Chapter 71: Demon, Did You Do All This?
The Blue-skinned Demon slowly stood up from the pool of blood.
His hands, stained with viscous blood, were carefully holding the unconscious Yukina.
He lowered his head to look at the "spare food" in his arms, whose brows were tightly furrowed and whose eyes were still streaked with tears.
A satisfied and greedy chuckle escaped his throat.
Once this small body grew a bit plumper from fear, the meat would surely be even more tender than those two adults.
Just as he held Yukina, turned around, and was about to step over the mangled corpses on the ground toward the door, a cold, calm voice entered the Blue-skinned Demon's ears without warning.
"Demon, did you do all this?"
The Blue-skinned Demon jerked his head up, his slit-pupiled eyes staring fixedly at the doorway.
At the broken door, the silvery moonlight poured down like a waterfall, illuminating the two figures standing there—a man and a woman, or more accurately, a human and a demon.
The Blue-skinned Demon only needed one glance at the woman's attire and the nichirin sword with patterned scabbard at her waist, and his heart contracted violently.
That was the Demon Slayer Corps uniform!
And, the aura emanating from this woman.
This suffocating pressure.
It was the aura of a "Hashira"!
Standing beside the woman was a tall, well-built young man.
He was wearing a clean, sharp dark kimono with a green nichirin sword tucked into his waist.
What made the Blue-skinned Demon feel the most creeped out was this young man's aura.
The Blue-skinned Demon tried to perceive him with a demon's instinct, only to find he could perceive nothing at all.
The young man stood there as if he had merged into the surrounding air, with no aura, and even his breathing rhythm was so calm that he didn't seem like a living creature.
Countless thoughts flashed through the Blue-skinned Demon's mind in an instant.
That woman was a Hashira; he definitely couldn't beat her.
That male demon's aura was extremely strange and unfathomable; he was even more dangerous.
Run?
In front of a Hashira, his pathetic speed wouldn't even allow him to touch the hem of her garment.
Almost within a tenth of a second of realizing the reality, the Blue-skinned Demon's expression instantly switched to terror.
His knees went weak, and with a "thud," he fell heavily to his knees on the blood-soaked tatami mats.
"No... it wasn't me! It wasn't all me!"
The Blue-skinned Demon wept, his ugly face twisted into a ball from fear.
He held the unconscious Yukina in his arms, kowtowing frantically to Kanae Kocho at the door like a helpless victim, begging for mercy.
"I don't know... I lost consciousness!
I really don't know what happened!
By the time I woke up, by the time I came to, it had already become like this!
I really couldn't control myself!"
While crying and shouting, he deliberately pushed Yukina, who was wearing white pajamas, forward in his arms, trying to use this frail human cub to awaken the sympathy of the female Hashira before him.
Although he didn't know what was up with the strange male demon beside the woman, since he couldn't fight them, he would just submit directly.
The people of the Demon Slayer Corps had always prided themselves on justice and kindness.
As long as he had a hostage in his hands, as long as he acted pitiful enough, there must still be a glimmer of hope.
"Look, look at this child!"
The Blue-skinned Demon's tears mingled with the blood on his face as they flowed down, his tone filled with self-reproach and fatherly love.
"Her parents are both dead; she's so pitiful. When I woke up and saw this scene, my heart was filled with guilt.
I was planning to adopt her. I swear, I will never eat humans again.
I will raise her as my own daughter to atone for the sins I have committed!
Please, let me go. If I die, this child will truly be left alone and helpless!"
The cold wind outside the door continued to blow.
Kanae Kocho stood there quietly, her purple eyes looking deeply at the Blue-skinned Demon kneeling on the ground and weeping bitterly.
The gentle smile on her face did not disappear, but that smile did not reach her eyes.
In fact, as early as when they approached this house, she had heard the demon's whispers—"Since your mom and dad are dead, you should go down and join them too."
Anger, uncontrollable anger, surged in Kanae's heart.
But as the Flower Hashira, she had experienced countless life-and-death battles and possessed extremely strong psychological fortitude and emotional control.
She knew the little girl was still in the demon's hands. Even if her sword-drawing speed was fast, a demon in a desperate, life-or-death situation could very likely crush the little girl's fragile neck before dying.
She had to stabilize this lying monster first.
"Ara ara, is that so? Do you really feel so guilty and want to adopt this child?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"This child looks like she has been greatly frightened, and she also seems to have some abrasions on her body.
Can you let me see this child?
I know some medical skills and can help her check her body."
Hearing Kanae's gentle voice, the Blue-skinned Demon felt ecstatic.
As expected, these hypocrites of the Demon Slayer Corps were easy to fool!
The moment he handed over the little girl, the other party's attention would definitely be entirely on the child, and that would be the perfect opportunity for him to counterattack.
"Okay, okay! You are truly a kind person!"
The Blue-skinned Demon nodded like he was pounding garlic, still kneeling on the ground, holding the unconscious Yukina with both hands in an extremely humble and submissive posture.
"Please come over. I will leave this child to you. Please, you must heal her."
Kanae Kocho nodded slightly, took a step across the threshold, and walked into the house.
Her wooden clogs stepped into the sticky pool of blood.
With every step she took, she was calculating the distance to the demon, her internal Flower Breathing was already silently circulating, ready to strike at any moment.
One step, two steps, three steps.
Kanae finally arrived in front of the Blue-skinned Demon. She bent down slightly, extending her fair, slender hands to scoop up Yukina.
Just at the moment when Kanae's fingertips were about to touch the hem of Yukina's clothes.
"Go to hell! Hypocritical woman!"
The Blue-skinned Demon thought to himself.
He did not release his left hand holding Yukina, but instead concentrated all his blood and strength into his right arm in an instant, and smashed it fiercely toward Kanae Kocho's head, which was within reach!
With this punch, he would directly blow up this female Hashira's head!
However, the Blue-skinned Demon's fist had only just extended halfway.
"Sun Breathing, First Form..."
A low, calm, yet infinitely dignified voice exploded in the Blue-skinned Demon's ears.
Time seemed to be infinitely slowed down at this moment.
The Blue-skinned Demon's pride-and-joy surprise attack, in the eyes of Tatsu's "Transparent World," was as slow as a snail crawling.
As early as the moment the demon's muscles began to contract and his blood began to flow faster, Tatsu had already seen through all his attack intentions.
His right hand had already rested on the hilt of the green nichirin sword at his waist at some unknown moment.
"Waltz."
"Clang—!"
Accompanying the sword-drawing motion, that green nichirin sword was instantly enveloped by a scorching flame.
The crimson-gold flame drew a perfect, sun-like arc of slashes in the dark room.
It was too fast, and too bright.
The Blue-skinned Demon only felt a terrifying heat wave rushing towards him.
Immediately after, his vision suddenly began to spin violently.
He saw that gorgeous arc of flame, saw Tatsu standing behind the flames with a calm expression, saw Kanae Kocho, who was still maintaining a gentle smile, not even blinking her eyes.
Finally, he saw his own headless body.
That body was still maintaining the posture of throwing a punch, the right arm still hovering in mid-air, while the left hand was still loosely holding the little girl in white pajamas.
"How... possible..."
The Blue-skinned Demon's head hit the blood pool heavily.
Was that flame, as scorching as the sun, really a power that a demon could possess?
Giving him no more time to think, the pure destructive power akin to the sun, which accompanied Sun Breathing, instantly spread throughout his entire body.
The Blue-skinned Demon's remains didn't even have time to twitch before they rapidly carbonized in the scorching flames, turning into countless black-gray ashes and dissipating.
Kanae Kocho gently gathered her arms and took Yukina into her embrace.
The scorching flames extinguished with a sword flourish Tatsu casually performed.
He neatly sheathed the green nichirin sword, emitting a soft "click."
Kanae Kocho held Yukina, turned around, and looked at Tatsu, who was slowly walking into the room.
"Thank you for protecting me, Tatsu."
Such scenes had happened many times already.
During this time, Tatsu had been patiently teaching her how to comprehend that miraculous "Transparent World" realm, while fighting side by side with her to slay those wicked of their kind.
This feeling of being wholeheartedly protected and walking side by side, it felt really good.
Tatsu walked up to Kanae.
He frowned slightly.
"Kanae, don't do this again next time.
Even if you know in your heart that I will take action, you shouldn't risk your own safety.
At that distance just now, if that demon had hidden some Blood Demon Art, or if my blade had been even a millisecond slower, you could have been injured."
Facing Tatsu's reprimand, Kanae Kocho was not angry.
On the contrary, she lowered her head slightly, gently pressing her cheek against Yukina's soft hair, letting out a light, silver-bell-like laugh.
"Ara ara, is Tatsu worried about me?"
Kanae raised her head, her purple eyes curving into beautiful crescent shapes.
"Because I know Tatsu will definitely sever the demon's neck before I get hurt.
Besides, if I didn't get that close, that demon wouldn't have let down his guard and revealed his flaw.
What if he had hurt this poor child?
However, since Tatsu said so, I promise I will be more careful next time, okay?"
Looking at Kanae's gentle appearance with a hint of playfulness and coquettishness, Tatsu's intended lecture was instantly stuck in his throat.
He sighed helplessly.
"Remember your promise."
The night grew deeper, and the two did not stay long in this house.
They carried the unconscious Yukina and left the place under the cover of night.
Regarding Yukina's future, the two had a brief discussion on the way.
If it had been the Kanae Kocho of the past, she would have undoubtedly taken this orphaned child back to the Butterfly Mansion of the Demon Slayer Corps, letting her receive the best care there, and if the child wished, even training her to become a Kakushi or a swordsman.
But that wouldn't work now.
Kanae Kocho was now a "traitor" to the Demon Slayer Corps, a sinner who harbored demons.
And Tatsu, although possessing human reason, able to eat human food, and even mastering the Sun Breathing that restrained demons, was fundamentally still a demon who feared sunlight.
Their current situation meant they could face endless pursuit from the Demon Slayer Corps at any time.
Taking a frail human little girl with them would not only fail to give her a stable life, but would instead cause her to fall into desperate, life-threatening situations at any moment.
"Let's go with this one."
In front of a wealthy and kind family with a very good reputation on the other side of the town, Kanae looked reluctantly at Yukina, who was still sleeping in her arms.
She fished out a heavy bag of gold coins from her bosom.
She carefully tucked the bag into Yukina's pocket, then gently kissed the little girl's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Yukina. I couldn't save your parents."
Kanae's eyes were slightly red.
"You must live on strongly, forget tonight's nightmare, and grow up well, carrying your parents' share of life too."
Tatsu stood quietly in the shadows, watching Kanae finish all this.
Subsequently, he stepped forward and knocked on the door.
When the sound of the master getting up came from inside the house, Tatsu and Kanae had already disappeared at the end of the street.
When they returned to the inn, the eastern sky was already showing a touch of fish-belly white.
In the inn room, Tatsu stood quietly by the window.
He pulled the heavy curtains open just a tiny slit.
Sunlight—that was the absolute nightmare carved into the bones of all demons.
Tatsu expressionlessly extended his left hand, and slowly reached that pale, slender index finger into the ray of golden sunlight that shone through the gap in the curtains.
"Sss—!"
The moment his fingertip touched the sunlight, a tooth-aching sizzling sound erupted.
Tatsu's left index finger was like a dry twig thrown into a furnace; in less than half a second, it instantly carbonized, disintegrated, and turned into a wisp of gray-white ash that drifted in the air.
The burning pain that went deep into his soul made Tatsu clench his teeth.
He quickly pulled his hand back into the shadows.
The demon's terrifying regeneration ability activated instantly, flesh buds wriggling and weaving. In just a single breath's time, the index finger that had been burned to ash grew back perfectly, without even leaving a trace of a scar.
Tatsu looked at his brand-new finger, his brows locked deeply together.
"Still not working..."
He had originally thought that since Sun Breathing was the power of the sun, as long as he continued to practice Sun Breathing, allowing the power of the sun to circulate endlessly within his body, one day he would be able to break Muzan's blood curse from the inside, and completely overcome the fear of sunlight.
But reality dealt him a heavy blow.
The brief contact just now made him understand that, although Sun Breathing could make him incredibly powerful, overcoming sunlight through this method would likely take an extremely long time, and it was even... possible that this method was fundamentally unworkable.
The chasm lying between demons and the sun was even harder to cross than he had imagined.
"Tatsu."
A pair of soft arms wrapped around Tatsu's waist from behind.
Kanae Kocho had walked behind him at some point. She gently pressed her cheek against Tatsu's broad back, feeling the slightly chaotic aura in his body due to frustration.
"Don't be too impatient, Tatsu."
"We still have plenty of time, don't we?
Even if this path is difficult to walk, even if it is proven in the end that this method really doesn't work, it doesn't matter.
I will always be with you, searching for other methods together.
As long as we are together, we will always find a way to let you stand under the sun again."
She didn't need Tatsu to be perfect; she simply wanted to accompany this "demon" who was trying his best to become human again and protect humans.
Tatsu's tightly locked brows slowly relaxed.
He reached back and held Kanae's hands that were wrapped around his waist, feeling the human warmth coming from her palms, a faint curve appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah, I know.
Thank you, Kanae."
...
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the town.
A petite figure was stepping on the morning dew, slowly walking into the town.
Kocho Shinobu stopped and looked quietly at the quiet town before her with her purple eyes.
"Sister..."
With her sister's compassionate nature, even after leaving the Demon Slayer Corps, she could never turn a blind eye to humans encountering demon attacks.
She would definitely take that demon and continue to slay demons in every corner of the world.
"I must find my sister a step ahead of the others in the Demon Slayer Corps."
Kocho Shinobu took a deep breath of the cool morning air.
"And then, I will use my poison to personally poison the demon that has been clinging to my sister's side!
I will prove to everyone that my sister has just been deceived.
I will bring my sister back to the Butterfly Mansion, clean and untainted!"
Loving Book So Far? Check Out 30+ Advanced Chapters At PA Treon
patreon.com/FictionOP