A Bizarre Adventure That Begins in Jujutsu Kaisen

After the meal, Miki Riku set off for the local curse master organization's stronghold to meet with his contact.

Laru returned to his hotel room and contacted his international friends scattered around the world, gathering the latest eyewitness reports about the "Asian God's Curse"—"Ganesha," who "can remove all obstacles."

It is said to be a special-grade curse spirit that can "give a concept" to the object of a spell.

This kind of ability has a very broad scope for development in theory, and Theo is indeed quite looking forward to it.

As night deepened, Theo, with his keen insight, suggested, "Why don't you split up and walk around for a bit, then meet up at the Red Castle later? You two can enjoy some time alone together."

Xia Youjie waved his hand, "Let's act together. We're new here, it's better to be cautious."

So the three of them wandered aimlessly along the three-story arcade of Connaught Place.

The circular plaza was brightly lit, with luxury stores standing side by side with century-old shops, and vendors selling jasmine flower garlands brushing past young girls in saris.

Manami stopped at a stall selling traditional dessert Jalebi—spiral-shaped batter fried in hot oil until golden brown, then dipped in syrup, glistening under the light.

"Would you like one?" The stall owner was an old man with white hair, and he was missing three teeth when he smiled.

Xia Youjie nodded: "One serving will be enough."

The old man deftly rolled a piece of paper into a cone, sandwiched five or six rounds of freshly cooked, still steaming hot Jalebi, and handed it over.

Jay took it and handed it to Manami, who carefully took a bite—

The crispy outer shell cracks between your teeth, and scalding hot syrup gushes out, almost violently sweet.

"...It's so sweet!" she couldn't help but exclaim softly, her eyes crinkling into a smile.

"It might be a little hot, is that alright?" the old man asked in English.

Manami smiled and repeated her words in English.

The old man understood this time and explained with a smile, "Life is too bitter, so you have to be so sweet that it hurts."

After they had both tasted it, Theo also curiously scooped a Jalebi out of the cone.

It's definitely too sweet.

After leaving the square, they headed to the Red Fort in Delhi, a symbol of the Mughal dynasty.

At 10 p.m., three hours after the castle closed to tourists, the three quietly scaled the wall.

At this moment, only patrolling security guards and beams of flashlight light lingered beneath the massive sandstone building.

They were just ordinary people earning a living, so of course they wouldn't notice the stealthy sorcerer.

Xia Youjie stood in front of Lahore's gate and used his magical perception to bathe his clothes in the moonlight.

"It is said that a large number of human sacrifices were used when it was built in the 17th century."

The craftsmen were beheaded to ensure they wouldn't build the same castle for other monarchs, and that resentment has lingered to this day.

When they entered a certain area, Theo also stopped.

The "Spirit Manipulation Technique" marks the spirits from a great distance, making them impossible to ignore.

The air was filled with a sweet, cloying smell of blood—not fresh blood, but the stale, rusty smell of iron seeping into the cracks in the rocks.

A faint sobbing sound came from deep within the foyer.

"This level—should be a level two curse spirit."

Formed from the resentment of construction craftsmen, subspecies exist in ancient buildings around the world, and they generally attack humans who enter the buildings indiscriminately.

But this one from the Red Fort... seems a little different.

They turned the corner and saw it: a humanoid figure made of rubble and mud, with broken glazed tiles embedded in its eye sockets, stroking the inscriptions on the wall with its missing fingers.

"It's... repairing the building?" Theo raised an eyebrow.

"To be more precise, it's about repairing 'memories'."

Xia Youjie analyzed.

"The actions of cursed spirits often reflect the obsessions they have formed."

Just like the level four cursed spirits produced by some people who die from overwork, they will complain incessantly about their work.

These craftsmen remained concerned about their unfinished works until their deaths.

"The sorcerers here actually let it stay until now... It's just too capitalist." Theo's impression of the Indian sorcery world plummeted.

Xia Youjie raised his hand and pulled it in from a distance. The tragic craftsman's cursed spirit transformed into a black cursed spirit jade and fell into his hand.

"Since Ganesha is yours anyway, you can leave all these appetizers to me?"

"Of course, no problem."

It was nearly midnight when we left the Red Castle, but a tea stall with lights on had suddenly appeared on the curb outside the castle.

An old man tended a small kerosene stove, where thick masala tea was brewing in an aluminum kettle.

There was definitely no such tea stall before they sneaked in.

In short, it's very strange.

"Chai, garam chai (tea, hot tea) —" the old man called out in a drawn-out tone.

"Is this some kind of local sorcery world's welcoming ceremony?" Theo couldn't help but complain.

"I'll go ask," Xia Youjie stepped forward, opened the translation software, and asked, word by word, "Is the old man still setting up his stall so late?"

"The stones of the Red Fort cry at night," the old man said slowly in English. "Those who can't sleep come to me for tea. After a cup, they won't hear those sounds anymore."

"...Are you the sorcerer guardian here? Which side do you represent?" Xia You picked up a teacup and poured the tea into the mouth of the lucky spirit he had casually summoned.

"A sorcerer? No, no one ordered me to come; I came of my own accord."

The old man added a piece of coal to the small kerosene stove, and the flames leaped higher, illuminating his wrinkled face.

"My great-grandfather was a stonemason here."

On the day the castle was completed, the king asked the craftsmen, "Can you build anything more beautiful than this?" The craftsmen replied, "Yes."

Then...they were buried alive inside the city walls.

His voice was flat, as if he were telling someone else's story.

"But their hands still remember how to lay the stones."

So this castle grows new patterns every year, like a dream.

"He...he has no shadow."

Manami suddenly lowered her voice and pointed subtly at the old man's feet—the light from the kerosene lamp cast long shadows of them, but the area under the low stool where the old man was sitting was empty.

"Should we take a picture secretly to confirm?" she asked in a whisper.

"No need," Xia Youjie shook his head slightly.

"It's not a cursed spirit, otherwise the 'Cursed Spirit Manipulation Technique' would have a response."

Perhaps it's some kind of 'echo' left behind after a person dies... neither becoming a cursed spirit nor completely leaving this world.

He paused, then added, "Just as stones remember temperature, some places also remember people."

When Xia You left the tea stall, he left three times the amount of money for the tea on the old wooden table.

The old man neither declined nor thanked him, but simply raised his cloudy eyes, gazed at the dark silhouette of the Red Fort, and whispered in Hindi:

"May Ganesha remove the obstacles in your path (Ganesh aapke raste ke sabhi vighnon ko door karen)."

"Thank you, then I'll take your good wishes." Theo put his hands together in a gesture of respect and shook them slightly.

The three walked to the end of the street and looked back at the Red Castle in the night.

The wind swept across the empty streets, carrying that blessing very lightly.