Curse back: Gender-swapped cosplayers always meet the real person

Chapter 425 The Fisherman's Story

In the Arabian folk tales called "One Thousand and One Nights", the third one is called "The Fisherman and the Monster".

Among them, the devil who was locked in a bottle by King Solomon once made four wishes.

In the first century, he promised that if someone could release him, they would enjoy a lifetime of wealth and glory.

In the second century, that person will be given the locations of all the treasure houses in the world.

In the third century, he will be granted three wishes.

In the fourth hundred years, he vowed to kill the person who released him from the bottle, but he could let that person choose any way to die he wanted.

I read it once as a fairy tale when I was young, but I didn't understand it. I read it several times later, and Gojo Satoru also read it once, but I still couldn't understand the devil's thoughts in the story.

Since such a long time had passed and he had finally waited for redemption and freedom, why would he choose to repay kindness with evil?

And now, at this moment, when I look into the eyes of the two Sukuna thousands of years ago, I strangely resonate with the core content of the story, and from the layers of complex and dense emotions, I get a glimpse of his thoughts.

Ryoumen Sukuna was forced into a dry well since he was a child. He suffered inhuman torment and struggled in that dark place for many years.

Did he also hold such a belief, waiting from hope to disappointment, and then being annihilated in despair?

The two thoughts, "Why did you come just now" and "Why did you show up?", intertwined together, converging into an incomprehensible, twisted yet obvious action signal - kill me.

And it's not just killing.

He was enjoying the scattered despair after crushing all my hopes bit by bit. He wanted me to taste the pain he had tasted in the past.

but.

"Can you really achieve your goal by doing this?"

I took a step forward, looked him in the eye, and said seriously, "You have killed tens of thousands of people so far, either to vent your anger or for revenge."

"You've even become bored after killing so many people so far."

"Why are you excited to see me?" I tried to analyze it and said, "Because this world brings you too little fun. Everything is boring to you."

"And at this moment, I happened to show up." I took a step forward and said, "So, are you really going to kill me?"

He narrowed his eyes and stared at me inquiringly for a long time. Then he said, "Go on."

"If you want to blame me for saving you," I paused, then continued, "and then not being able to show up in time, then I apologize."

"You're right. I'm very strong." I said, "If I had shown up in time when Madam needed me, you wouldn't have ended up like that."

Although Ryoumen Sukuna no longer needs to say this, I still said it.

"I'm sorry. I'm deeply sorry."

“…Haha.” His reaction to hearing this was even weirder than I expected. His eyes fixed on me, then he turned away indifferently and said sarcastically, “Who do you think you are? Do I need you to save me?”

"You said so much just because you are not as strong as me and you want to survive under my hand with that guy, right?"

"boring."

"Yes, it is boring."

But at least you have to give it a try. You can't just wait to be killed. That would be so embarrassing.

My apology just now was indeed not because I had any feelings of guilt, sympathy or pity for him. As I have said before, his suffering did not come from me, and I do not need to bear a heavy moral burden for the sake of saving him.

Ryoumen Sukuna, in the midst of social expulsion and long periods of loneliness, rarely formed so-called "moral concepts". After all, we are two people standing on opposite sides, and it is simply a fantasy to want to agree with each other.

So, I am just trying my best to analyze his thoughts and try to find some room for maneuver in the middle, that's all.

"But," I continued to persuade him, "think about it, if you really kill me, what can you gain from it?"

Even the last object that carried his malice has disappeared. This is boring for him, isn't it?

I now seriously suspect that Ryomen Sukuna's later death, including having his fingers divided into twenty and sealed, was entirely the result of his own choice.

Because he could no longer find the pleasure he needed in the world - of course, this was just a guess.

Ryomen Sukuna stared at me for three seconds, rubbed his chin and thought for a while, and when he turned around, his expression had changed again.

"If you want me to give you and Yuji Itadori a chance to survive, that's fine too."

He called out Yuji's name. Even though none of us had revealed his real name to him just now.

My eyes widened as I looked at the familiar expression flashing in his pupils. My eyebrows jumped and I frowned even more painfully and asked, "Ryomen Sukuna..."

"Are you the one from a thousand years later?"

"It's me." He replied lazily, "Why, are you too stupid to recognize me?"

"No, how did you... when did you... in the end... forget it." My mind was a mess. I took a deep breath, shook my head, and simply threw all of this away. I asked directly, "Just tell me, what do you want in order for me and Yuhito to live?"

A smug look of ridicule appeared on Ryoumen Sukuna's lips: "What did you say before?"

He turned around, stroked his chin, raised his head, raised his eyebrows, and said, "I just like the way you are unhappy with me but can't get rid of me."

Damn it, this look is really unpleasant. If it wasn't for the lack of chance of winning -

"Name your terms." I said, bearing the humiliation and swallowing my anger, "As long as you don't kill us."

"Didn't I tell you that long ago?" The third repetition made him impatient. Ryoumen Sukuna opened his eyes calmly, his gaze piercing me like an iron arrow with a hook, and he said, "I will use your body once a month."

As expected, it was still the same condition. I wasn’t even surprised.

"No, what do you see in me?" I frowned, feeling as if he was strolling leisurely with a map and navigation in his hand, while I could only wander around blindly in a maze with my eyes blindfolded.

"Don't worry about that." He raised the corner of his mouth with interest, his eyes full of confidence and determination, "Honestly, if you agree now, I'll be in a good mood and maybe I can send you and that kid back right now."

So - there's a way for him to go back?

I was silent for a moment, recalling the techniques he used when I first negotiated with Shen Er. I pursed my lips, extended a finger, and tried to bargain with him.

"Can I use it just once?" I asked.

"You take me for a fool." He sneered and said firmly, "No."