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

"A simplified domain isn't so easy to spread..."

Kusakabe scratched his head, giving a habitual, perfunctory reply.

Leaning against the wall with my hands in my pockets, I exuded an aura of "I don't want to work overtime."

"It's not about creating a simple domain; we're going to learn barrier techniques. We're going to build our own complete domain."

"Building a domain?"

Kusakabe raised his eyebrows and looked the two people in front of him up and down.

"That's even harder to learn."

Kusakabe just found it troublesome.

"Do you know what's needed for a complete domain expansion? It requires an ultimate understanding of one's own technique, it requires..."

Faced with this difficult question, Kusakabe only gave a few perfunctory replies, but he suddenly stopped halfway through his sentence.

A strange sensation, like an electric current, coursed through his spine and up to the top of his head.

His gaze wavered for a moment, as if something had briefly occupied his thoughts.

Let's take on the responsibilities of being teachers.

The thought appeared out of nowhere in his mind, as clear as if someone were whispering in his ear.

He paused for a moment, then shook his head violently, trying to shake the unseen thing out of his head.

"Why did this thought suddenly pop into my head? It's completely different from how I usually do things!"

Kusakabe frowned, staring intently into Fushiro's eyes, trying to find some clue in those dark pupils so he could squeeze out a few words of refusal.

But the more he stared into those dark pupils, the stronger that inexplicable thought became, surging up like waves and repeatedly washing over his will.

They must be taught!

They must be taught!

They must be taught!

The voice echoed in my mind again and again.

"Damn it, why are these thoughts even in my head?!" Kusakabe spat out his back teeth, trying to use the pain to dispel this strange feeling.

You must join them!

This idea is getting more and more outrageous!

Kusakabe roared inwardly, feeling his will being eroded little by little by some invisible force.

"Kusakabe-sensei, I only have one question: will you teach or not?"

"……teach."

Kusakabe heard his own mouth reply. The word practically slid out of his throat automatically.

The moment he said it, he felt a strange sense of relief, as if the decision was originally his own, and only needed an external force to push it forward.

"It's a deal then, let's start practicing tomorrow morning, Kusakabe-sensei!"

Overjoyed at receiving the reply, Fuhei and Shiliu left the Hongxing Palace after abandoning their agreed-upon time.

"Hey, Fuhei, are there any really sweet meals these days? I've been fighting so many battles and I've only ever picked up leftovers from roadside shops and restaurants. I've never actually had a proper meal."

"Yeah, we've been playing for so long, what are we going to eat?"

Looking at the backs of the group with their arms around each other, Kusakabe couldn't help but shiver and hugged his arms tightly.

It was evening, and the temperature wasn't low, but he felt a chill rising up his spine.

"What's going on? Why is my instincts going off like crazy?"

"Why do I feel my will constantly being affected whenever I'm with these people?"

Kusakabe struggled in place for a while, holding his head in his hands, pacing back and forth, wondering whether he should chase after him and change his mind.

But when he looked up, Fu Hei and the others had already disappeared without a trace, and he could no longer hear their footsteps.

"Damn it, I'll have to play it by ear tomorrow."

Kusakabe clutched his head, rubbing his temples vigorously, trying to push everything out of his mind as much as possible.

That night.

Kusakabe dreamed of becoming a passionate teacher.

In his dream, he became Fukuro's respected teacher, and when the college was in danger, he even stood up and confronted Sukuno directly.

His trench coat fluttered and rustled, and opposite him stood the legendary King of Curses.

He heard his own voice saying something, words that were grand and passionate, completely unlike anything he would say.

He heard himself speaking eloquently about justice and protection, and he heard himself making some kind of impassioned declaration.

Then, after making his thunderous pronouncements, he was quickly cut short.

He felt a chill on his waist, and then the whole world began to tilt.

I'm hungry!

Kusakabe sprang up from the bed, covered in cold sweat, clutching his still-painful abdomen.

He gasped for breath and it took him several seconds to realize that it was just a dream.

"This dream is so eerie. Was that passionate person really me?"

Looking at the sunlight streaming in through the window, Hijikabe frowned.

Because it's almost time for the training barrier that I agreed upon with Fukuro.

After a brief preparation, Kusakabe, his head still a little fuzzy from a night of dreaming, headed toward the training ground.

The images from last night's dream are still lingering in my mind, and the boundary between those images and reality has become blurred.

Then he saw Su Nuo, who had been cut in half at the waist.

I'm hungry!

Kusakabe immediately lay down on the floor.

"Hey, Kusakabe-sensei, are you alright?"

Yuji Itadori's voice came from above, filled with doubt and concern. He bent down and reached out to try to help Kusakabe, who was lying on the ground.

"So...it was Japanese knotweed."

Kusakabe opened his eyes, saw the young face, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"What's wrong, Kusakabe-sensei? Judging from your direction, are you heading to the training grounds?"

Training ground...

Kusakabe suddenly realized that everything he had experienced in the past half-day had started after he came into contact with Fushiguro.

That request, those inexplicable thoughts, and that bizarre dream... everything only started happening after I came into contact with Fukuro.

Once he understood this, Kusakabe was instantly covered in sweat and tried to move away from the training field using both his hands and feet.

"Kusakabe-sensei, so this is where you are! I've been looking for you for so long~"

A familiar voice came from behind Kusakabe.

"Fukuhiro, I'm a bit busy today..."

"No, no, um... the vocational college assigned me a task."

"I forgot, I forgot, it's... I started my period today!"

Kusakabe tried desperately to come up with excuses, but each one sounded weak and powerless, and none of them could persuade Fukuro to back down.

Fu Hei's face drew closer and closer.

But the memories of the day he was cut in half gradually overlapped with those of the day he was cut in half.

"It seems like Kusakabe-sensei's legs are a bit weak. Let's each carry one side and carry Kusakabe-sensei to the training ground."

"Great x3!"

Aside from the two difficult outdoor areas of Fuhei and Xiaolu, Riche and Shiliulong also surrounded them at some point.

Kusakabe had no chance to struggle; his limbs were steadily lifted up, and he was carried like a quilt.

He symbolically kicked his legs a few times, but to no avail, and had to be carried into the training field.

"This looks so interesting, Fushiguro, I want to join too!"

Polygonum cuspidatum also joined in.

"Again!"

Kusakabe felt utterly hopeless, his mind flashing back to the scene of his life being cut short, even if those scenes were just virtual.