The vagrant who had just been urinating by the roadside had, for some reason, caught up to her.
"Hey, where did you come from, kid? Why haven't I seen you before..."
The vagrant reached out to her with an unfriendly expression, his hand about to land on her shoulder.
Mizuki was about to dodge when the vagrant suddenly stopped, his words trailing off. His hazy, drunken eyes looked at Mizuki's chest, immediately widening.
"Hehe, Miss, are you lost?"
"How did you end up in a place like this all by yourself?"
The vagrant's body odor, mixed with the foul smell of alcohol, wafted into Mizuki's nose, making her feel a little dizzy.
"Want me to take you home?"
The other party spoke flippantly, even making a gesture as if to embrace her, extending his perverted hand.
Mizuki's eyelids lowered slightly, and she subtly shifted her body to dodge the vagrant's attack, then extended her right foot.
With a bang, she tripped the vagrant to the ground.
The vagrant's drunkenness was alleviated by the pain of the fall. He turned around and angrily cursed with an ill-tempered tone.
"Hey! You stinking bi—"
Mizuki expressionlessly stomped on his face, fiercely pinning him to the ground.
On the ground, a suspicious liquid flowed along the road to his face.
That nauseating smell, coupled with the splitting headache from his head being pressed to the ground, instantly sobered him up.
"Ah!!" The vagrant screamed, cursing viciously, "You damn stinking bastard, I'll definitely..."
Mizuki's foot pressure gradually increased. The vagrant struggled, found it useless, and quickly begged for mercy.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Miss, please be magnanimous."
Mizuki's foot remained on his face, the pressure undiminished, as she said faintly, "I have a question for you."
The vagrant quickly said, "Please, speak!"
"I heard that some girls have gone missing nearby. Do you know about it?"
"Yes, yes!"
"I heard it was the work of man-eating demons?"
The vagrant first cried out in a pleading tone, "Miss, I'm about to die from the pain~"
Mizuki withdrew her foot. The vagrant quickly scrambled up, knelt on the ground, and rubbed his cheek.
"Too slow."
Mizuki's cold voice made him shiver. Without lifting his head, he quickly said,
"It's not some man-eating demon at all."
"Oh? Then what exactly happened?" Mizuki's eyes narrowed slightly. Although her senses had dulled due to various mixed odors as she walked, she hadn't detected the slightest trace of a demon's presence.
The vagrant dared not conceal anything: "I'm not too sure about the details, I only know that their parents sent the person away."
"Where does that family live?"
Mizuki frowned slightly. Human trafficking?
In this era, such human trafficking incidents were indeed attributed to gods and ghosts, precisely to deter those involved from investigating further.
When Mizuki was in the Demon Slayer Corps, she had also encountered similar false reports.
Upon arriving at the scene, they would discover that the so-called demons were actually false rumors spread by villains to cover up their actions.
In ancient times, it was difficult to find people involved in human trafficking because information transmission was too slow.
Moreover, this was done by the family themselves.
It was clearly for money that they sent their daughter away.
In this era, there were countless people who would do such things, and even the authorities would turn a blind eye.
There was no point in bringing the person back; the parents would not acknowledge her and would instead think she was meddling.
"Just turn left up ahead, the house with a stone table in front is it." The vagrant first pointed Mizuki in a direction, then timidly asked, "Um... can I go now?"
Mizuki was deep in thought and waved her hand without thinking.
She had no mind to deal with hooliganism.
The vagrant scrambled away a couple of steps, then suddenly noticed a stone by the roadside.
A thought suddenly sprouted in his mind.
After all, she was just a woman. He had just been muddled and caught off guard.
The vagrant recalled the scene of being stomped underfoot, and the hatred in his mind deepened.
You lowly bitch!
He picked up the stone by the roadside, quietly came up behind Mizuki, licked his lips, a ruthless glint in his eyes, and swung the stone at Mizuki's head.
Hiss~
In mid-air, a dark line of blood spurted.
The vagrant was stunned for a moment, realizing that the stone in his hand hadn't hit Mizuki's head. He couldn't help but wave his arm.
Hiss~
Gushing blood sprayed from his arm onto his face. The delayed pain instantly overwhelmed his brain.
"Ah!!!"
The vagrant screamed loudly, causing the nearby sleeping vagrants to instinctively cast their gaze.
When they realized it was a personal vendetta, they quickly lowered their heads and played dead, pretending they hadn't heard or seen anything.
After all, in a place like this, it wasn't surprising for a corpse to appear at any time.
No one paid any attention.
On the snow-white blade, a little blood slowly seeped in.
It was a sword made of her flesh and blood, so it could naturally devour living things.
Mizuki raised her demon blade and placed it next to the man's neck.
Only then did the vagrant notice that she had two katana tucked into her waist.
Compared to life and death, the pain in his arm didn't seem so bad anymore.
"Spare, spare me..."
Mizuki slightly raised her head, and a red light flickered in her eyes hidden beneath her bangs.
"Scram!"
The vagrant stared blankly at the red light for a moment, then, after confirming in his mind that he wasn't hallucinating, his expression immediately became somewhat frantic.
"A demon!"
The vagrant's sanity collapsed, and a foul stench emanated from his crotch as he scrambled and crawled away into the distance.
Mizuki didn't mind giving such a person a little punishment.
As for whether he could survive after losing an arm, given his financial situation, it ceased to matter the moment he picked up that stone.
Because of his loud screams, more people began to pay attention.
Although it was most likely not the work of a demon... since she was already here, she might as well go and check it out.
Mizuki sighed inwardly, put away her demon blade, and headed in the direction the vagrant had pointed.
There was a stone table in front of the house.
Mizuki saw it immediately after turning the corner. Candlelight flickered inside the house, and noisy sounds, like an argument, emanated from within.
Her eyes flickered, and she stealthily moved to the side to listen.
Inside, it seemed to be a man and a woman.
"How could you send Kyoko away without my permission, you bastard!" A sorrowful female voice rang out.
"I did this for Kyoko's own good, what do you know?!"
Hearing this, Mizuki's eyelids lowered slightly. Was it really human trafficking?
Although she was sorry, she couldn't intervene in such matters.
Mizuki turned to leave.
"That sect is nothing but a scam! Aren't you just pushing Kyoko into a pit of fire?!"
Mizuki's steps paused, and she stopped.
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