After leaving the porcelain shop, Chiba Yo asked for directions to the local police station.
He went to investigate and found many police officers inside, and he also didn't know where they had put those pots.
The situation was now a bit troublesome; to get those pots, he would have to sneak into the police station, and since he didn't know where they were, just searching for them would take a lot of time.
It was impossible to do this during the day, as the police inside weren't blind.
But Chiba Yo didn't want to wait until night, as by then, someone might have already been harmed.
Sitting on a bench by the roadside, looking at the nearby police station, Chiba Yo racked his brain but couldn't come up with a solution that would satisfy both conditions.
It seems I'll just have to force my way in…
Chiba Yo thought with some helplessness; this was the best method he could think of at the moment.
He wasn't very good at this sort of thing; for him, it was best if demons came to find him, and then they could just start fighting directly. He even wanted Muzan to bring the rest of the demons to him for a decisive battle.
Standing up, Chiba Yo planned to buy some things to prepare. Although he had decided to force his way in, he couldn't just go in unprepared. At the very least, he had to cover his face to prevent being seen and immediately becoming a wanted man.
Moreover, Chiba Yo also planned to try sneaking in first; it wouldn't be too late to force his way in if he was discovered.
However, just then, Chiba Yo suddenly noticed a commotion inside the police station. A large group of police officers ran out, then dispersed to search for something in the vicinity.
"The culprit must not have gone far with so many pots! Hurry and search!" a police officer shouted loudly.
Before Chiba Yo could even ponder what had happened, one of the police officers approached him.
"Did you see anyone suspicious pass by here just now? He should have been carrying many porcelain pots, so he might have had a large bag or something," the police officer ran up to Chiba Yo and asked him.
Isn't that what I wanted to do…
Chiba Yo fell into confusion; it seemed someone had beaten him to it.
"No," Chiba Yo shook his head. He hadn't seen anyone like that during his time here. If he had been a little later, he might have become the person the police officer was talking about.
"May I ask what happened? If possible, I'd like to help," Chiba Yo asked the police officer.
"A batch of pots that were evidence suddenly disappeared. They look roughly like this. If you find any pots that look like this, we hope you can provide us with the lead."
The police officer told Chiba Yo what he could, then took out a sketch and handed it to him. It depicted a pot with floral patterns.
Not long after they had brought the shop owner back, they discovered that the pots they had previously confiscated had disappeared, with only one remaining.
They immediately assumed the criminal wanted to destroy evidence, but the criminal they had caught was still safely in jail and couldn't possibly have gone out to destroy these pots, and without leaving a single trace.
Although they hadn't figured out what exactly was going on, they were certain these pots were important clues, so they immediately dispatched people to look for them.
Chiba Yo took the drawing and found that the pot on it was indeed as the man had said; the patterns were nothing special, but the shape was indeed somewhat uncomplimentary.
"Okay, if I find anything, I'll let you know," Chiba Yo nodded and replied.
The police officer nodded in satisfaction and then turned and left.
It seems there's no need to sneak in or force my way in now…
Chiba Yo thought, looking at the drawing in his hand.
At the same time…
In the underground warehouse of another porcelain shop in town, a pot identical to the one in the drawing was placed in the most inconspicuous corner of the warehouse. A scaly hand suddenly reached out from the pot, then took out pots of identical design and placed them in the warehouse.
Then, a half-body with an incredibly hideous appearance crawled out of the pot.
"A bunch of artless insects! Not a single one of them can appreciate my perfect art!"
Gyokko trembled with rage, his two mouths where his eyes should be screaming furiously.
All these pots were created by his Blood Demon Art. After these pots were confiscated by the police, he used the space inside the pot to bring other pots over, leaving only one behind.
A month ago, to complete the mission Muzan had given to the Upper Ranks, he came here to find the young man with the flame Breath Styles / Marks on his forehead.
Upon arriving here, he discovered that many porcelain shops had opened in this town. Extremely confident in his own art, he wanted to see how many people would bow down to his talent.
So he made many pots and mixed them into the warehouses of these porcelain shops at night. He himself also hid inside a pot and chose a porcelain shop with sluggish business, making even more pots, thinking that with his pots here, this shop's business would surely boom.
And he himself would devour all these people after they had properly praised his art.
However, he didn't expect that the shop owner, upon discovering him, immediately tried to throw him away.
Infuriated, he directly crawled out of the pot, and the shop owner immediately fainted from fright.
However, Gyokko did not choose to eat him. Instead, he threatened him to sell the pots he made at the highest price at night. If he couldn't sell them all within a month, he would eat him. Then, he smashed the warehouse floor with a punch, demonstrating his power.
The terrified shop owner naturally dared not refuse. Every night, he went out to promote these pots. However, nearly a month passed, and he still hadn't sold a single pot. Not a single person was willing to buy these pots.
Although not a single pot was sold, the shop owner, relying on his shrewdness, constantly boasted about how perfect the pots made by Gyokko were and blamed all the faults on those who were unwilling to buy the pots, thus temporarily saving his own life.
And Gyokko, upon learning of this, was naturally furious to the point of exploding. That very night, he used the pot to directly find the people the shop owner had provided who were unwilling to buy his pots, and killed all living creatures in their entire families, turning them into pots.
After calming himself down, Gyokko became a little more composed.
"Since no one there can appreciate my art, let's see what the artistic standards of the people here are like. If they're still like those insects over there, then these artless insects have no need to continue existing.
I'll just turn them all into my materials, shoo shoo shoo…"
After a few strange laughs, Gyokko retreated back into his pot.
At this moment, he had already forgotten the mission Muzan had given him, but someone would soon help him remember it.