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

Has he reached the age where he's considered an "uncle"?

Madam Kugizaki looked her up and down, making sure there were no injuries on her face or body, before snorting, "What's so cool about you? You're far too dangerous! Our Kugizaki family has so many close-combat fighters like you that we don't have many descendants left!"

"Grandma, didn't you hit me like this when you told me stories?!" Wild Rose immediately retorted!

"That's because I was skilled back then. You're just a little girl trying to learn melee combat!"

"In your story, you were clearly fighting in close combat every single time..."

Duanmu Yan watched the grandfather and grandson bickering and shook his head helplessly.

"Eh..."

The grandmother and grandson argued back and forth for several minutes, neither willing to stop first.

Wild Rose tucked the hammer in her hand into her waistband, and seeing Duanmu Yan standing under the tree watching with a smile, she stopped arguing, ran up to him, and looked up to ask, "Uncle, are you here to take me to the college?"

Madam Kugizaki snorted coldly, "Don't you know your own level? You dare to go to a vocational college with such limited skills?"

Wild Rose immediately turned around, hands on her hips: "At my age, I can solo a level two cursed spirit. I think you were still fighting level three cursed spirits at your age..."

Seeing that the battle was about to reignite, Duanmu Yan was at his wits' end. He quickly put his hand between the grandmother and granddaughter and said, "Stop, stop, stop. Wild Rose, your grandmother has already agreed. Hurry up and go back to pack your things. Come with me today. We also need to pick up another classmate on the way."

Wild Rose's expression froze instantly, her eyes wide open. She turned to look at her grandmother, secretly pinching her thigh to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Grandma actually agreed to let her go to the vocational college. This old lady, who had been stubborn all her life, actually gave in.

She looked up at the sun in the sky... Yes, although it was already dusk, the sun did indeed rise from the east today.

Looking at her foolish expression, Old Madam Dingzaki snorted coldly, "You should thank Chairman Duanmu more. If it weren't for his reforms, I would never have let you go to the vocational college."

"Wow, so Uncle is actually the chairman!" Wild Rose turned around abruptly, her eyes filled with undisguised amazement as she looked at Duanmu Yan. "Uncle can actually carry out reforms, his status in the world of sorcery must be very high, right?"

Duanmu Yan waved his hand modestly and said lightly, "It's not that tall, just a little bit."

The old lady Kugizaki mercilessly exposed him from the side: "This guy is the person with the highest status in the world of sorcery, above all others, without exception."

Wild Rose gasped, her mouth agape: "Uncle, you're so amazing, why would you personally come all the way to this rural area to pick me up?"

“Because you are very talented.” Duanmu Yan looked at her, his tone matter-of-fact.

Wild Rose paused for a moment, then slowly turned her head and gave her grandmother a radiant smile.

The number one sorcerer in the world acknowledged her in front of Grandma.

Madam Kugizaki was itching to retort but couldn't find the words. In the end, she could only turn all her emotions into a long sigh: "Since you have talent, then learn more skills."

Wild Rose, unusually, didn't argue back. She walked up to her grandmother and nodded solemnly: "I will. Once I've established myself in Tokyo, I'll buy a big house and bring Grandma to live with me."

Duanmu Yan chimed in at the opportune moment: "That's not difficult to achieve; our sorcerers' salaries are quite high."

Wild Rose's eyes instantly turned into two shiny coins, and she whirled around, "How many could there be, Uncle Duanmu!"

Looking at her money-obsessed expression, Duanmu Yan couldn't help but shake his head with a smile: "It mainly depends on the amount of work. The more you do, the more you earn. However, we also have a base salary, starting at one million a month, with no upper limit."

Even Mrs. Kugizaki was stunned; the grandmother and grandson both widened their eyes at the same time.

After a long while, the old lady clutched her chest, her voice filled with anguish: "If that's the case, then haven't I suffered a great loss over the past few decades?"

Duanmu Yan nodded, with a touch of emotion, and said, "The remuneration given by the Elders' Council is indeed pitifully small. In the old system, college students did not even receive any salary during their time at school."

"It was because I experienced it firsthand that I included a base salary system in the regulations after the federation was established. Because I got caught in the rain, I wanted to hold an umbrella for those who came after me."

He recalled his years at the vocational college. By the standards of the current federation, he should have received at least a billion in salary, but he only received a meager two hundred million. This also included the compensation paid by the elders to appease him and the extra income he received from the system.

Wild Rose, listening nearby, shook her head and uttered a disgusted remark: "That council of elders is so stingy!"

Duanmu Yan and Madam Dingzaki exchanged a glance and nodded almost simultaneously.

Chapter 226 The Vanishing Finger

After Grandma agreed, Wild Rose turned around and rushed into the house, muttering that she had to hurry up and pack her things.

Grandma Kugizaki reached out and grabbed her arm. "It's almost six o'clock. Let's eat first. Stay one more night and leave tomorrow."

Wild Rose stopped abruptly in her tracks and looked at her grandmother.

To be honest, she had already decided that if her grandmother wouldn't let her go, she would secretly run away to Tokyo.

But when it came time to actually take that step, the thought of leaving Grandma lingered.

Looking at her like this, Madam Dingzaki sighed: "What's the rush? It's not like you're never coming back. It's rare that Chairman Duanmu is here too, so please stay for dinner."

Wild Rose turned her gaze to Duanmu Yan.

Duanmu Yan smiled and nodded: "Then I will gladly accept your offer. Please be sure to let me try the local specialties."

"I won't let you down." Old Mrs. Kugizaki turned and went home.

Dinner was sumptuous, consisting of simple country home-style dishes. Duanmu Yan ate attentively, tasting every dish, and even praised the old lady's pickled radishes, saying they were more flavorful than those from high-class restaurants in Tokyo, which made the old lady laugh and chatter.

After dinner, Wild Rose went to her room to pack her luggage, Old Madam Kugizaki cleaned up the dishes in the kitchen, while Duanmu Yan walked slowly along the paddy field ridge alone.

The evening breeze swept across the rice paddies, carrying the fresh scent of earth and rice ears, while the distant mountain ridges became dark blue silhouettes in the twilight.

He really enjoys this kind of life.

There were no cursed spirits, no missions, no endless arguments in the meeting room, only the rustling of the wind through the rice paddies.

Then the phone in my pocket rang.

Satoru Gojo's exclusive ringtone.

My good mood instantly turned sour...

Duanmu Yan held the phone to his ear, and Gojou Satoru's triumphant voice came from the other end: "Duanmu, I have good news for you, absolutely good news! I found a boy who ate Sukuna's finger and was still fine! How about that, am I awesome?"

Duanmu Yan: ? ? ?

Damn it, I got ripped off. Itadori Hisahito was the one who found him first.

"Duanmu? Why aren't you saying anything? Are you shocked by my luck?"

Duanmu Yan closed his eyes briefly, clearing his mind of these chaotic thoughts, and spoke again: "Then remember to bring that boy over. I want to take a good look at him."

"OK! Oh, right, there's something else I wanted to tell you..."

Gojo Satoru's tone suddenly shifted from smug to subtle, "Duanmu, you must remain calm after hearing about this."

For some reason, Duanmu Yan suddenly felt an urge to laugh. "Speak, what is it?"

"Ah Hui... as a level one sorcerer, she was almost taken down by a level one sorcerer spirit during the mission."

Duanmu Yan's pupils slowly dilated. His brain processed the sentence in a very short time, and then went through it again.

In the original work, Fushiguro Megumi almost died at the hands of a level two cursed spirit. Now, under his tutelage and Maki's long-term training, only the demon Xuro has not yet been subdued.

Furthermore, it includes two additional shikigami, Guan Niu and Yuan Shika, who have already been successfully subdued with Maki's assistance and have now become special level one sorcerers.

Hui was almost killed by a level one cursed spirit.

"Duanmu, are you alright? Why are you silent again?" Gojo Satoru's voice already carried a hint of guilt.

Duanmu Yan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

He gazed at the distant mountain ridge that was gradually blurring in the twilight, and felt that he needed some quiet time.

He did so much and changed the fate of so many people. Xia Youjie didn't defect, Riko became a lively sorcerer, and even... in the end, Fushiguro Megumi almost tripped up by fate in some corner he couldn't see.

There are still aspects of him that he hasn't been able to change.

Shouldn't it have been level two? How did it suddenly become level one? Did fate have to make him do this?!

……

Yesterday afternoon, Gojo Satoru received an urgent call from the assistant supervisor, saying that a top-grade cursed artifact at Sugisawa Third Junior High School in Sendai City, whose sealing period had expired, needed to be retrieved immediately.

Those are Su Nuo's fingers.

"If it's something this important, it should have been delivered to me for safekeeping as soon as possible," Gojo Satoru remarked bluntly, tugging his phone between his shoulder and ear.

The assistant supervisor on the other end of the phone explained nervously, "Back then, to enhance the sealing effect, an immobilization restriction was imposed, and it wasn't lifted until these last few days..."

Gojo Satoru hung up the phone and turned to look at Fushiguro Megumi, who was sitting by the training field wiping her sweat. "Megumi, come with me. The mission location is a middle school."

Two hours later, it was already dark.

Fuhei Hui walked through the unfamiliar campus with a dark expression.

Gojo Satoru left him at the school gate and then went to a nearby dessert shop.

Huilian had no chance to refute and could only walk alone into the playground of Sugisawa Third Junior High School.

As a fifteen-year-old boy who has already been promoted to Special First-Class Spellcaster, he is indeed qualified to carry out missions independently.

Moreover, it's just transferring a top-grade cursed item. The process is simple: find the leaf box, take out the sealed box, and bring it back to Gojo-sensei. Nothing should go wrong.

Until he saw the old, dilapidated Stevenson screen standing alone on an empty patch of ground at the edge of the playground.

The paint was peeling, the metal sheets were rusty, and there wasn't even a fence around it.

Hui's lips twitched: "To actually put a top-grade cursed artifact in a place like this, that's just too unreliable."

He strode forward and reached for the trunk door. As soon as his fingers touched the handle, the trunk door popped open a crack by itself.

It wasn't locked.

Hui remained silent for a moment, telling herself it was just a staff oversight.

Then he opened the box...it was empty, there was nothing inside.

He slammed the box door shut.

It must be because you're opening it wrong, yes, that's it!

He took a deep breath; cold sweat had already beaded on his forehead.

This is a top-grade cursed artifact of the King of Curses. There are only twenty of them in the entire world, and each one can attract a swarm of cursed spirits powerful enough to destroy a city.

If it were lost, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He opened the box door again, practically crawling inside, and touched every inch of the inside of the Stevenson screen with his hands.

There was nothing there. He searched the ground, the grass, and even the nearby ditch, making sure the object was indeed gone, then he put his hand to his forehead.

"Oh no!"