Hearing this, Tanjiro said angrily, "That is too much. We have to stop it!"
"Right. Tianyue, trouble you to lead the way for us!"
"No problem!"
Ren and Tanjiro immediately followed Tianyue, arriving together outside a pitch-black cave. The cave was large, over three meters high, and wide enough for five people to walk side by side.
Judging from the airflow, the space inside seemed even larger.
And just as Tianyue had said, the place was filled with a thick scent of blood. Even outside the cave, Ren and Tanjiro could smell it clearly.
"Let's go in and take a look."
Ren lit a thick wooden stick with a match to use as a torch for illumination, then slowly walked into the cave.
"The smell of blood here is so strong..." Tanjiro frowned, instinctively covering his nose and mouth with his sleeve.
"Yeah, it's not just the smell; you can even see bloodstains."
Ren shone the torch toward the ground. Sure enough, there were countless crimson stains on the surrounding ground, some of which hadn't even dried yet.
No one knew just how many people had died here.
"Roar..."
Suddenly, a python demon rushed toward them, opening its bloody maw to reveal sharp fangs, seemingly intending to swallow both of them whole.
"Hmph, insignificant tricks, and you dare show them off before an expert? How naive!"
In an instant, the sword flashed, and the heavy sword struck!
Under the illumination of the firelight, the reflection of the blade danced against the rock walls.
With just a single strike—merely an ordinary swing of the sword—Ren sliced the python demon vertically in half.
The sword energy hissed through the cave like a roaring dragon.
After dealing with the small fry, the two continued forward, only to see two forks in the road ahead.
"There are two paths, Big Brother Ren. Which one should we take? Should we split up?"
Hearing this, the corners of Ren's mouth twitched, and he chuckled softly. "Tanjiro, given your current strength, if you encountered a dozen python demons, do you think you could kill them all?"
"This..." Tanjiro paused for a moment but admitted, "Regrettably, with my current strength, I can't do that yet."
"Exactly. So we absolutely cannot split up. In fact, unless we are in combat, never let the distance between you and me exceed five meters. Do you understand?"
"I understand. But Big Brother Ren, there are two paths here. Which one do we take?"
"I'm not sure either. Let's just pick one randomly and try. If the road is blocked, we'll turn back and take the other one."
Saying this, Ren walked toward the left fork. However, not long after, they encountered three more forks.
With no other choice, they randomly selected a path again and made marks to prevent themselves from getting lost in the cave.
However, after passing through several intersections in a row, the two were surprised to find that the cave seemed like an infinite corridor without an end—only endless forks in the road.
After passing one fork, more forks awaited them ahead. It was like a giant spider web, or perhaps a densely packed viper's nest.
"Big Brother Ren, there's another junction ahead! And there are more and more paths!"
Tanjiro pointed ahead nervously. Before his eyes, there were actually over a dozen tunnel openings.
Now, in all four directions—front, back, left, and right—there were paths extending everywhere, like a massive maze. If evil demons rushed out from the tunnels in front, they would be instantly surrounded.
"Damn it, is this really Mount Yaba? This is clearly Ryuchi Cave! Is this some kind of dungeon survival game?"
Looking at the dizzying array of intersections, Ren swore in annoyance, though this situation wouldn't stump him.
"Since we can't find the enemy, let's make the enemy come to find me."
Ren repeated his old trick, using a dagger to cut a wound on the back of his hand and sprinkling some blood at every tunnel opening, using his own blood to attract the enemies.
Originally, he didn't want to use this method. After all, what kind of sane person bleeds themselves just because they can't find the enemy?
But looking at the endless forks before him, Ren was out of options.
"If nothing unexpected happens, the evil demons will come out soon. Tanjiro, prepare for battle."
"Roger! Hinokami Kagura!"
Tanjiro immediately drew his blade, adjusting his Hinokami Kagura breathing to prepare for combat.
Rumble! Rumble!
Suddenly, the ground shook and the mountain trembled. A massive noise came from all directions, accompanied by the sound of pythons flicking their tongues.
"Good timing! I knew you beasts wouldn't be able to resist my blood!"
A frantic smile appeared on Ren's face, his eyes filled with fanatical battle intent.
He immediately drew his sword to meet the attack. However, just then, the sound of the earth cracking apart rang out abruptly, causing both of their expressions to change drastically.
"Tanjiro, dodge!"
"Got it..."
Before his voice fell, both of them leaped simultaneously, darting toward the side tunnels.
Right at that moment, the ground where they had just been standing burst open, and eight giant dark-green pythons broke through the earth.
These eight great pythons were ridiculously large, as thick as water tanks and over eight meters long. Their bodies were covered in green scales that protected them like armor.
After bursting out of the ground, the eight giant pythons roared at Ren and Tanjiro respectively.
"Is this an eight-headed snake?"
Ren suddenly noticed that the tails of these eight pythons were actually connected, just like the legendary Yamata no Orochi.
And at the center of this eight-headed snake was a middle-aged man. The man had a sinister face and was covered in dark green scales. What protruded from his mouth was not a tongue, but a long, narrow snake fork.
His legs had disappeared, replaced by the eight dark-green pythons. In his strong arms, he was holding a little boy who had been dead for some time.
In fact, more than half of the little boy had already been eaten. A thick, foul stench instantly spread out, causing the pupils of Ren and Tanjiro to tremble violently!
There was no doubt—this guy was the evil demon entrenched on Mount Yaba!
"You two brats are quite capable, actually dodging my full-force strike. I assume you must be from the Demon Slayer Corps, hehehe..."
The evil demon smiled faintly, then opened his bloody maw like a python and swallowed the half-eaten corpse of the boy in his hands in one gulp.
He even used his long, slender forked tongue to lick his lips, a look of enjoyment on his face.
"So delicious! The flesh and blood of children truly is the most exquisite..."
Hearing this, Tanjiro could no longer hold back. pointing his sword at the demon, he shouted angrily, "Bastard! You are the evil demon entrenched here, aren't you? To not even spare a child... You bastard, what do you think life is?"
"Food, of course! What else could it be?" the demon laughed coldly, like a coldblooded viper.
"However, there is one point I must correct you on. I, Sheya, am not trash like those 'evil demons.' I am a far more powerful Mad Demon—an existence that surpasses evil demons!"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]