Chapter 152
When summer vacation ended, Gojo Satoru returned to the vocational college almost in a huff.
Even sitting at his own desk, wearing opaque sunglasses, his lips were turned down, and even the way he propped his head up with his arm conveyed a sense of [extreme displeasure].
Before the teacher arrived, Xia Youjie leaned over and whispered, "What's wrong?"
He now presents himself as a rebellious teenager on the verge of going astray, not to mention his attire—wide-legged pants popular among delinquents, an unusual bun hairstyle, and pure black earrings—it's hardly the attire of a traditional good student.
So much so that he now has to sneak around even to check on his friends, like a spy meeting underground.
As for Gojo Satoru, he was simply annoyed by Hagoromo Kazuma's stubbornness.
Why is it necessary to be an adult?
At the age of 17, he was already over 1.9 meters tall – standing on the commercial street, you couldn't find many people taller than him.
Besides, Yizhen is a year older than him!
Even this isn't enough?
This guy only ever kisses and never goes all the way to the end!
And no matter what they said, he wouldn't budge, which reminded Gojo Satoru of his description of Hatori Kazuma—a black pea mulberry.
That's absolutely true! They usually look cute and innocent, but when it really matters, they can be incredibly stubborn and headstrong!
Gojo Goko couldn't help but sulk whenever he thought about this.
But he couldn't tell Xia Youjie the reason, so he could only hold it in for a while before forcing out a sentence, "Nothing's wrong, I'm fine."
Xia Youjie: "..."
This is actually quite good.
Could it be that the two of them had a fight?
That shouldn't be the case. Given Yizhen's extremely discriminatory attitude, even if he went to the Hongxing Palace to scold Lord Tianyuan, he might not be willing to say a single harsh word to Wu.
Unable to figure it out, single Xia Youjie racked his brains trying to think of what else could have upset Wutiao Wu so much.
However, before he could come up with a second reason, it was Gojo Satoru who adjusted his mindset and calmed himself down first.
It's just a matter of waiting until I'm an adult, it's not that long anyway!
So, Gojo Satoru took the initiative to ask Natsuyu Jie about another matter.
"Did Ninety-Nine Yuki contact you again later?"
“No, they probably just came here specifically to make contact,” Xia Youjie thought for a moment, “maybe for psychological counseling?”
Gojo Satoru chuckled, "What sorcerer would have something like that?"
Spells are abilities that are based on negative energy. Spellcasters assume that they will either be killed by a curse or kill the curse—these things happen so often that no one thinks there is anything wrong with them.
That's why he wanted to change all of this.
Since Kujuku Yuki didn't visit Xia Youjie a second time during the two months of summer vacation when Xia Youjie went home alone, he can basically be ruled out as a suspect and put on the watch list.
They had previously speculated that Tsukumo Yuki might be someone sent by the [Cult Leader] to instigate things, and planned to follow the clues... What a pity now.
Since no enemy has come to make contact, Xia Youjie will have to find an opportunity to defect on his own.
"Where are your parents?" Gojo Satoru asked him quietly.
"I've already convinced them to move out of Japan," Xia Youjie said helplessly. "Thanks to your willingness to provide such a large sum of money, I've asked them to go and live in any country for a while... preferably not to come back for at least five years..."
Then his parents suspected that his brain had been damaged by attending a high school specializing in sorcery.
What kind of child kicks their parents out of the country for at least five years? What's the difference between that and being homeless?
After much persuasion, Xia Youjie finally convinced his parents that he and his companions were plotting a big scheme and that if they continued to stay in Japan, they might be implicated and face mortal danger.
Despite being repeatedly told to be careful, Xia Youjie finally managed to persuade his parents to quit their jobs and begin choosing their first destination abroad.
"Thank you, Wu." Xia Youjie also breathed a sigh of relief.
“Don’t mention it,” Wu Tiao, the wealthy man, waved his hand, “Just consider it your due activity expenses.”
Once Xia Youjie has resolved his concerns, they can take the final step in their defection.
But September brought another cruel piece of news.
Haibara Yu, who was one year below them, died in a Level 1 mission that was mistakenly classified as a Level 2 mission.
Nanami Kento barely escaped and requested reinforcements—Gojo Satoru, who was the [strongest] in terms of combat strength, was naturally dispatched to the destination urgently.
Having just finished his business trip, Gojo Satoru had no time to rest before he received the message for backup and immediately set off again.
The stronger he becomes, the more tasks he faces—there are too few quasi-level one or higher sorcerers, and the increasingly active cursed spirits do not diminish their destructive power.
As a result, Gojo Satoru's rest time was also rapidly compressed, and the frequency of his calls with Hato Kazuma was slowly decreasing. He could only seize the gaps in his investigations to try to type a few more words in emails and attach one or two photos of scenery or food.
Even so, Gojo Satoru never complained.
He always takes serious matters seriously, never shirking responsibility or being lazy.
"In any case...you should go and get some rest first, Nanami."
Inside the morgue, Xia Youjie sighed softly and slowly pulled up the blood-stained white cloth until it covered the mangled corpse.
He usually gets along well with Haibara Yu, and they chat a bit when they have free time.
Gojo Satoru went to handle a mission, so only he could come to offer his condolences... and comfort Nanami Kento, who went on the mission with Haibara Yu.
There were only two people in their class, and now that one of them has died, the blow to the other must be enormous.
"The task has been handed over to Wu."
Level one cursed spirits are just as dangerous to non-magicians. Xia Youjie comforted Qi Haijianren, who had failed to exorcise the cursed spirit, but after a brief silence, he was met with a self-deprecating whisper.
"Why not just hand it all over to that person?"
With a towel covering his eyes, Nanami Kento leaned against the wall, almost slumped on the stool, showing no signs of energy or spirit.
Xia Youjie was taken aback, not expecting to hear this answer.
Has Nanami Kento, who has always been seen as calm and composed, been so devastated?
Wu is indeed the strongest. His talent, combined with his intelligence and hard work, destined him to be extraordinary.
Even if an ordinary sorcerer spent their entire life chasing after him, they might not even catch a glimpse of his back.
But that's not the right way to think.
The familiarity with Nanami Kento's words was so strong that Xia Youjie couldn't help but drift off for a moment, his thoughts being pulled back to the time when he went on his first mission with Hatori Kazuma.
Even earlier, he had been corrected by Ichijin, who usually seemed taciturn.
"...Just because you're the [strongest], does that mean you have to shoulder everyone's expectations?"
Xia Youjie murmured, the last syllable echoing in the empty morgue, making a few cold, soft sounds.
Nanami Kento was stunned: "What?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blame you, and I understand how you feel about losing Haibara."
Xia Youjie snapped out of his reverie. "But Wu is just as busy, and he has never refused a mission... If I were to handle the mission right now, and Wu were standing here, would you say to Wu, 'Why don't we just leave it all to Xia Youjie?'"
He was unwilling to provoke Nanami at this time, but what the other party said was so similar to what he had said before, as if the weak were asking the strong for protection, and the strong were asking the even stronger for protection.
So what kind of person is he? Is he a weakling who demands the protection of the strongest, or a strongling who is demanded to be protected by the weak?
The thought suddenly flashed through Xia Youjie's mind, but vanished in an instant.
When attention returned to the morgue, only he and Nanami Kenji were there.
“…”
His rhetorical question was so sharp that Nanami Kento, who was impulsively trying to escape everything, was unable to respond for a long time.
Xia Youjie didn't say anything more, but simply sat down next to this junior and kept him company in silence.
I don't know how much time passed, until Xia Youjie's phone rang and he received a call from Wutiao Wu.
"I've got everything sorted out here, I'll take a car back in a bit."
The voice on the other end of the phone sounded a little muffled, and there seemed to be a barely perceptible yawn—but overall, he seemed quite energetic. "How are you over there, Jay? Is Nanami alright?"
When his name was mentioned, Nanami Kento remained leaning against the wall with a towel over his eyes, and his body moved slightly.
Older flip phones are not of good quality, and there will be some sound leakage when making calls.
"He's fine,"
Xia Youjie glanced at Qi Haijian, who remained silent, and did not tell Wu about their conversation.
"You've worked hard too, come back and rest early."
"Okay, I'll leave the rest to you."
The sound coming from the receiver wasn't very clear, and it was occasionally accompanied by a dull metallic clanging sound.
It was probably on the Shinkansen back, and given that I'd been working non-stop for several days, it's no wonder I was feeling sleepy.
Even if physical brain damage can be repaired using reversal techniques, the accumulated mental fatigue cannot be dispelled in a short time.
Xia Youjie chatted with Wutiao Wu for a couple more minutes before hanging up the phone.
In the return to silence, he heard Nanami Kento speak.
"...I thought there was a tension between you two."
It's said they had several arguments before.
His act was exposed by a phone call, and Xia Youjie gave an embarrassed laugh.
"Well... we only disagree on a few minor points."
“Is that so?” Nanami Kento said. “You are also very different from usual today.”
“They all say you’ve become very extreme, and that it won’t be long before you can no longer stand being a sorcerer and quit.”
Surprisingly, he refuted Gojo Satoru's words in order to defend him.
After painstakingly acting for so long, Xia Youjie was about to have his facade exposed on the spot, and he was sweating profusely as he listened.
"Well, there's a reason for that..."
He sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping, and said, "You could say I just don't quite agree with some of the ideas in the world of sorcery, but ultimately, the current order is fundamentally flawed."
Perhaps, as Yuki Tsukumo said, addressing the root cause is more important than treating the symptoms.
“Is it wrong?” Nanami Kento said wearily. “Probably, it is.”
"Do you plan to continue being a sorcerer?" Xia Youjie asked.
"Perhaps. I need to go back and think about it carefully."
Qi Haijian removed the towel from his eyes, and as he stood up, supporting himself on his knees, he seemed to remember something and turned to ask Xia Youjie.
"Judging from what you just said, it seems like this isn't the first time you've said something like this?"
"Yes, they got a good beating. By the way, you'd better not think like that anymore."
Seeing the obvious confusion in Qi Haijianren's eyes, Xia Youjie simply smiled and shrugged at him.
“Some people will be very unhappy.”
………
After Gojo Satoru returned to the high school, they all changed into black clothes and stood silently to see Haibara Yu off.
It is not uncommon for sorcerers to die on missions.
Even students who graduated in previous years, unless they completely left the world of sorcery or became assistant supervisors with a relatively higher safety factor, mostly could not escape the fate of being cut short halfway through.
For sorcerers, there is no such thing as a death without regret.
As Gojo Satoru stood before the tombstone, he recalled those words.
Having been exposed to and understood curses since childhood, he felt neither sadness nor anger at this moment.
He had witnessed too many deaths—the wrongful deaths of victims, the executions of curse masters, the deaths of sorcerers in battle… These kinds of deaths, which ordinary people would never encounter in their lives, were commonplace things that accompanied him as he grew up.
However, Gojo Satoru still couldn't help but feel regret and disappointment.
The deaths of many sorcerers could perhaps have been avoided.
...It's not enough for him to be strong alone; he can't take care of everyone who needs help at the same time.
He needs more and stronger companions to walk with him on this new path.
"After graduation, I've decided to become a teacher."
On the way back, Gojo Satoru told Natsumi Yuuki about his decision, which earned him a surprised glance from the latter.
"..." Gojo Satoru's eyebrows shot up immediately. "What kind of expression is that?"
"Well, it's just that you don't seem like the type of person who would be a teacher..."
Xia Youjie coughed dryly, "Does he agree?"
The "he" in this context refers to Kazuma Hatake.
"Why do I have to get his consent? I am me, and he is him."
Gojo Satoru really wanted to roll his eyes at Natsumi Yuuki, but he held back.
"This is something I wanted to do myself, and it has nothing to do with anyone else."
—Before Natsumi could apologize, Gojo Satoru's voice became cheerful again.
"Well, of course he'll support me."
Xiao Wu proudly raised his head and said in a smug but helpless tone, "I can't do anything about it."
"After all, I am so charming that he is always unconditionally supportive of me—this is quite normal."
They clearly liked each other to the point of obsession, but Gojo Satoru insisted on saying, "[Only Kazuma was completely infatuated with him, he was definitely not, absolutely not.]"
Xia Youjie: "..."
Blinded by the dazzling display, Xia Youjie sighed silently, feeling utterly exhausted.
"Speaking of which," he changed the subject, "I'll probably be able to..."
He defected.
—September 11th.
Xia Youjie received an assignment to investigate the disappearance of the old village and set off.
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