The next second, the ground of the bell tower suddenly trembled. Then, a passage barely wide enough for one person emitted a faint scent of incense and candles. Looking inside, it was pitch black, stretching beyond sight.
"I'll go down and check. I'll come back if there's danger."
Before the other three could react, Renji immediately jumped into the passage.
"Okkotsu..." Suguru's call hadn't even fully left his lips.
Thwack!
Satoru patted Suguru on the shoulder.
"More importantly, someone's coming. Those Curse Users you mentioned before, right?" Satoru opened his eyes again, his blue pupils already faintly emitting a radiant glow.
"There are four of them. I'll hide first then. Call me when you're done."
Shoko smiled, turned around, and unhurriedly walked up the bell tower, intending to find the best viewing spot.
Shh...
The sound of shoe soles scraping against stone slabs reached the ears of Suguru and Satoru. The two looked forward and saw four people slowly walking across the open ground in front of the bell tower.
"The Six Eyes user of the Gojo Clan? Tsk... They didn't say anything about him being here. Looks like I'll have to demand more money when I get back." The leader of the Curse Users wore a woman's kimono but spoke in a hoarse male voice.
"Who cares what it is. All I see are two cute little piglets. I must taste their prostates." An obese man held a butcher's knife in his hand, a strange light flashing in his pupils as he licked his lips.
"Marlboro." Beside him, a masked man revealed the curse markings beneath his mask—the mark of a Cursed Speech User.
The last person said nothing. He just quietly pulled a black bead from his pocket.
Squinting his eyes, Satoru scanned the group and immediately remembered who these four were—the infamous Curse User group in the Jujutsu World: The Low-Road Killers.
All the prey they killed would lose their reproductive organs and internal organs. Moreover, the four would attack ordinary people without warning, as if killing was merely an entertainment to vent their emotions.
"Suguru, that half-man-half-woman guy is a Shikigami User. The one holding the butcher's knife is a Cursed Tool User. The last one... I forgot, hahahahaha." Satoru laughed.
"I'll handle these two."
The four people in front exchanged glances.
What the hell!
We're in a battle. Why are you laughing?
Be serious!
"Hey! You, Six-Eyes dummy, do you like eating pork?"
The man holding the butcher's knife was named Maeyama, whose body count was nearing triple digits. He was an extreme Curse User.
Satoru's cheerful laughter rang out. "Pork? Sorry, I don't like it. I prefer sweets. I really hate the smell of pigs."
Satoru appeared to be staring at Maeyama, but his gaze was actually fixed on the other three.
The next second, Maeyama suddenly plopped onto the ground and began throwing a tantrum, rolling around. The force shook the stone slabs beneath him, causing cracks to gradually spread outward.
"Ah!!! You don't like eating pork! Do you know how delicious pork is?! I'll kill you!!!"
Maeyama's body instantly vanished and a shadow appeared above Satoru's head.
BOOM!
A terrifying shockwave made it impossible for the others on the field to keep their eyes open.
"Not good, Porky-boy is in danger!"
The half-man-half-woman, Shina, instantly formed hand seals, and a floating jellyfish shikigami manifested behind them.
The floating jellyfish shot towards Satoru at high speed.
Boom! Boom...
"Your opponent is me."
Suguru formed his hand into a pistol shape, and hard squid-like Cursed Spirits continuously shot from his fingertips.
For a moment, dust and stones flew across the field.
Shoko, atop the bell tower, took a drag from her cigarette, then slowly raised her head. "Your battlefield is down there. This is a lady's private area."
The man who had remained silent all along, Shigeru, was quietly looking down at her.
...
Renji gradually descended the stairs.
When a faint glow of candlelight appeared at the end, he increased his pace.
Only when the light fully illuminated his surroundings did Renji look around.
The furnishings in the room were simple. An altar table, a picture of an angel pasted on the wall, and a black box on a bookshelf. From the box, a faint aura of Cursed Energy could be felt seeping out.
"Where is this?"
Renji's hand brushed over the altar table. The dust was thick, as if no one had been here for a long time.
Murasame, unable to contain her restlessness, stood beside Renji.
"Master, why are you always staying in these little rooms? Could it be that you covet my body and want me to help you release pressure?" Murasame stood on her tiptoes to pick up the black box from the bookshelf, speaking playfully as she did so.
Renji felt along the walls, speaking seriously, "Stop fooling around. Shoko-san and the others are still fighting those Curse Users. Gojo can't possibly use Domain Expansion right now. We have to hurry back and help them. Murasame, check if there are any other hidden rooms around."
Seeing Renji like this, Murasame simply closed her eyes. Her divine power spread out, sensing through the walls—endless stone and sand all around.
"There are no other spaces, Master." Murasame hugged the box.
Renji looked at the picture in front of him.
On the picture, a faceless angel could be seen. Flames clung to the angel's six wings and doll-like arms were gently pressed together in prayer as it half-knelt on the ground. The entire picture emitted a 'holy' feeling.
[Ding! Host unlocks inherited Cursed Technique – Twelve Torii Technique (The Twelfth – The Lord's Blessing).]
Is this thing also a Cursed Technique?
I have a feeling something very bad would happen if I summoned it.
Right, there's also the box.
"This box... Why is it so hard to open?" Murasame pouted, her hands gripping the sides of the box tightly, trying to pry it open with brute force.
Despite all her efforts, Murasame couldn't open the box.
Renji took the box.
Click!
The box opened with a sound.
Inside the box lay a pure white feather.
[Ding! Host has obtained Special Grade Cursed Object – His Feather.]
[Automatically learn all Twelve Torii Techniques and gain His Gaze. When you become strong enough, He will descend. You are the most devout believer and the most foolish puppet. If this Cursed Object is touched by another, the previous person's curse will not transfer.]
"This should be the thing that old geezer Gakuganji mentioned, right?" Renji murmured, looking at the feather floating in his hand.
Judging by the Main God Space's description, this thing seems similar to something like an Incarnation Technique. When certain conditions are met, another person awakens within one's body, erases the original consciousness, and becomes the incarnated.