"Asuramaru, where is the demon?"
The question had barely ford in Tanjirou's mind when Asuramaru answered.
"There's still so distance. Keep moving forward for now."
Tanjirou's eyes sharpened.
He turned to the others, who were still scanning the noisy street, and said in a low voice, "Asuramaru found a trace of the demon. Follow ."
Without wasting another word, he moved ahead.
The group slipped through the crowd with practiced speed. Lanternlight passed across their faces in flashes of gold and red. Around them, Yoshiwara continued its nightly revelry, music spilling from open windows, won laughing from balconies, guests calling out in drunken cheer.
Beneath that glamorous surface, however, sothing foul had taken root.
Tanjirou could feel it even if his nose could not yet grasp the scent clearly.
The four of them soon stopped before one of the district's large establishnts.
A sign hung beneath the eaves.
Ogimoto House.
The building was bright and elegant, with won's voices drifting from inside. To ordinary eyes, it was no different from the other houses lining the district. But the mont Tanjirou stood before it, Asuramaru's voice rang in his mind again.
"The demon is inside. More precisely, deep underground beneath your feet."
Tanjirou lowered his gaze.
Underground?
Asuramaru continued, his tone a little more serious than before.
"This presence feels strange. It might be an ability similar to Upper Moon Four's splitting. There's also the aura of many humans mixed in with it."
Tanjirou's fingers curled slightly.
Humans.
If Asuramaru could sense many human auras below, then people were trapped down there.
"The main body may not be underground," Asuramaru added. "It could be hidden sowhere nearby. We should search the area first."
Tanjirou stared at Ogimoto House.
Every instinct in him wanted to rush inside, find the entrance, and rescue the people below. But if he moved too carelessly and startled the demon, it might flee. If that happened, more victims would follow.
He had learned that lesson through blood.
Demons had to be cornered properly.
The underground had to be searched.
The main body had to be found.
Both mattered.
Tanjirou breathed in, steadied himself, then turned toward the others.
"Mr. Sanemi."
Sanemi glanced at him. "What?"
"There may be a demon's clone deep beneath Ogimoto House. There are also many people trapped down there." Tanjirou's voice remained quiet, but his eyes were firm. "I think we should split into two groups."
Sanemi understood at once.
His fierce gaze flicked toward the building, then back to Tanjirou. "You want to stay here and look for the underground entrance while you search for the main body?"
"Yes."
Tanjirou answered without hesitation.
Sanemi clicked his tongue.
"That's not a bad plan, but there's one problem. I'm not good at searching. If the entrance is hidden, I might not find it quickly."
The mont he finished speaking, Inosuke stepped forward.
His boar mask tilted upward, full of wild confidence.
"If it's finding an entrance, leave it to ! Back in the mountains, nobody was better than this great at finding caves!"
Zenitsu looked at him sideways. "You an you got lost inside holes often enough to learn?"
"What did you say, yellow rat?!"
"Nothing! I said nothing!"
Tanjirou, however, nodded seriously.
"Inosuke is very sensitive to terrain. He may really be the best choice."
Sanemi made his decision imdiately.
"Fine. The boar brat and I will search Ogimoto House. Tanjirou, you look for the demon's main body. If you find it first, co back here imdiately."
"Understood."
The plan was settled.
Naturally, only one person had a complaint.
Zenitsu raised his hand with a strangely hopeful expression.
"Wait. I also want to search Ogimoto House. Tanjirou can find the demon by himself, right? I an, he's a Hashira now, so he'll be fine. I should probably help with the entrance. For strategic reasons. Very serious strategic reasons."
Sanemi's fist landed on his head with a solid thud.
"Gah!"
Zenitsu's knees nearly buckled.
Sanemi leaned in, teeth bared. "My patience has limits, brat. Get lost already."
Tanjirou quickly grabbed Zenitsu and pulled him away before Sanemi decided to test those limits with both fists.
Inside the sword, Asuramaru let out a dry laugh.
"You really want to find the entrance? I almost admire your shalessness."
Zenitsu clutched his swollen head, tears in his eyes. "Even the sword is bullying now..."
Sanemi ignored him and walked toward the entrance of Ogimoto House.
"Inosuke, follow ."
"Don't order around! I'm the boss!"
Despite saying that, Inosuke followed without hesitation.
As the two approached the entrance, a woman in bright clothing ca forward to greet them. Her smile was practiced and polite, her posture graceful.
"Welco, honored guests. What kind of company are you looking for tonight?"
Sanemi's expression remained as terrifying as ever.
Inosuke tilted his boar head and stared at her.
The woman's smile stiffened by a fraction.
anwhile, Tanjirou and Zenitsu continued down the street.
Zenitsu rubbed the bump on his head, resentnt written across his whole face.
"That guy is too much. Isn't this just bullying? Why is Inosuke allowed to go inside, but I'm not?"
Tanjirou looked at him helplessly.
"Zenitsu, Mr. Sanemi is actually a very gentle person."
Zenitsu slowly turned his head toward him.
Tanjirou continued sincerely, "His way of expressing it is just a little unusual. I think he cares about you."
Zenitsu pointed at the swelling on his head.
"He cares with his fists?"
Tanjirou opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
For once, he had no answer.
The two moved through the crowd together.
The streets of Yoshiwara seed endless at night. Every corner led to more lanterns, more voices, more perfu, more music. Tanjirou stayed alert the entire ti, his nose working through the muddled air while his hand remained close to his sword.
Zenitsu followed beside him, still grumbling under his breath, though his eyes occasionally betrayed him by wandering toward the won standing beneath the lanterns.
Tanjirou pretended not to notice.
After so ti, they reached another street.
Asuramaru's voice rang out again.
"The demon's aura is on this street. Just ahead."
Tanjirou's expression changed at once.
He picked up his pace, jogging forward. Zenitsu quickly followed.
The two stopped before another establishnt.
Kyogoku House.
Compared to Ogimoto House, this place was no less splendid. The lights were bright, the entrance elegant, and the atmosphere even more bustling. People entered and left with laughter, completely unaware that a demon's traces lingered inside.
"Is it here?"
Tanjirou's hand rested on the hilt of his sword. His gaze fixed on the building ahead, calm but heavy.
If the demon was here, he could not afford to let it escape.
Zenitsu stood behind him and, surprisingly, did not panic.
After everything he had seen, his thinking had beco simpler.
Tanjirou had already killed Upper Moon Four alone.
So why should he be afraid?
Well, he was still afraid.
But he could be afraid a little more quietly.
"Asuramaru," Tanjirou asked inwardly, "where exactly is the demon?"
"The room on the shaded north side," Asuramaru replied. "But the demon itself doesn't seem to be there right now."
Tanjirou frowned.
"Not there?"
"That strong lingering aura ans this is definitely its nest. But the main body has left."
Asuramaru also sounded slightly puzzled.
They had almost walked through the whole Entertainnt District, yet he still had not sensed the demon's precise current location.
Where did it go?
Tanjirou looked at Kyogoku House for a few seconds.
If this was the demon's lair but the demon was absent, charging in now would risk alarming it without gaining enough.
He made his decision quickly.
"Zenitsu, let's go."
Zenitsu blinked. "We're not hunting the demon anymore?"
"We're going back to Ogimoto House first."
"Then why did we co here?"
"To confirm."
Zenitsu opened his mouth, seed to want to complain, then swallowed it back when he saw Tanjirou's expression.
The two turned and disappeared back into the crowded street.
At the sa ti, in a place far removed from Yoshiwara's lanterns, the air was cold and twisted.
Infinity Castle.
Endless wooden platforms, stairways, doors, and rooms hung in impossible angles, folding into one another like a nightmare built by a mad architect. Space had no aning here. Up and down shifted with every pluck of the biwa.
At the central platform stood Akaza.
His upper body was still marked by the traces of battle. Even though his injuries had healed, the mory of that pitch-black crescent slash remained carved deep into him.
For the first ti in a very long while, Upper Moon Three had nearly died.
Figures appeared one after another across the warped structures.
On a staircase not far away stood Upper Moon Six.
Daki sat with her usual arrogance, beautiful and sharp-eyed, while beside her lingered the gaunt, sickly figure of Gyutaro. His body was bent and grotesque, his gaze poisonous, but the aura around him carried a sinister edge.
Elsewhere, a patterned pot rested on a tatami mat.
The surface of the pot shifted.
Then sothing erged.
A pale, hairless, limbless figure twisted out from within, its body warped beyond human sense. Eyes and mouths sat where they should not, turning its very existence into a mockery of form.
Upper Moon Five, Gyokko.
The air remained silent for a mont.
Then a gentle voice broke through the stillness.
"Lord Akaza, it has been so long. Have you grown even stronger than before?"
Akaza's eyes hardened.
He turned.
A man had appeared with a soft smile on his face. He wore a red cap, and long white hair frad his handso features. His rainbow-colored eyes curved pleasantly, as though he had arrived at a reunion rather than a summons from Muzan Kibutsuji.
Upper Moon Two.
Douma.
He opened his fan lightly and greeted the others with cheerful familiarity.
"Long ti no see, everyone. It's so good to see you all again."
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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