It was winter, and snow was falling heavily.
The world was wrapped in silver; the great mountains were all dressed in shimmering white.
"Phew~"
Yuko arrived at the small town at the foot of the mountain, a faint mist curling from her lips.
"It really is cold… this weather."
Even her lungs felt like they were freezing.
Fortunately, the proper breathing techniques could ease the discomfort of the harsh winter.
Cold air did affect one's breathing technique, but with the right method, she could minimize the discomfort caused by the chill.
The information Yuko had received said that a man-eating monster had appeared in the mountain behind the town. Every night, it descended upon the town and abducted women and children.
Several people had already gone missing.
Yuko glanced left and right—the information seemed accurate.
The sun had not even set yet, but the streets were already deserted. Every household had tightly shut their doors and windows.
She walked down the empty street toward the mountain's base, where a solitary dwelling stood.
Stacks of firewood were piled around it—likely the home of a woodcutter.
In front of the home, a thinly dressed man was sharpening a hatchet.
His body trembled nonstop as he worked, as though he were terrified of something.
"..."
Yuko stepped forward and lightly tapped his shoulder.
"Ah!" The man flinched violently, spinning around and wildly swinging his hatchet as if driven mad.
Then he froze.
Yuko pinched the blade between two fingers, stopping it completely. Looking at the dumbstruck man, she asked softly, "Excuse me, do you know if there's any place in the mountain where something could hide?"
The demon had chosen to abduct people rather than kill them on the spot. That meant it had a lair somewhere in the mountains.
The man continued staring blankly.
Yuko had no choice but to rephrase herself: "I heard there is a demon here. I came because of that."
The man's stiff expression trembled. His face collapsed, and tears streamed uncontrollably down his cheeks.
All the strength left his body. The hatchet fell to the ground as he propped himself up with both hands, tears dripping onto the cold earth.
"Zhi-zi… Zhi-zi, she…"
His choked sobbing slowly filled the air.
Yuko remained silent, simply waiting quietly.
Even through a computer screen, she would have felt the demon's repulsiveness.
Let alone standing here in person. In the two years she had been slaying demons, she had already seen countless tragedies.
Was she sad?
Of course. No one could encounter such things without feeling sympathy and sorrow.
But after experiencing enough, all they could do was kill the demon. Nothing more.
After crying for a while, the man finally calmed down and said hoarsely, "The temple… there's a temple in the mountains. The demon is there."
Yuko frowned slightly. "You've been there?"
The man's eyes dimmed with despair. "Yesterday, the town gathered some people to go up the mountain… everyone died. Only…"
Only he managed to escape when he sensed something was wrong.
"I understand. Please stay here for the night. That thing is not something you can handle," Yuko said, turning to leave now that she had reliable information.
"Wait!" she had barely taken two steps before the man called out.
Yuko tilted her head slightly.
The man forced himself to stand. "The temple is deep in the mountains. If you've never been there, it's easy to get lost… I can take you."
Yuko looked at the sky. The sun still had about an hour before it would set.
"Then I'll trouble you."
The man asked anxiously, "C-can you… really kill that demon?"
Yuko gave a faint smile and tapped the Nichirin blade at her waist. "This isn't for show."
A flicker of hope lit the man's eyes. "Please follow me."
Without another word, he led Yuko into the mountains. Wind and snow swept through the forest, the world ahead a blur of white.
He was right—without a guide, it would be very easy to lose one's way.
After braving the wind and snow for over half an hour, a towering grove of trees parted to reveal a temple hidden deep within the old forest.
The temple's roof was covered in thick snow, its decrepit structure carrying a faint sense of ancient charm.
Yuko didn't have Tanjiro's sensitive sense of smell, but even standing at the entrance, an overwhelming stench of blood hit her.
The man seemed oblivious and pointed inside. "This is the place. Yesterday, everyone… they…"
His voice faltered as he saw the severed limbs scattered in the courtyard.
"Ugh—"
Yuko kept her expression calm as she surveyed the temple. "The sun hasn't set yet. Go back down the mountain."
The man paused, the nausea in his chest momentarily suppressed.
"And you…"
Yuko cut him off. "If I haven't come down by tomorrow morning, it means I've died. Wait calmly. Don't get yourself killed. Others will come to handle it."
"…I understand." The man nodded woodenly. After one last look at Yuko and the corpses of his fellow townsfolk, he turned and descended the mountain.
Ever since joining the Demon Slayer Corps, Yuko had already placed life and death outside herself.
She was not as strong as her two older brothers. Being eaten by a demon at any time wouldn't be surprising.
With the last rays of sunset behind her, Yuko stepped inside the temple.
The scattered limbs suggested five or six bodies—all male, with no signs of being eaten.
Combined with the earlier reports—
A demon that only ate women and children…
Following the trail of blood, Yuko entered the main hall. Several Buddha statues she didn't recognize sat enshrined at the center, and something about them felt wrong.
By all logic, a temple this run-down should have statues covered in dust. Yet the ones before her were spotless, as though someone cleaned them every day.
More importantly, the heavy stench of blood was suffocatingly strong.
Abruptly, without any warning—
The Buddha statue with multiple arms in the center moved its eyes, lowering them toward Yuko as if examining her.
"Oh? A Demon Slayer Corps member?" the statue spoke.
"But a woman? A woman who practices swordsmanship?"
"Can you even swing a sword properly?"
"I've never eaten a female demon slayer before. I wonder what you taste like."
"The flesh of men is too tough—chewy and unpleasant. Women and children are so much more tender."
"Hehehehehe…"
The shrill laughter echoed through Yuko's ears.
She spoke coldly, "Where are the people you abducted?"
The statue's eyes rolled. "Guess?"
Clink.
With a sharp sound, Yuko flicked open the guard of her Nichirin blade. A thin wisp of golden breath slipped from her lips and burst into a streak of golden lightning, shooting straight toward the statue.
Its eyes constricted violently—it clearly hadn't expected her to move so fast.
"Go guess your damn luck." The nonsensical Chinese phrase rang beside its ears, followed by a low voice:
"Thunder Breathing—First Form: Thunderclap and Flash."
A golden bolt of lightning sliced through the air, cleaving the statue's head clean off.
---
+30 Chapters
https:// ko-fi.com/rabi08