Next to several bloody corpses, a figure with a ferocious face squatted. He grabbed the hand of one of them and put it to his mouth. There was still blood and flesh at the corner of his mouth that he had not had time to swallow.
"What are you doing?"
The ghost turned around in confusion when he heard the door open behind him, "This is my territory!"
But when he turned around and saw Tanjiro, the expression on his face gradually changed from confusion to confusion.
"Wait...you're human?"
He looked at Tanjiro in confusion. Just now, he clearly smelled the scent of a ghost, but when he turned around, he saw a human?
Who cares! Kill the delicious food delivered to your door first!
His face suddenly turned ferocious, and he rushed towards Tanjiro, who was stunned.
Tanjiro finally came to his senses as he watched the evil spirit rushing towards him.
"This is... a man-eating ghost!"
Without hesitation, he took out the ax from his waist and struck it on the head of the ghost that was coming towards him.
"puff--"
Blood spattered from the ghost's neck, and the evil ghost ducked away in surprise.
This boy is obviously not a swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps, but he can draw an ax and kill him without hesitation?
"It took a while~" He wiped the blood on his neck.
The wound healed so quickly! Is this a ghost? Tanjiro was surprised to see that the wound on the ghost's neck had healed where the blood had been wiped off.
Although he had heard of the legend of "man-eating ghosts", Tanjiro had no idea what kind of existence "ghosts" were. The mysterious man only told him not to let Nezuko be exposed to the sun.
Tanjiro held the ax in his hand and looked at the ghost twisting his neck warily in front of him. Unexpectedly, he actually used the ax to chop the ghost's neck without causing any effective damage. If it were an ordinary person, this would be considered a serious injury!
"It's just a broken axe, don't be too arrogant, human!"
The ghost wiped the sticky blood on his neck and looked at Tanjiro in front of him with a grin.
Through the attack just now, he had completely understood the details of the human being in front of him.
He was just an ordinary human boy. The ax in his hand was made of ordinary metal and could not kill him at all.
Then there’s nothing to be afraid of!
"Whoosh——"
Thinking of this, the ghost pounced towards Tanjiro again.
Tanjiro raised the ax in his hand and wanted to fight back, but the ghost suddenly erupted so fast that he couldn't react at all.
"boom--"
The evil spirit threw Tanjiro to the ground and stretched out his hand to hold down the arm holding the axe.
"Is there no way to go? Human!"
The ghost smiled playfully as he looked at the human being pressed beneath him.
Human power is simply unable to compete with him, and it is simply too easy to restrict this human's actions.
"Don't ever think of hitting me with this broken ax again. Go to hell, human being!"
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and grabbed Tanjiro's neck, as if he wanted to directly break Tanjiro's neck.
"Huhu..."
The sound of rapid breathing came from Nezuko's small mouth holding the bamboo tube.
The smell of human flesh and blood made her body as a ghost begin to have an instinctive hunger response. The three corpses lying in the Buddhist hall deeply attracted her attention.
Her hands were tightly grasping her thighs, as if she was struggling, and sweat was pouring from her forehead.
"boom--"
Hearing the sound of fighting behind him, Nezuko suddenly seemed to react.
She resisted the bloodthirsty impulse and turned her head to look at her brother who had been fighting ghosts for a long time.
"Protect brother..."
Nezuko only had this thought in her mind at the moment, and for some reason she suppressed her instinctive impulse as a ghost.
"Damn it..." Tanjiro fell to the ground and struggled desperately.
His right hand holding the ax was restrained by the ghost, and the strength of his left hand alone was unable to resist the ghost's arm grabbing toward his neck.
The power gap between humans and ghosts was too big. He once again realized his own weakness. Even if he tried his best, he could not shake the evil ghost in front of him at all.
Just when Tanjiro felt that he was about to despair, a howling wind suddenly came.
"boom--"
He stared dumbfounded at the scene happening in front of him.
Nezuko, who was running from the side, raised his leg and kicked the demon's head away from him.
The body of the ghost whose head was kicked off stagnated, and he finally broke free from the restraints.
"Nezuko..."
Tanjiro looked at his sister in surprise, Nezuko actually had such a powerful power...
At this moment, he realized deeply that his sister had really turned into a ghost.
He had obviously sworn to that man that he would protect his sister and find a way to turn her back into a human...but now he was actually being protected by Nezuko.
"This won't work... I have to become stronger!"
Just when Tanjiro was in a daze, the body of the ghost whose head was kicked off moved, and he swung his sharp claws towards Tanjiro's head. The sharp claws on his fingertips could undoubtedly penetrate his head.
"Not dead yet?"
Tanjiro looked at the scene in front of him in surprise.
Unexpectedly, a creature like a ghost can still move with its body and head separated!
No...can't avoid it!
Although he tried his best to move his body to avoid the claw, he was still too slow.
"boom--"
Nezuko next to her raised her leg again, struck the body with a kick and kicked it away.
"!!"
So strong! One kick to the head and another kick to the body.
Tanjiro was greatly shocked when he looked at Nezuko, who was expressionless and looked like the God of War next to him.
"Damn, damn, damn it!"
The ghost's head was kicked to the ground and roared angrily at Nezuko, "Hey, hey, hey! What do you mean? As a ghost, why do you want to help humans!? If you want to distribute food, wait until I kill him!"
However, Nezuko did not answer his question, she just let out a threatening whimper from the bamboo tube tied in front of Tanjiro.
"you……"
Seeing Nezuko as a ghost actually protecting humans, veins popped up on the ghost's head, "What is going on? Why do you, a ghost, mix with humans?"
He couldn't understand Nezuko's behavior at all. According to common sense, fighting between ghosts is meaningless. Even if they are fighting for food, humans should be killed first and then duel slowly. This is the first time he has met a ghost who can protect humans.
, simply ridiculous!
"No matter! This kid can't run away anyway, so I'll teach you a lesson first!"
Along with the roar of the head, the headless body that fell on the ground stood up strangely and rushed towards Nezuko.
"!!"
Tanjiro looked at the scene in front of him in surprise.
What kind of creature is a ghost? Why can it still talk when its head falls on the ground, and even move separately!? I should have asked that gentleman before I knew it!
"stop!"
Seeing the headless body rushing towards Nezuko, Tanjiro anxiously raised his ax with both hands and stepped forward to stop it, but as soon as he took a step forward, he smelled a malicious smell coming from behind him.
Without any time to think, he quickly turned around and swung the ax behind him.
"Click——"
The sharp teeth bit the edge of the axe.
Tanjiro was surprised to see two strong arms growing out of the head that originally fell on the ground.
The ghost's head relied on these two arms to move behind him and attack him. Not only that, the ghost's hair also seemed very strange. It actually wrapped itself around the ax he held in both hands, as if it wanted to
Take the weapon from his hands!
"This is so abnormal. What kind of life is it that can actually grow arms on its head?"
Tanjiro gritted his teeth and tried hard to resist the head that was coming towards him. Nezuko behind him was being attacked by the ghost's body. He was very angry now.
"It's just a head, can't I even deal with a head?"
Veins popped out from Tanjiro's forehead, "Get out of here!"
He couldn't move away from holding the ax in both hands. He could only grit his teeth angrily, throw his head back, and then hit the ghost on the head with a headbutt.
"boom--"
A muffled crash sounded.
The ghost was stunned for a moment when Tanjiro hit him like this.
Even the body that rushed towards Nezuko was delayed for a moment.
"This kid's head... is so hard!"
He was extremely confused in his heart, how could a mere human's head be so hard? As a ghost, he was stunned and his mind went blank for a moment.
Most people would suffer a complete concussion from such an impact, but Tanjiro didn't seem to feel any discomfort due to the impact just now, and instead became more courageous as he fought!
While the ghost was knocked unconscious, he picked up the ax and pushed the head toward the tree nearby.
"Click——"
The sharp ax blade was firmly embedded in the tree trunk, nailing the ghost's head to the tree trunk.
"Nezuko!"
After doing all this, Tanjiro chased in the direction of Nezuko without looking back. Now he was only worried about what might happen to his sister.
"Damn humans!"
The ghost who came back to his senses struggled desperately between the tree trunk and the ax handle.
His head was clamped on the tree trunk by the ax handle. The hair that was originally wrapped around the ax handle in order to snatch the ax from this human's hand now became something that restrained him, unable to break free at all.
Tanjiro ran as fast as he could in the direction of Nezuko.
His worries were not unnecessary, Nezuko was at a disadvantage now.
Although Nezuko became a ghost, she was originally just an ordinary girl with no fighting experience, and she was different from other ghosts in that she had never eaten people. She had just become a ghost and was in a state of hunger, even if she had the power to use it.
Not coming out.
Seeing Nezuko being forced back step by step and falling to the ground, Tanjiro rushed towards her angrily. Even though there was no weapon in his hand, he still wanted to protect his sister.
Although Nezuko is a ghost and can recover from injuries if nothing happens, but as an older brother, how could he watch his sister being bullied?
"Asshole, stop it!"
Tanjiro desperately pounced on the headless body that was about to step on Nezuko, but the next moment he fell into panic.
He was in such a hurry that he didn't notice that there was a cliff ahead!
"ah……"
Seeing that he was about to fall off the cliff together with this headless body and be smashed to pieces, Tanjiro couldn't help but cry out.
"Woo——"
An anxious voice came from above.
Nezuko looked at her brother who was about to fall, and quickly reached out and grabbed Tanjiro's wrist.
"Snapped--"
"Ahh!!"
The sound of something breaking soon came from below the cliff, and at the same time, a shrill scream came from the mouth of the head nailed to the tree trunk in the woods behind.
Tanjiro, who was hanging on the edge of the cliff, felt frightened when he looked at the bloody black shadow below the cliff.
Fortunately, Nezuko, who turned into a ghost, had enough strength to hold him, otherwise he would probably have the same fate as this ghost if he fell.
Tanjiro, who returned to the cliff, took Nezuko back to the edge of the woods outside the temple.
They found the ghost's head nailed to the tree trunk.
It seemed that the ghost fell into a coma due to severe physical injuries, but it still did not die.
"What kind of creature is a ghost?"
Tanjiro carefully pulled out the short sword he was wearing.
It didn't matter that he was still alive with his head in a different place, but he could actually feel pain. He fell to such a high cliff and was smashed to pieces, but he was just unconscious! In short, he couldn't understand it at all.
Tanjiro held the knife close with trembling hands.
The smell of this ghost is different from the smell of the ghost left in his home. It doesn't seem to be the murderer of his relatives, but... this ghost can also eat people!
The bloody corpses lying in the Buddhist hall at the moment cannot be deceived.
"Huh...huh..."
Tanjiro's breathing became a little rapid. He knew in his heart that if he didn't give this ghost a fatal blow, this ghost would definitely hurt many people. He knew that he had to be ruthless to kill this ghost, but for some reason he couldn't hold on to it.
The knife's hand was still trembling.
"No...I have to be cruel...kill him!"
Tanjiro raised his hand and prepared to use the knife.
At this moment, a hoarse voice reached Tanjiro's ears.
"You can't kill ghosts with this kind of ordinary knife."
Tanjiro turned around in surprise and saw a face wearing a Tengu mask.
This man wearing an aqua-blue feathered headband, wrapped in a hood, and wearing a tengu mask on his face suddenly appeared behind him like a ghost.
The hoarse voice sounded like that of an old man, but for some reason he didn't feel anyone approaching behind him at all.
However, he did not smell any malice from the old man, and what the old man just said should be a reminder to him.
"Then...how can we give him a fatal blow?" Tanjiro asked the old man wearing the Tengu mask carefully.
"Don't just ask others, use your own brain to think..."
The old man was wearing a mask and had no idea what his expression was. He just stood there and silently looked at Tanjiro in front of him.
"..."
Tanjiro was silent for a while and took back the dagger in his hand.
Apart from daggers and axes... there are only rocks on the ground.
He couldn't think of any other weapon he could find. He could only lift a rock the size of a head from the ground.
But when he walked up to the ghost carrying the rock, he hesitated.
He had already seen deeply the extremely powerful vitality of ghosts. Apart from smashing the ghost's head to pieces, he could not think of any other way to kill the ghost.
"But if this is the case... it will be very painful, right? Isn't there any way to take his life at once?"
Looking at the hesitant Tanjiro, Xuanhao's brows hidden under the Tengu's face wrinkled slightly.
This young man was too indecisive. Even though the ghost he was facing had tried to take his life just now, he still seemed unable to kill the ghost ruthlessly.
There is no way to achieve the goal with such an awareness.
Just when Tanjiro was hesitating, a beam of light shone through the tree crown, and it was already dawn.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
The screams startled Tanjiro, and he stared blankly at the strange thing on the ghost in front of him.
Just being irradiated by the sun, this ghost struggled crazily as if it was being burned by fire, and instantly turned into flying ash and dissipated between heaven and earth.
"Is it like this just by being exposed to the sun? No wonder Nezuko hates the sun so much."
Tanjiro reacted in shock and quickly turned around, "Nezuko!"
He looked around anxiously, and finally saw Nezuko shivering in a basket on her back in the shadow of the Buddhist hall.
After confirming that his sister was safe and sound, Tanjiro looked at the old man wearing the Tengu mask just now.
He saw that the old man had buried the murdered travelers in the open space next to the Buddhist hall. The figure of this old man standing in the sun made him feel very familiar for some reason.
I seem to have seen the same scene somewhere?
"May I ask you are……"
Tanjiro stepped forward with some hesitation and asked. This old man obviously knew how to kill ghosts, and maybe he was also a member of the Demon Slayer Squad. He might have information about the Rin Taki Sakonji he was looking for.
"My name is Rin Taki Sakonji. You are here to see me, right?" Xuanhao slowly turned around and faced Tanjiro behind him.
"Ah! Yes! My name is Kamado Tanjiro, and my sister's name is Nezuko..."
Tanjiro introduced himself somewhat excitedly.
He finally found someone who could help him become stronger. After the battle just now, he clearly understood his weakness. If he hadn't been lucky enough to have Nezuko's help and this ghost was careless, then he would have been able to fight against this ghost.
The ghost's chances of winning are zero.
"Tanjiro, right?"
After hearing the boy's name, Xuan Hao asked in a deep voice, "What will you do when your sister eats people?"
"Forehead……"
Hearing such a question, Tanjiro was stunned.
"Snapped--"
A loud slap hit Tanjiro's face.
"Too slow to answer."
There was a hint of anger in Xuan Hao's tone, "But it can be seen from just now that you are a very indecisive person. You were not able to kill the ghost until the sun rose."
"..."
Tanjiro looked at the old man in front of him in silence, unable to find any words to refute.
"Do you know why you didn't give an answer immediately after I asked the question? Because your awareness is far from enough. When your sister is eating people, you have only one choice, stop her! If you are determined to protect and become a ghost
My sister, such mental preparation is a must!"
At this point, Xuanhao sighed slightly. He found that he seemed to be excited, so he tried to slow down his tone and said, "You must not let this happen. Tanjiro, you must remember your oath, and you must not
Let your sister become a cannibal. Do you understand what I mean?"
"clear!"
Listening to the soft voice of the old man in front of him, Tanjiro's eyes gradually brightened, and the figure of the mysterious man he met before overlapped with the figure of the old man in front of him.
He finally realized what was going on.
These two people seemed... to be the same person, but the smell of this man seemed to have changed? No! It seemed to be the smell of his clothes. Tanjiro's nose moved, and he smelled two different smells from this man.
The smell of people.
But...why is this man so oblique and unwilling to reveal his identity?
Tanjiro was a little confused, but he didn't ask any more questions.
Because he can feel the kindness radiating from this man. No matter why the other person hides his identity, he is helping him!
The man asked him that question just now because he made a serious mistake last night. He was too indecisive and didn't even have the determination to kill the ghost!
If you continue like this, you won't be able to protect Nezuko.
He once swore to protect Nezuko and prevent her from turning into a cannibal. He must find a way to help Nezuko transform back into a human.
It is impossible without enough awareness! In order to avoid the worst case scenario, he must be aware of it accordingly!
"Just understand. Put your sister on your back and follow me."
Xuanhao turned around and walked toward the mountain peaks shrouded in thick fog in the distance.
Tanjiro was stunned, and quickly wrapped the backpack containing Nezuko in black cloth, and then quickly followed.
"So fast!"
Panting heavily, Tanjiro reluctantly followed the man in front of him not far behind.
He was already running with all his strength, but he still couldn't close the distance with the person in front of him, and this person clearly looked like he was walking in front of him, his steps were very light, and he couldn't even hear the footsteps, but even so
The speed is also much faster than him.
Who is this person? Tanjiro still has doubts in his heart. This person got him here in a roundabout way, and never showed his true face from beginning to end. He was wondering if the name "Rin Taki Sakonji" was also a cover-up.
?
But none of this seems important, because this person is helping him and Nezuko, and this person is very strong! The most important thing is that he is willing to teach him to become stronger!
"I must become stronger to protect Nezuko..." Tanjiro had only one thought in his mind at this moment.
The pace of his running was very bumpy, and even though he tried his best to protect the backpack behind him, he could still feel the movement of Nezuko shaking in the backpack.
Because she is the oldest child in the family, Nezuko has been very sensible since she was a child. She is reluctant to mend old clothes and buy new ones. She spends the money she saves to buy food for her younger brothers and sisters.
There is no girl who doesn't like new clothes, and Tanjiro knows that. He has made Nezuko suffer too much. Because of his incompetence, he did not let his family live a good life, and even caused them to suffer disaster.
Tanjiro still regrets it until now.
It would have been nice if he had not gone down the mountain that night. It would have been nice if he had been strong enough to protect his family at that time. In that case, it would not be like this now, with only Nezuko, his only relative, left.
She turned into a ghost.
"I will definitely become stronger, and my brother will definitely turn you back into a human! Then I will make money to buy you many, many beautiful clothes!"
Tanjiro gritted his teeth and ran, sweating profusely, chasing the figure walking in front. To him now, this figure seemed like the hope of changing his destiny.
The foot of the mountain shrouded in mist.
Xuanhao stopped in front of the wooden house where Lin Takizao lived most recently.
Hearing the rapid breathing of the figure hurriedly following behind him, he turned around and looked at the young man with some relief.
"Tired?"
"Huh...tired...huh..."
Tanjiro gasped violently and managed to answer.
At this moment, Tanjiro only felt that his legs were weak, and his head became a little dizzy due to lack of oxygen.
This man was walking too fast. He seemed to be walking slowly, but he had the speed of a normal person sprinting 100 meters. In order not to lose him, he had to keep running with all his strength. If he didn't often do heavy work at home, he would have already done it by now.
Got down.
"It's okay to be tired."
A slightly ruthless hoarse voice came from under the Tengu mask, "But now is not the time for you to rest. Keep following me."
"ah?"
Tanjiro was stunned.
Hasn’t this already reached the destination?
He glanced at the dilapidated wooden house in front of him, the wooden house at the foot of Mount Samagiri. That's right, this is it. Where else to go?
"If you want to become stronger, the first thing you have to do now is to surpass your current limits."
With that said, Xuanhao walked towards the mountain without looking back.
"If you want to give up, you can stop and rest."
"Huh...huh..."
Tanjiro gasped for air as he watched the man walking up the mountain.
He tried his best to drag his weak legs to move forward.
This man will not wait for him. Tanjiro knows very well that if he stops and rests now, he will not get a second chance.
"Even if you are climbing, you must follow up the mountain!"
This man is right. If he wants to become stronger and protect Nezuko, he must surpass his current limit. He is too weak now, and he even has to rely on Nezuko for protection. How is this possible?
Tanjiro panted rapidly, and the thin air made it difficult for him to breathe. Although he was not running now, just walking at the speed of an ordinary person, he had no strength. For ordinary people, under the condition of exerting all his strength, the air
It is very difficult to climb to the top of the mountain in the thin Saagiri Mountains.
Xuanhao knew this, so he walked very slowly, just like ordinary tourists walking in front of Tanjiro when climbing mountains. By the time the two reached the top of the mountain, the sun had already set.
"Okay, give me the backpack."
Xuanhao stretched out his hand and gestured to Tanjiro.
"..."
Tanjiro breathed heavily and looked at the masked man in front of him with some hesitation. Finally, he obediently handed the man the basket with Nezuko in it.
If this man wanted to kill Nezuko, he would have done it long ago. There is no need for him to bring Nezuko to Mount Sagiri.
"very good."
Xuanhao held the backpack in his hand and glanced at Tanjiro with satisfaction.
The trust test was passed.
"Then I will go down the mountain first, and then you have to try to return to the wooden house at the foot of the mountain alone from here. If you are tired, you can choose to take a rest first, but I will only wait for you until dawn."
"ah……"
Tanjiro opened his mouth to say something, but the man in front of him disappeared in front of him in an instant.
It was so fast, just like at the door of his house before, that he couldn't see clearly how the man left.
"Can I become so strong in the future?"
Tanjiro adjusted his breathing and observed the surrounding situation.
Mt. Saagiri, just like its name, is covered with thick fog all over the mountains and plains, and it is impossible to tell the direction. If you are an ordinary person here, you will easily get lost.
But this is not a problem for Tanjiro. His nose is very sensitive, and he can go back just by following the smell left behind when he came.
After adjusting his breathing, Tanjiro was ready to leave now. Although the man said he could rest, he thought if this was a test, it couldn't be that simple.
Sure enough, as soon as he took a few steps, he felt something tripped under his feet. It was a hemp rope.
The thick fog prevented him from seeing the trap set under his feet. Fortunately, he walked very slowly and did not fall directly forward.
Tanjiro, who almost lost his balance and fell, was about to breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly a stone flying from a distance hit him hard, causing him to completely lose his balance.
Then, like a chain reaction, a series of traps like crypts, mallets, etc. rushed towards him crazily.
······
Xuanhao, who returned to the foot of the mountain, heard the screams coming from the mountain, but his heart did not waver.
The traps on the mountain were recently set up by Rin Takisa to train new disciples. He had checked in advance and found that there were no fatal traps at most, only serious injuries, so he did not clear these traps.
If you can't handle this, how can you protect Nezuko?
Gently covering the sleeping Nezuko with a quilt, Xuanhao showed a rare gentle smile on his face.
Nezuko was indeed a little different from other ghosts. He had noticed in the Buddhist hall that this girl seemed to have overcome her desire for flesh and blood. Those bloody corpses should be a fatal temptation for ghosts, and she
I forced myself to hold it back.
Falling into a deep sleep now seems to be using this method to restore physical strength or reduce physical consumption instead of eating people.
"Is it really Kibutsuji Muzan?"
Soon the smile on Xuanhao's face solidified, because he saw from Midouzi's memory the culprit who turned her into a ghost, Wu Ke.
The despair of losing her family has been deeply imprinted in Mi Douzi's memory.
This is a lovable girl, smart, sensible and brave. Even when she faced Wuhan in the end, she desperately wanted to protect her family. Perhaps it was her actions that aroused Wuhan's interest.
Blood was injected into her body.
"You did a great job...Wuhan."
Xuan Hao made another note in his heart for this coward.
This coward's actions caused great obstacles for him to take out the soul fragments. If he wanted to take out the soul fragments, he had to make Nezuko feel the so-called 'happiness', but Nezuko lost so many family members and turned into a ghost.
It's obviously become 'unfortunate'.
What should be done to reverse this situation? Xuan Hao sighed slightly.
"Dong dong dong——"
There was a knock on the door.
Xuanhao stopped thinking and got up and opened the wooden door.
Tanjiro, whose body was covered with scars, was lying in front of the wooden house, breathing heavily.
After glancing at the young man kneeling on the ground in front of him, and then raising his head to glance at the still-unlit sky in the distance, Xuan Hao nodded slowly.
"Passed, Kamado Tanjiro."
After finally hearing the recognition from the man in front of him, Tanjiro seemed to feel relieved and threw himself on the ground and fell into coma.
"well……"
Xuanhao sighed and carried the boy who had fallen on the ground back into the room. This was Midouzi's last relative. Perhaps the key to everything lay with this boy.
Therefore, he prepared to train this young man well.
When Tanjiro woke up, it was already noon the next day. He was awakened by hunger and a smell of fragrance.
"Forehead……"
Tanjiro stood up while holding on to his still tired body.
He was surprised to find that he seemed to feel no pain. His body, which was originally bruised and bruised, had completely recovered. Apart from some fatigue, he did not feel any discomfort.
"Did that gentleman do something?"
Tanjiro looked around with some confusion.
He carefully looked at his surroundings and saw Nezuko sleeping soundly next to him, as well as the figure cooking porridge on a bonfire not far from the door.
He was still wearing the navy blue feather fabric, with a hood covering his entire head, and a Tengu mask on his face.
"Gugu..."
"When you wake up, come out to eat."
Xuanhao outside the door noticed Tanjiro waking up, turned his head and said.
"Um...thank you, sir."
Tanjiro touched his growling stomach with some embarrassment, then came to Xuanhao and took the bowl.
"Eat slowly, or your stomach won't be able to bear it." Xuan Hao reminded the boy in front of him, "You have been sleeping all day and all night."
"good……"
Tanjiro felt the warmth coming from the bowl, with a simple and honest smile on his face.
Looking at the silly Tanjiro, Xuanhao sighed slightly, "Don't get too happy too early, kid. It's time to officially start training after dinner."
"Forehead……"
Tanjiro was stunned for a moment. He thought he could finally take a break, but he didn't expect that the nightmare would begin next.
In the next year, Tanjiro deeply felt what it means to practice to death if you can't practice to death. No...that's not right, it should be to just practice to death!
This man never seemed to consider that he would be trained to death.
Because the training this man gave him didn't look like it was prepared for humans at all. It was more like torture in a prison, specially used to torture death row prisoners. In short, it was as cruel as it could be.
This made Tanjiro feel like he was wandering between life and death every day. He had seen the Naihe Bridge several times, but the strange thing was that he just couldn't die.
This year he felt like he was going through a long nightmare.
At first, he even felt that this man really wanted to kill him.
My arms and legs were cut off, my legs were penetrated... I experienced almost all kinds of pain. After training every day, I was always on the verge of death and felt like I was going to die.
But when he regains consciousness, he will miraculously find that his body is intact, and he has even begun to get used to this feeling.
"puff--"
Another mouthful of blood spurted out from Tanjiro's mouth.
Feeling the fist hitting his abdomen, Tanjiro began to doubt life again.
How strong is your teacher?
After a year of hard work, he already felt that he had become much stronger. The knife in his hand could even split a person-high rock on the top of the mountain.
But in front of this defenseless teacher, he was still as vulnerable as a baby.
"Okay, that's it for today."
A calm voice sounded from under the Tengu mask.
"No...I can still..." Tanjiro wanted to struggle.
"no, you can not."
As if calculated, Tanjiro, who was hit by this punch, could not escape the fate of fainting no matter how hard he struggled.
He slowly fell to the ground, with multiple fractures on his body, bruises and swelling on his face, and he became dying again.
"Whenever you can exceed my expectations, you will almost be able to graduate." Xuanhao murmured to himself, then stepped forward and squatted in front of the unconscious Tanjiro.
He stretched out his hand and gently touched Tanjiro's bruised body. Almost the moment the two came into contact, the scarred body began to repair at a strange speed.
"The use of power is much more skillful than before."
Xuan Hao took back his hand and couldn't help but smile on his face under the mask.
While training Tanjiro, he is also constantly honing his control over the power of law. Now it is very easy to repair injuries on ordinary people. As long as the structure is not very complicated, he can easily repair even severed limbs.
Connect together.
However, it is still impossible for him to revive the dead or create something out of nothing.
After all, he has only come into contact with the surface of the power of law. What he can do is to use this power to carry out simple repairs, and 'repair' and 'creation' out of nothing are two completely different concepts.
The more he wanted to know more about this power, the more Xuanhao felt that it was out of reach.
Just when Xuan Hao was thinking, two figures, one large and one small, appeared behind him.
Both of them were wearing Demon Slayer uniforms, with iconic fox masks on their faces.
"You are here?"
Xuan Hao was not surprised because he had called these two people.
As for why he called them here, of course it's because he doesn't know how to breathe water at all!
"grown ups."
Qiantu and Zhenshen knelt down on one knee and saluted Xuanhao.
"Next, you should call me Teacher Linlong." Xuanhao waved his hand to signal them to get up.
"Yes, Teacher Lintaki."
Qiantu and Zhenshen looked at each other and felt no resistance.
Because the real Rin Taki Sakonji had told them everything, and this time they came here precisely to assist this Lord Mingzhu.
"...Teacher Linlong, do you need any help for us to come here?" Qiantu asked with some confusion.
They had been watching in the dark when this man was sparring with the fallen boy, and the more they watched, the more frightened they became.
Because the fallen boy was very strong, his strength far exceeded the standards required to be selected as a swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps, but he was still as helpless as a baby in the hands of this man.
This man is very strong, and the young man taught by this man is also very strong. Qiang Tu thinks that there should be no place for them to help here...
"I would like to ask you to teach him breathing techniques." Xuanhao pointed at Tanjiro who fell on the ground and said.
"Breathing method..."
Qiang Tu was stunned, "Doesn't he still know how to breathe?"
At this moment, he was even more shocked, because he never expected that this young man did not use breathing techniques when fighting just now. How on earth can he train to make this boy so strong without using breathing techniques?
"Yes, I didn't teach him breathing techniques." Xuan Hao nodded.
"I see, you want this boy to learn 'water breathing', right?"
Qiantu realized that although this man had disguised himself as Teacher Linlong, he probably couldn't breathe water, so he invited the two of them over.