Village

Kneeling next to the dead woman, I noticed how her blood endlessly flowed, the slight incline of the mountain carrying her blood through the snow until it met with her children's heads. 

'How poetic.' I snarled at the sight and looked away.

I got up and looked around me for any clue I could find. Despite the woman's warning, I still had to go. I had to find the person my grandpa mentioned, or else I would've been truly lost.

I searched around until my gaze met a smaller, separate trail of blood, heading down the mountain as though marking my path. 

'This blood must be hers. She must've run away for a while before the demon caught up to her.'

Even in death, the woman found a way to help me.

I followed the trail of blood down the mountain, zipping past trees with footsteps light enough to not leave a trail in the snow. 

After a few minutes of sprinting, the village came into view. It was a small, farming village with rice plantations and traditional Japanese wooden buildings. It was brightly illuminated by something I couldn't make out.

'Either fire or electricity. Since I'm currently in the sengoku period, it's definitely the former.'

The Sengoku period was a time in Japan's history marked with near constant civil wars, internal strife and bloodshed. Various clans and warlords fought bitterly for control over Japan, each owning their own territory.

I knew this since the timeline of events I read about in books during this life, matched up perfectly with that of my previous world on earth.

Of course, not being Japanese or that interested in their history, I only had a brief understanding of past and in this case, future events, meaning that I couldn't take advantage of my knowledge of the future.

Judging by the technological advancements made in this age, illuminating villages with electricity was something people couldn't even begin to imagine.

*

After another minute, I reached the outer part of the village. Spread apart houses dotted the landscape, their rooftops covered in at least 30 centimeters of snow. Dirt paths lined the space between houses, leading to the center of the village where houses were more concentrated.

Most of the buildings in the center of the village had been set alight. Corpses lay sprawled out on the streets, guts and severed limbs laying about.

I peeked inside some of the still intact homes. The sight could've been described as grisly at best. Blood lined the walls, yet there was almost no trace of corpses apart from some loose eyeballs and skulls, still drenched in blood and covered bits of flesh.

Obviously the ones outside were the lucky ones, getting killed so as to not escape but not eaten alive. 

'Whoever did this must've enjoyed quite the feast.' I thought to myself while carefully scanning my surroundings for any threats.

Looking around, I couldn't spot any demons, yet there was this sinking feeling in my chest that I couldn't wash away. Both my mind and body urged me to get out of here and come back at daybreak, but I ignored both and kept moving.

'They're most likely chasing down loose prey. Like the woman on the mountain.' 

My hand still tightly gripping the hilt of my sword,  I dashed inside of a nearby house and hid under a window while taking out my map with one arm, careful not to make too much sound. I looked at the map for the place I was supposed to visit.

Grandpa described it as 'A small noodle shop around the center of the village.' Yet with everything being on fire, I couldn't do much.

The acrid smell of the charred wood quickly became unbearable, smothering my lungs with a thick blanket of smoke.

I retreated away from the center, in hopes of not dying in the stupidest way imaginable. Smoke inhalation. Imagine being reborn only to die from a fire.

As I covered my mouth and nose with a piece of stray cloth while jumping out the window of the house, I noticed a burning sign, its characters reading 'Himekawa noodle shop'. 

'What a stroke of luck.' I thought as I rushed inside the not yet burning building.

Inside, there lay a man around his late 60s. With grey hair going around the sides of his head and a grey mustache. Both his legs were missing, his sword lay bloodied on the ground next to him.

I ran over to his side and kneeled next to him.

"Are you Himekawa? My grandpa sent me here." I asked while supporting his head with my arms so he could talk without choking.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at me.

"Red eyes, you must be the Fujiki kid." He sighed and looked away. "Not that it matters, but I fucking hate your old man." 

"I'll relay that message. Let me help you with your bleeding."

Despite both his legs missing, the man didn't seem to be losing any blood, only occasionally wincing from the pain.

I bandaged up his stump to prevent any blood from leaking anyway, to be safe.

"Listen to me very carefully." He said, grabbing my arm. "Get out of here as fast as you can Fujiki. These are demons I couldn't handle and unless you're half as strong as your grandpa, demons you can't handle either. There's just too many.

Now for the important bit. Go down into the basement and stuff the 2 books in there into your sack. They are my life's work. I won't be alive by the time the demons come back, I'd roll over in my grave and come back as a vengeful spirit if they perished with me.

I was planning on giving them to you if I deemed you of any worth anyway, an old man like me with no successor is bound to get desperate." His finger trembled as he pointed a cellar entrance to his right.

"I can probably get you out of here." I said half heartedly. I still needed him as my guide.

"To burden yourself and become prey for demons?" He scoffed at me "No way. Listen, I'm being serious. One of the demons in this village is part of the 12 Kizuki. One of the main demon organizations. Even I stand no chance against a lower moon. She only let me live to toy with me later." 

"Lower moon?" I asked, unfamiliar with the terms he used.

A vein popped on the man's forehead at my question.

"Do you think I have time to explain?! Get your ass going. Now!" He shouted, just enough to scare the shit out of me but to not attract any attention. 

I took one last glance at the pitiful old man who looked as though he had been on his last breath for the past few years, then I moved to the trapdoor, opening it and entering the cellar.

'What's with old men and sealing their knowledge in basements.' 

As I picked up the 2 books, I heard the wood creaking from above. A new set of heavy footsteps entered the building, heading towards where the old man stood.

"How unfortunate of me to run into a demon slayer in this backwater village." A feminine voice rang out. "But it is fortunate that you're an old washed up fossil. How unfortunate your kind is. Growing weak with age."

Hmm? I smell another human. How fortunate for me." The woman said with an amused tone.

"Shut up wench!" The old man screamed in defiance. 

"Oh just die you old coot. I can smell your miserable life riddled with unfortune from a mile away." I heard a loud thud and seconds later, blood made its way down through the crevices in the wooden floorboard and down into the cellar. 

During this time, I held my breath so as to not make a sound. My body stood completely still.

A few seconds of silence followed. The sound of blood dripping into the cellar being the only audible noise.

"How unfortunate you are!" The woman said as she appeared right in front of me, her face only a few centimeters from mine with an eerie smile plastered onto it.