Her cool, stunning beauty was more captivating than the moonlight hanging high in the night sky. Just standing there quietly seemed to make the silent mountain forest come alive and become much more beautiful because of her.
A few days ago, the battlefield where Kurozawa and Rui fought was now only a scene of tree remnants and scarred ground. Hongyue's gaze swept over this battlefield, her expression growing colder.
"Who killed Rui?"
Among Hongyue's subordinates, the Lower Moons were actually dispensable. As long as she was willing to expend the effort, she could create Lower Moon demons. Only Upper Moons required rare talent; they were also rare anomalies when they were human.
Among the Lower Moons, only two were valued by Hongyue, who believed they could one day achieve Upper Moon status.
One was the head of the Lower Moons, possessing a strange Blood Demon Art that manipulated dreams. The other was Lower Moon Five, Rui.
Rui possessed multiple Blood Demon Arts. If his hardened threads could be further strengthened, the swordsmen's Nichirin Blades would be useless before him.
Furthermore, his so-called family members were originally very weak demons. They only acquired their Blood Demon Arts and became elite among ordinary demons after receiving gifts from Rui.
In Hongyue's view, Rui had the potential to become an Upper Moon and was worth her attention. The location and status of every demon Hongyue valued were within her perception. Her blood flowed within them, making it impossible to escape her bloodline sensing.
But unexpectedly, a few days ago, Rui's life signal suddenly dimmed and then vanished, all within less than ten minutes.
Her gaze shifted, and Hongyue looked towards a certain spot in the mountains, her sight piercing through layers of trees, looking directly at a woman lying on the grass, humming a tune, and watching the moon.
If Kurozawa were here, he would recognize this woman as the White-Haired Female Demon from that day, although she was in her original form now, not the one Rui had altered.
During the battle with Rui, neither Kurozawa nor Rui had the time to bother with this female demon. When the female demon saw Kurozawa gaining the upper hand, she quietly hid. Afterwards, Kurozawa was too lazy to search the entire mountain for her, so she survived.
Perhaps she had stayed on Mount Natagumo for too long, even if it was under duress, she had developed some feelings for the place. The main reason was that the source of the threat had disappeared, and the female demon no longer wanted to leave Mount Natagumo. After all, she was very familiar with the area, and there were many towns with people nearby, providing a rich source of food.
Humming a little tune and singing, the female demon squinted her eyes, feeling a sense of ease she had never experienced before.
But just as she was happily contemplating the future, a bone-chilling coldness suddenly surfaced in her heart. The hairs on her back stood on end, as if she were being targeted by the most vicious beast.
The female demon suddenly stood up, looking around nervously.
Mount Natagumo was still the same as always, and she was still surrounded by dense trees. There was no rustling of leaves or movement, but the cold feeling never disappeared.
"Wh-What's going on?"
The female demon was a little panicked, so she immediately moved to escape the spot. Just as she stood up, a faint, cool voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
"Come here."
The voice was pleasant, like the sound of a winter stream, but also unusually flat, without any fluctuations, seemingly devoid of emotion. This gave it a primary feeling of chilling coldness.
Not knowing where the voice came from, the female demon intended to continue fleeing.
But as she tried to take a step, she suddenly found her body was out of her control. Then, she watched with her own eyes as she suddenly started running in a certain direction.
A few minutes later, a touch of red appeared in the female demon's vision.
The instant she saw this hint of red, her pupils couldn't help but contract to their limit.
She recognized Hongyue. When she became a demon, the demon's bloodline contained some information, and Hongyue was among it. The bloodline told the female demon that the person before her was the master of all demons.
"M-Mistress..."
The female demon's body involuntarily knelt down, her head bowed low, touching the ground.
She vaguely guessed the reason for Hongyue's arrival. She hadn't expected Rui's death to draw her here. She was now filled with regret, wishing she hadn't stayed on Mount Natagumo.
"Why do you regret it?"
With her red lips slightly parted, Hongyue looked down at the female demon kneeling at her feet and spoke faintly.
In an instant, the female demon's heart pounded like a drum. What she was thinking was no different from speaking directly in Hongyue's eyes.
Under the moonlight, the female demon's breathing became heavy. She spoke with great difficulty, stammering, "I..." She was so nervous that she could barely articulate her words.
Seeing this, Hongyue extended a slender finger.
"Troublesome."
Next, the finger suddenly swelled and extended, transforming into a blood-red flesh tentacle that pierced the female demon's head.
The female demon couldn't even let out a scream, her body trembling violently, as if enduring immense pain. In front of her, Hongyue's eyes were slightly closed, but scene after scene of the female demon's memories flashed through her mind.
In the memory scenes, the female demon manipulated corpses, sending them all to attack a figure. That figure stood in the shadows where the moonlight couldn't reach, but somehow felt familiar to Hongyue.
Suddenly, the figure took a step forward, his body gradually emerging from the darkness inch by inch. With a light chuckle, he violently sent the surrounding corpses flying.
A gentle breeze stirred, and Hongyue's brows furrowed slightly. Her long, thick eyelashes trembled gently over her slightly closed eyes.
"My sun..."
Memories flashed quickly. Hongyue saw the Pitch-Black Aura swirling around Kurozawa's arm and understood the deep sense of despair within it through the female demon's perception. That despair was forged by the deaths of her demons.
"He's not human?"
Hongyue suddenly opened her eyes, which held a rare look of shock.
Suppressing her restless thoughts, Hongyue closed her eyes again, browsing through the subsequent battle scenes.
Kurozawa encountered Rui, was suppressed by Rui's Blood Demon Art, and his Nichirin Blade broke. But then, Kurozawa's aura around him suddenly surged, almost doubling in a few breaths.
Strange, pitch-black markings appeared all over Kurozawa's body and were also imprinted in Hongyue's vision.
Afterwards, the memory scenes shifted to the mountain forest receding backward. The female demon saw Kurozawa overpowering Rui and began to flee from the battle site of Kurozawa and Rui.
She didn't see the final outcome, but Hongyue already had her answer.
She opened her eyes again, her expression unchanged. She stood rooted to the spot, while the female demon had fallen to the ground, completely lifeless, quickly turning to ash and scattering.
After a long while, a black and blue butterfly flew by, drawn to Hongyue, its wings fluttering before her eyes.
Startled by the butterfly, Hongyue raised her head and gently extended her hand. The butterfly obediently landed on her fingertip.
"Demon Slayer Mark... None of that matters."
"You still haven't come to Asakusa. Have you forgotten your promise to me?"
She murmured softly, her gaze unreadable, lost in thought.
After a few dozen seconds, Hongyue's eyes shifted, as if she had remembered something. Then, she looked in a certain direction, revealing a breathtaking smile that could make mountains and rivers lose their color.
"If you won't come to Mount Fujikasane, then I will come find you myself!"
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