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

Those points of light pierced through the cracks in his tattered armor, merging into his skin, his veins, and his nearly depleted core of magical power.

The depleted magical power was replenished at an absurdly rapid pace, and the deep, bone-revealing wounds on his body were healed at an accelerated rate under the combined effect of the reversal spell and the power of nature.

He extended a finger and moved it. A very gentle breeze emanated from his fingertip, lifting the charred lump of flesh on the ground and slowly raising it to hover in front of him.

“I represent the will of nature, Su Nuo. I can restore my physical condition anytime and anywhere by drawing on the power of nature, but I have never used this ability in my battle with you.”

"Just like I said at the beginning...you are the challenger."

Su Nuo stared at the still-drifting emerald green light spots around Duanmu Yan and remained silent for a long time.

The murky, single eye moved away from the spot of light and landed back on Duanmu Yan's face. Then he said something completely unrelated to the current topic: "If I'm not mistaken, you'll have to fight Gojo Satoru later, won't you?"

“You discovered it.” Duanmu Yan did not deny it.

"It's obvious. The strong are always lonely. You defeated me, so naturally you'll want to settle things with that white-haired brat... This is something ingrained in the bones of us strong, and we can't change it."

Duanmu Yan remained silent for a while.

Looking at the charred mass of Su Nuo in front of him, he suddenly said, "I don't think so. Don't you also have someone who has always been with you?"

"That white-haired guy... before the battle started, you cared about him a lot, and you were even threatened by me because of him."

“Rime,” Su Nuo said the name.

The light in that single eye flickered, as if recalling something. "He has been with me for a thousand years, from the Heian period to this era, and has never left. He is a stubborn fellow, even more stubborn than you."

“So strong people aren’t necessarily all lonely,” Duanmu Yan said.

"Maybe. I've never thought about this before." Su Nuo's voice softened, as if it came from a very, very far place.

"You brat, you've given me something to look forward to. Your fight with Gojo Satoru should be quite exciting."

"Then you can watch it all before you leave. I don't mind waiting a little longer."

“I will not accept it. I have lost, and I will naturally disappear. This is the way of survival for curses.”

Tiny fragments began to peel off the edges of the charred body.

It wasn't blown away by the wind; it turned into black ash little by little, slowly dissolving from the edges towards the center.

The first thing to disappear was the scorch marks around the single eye, then the crooked mouth, and then the entire outline.

"Don't underestimate me... I'm a curse. I can't bring myself to do something as humiliating as watching my opponent fight someone else again."

The black ash scattered in the night wind, like a silent snowfall.

Duanmu Yan stood there, watching the last grain of ash drift away through his fingers, and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

This battle left us physically and mentally exhausted.

Nine domains unfolded, countless clashes of slashes and lightning strikes, the interplay between black flashes and eight, his body splattered with blood as he withstood dozens of internal slashes, and finally ended everything with two black flashes and a thunderous strike.

He sheathed the Heaven and Earth Thunder Sword at his waist and turned to walk towards Shibuya. The road ahead was still long, but at least he had overcome the most difficult hurdle.

Duanmu Yan walked back along the edge of the ruins. The Yatalis armor turned into specks of golden light and disappeared into the night wind as he stepped out of the territory of Nuguichuan Hot Spring Village.

The shirt underneath was already soaked with sweat and blood, and the cuffs were torn in several places. The jacket had been lost somewhere during the previous battle.

The streets of Shibuya were much quieter than when I arrived.

The debt has been settled, the streetlights have come back on, and the convenience store sign glows with a warm yellow light in the night.

Occasionally, a few assistant supervisors would rush by, carrying documents or equipment. Without exception, they would freeze in place when they saw him, and then hurriedly bow.

Duanmu Yan waved to them, indicating that they didn't need to worry about him and continued walking forward.

When I reached the intersection outside Shibuya Station, I saw several familiar figures squatting on the steps in front of the convenience store.

Chapter 312 I'm Back

Huzhang was the first to see him. He sprang up from the steps, holding half a rice ball in his hand, his cheeks bulging.

"Teacher!" He ran over in three steps, almost tripping on the steps. He looked Duanmu Yan up and down and left and right several times before letting out a long sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness you're alright! I waited at the convenience store for ages, and my rice ball was almost cold... no, it was already cold."

"You can eat half of a cold rice ball, you must be really hungry." Duanmu Yan reached out and wiped the rice grains off the corner of his mouth.

Wild Rose followed behind, hands on her hips, her gaze sweeping over Duanmu Yan from head to toe.

She noticed a bloodstain above his collarbone, frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed, and snorted, "Hmm, he can still walk back by himself, looks like he's not missing any limbs."

"Uncle, if you dare to come back missing any parts, I won't let you off the hook."

Fushiguro Megumi emerged from the shadows next to the convenience store, her face still expressionless.

Two jade dogs, one black and one white, followed him from the left and right. The black dog ran over first and circled Duanmu Yan's feet twice, while the white dog squatted in place and wagged its tail.

"Jade Dog said he's coming to pick you up."

Hui walked up to him, her gaze lingering for a moment on the bloodstain on his collarbone before looking away.

Duanmu Yan squatted down and rubbed the black dog's ears, then looked up at him and asked, "Is it Jade Dog who wants to come, or do you want to come?"

Hui looked away, neither answering nor leaving.

Maki and Zhenyi walked out of the convenience store.

Zhenyi was carrying a plastic bag containing several cans of hot coffee and some freshly microwaved rice balls.

She walked up to Duanmu Yan, stuffed the whole bag into his arms, and then pulled out a neatly folded, clean coat from the bag.

"Lord Duanmu, you must not have eaten properly. These are for you."

She paused, then added, "I bought this at a convenience store. It's not a designer brand. Just wear it as is, but don't share it with Gojo-sama... He stole the pudding I hid last time, and I haven't settled the score with him yet."

Maki pushed up her glasses beside her, unusually refraining from complaining about her sister's nagging. She simply glanced at the bloodstain on Duanmu Yan's collarbone, and then at how he looked much better now that he had changed into a clean coat, no longer appearing like someone who had just crawled back from the battlefield. The corners of her mouth curved slightly: "Not bad, not much changed."

Yuta was the last to walk over.

He looked at Duanmu Yan, opened his mouth as if considering his words, and finally just smiled: "Teacher, you're back. It's all settled with Teacher Wutiao. He just sent a message saying he's coming right away, and that he'll eat three cream puffs on his way before he leaves, so you don't have to wait for him."

"He certainly knows when to eat cream puffs." Duanmu Yan shook his head helplessly, took a rice ball out of the bag and stuffed it into his mouth, then tossed one to Huzhang and mumbled, "Let's go back first, I'm hungry."

As a group of people turned the corner along the street in Shibuya, a familiar white-haired figure appeared next to the vending machine in front of them.

"Too slow!" Gojo Satoru strode towards them, carrying a convenience store bag in his hand, and he had retrieved his sunglasses.

He walked straight up to Duanmu Yan, looked him up and down, and then whistled, "That scar on your collarbone is pretty cool, but you're still a bit lacking. It's not even healed yet... I didn't even have a scar when I was stabbed through the neck back then."

"When you were stabbed in the neck back then, you lay on the ground for almost a minute," Duanmu Yan retorted without any politeness.

“That was a tactical rest! You don’t understand.” Gojo Satoru said confidently, shoving the bag in his hand into Duanmu Yan’s arms.

"These are cream puffs I brought you, edamame and whipped cream flavored. They're a limited edition, and I queued for ages to get them. I bought them especially for you..."

He paused, then added, "You're not hurt, are you?"

"It's nothing. Just a minor injury." Duanmu Yan took out a cream puff from the bag and took a bite. "It's alright, not as sweet as the one I bought last time."

"That's because your sense of taste hasn't recovered yet after a fight! This is a limited edition!"

Gojo Satoru was furious. He snatched the bag back from his hand, took one out and stuffed it into his mouth, saying indistinctly, "If you don't like it, don't eat it. The rest are all mine."

Itadori leaned closer, staring longingly at the bag: "Gojo-sensei, I want some too..."

"Why would a little kid eat cream puffs? Eating sweets at night will cause cavities. Go eat rice balls instead."

Gojo Satoru held the bag above his head, but Itadori couldn't reach it even on tiptoe.

Wild Rose rolled her eyes beside her: "Didn't you just say you were going to eat three cream puffs before coming over? What, you can eat more after you've finished them?"

"Dessert is in another stomach," Gojo Satoru said matter-of-factly, holding up one finger.

He then took two cream puffs out of the bag, giving one to Fushiguro Megumi and the other to Yuta.

Hui looked down at the cream puff in her hand, remained silent for a few seconds, and then said thank you expressionlessly.

Yuta smiled happily, holding the cream puff in both hands and taking a small bite.

"Megumi! How dare you talk to your teacher like that! Can't you say a couple more words?!" Gojo Satoru grabbed Megumi's neck and ruffled his already messy spiky hair even more.

Hui struggled a couple of times but couldn't break free, then sighed, "Thank you, Gojo-sensei... Is this alright?"

Satisfied, Gojo Satoru released his grip and turned to wreak havoc on the others.

Before he could reach out, Mai hid the pudding behind her back: "Lord Gojo, this isn't for you."

Gojo Satoru's hand froze in mid-air, his expression instantly falling: "Mai, you weren't like this before. You used to love me when we were little, and you would even draw portraits of me."

“That was just a side effect,” Maya replied expressionlessly.

Maki stood beside him with her arms crossed and a slight smile on her lips.

The group continued walking forward in a lively atmosphere.

When they returned to the college, Xia Youjie was leaning against a gatepost at the school gate, her long hair loosely tied at her shoulders with a rubber band, her hands tucked into her sleeves, as if she had been waiting for a long time.

He saw Duanmu Yan walking over from under the streetlight and smiled slightly.

"I'm back."

"You're back." Duanmu Yan walked up to him, and the two looked at each other for a moment before reaching out their hands at the same time and lightly touching their fists together.

"Wu just messaged me saying you won." Xia Youjie withdrew his hand, moved half a step to the side, and made way for the door.

“I told you you would definitely arrive before them. Professor Moth already knows and is waiting for you in his office.”

Xia Youjie gestured with his chin toward the group of people still crowding at the door, "Come in, everyone. The cafeteria has left some late-night snacks. Xiaozi hasn't left yet. She said anyone who's injured should go to the infirmary to find her... But judging from your appearance, you probably won't need to."

Gojo Satoru caught up from behind, hooked his arms around the necks of the two of them, and squeezed the three of them together: "Come on, let's go get some midnight snacks! I used up a lot of energy fighting, I need to replenish my energy!"

"What did you consume? Weren't you sealed away?"

"Being sealed is also a drain! A drain on mental energy!"

The three of them pushed and shoved each other as they walked into the school.

Behind them, Itadori was telling Yuta the details of his fight with Masato, Megumi was forced to carry the convenience store bag for Mai, and Nobara and Maki were discussing whether the bath water in the dormitory was hot enough.

Hui and Youtai walked side by side at the very back, with the dog circling around their feet.

A night breeze blew in from the playground, carrying the aroma of miso soup wafting from the direction of the cafeteria and the sound of footsteps from a group of people. Tonight, the college was unusually lively.