and there are things beyond strength." Jiang Lai held his own book in his hand, "For example, the knowledge of dealing with high-level people and the yin and yang of the world, Jiejun, you must have learned it better than Wu."

"Is this a compliment?" Xia Yujie laughed.

"Yes, of course." Jiang Lai also smiled and replied in a calm voice, "Besides, it's meaningless to understand that only one person is the strongest."

Getsu tilted his head slightly, and his bangs tilted to the side with the movement.

"No matter how strong a person is, he will need company on the road ahead. It's too lonely to be alone." Jiang Lai walked side by side with him, and his voice seemed to echo in his ears, "——You and Gaozi are Wu's youth."

"..." Xia Yujie was silent for two seconds, and a slight wave flashed in his eyes, like the evening breeze blowing across the lake, stirring up ripples and shaking his hidden heart.

For a moment, Jiang Lai thought he was going to tell him something - but the ball-haired boy's lips moved silently, and finally he just uttered: "...I will always remember this time."

This sentence sounded a bit strange, as if he had tacitly accepted his future separation. Jiang Lai's heart paused, and the previous guess became more certain.

The path of "righteousness" that Xia Youjie took was indeed influenced by external factors that he could not get rid of, in addition to subjective factors.

However, because he has not made up his mind subjectively, he is still hesitating and procrastinating, waiting for the final boot to fall.

As Jiang Lai's eyes wandered, Xia Youjie smiled with narrowed eyes, and his eyes returned to the front. He spoke in a gentle voice:

"We're almost there. The village ahead is where our target is this time."

——

They headed to the village together.

Because matters in the world of sorcery are kept secret from ordinary people, the pretext for their coming is "investigating the environment and exorcising ghosts and evil spirits," a claim that fits the superstition of remote villages very well.

The one who came to greet them was the village chief, an old man with wrinkles all over his face. He was muttering something else, mixed with suspicion about the people in front of him. After all, Xia Yujie and Jiang Lai looked very young.

"Let me make it clear first. If you cheat, we villagers will not let you go." The village chief's voice was like a duck. "The land and livestock in the village are very valuable. When you walk around, please be careful with your feet and don't step on them. If you step on them, you must pay compensation and apologize. After all, you are not here to play, right?"

Xia Yujie comforted her out of habit, saying, "Don't worry, we don't charge any fees."

"Hmph... It's better to do it this way. Don't let anything go wrong in the end." The old village chief still looked unfriendly. "You are all responsible."

Amid the questioning, Xia Yujie kept a usual smile on his face, as if he was used to ordinary people's suspicion, and he did not refute it.

However, a certain qualitative change in my heart continues to ferment along with these languages.

Jiang Lai, who was standing next to him, replied to the village chief in a casual tone: "Since you are asking for help, don't assume ill intentions towards the person who comes. Be aware of this piece of land. It's mud, not gold, under your feet."

The old village chief was stunned for a few seconds and suddenly tapped the cane in his hand. However, before he could speak, Jiang Lai had already grabbed Xia Youjie and leisurely turned to the other side.

"We are only here to complete our mission and exorcise the cursed spirits." Jiang Lai said to the teenager beside him, "If they don't understand or are unfriendly, there is no need to greet them with a smile."

Being dragged over, Xia Yujie was slightly startled, as if he had just come out of his own thoughts. He paused for half a second and replied, "Yeah. Actually, I was thinking about leaving after he finished speaking."

"Next time, don't wait for him to finish speaking." Jiang Lai added, "There's no need to be polite to people who don't respect you. Just walk away." He smiled, with a mixture of gentleness and toughness.

The smiling face of the person in front of him was reflected in the curtain, and the boy with the ball-shaped hair couldn't help but smile: "Okay."

As a top-grade sorcerer, Geto Summer Oil has a lot of experience in searching for traces of cursed spirits.

It only took him a short time to find the evil spirit that was roaming the village and causing a series of casualties among the villagers.

Xia Yujie skillfully exorcised it, then transformed it into a cursed spirit ball and swallowed it.

It tastes like a rag that has been used to wipe vomit. Even if you have eaten it countless times, you still can't help but want to vomit.

The ball-headed boy held onto the wall with one hand, trying to suppress his urge to vomit. A dark blue figure stood beside him and threw two candies to him:

"I got this from Wu. Mints to clear your mouth."

Xia Yujie put the candy in his mouth and after a moment's pause, he looked much better: "Mint candy? That's rare. I thought all the candies in Wu's mouth were extremely sweet."

"Maybe these are prepared for you. They will be taken out when you go to the dormitory to play, but they just don't tell you." Jiang Lai touched his chin.

Xia Yujie's slender eyebrows slightly curved, and he stood up straight. Before he could speak, a villager next to him suddenly spoke:

"By the way, we have two more monsters here, can we go and have a look?"

"There's more?" Xia Yujie was a little surprised, because the only cursed spirit he sensed was the one he had just exorcised.

Could there be a hidden curse? But how did the villagers, who are ordinary people, know about it? A puzzled look appeared on Xia Yujie's face.

Jiang Lai's heart was in turmoil. He guessed that the people here should be referring to Nanako and Mimiko - two little girls who were mistaken by the villagers as the real bodies of dirty things because they had the talent of sorcerers and could see cursed spirits that others could not see.

Two or three villagers led them all the way to a remote hut.

In the dim room, there was a large cage for animals. As the door opened, the twin sisters, who were very young, shivered and hugged each other.

Xia Yujie stared at the scene in front of him in astonishment, and blurted out subconsciously: "What, what is this?"

"It's the dirty stuff, the root cause of those incidents. It attacks the villagers with a very strange power." said the villager with thick eyebrows and big eyes.

"No, it has nothing to do with them." Xia Yujie shook his head, "I have already solved the root cause of the incident."

His eyes fell on the girls in the cage who were covered with scars. Combining this with what the villagers had just said, he concluded that these were two children with the talent of being sorcerers.

The shorter middle-aged woman next to him continued, "Anyway, they were just two dirty things, and my child was almost killed."

"That's because he hit us first—" the light-haired little girl cried out in tears.

"Shut up! Monsters! Your parents too!" The villagers raised their fingers like sticks, and together with the insults, they formed an attack full of negative emotions. "Monsters like you who don't fit in should die!"

"..." Xia Yujie widened his eyes. The voice in his ears seemed to come from far away, echoing vaguely in the depths of his soul.

In the past experiences, the foolish clapping and watching of the Pansei Cult followers, the tragic scene of the Huibara generation with only one hand left... all the scenes appeared in my mind.

Just because you have a talent that is not understood by ordinary people, you will be persecuted and beaten?

What he protected...what they, the sorcerers, protected with their lives, is this what they got in return?

Spellcasters do not create cursed spirits. Cursed spirits are created by the negative emotional release of ordinary people.

If that's the case, why do ordinary people live so long, but sorcerers have such a short life?

——That’s not fair.

One way to destroy cursed spirits is to kill all ordinary people... or, to make ordinary people become "feed" for more sorcerers to survive.

But it would be better to kill these guys first. There is plenty of "feed", so let's destroy a batch of cursed production sources first.

Amid the villagers' constant insults and the little girl's low sobs, the already shaky balance in Geto's heart finally tilted heavily to the other side.

He had made up his mind. The last boot finally dropped.

The boy with the ball-shaped haircut had a gradually darkening gaze, but a false smile slowly formed on his face. His squinting eyes concealed all the expression in his eyes.

Xia Yujie's fingers moved slightly, and a murderous intent gradually emerged. However, when his eyes caught a glimpse of the dark blue figure beside him, his movements paused slightly.

As if he could sense the line of sight, Jiang Lai turned his head and looked at Xia Yujie from a not far distance.

Those calm and deep brown eyes were the color of an ancient tree that had grown for thousands of years. When they blinked slowly, it seemed as if they could see through the thoughts of the boy with the bun-haired look.

——But he just stood there and said nothing.

In the half-lit house, the dark blue man was like a swaying shadow. The present in the village seemed to be connected to the past and uncertain future of the college.

"..." Xia Youjie pursed his lips, his eyes dropped, staring straight at the ground beneath his feet.

If I attack the villagers, will Lei stop me?

Regardless of who is stronger or weaker, Xia Yujie doesn't want to attack his friends unless it is necessary.

He then remembered that Lai was an existence that should not be associated with too many times.

So, if the villagers of this village die, will the evil karma be accumulated on Lai who participated in this incident...?

Xia Yujie's lips and teeth rubbed against each other, and his emotions were tangled.

He held his other arm with one hand, trying to resist the urge to massacre the entire village.