Curse Returns: What did the human-shaped wishing machine do wrong this time?

"Brother Mashiro, are you composing waka poems for the ladies of the palace?"

On a "houseboat" in Heian-kyo, a man dressed in a light blue hunting robe is teasing his friend.

Paper and writing implements were laid out on the low table in front of them, and his friend's front was covered with half-finished drafts of antithetical couplets.

"Brother Xun...I..."

The long-haired man holding a calligraphy brush was about to answer his friend when he suddenly felt short of breath and his heart was beating rapidly, as if it were about to stop.

"Brother Mashiro, what's wrong?"

Seeing that his friend's face looked abnormal, he was about to help him up when he saw Mashiro's body begin to twist and fold at an unbelievable angle.

An invisible force tore his entire body in all directions, tearing and breaking every inch of his skin. After stretching his body to its limit, the force then squeezed and piled his limbs together like pieces of paper.

The black-haired youth let out a hoarse roar from the pain in his throat. He couldn't help but kneel on the ground, his entire body soaked in blood.

In that instant, his consciousness seemed to be slowed down infinitely, and the faces of people he knew in the past seemed to flip through the pages and overlap in front of him.

In the midst of chaos, he heard his own bones and flesh making a teeth-grinding crunching sound as they were squeezed and collided.

Blood dripped down, spreading out in a winding pattern on the ground.

The black-haired man was panting heavily, desperately trying to say something.

The next second, his head was squeezed and exploded into a puff of blood mist.

Amidst the rain of blood, his friend reached out in terror, only managing to catch a few splattered drops of blood.

"Aaaaaaaahh ...

The other passengers on the ship watched helplessly as this young man was inexplicably twisted into a shriveled and terrifying rope figure. They screamed and stumbled in all directions, trying to escape.

However, they were quite far from the shore on the boat, and they jumped into the water with a "plop, plop," showing no concern for their image as usual, and swam desperately in the water.

At the same time, countless other people across the country were inexplicably twisted into these ugly rope figures.

The Sugawara family was the most severely affected.

Upon hearing of the upheaval in his home, the head of the Sugawara family rushed back to Rokujo-in, only to find the mansion filled with twisted and gruesome corpses. The once exquisite garden and corridors were now covered in congealed blood, and the air was thick with a foul, fishy stench. The head of the Sugawara family nearly vomited on the spot after smelling it.

Several servants trembled and prostrated themselves on the ground upon seeing him.

"Sir...sir...!"

"What's going on?!"

The head of the Sugawara family sternly reprimanded his servants.

He was just routinely getting up early to pay his respects at the palace, so how did his home end up like this?

"No...I don't know...So many people in the family, suddenly...suddenly, they became like this."

Several servants felt genuine fear; their bodies trembled uncontrollably, and tears even rolled down their unfocused eyes.

When the head of the Sugawara family couldn't get any information from him, he angrily turned and walked into the inner quarters.

The entire mansion was practically littered with corpses, if not everywhere. He sent his guards to take a count.

The entire Sugawara family lost 163 people overnight, including 6 from the main family, 30 from the branch family, and 127 servants.

The head of the Sugawara family was somewhat puzzled. Who was so capable that they could kill so many members of the Sugawara family without anyone noticing?

Although half of the family's sorcerers have gone to Dongshan Road to provide support, as a family of sorcerers who inherit their skills through bloodline, there shouldn't be anyone with such strength at present!

Even if their political enemies, the Fujiwara Kita clan's "Sun, Moon, and Stars Advance Team" and "Five Void Generals" attacked simultaneously, it would be impossible for them to kill so many people in such a short time.

The head of the Fujiwara Kita family shared the same confusion as him.

Although the Fujiwara Kita clan currently holds great power, in order to prevent anyone from rebelling against their rule, they either instigate rebellions within the clan or send spies to infiltrate large clans such as the Abe, Sugawara, and Genji clans.

In Rokujo-in, he witnessed the Sugawara clan head's hasty departure and sent people to investigate. His subordinates reported that half of the Sugawara clan members had turned into ugly rope people.

Just as Fujiwara Kita's clan chief was gloating, he saw several members of his own clan die in a state of bewilderment and confusion.

He went to see the corpses, and the extremely cruel way they died was not human. At least, there were no sorcerers with such power in Heian-kyo at the moment.