Deep night.
Mizuki awoke from her sleep feeling uneasy, having already forgotten what she dreamed, but she hadn't felt this way in many years since becoming a demon.
Demons actually don't need sleep, but Mizuki hadn't lost her human emotions and was used to it.
Humans who undergo Demonization usually gradually lose their human emotions, especially those who have just been transformed into demons; their minds are often filled only with the thought of eating people.
Only after they consume humans does their mental clarity gradually return. The more humans they eat, the closer the demon's intelligence becomes to that of a normal person.
The reason she did not experience this situation was likely due to the blue spider lily, coupled with the sufficient amount of Muzan's blood Michikatsu injected into her body.
Considering Michikatsu's relationship with Muzan, this was highly probable.
After Mizuki woke up, the anxiety in her heart still hadn't dissipated, as if something was about to happen, or... was currently happening.
The blockage in her chest was no different from when she first dreamed of Michikatsu becoming a demon.
Mizuki adjusted her breathing and walked out of the room, trying to relax her mind.
The wide-open main door caught her eye, and Mizuki quickly sensed Yoriichi's presence.
None.
Mizuki's heart jumped for a moment. She went to Yoriichi's room and knocked. Receiving no answer, she immediately pushed the door open. Sure enough, it was empty.
Where could an eighty-year-old man go at this hour?
But for some reason, her sixth sense gave her the answer: outside the city walls.
A crimson blood moon hung in the sky. The pagoda outside the city was close by, and the anxiety in Mizuki's heart intensified.
Arriving at the clearing in front of the pagoda, the ground reflected the dappled moonlight, and a familiar scent of blood drifted into Mizuki's nose.
Michikatsu... her heart sank.
Mizuki's gaze probed further ahead. Under her excellent eyesight, a pile of shattered cloth fragments lay scattered there.
Mizuki's pupils suddenly constricted, and her breathing hitched.
She walked over with heavy steps. What greeted her eyes was Yoriichi's body, cut in half at the waist.
Mizuki froze for a moment. Her wine-red eyes instantly transformed into golden vertical pupils, with savage blood vessels spreading across her eyeballs.
Mizuki ground her teeth and squeezed out two hateful words from her throat.
"Michikatsu!"
Even when he betrayed his master to become a demon, and even when Michikatsu transformed her into a demon, Mizuki never resented him.
Only this time... This was your full blood brother! Did becoming a demon make you lose all your humanity?!
Mizuki clenched her fists tightly, completely unaware of the cold blood dripping from her palms where her fingernails dug into her flesh.
Under extreme rage, her wine-red long hair faintly showed signs of turning white... "Mizuki..."
Suddenly, a gentle voice sounded unexpectedly from behind her.
Mizuki instinctively turned around.
A head of flowing fiery red hair danced in the air. Yoriichi, looking like a young man of twenty and radiating a faint white glow, was gazing at her gently.
Mizuki was too astonished to speak, merely staring blankly at Yoriichi.
A demon?
No, it should be called a ghost.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain what she was seeing.
She remembered... Tanjirou seemed to have had a similar experience.
"Brother..." Tears welled up in Mizuki's eyes, and she gritted her teeth in grief and indignation. "That bastard, I will definitely sever his head!"
That faithless and unrighteous person—she had actually harbored the delusion of changing him!
How ridiculous!
Yoriichi stared at her for a moment, then suddenly reached out and stroked her head.
Although there was no physical sensation, it miraculously made her feel warmth.
Yoriichi's gentle voice sounded.
"It's alright."
Just as she had comforted Yoriichi back then.
"My time is limited. From now on, you will have to rely only on yourself," Yoriichi said, with a hint of reluctance in his tone.
Mizuki took a deep breath. Although there were still tears in her eyes, she said with unwavering determination, "I will definitely cut off Muzan's head."
Yoriichi smiled gently: "If it's Mizuki, you will definitely be able to do it."
Mizuki opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but Yoriichi's body suddenly began to dissipate.
"Brother..."
Just as she started speaking, she heard Yoriichi's voice.
"If you feel tired, why not stop and rest for a while?"
Mizuki's eyes flickered, lost in thought for a moment.
Yoriichi's smiling face vanished into the air.
After standing rooted to the spot in a daze for a long time, Mizuki heavily collected Yoriichi's corpse and nichirin blade.
The flute Yoriichi always carried was gone. She figured Michikatsu must have taken it.
The thought made Mizuki feel sick enough to vomit.
Yoriichi left no last words about where he wished to be buried, but Mizuki thought he would want to sleep beside Uta... As winter approached, Mizuki traveled to Tankichi's house under the cover of night.
Things were different now; Tankichi and his wife had passed away many years ago. Mizuki did not want to interact with their descendants, lest it only increase her sorrow.
Heavy snow sealed the mountains. As Mizuki passed Tankichi's house, she was drawn by the firelight in the yard near the entrance.
Hidden in the twilight woods, she witnessed Tankichi's descendants practicing the Sun Breathing Sword Form.
Sun Breathing had indeed been passed down.
Mizuki withdrew her gaze and brought Yoriichi's remains to Uta's grave. After praying with her hands clasped, she dug up Uta's grave and buried Yoriichi's remains alongside her... She was alone again.
The difference from before was this:
She had nowhere left to return to.
Mizuki wrapped Yoriichi's nichirin blade tightly in white cloth and tucked it into her waist, especially wrapping the tsuba securely so that demons would not recognize it.
It formed a pair with the snow-white demon blade at her waist.
The nichirin blade cuts demons, the demon blade cuts humans... With nowhere to go, Mizuki wandered aimlessly across the land.
Under the night sky, scattered lights appeared from a distant village, and faint black smoke floated in the air.
It was the Sengoku Period, with warlords carving up territories and war breaking out everywhere.
In this era where the weak were prey to the strong, burning, killing, looting, and massacring villages were common occurrences.
A strong scent of demons rushed into her nostrils, and the presence was coming from more than one location.
Clearly, the village that had just undergone war was now occupied by demons.
In all these years, Mizuki hadn't encountered demons many times. Even during the Taisho Period, demons mostly existed only in legends and storybooks, used to scare children.
But since she had encountered them, she would not ignore them.
Mizuki stepped into the village. Severed limbs and scattered corpses were visible everywhere.
Compared to war, the impact caused by demons could only be described as insignificant.
Mizuki did not stop. By now, such food could no longer sway her will.
Mizuki walked toward the area with the densest demonic presence, a clearing in the center of the village.
The further she walked inside, the more corpses she found along the path.
The corpses also began to show signs of animal gnawing.
Mizuki knew those weren't animals; they were demons.
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