Curse Reply: After choosing Nawa, the cursed spirit cursed me for being cruel.

"Wu, you're shopping too... but what are you doing?" Xia Youjie's voice carried a hint of weariness from being a father.

Gojo Satoru looked up from the cream puff box, his expression nonchalant: "What a coincidence, you guys are shopping at the supermarket too."

"No, that's not what I'm asking about." Xia Youjie took a deep breath, turned to Fu Heihui, and squatted down. "Ahui, come over here first."

Fushiguro Megumi glanced at him, then looked back at Gojo Satoru who was still lounging in the shopping cart, before nimbly climbing over the edge of the cart and into Natsuyuki's shopping cart.

The movements were executed in one smooth motion, without any hesitation.

Before Gojo Satoru could protest, Natsuyu Jie's cart was already packed with Nanako and Mimiko, leaving Fushiguro Megumi squatting at the very front, her knees touching her chin.

Nanako moved aside to make room for him and whispered, "Ame, you're so pitiful, having to take care of Gojo-sama."

Mimiko peeked out from behind Nanako's shoulder and said earnestly, "Why don't you come and live with us? Lord Natsuyu will accept you."

Fushiguro Megumi hugged her knees, her voice calm: "I'm used to it, and I also have to take care of my older sister."

Nanako and Mimiko were silent for a moment, then simultaneously cast admiring glances at Fushiguro Megumi, before turning their heads to cast disdainful glances at the white-haired man in front of them who was sweeping the shelves with gravity.

Wu Tiao Wu didn't see the eye contact between the four children behind him. He was busy using his bottomless magic to pull his shopping cart next to Xia Youjie's cart, and also pulled over a few boxes of desserts that passed by the shelf, which landed steadily in his arms.

Then he leaned back in the car, put his legs up on the edge, and gestured with his chin toward Xia Youjie: "Jie, push faster, have you not eaten?"

Xia Youjie glanced at the three children squatting in his stroller, then at Wutiao Wu's cart piled high with desserts and his legs propped up on the edge of the cart.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he only sighed: "Wu, don't buy so much junk food."

"Is it any of your business? Hurry up, we're in a hurry to pay the bill."

Xia Youjie resignedly pushed the two carts toward the cashier. Nanako and Mimiko were behind him, quietly comforting Fukuro Megumi. Fukuro Megumi was still hugging her knees, her expression calm, but the corners of her mouth were still twitching involuntarily.

Teacher Duanmu, when are you finally going to take your teacher Wutiao away?

Born within the domain.

Duanmu Yan sat on the throne piled with corpses, one leg crossed over the other, elbows propped on his knees, looking idly at the cursed king opposite him, whose bones were broken and who was being pressed firmly to the ground by the wind pressure.

He had already given Su Nuo a sound beating. I won't go into the details, but it was a complete rout and very boring.

"Being invincible is truly lonely," he sighed.

Su Nuo's face was pressed into his bones by the wind pressure, his bones cracking and popping. He glared ferociously at Duanmu Yan on the throne, and said in a fit of rage, "I will definitely kill you, brat! After I am resurrected, I will definitely kill you!!"

Duanmu Yan chuckled and casually slapped him, sending him flying. His spine crashed into the distant mountain of corpses, causing a large section to collapse.

Then he stood up and stretched his wrists.

"I'm already bored. Sorry, it was a really dull and tedious match... I'll probably forget about you before lunch."

He snapped his fingers, and a raging fire spread out from beneath his feet, engulfing the space made of corpses from top to bottom.

Duanmu Yan opened his eyes; the sunlight outside the window was just right.

He casually tossed the finger into the system space, then stood up and stretched, his bones cracking twice.

"Oh, what was I thinking about? Never mind, it probably wasn't anything important. Since things have come to this, let's go have lunch first."

He pushed open the door and walked towards the cafeteria.

Chapter 161 I Want to Cry

On August 5, 2009, one month after the federation was established.

Duanmu Yan rubbed his shoulders, put the pen back in the pen holder, leaned back in his chair, and looked out the window.

On the playground, several small figures were chasing after Haibara as she ran laps. Maki was in the lead, Mai was three steps behind her sister, Nanako was holding Mimiko's hand and bringing up the rear, and Fushiguro Megumi was squatting by the sandpit drawing with a twig, while Tsumiki was handing him pebbles.

It's been a month since the federation was established, and he sits in this office every day, facing stacks of documents.

Of the three main families, the Gojo family is the easiest to manage. Although their limitless techniques are powerful, without the Six Eyes, they are not much different from ordinary people. Wu can suppress them with just a word.

The Kamo family only recognizes the Crimson Blood Technique. With the magistrate sitting in the head of the family, the direct descendants can't cause any trouble.

The most troublesome family is the Zenin family. Their techniques are too complicated. Although they have cut half of their combat power, their remaining basic strength is still the strongest among the three families.

The Jikbi people agreed to reform, but the deeply entrenched old forces within the family could not be completely eliminated simply by the death of a Zen temple fan.

Just as he was thinking this, there was another knock on the door.

Yidizhi came in carrying a stack of documents and placed them on his desk: "Chairman, these are the agendas for this afternoon's meeting, as well as the latest list of first-level mages submitted by the three families. The meeting will start promptly at three o'clock, and the heads of the families are already on their way."

Duanmu Yan picked up the top agenda sheet, glanced at it, and then looked at the thick stack of documents. He suddenly said, "Yi Dizhi, let's not call you Chairman anymore. It sounds awkward. Just call me Senior like before."

“No.” Ijichi pushed up his glasses and said seriously, “When you’re at work, you should use your job title. Work is work, and life is life.”

He wanted to prove that he hadn't become the chairman's assistant through connections, but through his own abilities.

"Hey. If I had known that being the chairman was so difficult, I should have let Wu take the position. At least he wouldn't have any psychological burden and could be a hands-off manager with a clear conscience."

Duanmu Yan leaned back in his recliner, staring blankly at the ceiling.

He's just a mascot now, stamping documents, signing documents, and attending meetings every day, like he's tied to a chair by an invisible rope.

Sometimes he wondered if he should transform into a tortoise and go out to kill a couple more cursed spirits before coming back.

Ichichi closed the folder, his tone softening slightly: "Chairman, the Federation has just been established, you can't be as irresponsible as the other two Special Grades."

Duanmu Yan chuckled awkwardly, "How could that be? I'm very responsible."

"That's good. I know you can't stay idle, but we need you to be in charge at headquarters now."

Ichi said, "With you here, those with ulterior motives won't dare to act rashly."

Duanmu Yan sighed. He understood this perfectly. Wu couldn't sit still, and Jie was taking care of the children. The Federation needed a capable person to guard the center and let all those who still harbored old thoughts know that there were eyes watching them from above.

This is the power of strength to suppress. Just like when he slaughtered the Panxing Sect and was ready to become a curse master, the elders were afraid that he would go on a killing spree, so they suppressed the matter and promoted the three of them to special grade.

He stared at the ceiling, feeling unwell as he thought about the meeting he had to attend that afternoon.

"Hopefully it can be resolved soon."

At lunchtime, Duanmu Yan had just sat down in the cafeteria with his tray when two clear children's voices burst out at the door.

"Lord Duanmu!" Maki burst in like a cannonball and immediately clung to his leg. "I ran fifteen laps in training today! Senior Haibara said that with another month of training, I can catch up to the physical fitness of a level two mage!"

Zhenyi peeked out from behind her sister, hooked her head on her other leg, and tiptoed to slap a strawberry candy into his palm: "Here you go, I spent a long time picking this flavor at the convenience store, and there's only one left."

Duanmu Yan unwrapped the candy, popped it into his mouth, and ruffled Zhenyi's hair: "It's very sweet. I'll go with you next time and buy a few more packs."

Then he looked at Maki, gave him a thumbs-up, and said, "Good luck!"

It's no wonder she has the same physique as that man; even though she's restricted because of being twins, her physical abilities are still incredibly strong.

No sooner had she finished speaking than Nanako pulled Mimiko's hand and ran in, with Xia Youjie following behind, his apron still on.

Nanako held up a crayon drawing. It showed a stick figure in orange armor standing among a group of children, with the words "Lord Duanmu" crookedly written above his head. Next to him was a blue blob and a little person with a bun hairstyle.

"Lord Duanmu! This is what I drew today! The blue one is Lord Gotiao, and the black one is Lord Xiayou... Do you think it looks like him?"

Mimiko, clutching her teru teru bozu doll, added quietly, "Nanako drew it all morning."

Duanmu Yan took the painting, examined it carefully for a moment in the sunlight by the window, and then said in a serious tone, "This armor is painted very realistically, but isn't Wu's head a bit too big?"

Nanako leaned over the edge of the table, standing on tiptoe, and pointed earnestly at the blue blob, explaining, "Because Gojo-sama's hair will explode! It's like...like the opposite of a sea urchin!"

Xia Youjie pulled out a chair and sat down next to him, picking up the conversation: "That's called fluffy, but the term 'antonym of sea urchin' is quite accurate."

Fushiguro Megumi was the last to enter the cafeteria; to be precise, she was dragged in by the back of her collar by Gojo Satoru.

Hui was pressed into a chair by him with a blank expression, and a pudding that Gojo Satoru had "casually" brought for him appeared in front of him.

“Eat, children need to eat more sweets to grow taller.” Gojo Satoru said with a serious face.

Megumi glanced at the pudding in front of her, then at the mountain of cream puffs and cakes piled on Gojo Satoru's plate, and calmly said, "Aren't you going to eat any yourself?"

"I've already eaten for you. You're too short, so I'll share the high-calorie portion."

"You just want to eat, don't you?" Hui exposed him.

"Megumi... how could you misunderstand my good intentions like this?" Gojo Satoru clutched his chest and slumped back in his chair, his sunglasses askew.

Tsumiki sat next to Megumi, smiling with her lips pursed, and pushed her pudding toward Megumi: "You can have mine too, I don't really like sweets."

Hui glanced at her sister, then at Gojo Satoru who was still pretending to be dead on the chair, and then scooped up a spoonful of pudding.

Duanmu Yan looked at the noisy little ones at the table and carefully placed the crayon drawing next to the plate.

"Lord Duanmu, are you coming to kindergarten this afternoon?" Maki leaned over from across the table. "Lord Xiayou said he's going to teach us how to use our magical powers to protect ourselves today."

"I have a meeting this afternoon." Duanmu Yan put down his spoon. "I'll go over after the meeting."

“It’s settled then!” Zhenyi held up her little finger.

Duanmu Yan paused for a moment, then extended his little finger and hooked it with that tiny finger.

Gojo Satoru got up from the back of his chair, adjusted his sunglasses, looked at Duanmu Yan, then at the finger that was hooked with the child's, raised his eyebrows and was about to speak.

Duanmu Yan didn't even turn his head: "Shut up, eat your cream puff."

Gojo Satoru pushed his sunglasses back up, muttered "So what if he's the chairman?", and continued devouring the desserts on his plate.

The children burst into laughter, finally easing some of their morning fatigue.

However, after finishing his meal, the thought of having to attend a meeting made Duanmu Yan feel unwell again.

Chapter 162 Meeting

In the afternoon, in the federation's meeting room, three chairs were placed opposite the long table.

Gojo Satoru was the first to arrive. He grabbed the middle chair, turned around, straddled it, and put his arm on the back of the chair.

Zhang Xiang came in second, pulled out the chair opposite Gojo Satoru, and sat down with his back straight.

Zenji Naoki arrived last and took a seat in one of the remaining empty seats.

Duanmu Yan placed three documents on the table and got straight to the point: "I called the three of you here today to discuss a few things. The three families used to be the pillars of the Elders' Council, and now they are the pillars of the Federation. But the way the Elders' Council works is no longer effective. We need new rules."

Gojo Satoru rested his chin on his arm: "Quick, tell me, I need to go back and queue up to buy that new cream puff."

Duanmu Yan glared at him. If they weren't in a meeting, he would have directly scolded this guy who only knew how to eat.

After cursing Wu the bastard several times in his mind, Duanmu Yan calmly said, "First, talent selection will no longer be based on bloodline."

Duanmu Yan opened a document and pushed it toward the three people. “Young people who have awakened their spells within the three major families and non-spellcasters without spells will be treated equally. The newly established talent evaluation committee will be coordinated by the Federation and will not be managed by any single family. Rare bloodlines such as the six-eyed Gojo family and the ten shadow spells of the Zenin family will be reported and filed in advance and given priority in training, but they will not be used as private soldiers for their families.”