For the next two days, Cheng Mo did not act in a hurry.
The hundred-plus gold coins and thirty silver coins gave him a brief respite.
He wandered around Fujisawa Town and its surrounding areas during the day like a true merchant, only he wasn't peddling goods, but carefully woven small talk.
He helped an old woodcutter carry a bundle of firewood, offered him a pinch of low-grade tobacco, and casually asked if there were any taboo places in the mountains that were best avoided.
"Taboo places?"
The old woodcutter sucked on his tobacco, narrowed his eyes, and thought for a moment.
"That dilapidated mountain shrine to the west is one... Years ago, it used to have good incense, but then I heard it wasn't very clean inside. There were strange noises at night, and even livestock wouldn't go near it. It's really eerie."
He then stopped a woman washing clothes by the stream, feigning an inquiry about nearby hunters from whom he could buy fresh game. The woman, however, waved her hand with a look of ill omen: "Don't go! Old Man Heigou from the front village, he was an experienced hunter, but he went into the mountains last month and never returned... When they found him, there was only... Sigh, what a tragedy, he must have been harmed by something foul in the mountains! Those wounds, they definitely weren't made by ordinary animals!"
At a roadside tea stall, he overheard a few passersby discussing in hushed tones how a ronin who had been staying outside of town recently disappeared without a trace, leaving his luggage behind. The authorities came but couldn't find any explanation.
Fragmented information began to take shape in his mind like a puzzle.
The abandoned mountain shrine to the west was the core anomaly, with multiple suspected demon attack incidents in the surrounding area. The victim characteristics were highly consistent, and the activity seemed to be concentrated at night.
During the day, those places looked no different from ordinary mountain forests.
But Cheng Mo did not let down his guard.
After nightfall, he would quietly leave the inn, hide in the shadows at the edge of town, or climb to a high vantage point, activating his Eye of Truth to observe the world under the cover of darkness.
Under his enhanced vision, he could see things ordinary people could not.
A faint, mist-like aura of fear permeated the town, especially around the homes of those who had discussed "demons," where it was even thicker.
And looking towards the western mountain forest, especially the area where the mountain shrine was located, a few extremely faint but very unsettling dark purple auras vaguely flowed through the air, like turbid streams, slowly wriggling.
That was... a non-human aura.
The aura of a demon!
He remembered the marked points where the aura was strongest and made sure to stay far away.
Reason told him that the best course of action was to find the Fuji House, or go directly to a big city to seek clues about the Demon Slayer Corps, and trade medicines and knowledge, rather than personally confronting these monsters.
However... deep at night, as he lay in bed, he could clearly feel the surging power within him, his five senses far exceeding those of ordinary people, and the cold Tang sword and ultraviolet lamp quietly resting in his compass space.
With a sharp weapon in hand, the urge to kill arises!
More importantly, a relatively rational calculation was swirling in his mind: to trade with the Demon Slayer Corps, he needed leverage.
If... if he could independently slay a demon, or even just obtain some effective information or samples about demons, he would have greater initiative in subsequent transactions.
The risk was extremely high, but the potential reward was also immense.
Once this thought emerged, it grew wildly like a vine.
In the afternoon of the third day, a fine drizzle began to fall from the sky, and the lead-gray clouds were so heavy they looked like they could be wrung out.
Visibility dropped significantly, and the light was as thin as smoke.
Cheng Mo, wearing a wide straw hat, walked towards the western mountain forest.
He did not go directly to the mountain shrine with the strongest aura but meticulously surveyed the periphery, finally choosing a narrow mountain valley about a li from the mountain shrine, located downwind.
This was where he speculated the demon's possible activity path.
He took out a wild rabbit from his compass space, which he had caught and stunned the day before, and tied it to a relatively open patch of grass as bait.
He then climbed behind a large rock nearby, patiently lay in wait, lowering his body's functions to a minimum, like a poisonous snake waiting for its prey.
The rain began to fall in a steady patter, wetting his coarse cloth clothes and bringing a chill, but the vigorous qi and blood within him made this slight cold insignificant.
Time passed little by little, with only the sound of rain and the occasional wind in the mountain forest.
After an unknown period, just as the sky turned completely dark and the rain became heavier—
At the edge of his Eye of Truth's vision, a dense, nauseating dark purple aura appeared!
It was rapidly approaching!
Cheng Mo's heart instantly accelerated, but his breathing was forcibly suppressed to an extremely steady rhythm.
He quietly peeked out a bit.
A twisted figure was scurrying from the woods on all fours with inhuman agility, pouncing on the wild rabbit that was still in a drugged stupor.
The creature's skin was pale and festering, its eyes blood-red, and saliva dripped from its mouth. Most horrifyingly, its right arm had mutated into two huge, ghastly white bone blades, like the fangs of a beast!
Cheng Mo immediately correlated it with a certain low-level demon from the anime.
The bone-bladed demon greedily tore at the rabbit, and the fresh blood stimulated it to let out excited growls.
Now was the time!
Cheng Mo suddenly stood up from behind the rock, his hand tightly gripping the portable high-power ultraviolet lamp, aimed it at the demon, and fiercely pressed the switch!
Buzz—!
An UVC band ultraviolet light, invisible to the naked eye but deadly to demons, instantly shot out, precisely enveloping the bone-bladed demon's entire head and right arm bone blade.
"Aoooh ah ah ah—!!!"
An incomparably shrill shriek instantly pierced the rainy night!
The demon's head and the pair of bone blades emitted large amounts of white smoke as if doused with concentrated sulfuric acid. Its skin and bones charred, carbonized, and cracked at a visible rate!
It frantically shook its head, trying to escape the source of extreme pain, its movements completely distorted by the agony.
Cheng Mo's heart pounded, but his hand was surprisingly steady, continuously scorching the opponent with ultraviolet light.
However, the low-level demon's regenerative ability began to manifest. Although the burned areas were constantly carbonizing, new granulation tissue was desperately trying to wriggle and repair itself.
The intense pain, instead, thoroughly unleashed its ferocity!
It suddenly raised its head, its blood-red eyes instantly locking onto Cheng Mo on the rock. The malice and hunger in its gaze almost overflowed!
"Human!!! I'll kill you!!!"
Completely disregarding its still-smoking head and shattered bone blades, it suddenly exerted force with all four limbs, charging straight at Cheng Mo like a cannonball, bringing with it a fishy wind .
Its speed far exceeded Cheng Mo's estimation!
Cheng Mo's pupils contracted. He immediately put away the ultraviolet lamp. With a thought, the gleaming Tang horizontal sword instantly appeared in his hand!
He gripped the sword with both hands and, relying on the strength and reaction speed brought by his Myriad Realms Physique, he brought the sword down fiercely on the charging demon's shadow!
Clang—!
Sparks flew!
The Tang sword accurately struck the demon's other intact arm, but it made a dull sound like cutting into hard rubber.
The counter-shock from the sword made Cheng Mo's wrist numb.
Such tough flesh!
The demon cried out in pain, roaring, and its broken, slightly regenerating bone blade swept horizontally with a chilling whoosh.
Cheng Mo instinctively stepped back and twisted his body to dodge. His movements, to an ordinary person, were extremely fast, but against the demon's attack speed, it was still a fraction of a second too slow!
Rip!
The edge of the cold bone blade grazed the clothes on his chest and abdomen, instantly cutting a long gash in the thick coarse cloth.
A burning sting came from his skin; he was definitely cut.
The shadow of death instantly enveloped him!
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Cheng Mo's forehead, mixing with the rain.
His heart almost leaped out of his chest.
For the first time, he clearly realized that an increase in physical fitness did not mean a synchronous increase in combat experience!
Facing this kind of monstrous creature that defied logic, his subconscious fear and control over his body still had delays and misjudgments!
It was this tiny difference that completely put him on the defensive!
The demon's attacks were like a torrential storm. Its broken bone blades and sharp claws came at him wildly, carrying a strong bloody scent and brutal killing intent.
Cheng Mo could only rely on his superhuman reactions and speed, clumsily blocking and dodging. The Tang sword collided with the demon's limbs, making ear-splitting thuds.
He was completely suppressed, constantly in peril. Several times, he barely managed to dodge fatal attacks by instinct and luck. The muddy ground, slick with rain, made his footing unstable and made it difficult to exert force.
This can't go on!
He would die!