As night fell, Chiba Yo, having learned that the jars had been taken away by others, began to search for them like the police.
However, his talent in this area was truly lacking; all he could think of was going to other porcelain shops or places that sold jars to ask around and search, but he ultimately found nothing.
In between, he also checked on the progress of the police, and it was similar to his own.
In the last porcelain shop in town, Chiba Yo handed the drawing to the shop owner.
"Excuse me, do you sell jars of this style here?"
The shop owner took the drawing and looked at it, then looked up at Chiba Yo, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Chiba Yo had seen this kind of look many times during his search; they were clearly doubting his aesthetic taste.
"Customer, we don't have this kind of jar here, but we have many that are much better looking.
Look, which jar here isn't better looking than the one in this drawing? It would definitely be stronger if placed in your home!"
The shop owner showed Chiba Yo the jars in his shop and said to him.
"Sigh…"
Chiba Yo sighed; he had already investigated all the places he could think of, but still hadn't found even one jar of that style.
The shop owner noticed Chiba Yo's behavior and immediately added, "Of course, if you want them, I can custom-make some of these jars for you according to this drawing."
"Thank you, but no need." Chiba Yo rejected the shop owner's suggestion and walked out of the shop with the drawing.
The demon's clue was broken here, and Chiba Yo didn't know how to find that demon now.
While the porcelain shop owners were speaking, Chiba Yo had also used Transparent World to observe their vital signs and found no signs of them lying.
It seems he can only wander around this town tonight and pay attention to the demon's movements…
Chiba Yo thought of a solution that wasn't really a solution.
However, just as he was at a loss, a slightly plump middle-aged man ran towards him, sweating profusely, while also waving at him.
Chiba Yo recognized this man; he was also a porcelain shop owner. The first place he went after leaving the police station was his porcelain shop. This shop owner also told him that he didn't have that kind of jar, so let's call him Shop Owner Number One.
Shop Owner Number One ran breathlessly to Chiba Yo, holding a cloth bag in his hand. He didn't know what was inside, but it looked quite heavy.
"This customer… I got the jars you were looking for earlier… Didn't you say you wanted all of them if I had any? I brought them all for you…"
Shop Owner Number One said to Chiba Yo, panting. Although he was smiling, his face was uglier than if he were crying, and for some reason, his facial muscles seemed to be constantly trembling, and his hands were also shaking.
As he spoke, he opened the cloth bag in his hand, and a very strong fishy smell immediately burst out from inside. If Chiba Yo's endurance hadn't been good, he probably would have vomited directly.
Chiba Yo's mood became excited again after hearing the shop owner's words; the broken clue was now reconnected.
He endured the nausea and looked at the cloth bag. Inside were indeed jars of the same style as in the drawing, and with this fishy smell, Chiba Yo could already confirm that these were the jars the man had mentioned earlier.
"Good, I'll take all of them. But are you sure you've brought all the jars of this style?"
Chiba Yo naturally also noticed Shop Owner Number One's suspicious demeanor; he didn't have this kind of jar when he went there before.
"Of… of course…"
The shop owner's gaze was somewhat evasive.
Under Chiba Yo's gaze, his heart, which had just slightly calmed down, began to beat fast again.
He still had one such jar at home, but he couldn't say it…
Chiba Yo already had some guesses in his mind, but he still calmly asked the shop owner, "May I ask where you got these jars?"
"They were originally in my warehouse… It's just that I have a bad memory and forgot about them. I just happened to find them today when I went to the warehouse to pick up goods…"
Shop Owner Number One said, half-truthfully.
He did find these jars today when he went to the warehouse to pick up goods in the evening, but these jars had indeed appeared out of thin air. He clearly remembered that there were no such jars when he last came to the warehouse.
And… there were other things in the jars.
"If… if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."
Shop Owner Number One directly handed the cloth bag in his hand to Chiba Yo, as if afraid he would change his mind, and then took Chiba Yo's money without counting it and just ran away.
Chiba Yo looked at his receding back, then carried the cloth bag and ran towards a forest he had discovered earlier in the town.
Not long after, Chiba Yo arrived in a dense forest where there were no signs of human presence.
Taking all the jars out of the cloth bag, Chiba Yo found that there were five jars in total. The patterns on them were all different, but the shapes were equally ugly.
Besides that, Chiba Yo sensed a demon's aura on them.
I need to quickly figure out what's going on with these jars, and then go back to that shop owner's store. He must be hiding something from me.
Thinking this, Chiba Yo carefully examined the five jars again.
Suddenly, a huge goldfish spewed out from each of the five jars.
Chiba Yo, who was examining the jars, instinctively drew his nichirin blade and swiftly slashed through the bodies of these five giant goldfish, and then they dissipated like bubbles.
"Hehehe, I'm really lucky. I actually met the guy that adult mentioned so quickly."
A voice that instinctively made one feel disgusted sounded from one of the jars, and then a head emerged from the jar, followed by a scaled body.
"Nice to meet you, let me introduce myself. I am Gyokko." Gyokko emerged halfway from the jar and said to Chiba Yo.
He was in a very good mood now. He had originally chosen another shop owner to sell his jars, and then he learned from this shop owner that someone had been inquiring about the jars he made.
So he felt that he had found a kindred spirit who understood art, and immediately had that shop owner take the jars he made to sell to the person he mentioned.
As it turned out, he didn't expect this person to be the Demon Slayer that Muzan had previously ordered them to kill.
Upper Moon Five…
Chiba Yo recognized Gyokko's identity from the eyes on his forehead and mouth. His first impression was that this guy was really ugly.
Although the demons he had seen before were also relatively deformed, most of them still had a human form, but this one looked quite free-form.
"Given that you understand and appreciate my art, I will, before your death, show you my even more perfect creation…"
"Sun Breathing, First Form: Scarlet Halo."
A rapid lunge, instantly reaching Gyokko, followed by a horizontal slash, and a crimson arc of flaming attack cut through Gyokko's body.