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Ren returned to Yamaga Shrine without disturbing anyone except Megumi Fushiguro, who had already been dozing lightly in the room. After giving him a rough explanation of what had happened, Ren decided it was too late to continue searching. The two of them rested for the night.

When they woke the next morning, Nohiko Akashi's wife, Emi Akashi, had already prepared breakfast: fresh miso soup, rice balls, fried eggs, bacon, bread, and a few other Western-style options.

After politely thanking the gentle, capable woman, Ren and Megumi sat down at Nohiko's invitation. They were also introduced to his son and daughter, Nobunao Akashi and Natsuki Akashi.

Both siblings had inherited their mother's looks and seemed only a few years older than Ren and Megumi. Between the two, the elder sister actually had the personality closer to their father's. Once the seven travelers staying nearby arrived as well, Natsuki was soon chatting with everyone as if they had known each other for a while.

She seemed more interested in Ren and Megumi, but one of them wore a cold face and spoke little, while the other focused entirely on eating. Even the cleverest host could not cook without ingredients.

After enjoying breakfast, Ren thanked Emi and her family again. Then his attention shifted to the conversation between Nohiko and the small group led by Soshun. They were discussing where they should go later.

The place they mentioned happened to be one of the suspicious locations Ren had spotted in the streamer's footage the day before. It was on the mountain summit behind the shrine, where an old tree stood, tall and thick, supposedly with several hundred years of history. Tourists often went up to see it after praying at the shrine.

Because Yamaga Shrine worshiped a mountain god from local legend, the old tree was sometimes viewed as that mountain god's incarnation in the human world. Naturally, many people went there to pay their respects.

When Ren asked whether he and Megumi could go along, Nohiko agreed readily and called his children as well. After clearing the breakfast table, he sent his son to call the travelers over, saying the boy needed more chances to practice dealing with people.

Nobunao rarely interacted with strangers because of his personality, so when he and his sister came home to the family shrine for the school break, Nohiko intended to have both of them help out a little.

Although Nobunao was not good at socializing, he understood basic courtesy. Before long, he returned with the group. Everyone had packed light, since the destination was not far and they were only going out for a short walk.

During the trip, Ren learned more details from Nobunao about the tree and the other modestly famous spots nearby. The two of them got along better than expected. Nobunao was introverted, but when the topic turned to games, anime, and other things he knew well, he became fairly talkative.

According to him, Yamaga Shrine did not have many attractions around it. The old tree on the summit counted as one. There was also a cherry-blossom path, though it was not worth much outside blooming season. Down the mountain, a clear river with a healthy ecosystem also drew visitors, though not many people came at this time of year.

The last place was that forest. It was neither particularly large nor especially small, and it had once been a beautiful stretch of untouched scenery. In recent years, however, people had repeatedly gone there to commit suicide. It was nowhere near as famous as Aokigahara, but after news reports, online influencers exploring the place, and several disappearances that were not suicides, it quickly attracted the attention of curious people online.

When the group reached the summit, they saw the conspicuous old tree at once. The surrounding area had clearly been carefully maintained. White shimenawa hung from the ancient trunk, which would take three to five people to encircle, and its sturdy branches supported a huge crown overhead. In summer, when the leaves were thick, the sight would probably be even more magnificent.

Everyone began taking portraits and scenery photos, then took turns making devout wishes beneath the tree. Ren, meanwhile, wandered around the area. Untouched natural scenery did not impress him much. Jujutsu High had more than enough of that for him to be used to it.

What he was searching for was the presence of a curse. After looking around, he actually found a faint trace. The residue was extremely weak, and White Wolf was the first to notice it. It lingered around the old tree, but with no dense foliage blocking the view at this time of year, Ren did not see any curse present.

Standing on the summit and looking down, he could see the eaves of the shrine peeking out from the mountain woods. Farther to the side, a silver ribbon of water wound through the sleeping forest and traveled toward the distance.

Megumi glanced at Ren. With Ren's hint, he had noticed that faint remnant of cursed presence too. Megumi made a gesture asking whether he should summon the Divine Dogs to search. There were no other jujutsu sorcerers here, and ordinary people could not see the shikigami anyway.

Ren shook his head and refused. After that, he only circled the area like an ordinary tourist. At Natsuki's suggestion, he took a photo with Megumi and White Wolf in front of the tree. Once everyone had enjoyed the view from the summit, the group went back down the mountain, this time following the small path beside the river.

The murmuring stream flowed between green stones and gathered at the foot of the mountain. In the clear water between the trees, tiny fish and shrimp could occasionally be seen. If someone lifted a stone, they might even find crabs fleeing from the stirred-up mud.

Following the stream downward, they came upon a gray-white stony bank. Several people cheerfully tried skipping stones, while Ren and Megumi continued looking for traces of curses. Perhaps because so many people had arrived, Ren did discover a cursed spirit. It poked its head out from the middle of the river, but it was only a fly head, not the possible target of their mission.

The fly head showed its face for only a moment before vanishing. Ren ignored it. There were no other abnormalities near the river. Based on the streamer's footage, the strange incident had probably happened near the old tree. The other companion they mentioned might have accidentally touched a cursed spirit and become contaminated by a curse, leading to physical discomfort.

But they had not found any cursed spirit on the summit. That meant the thing wandered somewhere nearby. There were no traces by the river either, so were they left with the clumsiest option: slowly searching the area piece by piece?

After everyone had enjoyed themselves, they returned to the shrine for lunch. Despite Nohiko's refusal, Ren still forced payment for their food and lodging on him. Then he said he and his friend wanted to rest for a while and asked to be called when dinner was ready.

Once they returned to their room, Ren called Megumi and prepared to head out. Their destination was the forest they had visited the previous night. When they arrived, Ren had Megumi summon the Divine Dogs.

The black and white shikigami leapt from Megumi's shadow and circled around him. After receiving their instructions, the two Divine Dogs split up with White Wolf and began searching for the curse.

In a place where many people had taken their own lives, a careful search still turned up some cursed spirits. But as before, most were fly heads. They did not pose much danger to people. If convenient, Ren dealt with them; if he felt too lazy, he ignored them.

Before long, White Wolf found something. He barked from beyond the trees. When Ren and Megumi went over, they realized they had reached another edge of the forest. Below them was a steep cliff.

Under the clear daylight, Ren looked down and saw that the ground below seemed covered by a layer of gray-black gauze.

"Found it?" Megumi asked, looking at him.

Ren nodded. "It hides its presence well. I did not expect it to be here."

He looked back toward that so-called suicide spot. Some of the people there had probably jumped from this cliff. Ren then lowered a Curtain. There were not many people nearby, but necessary precautions still had to be taken.

"Let's go."

Ren walked to the edge and jumped without hesitation. Megumi's eyelid twitched. Then he crossed his hands into a shape like wings, and the shadow behind him stirred.

"Nue."

A large, strange bird flew out from behind him. It was a shikigami he had tamed not long ago. His Ten Shadows Technique corresponded to ten different shikigami. Aside from the initial Divine Dogs, which required no taming, every later shikigami had to be subdued before he could use it.

Beyond combat, this strange bird naturally had another function: flight. Under Megumi's control, Nue hooked its claws into him and flew down the cliff.

As soon as he descended, he saw Ren already standing on the ground. After recalling Nue, Megumi looked at the patch of black fog floating halfway ahead and asked, "What is that? It feels like a curse. Can cursed spirits look like this?"

Ren rubbed his chin. The black fog in front of them did carry the presence of a curse. Now that they were closer, he could sense it even more clearly. If he ignored its outward form, he would have taken it for a cursed spirit. But this mist-like shape...

"Might as well test it directly."

Ren raised his hand and fired a limited burst of cursed energy. The shot stirred the black fog into rolling waves, as if it had disturbed something inside.

The spreading black mist suddenly contracted and gathered toward a single point. In a few breaths, it condensed into something thick, and a huge black snake emerged from it, every scale on its body vivid and lifelike.

The snake's head had no eyes. Ren had no idea what it relied on for vision, though that was understandable if it was a cursed spirit. These things were not even living creatures.

The black snake seemed displeased at being disturbed. The moment it appeared, its mood was obvious. Anyone could tell from its arched body that it was preparing to attack.

Ren spread his hands and turned back to Megumi. "I will leave it to you first. No problem, right?"

Megumi drew Onikiri. The two Divine Dogs circled in from left and right. The terrain in the dense woods was poor, so he did not summon Nue.

This cursed spirit was probably only around semi-Grade 2. Ren estimated it would take him one slash, so he left it to Megumi. More combat experience never hurt.

What he was thinking about now was the cursed spirit's origin. Logically, the number of suicides here should have made it difficult, maybe even impossible, to give birth to a cursed spirit like this.

The cursed spirit did not seem particularly aggressive either. If Ren had not attacked first, it might have stayed there motionless.

Its ability to hide its presence was also good. If they had not seen the abnormality in broad daylight, finding it would have been difficult. No wonder they had found no traces in the woods the night before. In poor light, this black fog was practically natural cover.

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