Chapter Five

Chika had never experienced fear before.

From childhood, her brother instilled in her the idea that if you're afraid of death, just die; living is a waste of air.

And Chika has always lived up to expectations, basically pushing herself to the point of near death each time, only to come back barely clinging to life.

Perhaps because she was used to a life of constant struggle, she felt a little unaccustomed to suddenly having so much free time.

There's a feeling of not knowing what to do each day.

It's probably that feeling of helplessness—being able to watch the sun rise and set every day, but not knowing what you've accomplished.

She wanted to find clues to get home, but she didn't know where to begin.

Since returning from the mountain that day, Sanemi has been very busy.

They said that with snow approaching, evil spirits would become more active, and patrols must be intensified.

For several days in a row, Qianxia would disappear before she even woke up.

He returned home exhausted while she was asleep.

The snowfall didn't come out of nowhere.

It was a quiet afternoon when Chika sat cross-legged in the corridor, watching the sky grow darker and darker, and then, white snowflakes began to fall.

The gloomy clouds, like a cotton quilt, pressed down on my head, making it a little hard to breathe.

What made it even harder for her to breathe was the food in her hand.

To be honest, the food prepared by Sanemi was really bad. It was edible, but quite hard to swallow.

According to him, food only needs to fill one's stomach, and the time saved from cooking can be used to make more knife work.

He said he hasn't cooked since his family passed away, and he basically eats the free food provided by the team.

Sigh~

Chika casually took a couple of bites of the seaweed wrapped underneath, then set it aside, staring blankly at the gloomy sky outside the corridor.

Or, why don't you just put up a fight and join the Demon Slayer Corps?

At least meals and accommodation should be provided.

However, there's a sudden feeling that the good days are coming to an end.

Human senses are strange things. Good feelings are often inaccurate, but bad feelings are always accurate.

In the dead of night, she was fast asleep at home when she was suddenly jolted awake by a jolt.

The forehead, which was buried in the pillow just a second ago, is now slamming against the cold body with the rhythm of running.

The stench of rotting flesh filled my nostrils, as if maggots were crawling up my trachea and into my lungs.

She barely managed to turn her eyes, and just then she saw the spiderweb-like shadows cast by the moonlight through the tree canopy on the ground, and saw a dozen or so scarlet spots floating in the woods behind her—

Beneath each cluster of red light swayed a silkworm cocoon identical to itself, along with hunched silhouettes of people running with bent knees.

The neon lights of the distant city shrank into trembling spots of light on the horizon, and the ghost carrying her suddenly let out a strange laugh like sawing wood.

Chika felt her spine being gripped by sharp claws, and a sense of weightlessness accompanied by a sudden increase in her field of vision.

No! Who kidnapped her?

But where is he taking them?

"Hello! Who are you?" she asked tentatively.

The demon carrying her ignored her cries, focusing solely on running, increasing its speed and venturing deeper into the jungle.

Qianxia flicked her fingertip, and blue electricity instantly coiled around her arm. She squinted, spun around, and then felt—

Cast a long line to catch a big fish.

The evil spirit is rushing around so hurriedly; it's highly likely it's taking her to its headquarters.

Maybe we can find our hometown and then we can catch them all in one fell swoop.

She hesitated, then simply broke off a few strands of hair and threw them on the ground.

Long, golden hair is rare and could be one of the clues.

But how long will it take to keep doing this? What if the journey is too far and you end up plucking your bald spot?

She lowered her eyes to look at the blanket wrapped around her...

The demon carried the woman, who was of adult size, all the way. For some reason, he felt that the woman in his arms was getting lighter and lighter, and the more he ran, the more relaxed he felt.

Upon arriving at the destination, I turned around and looked around.

The quilt in my hand was empty; the other end of the quilt was torn open, and cotton had fallen to the ground.

You're going to die!

"Ah! We've arrived at our destination?"

The woman, dressed in soft clothing, leaned lazily on his shoulder and turned to smile at him.

Seeing him looking at her, she clicked her tongue and made a "der" sound, showing off her gleaming white teeth, "Hello?"

The demon had never seen such a human before, and its legs went weak on the spot.

A colleague, unable to stand it any longer, kicked him with a "bang!" and yelled, "What are you doing!"

The evil spirit belatedly realized this was its own stronghold, and quickly straightened up, saying, "You...you better behave yourself!"

"Tsk!"

This evil spirit, you don't notice it unless you look closely, but once you look closely, you suddenly find it so ugly that you just want to slap it.

And then she did it.

"Smack—"

The demon took the blow squarely, its head lolling to the side, and it didn't recover for a long time.

Chinatsu belatedly realized she had actually hit him, and feeling very embarrassed, she straightened his ugly face, her little face full of smiles, "Mr. Demon, are you alright?"

The evil spirit had never seen such a scene before; since it became conscious, it had generally only seen two types of people.

A type of person who screams and runs away in panic upon seeing him.

A person who, upon seeing him, would brandish a knife and frantically try to kill him.

But someone like Chika, who slapped him and then gently stroked his face, asking him what he wanted...

They still call him "sir"...

The first one.

It didn't react after being slapped; has this evil spirit gone mad?

"Hmm?" Chika tilted her head and looked at him.

The demon finally came to its senses, slowly raising its head, its eyes brimming with tears.

"Could you... slap me again?"

Chika: "......" What a strange thought process.

"It felt so good when you hit me."

Chika: "..." So this guy is a malevolent demon.

Premature satisfaction is a major taboo for S, so Chika took two steps back. "Could you tell me first where this is?"

"The master needs excellent offerings, and I think you are quite excellent."

The demon lowered its head shyly, tears streaming down its face, looking incredibly bashful.

"Shut up!" The colleague glared fiercely at Qianxia, ​​grabbed the devil's ear and pulled him away, "Go, go, go! Don't embarrass yourself."

The small room had only one exit. The tearful demon looked back every few steps, its clothes disappearing at the doorway.

"Clang—clang—"

The door clicked shut with a crisp sound, followed by a "ding-dong".

Chika watched as a pile of golden keys fell onto the straw-covered ground.

Hey! This devil is quite interesting.

She blinked and prepared to go forward to pick it up.

"Idiot! Don't be fooled by him."

Amidst the cries of children all around, the reprimanding words were particularly harsh. Qianxia watched as her keys were stepped on.

"Um??"

My gaze slowly moved upwards from his feet, and when I looked up, I saw a man with a dark mohawk and a scar on his right cheek that extended to his nose.

His face was covered in bruises, looking like he'd been badly beaten.

Who are you?

Qianxia frowned, feeling inexplicably that this person looked familiar—his eyes, his tone, his scar.

He seems to resemble Sanemi.

The man ignored her, bent down, picked up the keys, and stuffed them into his pocket. "I'm a Demon Slayer..."

Oh! From the same place as Shimi.

Qianxia nodded, and was just about to say hello when she heard him add, "A reserve member."

Chika stumbled, "A reserve player??"

The man's eyes flashed with a fierce light. "They're the team members who haven't passed the final selection yet. So what! What's the problem! You have a problem with that?"

Chinatsu: "..."

Who exactly has a problem with whom?

Shinazugawa Genya's temples throbbed; the girl clutching the hem of his clothes in front of him practically had the word "stupid" etched on her forehead.

How could a ghost suddenly become kind? Those sweet words used to deceive young girls are clearly just honey smeared on the edge of a trap.

Anyone with a brain should know this!

He raised the key in his hand, his calloused thumb tracing the dark red grooves of the metal. "Evil spirits have no concept of kindness."

He was just about to scold her a couple more times when he saw the girl, who was a head shorter than him, pout and burst into tears.

"Shut up! Don't cry out loud!" Xuanmi shouted.

"Uh—" The girl choked back a sob, her nose instantly turning red.

"Waaaaah..."

She curled up into a small ball, hugging her knees, and tears pattered onto the floor, creating faint echoes in the deathly silence.

Xuanmi was stunned, just watching as she cried lower and lower until she hugged her knees and sobbed uncontrollably.

"You've gone too far!"

Someone in the crowd spoke up, and a rustling sound spread from the onlookers.

Xuanmi's neck hairs stood on end; he was all too familiar with this dangerous commotion—

Just like back in the dojo, when the enraged instructor swung his sword at the trembling apprentice, those whispers that lurked in the shadows.

"They're already pitiful enough..."

"Bullying a little girl at a time like this..."

"Yeah yeah."

"Yes, yes."

The chattering voices formed a dense web, and the veins on the back of Xuanmi's hand, gripping the knife, bulged.

He wanted to explain that it wasn't like that; he was actually worried something might happen to her, and it was just a subconscious reaction...

"Bang--"

The door was kicked open with a sudden thud, and the already ugly demon, enraged, became even uglier, its features twisted and contorted, curled up like a ball of unknown shape.

"Are you ignoring what I said? Mind your own business? You rule-breaking bug—"

The demon's neck suddenly stretched three feet, its serpentine head hovering in front of Xuanmi's nose. "It should be crushed into minced meat and mixed with brains to be eaten!"

"ah!!"

Suddenly, the crowd erupted in screams and frantically pushed towards the corner.

The demon opened its mouth and bit down hard on Genya's shoulder.

Xuan Mi was dumbfounded. He frantically touched his body with both hands, and the more he touched, the worse his complexion became.

Oh no! His gun isn't on him!

"laugh--"

The sound of the sword slicing through the neck was crisp. The demon felt its perspective suddenly drop, its face pressed against the ground, and it spun around several times.

"Huh?"

It looked up.

He saw his headless body and a smiling woman looking down at it.

Her long golden hair swayed in the wind, and a perfect smile curved her lips.

"You've worked hard~ Be a better person in your next life."

The evil spirit: "..."

Chika rubbed the dagger against the demon's clothes a couple of times to make sure it was clean enough, then sheathed it and placed it close to her body.

This dagger was a gift from Shinobu Kocho, who said it was made of the same material as the Nichirin Blade.

Chika really liked it, but she had been struggling to find an opportunity to use it.

She was overjoyed that she could finally use it; slicing off a ghost's neck was as easy as cutting tofu—in a word—

Cool!

......