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

Duanmu Yan thought about many things in that instant.

Perhaps... in the original work, Xia Youjie's eventual descent into darkness was orchestrated by an unseen hand, subtly pushing him step by step toward that predetermined ending.

And the name of those hands is Ao.

If this conjecture is correct, then the task at hand is far more than just a misjudgment.

This could be a carefully laid trap, with Xia Youjie as the target!

How to do?

A normal person would immediately notify Xia Youjie, telling him not to leave the college and to stay away from this obvious trap.

but……

Only a loser would think that way!

Inform Jay to hide? That would only provoke the enemy to change tactics and continue plotting from the shadows.

Passive defense will never solve the problem.

He, Duanmu Yan, Wutiao Wu, and Xia Youjie are the three of them recognized as the strongest trio in the world of sorcery!

A mere cowardly fellow sets a trap, hoping to make them hesitant and keep Jay trapped in the maze of his own mind.

What a joke!

Duanmu Yan made a decision in an instant.

Is he trying to use my junior as bait to lure Jie into a trap?

Duanmu Yan's eyes were icy cold.

Alright. Let's see if your bait is hard enough. And let's see if you, the fisherman, can hold the rods of three giants!

The roles of hunter and prey have been reversed.

Since the 髡獯蔚哪勘晔且鼋埽,腔〉耐ㄑ犊隙ㄊ腔鼓以玫摹�

Duanmu Yan took out his phone and sent his location and situation to Wutiao Wu and Xia Youjie in a few short sentences.

After putting his phone away, he opened the system panel and glanced at it.

[Host Panel]

Name: Duanmu Yan

Age: 17

Combat strength: Special level

Spirit: Top Grade

Spell Power: Special Grade

Equipment slots: Nava Armor (100% compatibility), Tonado Armor (99% compatibility), Lucky Coin (4/10)

Inventory: Senzu Beans x11

Current points: 801158

Overall assessment: Su Nuo's strength is roughly equivalent to eleven fingers. He has mastered the fire element and has an extremely high affinity for the wind element, making him extremely powerful.

Eight hundred thousand points, Tuonaduo is stuck at ninety-nine.

The text appears to be a jumbled collection of characters and symbols, possibly from different sources. A direct translation isn't meaningful without further context or clarification.

Incidentally, it can also force out that last 1% of compatibility in actual combat.

He closed the panel and muttered, "Looks like... I'll have to steal some kills this time."

Haibara turned around and called out from dozens of meters away, "Senior Duanmu, what are you doing over there!"

"It's alright." Duanmu Yan put away the panel and caught up with the group.

The text appears to be a jumbled collection of characters and phrases, possibly from different sources, and lacks coherent sentences. A meaningful translation is not possible without further context or clarification.

The three continued forward, with Haibara leading the way, holding the detector in her hand. The light spots on the screen flickered like a heartbeat.

When he was about 500 meters from his target, he suddenly stopped.

"S-Senpai!" Haibara held the screen up to Duanmu Yan's eyes, her fingertip poking at a huge spot of light in the very center. The spot of light was much larger than all the surrounding noise. "The enemy is such a huge spot of light! Bigger than any I've ever seen before!"

Duanmu Yan reached out and took the detector, then looked down at it.

His brow furrowed slightly. The intensity of the light spot's spell power had reached the top level, but the spell power radiating outwards was only at the second level.

“The strength is already at the top level, but the leaked curse power is only at the second level.” He returned the detector to Haibara.

Nanami remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Could it be that?"

Duanmu Yan nodded: "It should be the same as what you think."

Haibara looked left at Nanami and right at Duanmu Yan, her eyebrows furrowed: "What is it? Can you guys stop playing riddles?!"

“A cursed embryo.” Nanami sighed and explained to Haibara, “It’s a stage before a cursed spirit takes shape. It usually has an incomplete domain, and the space and rules inside are unstable, making it more unpredictable than a fully hatched cursed spirit.”

He paused, then looked at Duanmu Yan with lingering fear, "It's fortunate that Senior Duanmu came along. The two of us alone wouldn't have been able to remove it."

Duanmu Yan did not respond immediately.

He had been looking around since earlier, no wonder he vaguely sensed malice directed at him, now he understood.

This was specifically targeted at him. In the original story, to stop Gojo Satoru, he... (The sentence is incomplete and lacks context, so a direct translation isn't possible. It appears to be a fragment of a larger text.)

However, he was already inside, so he pretended not to know, thus setting a trap for Tao Huangzhen.

He turned to Nanami and Haibara and said, "You two retreat to the edge of the tent and wait for orders. I have already notified Satoru and Jie. We will take action when they arrive. I will be in charge here."

Nanami nodded and pulled the still bewildered Haibara back the way they came.

On the way back, Haibara scratched the back of her head: "Nanami, a single Special Grade Cursed Spirit is nothing to Senior Duanmu, right? Why did you have to call Senior Xiayou over?"

"Haibara, this is something you just don't understand."

Qi Hai explained, "What if this guy gets scared by you and splits into thousands of pieces to escape? Some cursed spirits can transform into hundreds or thousands of smaller cursed spirits and spread to the outer areas. At this time, we need Senior Xia You, who has cursed spirit manipulation skills, to help us capture all the fragments in one fell swoop."

Haibara nodded, feigning understanding. "I see! As expected of a senior, they've thought of everything so thoroughly. We should learn from them!"

“Yes.” Nanami’s gaze passed over Haibara’s shoulder and glanced into the depths of the forest, where Duanmu Yan’s figure had already disappeared into the shadows of the treetops. He tightened his grip on his backpack strap. “We should learn from Senior Duanmu.”

Soon, the two returned to the entrance and waited for Xia Youjie and Wutiao Wu to come over.

……

The moment the designated barrier was triggered, the small barrier surrounding the dilapidated temple also disappeared.

The water clock was the first to jump up. A thick plume of smoke billowed from its crater. "Finally open! I've been waiting for this for ages! Those two brats, I'll go kill them. They're just outside anyway."

"That won't do." The old man said, "That won't do." He continued, "I'm going to leave you like this." He then added, "I'm going to leave you like this." He continued, "I'm going to leave you like this."

The water clock's single eye narrowed, staring intently at the water clock, its gaze fixed on the water clock. The water clock's eyes narrowed again, and it stared intently at the water clock, its eyes ...

Hanako stood in the corner, the branches on her shoulders trembling almost imperceptibly.

The moment the barrier was broken, she felt it; nature was actually resisting her, something that had never happened before.

Something was wrong. She pressed her hand to her chest. "Maybe we should just forget about it. The risk is too great."

The water clock glanced back at it and said gently, "It's alright, Hua Yu. She's just a mere special-grade mage. She can't cause any trouble in front of the two of us. Don't forget—we are the strongest cursed spirits."

The text appears to be a jumbled collection of characters and symbols, possibly from a corrupted or incomplete document. It's impossible to translate meaningfully without the original, uncorrupted text.

Seeing that both of them said so, Hua Yu stopped talking, but still felt a slight discomfort around her.

Perhaps it was the extent of human destruction of nature that made her uncomfortable… she told herself.

Chapter 126 The mantis stalks the cicada

At the barrier entrance, Nanami and Haibara waited for about half an hour before finally hearing a sound from above.

Rainbow Dragon descended from the clouds, and Xia Youjie sat cross-legged on it, greeting the two of them.

"Senior Xia You!" Haibara rushed forward, pointing inside the barrier. "You've finally arrived! Senior Duanmu is dealing with a cursed embryo inside. That thing can transform into millions of cursed spirits. You must go and help him!"

Xia Youjie jumped off the Rainbow Dragon, looking puzzled.

Duanmu Yan can't handle a cursed fetus? You're kidding me.

He glanced at Haibara's anxious expression and the silent Nanami beside her, and immediately knew that this was probably a story Duanmu had made up for his two junior classmates.

He didn't expose her, but simply nodded: "Perhaps this is what Duanmu is worried about. You all leave first, I'll go in and take a look."

As he spoke, he walked towards the barrier. Before stepping into the barrier, his phone vibrated.

[Jay, be careful once you're inside. The target might not be the cursed spirit, or not entirely. There's a good chance the enemy is coming for you. I'm in position, hide well. Be adaptable, wait for my signal.]

Xia Youjie stared at the message, his lips twitching slightly, almost wanting to laugh.

Duanmu... he's really gone astray! He's even started plotting against people from the shadows! He must have learned that from hanging out with Wu for so long!

However, this also suggests that what's inside is probably really difficult to deal with, so much so that Duanmu chose to hide it first instead of directly crushing it head-on.

This allows Duanmu to choose a cunning opponent...

Xia Youjie's eyes darkened. He put away his phone, and without further hesitation, stepped into the tent.

Inside the tent, the scene was completely different from the outside world. The light was dim, the air was thick, and the surrounding trees were twisted and strange. It was eerily quiet, and even the chirping of insects and birds had completely disappeared. Only his own footsteps and breathing could be heard.

It's too quiet.

It was unusually quiet; it was a bit eerie.

Xia Youjie remained vigilant and moved forward slowly.

After walking for about two or three minutes, the scenery ahead remained unchanged, utterly desolate, as if the area shrouded in the tent was completely empty.

Did Duanmu misjudge the situation? Or has the enemy already left?

The moment that thought crossed my mind, something unexpected happened!

Without warning, brightly colored and strangely shaped flowers sprouted from the ordinary soil and weeds beneath his feet!

"flower?"

These flowers grow at an astonishing rate, covering the ground for hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye. The vines intertwine and the flowers grow wildly, instantly forming a huge cage that traps people in the center!