Chapter 98 [[Sleeping]]

"...cough, cough, cough..." Jiang Lai did not reply. After being suddenly stuffed with half a crystal, he still couldn't help coughing.

To be honest, he was also dazed at the moment, confused and didn't know what to say.

However, Ryoumen Sukuna didn't seem to need his reply. He just arrogantly and dictatorially announced the ending he had set, and did what he wanted to do. He said that he would not let Nosuke and Jiang Lai get what they wanted.

After watching Jiang Lai swallow half of the red crystal, Ryomen Sukuna let go of his hand and threw it to the ground casually.

Jiang Lai adjusted his body shape and supported himself on the ground with one hand, so as not to fall too far. He raised his brown eyes and glared back, strongly condemning the other party's sudden and embarrassing behavior.

The cherry-pink-haired man grinned, his sturdy arms crossed over his chest: "Not bad, this expression, try harder, try harder!"

...What a pervert. Although objectively speaking, this behavior helped me, subjectively, it was still a deep hell.

Jiang Lai didn't have the energy to engage in verbal debate. He concentrated on mobilizing the strength in his body to calm the aura of the god that had suddenly infused him.

The two Sukuna in front of him didn't seem to have any intention of staring at Jiang Lai's jokes. After all, the current situation was not the time for a casual chat.

He tilted his head to look at the direction of the noisy scene outside the temple, snorted contemptuously, and said:

"A bunch of twisted bugs dare to challenge me—" The King of Curses smiled cruelly and said, "Then let's see how far they can go!"

Jiang Lai silently complained in his heart: I can perform to the point of sealing you.jpg

Ryomen Sukuna looks down on most of the sorcerers in the world, but he doesn't know that fame and fortune will lure people into taking risks, resulting in the effect of a swarm of ants biting an elephant to death - not to mention that the six-eyed god Gojo Satoru will also come.

Come to think of it, Gojo Satoru hasn't arrived yet, most likely because he was temporarily blocked by the barrier outside Heian-kyō Castle. It seems that my guess at the time was correct, that barrier would target individuals.

If the massacre really happened, the upper echelons of the Jujutsu world would definitely hold on to the fact that Geto was crippled, and would explain the barrier problem away from Geto's control. In fact, the barrier was actually tampered with by the rotten oranges in the Jujutsu world.

Ryomen Sukuna walked away and headed for the battlefield outside the temple. He didn't care about Jiang Lai on the ground anymore, probably because he thought that he couldn't do anything to fight back in his current situation, so he planned to kill him first and then come back to take the black-haired young man away and cook him.

Jiang Lai breathed slowly in the ruins. Although his human figure no longer showed any signs of disappearing, the strong feeling of fatigue had not diminished much.

He kept his mind going, fighting off waves of sleepiness.

...I didn't expect Ryomen Sukuna to give me the half of the godhood that was almost consumed, but after thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Fortunately, the accumulated bad karma of the other party seemed not to be passed on to me.

After this incident, Jiang Lai could understand why future regulators would initially focus their search on objects when searching for [clocks].

Because the noose was not present a thousand years ago, the only news heard afterwards was that "the Heian-kyō city experienced a miraculous reversal of time and space and the stars fell, and the [gate] was completely sealed and would never come again."

And judging from his current state, after consuming so much power and burning his divinity, he would not be able to maintain his human form, and would most likely become a smaller and more stable object - such as a sundial (clock) the size of his heart.

Nozomi probably never expected that Ryoumen Sukuna would actually put the dim godhood in his body into Jiang Lai's mouth. This operation allowed [Time and Space] to continue to maintain the human form.

Connecting the past with the future clues, Jiang Lai let out a breath, and when he thought that his brain would take a detour, he slightly curled the corners of his lips.

Then, he regained his composure and tried to gather his strength again to stand up from the ground.

...What should I do now? A long hibernation period is inevitable, but where is safe now?

First find a safe temporary shelter nearby, and wait for Gojo Satoru or other friends to arrive before -

When Jiang Lai was struggling to sort out his plans in his mind, he felt a faint heat on his waist.

He was stunned for a moment, and then noticed that the locust wood pendant hanging around his waist was emitting a soft light.

"..." Jiang Lai's brown eyes widened a little. He paused, and his outstretched hand trembled slightly. He tried to keep his fingertips steady and took the card pendant off his waist.

The pendant, which is part of the [Source] entity, is like the hand of a patriarch, transmitting warmth through the skin to the heart. The light green light is not dazzling, but it magically illuminates the temple altar.

In the dim light of the night, there were crackling and rustling sounds under the ruins. Seeds in the ground burst, sprouts grew, and seedlings broke through the soil. Everything accelerated in a breath.

Under Jiang Lai's incredible gaze, the ruins were pushed apart by the soft yet unstoppable tentacles of plants, and young trees around them rose from the ruins, growing straight up at a speed visible to the naked eye! The branches stretched out to the night sky above, shaking out the lush layers of green leaves.

First, the temple altar, then the entire temple area, countless trees grew out at this moment. Jiang Lai, who was in the forest, slightly widened his eyes. During this process, he felt the breath of [Source].

“……!”

Before he opened his mouth to call out, an ancient and deep voice sounded first, reaching his ears gently:

"I know you are tired, kid. So go get some sleep. I will always be there for you."

"...Wait, wait a minute!" Jiang Lai did not fall asleep immediately. He sensed the divine power lingering around him and filled him with [Source]. He spoke carefully and sharply, "You are obviously not nearby. Are you releasing the divine power from a distance? But——"

"I dispersed the godhead."

"Disperse... disperse?" Jiang Lai was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered the light green fragments a thousand years later, "No, no, then you——"

"Don't worry about me." The words that did not belong to any language communicated directly with Jiang Lai's consciousness. He smiled and said, "In fact, I have tried this a long time ago."

"After all, I am worried about you brothers and sisters. Of course, I will not interfere with any of your decisions, but I just thought that maybe I could give you a harbor of rest when you are tired."

“…If the godhead is dispersed, wouldn’t that be the same as shattering? Then you…” Jiang Lai’s eyelids were about to stick together, but he still clenched his fists, sinking his fingertips into the soft flesh of his palms, and spoke while staying awake.

Gu Shu's kind voice was filled with a smile: "Just as we discussed before, as you said - we originally belong to the world."

"Born from nature, and returning to nature. Nothingness, yet everywhere," He said, "dissolution and eternal life - I have found my way."

"But your journey is not over yet, is it? Then take a good rest and continue on your journey." The old tree said gently, "Your eternal life is not here."

"..." Jiang Lai's heart was pounding in his chest, and he opened his mouth.

He seemed to understand the meaning of [Source]. He knew that the other party had autonomously broken the godhead into countless pieces, scattered them all over the place, and integrated them into the boundless and vast nature.

[Existence] is not immortality, but integration into nature - as long as the world exists, then nature is immortal.

However, knowing the future, he who is searching everywhere for fragments wants to say: there will always be greedy humans who will exploit the power of nature. Perhaps such eternal life will not bring the peace of mind that one imagines.

But at this moment Jiang Lai had almost no strength to speak anymore. He could only tightly hold the locust wood pendant in his hand.

There was a slight, meaningless "pop" sound from the friction between his lips and teeth. The tree that rose up behind him opened its arms like a mother and gently embraced the swaying black-haired young man in its trunk.

A vine gently peeled off Jiang Lai's clenched hands and hung the locust wood pendant back on the black-haired young man's waist.

The mysteriously split trunk contained Jiang Lai, like a hotbed tailor-made for her. Then it closed up again layer by layer.

[Source]'s voice rang in my ears: "Go to sleep, good child. No matter how long the years are, I will stay by your side silently. "

"..." In the warm embrace of the tree, Jiang Lai could no longer control the drowsiness that was rolling up on him, and he closed his eyes.

Before his consciousness left him, Jiang Lai thought silently in his heart: See you again in a thousand years. He and his friends will surely achieve the final victory, retrieve the fragments and return them to nature, and give [Source] the sleep he wanted.

The clasped trees withdrew the last trace of moonlight that lingered on their cheeks, and the black-haired young man fell into a long sleep.

——

The white-haired young man left all the noise behind, wearing a gorgeous kimono and moving in a hurry. He landed among the lush trees that rose abruptly from the ground, and his clear eyes took in everything around him.

Long-haired Gojo saw his best friend, Kagome Takeshi, lying on the ground. His chest was rising and falling, his body was unharmed, and his sleepy expression showed that he was fine. Just like everyone else in Heian-kyō Castle, he was pulled back by the huge force of time and space reversal.

He also saw scattered debris, crumbling ruins, and trees and bushes radiating majestic vitality.

But he didn't see the figure he wanted to see.

The information fed back by the six eyes told Gojo Satoru that the huge meteor shower and the miracle in Heian-kyō Castle were all caused by that person. The breath in the air that had not completely dissipated also indicated that person's wandering.

Some kind of sixth sense combined with six eyes allowed him to vaguely sense that the other person was here, yet it seemed as if he was not there. Like the wind, like the rain, like the light of the sun and the moon, he couldn't catch or touch it, but it was always by his side.

Gojo Satoru didn't want to assume the worst, but his reason made him very clear - such a brilliant and burning scene could only be witnessed once.

Even the gods, ghosts and monsters in legends will eventually run out of power; nothing is truly immortal.

The evening breeze blew through the treetops, and there was a continuous rustling sound in the forest. The noise in the distance seemed to become particularly far away, and only the natural sounds of the forest echoed in my ears.

“…”

Gojo Satoru stood there, his pure white eyelashes fluttering, his blue eyes scanning the surroundings aimlessly. Under the moonlight, his perfect lips were pressed into a straight line. After a long while, he spoke in a tone that sounded the same as usual:

"Ah, at least tell a story to the most handsome gentleman in the world before you leave. I've been waiting for you for many years, you know? And--"

and--

I still don't know your name.