The person was chanting a curse, but their hands were wielding the black magic.

While Fukuro was still locked in battle with the parallel Fukuro.

The second ominous sign had already silently descended upon the hostel.

The sea breeze, blowing through the open window, brought a salty, fishy smell and the faint sound of explosions in the distance, but it couldn't dispel the heavy atmosphere inside the room.

"Damn it, what can I possibly do to help Yuki-sensei and Gojo...?"

Xia Youjie stood in a corner of the room, his eyes fixed on the pale figure on the bed.

Gojo Satoru lay naked on the simple bed, with Enshika on top of him, fully activating the Reversal Technique.

The reversed light flickered uncertainly. Xia Youjie could feel that Gojo Satoru's injuries were slowly healing, but the speed was too slow, so slow that it made him anxious.

Seeing that Gojo Satoru's body had not yet regained its color, Natsumi felt extremely anxious. He clenched his fists tightly, but could only helplessly put them down again.

He lacked the ability to reverse the technique, thus unable to contribute further to Gojo Satoru's treatment.

All I could do was watch as the wounds slowly, relentlessly pursued the deaths of the five.

He also lacked sufficient strength to help Professor Yuki fight against the endless stream of enemies.

"Damn it, what else can I do?!"

Xia Youjie could only stare at Wutiao's body, filled with impotent rage, and frantically pressuring himself.

He hated this feeling, hated this sense of powerlessness, hated himself for not being stronger, for not being more useful.

"Who said you can't do anything?"

In the quiet inn, a voice that did not belong to either of them suddenly rang out.

"Xia Youjie".

"Join the cause!"

Xia Youjie's body jolted suddenly.

That voice was clearly his; it was his own voice!

But his tone, his manner, and his rhythmic cadence were subtly different from Xia Youjie's own.

It felt both familiar and strange.

An echo? Or a hallucination?

Xia Youjie was utterly shocked.

Why can I hear my own voice?

"Who is it!"

Xia Youjie suddenly turned around, and as he did so, a figure suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor.

The figure slowly emerged from the shadows, strolling leisurely, each step perfectly timed with Xia Youjie's heartbeat.

Xia Youjie looked in the direction of the sound, but his pupils suddenly contracted as if he had been pricked by a needle.

He saw a face exactly like his own.

Same facial features, same contours, same eyebrows and eyes.

If it weren't for the black robe the man was wearing, exuding a religious solemnity, Xia Youjie would almost have thought it was a mirror, and that it was his own reflection walking out.

"Is it a spell? Or a disguise?"

The cursed spirit instantly hovered in Xia Youjie's palm, emitting a low hiss, as if warning the enemy and preparing to strike.

"No, I am you."

The newcomer continued to speak in Xia Youjie's accent.

He clearly had the same smile as Xia Youjie; the curve of his smile and the angle of his upturned mouth were exactly the same as Xia Youjie's usual smile.

But beneath that smile lay a gloomy undercurrent, like an undercurrent surging beneath a stagnant pool.

"I am you."

"Xia Youjie".

The cult leader, Jie, approached slowly, each step making it even harder for Xia Youjie to breathe.

"All your thoughts, all your feelings."

"I know it all perfectly!"

The cult leader, Jie, kept trying to get closer to Xia Youjie through his words.

The words were like invisible threads, wrapping around Xia Youjie's heart, tightening and becoming more and more dense.

"And also, all the unfair treatment you've suffered."

"All the evil thoughts that occur before your eyes."

"I know everything perfectly well."

The voice of the cult leader, Jay, carries an empathetic gentleness, like that of a fellow traveler who has experienced the same pain as you:

"To save these ordinary people who have no understanding of sorcerers."

"How many cursed spirits did you ingest?"

"That feeling... must be very uncomfortable, right?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Youjie's body trembled slightly.

A suffocating feeling of nausea surged up from my stomach.

Xia Youjie remembers the feeling of swallowing a lump of mud very clearly.

But Xia Youjie never told anyone, never complained to anyone, and never showed any discomfort in front of anyone.

Because he chose this path, because it was his responsibility.

"I understand everything."

"Because... I am you."

Whispers, like the allure of a demon, kept entering Xia Youjie's mind.

Every word was like a carefully chosen arrow, precisely aimed at Xia Youjie's most vulnerable spot.

Feelings of grievance, anger, and doubt surged up like turbulent mud.

This is why Lu Suo chose to send the cult leader Jie, who might be weaker in combat, to fight against Gao Zhuan and his companion.

The purpose was to potentially win over Xia Youjie.

Turning someone into a defector is far simpler than fighting a war; after all, all it takes is to corrupt Xia Youjie's already broken mind.

"No, you're lying!"

"All this talk of being an enemy of Wu is a lie!"

Xia Youyou retorted excitedly to the cult leader Jie, as if as long as her voice was loud enough, she could dispel those words.

"And my driftwood!"

"How could I possibly kill my own driftwood with my own hands!"

Upon hearing about his future actions, Xia Youjie nearly became hysterical.

The hands that were controlling the spell began to tremble slightly and could no longer maintain their grip.

The sudden shock was something Xia Youjie couldn't accept for a while.

Would I really kill the driftwood?

Is making enemies of all humanity the only path for me?

Those questions swirled in his mind, tightening their grip until he could barely breathe.

Xia Youjie also knew how extreme these deeds were.

He murdered his parents, turned against his best friend, and embarked on a path of becoming an enemy of all humanity.

This sounds like the act of a complete madman, a choice only a person who has lost their mind would make.

However, he could not ignore the negative emotions that were suppressed in his heart.

After each mission, he would vomit alone, swallowing the nausea of ​​the cursed spirit.

Yet, the life of a sorcerer is not understood by ordinary people.

Those emotions were always there, but Xia Youjie deliberately ignored them, burying them under the guise of "this is the right path."

Every word spoken by the cult leader Jie touched upon the darkest side of Xia Youjie's heart that he was most unwilling to face.

Now they were all laid out before him, forcing him to face them and confront them.

"Because I am you, Xia Youjie!"

Cult Leader Jie once again seized the opportunity to unleash his power, determined to drag Xia Youjie completely into the abyss, into the darkness he had been trying to escape.

"Spirit Manipulation Technique".

"Baku!"

The cult leader, Jie, opened his palm and spread his five fingers.

A cursed spirit slowly crawled out from his sleeve, its form hazy, like a flowing mist, without a fixed shape, sometimes gathering, sometimes spreading, emitting a faint light.

The light was soft and hypnotic, like a thin mist under the moonlight, making one's eyelids feel heavy and wanting to close their eyes.

"Don't worry, the dream-eater won't hurt you. It's just having a dream, pouring my memories, which are your future, into your mind."

The Dream Eater's body began to swell, enveloping Xia Youjie and enveloping him in a hazy halo.

"you……"

Before Xia Youjie could resist or react, the Dream Eater's effects had already taken hold, dragging him into a vortex of dreams and illusions.

……

……

"Jay...?"

With Enka's continuous treatment, Gojo Satoru finally regained some of his senses.

His eyelids slowly opened, revealing a slit, and his pale blue pupils refocused, gradually regaining clarity from the chaos.

However, what they saw was Xia Youjie, who had been completely captivated by the dream.

The boy stood in the center of the room, his body swaying slightly, his eyes unfocused, as if his soul had been ripped out, leaving only an empty shell.

"Jay, can you hear me?"

"Jay!"

At Gojo Satoru's shout, Xia Youjie's body collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.