The little dot right before her eyes was none other than Ryomen Sukuna.
He was precocious in the truest sense; his experiences since birth, combined with his innate talent, had forced him to mature far beyond his years.
Rescued just moments ago, he looked up at the girl named Xia and knew she was the one who had saved him, yet his very first reaction was not gratitude, but scrutiny and suspicion.
Born with an appearance defying all normality, so strikingly different, he was naturally viewed as an omen of bad luck by ordinary people.
Though he had miraculously survived for a few months, Sukuna still faced the constant, looming threat of death at every second.
The people of this small village had not taken him in willingly in the first place.
It was merely out of a shred of morality and a fleeting spark of conscience that they could not bear to watch a tiny infant die right before their eyes.
That momentary spark of kindness had saved Sukuna's life, but it had also become the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Things were tolerable at first, but as time passed, the villagers grew unwilling to feed and shelter a monster baby for nothing. They began passing him around in turns to shirk responsibility, sometimes leaving him without food or water for days, entirely ignoring his most basic needs.
Yet, resilient as he was, Sukuna had scraped by and grown through these past few months purely on his tenacious will to live.
Driven by constant shoving and resentment, the villagers finally exhausted that last lingering trace of goodwill, choosing at last to abandon him out here in the heavy snow.
Even before that, they had deliberately starved him for days.
And that was how Xia and Sukuna had their first encounter.
A Jujutsu Sorcerer's Cursed Energy stems from human negative emotions, meaning they are exceptionally sensitive to whether the intent directed at them is malicious or benevolent.
Sukuna's aptitude for sorcery was a once-in-a-millennium anomaly. One could say that his natural growth would inevitably place him at the very apex of the food chain—his talent was a match for Xia's own.
Their similar circumstances struck a chord of resonance within Xia. Even knowing that the child before her was destined to become the living human Ryomen Sukuna, she could not bring herself to abandon him or turn a blind eye to his plight.
In the end, she extended her hands to him in salvation.
It was a genuine, deeply benevolent gesture, entirely devoid of any ulterior motives.
Sukuna could feel that sincerity, which was why he finally accepted those warm hands after he had fully regained consciousness and thoroughly scrutinized the person before him.
Perhaps this strange twist of fate was simply meant to be.
Had Xia not acted on a sudden whim and resolved to leave the place she had lived in for six years shortly after awakening her Innate Technique, she might never have crossed paths with Sukuna.
Yet this feudal little village was as backward as it was ignorant, and Sukuna's appearance made Xia realize that the current era was likely a hundred thousand miles removed from the timeline of the original story.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the present day was pulled backward by roughly a millennium relative to the original timeline.
The very existence of the Sukuna before her was proof enough of that.
What was the sorcerer world like a thousand years ago?
Putting aside the feudal society of a millennium past, the sheer abundance of prodigies emerging one after another was a testament to a sorcerer world that was dazzling, vibrant, and overflowing with talent—yet equally fraught with peril.
With so many prodigies walking the earth, the other side of the scale meant that the faction of Cursed Spirits must be immensely powerful as well. That was hardly good news!
Clearly, one principle stood above all others as the absolute truth.
Lurk in the shadows and play it safe, and you shall rise above the rest.
Through the ages, countless paths have risen and fallen, yet only by keeping a low profile can one achieve immortality and endure through eternity.
All in all, having picked up another little burden, Xia made up her mind: she would find a quiet place, bide her time in secret, and keep a low profile for a while longer.