With a wave of his hand, the fly-head curse above the woman's head was eliminated by Hayashi, disappearing instantly.
The woman had been rubbing her temples with her hands, clearly suffering from a severe headache. But suddenly, her entire head felt lighter, and her dizziness vanished.
"How strange..." The woman looked around but didn't notice anything unusual. However, she felt much better, and her entire body felt more relaxed.
Hayashi closed his eyes again. This kind of thing was too trivial. It could have been someone paying a curse user to curse the woman, or maybe she had been to some unclean place and attracted the fly-head curse.
But in most cases, it was the former—someone had definitely cursed her intentionally, rather than her picking it up accidentally.
This sort of thing happened quite frequently. Jujutsu sorcerers would take on missions to exorcise curses and earn rewards, while curse users could take on jobs to place curses on ordinary people and get paid for it.
It was a completely opposite process, but that was exactly how it worked. This was why curse users had to be dealt with. Otherwise, if some crazy individual cursed a large number of people, wouldn't the jujutsu sorcerers be worked to death?
Jujutsu sorcerers have limits, but curse users have none!
The plane ascended into the sky, piercing through the clouds. Hayashi leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes to rest. He enjoyed life in the mirror world because it was relatively peaceful, without the worry of danger.
Time passed quickly, and soon the plane arrived in Beijing, China. After disembarking, Hayashi felt a bit lost. He didn't know where to find the best heritage sites or where to search for them.
However, after thinking for a while, he took out his phone and logged onto the jujutsu sorcerer's platform, searching for prominent families or major organizations in the area.
It was apparent that even in Beijing, there weren't many prominent families and organizations. This made Hayashi recall that, by this standard, the 'Night Owl' organization in Shanghai was actually quite significant, even having a place in Shanghai itself.
After searching for an hour on his phone, Hayashi finally found an ancient family within the First Ring, called the Longyuan. This family had special-grade jujutsu sorcerers as well as several grade-one jujutsu sorcerers. As for grade-two and grade-three, there were even more of them.
This was basically one of the largest families in Beijing. All others were small organizations that didn't catch Hayashi's interest.
This Longyuan family probably had an influential position in China, comparable to the Three Great Families in Japan.
He definitely needed to visit a prominent family to seek out heritage techniques. Only a prominent family could possess valuable jujutsu techniques.
With this thought, Hayashi set off immediately, heading to Longyuan in the First Ring, of course, by taxi.
...
In the real world, in China.
Half a month ago.
In Tianjin.
In a dark alley, a man wearing a rotten, foul-smelling monk's robe was walking forward step by step. Half of his body was exposed, and his skin no longer looked human. From his arm and half of his chest, one could see dense black-purple patches, like the livor mortis of a long-dead corpse.
With each step he took, a decaying aura spread from beneath his feet, turning the ground a bluish-purple color as he walked forward.
At that moment, an office worker walked by, seemingly just off work. As he entered the alley, he didn't notice the man in the monk's robe but felt a strange sensation in the air.
However, he didn't pay much attention and continued walking.
In reality, the man in the monk's robe was right beside him, his lifeless eyes staring ahead like a corpse.
As the two crossed paths, the office worker suddenly felt his legs go cold, followed by an intense pain, as if his legs were being corroded by something.
Looking down, he saw that his shoes had turned to ash, and his legs were beginning to rot, with even the outline of his bones visible.
"Ah!" The man screamed in panic, "What's happening to me? Somebody, help! Help me!"
His desperate cries echoed through the alley, but it seemed like no one could hear him, only the terrifying echoes lingering in the dark.
The monk-robed man soon disappeared into the alley, and the place fell silent, leaving only a skeleton standing there. When the surroundings returned to normal, the skeleton, now without support, collapsed into a heap on the ground.
...
In the mirror world.
Hayashi had already taken a taxi to Longyuan in the First Ring. It looked like an ancient palace, with architectural styles similar to the Summer Palace.
Many men dressed in black suits patrolled around, taking turns guarding the main gate and side gates.
Standing at a distance, Hayashi looked inside. There were rows upon rows of ancient buildings, like a complex of quadrangles, but much larger, resembling numerous courtyards connected together.
"From this ancient style, it seems like there are some valuable things inside." Hayashi's heart began to race. He needed to learn some good jujutsu techniques here. Otherwise, he would be too limited in future battles.
Right now, his abilities had the advantage in close combat, but close combat also came with dangers. Wouldn't it be better to attack from a distance, especially since he had so much cursed energy? Why not just exhaust the enemy to death from afar?
Hayashi then extended his cursed energy outward. He wouldn't be able to enter through the main gate, as that was impossible. If any jujutsu sorcerer could casually walk into a place like this, that would be strange.
"What's this?"
Hayashi suddenly realized that his cursed energy was being blocked by an invisible barrier around the Longyuan estate. After processing this, Hayashi concluded it was a barrier technique.
It made sense. A place like this would be strange without a barrier technique.
Otherwise, some sneaky characters could use other methods to get in. The barrier technique was an effective way to prevent such troubles.
However, Hayashi wasn't an ordinary person. This barrier might be able to block other jujutsu sorcerers and curses, but it wouldn't stop him.
Hayashi focused his cursed energy into a straight line, compressing it, and then shot it at the barrier.
A hole about 1.5 meters wide appeared, and Hayashi instantly disappeared from his spot, reappearing on top of a large tree inside the Longyuan estate. Looking back, he saw the gap in the barrier immediately mended itself.
Cursed energy extension wasn't just about range; it could also be concentrated into a straight line, which increased its intensity and distance. This method was generally used for breaking through barriers or chasing down people.
This was something Hayashi had only recently mastered. After all, his abilities required his own experimentation and research, not just sticking to their original form.
Once inside the Longyuan estate, everything was still quiet, as if no one had noticed the recent incident. Hayashi wouldn't waste this rare opportunity. He spread his cursed energy outward again, his first priority being to find where the jujutsu scrolls were stored.
In a place like this, Hayashi wouldn't be careless. This was Beijing, equivalent to Tokyo, filled with powerful individuals. Longyuan, being similar to the Three Great Families, would definitely notice his presence sooner or later, so he had to be quick.