Chapter 100 Chapter 100 Chapter 100
Before they even reached their destination, excruciating pain tore through Kokushibo's skull without warning.
It wasn't a physical attack, but a more bizarre and ruthless invisible force, carrying the coldness and ruthlessness of rules, fiercely probing into his brain and then violently churning it.
It is trying to uproot something crucial from Kokushibo's memory.
—A-Zhi.
A roar, a mixture of extreme pain and raging fury, erupted from the depths of Kokushibo's throat.
In a daze, he felt as if he were in a blank world, where everything related to A-Zhi was fading and disappearing at a rapid pace.
—I don't want to forget!
The ghostly energy around him surged wildly. He clutched his head, his tall body hunched over from the excruciating pain, his fingertips digging deep into his temples, leaving dark red marks.
He will never let go!
Driven by his deep-seated obsession with Aori and his own indomitable will, Kokushibo withstood the power from the world.
He turned abruptly, his already numb heart convulsing with fear, and rushed headlong toward the mansion.
………
Kokushibo stood in the center of the room, his dark golden eyes revealing an almost blank emptiness for the first time.
“A-Zhi”.
He called out in a hoarse voice, which sounded unusually dry in the empty room, but no one answered.
Azhi has disappeared.
The powerful senses expanded wildly, instantly covering the entire mansion, yet not a trace was found, just as water evaporates without leaving a trace.
It was as if she had never appeared.
Kokushibo's gaze was fixed on the locked sandalwood box deep in the room, and his fingertips trembled as he crushed the lock.
The box wasn't empty; two things lay quietly inside.
One was a white kimono that had been cleaned and neatly folded, and the other was a white hat that Kokushibo had taken back from the mountain hut he had destroyed.
This is proof that A-Zhi existed.
The demon's tall body swayed slightly as he cautiously touched the cold fabric and stroked the edge of the white hat.
It felt as if a part of my chest cavity had been hollowed out.
"Kuroshibo, you disobeyed my orders!!!" Kibutsuji Muzan roared in fury, his killing intent emanating from his very blood.
Do you want to die?
Ignoring the constant threats in his mind and the increasingly intense pain in his body, Kokushibo was overwhelmed by a sense of emptiness, and he numbly knelt down on the ground.
In a moment, the world suddenly became quiet. It was as if he had broken free from the blood curse of Muzan Kibutsuji and no longer had to obey his orders, becoming his own master.
This should have been something that made him happy, but Kokushibo couldn't feel happy at all.
He wondered where A-Zhi had gone.
Where did his wife go?
As the sun began to set, he stood up, his six ghostly eyes gleaming with a mad light.
Aside from Yoriichi Tsugikuni, Kokushibo couldn't think of anyone else who could take Oori away.
………
Yoriichi Tsugikuni's whereabouts are not difficult to find.
Kokushibo's aura deepened, and he exuded a burning anxiety that seemed to reject everything. He rushed over the moment he saw Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
"Where is A-Zhi?"
Yoriichi Tsugikuni was the first to ask this question.
Sadly, Kokushibo knew Yoriichi Tsugikuni too well and could tell that his reaction was genuine.
Aori is not with Yoriichi Tsugikuni either.
This realization shattered the last shred of hope in Kokushibo's heart.
………
Kokushibo became a wandering ghost in the torrent of time, his only obsession being to find Aori's vanished figure.
Decades, centuries... time slips away quietly. The Warring States period ends, Edo period rises and falls, eras change, and the lives of ordinary people shift again and again.
Despair corroded his battered soul, and searching became the only meaning of his existence.
………
Until that night in Taisho, Muzan Kibutsuji told him about "Ori's" whereabouts.
—It's A-Zhi!
—Absolutely right!
Even after hundreds of years, Kokushibo recognized him at a glance.
Kokushibo's pupils contracted to their maximum, his heart pounded violently, and his blood surged and roared through his cold veins.
But Ah Zhi forgot about him.
Those clear, innocent eyes, like glass immersed in water, revealed pure fear and unfamiliarity.
Kokushibo's ecstatic joy at regaining what he had lost was frozen in time. A violent rage surged to his head, causing his mind to vaguely conjure up his human form, and he uttered that pathetic question.
Aori also forgot about Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
That's good.
This means that there is no longer the shadow of Yoriichi Tsugikuni between them, nor the painful entanglement of the past, and he and Aori can truly and completely start over.
Kokushibo carefully concealed his obsessive possessiveness. This time, he would treat Aori in a gentler and more patient way, unlike in the past.
………
However, Yoriichi Tsugikuni reappeared.
The person he hated reappeared beside Azhi as if by fate, seemingly a punishment from heaven for his despicable behavior.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
The relentless pursuit and slaughter.
In Yoriichi Tsugikuni's extremely simple baggage, there was always a scroll painting treasured. It was wrapped in layers of soft cotton cloth and placed in the place closest to his heart.
It appeared exceptionally carefully chosen compared to the few other items.
That is A Zhi's portrait.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni learned exquisite painting skills from the painter he saved, and combined with his own ability to see through everything in the "Transparent World," his painting skills became even more extraordinary.
The early spring mornings were still chilly.
Aori sat on a low stool in front of the hut, wearing Yoriichi Tsugikuni's dark red haori. She didn't pose deliberately, but simply tilted her head slightly to look at Yoriichi Tsugikuni, who was painting, with a genuine smile on her lips.
Those clear eyes were brimming with emotions that were almost overflowing, as if Yoriichi Tsugikuni was her whole world.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni preserved this moment forever on the canvas.
However, nowadays he almost dares not open the scroll anymore.
Endless longing gnawed at his heart day and night, and a sense of fear would arise whenever his fingertips trembled as he touched the soft cloth bag.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni was afraid, afraid to meet the eyes in the painting, afraid to see the unreserved trust within them.
The more beautiful the painting, the more it highlights the awfulness of reality. The gentle gaze frozen in time has now become the cruelest punishment for Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
He sat silently under the eaves, wiping the Nichirin Blade that had drunk its fill of demon blood, his eyes still filled with compassion, yet carrying a deep sense of loneliness.
Yoriichi packed his bags and continued his long search.
But today was unusual. As he walked along the treacherous mountain path, an immense will pressed down on him without warning.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni immediately realized that it was not a demon's Blood Demon Art, but a power of rules beyond his comprehension, trying to take something from his mind.
The girl's name and face, the soft tone in her voice when she called "Yoriichi", the warmth of her fingertips when she touched him... many things flashed by in an instant.
—It wants to take Azhi away.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni stopped in his tracks, a violent sense of rejection erupting from the depths of his soul, and he felt an unprecedented anger.
The silent confrontation unfolds at the level of consciousness.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni can "hear" the buzzing sound of fragments of memory being forcibly pulled apart, and can "see" warm images of Ori becoming blurry...
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he focused all his attention on chasing after the light and shadow that was about to be erased.
The stalemate lasted for an unknown period of time; it might have been just a moment, or it might have been an extremely long time.
Finally, that invisible force retreated; it came abruptly and left without a trace.
The mountains and forests remain the same, the wind still blows.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni loosened his clenched fist and pressed it against his heart through his clothes and the painting. He felt no joy of victory, only an ominous premonition.
………
The moonlight shone brightly, illuminating the two figures facing off—one human and one demon. This was the first time Yoriichi Tsugikuni had encountered him since Tsugikuni Iwakatsu became a demon.
When Yoriichi Tsugikuni didn't see Ori, the struggle marks on the sheets reappeared before his eyes. He frowned in pain and asked urgently, "Where's Ori?"
He didn't question Kokushibo's demonization, nor was he wary of their weapons clashing; all he wanted to know was this one question.
………
No answer was received.
Kokushibo's body suddenly froze, his six terrifying demonic eyes contracted violently, and Yoriichi Tsugikuni actually read confusion on his now distorted face.
But it was this slight confusion that pierced through Yoriichi Tsugikuni's perseverance.
Clang—
The dull thud was particularly clear in the silent mountain forest, and the Nichirin Blade slipped from his hand and fell into the dirty mud.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni didn't pick it up; he just stood there, stunned, watching Kokushibo disappear into the deep night.
—A-Zhi.
...
For the rest of his life, slaying demons became a habit, not a means of redemption.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni could clearly feel that the life force was being gradually drained from his body, which was marked by the passage of time.
Everyone was urging him to rest, but Yoriichi Tsugikuni quickened his pace.
Time does not stand still, and aging cannot be stopped. As the flame of his life was about to burn out, he returned alone to the mountain cabin.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni refused the residence assigned to him by the Demon Slayer Corps. Except for temporary accommodations when he went to distant missions, he would live in the mountain cabin he shared with Ori.
The cottage has been repaired many times, and apart from the marks left by wind and rain, it looks the same as I remember.
—A-Zhi.
Ji Guoyuan silently uttered the name. He sat at the door of the small house, gazing absently at the distant layered mountains and flowing streams.
To outsiders, he might be enjoying the peace and quiet.
Only Yoriichi Tsugikuni knew that the heart beating in his chest was already a desolate wilderness, with only the howling wind of "incompetence" remaining.
His heart was filled with regret.
He placed the portrait in his room, and finally couldn't resist opening it and looking at it for a long time.
As his consciousness gradually faded, Yoriichi Tsugikuni seemed to hear the girl calling his name again.
………
Yoriichi Tsugikuni opened his eyes from the chaos.
The heaviness of aging vanished without a trace; though my body ached, it was filled with long-lost strength, as if I had returned to the peak of my life.
The girl, backlit by the light, was looking at him with teary eyes, her gaze filled with curiosity and obvious... unfamiliarity.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni caught her.
—It's A-Zhi.
—Absolutely not wrong.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni didn't think about why he was able to wake up. Almost instinctively, he reached out to pull Ori into his arms.
Her lips moved slightly, and the name she had called out countless times in her heart slipped out.
However, A-Zhi doesn't remember him.
Yoriichi's world has turned dark once again.
………
After several transfers, Yoriichi Tsugikuni arrived at the Ubuyashiki mansion, where he was personally received by the current head of the Demon Slayer Corps.
The Demon Slayer Corps members cheered, looking at him with eyes full of reverence, as if he were a beacon that could dispel all darkness.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni crossed time in an inexplicable way and arrived in the Taisho era, where he was reborn in a young body.
It seems that God has given him another chance to make up for his regrets.
But on Azhi's delicate little face, there was no trace of familiar dependence, only bewilderment and confusion at seeing a stranger.
She stood there, within reach, yet so far away as if she were on the horizon.
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Author's note: I need to revise some details in the previous text.
[Chin resting on hand][Chin resting on hand][Chin resting on hand]
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