Hayashi stood before the purple-black mist, feeling the ominous aura of the curse emanating from it. The space inside seemed completely isolated from the outside world.
Having come this far, there was no way Hayashi wasn't going in. If he wanted to solve the problem, he had to go deeper.
He lifted his leg and stepped directly into the purple-black mist. In the next instant, Hayashi vanished from his original spot.
The scene around him shifted instantly, and he found himself in an ancient town. The area was vast and eerily quiet—there wasn't a single person in sight.
The architectural style resembled that of centuries ago, as though he had entered a haunted old street from the past.
An invisible, eerie aura suddenly rushed toward Hayashi, wrapping itself around him—a layer of purple cursed energy.
If he were an ordinary person, he wouldn't even be aware of being cursed. But Hayashi knew—he was now being targeted.
From the moment he stepped into this place, the curse had latched onto him.
"This is the largest cursed-born domain I've ever seen. There's definitely something wrong with the curse here." Hayashi took a few steps forward, releasing his cursed energy outward, sending it surging in all directions.
But soon, Hayashi's expression changed. He realized that his cursed energy output had been restricted. Normally, his range was at least 300 meters, but here, it was limited to just 50 meters.
This was something that had never happened in Japan. It was his first time encountering such a cursed-born domain, suggesting that some technique or special method was at play here.
Hayashi turned to look behind him. The path he had come from had changed. Where there should have been purple-black mist, there was now only a seemingly endless ancient road.
"Just like in the cursed womb's domain during Cursed Womb: Death Painting, the exit disappears when you look back. It's the same here, but even more unsettling." Hayashi didn't choose to go back because he had no idea where that path would lead.
Since he had entered, it wouldn't be so easy to leave unless he solved the curse here.
The sky was dim, and the ancient road stretched endlessly ahead. On either side of the dilapidated old street, red lanterns hung outside the buildings, swaying despite the absence of wind.
Hayashi carefully observed his surroundings as he walked forward. According to the information provided by the Dragon Institute, many ordinary people were trapped inside, along with a number of jujutsu sorcerers.
But so far, he hadn't seen a single person, as if he were the only one in this ghostly town.
The deeper he went, the thicker the eerie atmosphere became.
Suddenly.
Within the 50-meter range of Hayashi's cursed energy detection, he saw a horrifying scene inside a dilapidated courtyard.
A man dressed in modern clothing had his arms and legs nailed to a large red pillar, his head hanging limply as though he were already dead.
Using Time Flash, Hayashi quickly approached and noticed something strange—the man was still alive. A faint cursed energy emanated from his body, suggesting that he was a jujutsu sorcerer.
"What happened here?" Hayashi stepped closer, intending to ask the man nailed to the pillar.
But the man remained motionless, his head still bowed as if lifeless. No matter how Hayashi questioned him, there was no response.
"What is this...?" Hayashi's eyes widened. Within his cursed energy detection range, he could see a faint black aura drifting from the man's body toward a specific location.
Hayashi didn't know what this black aura was, but it definitely wasn't anything good.
He unsheathed Black Steel and slashed the pillar. As the pillar broke, the man's nailed limbs began to fall, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Ugh... cough, cough..." The man seemed to regain his senses, weakly gasping for breath as he lay on the ground.
Hayashi stepped forward and helped him up, asking, "What happened here? Why were you nailed to the pillar? Where are the others?"
As Hayashi asked, the man seemed to react, his eyes filling with terror. He suddenly started screaming, "Don't kill me, don't kill me! I'll give you anything, please don't kill me, please!"
The man continued repeating these frantic pleas, causing Hayashi to frown. What kind of situation could frighten someone to this extent?
This person was supposed to be a jujutsu sorcerer. How could he be so scared?
If it had been an ordinary person, Hayashi wouldn't have thought much of it. Fear of the unknown, such as encountering a ghost or monster, could easily terrify someone without experience in dealing with curses.
But jujutsu sorcerers were trained and knowledgeable in such matters. How could one of them be this frightened?
"Don't kill me... don't kill me..."
The man kept repeating the same words, seemingly unaware of Hayashi's presence, lost in his own terrified rambling.
Realizing he wouldn't get any useful information, Hayashi let him go. However, he could still follow the trail of black aura leading away. Perhaps that was where the curse's source lay.
As Hayashi ventured deeper, the surroundings became increasingly silent. The red lanterns continued to sway in front of every house, their red glow flickering on the ground.
Hayashi felt as though he had entered a realm of ghosts. This cursed-born domain was highly abnormal. What kind of entity could create such a massive domain?
Given the strange nature of Chinese curses, a large domain didn't necessarily indicate a powerful curse. Perhaps these entities excelled in manipulating their domain, while their actual strength remained unknown.
As long as Hayashi could find the curse, he would have a way to exorcise it. The most troublesome part was not having located it yet, which was starting to affect his mindset. The environment was getting to him.
If it weren't for his frequent encounters with curses and cursed spirits, he might have been scared as well. This was the effect of the environment, unrelated to one's actual strength.
"There it is!" Hayashi's eyes gleamed as he vanished from his spot, reappearing in a vast courtyard. The courtyard alone spanned at least 1,000 square meters, and that was just the open space.
Including the old buildings, the area was much larger.
At this moment, red pillars were scattered across the courtyard, each one with a person nailed to it. Their heads hung limply, resembling the man Hayashi had encountered earlier, as if they were dead.
In addition, many corpses lay on the ground. These people were different from those nailed to the pillars—the bodies on the ground had already begun to rot, emitting a foul stench, indicating they had been dead for over a week.
"The ones on the pillars are jujutsu sorcerers, and the ones on the ground are ordinary people." It was easy to understand. Ordinary people couldn't resist the curse, so they had died long ago.
There were eight pillars remaining, each with a jujutsu sorcerer nailed to it. Although their energy was weak, they were still alive, but in such a state, it was hard to say how much longer they could last.
Through his senses, Hayashi saw wisps of black aura floating out from the jujutsu sorcerers' bodies, drifting toward a massive gate behind them. Something seemed to be lurking within the dark gate.
"Boom!"
At that moment, a red pillar shot up from the ground beneath Hayashi's feet, accompanied by a strange suction force, as if trying to pull him onto the pillar.
Surging his cursed energy, Hayashi used Time Flash to land ten meters away, staring in disbelief at the suddenly appearing red pillar.
And then, from the massive dark gate ahead, a warrior clad in red armor emerged, wielding a large sword. Six flags were strapped to his back, and the faces on the flags seemed to shift in terror.
"The main player finally appears?" Hayashi wasn't particularly concerned about the warrior but rather the domain itself. "Being able to directly manipulate a cursed-born domain for attacks? That's supposed to be impossible, but it's actually happening."
Whether it was the innate domain of Finger Bearer or Ice Bearer, neither had been able to directly attack using the domain itself.
But here, it was happening.
Perhaps there was a possibility: this cursed-born domain might be at a higher level, functioning in a completely different way.