Misty Forest

His face was full of panic and tension, but he still pretended to be calm in the face of a strong enemy.

Nezuko hugged her brother tightly, who was curled up in a ball, and listened to the low murmurs coming from his throat, feeling extremely nervous.

She raised her head and looked at the person approaching. There was a forest surrounding them and there was no sunlight at all.

You will die. You will definitely die.

Nezuko bit her lower lip, sweat dripping down her forehead. But she soon noticed the earrings the red-haired man was wearing. After a moment of hesitation, she looked at the ghost who had deliberately stopped at a certain distance, and she had a guess.

"Are you... a descendant of Kamado?" Yuanyi asked. Noticing the girl's nervousness, he took two steps back. "Don't worry, I have no ill intentions."

That face was expressionless, and although there was no malice in it, it was hard not to be nervous.

The original companions disappeared. For herself and her brother, Nezuko forced herself to calm down: "You have never eaten humans, right?"

With an uncertain tone and a nervous expression, the girl took a deep breath and continued, "Ms. Tamayo said that she had dealings with an upper-rank demon. She said that in this world, in addition to man-eating demons, there are also special beings."

And last time they almost died at the hands of a cannibal ghost, it was a ghost with golden hair who saved them.

She could not smell the same unpleasant odor as those murderers, and before, her brother with a keen sense of smell would wake up immediately even if he was asleep.

This time when she fought with the Upper 4, her brother did not come out immediately. But he appeared later, perhaps because he noticed her trembling body.

Is the cooperative ghost that Ms. Tamayo mentioned the one in front of me?

Nezuko's tense mood relaxed a little, and her eyes fell on the earrings with white background and red patterns again.

"Are you... Mr. Yuanyi?"

The girl spoke suddenly, as if she had just remembered that she knew him. After receiving a nod of approval, she exhaled and sat on the ground.

Yuanyi also seemed to miss him very much. His eyes were focused on Tanjiro. The similar appearance reminded him of the old friend.

Nezuko settled Tanjiro down and let him curl up on her lap: "Father said that our ancestors had a savior, and that person is very important to our Kamado family."

"We are where we are now, thanks to your help." Nezuko smiled. She was considerate and noticed the change in Yuanyi's mood, so she deliberately lowered her voice and said, "I know, and my father knows too. You voluntarily became a ghost, right?"

Yuanyi lowered his eyes, thinking of the day when he chose to become a ghost. He rushed to his friend's house overnight, but he just left in silence.

My friend's expression was complicated at the time, but now that I think about it carefully, there was no trace of disgust or alienation on that face.

"Whether it's that ancestor or us now, we all believe that you must have chosen to become a ghost for your own reasons."

The girl's voice vaguely overlapped with that figure, especially the faint smile on her face, which made the tall red-haired man lower his head.

Nezuko completely relaxed, and she trusted her brother's judgment. Tanjiro curled up and closed his eyes, seemingly unaware of the danger.

According to rumors, the ghosts are not at peace with each other. Some ghosts escape the control of the ghost king, so ghosts kill each other. But now it seems that those special ghosts have the same goal as their ghost killing team.

The person lying on his back heard a vague idea, and with some thinking, he understood the special connection.

Yuichiro still had his eyes half closed, his arms hanging naturally, and he reminded in a loose voice: "Something seems to be different here."

Yunyi also thought of this incident, and after thinking about it, he let Ichiro go: "I lost contact with Yaoya, and this accident seems to be due to Tanjiro's blood demon art."

Nezuko was also surprised when she heard this: "Brother's blood demon technique? I only know that brother's blood has an effect on demons."

Yuichiro touched his neck and sat on a rock: "Yes, it is the nemesis of ghosts."

Thinking of the prophecy, Ichiro looked at the brother and sister carefully.

"I'll go check around." Yuan looked up, "You guys stay here."

In the forest with tall trees, the sun could not penetrate, and farther away there was fog, making it difficult to see the terrain clearly with the naked eye.

As Yuan Yi went away, Ichiro sat cross-legged, his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hand: "Hey, aren't you scared?"

Nezuko has been looking at the boy who is about the same age as her. She was indeed too nervous at the beginning, but now it seems that Ichiro is also saying one thing and thinking another.

"No." Nezuko shook her head. "I'm so sorry. We were too hostile at first. Ichiro was ready to leave, right?"

Otherwise, with his strength, it should be easy to deal with them.

The young man snorted, tilted his head and said, "Don't think too much. I might eat people when I get hungry."

Nezuko chuckled at his stubborn look, and the brief interaction also made her realize that the demon in front of her was just a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

"Well, if you get hungry, remember to tell me, I have rice balls here."

Ghosts don't eat human food. Ichiro was about to refute, but seeing the sincere expression, he pursed his lips and looked away.

"quack--"

There seemed to be the sound of a crow in the distance. Nezuko, who was very sensitive to the sound of crows, stood up and said, "Is it the Crow of the Demon Slayer Corps?"

Yuanyi had been gone for too long, and Youyilang also stood up: "I don't know."

Seeing Yuichiro heading in one direction, Nezuko quickly understood, put her brother in a box on her back, and followed him.

They were soon in a mist which made it more difficult to tell the direction.

The only sound she could hear was the rustling of leaves underfoot, so Nezuko took the initiative to start a conversation.

"We make a living by selling coal. After my father passed away, my brother has been supporting the family. But that winter, my brother left and never came back."

"Later, I found my brother who had turned into a ghost. Although I was very sad, I believed that my brother would be able to turn back into a ghost. After all, my mother and my brothers and sisters were still waiting for us to return."

When the girl talked about the past, a hint of loneliness flashed across her eyes, but there was always a smile on her lips.

Yuichiro paused, turned around and said, "Why are you saying that?"

Even if Nezuko didn't tell him, he knew what the two had been through. They had a happy family, but because her brother unfortunately turned into a demon, the eldest sister took him to join the Demon Slayer Corps.

Far away from his family and his peaceful life, every mission in the Demon Slayer Corps is a matter of life and death.

"Because - I also want to know more about Ichiro." Nezuko explained, "But it's okay if you don't want to say it, just think of it as my own monologue."

"I don't know." Yuichiro said after a pause, "But I probably wanted to become a ghost on my own initiative."

They walked further and further away, and the crow's cry became closer and closer. The wind direction changed, and the fog around them seemed to dissipate without them noticing.

A black shadow flew among the trees. It was indeed a crow. Nezuko was about to ask, but she saw the crow flying away as if it was facing a powerful enemy.

"Haha! There's a ghost, there's a ghost! A ghost was spotted in the due north direction—"

The sound was really harsh. Ichiro frowned and took a step back. "Go ahead. Your teammates should be nearby."

As a demon, he was not easy to approach. Nezuko knew this, and she bowed to thank him: "Thank you, Ichiro, see you later."

The two said goodbye briefly, but the person who came came even faster.

The flame-like golden hair was lifted high, and as it dived down from a height, the feather cloth with flame patterns on the corners also appeared in front of the two people.

The sharp blade was wrapped in flames, and it was coming with great momentum. Ichiro looked into a pair of slightly round almond-shaped eyes, and the owner of the eyes showed an expression of surprise.

The blade, which had a clear target in mind, suddenly changed direction, and the trees, which were originally thicker than waists, broke into pieces one after another.

"Tokito?" Rengoku Kyojuro looked surprised, but still turned his wrist to turn the blade, "I'm in charge of this area, right?"

The boy was not as expressionless as he remembered. Instead, he took a few steps back and looked a little annoyed. Rengoku Kyojuro sniffed, and he sniffed hard and found something wrong.

"No, this aura... is it a ghost?" Rengoku Kyojuro still had a big smile on his face. "That's really bad. Did it become a ghost by accident, Tokito?"

"Then I will help you get out of this before you lose control and eat someone."

The man with long hair like flames was very straightforward and raised the blade in his hand. But whether it was his aura or the uniform of the Demon Slayer Corps, everything proved that he was a human.

But in my impression, Rengoku Kyojuro is his "colleague". Although he is a lower-rank demon, he is highly valued by the Demon King.

These differences made Lu Ren frown. His past experiences made him sigh and secretly say "not good" in his heart.

Nezuko didn't know the difference. She had seen Rengoku Kyojuro, a lower-rank demon, before. So when she saw the latter, who was obviously a human and wearing the uniform of the Demon Slayer Corps, she showed a surprised expression: "Huh?"

"You are..." Rengoku Kyojuro looked in the direction the voice came from, "Kamado?"

The owl-like man blinked and put down the knife in his hand for the time being: "You are the sister who turned into a ghost, right? Now it seems that you have successfully turned into a human?"

After saying that, he felt something was wrong again. Looking at the wooden box that Nezuko was carrying, and sensing the breath of a ghost inside, Rengoku Kyojuro also showed an expression of surprise.

"This is really, really interesting!"

Although she didn't understand what was going on, Nezuko still stood in front of Ichiro: "Although I don't know what's going on, Ichiro has never eaten anyone, he can control himself!"

Listening to this extremely sincere explanation, Ryogoku Kyojuro put away his sword while thinking: "So that's how it is, but there is Ichiro?"

There were more strange things, and the Flame Pillar, unable to think, passed the news on. While he was distracted, Ichiro took the opportunity to leave.

But after walking some distance, he understood why purgatory did not stop him.

The original mist dissipated, and the forest, which should have been huge, became different. He easily walked to the edge of the forest, but the sun was very strong outside, and he had nowhere to go.

Looking at the people squatting at the exit, he stopped silently.

Under the sunlight, two people wrapped up tightly turned their heads when they heard the voice, and then shouted in surprise: "Hey, is it Master Xiazhu?"

"Come back with us." Rengoku Kyojuro stepped forward and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Although I don't know why you turned into a ghost, the lord will not blame you, Tokito."

Ichiro had a speechless expression, he made a "tsk" sound, and said something that the current Rengoku Kyojuro could not understand.

"Take me back? That would be the wrong choice."

After all, he is not the real Xiazhu, or rather, there is another "him" in this world.