Chapter 52 "Ten years is a very long time."

It was approaching dusk, so it was still daytime. However, due to the swirling curse and the attack of a large army of cursed spirits, the dark clouds covering the sky almost completely blocked the sunlight, and the scene at this moment was like night.

The surrounding streets and buildings were all lit up to allow for the evacuation of the crowd.

At this moment, the mortal in the black and gold cassock stood high above, and the [existence] in the simple kimono stood firmly on the ground. They looked at each other, with the light of a street lamp between them.

Xia Yujie's eyes passed over the figure on the ground, and his figure paused slightly. But after a brief silence, he was the first to break the silence. He smiled with narrowed eyes and raised his right arm and waved it openly:

"Hi, long time no see, Lai."

"..." Jiang Lai raised his head slightly, his expression normal, "Long time no see, Jie Jun."

Thoughts surged in his mind.

According to the original work and the speculation in the forum just now, if Geto's goal was to obtain the special grade cursed spirit Rika, then after making the layout, he should have gone to Tokyo Jujutsu High School. But now his opponent is here.

In this case, the forum's speculation based on the original work may be wrong... Could it be that Geto Suguru's target is not Rikka?

Or maybe, his original target was the special-grade cursed spirit Rixiang, but halfway through the plan, his plan suddenly changed and he came to the streets here.

So is he here to find himself?

At this time, Kagome was still standing on the roof, the cold winter wind blowing up his wide robe. His expression was a little confused: "It's still a bit unexpected... to see you here."

Jiang Lai paused his thoughts and turned his attention back to the scene. He blinked his eyes and said, "I'll come and see you guys." He replied simply, and then paused for a second. "Aren't you coming down, Jie?"

"Oh, sorry." Xia Yujie jumped down from the roof lightly and landed in the alley. He had the same smile on his face as before. "I'm used to looking down on others, but I forgot that you probably aren't used to looking up at others."

This sentence sounds a bit strange.

"I don't care whether I look up or down." Jiang Lai replied calmly, "If I have to choose one, I prefer to look straight ahead."

He looked at the young man with a ball-shaped hair in front of him and continued, "It's winter now, and the wind is strong on the roof. I think it would be better to come down and reminisce."

"Are you concerned about me, Lai?" Xia Yujie smiled, and said the second half of the sentence in a softer voice, "...You are still the same as always."

"You have grown a lot taller." Jiang Lai replied, and he looked at the person in front of him, "However, you don't seem to be in a very good mental state when you went to seek [righteousness], and you have lost a lot of weight."

Summer Oil Jay paused and smiled, "Okay, why not? It's just not obvious." He spread his hands and said, "It is precisely because of the hard pursuit that I am busy and thin."

The smile on the face of the young man with a ball-shaped hair was not real, it was just the muscles at the corners of his lips moving. Jiang Lai could feel it. Micro-expression analysis could help him distinguish between real and fake smiles.

They hadn't seen each other for ten years - although it was a moment for Jiang Lai, it was an extremely long time for Xia Youjie. The long years were enough to cover the past with a thin layer of gray.

I don’t know if it’s because they haven’t seen each other for a long time or because Geto is now on guard, but there seems to be a transparent barrier between the two of them.

The young man who had revealed his true feelings to Jiang Lai with a warm, gentle, and slightly tired smile, could hardly be found on the man with a bun in the black and gold cassock at this moment.

Jiang Lai's eyes flickered, and he spoke calmly, "I delivered the black sesame cookies. But you released Wu's pigeon, and he seems to be very angry."

This sentence sounded a little abrupt. Even with a smiling mask welded on his face, Xia Yujie was stunned for a few seconds. After a long while, he finally responded: "...Are you referring to the dinner appointment that year?"

The young man with the ball-shaped hair put his hand on his chin: "Sorry, it was too long ago. You suddenly said that, and it took me a long time to dig it out of my memory. Well, it seems that before the village mission, we did make an appointment to go back and have dinner together. In this case, I broke the promise."

He let out a laugh. "But Lai didn't go either, did he?"

Sure enough, the regulatory agency had already set its sights on me, Jiang Lai thought. That’s why those guys were keeping an eye on me and knew where I was.

However, he did not show any tentative intention on his face, but continued to reply with a frown: "It seems that Wu, who was stood up, will not treat us to dinner again in the future."

"Probably." Xia Youjie replied in the same gentle voice.

The air was quiet for a few seconds, and then the sound of explosions and buildings collapsing could be heard from afar.

Jiang Lai tilted his head slightly and looked into the distance: "Is the noise so big, Jiejun?"

"After all, there are hundreds of cursed spirits and quite a few cursers." Xia Yujie put his hands behind his back and took a few steps forward, getting a little closer to Jiang Lai. "However, if Wu is here, he can probably only delay us for a while."

"Since it's meaningless, why do it?" Jiang Lai said, "Creating chaos and delaying for a short period of time, what do you plan to do with this time?"

He asked this question, but his doubts about Geto Suguru's appearance here remained.

In the original novel, the reason why Geto Suguru briefly delayed Gojo Satoru was that he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to go to the unguarded high school to kill Otsutsuki Yuta and seize Ukari.

But now, Geto is by his side.

"..." The young man with the ball-shaped hair was silent for two seconds. "It is meaningful." He only answered the first half of the sentence.

Without pausing, he continued, “So you showed up today and saw me as I am now.”

The corners of his long and narrow eyes slightly raised, with an expression that might be a smile or something else. "You see, my road is very smooth, and I have many like-minded companions. I have no regrets, and I am not alone. I will achieve it."

Jiang Lai turned his head slightly, his eyes calm as water.

Just like the eyes that saw through the boy with the ball-shaped hair in the village that year, at this moment, these eyes still have the power of penetration:

"—Are you talking to me, or are you trying to convince yourself?"

The sound of the navy blue figure was not loud, but it seemed to have a force as heavy as a thousand pounds, striking the bottom of my heart.

The hands under the sleeves of Kagome Jiekuan's coat slowly curled up. He remained silent, with an exaggerated smile on his face, but he looked away: "... No matter what, we have come this far, and we can only keep going until we stop."

He emphasized the word "stop", implying that it did not mean an action.

Geto Suguru has long lost the youthfulness of his youth. He is now taller and more capable than before, and seems to be unswerving and stubborn in his pursuit of "righteousness".

But deep in his eyes, there is still that tired little boy with a ball-like head, living under someone else's roof, wandering around with nowhere to go.

Jiang Lai blinked slowly. He wanted to say something, but before that, Xia Yujie spoke first.

"You shouldn't have come." The curve of his lips narrowed slightly and he stared at Jiang Lai and said.

Jiang Lai's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained the same: "What's wrong? I heard you guys were making such a fuss, so I came to see you and Wu."

Xia Yujie didn't respond to the joke. He stared at Jiang Lai and said, "Don't go looking for Wu."

Don't you want to go find Gojo Satoru?

Jiang Lai raised an eyebrow in his heart, but on the surface, he made a joke: "Why, are you worried that I will side with Wu and capture you or delay you? To be honest, Wu did yell at me like that the last time I went back."

"..." Xia Yujie didn't say anything.

Jiang Lai gently held the floating book beside him in his hand. He said calmly, "What's wrong, Jie? You can tell me, just treat me as the wind, cloud, or tree as you did before."

"..." Xia Yujie was silent for two seconds, then he shook his head and smiled, "I originally wanted to ask you... for a favor, but then I thought it would be better if you didn't get involved."

The only thing that the little boy with a ball-shaped head hides in the deepest part of his soul is his memories of high school.

Looking for my help? Jiang Lai caught the key point of the other party's words. Although he didn't know the meaning behind this sentence, he guessed that maybe this was the reason why the other party was not in the Jujutsu High School.

——He was probably wandering around here, looking for himself.

I just don’t know whether this “please help yourself” was Jay’s idea or the regulatory board’s idea.

He couldn't clearly guess what kind of mental struggle Xia Youjie had gone through, but Jiang Lai could sense that after the other party said this, he seemed to have let go of some of his worries.

The young man in the black and gold cassock was no longer as defensive and tense as before, and his body relaxed slightly. He raised his eyes, the corners of his eyes raised, and his voice was warm:

"Ten years is a long time, enough to change a person - don't be so defenseless next time, Lai. No matter who it is."

If you explore this sentence, you can dig up something. Jiang Lai raised his eyebrows slightly, but he didn't say much.

Xia Yujie stood up straight, his eyes steady, and said, "Go, Lai. Don't go looking for Wu. Just be free like before, and leave these worldly entanglements."

The atmosphere between the two people was always very harmonious, as if they were good friends who had not seen each other for many years and met by chance on the street.

It wasn't that enthusiastic, but also not that strange. After just a few simple words, both of them were able to put their worries aside.

The sounds of fighting in the distance had become much quieter, and a breeze blew through the alley, brushing against the red brick walls. In this strange and harmonious silence, a voice suddenly broke the peace:

"Grandpa, you can't do that. Mom will be mad."

——In the dim shadows cast by the alley wall, a young man with light brown hair and a smile appeared!

The man with reddish-brown eyes was like a ghost emerging from the shadows, silent and terrifying. He appeared behind Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai turned around suddenly, his eyes were cold, and Xia Yujie's body was even more stiff, and he glared at him suddenly.

It's Yuikawa Kurigashi!

Is this stealth ability the opponent's technique?

The young man with tea-colored hair was playing with something in his hands. He ignored Xia Yujie and looked at Jiang Lai in front of him. His puppy eyes were round and he still had that innocent look:

"Do you still remember me, senior? You are so cruel. I felt so hurt at that time."

As he finished speaking, he suddenly threw the square object in his hand towards Jiang Lai.

"Wait... Lai!" Xia Youjie reached out to pull Jiang Lai, but because there was a distance between them, he couldn't touch the navy blue figure immediately.

In reality, this is probably not an effective action.

Jiang Lai's eyes subconsciously fell on the small box thrown to him. He just noticed that it looked a little familiar, and instinctively thought about it according to his memory.

This seems to be the prison gate that is said to be able to seal everything?