Chapter 54 Please

——Gojo Satoru is here.

Jiang Lai breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense body relaxed a little. He held onto the wall, overcoming the pain that was causing his eyes to go dark, and tried his best to stand steady.

Not far to the side, Xia Yujie, who had escaped from a puppet-like situation, instinctively wanted to take a few steps forward, but after taking half a step, he stopped and no longer approached Jiang Lai.

At this moment, Jiang Lai was still struggling in dizziness, and he couldn't see the expression on the face of the young man with the ball-head hair.

The aftermath of the explosion disappeared in an instant, but the large crater left on the ground was still filled with dust and smoke.

A tall, white-haired young man fell to the ground. He took two or three steps forward to help Jiang Lai up. When he noticed that the man's fingers covering his neck were bleeding, he paused slightly.

"..." Xia Youjie's arms fell naturally at his sides. He remained silent throughout and did not explain anything.

On the other side of the alley, the purple three-handed curse spirit that Jiang Lai had just thrown away stood still because it no longer had any movement instructions to control the curse spirit. The blood on the hand knife dripped onto the ground, splashing small blood flowers.

The smell of blood spread in the alley, along with the depressing atmosphere and the cursed power that was teetering on the verge of boiling.

Jiang Lai took a breath and said first: "...No, Jie, ahem...I'm fine."

Because of the neck injury, his words were filled with a loud noise, but his tone was still steady.

In order to eliminate misunderstandings through communication, Jiang Lai decided to explain the first sentence clearly! He also had to deny the person first and then add the name, so as to avoid incomplete words and cause various misunderstandings.

And he was indeed fine - except for the pain that made him feel dizzy and the depletion of his cursed energy.

Being an [existence] will not die from severe wounds or excessive bleeding. This is what Jiang Lai deduced based on the current reality.

He guessed that this was probably related to the concept of "existence": the human body is an anthropomorphic form, but it does not mean that his structure is an individual, and the fatal point of humans is not his fatal point.

He will be weak and in pain, but he will not die.

However, logically speaking, I should not be immortal, Jiang Lai thought. I just don't know where the weakness of [existence] is.

Now, Jiang Lai covered his throat with one hand. In addition to the pain, he could feel that the horrible wound on his neck was recovering at a slow pace.

——It’s not as fast as the reverse technique, but my body is indeed repairing itself, using the magic power to mend it.

Being hurt once, and understanding myself better, is probably a blessing in disguise. Jiang Lai pursed his lips and thought relatively optimistically.

Gojo Satoru's six eyes could see the wounds slowly healing, and he loosened his grip on Jiang Lai's shoulders:

"Oh, I didn't expect that you are already a thousand-year-old monster, but you are still so unskilled in the reversal technique~ Lai." His voice was full of usual teasing, as if they had not been apart for ten years.

"Ahem... this is called self-repair..." Jiang Lai tried his best to breathe steadily so that his throat would not make noises like a broken blower.

"Okay, just stop talking for now." Gojo Satoru handed over a clean handkerchief from the side and forcefully stuffed it into Jiang Lai's hand, signaling him to use it to press the wound for the time being. "——I'll ask Jie about the rest."

The strongest hand in the world of sorcery was cold. It was unclear whether this was his original temperature or was due to the current situation.

Before Gojo Satoru could ask anything, Geto Suguru suddenly spoke up, "I was the one who did it."

"!?" Jiang Lai raised his head quickly after hearing this.

"I know." Gojo Satoru nodded, turned his head, and continued in a steady voice, "I saw it."

His celestial eyes stared at Geto Suguru: "I saw it, and the ugliness shown by the six eyes also pointed to you, so I want to ask you - who did it?"

Xia Yujie was slightly startled: "What?"

"Who did it?" At this moment, the magic power around the white-haired young man was surging violently like a tsunami, and the cold aura was like an iceberg pouring down, heavy and silent.

No matter if they were familiar with him or not, they could all sense at this moment that the strongest person in the world of sorcery was angry.

"Who controls you?" Gojo Satoru's voice was exceptionally calm, but hidden beneath the calm was a cold rage that could not be easily extinguished.

Xia Yujie paused for a moment, and he turned his fingers and manipulated the purple three-handed curse spirit at the alley entrance to turn around and say, "Who knows, maybe it was me who did it?" He smiled, "Don't think so highly of me, Wu. I'm a curser now."

"You have your own principles, and you won't attack Lai." Gojo Satoru said calmly, "I believe you on this point."

"Trust me..." Xia Yujie lowered his eyelids and chuckled, "I still have trust in you."

He took back the purple three-handed curse spirit beside him and looked at the drops of blood on the ground. He stared at the bloodstain:

"In fact, the target of this One Hundred Demons Night Parade is Lai. I am an insider and one of the executors."

Is he really the target? Jiang Lai's expression froze. Contrary to what the forums speculated, it seemed that Xia Yujie here had no intention of looking for Rika.

"But you didn't really do anything to Lai, did you?" Although Gojo Satoru was not at the scene, he seemed to be able to guess everything - because he was very familiar with and understood his former friend very well.

Jiang Lai recovered his breath and added, "Jie persuaded me to leave at that time."

"…This world is not a place that can really make me laugh, but I don't hate the people in the academy." Xia Yujie narrated slowly, "They have been trying to find you, Lai. They said you can help us and speed up the completion of our great cause."

They? I think they mean the regulatory agency. Jiang Lai recalled. Is this why Xia Yujie said to him, "I wanted to ask you for help"?

But today, there was a prison gate and a stab in the neck. This doesn't seem like the attitude of asking for help.

Gojo Satoru said nothing. He seemed to have guessed who was behind this. The cold look in his eyes revealed his attitude.

"You haven't shown up for so long. I originally thought that you wouldn't come this time. Let's use this as an excuse to use the power of the organization to clear the way."

After a pause, Xia Yujie continued to say to Jiang Lai, "I didn't tell them that you [existed]. I remember you mentioned that you can't make too many connections with this identity."

"I actually hesitated for quite some time after meeting you." Xia Yujie's narrow eyes narrowed, showing more fatigue than smile. "Then I thought, you are free. So forget it."

Freedom... Is it his own lack of freedom behind this sentence? Jiang Lai was sharp-witted and sensed some hidden emotions that the other party had mixed in.

"I didn't expect them to kill you directly." Xia Yujie's hands curled up slightly under his sleeves, and the scene just now appeared in front of him again, "It's my fault."

“…So who is controlling you?” Gojo Satoru spoke again, his blue eyes carrying a kind of high-level pressure, piercing the group hiding behind them.

"It's useless, Wu." Xia Yujie shook his head, the corners of his lips still slightly raised, but that was not an expression that could be described as a smile, "It's bondage."

He had just entered junior high school from elementary school and was actually still a child, and he knew nothing about the world of sorcery.

When he just lost his parents, he was confused, frightened and at a loss. The people from the Supervisory Board gave him timely assistance and warmth and took over his life.

The woman in the long skirt had a very gentle voice. She rubbed Xia Yujie's head and said, "We raised you, Jie, be a good boy, okay?"

Xiao Xia Youjie whispered, "Okay."

"When Jay doesn't listen, we make decisions for your body, okay?"

Xiao Xia Youjie thought he was very obedient and sensible, but he blinked and nodded habitually: "...Okay."

The woman in the long skirt moved gently. She took Kagome's hand and continued, "Let's sign a contract to bind us. Is that it?"

Xiao Xia Yujie raised his eyes and looked at the long-haired woman in front of him. He didn't understand the meaning behind these questions, so he just politely replied: "Okay."

——From then on, a certain inescapable bond was entangled in the body.

The young man with the ball-shaped haircut slowly recounted the past events. He shifted his gaze from the bloodstains on the ground and looked back at the two people in front of him.

"I originally thought that I was just being carried forward at certain moments." Xia Yujie laughed, "Now it seems that I am always a puppet in the hands of others."

"Now I am a little confused. Is the [righteousness] that I have been upholding all these years my idea or theirs?"

Gojo Satoru clenched his fists and said, "Where is the base?"

"I believe you have found quite a few over the years. They are not very useful, are they?" Xia Yujie narrowed his eyes and smiled like a fox. "They often mentioned you and the trouble you brought."

"But they are immortal. Before we find the real reason behind it, we can't really kill the core members." Xia Yujie exhaled and pulled off the bandage on his forehead -

The intricately patterned sun totem on it is almost complete, except for a small part in the upper right corner.

"Once this is truly formed, it can't be killed," said Xia Yujie. "As long as there is a constant supply of feed, there will be continued reproduction and rebirth."

"Honestly, after going around in circles for so long, I think this road... probably can't be taken this way."

There is a smiling mask on Kagome's face.

"I am no longer the real me now. Rather than being someone else's puppet forever, it is better to end it now before the totem on my forehead is formed."

Jiang Lai stood up straight, something was vaguely shaking in his heart. He seemed to have guessed the meaning behind Xia Yujie's words.

Gojo Satoru stared at him.

Xia Youjie's voice was as gentle as ever: "I never had much of a choice before."

He paused here and said, "Your technique can be performed completely cleanly. For the sake of our former friendship... I'll leave it to you this time, Wu."

"--give me a chance to truly choose for myself." He frowned, "Sorry. And thank you."

He didn't specify what he meant, but both of them understood the meaning behind it.

Xia Yujie raised his eyes and smiled - the tired little boy with a ball-like head who had been hidden in his eyes was standing on tiptoe to look out. He wanted to climb out of the window and escape from the iron house. Even though there was a cliff outside the window, it was also the free sky.

Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru looked at each other, their blue eyes looking deeply at their best friend, as if they had crossed over the years and mountains and returned to the good old days.

The young people at that time didn’t know how to worry, and they happily thought that the whole world was moving in accordance with their mood.

Ten years is both long and short. The short part is the passage of time, and the long part is the memories of the past.

At this moment, the way Geto smiled with his eyes narrowed was a bit like his high school days, gentle and youthful.

After a brief silence, Gojo Satoru said, "Okay."