Chapter 50 Discovery

"Life is very precious~ Precious things should be cherished."

Doma spoke with a smile, his seven-colored pupils curving into crescents, one of which had turned into a red vertical pupil. Iwakatsu knew that Kibutsuji Muzan had arrived, and looking at Doma's appearance, he felt a subtle sense of déjà vu.

"Come on, become ghosts, just like me."

Oh, exactly the same as when that scumbag boss hires tool ghosts.

Iwakatsu watched as Gyutaro tightened his grip on Mei, and then looked at Doma with a fierce glint in his eyes.

Will Mei come back to life?

He stared intently at Douma and asked the question that concerned him most. In this world, only Mei is the most important.

"Of course, she will become just as beautiful as before, and even stronger, so you won't have to worry about anyone bullying her."

Doma's voice was soft, full of seduction, like a demon dragging people into hell. Gyutaro looked at Doma, then at Mei, who was barely alive in his arms.

"I accept."

“You made a great choice.”

As Doma said this, he cut his wrist and let the blood flow into Gyutaro's hands. He then carefully fed the blood to Mei.

"Ouch—it hurts, brother, big brother."

Mei felt immense pain; she struggled to grip Gyutaro's hand tightly, tears streaming down her face.

Seeing Mei's pained expression, Gyutaro felt bad too, but seeing the black scabs that were beginning to fall off, he truly felt that his Mei, his sister, could live.

"Drink up. It's not right to leave such a beautiful girl like her here alone for your sister's sake."

Doma cut his already scabbed wrist again, and with his other hand, he stroked Gyutaro's head and said with a grin.

"good."

Gyutaro drank the blood in his hand in one gulp, suppressing the pain that was spreading through his body, and held Mei tightly. He could feel the different changes in his body.

"Isn't he adorable, Lord Kokushibo~?"

Doma sighed, stroking his face, and picked up the female corpse that had fallen to the ground. Looking at Iwakatsu, who remained unresponsive, he smiled and handed the corpse to him.

"Would you like some, Lord Kokushibo?"

"No need..."

Iwakatsu had no appetite at all. He looked at Gyutaro and Ume, whom he liked very much.

"Hey, Lord Kokushibo."

Tongmo relentlessly moved closer, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Yan Sheng. Yan Sheng felt a chill run down his spine from his gaze and opened all six of his eyes to stare back at him.

"Why is Akaza ignoring me? I talk to him every day."

Um, well, how should I put it? In the past, you'd be called a "simp." And the annoying kind at that.

"You're annoying."

Yan Sheng glanced at the other person, then turned and left; he needed to go back to check the ledgers. Yan Sheng was far more interested in this kind of ordinary work than in killing.

"Lord Kokushibo, Lord Kokushibo~".

Doma's voice came from behind, and Iwakatsu quickened his pace, disappearing in a flash.

——

"Lord Yansheng."

Seeing Yan Sheng walking slowly towards her, Yue jogged up to him. She carefully scanned him before feeling relieved.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"fine."

"Then please go inside quickly. It's snowing, so don't catch a cold."

As Dong spoke, she draped the haori hanging from her arm over Iwakatsu's shoulders and calmly followed behind her. As Iwakatsu walked inside, he felt a gaze for a moment, turned his head warily to scan the area, and frowned slightly.

"What's wrong, Lord Yansheng?"

Seeing Yan Sheng suddenly stop and look back, Dong couldn't help but ask a question.

He had just sensed a gaze directed at him. Unconvinced, Yan Sheng investigated again, but still found nothing.

Not far from Iwakatsu, Kawakami Akio withdrew his gaze. He had just heard someone calling Iwakatsu and instinctively looked over, but unfortunately, he found nothing.

"Lord Water Pillar, what's wrong?"

Akio Kawakami shook his head and led the two members to continue exploring.

According to intelligence, the number of missing persons in Yoshiwara in the past two weeks is several times higher than before. Although Yoshiwara has the largest transient population, there have never been so many missing persons and deaths before, even in its more diverse and chaotic past, which proves that something is wrong.

Kawakami Akio came with Rengoku Shujuro this time because the crowds were so large that searching would require a lot of effort. Moreover, according to the lord's calculations, there would be a Crescent Moon Demon here.

"Lord Water Pillar, we've been investigating all night, and the number of missing persons has decreased in recent days. Could it be that the ghost has left?"

A member with a low ponytail, holding a piece of paper, asked Kawakami Akio while taking notes. He was a member specifically responsible for reconnaissance. Although his combat skills were not particularly high, his speed in gathering intelligence was first-rate.

"Probably not, something must have happened."

Kawakami Akio looked at the sky; judging by the time, it was probably dawn. It would be even harder to find it during the day. Kawakami Akio thought for a moment, then decided to rest first and continue later.

"Let's go back and rest first; there are definitely still problems here."

"Yes, Lord Water Column."

"Yes, Lord Water Column."

Kawakami Akio quickly met up with Rengoku Shujuro, and after discussing with the other members that they should go and rest, the two of them huddled together and started talking.

"Qiusheng, I found two corpses deep in the alley. Judging from the method, they shouldn't have been killed by ghosts."

Rengoku Shujuro took a sip of tea and recounted what he had discovered that evening. He looked up at Kawakami Akio, his eyes narrowing slightly at the latter's somewhat guilty expression.

"You didn't notice anything, did you?"

"Um... I really, just..."

Akio Kawakami is a bit oblivious; if it weren't for his exceptionally accurate intuition and top-notch ability to sense danger, he would have died countless times over.

Rengoku Shujuro rubbed his forehead; he knew perfectly well that his childhood friend wasn't very reliable, and could only sigh. Kawakami Akio, seeing this, instantly felt indignant.

"I did discover something."

"What was discovered?"

“There must be a crescent moon ghost among the prostitutes.”

Kawakami Akio said this with absolute certainty, but this left Rengoku Shujuro speechless.

"Akio, this is Yoshiwara. Guess how many courtesans there are?"

Places famous for their red-light districts and brothels are never short of courtesans, so Kawakami Akio's words are as good as saying nothing at all.

"ah--."

Kawakami Akio slumped onto the table in frustration, picking up the documents beside him and examining them with a vacant look in his eyes.

"It really is! How do I tell... um?"

Kawakami Akio suddenly became serious, turning the white paper in his hand back and forth, his expression becoming increasingly earnest.

"What's wrong, Qiusheng?"

Seeing the other person's expression, Rengoku Shujuro knew that he had discovered something, so he stepped forward and asked.

"Xi Shoulang, look, the managers of these stores have changed."

"ah?"

"These few famous ones were replaced twice in less than a month."

"What's so strange about that?"

Rengoku Shujuro took it and examined it, his expression turning serious.

"The data was so scattered that we didn't even notice it. The last time we updated it was just two days after the number of missing persons started to increase."

"That's right, and then a few days ago the person was changed again, but there is no information on the current person, only that she is an adopted daughter of a nobleman."

“The missing persons started to return around that time, which is definitely not right.”

Kawakami Akio searched carefully but indeed found no information about the noble lady. He then flipped back to look at the previous pages.

"Let me see, the previous person in charge was called..."

"Peach Princess".