Chapter 239
I can't take the route planned in advance. In addition to the jade pot and the source of intelligence of the upper-rank ghosts, many little ghosts are also under the control of the trash boss. I may not see them much at ordinary times, but now he is anxious to find me, so naturally he will not let go of any clues.
I guess the ghosts are now searching for me.
Therefore, the only option was for the third brother to plan the route. But if the third brother wanted to plan the route, he had to know where the destination was.
In other words, he had to directly tell the Upper Three the location of the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps lord. This was an order he had never received before his eldest brother came, and it was also something he found difficult to accept.
However, if we let the crow send the message back now, it would cause delays, which is definitely not a good idea.
He looked at me, as if asking me something.
I immediately understood what he meant and nodded slightly.
"Hmm - since the lord and the young people have said so!" The eldest brother felt relieved after making the decision.
When you employ a ghost, do not doubt it; if you are suspicious of a ghost, do not employ it.
For Big Brother, part of his opinion was due to the Lord's orders and explanations, part was due to his good impression and trust in me, and the identification with Nezuko that I witnessed before should have played a role to some extent as well.
In short, it was due to a combination of factors that he was able to cooperate with his third brother.
Maybe...it can't really be considered cooperation.
Since coming here, the big brother's muscles have never relaxed for a moment, and his hand has never left the hilt of the knife, as if he is ready to start a battle at any time.
With the presence of the third brother, we naturally have to hurry up at night. My physical strength is very poor, Xuan Mi is much better than me, but he can't compare with the other two, but we can't delay on the road.
I specifically mentioned that the poison in Xuan Mi's body had better be eliminated as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences would be unpredictable. I even threatened him that he might turn into a ghost, and asked him to promise that he would come to find me after the next mission was completed. Only then did I give up the idea of letting Xuan Mi go back to the headquarters with us.
After I got back, I finally understood why my elder brother didn’t want to take Xuan Mi with him. This headquarters——
There was no one in the place, not even Kaoriya was there, only the lord and his wife, and the other eight pillars. The lord could put himself in danger, but he would not drag all the other team members into it.
I can imagine that if it weren't for the persistence of the pillars and the eldest brother's assessment of the third brother's strength, the lord would even want to face the third brother alone, just like when he faced the scum boss directly, and use himself to test the third brother first.
Maybe... he will also test my attitude.
Regardless of whether he wants to doubt me or not, as the "brain" of the Demon Slayer Corps, he must assume the worst of me.
And to be honest, I find myself suspicious.
If you don't believe me, just think about everything that happened before I came here: I saved my eldest brother in the Infinity Train arc, so I was brought back to the Demon Slayer Corps, and then proposed a plan to cure the lord, but at the same time it seemed like I did something to the next lord, so I was even able to enter his dreams, and now even little Kaguya hasn't slept at all, so it was obvious that something was wrong. Then something went wrong with the Demon Slayer Corps, and I was kidnapped. Not long after that, I also brought back the Upper Three, who was the direct cause of my entry into the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.
Isn't this a closed loop? I feel like I directed and acted this myself. If I weren't me, I would doubt myself.
I sat opposite the lord. There were pillars in the room who had met me before and those who had not. They had different attitudes towards me. It was obvious that they had also doubted all the speculations I could think of, so I even felt like sitting on pins and needles, which was more serious than last time.
There was still a chair in the room, but this time my legs were not injured, and I definitely didn't want to feel like a standout. It would feel more like I was being interrogated.
So even though I really didn’t like that kneeling position, I endured it.
Third brother seemed more comfortable than me. He was used to such scrutinizing, distrustful and rejecting looks even when he was a human being, so he certainly wouldn't be like me.
He even put a cushion under my legs, which he got from the lord, and caused a group of pillars to draw their swords.
I, I feel even more embarrassed.
Doesn't this make it more like Third Brother is obeying me?
I forced myself to remain calm and hid my hands, which were rubbing secretly, into my sleeves. My palms were a little sweaty.
Please stop staring at me, can you give me a break?
It was the lord who spoke up and broke the deadlock.
"It's great to see that Mr. Qing is safe and sound." After dealing with the curse last time, the effect was more significant than I had imagined. It might be that the lord's body was relatively weak, so he did not digest all the energy that I injected into his body last time. As a result, in the next few days, my energy remaining in his body was still effective, slowly eroding and wearing away the "curse" on the lord's face.
I met his gaze and could feel that his vision had focus!
Looking closely, his pupil color is still very light, so light that it seems as if something is covering his original pupil color. However, even if such bright eyes cannot see the full picture of things, they must have restored their photosensitivity function.
Celebrate together!
I came back just in time. If I had come back a little later, my abilities would have been used up in his body, and I would have continued to work on the lord without completely removing the curse.
I looked around and saw that among the people I had rarely seen, the one who showed the most friendliness to me was Shinobu Kocho. He must have examined the Lord's body, and it was probably because of this miraculous effect that I got extra points.
Why do you feel like you are here for an interview?
If all interviewers were like you, I would wake up laughing in my dreams.
"Mr. Umayashiki, you look much better than the last time we met." Such an achievement should of course be mentioned quietly!
If I don't tell others, how can they know how powerful I am?
"Thanks to Mr. Qing, I am in much better health now." The lord smiled at me and exchanged a few pleasantries. Although the words were very harmonious, I just had a subtle feeling of strangeness.
Like the calm before the storm.
The official topic is nothing more than things surrounding me, my third brother, the trashy boss, and the upper ranks.
"Mr. Qing's voice sounds very tired. Did Muzan Muzan do anything to you?" The lord's eyes can only sense light and cannot clearly see my current appearance and facial color, but years of blindness have made his other senses more sensitive, especially hearing, and his understanding of sounds is very strong.
I was a little surprised that he could hear fatigue in what I said.
Of course I'm tired. I can't sleep. I'm so sleepy!
Could you please give me Miss Tamayo's contact information as soon as possible!
"It's okay." I said stubbornly. A real man can't say no.
The pace of my conversation with the lord is actually quite slow. People like Fugui Yuyu and Muichiro can tolerate it, but people like a certain gorgeous festival god, Feng Ge, a hot-tempered and difficult to mess with Shimizu, can't stand our conversation that doesn't get straight to the point.
"Shouldn't I explain this ghost first? He is different from the little ghost girl before." Uzui Tengen, aka the owner of three jealous wives, is tall and handsome, but too coquettish. This makeup and accessories are very coquettish. His voice is relatively strong, and his emotions seem to be always full.
"Besides, isn't this the ghost that attacked Purgatory before?" Yihei's voice was muffled under the bandage. His voice was a little soft, as if it came out of his throat, without passing through his mouth. It had a snake-like cold feeling, which made people feel cold in their stomach and back.
Only Kanroji, my wife, Mitsuri, is different. After hearing Iguro's voice, I seemed to be able to see little red hearts radiating from the corners of her eyes.
Such a pretty girl with a pink complexion, she wasn't here last time. This time, I paid attention to her as soon as I came in. This is the kind of person a tough guy should cosplay! Just wait and see, one day I will be able to cosplay a busty beauty at a comic convention, and I will drag my gay friend along with me - and! And! I will let him cosplay King Kong Barbie, otherwise I won't be able to get rid of the social deadness in my heart!
But I don’t know if it was because my wife was shy, she didn’t say anything, and I didn’t hear the lovely sound of coriander.
"Hmm! Although his appearance has changed, he is undoubtedly the Upper Three!" the eldest brother replied.
I gave my third brother a look. He sat next to me, his eyelashes fluttering, his golden eyes glowing, and the words in his eyes appeared in front of everyone under his will.
——“Waisting Moon”, “Three”.
This is the mark that Boss Xia gave him, and it also represents his ranking among the ghosts.
I noticed that, except for a few tattoos on his wrists, the other tattoos on his skin didn't leave even faint marks. In addition, his hair color turned black, and his abnormally pale skin color and features were reduced a lot - at first glance, except for his ridiculously bright eyes, he was not much different from the human Komaji.
The sudden appearance of this mark on him now gave me a feeling of unreality and disharmony.
Along with the change in his eyes, the aura of the third brother also changed. The words in his eyes represented his power, so when the words were revealed, his ghostly aura and sharpness were almost unconsciously revealed.
This immediately provoked a reaction from the Nine Pillars. The eldest brother, Rock Pillar, immediately stood in front of the lord. The others also drew their swords, especially Brother Feng. He was really unique and adopted an attacking posture with no defense at all.
"Kids, calm down." The lord sensed the tense atmosphere and immediately tried to comfort them. Of course, he couldn't say that he had any good feelings towards the third brother, but even if he considered it from the perspective of value, if the third brother could really cooperate with the Demon Slayer Corps to overthrow the scumbag boss, it would naturally be a win-win situation for the Demon Slayer Corps.
Making use of all available resources is what a commander should do.
I couldn't help but wonder what the scene would be like if the old Sento were to lead the Demon Slayer Corps.
Hmm... a scenario where a Demon Slayer Corps member might switch jobs?
I persecuted Mr. Mori unconsciously, and did not avoid the fighting intentions directed at my third brother or me. "His real name is Komaji. After becoming a demon, he lost his memory of his life, so this happened." Before coming here, I had already made it clear to my third brother. When the time comes, I will speak up to minimize the contradictions and conflicts. "It was not his wish to become a demon. To be honest, he and Muzan Muzan are also enemies, so at least in terms of purpose, we have the same idea and can cooperate."
In fact, although the scum boss transformed San Ge, he can't really be called San Ge's enemy. San Ge's real enemy is himself, the self who failed to protect the important people, the self who abandoned his original belief and went berserk.
But later on, Boss Xia became the one who intensified this matter and separated the third brother and Lian Xue from returning together after their death.
If you force it a bit, you can also regard the trashy boss as a villain who beats the duck with a stick. I think there is nothing wrong with the logic.
I won't say anything to whitewash him or say that Third Brother has his own difficulties. That would be too white-blooded and meaningless. I can't even convince myself, so how can I convince others?
So it is better to use the simplest and most crude words, that is, our interests are aligned, so we can cooperate.
"Do you want us to believe in the Third Upper Moon - to let us 'live in peace with demons'?" Shinobu Kocho's voice was not loud, but she became the first person to put away her sword and sit back.
"Live in peace with ghosts" - I remember this was the wish her deceased sister once wanted to realize.
It’s such a gentle wish... But the right to coexist peacefully has never been in the hands of humans, but in the hands of ghosts who feed on humans.
To truly achieve this is simply impossible.
It is "gentle" for the strong to wish to live in peace with the weak, but it is just a "luxury" for the weak to want to live in peace with the strong - no matter how strong the members of the Demon Slayer Corps are, for the vast majority of humans, demons are the category of strong.
I sighed and said firmly, "Humans and ghosts have different standpoints and cannot coexist."
Good or bad is just a thought away. It is impossible to create a peaceful environment by using thoughts.
There may be exceptions, such as Miss Tamayo, Nezuko, and the current Third Brother, but these exceptions would never have existed in the same environment.
After I finished saying this, I realized that my words seemed to contradict what I was about to do. Ahhhh - should I have said something great and positive!
I glanced over nervously, but found that after I said this, the eyes of the Demon Slayer Corps seemed to become friendlier. Is this what they call a sense of identity?
Did I choose the right answer?
Someone was blocking me, so I couldn't see the lord's expression, but his voice didn't sound changed. "Muzan Kibutsuji Muyu is our biggest enemy. If we want to defeat him, we must unite all the forces we can. But Mr. Komaji's identity is indeed very special..." With the help of his wife, Miss Tianyin, the lord stood up and walked to me alone regardless of the obstruction. He carefully observed the third brother with his light-sensitive eyes at a close distance, and then turned to me and asked, "Mr. Qing, are you willing to be Mr. Komaji's guarantor?"
A guarantor, like the ones provided by Fugui Yuyu and Master Linlong?
But I won’t die even if I commit seppuku.
I raised my head and met his gaze. The smile in his eyes made me formalize. I realized that the next words might not be spoken to the lord, but to the nine pillars to convince them.
Even if they are not convinced, at least they must understand my position and let them know clearly that I will never stand on the side of the scumbag boss. Well, the key point is not how to say that I am friendly to the Demon Slayer Corps, but to make it clear that I am hostile to the scumbag boss. As long as this point is established, the third brother's position will be established.
So I stood up with the help of my third brother - it's not that I didn't want to do it myself, it's just that the hem of the skirt was too tight, and after I sat down, I didn't know how to use the strength to stand up.
I can come up with it myself, but it will be ugly and I will lose my dignity.
This is completely different from the modified kimono I have seen before. I can't stand this dress for a moment. I would like to change into the dress that my eldest brother bought for me before. At least that one won't make me move freely!
Oh! The dress my brother gave me!
The gift my elder brother gave me and the haori of my elder brother that I kept!
It won't still be at the previous headquarters, right?
It won't get burned, right?!
I felt like I had lost my parents, and I couldn't hide my sorrow and anger under my calm face.
"Don't worry, I'm willing to vouch for Mr. Komaji. As for me..." I paused, and within a few seconds of thinking, I felt that the thing that best proved that I and the trash boss were enemies, and then I spoke, "In the name of the blue spider lily, I guarantee that we will only be enemies of Muzan Muzan."