Chapter 94: The Heian-kyō Incident (Shibuya Incident a thousand years ago?)
A thousand years ago was the time when cursed energy was at its most prosperous. In addition, tonight is the night of the [One Hundred Demons Night Parade], and the cursed energy in the air has accumulated to the point where it makes people feel suffocated. Just from this point, one can imagine the torrent of curses that will gush out when the [door] is opened.
In the distance, the entire city of Heian-kyō was shrouded in a barrier. The perfect barrier formed a barrier that isolated the fluctuations of cursed energy inside and outside of Heian-kyō.
Although there is a barrier for protection, it does not guarantee safety 100%. Therefore, the royal family and most of the prominent nobles in Heian-kyo evacuated Kyoto long before the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, and went to their settlements in other places in luxurious fleets, intending to migrate back afterwards.
Those who remained in Heian-kyo were high-level clients who were in charge of arranging orders, some sorcerers who stayed behind, and ordinary Kyoto citizens who had nowhere else to go and were unable to evacuate.
Outside Heian-kyō, the evening wind, carrying the aura of curse, became extremely cold, rustling the grass and trees. The intertwined summer insect song symphony of the past had disappeared tonight.
All things hid themselves instinctively, and only one person stood on the vast land.
Gojo Satoru stood in an open space covered with weeds, his long white hair falling smoothly down like a waterfall. The exquisite and gorgeous yet not redundant kimono on his body was embroidered with five family crests and the seven-star pattern in gold thread. His sky-high eyes, which were not wrapped in strips of cloth, were fully exposed.
At this moment, he was casually putting mini desserts into his mouth, still maintaining his usual leisurely attitude in this land filled with the aura of curse.
"These messed up things are really annoying." Long-haired Gojo muttered to himself, "It's a pity that the [door] is not a physical entity and cannot be attacked. Otherwise, we can just blow it up and not have to guard it here--"
Above the wilderness, a black hole-like [door] slowly condensed and emerged, and the curse in the air became more and more chaotic.
The long-haired Goto raised his eyes and gazed over nonchalantly. In his ice-blue eyes, as bright as glass beads, he reflected the black hole in front of him that was emitting an unknown magical power.
The drifting evening breeze stopped for a moment, and after the brief, pre-storm calm, a large breath of curse suddenly emerged!
The piercing roar pierced through the silent night and resounded through the sky, and cursed spirits of different levels and with different evil looks struggled out of the [door]!
Facing the surging cursed spirit tide like a tsunami, the white-haired man still looked extremely relaxed, with a hint of thoughtfulness in his eyes.
"Strange...it seems like this batch isn't that strong."
He had been acting without limits, but he still symbolically patted the snack crumbs on his hands, then adjusted his magic power, faced the group of curses, and made a simple gesture -
"--[water chestnut]."
In an instant, a powerful cursed force condensed in the space and exploded, tearing apart and exorcising countless curses!
Most of the cursed spirits were exorcised by the powerful cursed power before they even had the chance to wail.
The earthquake was so powerful that Jiang Lai, who was not far away, naturally felt the strong impact.
Under the protection of the spell, he himself was not affected, but the surrounding trees were trembling in the hurricane caused by the cursed power, and the weaker ones were even broken in the storm.
It's really amazing. Jiang Lai sighed in his heart. Although a thousand years ago was the heyday of cursed power with many strong people, it is impossible to clearly see who is the "strongest" like in later generations, but if it is really evaluated, Long Hair Gojo is definitely one of the best candidates for this title.
Jiang Lai paused for a moment as his thoughts raced through his mind.
He had intended to find Gojo Satoru before the [door] opened and replace him as the gatekeeper.
At this time, after confirming that the [door] had been opened, Jiang Lai did not rush to move forward, but planned to investigate the situation first before going over to avoid affecting Gojo Satoru who was attacking at will.
The spatial ritual extends parallel to the original location, like invisible tentacles spreading in all directions, sensing the surrounding situation from a distance.
In the feedback from the investigation, the curses outside Heian-kyō were basically gathered at the place where the explosion just happened. However, Heian-kyō Castle was surrounded by a perfect barrier and was not affected at all...
Wait a moment.
Jiang Lai frowned as he felt some slightly strange ripples in the Heiankyo city's barrier.
In theory, when the barrier is not attacked, it is very calm and the interface will not vibrate or ripple.
But now, circles of patterns appeared on the barrier of Heian-kyo Castle, as if it was affected by the battle.
...Was it because Gojo Satoru's cursed attack far away in the suburbs was too powerful and affected him?
Jiang Lai adjusted the space technique and shifted more attention to the Heian-kyo Castle, sensing whether there were other cursed spirits attacking the barrier around.
After a few breaths, he frowned again. The feedback from the news was a bit surprising - the impact on the barrier did not come from outside, but seemed to come from the vibration inside.
What happened inside Heian-kyō Castle?
With thoughts surging in his mind, Jiang Lai only paused for a moment, weighing the options quickly in his mind before making a decision.
His original plan to go find Gojo Satoru, take over his position as gatekeeper, and let him return to Heian-kyo Castle was temporarily overturned by another decision in his mind.
Because Jiang Lai recalled the situation at the sister school exchange meeting between Tokyo and Kyoto Technical High School in the original work.
The enemy at that time set up a [tent] specifically to prevent Gojo Satoru from entering - although it only stopped Gojo Satoru for a period of time, it also shows that there are indeed barriers specifically designed for individuals.
For the mission of guarding the gate during the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, Gojo Satoru was transferred away from Heiankyo alone to guard the gate in the suburbs. Perhaps this was a deliberate attempt to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
Well, the so-called protective barrier currently opened in Heian-kyō Castle might actually have the property of preventing Gojo Satoru from entering.
Even if Gojo Satoru can break the barrier in a shorter time after turning back, it will still take a certain amount of time, and the situation inside Heian-kyo Castle must be a race against time.
After sorting out the possible situations in his mind, Jiang Lai tapped his feet lightly and quickly changed his direction, heading quickly towards Heianjing City.
The closer I got to the city shrouded by the barrier, the more my sixth sense of uneasiness began to flutter.
From the outside, the Heian-kyō castle looked no different than it had in the past. The tall gates were tightly closed, and flags fluttered on the city walls.
Jiang Lai landed in front of the barrier. He paused for a second, used a spell to protect his body, and then stepped into the barrier.
As a [being] that is one with nature, he is not blocked by these barriers and thus enters smoothly without any hindrance.
The moment you step in, the scene before your eyes changes completely!
The intact Heian-kyō Castle seen from outside the barrier was shattered like a mirror image the moment he entered. In an instant, a cursed spirit with a big mouth swooped forward!
“……!?”
Jiang Lai raised his hand and used a spell to exorcise the invading cursed spirit, while his eyes remained on the front.
What shocked him was not the sudden attack, but the scene before him - what caught his eyes was a large area of rubble, with the remnants of cursed power scattered everywhere, and cursed spirits of various shapes and sizes climbing and leaping, attacking the people and sorcerers who were unable to dodge.
What is going on here? Why are there so many cursed spirits!?
For a moment, he saw for a second the tragic Shibuya Incident in the original novel.
Jiang Lai's brain was working rapidly, and at the same time, his sight caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.
Not far away, a young cultivator with black hair and a bald head was covered in wounds. In the almost endless tide of cursed spirits, his strength was almost exhausted.
At this moment, various thoughts flashed through his mind. He pursed his lips and looked at the roaring special curse spirits on the battlefield. Finally, he clenched his hands and stretched them forward.
Just before he was about to summon the strongest untamed god and demon, Xu Luo, in a suicide move, a powerful curse suddenly appeared beside him, and the air seemed to materialize and press down his hand!
"?!" Xiu Ji was startled for a moment, and when he looked up again, a dark blue figure suddenly appeared in front of him, and the special-grade cursed spirit had been blasted into the ground by the space technique!
The back of the black-haired young man standing in front of him was tall and straight, like the moonlight pouring down from a waterfall on a cliff.
"..." Xiu Ji slowly lowered his arm, which was trembling due to the depletion of spell power. He exhaled, and his blue-green eyes stared at the figure he had not seen for more than ten years.
The dark blue figure deftly turned his wrist, controlling a powerful space technique and exorcising the cursed spirit in a breath! Then, he retreated in two or three steps and helped Xiu Ji up.
The mist still covered the black-haired young man's face, but even so, one could sense that he seemed to have not changed with the passage of time.
When Xiu Ji was looking at Jiang Lai, Jiang Lai was also observing Xiu Ji. He noticed that the clothes on the other party were simple in style, without any Zen temple pattern decoration, and were ordinary sorcerer's clothes.
In the comics, the Zenin family took away the young Shuji because of the ten shadow spells. But this outfit seems to indicate that Shuji did not stay in the Zenin family after he grew up.
But now is not a good time to reminisce. Jiang Lai's eyes wandered and he spoke first:
"What happened?"
Xiu Ji calmed down his breath and explained the situation in a calm voice, trying to be quick and concise:
"A [gate] suddenly appeared in Heian-kyō Castle, and a large number of high-level cursed spirits emerged. However, the barrier could not be breached from the inside to escape."
"[Gate]?" Jiang Lai was slightly stunned, "But, [Gate] is clearly outside the city, and Wu Jun is guarding it——"
"... Logically, this should be the case. I don't know why there is another [door]." Xiu Ji pursed his lips and whispered, "There has never been such a situation in historical records, and the cursed spirits that appear in the [door] will not be so numerous and powerful."
Jiang Lai scanned the surroundings, and while collecting information, he raised his hands and used space magic to block the attack of the cursed spirits and saved a few more people.
The rescued sorcerer staggered over, his voice hoarse: "Mr. Gojo...! Where is Mr. Gojo? We, we can't hold on any longer..." Perhaps because of his overly excited emotions, tears welled up, "We can't get out of the barrier at all!"
Jiang Lai analyzed calmly. He noticed that the clothes of the man in front of him were similar to those of the cultivators. He asked, "Who is left in the city?"
"The royal family and nobles have basically evacuated in advance. There are still civilians who have not evacuated here, as well as us, Mr. Gojo's men." The man wiped his face and answered while panting.
Mr. Gojo's people? In other words, those who stayed in the city to defend it this time were basically all from the Gojo faction? ?
Jiang Lai's heart sank.
Could it be that the extra "doors" that appeared unexpectedly this time were manipulated by someone to significantly reduce the power of the Gojo faction? Because Gojo Satoru wanted to change the rules of the world of sorcery, which affected the interests of the high-ranking officials and noble groups of sorcery?
It seems to make sense that they could use the One Hundred Demons Night Parade event, which occurs once every few hundred years, to divert the invincible Gojo itself and then attack the Gojo faction that remains in Heian-kyo.
But the nobles alone - even if the other two of the three families joined forces, they would not be able to do this. There must be a curser behind the scenes who is cooperating and manipulating the situation... For example, a noose?
However, this incident basically destroyed Heian-kyō Castle, and the price was too high. In addition, Gojo Satoru's rage afterwards was definitely something that ordinary people could not bear.
Either there is a back-up plan that has not yet been revealed, or the top leaders of the sorcery world have underestimated the consequences - and the reason for the underestimation is that they have been deceived by someone.
Jiang Lai thought silently, and subconsciously, a noose (brain flower) emerged in his mind, which was very skilled in the art of setting traps everywhere, deceiving people and cursing spirits.
His thoughts only lasted for a moment before Jiang Lai quickly regained his composure and decided to sort out the information later.
At this moment, the most important thing is to go to the [gate] and see what the [gate] that suddenly appeared in Heian-kyo is like.
As for Gojo Satoru... Jiang Lai paused for a second, and decided to inform him. Maybe one of the two doors was fake.
He extended his hand forward. "Do you have anything that can convey an emergency message? I will use the space technique to send you out of the barrier and reach Wu-kun."
Xiu Ji was stunned for a second, then took off the token from his waist and said, "Give me this."
Jiang Lai attached the spell to the token and guided it to the place in the suburbs where the cursed energy was the highest.
Then he said, "Where is the [gate] inside Heian-kyō Castle? I'll go and see."
Jiang Lai raised his hand and prepared to perform a time magic ritual to simply reverse the wounds on the two people in front of him without changing their memories - but when he was manipulating it, he actually felt the stagnant resistance of the waves, which gathered into a faint but noticeable weariness on his body.
"?" Jiang Lai felt a little confused.
The sorcerer noticed the changes in his body and was surprised and said, "Hey? Can you reverse the spell like that lady? Thank you very much!"
Shuji, whose body and magic power had recovered, stood up shakily and answered Jiang Lai's question: "[Door]... Mr. Xia Yu should be there now," he raised his eyes and said, "I'll take you there."