Chapter 116 That Spider Mountain.

...

There was a feeling of soul-to-soul confrontation, and Tanjuro couldn't help but shudder.

Tsugikuni Yoriichi smiled, and he slowly withdrew his gaze.

He, who was born transparent, noticed something wrong with Sumiyoshi from just now.

The way of walking, the tone of speech, and even the rhythm of the heartbeat have slight changes.

Although he didn't know what was going on, he thought that Sumiyoshi now should not be Sumiyoshi.

As for who it is.

Tsugikuni Yoriichi looked relaxed and looked into the distance.

He withdrew his gaze slightly.

——This is not important.

Hiss——!

He stepped back slightly, picked up the stick that had broken into two pieces on the ground, made a sword-drawing motion, and the rhythm of his breathing became deeper.

"I'm going, Sumiyoshi." 

Tsugikuni Yoriichi said so.

...

...

Butterfly Mansion.

"What is dad doing?"

Hanako stood at the door, quietly peeking into the room, and asked in a low voice with confusion.

"He's resting, after all, he was out on a mission all night yesterday."

Nezuko held Hanako's hand, she looked at Tanjuro who was sitting on the bed with his eyes closed, and explained in a low voice:

"Alright, let's go, don't disturb dad."

"...Hmm." Hanako obediently nodded, took another look at Tanjuro, and slowly left the door.

She muttered in her mouth:

"I really wanted to play together..."

Nezuko responded with a smile:

"How about playing with your sister?"

"Good, good!" Upon hearing this, Hanako immediately jumped up in joy.

Around the corner outside the corridor.

A yellow dandelion swayed slightly.

Drip.

Sweat dripped onto the wooden floor.

Agatsuma Zenitsu squatted here with a panicked look on his face, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, and he looked at Tanjiro's room with terrified eyes.

——No, no, no!

——That's definitely not resting!

If it was rest——that kind of sound wouldn't come from the body!

Zenitsu's pupils shrank, and he swallowed.

His ears twitched slightly.

Just now, as soon as he went upstairs, he heard a strange howling sound coming from somewhere.

After careful identification, he found out.

That was actually the breathing sound of Uncle Kamado!

So scary!

Is he really a human?

"Or... don't come to the second floor." Zenitsu turned his head, his idea of going to the second floor through the corridor was completely gone, and he turned around in disappointment and walked down the stairs.

With a bend of his leg, the weakness caused by long-term exercise suddenly made him feel weak, and he almost rolled down the stairs.

He staggered a bit, held onto the wall, and took a good rest.

Then he raised his head, tightly pursed his lips, and called out in a low, depressed voice:

"Tanjiro～" He stretched out his hand forward, staggered down the stairs:

"I slept well as you said, but why am I still so tired——".

As he spoke, he sniffed:

"I feel even more tired after waking up... I hate it..."

Downstairs.

Tanjiro, who was resting, heard Zenitsu's voice, and he was slightly stunned.

Recalling the "Zenitsu who was still training while sleeping" he saw the day before yesterday, Tanjiro couldn't help but smile helplessly.

At the same time, he lowered his head and looked at his hands full of rough marks.

Creak——!

He clenched his fists hard! With determined eyes, Tanjiro suddenly raised his head!

Zenitsu, Yuichiro, everyone is working so hard, there's no reason for him to keep resting like this!

I am the eldest son!

He stood up all at once, his somewhat gray face was full of determination, and he turned his head to look aside:

"Rengoku-san!"

"Let's continue practicing!"

"Hmm?" Rengoku Kyojuro turned his head, and after confirming that he had heard correctly, he laughed heartily and nodded vigorously:

"Good!"

"You have a lot of momentum, Kamado-kun!"

...

Meanwhile.

Mount Sagiri.

"Caw! Caw!"

The crow responsible for delivering letters cawed and flapped its wings high into the sky.

Crack! Pop!

Urokodaki Sakonji sat in front of the stove, burning firewood, took off the mask on his face, squinted his eyes, and looked at the envelope in his hand.

"...A letter from Giyu?"

Rough fingers smoothed the letter paper, and his eyes scanned line by line.

The firelight shone through the envelope, faintly illuminating his white-haired forehead.

"...Golden lightning."

Urokodaki's gaze lingered on the content of the letter, he looked at the sentence "Tanjuro uses lightning" written by Tomioka Giyu, and his gaze fluctuated slightly.

Creak...

After reading the entire letter, he carefully put away the letter, then raised his head to look at the sky under the eaves.

He muttered to himself.

"...Indeed, it's not a coincidence."

Urokodaki, with his extraordinary sense of smell, smelled a hint of lying emotion from Tanjiro last time on Peach Mountain.

But that emotion was very vague, so he was never sure.

It seems now.

A power more non-human than a demon seems to have appeared.

"...Zenitsu, is he unlucky... or..."

Urokodaki Sakonji's low muttering voice faintly echoed.

...

...

Somewhere on the top of a mountain. 

The somewhat chaotic grassland seemed to be lamenting what had just happened.

Under the tree.

"Hey! Bastard! Let me go!!"

Inosuke, who was tied up under the tree, was shouting angrily. He was kicking his still mobile legs and struggling hard:

"The match between you and me hasn't been decided yet!!"

Inosuke struggled to shout, his boar's head was faintly deformed and twisted with anger, but he couldn't break free from the rope:

"Hey——!"

On the side.

Clap, clap.

Muichiro clapped his hands, his sword had already been sheathed, and he looked at his masterpiece in front of him with satisfaction.

"As expected of me." He put his hands on his hips and nodded.

"Oh——" His father peeked out at this time, he looked at the way Inosuke was tied up, touched Muichiro's head with satisfaction, and smiled:

"You did a good job, you can protect yourself against a wild boar now, Muichiro."

"...?" Yuichiro stood aside woodenly, his expression dull, and he looked at his father and brother speechlessly.

He has been practicing swordsmanship and breathing methods for so long...

Isn't it abnormal to be unable to deal with a wild boar?

No!

That's not the point!

Yuichiro suddenly turned his head and looked at Inosuke who was struggling hard.

Isn't this guy called something like Inosuke?! He has a name!

——Obviously not a wild boar!

At this moment.

"Bastard!"

Inosuke looked at the father and son who were chatting in front of him, he was even more angry, and the white mist kept spraying out of his boar's nose:

"Aren't you listening to what I said!!"

"Let's decide the winner——!!"

Suddenly.

A shadow enveloped him, and someone stood in front of him.

Inosuke was taken aback and looked up in confusion.

It was Yuichiro, whose temples were bulging with blue veins.

"——Ah?" He raised his voice, looked at Inosuke with an unbelievable expression, frowned, and his tone was quite impatient:

"Are you an idiot?"

"Shi!" Inosuke was stunned, the sudden verbal attack made him unable to react, and for a moment he was choked and didn't know what to say.

After a pause, he decisively shouted back:

"What did you say?!"

Yuichiro stood in front of him, he glanced at his father and brother beside him, his clenched fists were slightly shaking:

"One by one..."

He suddenly turned his head and yelled at Inosuke like venting his anger:

"You were tied up without noticing it, and you still say that the winner hasn't been decided!"

Whoosh! He pointed at him:

"You have already lost completely! Fool!"

"Idiot!"

"Natural Airhead!"

Inosuke, who has been staying in the mountains all year round, usually only communicates with wild animals with fists and feet, or "plays" with farmers at the foot of the mountain, when has he experienced such scolding.

Inosuke was stunned.

After speaking, Yuichiro adjusted his breathing, tidied up his uniform, exhaled a breath, and then ignored the stunned Inosuke.

He turned around and looked at his father and brother.

"Let's go."

"If this continues, the sun will set when we cross this mountain."

Then, he walked towards the direction of crossing the mountain on his own.

Behind him, Muichiro and Tadaichiro looked at each other.

"Wait for me! Brother!"

Muichiro hurriedly followed with small steps, shouting in his mouth.

Tadaichiro smiled kindly at Inosuke, quietly threw a small sword next to him, and then followed.

Looking at the hurriedly leaving figures of several people.

Inosuke was tied under the tree, he slumped down, staring blankly at the direction where the Tokito family was leaving.

Why——that guy would be so angry.

When the Tokito family gradually disappeared from his sight, he withdrew his gaze, and the boar's head drooped.

Natural Airhead, what does that mean?

He thought for a while.

"...My brain, overused."

——Inosuke decided, not to think anymore.

Suddenly.

His gaze was attracted by a small sword dropped by Tadaichiro, which was shimmering with a cold light on the side.

——A sword?

His gaze slowly moved to the rope that bound him, and he fell silent.

Suddenly.

"Ha——?!" Inosuke suddenly raised his head, he struggled angrily, and white steam gushed out of his boar nostrils:

"Are you looking down on me?!"

"Watch me!"

Crack!

Several sounds of bone cracking came from Inosuke's body, he wriggled and surged crazily like a worm, and several parts of his body sank in an instant.

His arm became deformed and loose, tightly attached to his body, and the tightly bound rope suddenly had space to drill out!

The next moment!

Whoosh!

He jumped up violently and jumped out of the rope.

His arm swung slightly! Crack!

The dislocated bone returned to its original position, and Inosuke clenched his fist hard.

The muscles on his body tightened, and he turned his head to look in the direction where the Tokito family had left.

"Hehahaha! How about that!" He shouted loudly, and casually restored his other dislocated arm:

"You didn't expect it, this lord can do such a thing!"

After shouting in place for a while, finding that no one was paying attention to him, Inosuke put down his raised hands.

The blue boar eyes stared at the ground, at the footprints left by the Tokito family when they left.

He had never seen such strong creatures like these three guys before.

After becoming the king of the mountain, he had never felt this kind of excitement to the point of trembling!

Almost at the moment of attack, another person quietly, in the moment when he didn't react, tied him up.

"...It's incredible, this is really incredible."

Hiss——!

White steam turned into two straight lines, spraying out from the boar's nostrils!

In Inosuke's eyes, there was a glimmer of excitement.

"Compete in speed! I won't lose!!"

He jumped up and shouted, starting to run wildly along the footprints left by several people.

"Wait for me!!"

Behind him, a cloud of dust was raised.

...

Not long after Inosuke left.

A middle-aged man carrying a hoe, leisurely poked his head out from the nearby jungle.

After confirming that Inosuke had long been traceless.

"...Did he really leave?" He muttered to himself in hesitation, the ecstasy he had imagined after Inosuke left did not appear.

Instead, he was a little dazed and lost.

...

Time slowly passed.

Soon.

The Tokito family had already crossed the mountain.

Several people stood at the foot of the mountain, looking at the surrounding fields, they looked at each other in confusion.

After being stunned for a long time, Muichiro suddenly remembered, he looked at the crow in his arms violently, raised the crow's wings and shouted in fear:

"Hey! Crow! Crow!"

"Are you okay!"

Muichiro shook the crow hard.

The awakened crow woke up leisurely, it looked around in a daze.

"Northeast... Go to the northeast..." A hoarse voice came from the throat:

"...That Spider Mountain."

"Caw."

Then its neck tilted, and it passed out again.

Seeing this.

Muichiro's pupils shrank, he held up the crow, and shouted in surprise:

"Crow——!!"

...

At the same time.

That Spider Mountain.

The dark forest rooted in the mountains, a faint mist filled the air, the dim sunlight struggled to pass through the dense forest, falling into the mist.

The crystal clear spider silk turned into ashes and disappeared the moment it touched the sunlight.

A dilapidated mansion is located on the mountainside, and dense spider webs are mending on the dilapidated wooden walls.

Inside the mansion.

It was pitch black here, the exterior was dilapidated, but no sunlight could penetrate it at all.

In a room lit by candlelight.

A boy with white hair, the ends twisted as if wrapping around his face, sat there expressionlessly.

His skin was pale, and his blue eyelashes were motionless under the candlelight.

"What is this?"

In front of him, a female demon with elongated, crimson pupils was looking down at the bright red dish filled with blood in front of her.

"Blood?" She raised her head, her eyes trembling as she looked at the white-haired boy in front of her.

In the boy's pupils, these words were engraved:

［Upper Rank］［Four］

"Drink it." A cold voice came from his mouth:

"I will give you power."

——Can this be done?!

The female demon's eyebrows trembled slightly.

It's not just that person who can...

"Drink it."

Seemingly chilled by his stare, she shivered all over, no longer daring to look directly into the boy's eyes, just grabbing the dish in front of her and lifting it:

"Gulp!"

Her throat was wriggling, and the blood in the dish kept pouring into her mouth.

"Right." The boy was looking straight at the scene in front of him, without any emotional fluctuations, he was just calmly stating:

"You no longer need to fear the Demon Slayers."

"Congratulations."

He said word by word:

"In this way, we are truly family."

Clang!

Halfway through drinking, the female demon's hand suddenly stiffened, and the dish fell uncontrollably.

"Cough! Heh!" She covered her neck forcefully, dense blue veins were spreading, and she screamed in pain.

Crystal clear saliva fell due to her scream.

The boy had no extra reactions.

The candlelight was flickering in his silver-white eyes, and there were no emotional fluctuations in his eyes:

"I'm Rui's family."

-----

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