Chapter 41: Traces

Chapter 41: Traces

Kamihara Hajime returned to Yaga Shrine without disturbing anyone. After briefly explaining the situation to Megumi Fushiguro, who was already lightly sleeping in the room, they decided it was too late to investigate further and went to rest.

The next day, Akashi Emi, Akashi Nohiko's wife, had already prepared breakfast, including fresh miso soup, rice balls, and Western breakfast items like fried eggs, bacon, and bread.

After politely thanking the gentle and virtuous lady, they took their seats at Akashi Nohiko's invitation and met his son and daughter, Akashi Nobunao and Akashi Natsuki.

Both children resembled their mother. They seemed to be only a few years older than Kamihara Hajime and Megumi Fushiguro. Among the siblings, the older sister's personality was more like their father's. After the seven people who had been traveling arrived, they quickly became familiar with everyone.

Although she seemed more interested in Kamihara Hajime and Megumi Fushiguro, one of them was cold and spoke little, while the other was focused on eating, making it difficult for even a clever cook to make a meal without ingredients.

After enjoying the delicious breakfast, Kamihara Hajime thanked the Akashi Emi family again. Then, he turned his attention to the conversation between the group named Shujun and Akashi Nohiko, who were discussing where to go play later.

That location was one of several suspicious places Kamihara Hajime had found in the streamer's video yesterday. It was on the mountaintop behind the shrine, where there was a very tall and thick ancient tree, said to be hundreds of years old. Tourists often visited the mountaintop to admire this ancient tree after praying at the shrine.

Because Yaga Shrine worships a local legendary Mountain God, and this ancient tree is sometimes regarded as an incarnation of the Mountain God in the human world, it naturally received worship from many people.

Then, after Kamihara Hajime asked if they could go together, Akashi Nohiko readily agreed and called his children. After clearing the table, Akashi Nohiko sent his son to call the group, saying he wanted to give him more exercise.

The latter, due to his personality, rarely communicated with others. This time, after they returned home to the shrine for their vacation, Akashi Nohiko prepared to have both siblings participate in the shrine's activities.

Although Akashi Nobunao didn't socialize much, he understood politeness. Soon, he returned with the group. Everyone set off lightly, as the place wasn't far, just a short stroll.

During the conversation with Akashi Nobunao on the way, Kamihara Hajime learned detailed information about that place and other somewhat famous nearby locations. The two of them had a very congenial chat. Although Akashi Nobunao was relatively introverted, he became quite talkative when discussing topics he was familiar with, such as games, anime, and so on.

From him, Kamihara Hajime learned that besides Yaga Shrine itself, there weren't many surrounding attractions. The ancient tree on the mountaintop was one, and there was also a cherry blossom path, but it wasn't blooming season, so there wasn't much to see. There was also a river at the foot of the mountain, with clear water and good ecology, and people often went there to play, but there weren't many people there at this time.

Finally, there was that forest, neither too big nor too small. It was originally a beautiful, pristine natural landscape, but in recent years, people had been committing suicide there. Although it wasn't as famous as the well-known suicide hot spot, Aokigahara, it quickly attracted the attention of online onlookers after news reports, influencer explorations, and then several disappearances (not suicides) occurred.

When the group reached the mountaintop, they indeed saw the very conspicuous tree. It was clear that the surroundings had been carefully maintained. White shimenawa ropes hung on the ancient tree, which three to five people could embrace. The sturdy trunk supported a massive canopy above. If it were summer, when the branches were lush, the sight would undoubtedly be even more magnificent.

Then everyone started taking portraits, landscapes, and taking turns making sincere wishes under the tree. Kamihara Hajime, on the other hand, walked around the area. Such a natural scene held little appeal for him, as he was already accustomed to seeing it at Jujutsu High.

He was searching for any traces of Cursed Energy here, and indeed, after some searching, he found a faint trace. This residual energy was very weak and was first discovered by White Wolf, right around the ancient tree. However, now without the dense branches and leaves obstructing his view, Kamihara Hajime did not find the presence of any Curse.

Standing on the mountaintop and looking down, one could still see the eaves of the shrine peeking out from the mountain forest. Shifting one's gaze slightly to the side, one could also see a silver ribbon of water winding its way out of the slumbering mountain forest, heading towards the distance.

Megumi Fushiguro, standing nearby, gave Kamihara Hajime a look. Under the latter's reminder, he also detected that faint residual Cursed Energy. Megumi Fushiguro made a gesture, asking if he should summon Jade Hounds to search, since there were no other Jujutsu Sorcerers present, and they wouldn't be able to see the Jade Hounds anyway.

But Kamihara Hajime shook his head and refused, then just walked around normally. He even took a photo with Megumi Fushiguro and White Wolf in front of the tree, at Akashi Natsuki's suggestion. After enjoying the view of "standing atop the highest peak, all other mountains seem small," the group descended the mountain, this time following the small path alongside the river.

The gurgling stream flowed between the bluestones, converging at the foot of the mountain. Occasionally, small fish and shrimp could be seen in the clear stream within the mountain forest. If one moved a stone, one might even see crabs escaping from the stirred-up mud.

Following the stream, they came upon a grayish-white pebble beach. Several people even played skipping stones with interest, while Kamihara Hajime and Megumi Fushiguro continued to search for traces of Curses. Perhaps due to the arrival of so many people, Kamihara Hajime indeed found a Cursed Spirit, which poked its head out in the middle of the river. However, it was just a fly-head, not their potential mission target.

That fly-head only showed its face before disappearing. Kamihara Hajime didn't bother with it. There were no other abnormalities near the river. Based on the information from the streamer's video, they likely encountered some abnormal situation near the ancient tree. Perhaps their other companion accidentally came into contact with a Cursed Spirit and became afflicted with some Curse, which caused his body to feel unwell.

But no Cursed Spirit was found on the mountaintop, meaning that thing was wandering nearby. There were no traces by the river either. Could they only use the slow, cumbersome method of searching?

After enjoying their outing, everyone returned to the shrine for lunch. Despite Akashi Nohiko's polite refusals, Kamihara Hajime still pressed the payment for their stay and meals into his hand, then said that he and his friend needed to rest and would be called for dinner.

Returning to their room, Kamihara Hajime then called Megumi Fushiguro, preparing to go out. Their destination was the forest they had visited last night. Once there, Kamihara Hajime had Megumi Fushiguro summon the Jade Hounds.

Two shikigami, one black and one white, leaped out from Megumi Fushiguro's shadow, circling him. After giving instructions to the two shikigami, the two Jade Hounds and White Wolf split up to search for Curses.

In this place where many people had committed suicide, a careful search still found some Cursed Spirits, but as before, most were fly-heads, posing little real harm to people. If convenient, they were dealt with; otherwise, they were ignored.

Before long, White Wolf discovered something and began barking from across the forest. When Kamihara Hajime and Megumi Fushiguro arrived, they found that they had reached another edge, looking down at a steep cliff.

And as Kamihara Hajime looked down at this time, under the clear sky, he saw that the area below seemed to be covered in a grayish-black veil.

"Found it?"

Megumi Fushiguro asked Kamihara Hajime, who nodded: "Its aura is very well hidden, and I didn't expect it to be here."

Looking back at that suicide "sanctuary," he thought that some people must have jumped from here. Kamihara Hajime then set up a barrier. Although there were not many people living nearby, necessary precautions should not be forgotten.

"Let's go."

Kamihara Hajime walked to the edge and then jumped down without hesitation. Megumi Fushiguro's eyelids twitched, then he crossed his hands into a wing-like shape, and the shadow behind him surged.

"Nue."

A large, strange bird flew out from behind him. This was a shikigami he had tamed not long ago. His Ten Shadows Technique corresponded to ten different shikigami. Except for the initial Jade Hounds, which did not require taming, subsequent shikigami all needed to be tamed by him before they could be used.

And besides combat, this strange bird had another function, which was naturally flight. Under Megumi Fushiguro's control, Nue hooked him with its talons and then flew down the cliff.

As soon as they descended, they saw Kamihara Hajime already on the ground. After recalling Nue, Megumi Fushiguro also looked at a patch of black mist floating halfway up ahead, and asked, "What is this? It seems to have the aura of a Curse. Do Cursed Spirits look like this?"

Kamihara Hajime stroked his chin. This black mist indeed had the aura of a Curse, especially now that they were closer, the sensation was even clearer. If he didn't look at its external appearance, Kamihara Hajime would have thought it was a Cursed Spirit, but the current misty shape...

"Why don't we just test it?"

Kamihara Hajime raised his hand and sent out a limited amount of Cursed Energy. The flying Cursed Energy stirred the black mist, causing it to surge, as if startling some entity.

The pervasive black mist suddenly contracted and then converged towards a central point. Within a few breaths, it solidified into a dense form, and a massive black snake emerged from within, its scales appearing lifelike.

The snake's head had no eye sockets, and it was unclear how it perceived things, but for a Cursed Spirit, it was understandable; these things weren't even considered living beings.

This black snake seemed to have been disturbed by the two of them. As soon as it appeared, its displeasure was evident. Its coiled body clearly indicated it was preparing to attack.

Kamihara Hajime spread his hands and turned to Megumi Fushiguro, saying, "I'll leave this to you for now. No problem, right?"

Megumi Fushiguro drew Onikiri, and the two Jade Hounds circled to his left and right. The terrain in the dense forest wasn't ideal, so he didn't summon Nue.

This Cursed Spirit was probably only semi-grade 2. Kamihara Hajime estimated it would be a one-hit kill, so it was better to leave it to Megumi Fushiguro. More real combat experience was always good.

He was currently thinking about the origin of this Cursed Spirit. Logically, the number of suicides here was somewhat insufficient, even unlikely, to give birth to such a Cursed Spirit.

Moreover, this Cursed Spirit currently seemed to have low aggression. If Kamihara Hajime hadn't made the first move, the former would probably have remained motionless.

And its ability to hide its aura was also good. If they hadn't seen the anomaly in broad daylight, it would have been difficult to find it. No wonder no traces were found in that forest last night; in poor light conditions at night, this black mist would have had natural concealment.

Read 20+ Advanced Chapters At PA Treon

patreon.com/FictionOP