Chapter 55 [Restart]
The white-haired young man's response was a simple "OK", and no emotion could be heard from his words.
After receiving Gojo Satoru's affirmative response, Xia Yujie relaxed a lot. He was about to say "thank you" when he heard Gojo Satoru continue with the second half of the sentence:
"Do you think I'll just say yes so easily and give you one shot and that'll be the end of it?"
The young man with the ball-shaped hair was stunned for a few seconds, and then he said with his eyes slightly curved: "Why not? You came here to kill me, Wu. During this Hundred Demons Night Parade incident, you must have received an order to eliminate a vicious curse master like me."
"Yes." Gojo Satoru admitted frankly, "But now I have changed my mind a little."
Xia Yujie raised his eyebrows and sighed: "If I had known earlier, I would not have confessed and would not have let Lai say anything. I would have waited for you to kill me directly."
Gojo Satoru stared at him with his blue eyes: "Then I would have asked you first - I said I believe you and would not do such a thing."
The air is quiet for two seconds.
Summer Oil said, "So, are you still going to help me, Satoru?"
"Yes." Gojo Satoru stared at the man in front of him with his bright eyes. He nodded slightly, his aura fluctuating, and his voice was as cold as the edge of an iceberg. "But, not now - not just give in to those guys without trying anything."
Xia Yujie blinked and sighed: "...I am the one who admits defeat, not you."
"Please, as a close friend of the spicy teacher, if you admit defeat, I will admit defeat, Jie."
Gojo Satoru uttered the word "close friend" so naturally that Geto Summer was slightly stunned.
After half a second, the young man with the ball-shaped haircut chuckled and said slowly, "It's really bold to call a curser a close friend, Wu. It will attract criticism."
"That's the truth." Gojo Satoru raised his eyelids. "Since you're planning to turn back now, once you find a way to remove the shackles, you can go back to the technical high school and work like a slave to make up for your mistakes."
The last half of the sentence has a joking tone, just like in the past.
"..." Xia Yujie did not respond. He smiled and said, "My answer will probably disappoint you."
Gojo Satoru's expression paused slightly.
At this time, Jiang Lai, who had been listening to the conversation, put down his hand covering his neck and made a bandage to wrap around the wound. He spoke in a calm voice:
"——Jay didn't figure it out, he's just tired, that's all."
The sound was still a little loud, but it was much better than before. Jiang Lai walked closer.
Kagome turned his gaze and looked at the pair of brown eyes that were looking back at him. Those calm eyes were just like those years ago, able to see through the skin and into the inside.
"I always feel like Lai can see through me every time..." The young man with the ball-shaped haircut smiled slightly, lowered his eyelids, and admitted frankly, "Indeed, I am tired."
Under the wide black and gold cassock are bony bones, behind the mask of smile is a myriad of fatigue, the taste of rag and curse lingers on the tip of the tongue, and he never has a good appetite to eat.
Compared to the original work, Geto Suguru here has the support of an organization behind him, but he lacks the company of companions who can be called "family", and he has almost been walking alone for ten years.
On a one-way street filled with blood, he was pushed by the force behind him to run, and as he stumbled, he convinced himself that the path he had chosen was the right one.
Amid restrictions and growing conflicts, he suddenly began to wonder whether the reason for embarking on this one-way street was his own choice or the result of the puppet's strings.
The starting point began to waver, the momentum gradually faded, and the action of piercing his old friend's throat with a knife was a heavy blow - his original intention was "not to witness the bloody sea of corpses of sorcerers", but now he was forced to raise the knife to kill his companions.
Ten years is a very long time, and too many things weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he was already tired.
The controlled situation now made him realize his puppet nature. Freedom was a luxury in death.
My confused brain no longer wants to think about the path and justice.
"It doesn't matter whether I figure it out or not." Xia Yujie narrowed his eyes and smiled, but there was no smile in his smile. His voice was hoarse, "The traces of my past are finally engraved there, and the future path is not decided by me."
"Maybe next time, you can talk with Wu, Gaozi and the others and slowly find the path of justice." Jiang Lai said gently, "Don't make a decision too hastily. This trial and error has proved this point."
Xia Yujie shook his head: "It's a pity that there is nothing [maybe]."
“So, let’s stop here. Give me a clean, thorough treatment without leaving any traces.” The black-haired young man with a bun smiled, “If it’s Wu, he can definitely do it - thank you in advance.”
Gojo Satoru: "...Don't be polite at this time."
"Haha, I'm a very polite person." Xia Yujie narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "And I really mean it."
He chuckled and said, "If it was you who did it, I would have no regrets, Wu."
"You have no regrets? Maybe." Jiang Lai raised his eyes and continued calmly, "But I do, Wu has it, Gaozi has it, Yega-sensei, Mimiko, Nanako, Maki Mayi - we all have it."
Xia Yujie was stunned for a moment. These names were the inscriptions of his youth, and they had the power to stir his heartstrings. After a few seconds, he continued:
"I'm sorry... I hate monkeys and the higher-ups, but I've never hated you. That's why I don't want to be manipulated into doing something I don't want to do one day in the future."
"Even if not for me, do this to protect your students, Satoru. In short, please." His narrow fox eyes were tired and sincere, "Please let me sleep and be free."
Gojo Satoru stared at his former best friend with his bright blue eyes, an indescribable expression on his face. He could feel the sincerity in the words of the person in front of him, and it was precisely because of this that he fell silent.
He is the most powerful one, but being the most powerful does not mean he can save everyone.
Gojo Satoru is not someone who cannot kill his best friend. If the other party insists on killing him with a knife, he can swallow the pain, uphold justice, and kill his old friend calmly and steadily.
But the current situation made his throat tighten.
He couldn't find the root cause, couldn't cut the strings on the puppet, and the only way to set his friend free was to kill himself. And the real enemy was still laughing behind the scenes.
Gojo Satoru retracted his fist, his eyes focused, "...Then before you leave, tell me more about those guys, Jie."
"If you want to rest, you can rest first." The white-haired young man spoke calmly, and the second half of the sentence was burning with cold anger and murderous intent, "And we must win over those guys."
Xia Yujie narrowed his eyes and smiled like a fox: "Then I'll leave it to you, Wu."
His tone was just like the moment when they had stood side by side at the college, as if what they were about to face was not a permanent farewell but a temporary separation.
The young man with the ball-shaped hair exhaled and slowly narrated what he knew.
The Regulatory Commission has a very good reputation externally, and those real-name volunteers are indeed doing good things.
However, its true inner thoughts advocate that [useless people continue the lives of useful people, making the world more pure and refined], and it divides the feed according to its own assessment of "usefulness and uselessness".
The missing population in society is captured by them as "feed", and those who have a complete sunflower totem pattern on their forehead will share this benefit and share the life and magic power squeezed from others.
However, Geto Summer Oil was not clear about the specific process of feed conversion, and did not know whether it was the effect of a cursed tool or some kind of ritual.
Some senior executives in the Yusan family knew the inside story and they were also part of the core members, but Xia Yujie did not know who was on the specific list.
Because his totem has not yet been fully formed, in essence, Geto Suguru is not a core member, not to mention that most of the core members keep their secrets from each other.
The only core members he had seen on weekdays were "Mom" and Yuikawa Kurita.
Jiang Lai listened quietly, and his impression of this organization became clearer in his mind. He wrote down these details and planned to study how to deal with them in detail later.
At this time, Jiang Lai focused on continuing to try to sense his own time skill - he guessed that the opening of the second round might be related to himself, but he didn't know how to do it.
In the process of guessing and trying, Jiang Lai was able to vaguely touch some edges, but he could never really understand clearly.
Until he heard Geto's final words.
"That prophecy is probably the reason why they were secretly keeping an eye on Satoru and lured you out," said Geto. "[Mom] didn't allow me to see it, so I only took a glimpse at the time. The prophecy seemed to contain words like 'God's Six Eyes', 'turning the clock', 'glory restarting'..."
Combining the key words "six eyes", "turn the clock", and "restart" together with everything that had happened in the main story, Jiang Lai had already connected them into a line in his mind, and a certain intuition was about to emerge -
However, at this moment, before Geto Xiayou finished his words, something strange happened!
Complex spells suddenly appeared on the ground beneath the feet of the young man with the ball-shaped hair. The spell power surged and swallowed up the figure in less than half a second, without even leaving time for a word!
Gojo Satoru's instant reaction at that time was not to attack, but to reach out to pull Xia Yujie, but he was half a step late in the end.
Jiang Lai stared at the scene in astonishment the whole time. After the figure disappeared, the fluctuations of the cursed power still remained in the air.
——This all happened too suddenly and quickly. No one expected that the peaceful conversation would be interrupted by the sudden transmission of the spell!
江萊不相信有人能夠在六眼視域範圍中現場發動術式，那麽這道傳送應該是早就刻下的。剛才夏油傑話語中提到了預言、以及預言中的某些內容……
“關鍵詞組合觸發？”他呢喃出猜測。
如果是這樣的話，至少監管會那邊已經知曉，夏油傑已經知曉這些內容、并且還将秘密告訴了他人。
結合[死亡]的結川栗芥的情況、外加可能檢測到的五條悟、江萊、夏油傑會面，他們那邊大概率會認為這是夏油傑的“背叛”。
那麽被傳送回去的夏油傑，很可能并不會好過——但他們都不清楚夏油傑到底被傳送到了哪裏。
江萊側頭看向身側僵立住的身形。
“……”五條悟一言未發，他動作緩慢地收回手，凝視着已經空空如也的地面。
在小巷周圍，百鬼夜行中的奇形怪狀的咒靈爬到這條巷道，察覺到人類的蹤跡而來厮殺。它們扭動着身形，攜裹咒力襲來。
白發青年轉過臉，蒼天之瞳中驟起狂風疾雪，如料峭冬風刮過懸崖陡壁，攜裹淩冽攪碎萬千岩石的氣勢。
周圍空氣在威懾下甚至都降低一度，無可比拟的強大咒力如龍卷風席卷而起！
在這股力量之下，另一道街區的咒術師與咒靈都不禁動作一震。
伊地知潔高擦擦額頭的汗，心中默默：……雖然不知道發生了什麽，但五條先生好像真的生氣了！！
——
各式咒靈不知為何，源源不斷地向這邊湧來。但密密麻麻的咒靈基本上都在近身的眨眼間被解決，最強的稱號從不是虛名。
現場建築在戰鬥中被瓦解成碎末，在風中揚散飛揚。
江萊沒有上前，他知道對方不需要自己的援助，因此留出空間讓五條悟能夠自由發洩。
沖擊波揚起衣擺，江萊眯了眯眼擋住塵沙，在這短暫的時間裏思索夏油傑的可能去處。
既然監管會知曉夏油傑的“背叛”，那麽他們大概率不會放任他自由行動了。
他心中沉沉。
從剛才結川栗芥的舉動中可以窺見，監管會對自己的态度，大概率是能利用就利用、不能利用就毀滅。
現在看來，一周目不僅是五條悟的成長與夏油傑的試錯，也是自己的線索收集和摸索過程。江萊心中思緒緩慢流淌。
在自己被監管會注意到的的那一刻，就不再具有敵明我暗的優勢了。
他開始回憶。
當時在禪院家的時候，監管會還并未在意自己，他們對[時鐘]的認識猜測還停留在物品。
那時候是自己第一次和高專悟以及傑相處出任務，并未顯露出格外的特別之處。
而後續自己的多次出現以及時機的巧妙，引起了監管會的察覺。在最後，連夜蛾正道都能感知出自己的不同，更不用說監管會了。
不能過早暴露自己。江萊将這一點記下，而後擡起頭，看向不遠處的身影。
五條悟擡手毀滅現場的所有咒靈，在萬物塵埃中，他立在原地，白發飛揚，精致的臉上面無表情。
被掃清的現場格外安靜，幾十秒或者幾分鐘之後，電話鈴聲打破現場凝固的氣氛。
“……”五條悟從自己的世界中抽離，他頓了頓，掏出手機，接聽電話。
江萊向前幾步，他沒聽清電話裏具體在說什麽，但是能瞥見白發青年臉上一瞬僵硬的神色。
“怎麽了？”江萊問。
“回高專。”五條悟攥緊手機。
——
十年過去，咒術高專保持着最初的布局，縱眼望去，仿佛還能浮現出那些年的時光。
只不過，此刻的場面，與記憶裏的溫馨美景相差甚大——視線中滿是斷壁殘垣。塵煙泛起，咒力殘穢遍布各處，時不時還瞥見刺目血跡。
據知情人報告和現場咒力殘穢分析，這些都是夏油傑做的。
百鬼夜行事件，五條悟讓乙骨憂太、禪院姐妹以及菜菜子、美美子留校駐守，其他人則外出在街道上祓除咒靈。
這次學校遇襲，學生們都有不同程度的受傷，其中菜菜子和禪院真希受傷最為嚴重。
美美子眼淚在眼眶中隐忍打轉，但她還是盡量冷靜語氣，在當時的電話中和五條悟快速說明：
“……是夏油前輩，但、夏油前輩好像被控制了。他讓我們離遠點——”
受傷的學生都轉到了家入硝子那邊，現場只留下了趕來的五條悟和江萊。
二人立在廢墟之前，遙望着這片戰鬥後的慘像。
江萊視線掃過受損嚴重的周圍，他深呼吸一口氣，在心裏冷靜回想、默默分析。
當時，夏油傑被空間轉移消失後，五條悟和自己所在之處便圍過去了不少咒靈。
由此觀之，傳送咒文可能還有定位的功能。那些咒靈大概是被監管會從附近街道調過去的，為了短暫拖延？
而後，在這小段時間中，監管會操縱夏油傑回到高專進行了屠殺破壞——學校中的禪院姐妹、菜菜子與美美子，都是夏油傑當年帶過的孩子。
新系列裏百鬼夜行的目的是為了引出江萊、夏油傑只是配合着進行清掃。
他本身沒有殺死乙骨憂太、奪取裏香的想法，策劃的行程軌跡裏中，也根本沒有高專這一處。
夏油傑從未憎恨過高專的人，他有自己的原則，不會無理由地殺害年輕術師。
此刻，卻被控制着毀壞記憶中的高專，向有過感情的孩子們下殺手。
盡管江萊無法見到現在不知身在何處的夏油傑，但也能夠想象到，此時的對方狀态一定不好。
明明已經和摯友悟約好、以為可以獲取自由的夏油傑，卻沒想到終末一轉、再度回歸別人的操控之下、還做出違背本心的行為——任誰心态都得崩。
……這樣來看，監管會果然是最大變态啊。說不準結川栗芥只是它的一個縮影。江萊想。
此刻，五條悟垂眸盯着那片廢墟和其上的殘穢，冰冷的怒火冗雜一片空白的茫然，無聲的壓迫感傾軋落地又無處可使。
一系列的事情來得太過突然，後續想要發洩怒意，卻又找不到真正的幕後之人，最後化成一片低沉的默然。
冬季冷風拂過臉頰，攜裹着細小的冰渣，帶給人微微的刺痛感。
五條悟啓唇，他的聲音很低：“……我明明是最強，不是麽。”
後半句沒說出來，但身邊的江萊已經聽出了隐藏的部分。
“最強也是人。”江萊回複。他頓了一秒，又接上，“而且就算是神仙，也有無能為力的時候。”
“……”
白發青年攤開自己的手心，藍眸凝視着：“若是剛才異變突生的時候，我當時第一反應是出手殺了傑，是不是就可以給他自由、也能保護好學生……？”
“面對摯友，若在異變情況下第一反應是下殺手的話，心态才不太對吧。”江萊眸光流轉，略微偏頭，“你的選擇沒有錯。”
“是嗎。”五條悟沒什麽表情。
他們二人沉默着矗立于此。
白發青年一雙蒼天之瞳遙望向前方，在廢墟之上，他腦海中不可避免地回憶起往事。
他想起高專的時光，一頁頁場景如黑白影片，在冬季裏緩慢播放。
——如果最初的最初，自己能夠早一點注意到傑的狀态就好了。
——如果那些歲月，聽萊所言，放下面子大膽表述關心、尋根問底陪伴左右就好了。
——如果早些時候，便憑借直覺解決掉結川栗芥、或者提醒下灰原和七海海就好了。
——如果很久之前，自己就開始調查防備監管會的話，就不會像現在這樣失去衆多後，卻又無處發洩了。
……如果時間能夠倒流。
“悟。”江萊說，“你想要重來一次嗎。”
直到聽到身側人的呼喚，五條悟才察覺到，自己剛才竟然把最後那句話說了出來。
他頓了下，迅速調整好姿态，勾起一如既往的笑容，用好似随意的語氣道：
“啊、就是随口一說，最強才不會浪費時間在這種沒意義的妄想上啦。無敵大帥哥五條已經想好，怎麽把那些陰溝裏的老鼠一一揪出，然後通通碾死。”
白發青年身姿高挑，腰背挺直，最後那句吐出時融入深深的殺意。
江萊依然看着五條悟，輕眨眼，繼續道：“不是妄想，悟。”
他感知着自家的縱向術式，那些被屏蔽的內容，在預言聆聽及往事推測下，伴随直覺和某種神秘力量，一點點變得清晰——
【縱向-時間回溯。咒力操縱世界節點重啓，需要他人發動，自己不可使用。發動時撥動心髒時鐘，回溯期間自己不能存在，重啓機會只有一次。】
【發動者及其他結過善緣的人，會擁有回溯片段的記憶。】
江萊心随本能，在此刻終于清晰感知到屬于自己的能力。
所以世界二周目真的與自己有關。江萊腦海中天馬行空。果然，來到咒術界，技能都會升級。當年自己在1.0柯學世界的讀檔技能，在咒回直接演變成了讓世界讀檔啊。
At this point in the first week, enough clues and thoughts, mistakes and pain have accumulated. There is no need to continue on this path stubbornly and leave more scars in each other's hearts.
His thoughts are fluctuating
So let's stop here and start over - this is consistent with what Shinji said before, that the world went backwards on the day of the One Hundred Demons Night Parade.
Since death is a certainty in this Möbius ring, this time the flow probably cannot be traced back to before the astral plasma, he thought. However, going back to the year when the astral plasma incident ended is enough.
If they could really restart, with their memories, they would be able to avoid tragedy and move towards a new future.
"If turning back time is your wish, I can make it happen for you," Jiang Lai said.
Gojo Satoru was stunned for half a second, and put one hand on his chin: "Today is Christmas Eve, not April Fools' Day. Are they preparing for Christmas tomorrow? But I'm no longer at the age to believe in this. Santa Claus is a complete lie."
"Do you still believe in Santa Claus?"
Gojo Satoru: "It's just a child's childhood dream. When I was young, I believed in it a little bit." He chuckled, "Will Lai tell me that Santa Claus is also a [real existence]?"
"I can't answer whether Santa Claus really exists or not." Jiang Lai smiled, "But I can tell you the answer to the question you've been asking me."
Jiang Lai had always used "the time has not come" to procrastinate before, but at this moment, he could finally confirm that word.
The dark blue figure lifted the book up, and stared at me with brown eyes. There was a hint of smile and seriousness in the corners of his eyes, and he twitched his tongue: "——I am [Clock]."
Gojo Satoru stared at the figure in front of him: "...Clock?"
"That's right, so I have the ability to turn back time." Jiang Lai said, "Reverse the flow and start over again. All the regrets you and Jie have encountered can be made up one by one."
"When I asked you to take care of the acacia wood pendant, I said I would return the favor. How about I fulfill your wish to turn back time in return?"
He spoke these words one by one in a calm and gentle voice.
Jiang Lai originally thought that the white-haired young man would agree readily after a slight pause, laughing and rubbing his hands together, and saying something like "You told me earlier, I can't wait to open it again."
——However, the result was beyond his expectation. Gojo Satoru in front of him did not respond for a long time.
After several tens of seconds, the strongest in the world of spellcasting slowly said, "...What's the price?"
"Huh?" Jiang Lai blinked, "Wu doesn't have to pay a price."
"I mean, what is the price you paid?" Gojo Satoru looked straight at Jiang Lai, "What will you do, Lai?"
Jiang Lai blinked, a faint smile appeared on his face, and he said in a steady voice: "Don't worry, I won't pay the price."
——This statement is actually a lie.
When he was exploring his abilities just now, Jiang Lai was able to vaguely sense that launching a vertical technique that could interfere with the entire world would come at a price.
However, he recalled his own situation in the main story timeline and thought: It's nothing more than that my existence, some kind of godlike thing, is gone. After all, I was originally a human being, so it's no big deal to become a human again.
Then, he turned to the white-haired young man with a frank and peaceful smile.
Gojo Satoru looked back at the person in front of him with his clear blue eyes. He spoke word by word, "You are lying."
"Six Eyes has a very strong observation ability and can judge lies and truth." He stared at the figure in front of him, "You said there is no price, that's a lie."
"..." Jiang Lai paused slightly. He didn't expect the other party to be so sensitive.
Gojo Satoru still kept staring at the man with black hair and brown eyes in front of him.
The cursed spirits and cursers in the city seemed to have received the order to retreat long ago and have almost all left.
The curse that obscured the sky and the sun dissipated, the dark clouds broke, and the last rays of light burned gently at the junction of heaven and earth, and the warm light gently caressed every corner of the earth.
From the age of seven to now, in the past twenty years, the navy blue figure has never changed.
He seems to be always so young and gentle, always by our side like the wind and shining upon the world like the moonlight.
Is it because after the connection, [existence] cannot help but share the radiance in its core with others? There are too many sufferings in the world, how much radiance can [existence] share?
"…If it's at your expense, I don't need it. Forget it."
Gojo Satoru turned his face away. His tone of voice remained the same as usual, but there was a certain stubborn firmness hidden in it.
"I am the strongest in the world of spells. I don't need to sacrifice anything to get a happy ending. I can destroy those guys myself and let Jay pursue his freedom and sleep peacefully."
That being said, the past is the past. Jiang Lai knows. The dead cannot be resurrected, and scars cannot be erased. In addition, there were too many mistakes in this round of confrontation with the regulatory commission, and it would be difficult to win them smoothly.
But he did not say these words out loud. He just explained gently: "The so-called cost is not serious to me. In fact, it is just a small loss during the start-up. And if we restart it again, our chances of winning will be much higher than this."
"Believe me, Wu. Every time we part, we will meet again, right? When I say 'see you next time', we will definitely meet again."
"..." Gojo Satoru was not so easily shaken. He stared at Jiang Lai with his six eyes, "When can we meet again?"
Jiang Lai paused, blinked lightly, and said with a smile: "See you tomorrow."
——Today is December 24th, and their next meeting in the main story timeline is on December 25th. In a sense, it can be said that we will see each other tomorrow.
The white-haired young man stared at the person in front of him. He judged that the other party was not lying, and his tense posture finally relaxed.
If we can see each other again the next day, then it shouldn't be a big deal, he thought.
If time could really go back, then he, Jie, Nitro, and Lai together would definitely make up for all the shortcomings and defeat those guys this time.
So at this moment, he finally agreed, his bright blue eyes gleamed, and he nodded slightly and said, "Okay. Let's restart."