Fang Wuwei's speed was much faster than that of the demon; the moment the demon sensed someone behind him, before he could even close his mouth, Fang Wuwei grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air.
The sudden, immense change left the demon completely bewildered; he couldn't exert any strength, and the person in front of him had him by the neck, lifting him up... he couldn't even resist.
After a moment of regaining his senses, the demon began to struggle violently, but he quickly realized that all his attacks were ineffective; his punches and kicks couldn't even scratch Fang Wuwei's skin.
Ignoring the demon in his hand, Fang Wuwei turned to look at the disheveled Ikenouchi Maki; at this moment, her mouth was slightly agape, staring blankly at Fang Wuwei, who seemed like a god; one of her forearms was already deformed from being squeezed, with broken and twisted bones inside.
"Wuwuwuwuwuwu wa ah ah ah ah ah ah Master wa ah ah ah!!!"
Ikenouchi Maki cried loudly, snot and tears streaming down her face; her experiences tonight were ten times more intense than her previous sixteen years of life combined; seeing Fang Wuwei was like seeing her backbone, and the intense pain in her arm further shattered her composure, making her rush forward to hug Fang Wuwei's leg, only to be kicked away by him.
"...Wuwuwu Master..."
"Scram."
Ikenouchi Maki's plea was met only by Fang Wuwei's cold "scram."
Are you kidding? He had settled her down properly, and she ran out on her own... And looking at this situation, if he had been two steps slower, she really would have died here, wouldn't she?!
If it weren't for the fact that Ikenouchi Maki now had one hand disabled, he would have slapped her a couple of times.
Feeling the movement in his hand, Fang Wuwei looked back at the demon, whose face was filled with resentment and fear; Ripple appeared in his hand, transmitting through his body towards the demon.
The energy of the sun, for demons, was the most painful and cruel torment in this world.
Unable to control his loud screams, the demon rapidly disintegrated, turning into a pile of ashes; a humanoid demon, unlike Enmu, didn't have such a large body for Ripple to conduct through; the Ripple could instantly spread throughout his entire body, leaving no chance of survival, not even a tiny bit.
After cleanly purifying the demon in his hand, letting the ashes fall, Fang Wuwei clapped his hands, scattering the dirty dust, then turned back, bending down to meet the gaze of Ikenouchi Maki, who was staring blankly at him...
Then, he slowly extended his hand and gently gripped Ikenouchi Maki's heavily injured forearm.
Just as Ikenouchi Maki thought her Master was going to help her heal, Fang Wuwei suddenly increased his grip, and an even more terrifying, excruciating pain instantly swept through her entire body, almost causing her brain to crash; in her agony, she instinctively tried to grab Fang Wuwei's hand that was holding her forearm with her other hand, but she couldn't budge it at all; Fang Wuwei's hand was like a super strong magnet, holding her forearm completely still, which made her even more miserable.
"Ah ah ah Master, what are you doing ah ah!!!"
"Does it hurt?"
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much, Master..."
"It's supposed to hurt; you brought this upon yourself."
Facing Ikenouchi Maki's painful struggles, Fang Wuwei felt a little unwilling, but he still didn't let go; this fellow was too disobedient, she needed to learn a lesson.
Ikenouchi Maki was in too much pain to speak for a moment, only clenching her teeth and bending over, her body unconsciously tending to curl into a ball, which indicated that her body was starting to give out and was trying to reduce muscle tension throughout her body by curling up to lessen the pain.
However, the effect was minimal; Ikenouchi Maki still felt immense pain, and she couldn't understand why her Master was so cruel to her.
But... there was no resentment in her heart, only confusion and fear.
"Big Sister!!"
However, no one expected a tender voice to sound from behind her; enduring the pain, she turned to look back, only to see that group of children rushing back in a mighty stream, holding thick wooden sticks or stones, with a look of readiness to die on their childish, immature faces... this shouldn't have appeared on children's faces.
After the children rushed over, they didn't see the demon, but instead saw their Big Sister collapsed on the ground, with a man squatting in front of her, holding her hand.
"That's the demon!! Charge!!!"
The strongest among the children, holding a stone, his voice still tinged with a sob, charged towards Fang Wuwei, swinging the stone in his hand as if to smash Fang Wuwei to death.
Unfortunately, these children couldn't even touch Fang Wuwei's clothes; they were startled by the spiritual power Fang Wuwei released, freezing in place, not daring to move, not daring to advance, yet not daring to retreat, only able to stand there trembling.
"Master! They are still children..."
"...You came out to protect these children?"
Ikenouchi Maki heard her Master's irrelevant question; although the pain temporarily restored some of her rationality to stop her Master, she couldn't think too much, only subconsciously nodded.
Seeing her silently nod, Fang Wuwei fell into contemplation; his tightly clenched hand released Ikenouchi Maki's arm, and the pain instantly eased, giving Ikenouchi Maki some room to breathe.
Before she could take two breaths, something was thrown onto her; upon closer inspection, she remembered this item; it was what had healed her wounds at the train station.
And Fang Wuwei's mood was complex at this moment; he had thought Ikenouchi Maki was only forced to fight the demon because she was being hunted, but he didn't expect it was to protect the children's evacuation?
...Although they didn't evacuate at all, perhaps they knew they couldn't escape.
Fang Wuwei retracted his spiritual power; as soon as the children could move, they rushed towards Ikenouchi Maki, surrounding her and guarding her against Fang Wuwei.
"Children... this is my Master, the demon has been dealt with by Master..."
Weakly pressing the treatment pack onto her arm, Ikenouchi Maki spoke softly; she was too tired to speak loudly, it was enough for the children to hear.
The children indeed heard these words, and their eyes all lit up; the tears, pain, sadness, and fear that had been suppressed all night were released at once, and they burst into wailing.
A large group of children crying in unison was truly a spectacular sight.
"Big Brother Master! Big Brother Master! Save my grandma!!"
"My grandpa... my grandpa!!"
"Big Brother Master!! Please!!"
Although Fang Wuwei didn't particularly like children, seeing a large group of innocent children kneeling on the ground and crying, his heart also felt a little soft, but... he couldn't do it; he couldn't even bring himself to tell them the news that all the elderly in the village had died... He was a bit helpless with children, so he could only look at Ikenouchi Maki.
However, Ikenouchi Maki was not in the mood to deal with the children at this moment; the pain and exhaustion, along with the sudden relaxation after a night of tension, made her feel a bit drowsy.
Fang Wuwei looked at the groggy Ikenouchi Maki, his mood somewhat complex... This convenient disciple of his, though disobedient, was kind, helpful, and very strong, even willing to sacrifice her life for others...
Perhaps she still had some shining points... it's just that her disobedience needed to be cured.
Fang Wuwei dared not look at the group of crying children; he feared he too would be unable to hold back his sorrow... He could only silently step over, walk to Ikenouchi Maki's side, roughly pull her up, and wake her up.
"Let's go."
"...Master, where...?"
"Home."
"...! Home? What about these children..."
"You don't need to worry about them."
Cold and heartless, this was Ikenouchi Maki's deepest impression of Fang Wuwei.
"Master!! What about the children!!"
Ikenouchi Maki couldn't hold back; she absolutely could not abandon a group of pitiful children who had lost their loved ones and leave them behind.
But Fang Wuwei merely turned his head and glanced at her; his scarlet right eye made Ikenouchi Maki feel a little fear, and she instinctively recoiled a step.
"Are you coming or not?"
"Master..."
"You know I'm your Master?! Then why don't you listen to me!!"
Ikenouchi Maki instantly understood; Master was angry, angry that she had run out on her own, angry that she had put herself in danger... Lowering her head, not daring to look at him, Ikenouchi Maki only felt a heart full of regret... No, if she hadn't come, perhaps the children would have already...
"Go!"
Before she could fully process her thoughts, Fang Wuwei's command came again; she subconsciously looked at the children huddled at her feet, she wanted to resist, but...
She thought of her parents, she thought of her family...
Finally... she stepped out, sobbing, shaking off the children at her feet, and ran towards the heartless Fang Wuwei, tears continuously falling...
The children, intimidated by Fang Wuwei's terrifying aura, did not chase after them; they could only watch helplessly as the two disappeared into the dark forest, crying out to the sky.
Is Fang Wuwei really that heartless?
Nonsense, the nearest Demon Slayer Corps members were just two hundred meters away, and hearing the children's cries, they were rushing over; otherwise, could he have left so freely?
"What's going on?!"
"Children!!"
"There's a village in the distance over there!! It's full of..."
Watching four or five Demon Slayer Corps members suddenly appear, frantically taking away the crying children, two people's voices could be heard from the bushes not far away...
"Satisfied?"
"...I knew Master couldn't be that heartless."
Accompanied by a sound like breaking glass, Fang Wuwei and Ikenouchi Maki completely disappeared from this world.