After simply confirming the town's direction and location with his Kasugai Crow, Fang Hao set off.
By the time he reached the town, it was already evening. "I'll just take a quick look around first and gather some information."
"Demons only come out at night."
Perhaps Fang Hao didn't pay attention to the details, or perhaps it wasn't mentioned in the original work, but he didn't know the demon's hiding place. However, the only thing he could confirm was that there was indeed a demon causing trouble here.
It was a pity that Fang Hao didn't have Tanjiro's special ability, his cheat-like nose, otherwise, it would have been much simpler to find.
Fang Hao simply asked the townspeople about the locations where several victims had disappeared, roughly determining the scope of the demon's hiding place. Yes, it was confirmed to be in the town.
Forgive Fang Hao, he simply didn't have the ability to mark the victims' locations on a map and then determine the suspect's location.
The information gathering work was pretty much done at this point. "Time to eat first." Fang Hao didn't take out the dry rations he carried with him. "It's probably going to be busy tonight, so I can't let my mouth and stomach suffer."
After dinner, the sun had also set. According to the island nation's saying, the time of meeting demons had arrived.
Fang Hao's eyes were serious at this moment, and then he looked at the Kasugai Crow beside him: "I'm counting on you, good luck."
The Kasugai Crow's face was filled with despair at this moment. So, you meant that *I* would be busy tonight? Can a human be like this?
Just now, after Fang Hao finished eating, he mysteriously walked to a deserted place, and this behavior instantly piqued the Kasugai Crow's curiosity.
"Caw, he must have figured out a way to find the demon in the town, right?" Although the information from the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters said it was a suspected demon, the Kasugai Crow, who had been specially trained by the Demon Slayer Corps and possessed extensive theoretical knowledge in this area, immediately crossed out 'suspected demon' in its mind after following Fang Hao to investigate the scene, changing it to 'basically confirmed demon's existence.'
"Little Kasugai," Fang Hao stared at the Kasugai Crow with ill intent.
The Kasugai Crow felt a shiver run through its body. "Caw, what do you want? I have a name, I'm not called Little Kasugai."
"It's fine, that's not important." Fang Hao waved his hand. The Kasugai Crow wanted to retort, 'That's very important!', but seeing Fang Hao's gaze, it still didn't dare to speak its rebuttal.
On Mount Taoshan, it had seen Fang Hao defeat the former Sound Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps. The Kasugai Crow felt that it didn't really want to refute Fang Hao's words. It wasn't cowardice; it was mainly about maintaining proper respect for these powerful demon slayers.
"Little Kasugai, I have a favor to ask you." Fang Hao rubbed his hands, saying with a bit of embarrassment.
"Caw, what is it?" The Kasugai Crow was a little curious. It didn't think it could do something Fang Hao couldn't, so it must be something troublesome.
"Go find the demon."
"Caw!" The Kasugai Crow felt as if its body had been struck by lightning. Find the demon? Having investigated with Fang Hao, how could it not know that Fang Hao hadn't even been able to determine the general range of the demon's existence, only that it was in this town?
This meant that it would need to fly quickly and continuously over the town to have even a slight chance of success. That wouldn't be so bad; for the Kasugai Crow, who would frequently travel between Fang Hao's side and the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters in the future, this was much simpler than its usual training.
But the crucial point was, it might die! This was not a joke; not only might it die, it might also be eaten by a demon.
Don't think that demons only feed on humans; they simply consume blood and flesh. Chuntaro, or Zenitsu's little sparrow, had its parents eaten by a demon. It also joined the Demon Slayer Corps because of its parents' death.
In the past, it didn't understand why Zenitsu was so afraid of death, always crying despite being a grown man. It had even secretly complained about Zenitsu with Chuntaro. Now it finally understood Zenitsu, despised Zenitsu, understood Zenitsu, and became Zenitsu.
Before, it wasn't afraid of death because it never thought it would die. Now, it was truly panicked. "Caw, Big Brother, I don't want to go, caw!"
Fang Hao raised an eyebrow when he heard the Kasugai Crow's words. Wasn't that Zenitsu's tone? Not learning the good things, but learning this, huh?
"Go quickly, I'll follow behind you." Fang Hao was also unceremonious. "You just need to fly a bit higher."
The Kasugai Crow thought, 'That makes sense!' Although the one who taught it said that Blood Demon Art was strange and varied, and demons were terrifying, couldn't it just fly a bit higher?
"Caw, Big Brother is so amazing, so smart, caw." The Kasugai Crow said as it flew into the sky.
"Another Zenitsu, huh?" Fang Hao held his head. What time was it, and he was still sucking up? Oh, it was precisely because of this time that he was sucking up, right? What kind of human relations were you playing at, Kasugai Crow?
"Caw, Big Brother, hurry up!" The Kasugai Crow urged Fang Hao to get going when it saw that he hadn't followed.
"Be a good Tool Bird; don't meddle in adult affairs." One person and one bird began to search for traces of the demon under the dim moonlight.
The Tool Bird, once in work mode, was very diligent, meticulously searching every corner, which was hard on Fang Hao who was following behind it. Because the Tool Bird was flying in the sky and focused on looking for traces of the demon, it didn't intentionally pay attention to the buildings on the ground.
This also caused Fang Hao to frequently jump up and down in the streets, having to deliberately avoid pedestrians, and specifically lighten his footsteps. One could only say it was utterly miserable.
However, Fang Hao didn't make a sound, afraid of disturbing the Tool Bird, who was still diligently searching for the demon.
"Caw, here!" The Tool Bird suddenly swooped down from the sky. Seeing this, Fang Hao quickly sped up.
"This is?" There was a pool of blood on the ground. Fang Hao's eyes narrowed, and his right hand rested on his nichirin blade. "It's fresh blood."
"Caw, Big Brother, it should be nearby, I'll look again, caw!" The Tool Bird hurriedly said. It felt that if it acted faster now, it might be able to save the owner of this bloodstain.
Fang Hao, however, showed no intention of responding to the Tool Bird. He flew forward, drew his sword, and slashed. This slash landed on a certain spot on the ground.
The ground was split open, and what flowed out was not dirt or rocks, but a mud-like substance. This was a small patch of swamp!
Fang Hao showed no sign of stopping. His left hand shot out like lightning. At this moment, a figure gradually emerged from the swamp—a young girl dressed in a kimono.
Fang Hao decisively wrapped his arm around the girl's waist and then jumped backward. Just then, a grayish-brown demon hand with sharp claws attacked the girl.
"Here it comes." Fang Hao felt no surprise in his heart; a cold light flashed in his eyes. "I've been waiting for you." At this moment, Fang Hao, who was clearly in the middle of a backward jump, turned his body at an incredible angle. In the dark night, a golden light was exceptionally dazzling, instantly cutting off the demon hand that had emerged from the swamp.
The remaining part of the arm retracted into the swamp with a "whoosh," and in the blink of an eye, the swamp also disappeared.
Fang Hao looked at the girl in his arms; her kimono had not a single speck of dirt on it. "It's not truly creating a swamp, is it? Rather, it's a domain-like ability to move through the earth." Fang Hao narrowed his eyes, and in a moment, he had some guesses about the Blood Demon Art used by the demon.
After a while, Fang Hao suddenly felt something and looked towards the open space behind him.
The open space had also turned into a "swamp" at this moment. A one-horned demon revealed its upper body, its face ferocious, coldly staring at Fang Hao. Its right arm was regenerating at a visible speed.
"Oh? With your Blood Demon Art, it should be easy to escape, right? Yet you're staying here, thinking you can kill me?" Although the demon staying here could be seen as a sign of contempt towards Fang Hao, Fang Hao didn't mind this point. Rather, its staying here suited Fang Hao's intentions even more.
When the Tool Bird heard the demon say this, it immediately became enraged: "Caw, you dare to look down on my Big Brother, you have chosen the path of death, caw!"
Fang Hao felt no gratitude when he heard the Tool Bird speak up for him, because the moment it saw the demon, the Tool Bird immediately ascended. It was now circling in mid-air, constantly provoking the demon.
Fang Hao rolled his eyes. "He really did get angry for a moment when he was enraged." Another teammate he wanted to distance himself from, sigh.
The demon glared at Fang Hao, its gnashing teeth making it seem as if it wanted to devour Fang Hao alive. A sharp, low growl emanated from its throat, much like a vicious dog about to bite.
"Do you resent me that much? Because of the girl in my arms? Scum like you, only fit to live in a cesspool, are you worthy?"
Fang Hao continuously provoked the demon in front of him. After all, if this demon truly wanted to escape, Fang Hao couldn't stop it. Even if his movement technique was fast, against a demon that could lurk underground, it couldn't gain any advantage. If he didn't even know the demon's location, what good was speed?
"Die!" The demon seemed to be enraged by Fang Hao. It plunged into the swamp. Fang Hao, seeing the demon's action, rejoiced inwardly, but his movements didn't slow down at all. His legs suddenly exerted force, and he leaped high with the girl in his arms.
The next moment, a pair of demon hands attacked from underground, but failed to touch Fang Hao or the girl. Fang Hao, however, used the downward momentum to swing his sword with his right hand. The sword light pierced down, severing the pair of demon hands that were about to retract underground.
Subsequently, the nichirin blade did not stop, further cutting into the soil beneath his feet. Fang Hao only felt the tip of his blade touch something, and then he slashed again fiercely.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah." The pain in its arms and body made the demon in the swamp cry out in agony.
"Too slow." Fang Hao looked at the nichirin blade he had pulled out from underground with dissatisfaction. Although the demon's screams were miserable, the feel of the blade wouldn't lie.
The sensation from the blade just now clearly indicated that it hadn't hit a vital spot, and it couldn't even leave very deep wounds on its body. This demon was indeed very cautious; when the previous sneak attack missed, it immediately retracted its body. Although Fang Hao's sword technique was very fast, he couldn't catch up. At that time, the demon had probably already hidden most of its body and vital points.
Suddenly, two strong gusts of wind came from behind Fang Hao. However, he felt no panic at this moment; instead, he seemed to have anticipated it, turning around and cutting out a slash.
Two demons, as if seeking death, directly collided with the long sword in Fang Hao's hand. The sky-blue blade cut out a semicircle, and in an instant, the four arms the demons extended towards Fang Hao were severed at the root.
Fang Hao, however, was quite dissatisfied with his battle results. "Too cowardly, and this Blood Demon Art!"
The two identical-looking demons, seeing that the situation was unfavorable, retreated into the swamp beneath their feet, activating their Blood Demon Art. The swamp disappeared, and the ground returned to its previous state.
The next moment, another identical swamp appeared behind Fang Hao. "Caw, Big Brother, be careful!"
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Three identical-looking demons poked their heads out and simultaneously launched an attack.
Fang Hao, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, held the girl in his arms, avoided the attack from behind, turned around, and in an instant, unleashed several slashes. Several golden bolts of lightning struck the three demons.
The demons couldn't dodge in time and were all struck in the head. The demons with half their heads missing activated their Blood Demon Art again and submerged underground.
Fang Hao frowned. He did have wide-range attack methods, but this was underground. His Thunder Breathing would be difficult to use effectively.
"It's like playing whack-a-mole. The key is that they're too cautious, and their vitality is too tenacious. I need to be more aggressive."
Again, a swamp appeared on the ground, but this time it was in front of Fang Hao. Three heads only appeared on the surface, and an exasperated voice came from their mouths: "Human, how exactly did you find us?"
"A martial artist's intuition." Fang Hao casually answered the demon's question. Of course, the truth was indeed so. Martial artists always say to be observant and listen carefully. After Fang Hao learned Thunder Breathing, his perception abilities also grew stronger, and his intuition was especially sharp when facing attacks.
"Damn it!" Seemingly finding Fang Hao's answer too mystical, the demon was very angry: "Damn human, hand over the woman in your arms to us!"
The demon in the middle seemed particularly enraged, glaring fiercely at Fang Hao, as if it would launch an attack the next moment.
"Calm down, 'I', this human is not easy to deal with." The demon on the left said to the one in the middle: "At worst, we'll just leave. We've already eaten plenty of girls from this town anyway."
"What are you talking about! I'm not satisfied at all!" The demon in the middle was exceptionally irritable.
The remaining demon stared intently at Fang Hao, seemingly guarding against his attack.
Fang Hao had no intention of attacking at this moment. Their thoughts were not unified; they weren't simple clones but more like multiple personalities. Since one demon was already on guard, the others might also be guarding against him, so Fang Hao chose to wait for the right moment.
"If only the Tool Bird could take this girl into the air." Fang Hao was also in a dilemma at this point. With his speed and reaction ability, he could kill the demon, but the girl in his arms prevented him from fighting without restraint.
Holding the girl even slowed his speed a little. If he had that extra bit of speed, he would have had enough confidence to kill the demon before it retreated into the swamp.
Submerging, the three demon heads disappeared into the swamp again.
The next moment, three demons emerged halfway, appearing in front of and behind Fang Hao. Two of them lunged at Fang Hao with swift speed, while the other extended its sharp claws, attacking the girl in Fang Hao's arms.
The Kasugai Crow was truly panicked at this moment, looking at Fang Hao, who was caught in a pincer attack, and couldn't help but exclaim: "Big Brother! Caw." The 'caw' verbal tic was still added, but this time at the end of the sentence, indicating it was indeed in a state of panic...