After hearing Kurozawa's words, Hongyue nodded and obediently stepped back a few paces.
Hongyue's docile reaction always gave Kurozawa the illusion that he was the more powerful one, the one in control of the situation.
But in reality, Kurozawa knew his limits; if they actually fought, he wouldn't stand a chance. Hongyue could probably just hang him up and beat him senseless.
"Still need to work hard, can't let Hongyue keep suppressing me." Another motivation for Kurozawa to gain Potential Points was added.
He strode forward, deliberately walking towards where the sunlight was moving.
The closer he got, the stronger the heart-pounding feeling became.
It was like being a normal person standing before a wall of flames; with every step closer, the heat washing over him became more scorching.
Kurozawa endured the instinctive urge to retreat, walking quickly. A few seconds later, he reached the shadow of an eave, just half a meter away from the sunlight.
So close to his fatal natural enemy, Kurozawa felt his heart pounding *thump-thump-thump*, and his body cells screamed at him to get away quickly.
"Hmm... this feeling... even nascent Demons that have fallen into chaos will instinctively avoid sunlight."
Even in the early morning hours, most Demons would feel an invisible pressure and start searching for shadows to hide from the impending sun.
Deep in the shadows, Kurozawa's eyes reflected a patch of sunlight.
He slowly reached out a hand, his movement firm.
When his hand was still a few centimeters away from the sunlight, before even touching it directly, Kurozawa saw the skin of his palm seemingly writhing, like ripples spreading on water. On his nearest fingertips, waves of pain were already arriving, and a hint of charring was vaguely visible.
*Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.* Kurozawa's hand smoked, and at the same time, a searing pain came from the fingertips that had touched the sunlight.
The pain was so intense and unbearable that Kurozawa couldn't help but gasp.
"Hiss... that really f*cking hurts!"
*Whoosh*! Kurozawa pulled back his hand, feeling his eyes slightly moisten.
"Just a physiological reaction to intense pain, definitely not crying!" To avoid being seen by Hongyue, Kurozawa quickly reached up and wiped his eyes.
When he was human, facing Gyutaro's barrage of blood sickles, the pain that felt like being slowly sliced didn't make Kurozawa react. His will had always been strong, and after becoming a Demon, his tolerance for pain had doubled.
But sunlight, the sunlight that nurtured all things, was the fatal bane of the Demon body.
Its damage to the Demon body seemed like intensified Pitch-Black Aura, directly targeting both the soul and the flesh simultaneously. The pain alone was incredibly hard to bear.
The pain from just now seemed branded in his mind, so clear that just thinking about it made his fingertips ache faintly.
Kurozawa hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and extended his entire left palm.
*Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle*. Like snowflakes in the scorching sun, Kurozawa watched firsthand as his skin rapidly melted away in the space of a breath. Then, the bright red muscle turned charred, flaking off piece by piece, turning to ash in mid-air before even hitting the ground.
In less than five breaths, only the bare white skeleton remained of his hand.
As the remaining blood vessels clinging to it evaporated, the bones seemed to age thousands of years in an instant, visibly darkening. Cracks spread, covering the hand bones in moments, leaving them on the verge of collapse.
A few more seconds passed, and with a gentle breeze, Kurozawa's hand turned into fine dust and vanished into the air, as if it had dried out for billions of years and completely turned to sand.
Throughout the entire process, Kurozawa's brows were tightly furrowed, and his body trembled slightly as he endured the intense pain.
Afterward, Kurozawa retracted his left arm and wiped his eyes again with his intact right hand.
Looking closely, the area before his wrist was empty. The flesh at the severed end was completely charred, without a single drop of blood flowing out.
Kurozawa attempted to regenerate.
But unlike the instantaneous and perfect regeneration he was used to, the flesh at the wrist port wriggled and proliferated with great difficulty. The regeneration speed was reduced many times over, and it consumed significantly more physical energy.
Kurozawa estimated that with this kind of regeneration, regenerating only minor injuries like severed limbs four or five times would cause him to have a strong appetite and desire to eat humans.
"Bathing in sunlight... about twelve seconds and I'd be gone without a trace." The sunlight crept closer inch by inch, and Kurozawa retreated step by step, his brow furrowed.
"Along with the intense pain, it's difficult to think rationally and effectively."
Recalling the pain from moments ago, Kurozawa's steps halted, and a few drops of cold sweat appeared on his forehead involuntarily.
He didn't want to experience that kind of pain again; it was an unbearable agony that felt like his soul was melting and shattering piece by piece.
"Areas injured by sunlight have their regenerative ability suppressed. It takes longer and more physical energy. The time is roughly three times longer, and the physical energy consumption is even greater, about five times more."
"Hmm... this is too deadly." Kurozawa deeply understood how great a threat the sun posed to the Demon body.
The Immortal Demon Body is strong, yes, but this flaw is equally severe, almost instant death upon contact, completely unreasonable.
"Ah, it seems I have to spend this Potential Point," Kurozawa said helplessly.
He didn't want to have such a fatal weakness.
In the original timeline, Muzan Kibutsuji died in the sunlight. The battle against the Demon Slayer Corps was almost a one-sided victory, but he died due to his own flaw. Kurozawa didn't want to be the second Muzan to fall in the sunlight.
Turning back to Hongyue's side, the two quickly retreated towards the mountain.
The mountain forest had dense foliage, trees with thick canopies, and deep, dark caves where no light reached, enough for them to hide.
In fact, most Demons hid in mountain forests during the day, rarely in human buildings, because if they were discovered by the Demon Slayer Corps, the opponents would simply destroy the building, leaving no chance to fight back. There would be nowhere to complain even in death.
Watching the sunlight accelerate, Kurozawa and Hongyue plunged into the forest.
About ten minutes later, they emerged in a slightly narrow, gloomy mountain cave.
The entrance of the cave was initially very narrow, but it was just enough to block out more sunlight. The space inside was slightly larger, forming an irregular circle.
At Kurozawa's feet, there was also a black bear clutching its head, looking dazed.
This unlucky bear with a big head and round ears was probably the cave's original resident. A moment ago, seeing Kurozawa and Hongyue, it had lunged at them with fierce eyes, only to be hit squarely by Kurozawa's punch.
However, Kurozawa rarely encountered wild beasts like black bears, so he had held back his strength and didn't hit it too hard. After all, it wasn't a threat to him. Even the weakest Demon or official Swordsman was stronger than the fiercest wild beast.
If sunlight happened to enter from a tricky angle, he could use it to block the light; its size was decent.
"Kind of interesting."
Kurozawa released his aura, scaring the black bear.
It first stiffened all over, then suddenly bolted, trying to run out of the cave. However, Kurozawa grabbed it by the scruff of the neck with one hand and threw it back, casually pinning it to the ground.
The black bear struggled for a moment, then probably realizing it was futile, stopped moving, looking utterly resigned, as if saying, "Do what you will."
"Don't worry, I won't kill you," Kurozawa said with a smile, then plopped down on it.
The cave was dark and damp, without even a place to sit. This bear, being plump and sturdy, felt quite soft to the touch, making it a pretty good temporary cushion.
Taking Hongyue's fair and slender hand, Kurozawa patted the bear's back, which was lying on the ground too scared to move again: "Sit here."
Lifting her red skirt, Hongyue sat down without any hesitation, then turned her head to look at Kurozawa.
Kurozawa touched his face: "What are you looking at?"
Hongyue chuckled softly: "I saw tears in your eyes."
In the dimly lit cave, a certain person's expression instantly froze.
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