The days in the Northern Hemisphere's autumn grow shorter, and it's already quite dark after 5 PM.
In this island nation, this dim period is called Demon Hour, roughly from 3 to 5 AM and 5 to 7 PM.
While I don't know if wandering around during this time will lead to encountering "demons."
It's very possible to encounter Cursed Spirits.
At 6:30 PM, on a dimly lit path, a cute-looking little girl was weaving through the alleys of the city.
"So, Eiji, you like this kind of thing."
Eiji mused from not too far away.
"I just made it casually."
Suguru Geto said indifferently, looking at the surveillance footage.
"Making it casually better reflects a person's preferences, after all, people subconsciously pursue those they like."
Seeing his teasing was fruitless, Eiji picked up a newspaper and began to read.
1979, Himeji City: A 25-year-old woman in a trench coat and mask, impersonating a Slit-Mouthed Woman, blocked people in an alley with a kitchen knife and was arrested by the police.
1981: A man dressed in women's clothing, with scissors hidden in his trench coat, injured a woman.
1991: At Uchi Private High School, a female student impersonated a Slit-Mouthed Woman to get revenge on a classmate.
2001...
"It's been over twenty years, and the Slit-Mouthed Woman is still this popular."
Eiji glanced at the thickness of the newspaper in his hand; there were clearly several more pages below.
"Perhaps it's precisely because of these imitators that the Slit-Mouthed Woman remains in everyone's memory."
The Urban Legend, the Slit-Mouthed Woman.
This could be considered a timeless horror figure in this island nation. Eiji remembered that in his previous life, this Ghost Story remained popular for over forty years.
There are various theories about the origin of the Slit-Mouthed Woman, with two particularly widespread.
One is related to a car accident report. In 1968, police discovered a car accident scene. After expert reconstruction, it was found that the corners of the mouths of the deceased victims were split all the way to their ears. Subsequently, the image of the Slit-Mouthed Woman gradually spread. In 1979, the county also reported news of the Slit-Mouthed Woman's appearance; in the news, an old woman in the county fainted from fright after seeing the Slit-Mouthed Woman.
The formal identification of the Slit-Mouthed Woman's image also originated from this report.
Another theory is that a mother with violent tendencies who abused her child died with her mouth cut open by scissors. Later, she would possess mothers with violent tendencies, then wear a brown, tattered coat and a scarf, hiding large scissors in the coat, with her hair down, appearing around schools wearing a mask.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman would ask a child she saw, "Do I look beautiful?"
Answering "no" would result in death.
Answering "yes" would lead the Slit-Mouthed Woman to remove her mask, revealing her horrifyingly scarred, slit mouth, and ask again, "Do I look beautiful?"
If you say "yes," the Slit-Mouthed Woman will use scissors to make your mouth like hers. If you say "no," you can prepare to reincarnate.
It's a shame this is the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, where Cursed Spirits have almost no intelligence. Otherwise, Eiji would have liked to test whether the ingenious ideas of netizens from his previous life would work.
Like kissing it directly.
Suguru Geto initially felt very uncomfortable with this kind of Imaginary Cursed Spirit because, in his opinion, such Imaginary Cursed Spirits could clearly be avoided.
Eiji, however, felt it was inconsequential. It's all negative emotions. Compared to those strange and ethereal Cursed Spirits, these Cursed Spirits with clear targets and sufficient information are actually easier to deal with.
Later, the group discussed this matter for a long time, and Suguru Geto eventually came to view Imaginary Cursed Spirits as ordinary Cursed Spirits.
After all, it's all negative emotions.
"The target has appeared."
Suguru Geto stood up, ready to depart.
"Don't rush, let me see."
Eiji pressed Suguru Geto's shoulder.
Because the Slit-Mouthed Woman, which was only Grade 1 in previous years, had its strength further enhanced to a quasi-Special Grade level, causing a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer who went to perform the exorcism mission to be seriously injured. Therefore, the Jujutsu Director's Bureau thought of Suguru Geto, who had resolved the Rainbow Dragon.
There's no other way; he's cheap and effective.
Although they dared not lower the reward due to Satoru Gojo's warning, compared to the haughty Jujutsu Sorcerers of The Three Great Families who constantly negotiate, the polite Suguru Geto was simply an angel.
Just pay him according to the minimum standard for Special Grade, and he's polite, respectful of elders, and strong.
Perfect.
Although most of the Jujutsu Director's Bureau comes from The Three Great Families, this doesn't prevent them from disliking their own people.
After all, those with real strength and power are within the families. These people, while called high-ranking officials in the Jujutsu World, are essentially working for The Three Great Families and have to act according to their wishes.
Therefore, as long as the funds are in place, Suguru Geto, who can even eliminate Special Grade Cursed Spirits, has saved them a lot of negotiation time and a bit of budget. As for where this budget ultimately ends up...
"Nice figure."
"You've been staring for so long and all you see is that?"
Suguru Geto looked at Eiji speechlessly.
"I'm going to see the professor first. Let's proceed according to the plan."
"Fine, as long as you're here to protect the professors, nothing will happen to them."
Suguru Geto rubbed his forehead.
In his opinion, ordinary people should stay behind and be protected by Jujutsu Sorcerers.
Therefore, he had quite a few reservations about Eiji bringing ordinary people to capture a quasi-Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Suguru Geto knew about the laboratory Eiji had established, and he had even worked there part-time during the summer break.
After more than half a year of research, the laboratory had begun producing weapons capable of harming Cursed Spirits.
Tests showed that these weapons were highly effective against Grade 4 Cursed Spirits and had decent lethality against Grade 3 Cursed Spirits.
Later, when those professors wanted to use Grade 2 Cursed Spirits for experiments, they were decisively refused by the security department.
What a joke, we're only Grade 4 Jujutsu Sorcerers.
Although the equipment here is good enough to deal with Grade 3 Cursed Spirits, Grade 2 is out of the question.
If we can't defeat a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit, we can still escape with people. But if we can't defeat a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, it's a total wipeout.
We came here to be security guards precisely because we didn't want to fight to the death outside. Now you want me to go fight a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit?
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
Even though the old professors insisted on how powerful these weapons were and that the data showed they could definitely deal with Grade 2 Cursed Spirits, the security guards remained unmoved.
The application was then escalated to Eiji.
Eiji thought about it and sent Suguru Geto an internship invitation.
Because it was Eiji's invitation, Suguru Geto did not refuse.
Thus, with a mix of confusion and a hint of curiosity, Suguru Geto followed Eiji to the Eastern Folklore Research Institute.
"Are you sure this is a folklore research institute and not some club's armory?"
Suguru Geto pointed at the pile of guns and cannons in the center of the room, speechless.
Some of these firearms were bought from Toji Fushiguro, and others were painstakingly crafted by those old professors.
After processing them, they could inflict damage on Cursed Spirits.
However, because the craftsmanship of applying Jujutsu was still immature, they couldn't be mass-produced yet. Moreover, these old professors had a rather vague concept of Cursed Energy at the moment; they felt like they were on the verge of grasping something, but it was just out of reach.
As a result, the lethality of these weapons varied greatly, and they couldn't leave the laboratory.
Only after several security guards confirmed that the Grade 2 Cursed Spirits appearing in the laboratory were completely under Suguru Geto's control did they dare to enter with their guns.
The security guards were thrilled. They never imagined they would one day be able to dominate Grade 2 Cursed Spirits, which they had never even dared to think about. (In reality, it was Suguru Geto controlling them; otherwise, they would have been beaten down by the Grade 2 Cursed Spirits long ago.)
The professors were thrilled. All the weapons were used in rotation, and the collected data would be sufficient for them to use for some time.
Suguru Geto felt it was all the same to him. He received the commission fee, got the internship certificate, and his Grade 2 Cursed Spirits were unharmed.
Although they appeared to have been beaten badly, these were Cursed Spirits, the embodiment of negative abilities. They didn't die from injuries to vital organs like living beings.
Many Cursed Spirits could still jump around and act lively even with half their bodies blown off.
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