In the Northern Hemisphere, autumn days grow shorter, and after 5 PM, the sky already turns very dim.
In the island nation, this dim period is called the Hour of Meeting Demons, roughly from 3 AM to 5 AM and 5 PM to 7 PM.
While it's uncertain if one can encounter "demons" by wandering around during these hours,
it's highly possible to encounter Cursed Spirits.
At 6:30 PM, on a dimly lit path, a cute little girl was weaving through the alleys of the city.
"So, Geto, you like this kind of thing."
Not far away, Eichi was deep in thought.
"I just made it casually," Geto said indifferently, looking at the surveillance footage.
"Making something casually can better reflect a person's preferences, after all, people subconsciously pursue what they like, right?"
Seeing that his teasing was fruitless, Eichi picked up a newspaper and began to read.
In 1979, in Himeji City, a 25-year-old woman, dressed in a trench coat and wearing a mask, impersonated the Slit-Mouthed Woman, blocking people in an alley with a cleaver, and was arrested by the police.
In 1981, a man dressed in women's clothing, hiding scissors in his trench coat, injured a woman by cutting her.
In 1991, at Shiritsu Uchi High School, a female student impersonated the Slit-Mouthed Woman to retaliate against a classmate.
In 2001… "It's been over twenty years, and the Slit-Mouthed Woman's popularity is still so high."
Eichi glanced at the thickness of the newspaper in his hand; there were clearly several more pages below.
"Perhaps it's precisely because of these imitators that the Slit-Mouthed Woman has remained in everyone's memory."
The urban legend, the Slit-Mouthed Woman.
This can be said to be an enduring horror image in the island nation. Eichi remembered that in his previous life, this urban legend's popularity didn't wane for over forty years.
There are various theories about the origin of the Slit-Mouthed Woman, with two being more widely circulated.
One is a report about a car accident: In 1968, the police discovered a car accident scene, and after expert restoration, it was found that the victim's mouth was ripped to her ears. Later, the image of the Slit-Mouthed Woman gradually spread. In 1979, the county also reported news of the Slit-Mouthed Woman's appearance, in which an old woman in the county fainted after seeing her.
The official establishment of the Slit-Mouthed Woman's image also came from this report.
Another theory is that a violent mother who abused her child had her mouth cut open with scissors upon her death. Afterwards, she would possess violent mothers, then wear a brown tattered coat and a scarf, hiding large scissors in the coat, with long hair down, wearing a mask, and appearing around schools.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman would ask children she saw, "Am I pretty?"
If you answer no, you will be killed.
If you answer yes, the Slit-Mouthed Woman will remove her mask, revealing her terrifyingly scarred mouth, and continue to ask, "Am I pretty?"
If you say yes, the Slit-Mouthed Woman will use scissors to make your mouth like hers; if you say no, you can prepare for reincarnation.
Unfortunately, this is the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, and Cursed Spirits have almost no intelligence. Otherwise, Eichi would have wanted to find someone to test if those magical ideas from netizens in his previous life actually worked.
Like directly kissing her, for example.
Geto initially felt very awkward about these imaginary Cursed Spirits, because in his opinion, such imaginary Cursed Spirits could clearly be avoided.
Eichi, however, felt it didn't matter. They were all negative emotions. Compared to those strange and elusive Cursed Spirits, Cursed Spirits with clear direction and ample information were actually easier to handle.
Later, the few of them discussed this matter for a long time, and eventually, Geto also began to treat imaginary Cursed Spirits as ordinary Cursed Spirits.
They're all negative emotions anyway.
"The target has appeared."
Geto stood up, ready to depart.
"Don't rush, let me see."
Eichi held Geto's shoulder.
Because the Slit-Mouthed Woman, whose strength was only Grade 1 in previous years, had once again increased to near Special Grade level, which resulted in the Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer who went to perform the exorcism mission being severely injured. Therefore, the Jujutsu Headquarters thought of Geto, who had resolved the Rainbow Dragon.
There was no other way; he was affordable and effective!
Although they didn't dare to lower the remuneration because Gojo had warned them, compared to the Jujutsu Sorcerers of The Big Three Families who were high and mighty and constantly negotiated terms, the polite Geto was simply an angel!
Just pay according to the minimum Special Grade standard, and he's polite, respects elders, and is strong.
Perfect.
Although most of the Jujutsu Headquarters came from The Big Three Families, this didn't prevent them from disliking their own Family members.
After all, those with real strength and power were within the Families; these people, though called high-ranking officials of the Jujutsu World, were actually working for The Big Three Families and had to act according to their whims.
Therefore, Geto, who could eliminate even Special Grade Cursed Spirits as long as the funds were in place, truly saved them a lot of time in negotiations and haggling, and even allowed them to save a little on the budget. As for where those budgets ultimately went… "Nice figure."
"You've been looking for so long and that's all you see?"
Geto looked at Eichi, speechless.
"I'm going to the professors now. Proceed as planned."
"Alright, anyway, with you protecting the professors, nothing will happen to them."
Geto covered his forehead.
In his opinion, ordinary people should stay behind and be protected by Jujutsu Sorcerers.
Therefore, he had quite a few reservations about Eichi bringing ordinary people to participate in the capture of a near Special Grade Cursed Spirit this time.
Geto knew about the laboratory Eichi had established; he had even worked there part-time during the summer vacation.
After more than half a year of research, the laboratory had already begun to produce weapons capable of harming Cursed Spirits.
After testing, these weapons caused high damage to Grade 4 Cursed Spirits, and their lethality against Third-Grade Cursed Spiritss was also good.
Later, those professors wanted to experiment with Grade 2 Cursed Spirits but were decisively refused by the security department.
What a joke, we are only Grade 4 Jujutsu Sorcerers!
Although the equipment here is good enough to handle Third-Grade Cursed Spiritss, Grade 2 is out of the question.
If we fail to defeat a Third-Grade Cursed Spirits, we can still run with the people, but if we fail to defeat a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, it's a direct wipeout, isn't it?
We came here to be security guards precisely because we didn't want to fight for our lives outside, and now you want us to fight a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit?
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
Even no matter how much those old professors guaranteed how powerful these weapons were, that according to the data they could definitely resolve Grade 2 Cursed Spirits, these security guards remained unmoved.
Later, the application reached Eichi.
Eichi thought for a moment and sent Geto an internship invitation.
Because it was Eichi's invitation, Geto did not refuse.
Thus, Geto, with doubt and a hint of curiosity, followed Eichi to the Oriental Folklore Research Institute.
"Are you sure this is an Oriental Folklore Research Institute and not some club's armory?"
Geto pointed at a pile of guns and cannons in the field, looking speechless.
Some of these guns and cannons were bought from Toji, and some were handmade by these old professors.
After processing them, they could inflict damage on Cursed Spirits.
However, due to the immaturity of the Jujutsu processing technology, they couldn't be mass-produced yet, and these old professors still had a relatively vague concept of Cursed Energy. They felt they were vaguely grasping something but were just missing that one crucial element.
Therefore, the lethality of these weapons also fluctuated greatly and could not leave the laboratory.
The security guards only dared to enter with their guns after confirming that the several Grade 2 Cursed Spirits appearing in the laboratory were completely controlled by Geto.
The security guards were thrilled; they never imagined they would one day be able to pin down Grade 2 Cursed Spirits they wouldn't even dare to dream of fighting. (In reality, Geto controlled them, otherwise they would have been beaten down by the Grade 2 Cursed Spirits long ago.)
The professors were thrilled; all the weapons were used in rotation, and the collected data was enough for them to use for a while.
Geto expressed indifference; the commission was paid, the internship certificate was given, and his several Grade 2 Cursed Spirits were fine.
Although they looked badly beaten, these were Cursed Spirits, a collection of negative abilities, unlike biological creatures that die from injuries to organs like the heart.
Many Cursed Spirits can still be lively even with half their body blown away.