The only person who could be crouching at the entrance of Lingqing's 'shop' was Yushiro.
New souls often appeared in Rukongai, along with new residents. However, the overall atmosphere remained conservative and clannish. Someone like Lingqing, who lived a solitary life focused on training and hunting Hollows, would find it very difficult to integrate into the local community within just one month.
Although Lingqing never actually intended to integrate into this place anyway.
From the moment he temporarily settled here, he knew that sooner or later he would definitely leave this place.
Even though he could maintain fairly good relationships with the adults around him due to business and territorial matters, he simply didn't have the energy or means to deal with children.
However, Yushiro, who could be considered Lingqing's first real friend in the Soul Society, had always maintained the same attitude toward Lingqing.
Sometimes Lingqing could hear comments about Yushiro from the people around him. They were all amazed by Yushiro's surprising growth.
"Brother Lingqing."
Seeing Lingqing walking over from the street, Yushiro jumped up excitedly.
However, probably because he had been crouching for quite a while, his legs had likely gone numb. He stood up in an awkward posture, and while it wasn't painful, he twisted his face in a rather grotesque manner.
But when Lingqing came to his side, he still showed Lingqing a big smile.
Touching his nose with his hand, he said proudly to Lingqing with a look of seeking praise:
"I found out some news that you'll definitely be interested in."
"Oh? That's really good news."
Lingqing, who already had thoughts of preparing to leave this place, didn't immediately say so. He hadn't decided exactly when to leave yet.
Instead of patting Yushiro's head like comforting a child, he gently patted his shoulder.
Lingqing opened the tightly closed door.
Sunlight streamed through the opened door into the room. Half of the entire room was filled with various items.
Only the other half contained tables, chairs, beds, and other things, giving it some sense of daily life.
This place was originally used by Yushiro's family as a warehouse to store some goods. Originally, they planned to clear out all these goods and store them elsewhere, but Lingqing stopped them.
He only needed a temporary place to stay, not a permanent residence, so there was no need to go through excessive trouble.
Yushiro followed Lingqing into the room, but his appearance was slightly different from what Lingqing saw.
The smile on his face was somewhat forced, and he reached out to wipe away fine sweat that had appeared at some point. This wasn't sweat from waiting outside in the sun for a long time.
Rather, it was as if he was constantly enduring some invisible pressure - sweat seeping out from his body bearing oppression close to its limits.
Lingqing entered the room, got a chair for Yushiro, and brought some snacks and homemade fruit juice to place on the table.
Only then did he continue the conversation.
"You said there's someone in Zaraki District who meets my requirements?"
"I can only say that there is indeed such a legend there, and after repeated confirmations, it can be confirmed that it's not just a rumor."
Without touching the snacks on the table, Yushiro was quite interested in the fruit juice Lingqing had prepared for him. After drinking half the cup in one go, he held the remaining half while drinking and talking to Lingqing.
In a trance, his face seemed to be covered by mysterious shadows, and he spoke in a slow, low voice like someone telling a horror story:
"North Rukongai District 80, the legend of the killer demon of Zaraki."
The legend of the killer demon of Zaraki was quite famous throughout all of Rukongai.
Even within the same West Rukongai, there was a vast distance between District 45 and District 80. It could be said that except for monsters like Lingqing, it would be difficult to find even one soul who could run from that place to District 45 in several hundred years.
Not to mention North Rukongai District 80, which wasn't even in the same direction as West Rukongai.
But strangely, such a legend really existed, and it wasn't something that appeared recently - it was said to have been circulating for several hundred years.
It was said that in North Rukongai District 80, Zaraki, there was a killer demon whose true identity was unknown. Whether human or Hollow, anything that entered Zaraki District would encounter that killer demon and be killed by him.
It was said that in the past, there were records of Shinigami mobilizing in full force to subjugate him, but in the end, that killer demon still occupied Zaraki District. After that, the Shinigami never went to that area again.
In Rukongai, this had become a legend that adults used to scare children. If children misbehaved, adults would threaten them: "If you don't behave, we'll take you to Zaraki."
No more words were needed - just this one sentence was enough.
This was the significance of the Zaraki District killer demon legend.
Actually, the legend of the Zaraki killer demon was most prevalent not in the first fifty districts, but in the chaotic places like the last thirty districts.
Although Zaraki District had a fierce reputation, it paradoxically attracted some people who considered themselves powerful, or those who wanted to use this legend to boost their own reputation by becoming 'the strong one who slayed the killer demon.'
North Rukongai District 80 could be said to be the most chaotic and bloodthirsty place in all of Rukongai. Too many souls who loved slaughter or battle gathered there, and too many souls had left their blood and lives there.
From the very beginning, Lingqing had some interest in that place, but at that time, Lingqing's primary consideration was still survival.
After coming to District 45 where he could live without worry, he finally turned back to consider the matter of Zaraki District.
In Rukongai, there were anomalies like himself, so it wouldn't be strange if Zaraki District had a similar anomaly.
Even though so far, Lingqing had encountered only trash that he could cut down one by one or two by two, who could guarantee that quantity couldn't produce quality?
Just like how Lingqing hadn't yet gone to Seireitei and Shin'ō Academy to see for himself, but he could assert that even in the gathering place of Shinigami, there would definitely be lazy, good-for-nothing Shinigami who just coasted along.
The principle was the same.
Therefore, he asked Yushiro to investigate for him.
Generally speaking, although adults used the Zaraki killer demon to scare children, they would immediately stop them once the children wanted to delve deeper into this legend.
But when Yushiro's mother heard that this was something Lingqing wanted to inquire about, not only did she not scold or stop Yushiro, she actively helped instead.
Finally, Yushiro brought accurate information to Lingqing.
"Do you like it?"
Lingqing smiled as he watched Yushiro put down his cup.
"...It tastes pretty good."
Yushiro scratched his face somewhat embarrassedly. He probably felt a bit foolish about himself.
"That's good. I have some more. Take it back to drink later. I might be going on a long trip soon."
Hearing Lingqing's words, Yushiro was slightly stunned, then asked in a tentative tone:
"...As expected, you're going to Zaraki District? Does Brother Lingqing also want to challenge the killer demon of Zaraki District?"
"Don't show that worried expression."
Lingqing laughed helplessly and reached out to vigorously ruffle Yushiro's hair, messing it up.
"I'm not going to throw my life away. If the guy occupying that place is terrifyingly powerful beyond imagination, I'll run away immediately. With my power, I shouldn't be unable to even escape, right?"