An hour later, Jie Zhiyong and Hayashi finally returned to their base. Jie Zhiyong rubbed his stomach in frustration, complaining, "That meal was a waste—I'm already hungry again."
As he spoke, his gaze fell on the bag he was holding in his other hand, which contained the leftovers from their lunch.
"That's for Brother Island, don't even think about it," Hayashi said with a laugh, shaking his head at how greedy Jie Zhiyong could be.
"You're right, Boss has been hungry for a long time. If we don't save this for him, it would be really rude," Jie Zhiyong ultimately resisted the temptation and entered the abandoned parking lot.
"What took you so long? Where did you two go? And where's Zhang Yiyi?"
As soon as they returned, Yan Island demanded an explanation. What was supposed to be a quick meal had taken nearly two hours, and now it was the afternoon, and he still hadn't eaten.
"Sorry, Boss. We ran into some trouble. Here, eat this first, and I'll explain," Jie Zhiyong hurried over, dodging around the boxes, and placed the bag of food and rice on the table.
Yan Island, who was in his early thirties, had held off eating for a while, but managing everything left him exhausted and starving. Without hesitation, he opened the packaging, though he noticed the food had gone cold.
"In this weather, how did the food get cold? Just how long did you two delay?" Yan Island's lips twitched, but since he was starving and it was from his favorite restaurant, he let it slide and started eating.
Jie Zhiyong, feeling embarrassed, explained, "The food still has some warmth left, but we got held up by some trouble—a curse user and a cursed spirit appeared, and Hayashi and Zhang Yiyi went to help."
"What? A curse user and a cursed spirit? What grade were they? Why didn't you notify me?" Yan Island nearly choked on his food. Seeing that Zhang Yiyi wasn't with them, he immediately worried something had happened to her. "Where's Yiyi? Did something happen to her?"
"No, no, calm down and eat first." Jie Zhiyong knew Yan Island was concerned about Zhang Yiyi; after working together in Japan for so long, it was natural that they had grown close. Saying he wasn't worried would be a lie.
"How can I stay calm? Hurry and tell me what happened," Yan Island demanded, setting his chopsticks aside, determined to hear the whole story before eating.
Jie Zhiyong glanced at Hayashi and then began explaining the situation to Yan Island, "The curse user set up a 'Curtain,' so I couldn't contact you."
On the way back, Hayashi had already recounted the events to Jie Zhiyong, so explaining the situation wasn't difficult. Once Jie Zhiyong finished the story, Yan Island finally relaxed.
"But is it okay for Yiyi to go to the Three Great Families by herself?" Yan Island still felt uneasy about the situation. He was wary of the Three Great Families, knowing that most of them—whether from the Zenin Clan or the Kamo Clan—were difficult to deal with.
"What could possibly happen?" Hayashi asked, puzzled.
"Never mind. Telling you won't change anything. Just be cautious around the Three Great Families," Yan Island advised, his gaze turning more serious as he looked at Hayashi. "Hayashi, you haven't been with Night Owl for long, and we don't know much about you, but your strength is undeniable. Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
Exorcising a Grade 1 cursed spirit was no small feat, not to mention something nearing semi-special grade or special grade. Jujutsu sorcerers weren't particularly numerous, but those with enough power to handle major tasks were even rarer.
Hayashi's strength, although not uncommon within the Three Great Families, would be highly sought after by other factions. Training a jujutsu sorcerer required immense resources, but even then, many sorcerers failed to develop their potential and were abandoned by their clans.
Given Hayashi's mysterious background and his powerful bloodline, Yan Island couldn't help but suspect that Hayashi might have been discarded by some prominent family. However, seeing Hayashi's immense talent and strength now completely overturned that idea.
No major power would allow someone as gifted as Hayashi to fall into obscurity. Even though Jujutsu High had taken him in, Hayashi was still very much an independent figure.
"I didn't think it was worth bragging about. After all, there are plenty of stronger people out there—what does my strength amount to?" Hayashi smiled bitterly, a hint of self-mockery in his voice.
He wasn't laughing at his current self but at his past self—nearly dying at the hands of that special-grade cursed spirit.
It was only now that Hayashi truly understood how powerful that special-grade spirit had been.
Domain Expansion—the ultimate manifestation of a jujutsu sorcerer's power and the pinnacle of a technique. The fact that the spirit had unleashed a domain, regardless of the relative strength of its domain compared to others, was terrifying in itself.
Many cursed spirits, curse users, and jujutsu sorcerers would go their entire lives without ever being able to expand a domain. Those who could were rare and exceptional.
For Hayashi to have survived a battle against such a being was nothing short of miraculous.
"You're quite humble. That's good. Young people need that kind of mindset to go further in life." Yan Island was pleased with Hayashi's attitude and regarded him even more highly.
Jie Zhiyong was also impressed by Hayashi's composure. If he had Hayashi's power, he'd be showing off left and right, chasing down curse users and cursed spirits daily just for the thrill.
He regretted not going with them to witness Hayashi's battle firsthand.
"You two sit for a while. I'll finish this meal." After all the talking, Yan Island's food had gotten even colder, but he finally had time to eat.
An hour later, Zhang Yiyi returned, looking displeased as she walked out of the elevator. She plopped down in her seat, unwrapped a lollipop from her drawer, stuck it in her mouth, kicked off her shoes, and propped her legs up on the table.
"Well, at least she cleaned her feet," Hayashi thought to himself, noticing that Zhang Yiyi's feet were much cleaner now, probably from her shower earlier. But she seemed unusually angry—something must have happened.
"What happened to you, Yiyi? Something go wrong?" Jie Zhiyong, who wasn't strong but was quite the gossip, immediately asked.
"Get lost! Don't piss me off right now, or I'll smash your head in," Zhang Yiyi snapped, her temper flaring.
"Yep, she's really pissed," Jie Zhiyong muttered, knowing that Zhang Yiyi's go-to threat when angry was always "I'll smash your head in." Someone must have seriously irritated her.
"Looks like it was someone from the Zenin Clan," Yan Island sighed. He had expected this, knowing that dealing with the Three Great Families would always end in frustration. "Which family did you go to?"
Zhang Yiyi might have snapped at Jie Zhiyong, but she wouldn't speak that way to Yan Island.
Taking the lollipop out of her mouth, she frowned and said, "Zenin."
"The Zenin Clan, huh..." Yan Island didn't know what else to say. The Three Great Families were notorious for their arrogance, especially the Zenin Clan, which was known for being particularly difficult. Most jujutsu sorcerers avoided dealing with them.
Hayashi chimed in, "Sister Yiyi, did they give you trouble after you handed over the curse user?"
Hearing Hayashi's concern made Zhang Yiyi feel a bit better. Without Hayashi's power, the curse user might have escaped, and things would have turned out differently.
"The Zenin Clan bastards were insufferable. It's one thing for them to look down on everyone, but after I handed over the curse user, they told me to leave, saying my techniques weren't worth their attention and that I wasn't qualified to enter."
"And what happened to the curse user?"
"They took him, but I didn't even get past the door." Zhang Yiyi hadn't expected this. Despite being a Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer, she had been turned away.
She had heard rumors about the Zenin Clan's arrogance before, but she hadn't imagined it would be this bad.
In the past, they had dealt with curse users by handing them over to the appropriate authorities, never bothering with the Zenin Clan. This time, she had tried to be helpful by taking the curse user to them, only to be treated like this.