The Kasugai Crow's shrill voice rang in Chiba Yo's ears. He picked up his nichirin blade and stood up from the steps.
Has the first mission finally arrived? Demons, just wait, I will eradicate all of you!
Chiba Yo ran southwest according to the Kasugai Crow's guidance. Unexpectedly, when he passed a courtyard midway, he saw Sanemi Shinazugawa again. At this moment, he was sitting on the steps, holding a hagi-mochi and feeding it to a small dog in front of him, a gentle smile on his scarred face.
However, his smile quickly disappeared, replaced by a look of worry. By then, the small dog had finished the hagi-mochi in his hand, barked twice, and wagged its tail at him. Sanemi stroked the dog's head and then turned to enter the house.
You were right, Genya, Mr. Sanemi is indeed a very gentle person.
Witnessing all of this, Chiba Yo became even more convinced of his conjecture. However, he had a mission at hand, so he did not linger and continued running southwest.
...
As night fell, stars twinkled, and the moonlight was hazy.
Chiba Yo arrived at the place indicated by the Kasugai Crow, now in a forest outside a small town.
If I want to find traces of demons, I should probably ask the local people.
The Kasugai Crow could only indicate the approximate direction of the demon. The Demon Slayer Corps members needed to investigate the exact location themselves. Chiba Yo planned to inquire in the town.
"Xiao Ying… Xiao Ying…"
Just as he was about to set off, a voice calling out to someone came from far away and drew closer.
The voice was already hoarse, but it continued without stopping.
Out of curiosity, and also feeling that this might be related to a demon, Chiba Yo began to approach the direction of the voice.
"Xiao Ying—Xiao Ying—"
The closer he got, the more he could hear the exhaustion in the voice, mixed with anxiety and worry.
Soon, Chiba Yo found the source of the voice: a boy of about sixteen, dressed in somewhat worn clothes, with a haggard face and bloodshot eyes, looking as if he hadn't rested in a long time.
Upon seeing Chiba Yo, the boy immediately ran towards him.
"Have you seen my younger sister? A ten-year-old girl, wearing a cherry blossom hair ornament, about this tall." The boy gestured with his hand to Chiba Yo, his voice full of urgency, looking at Chiba Yo with some expectation.
"No." Chiba Yo shook his head, then asked him, "May I ask what happened?"
Upon hearing Chiba Yo's answer, the boy's eyes quickly dimmed. Then, he replied to Chiba Yo in a hoarse voice, "My younger sister disappeared. Three evenings ago, she and her friends came here to play a ghost-catching game, but they never came back. That night, I came here to look for her, but she and all her friends had vanished.
The residents in town who lost their children called the police. The police searched here for two days during the day, but they only found some bloodstains. They concluded that these children were eaten by some wild beast and stopped investigating the matter…"
As the boy spoke, his voice became choked, and his body trembled. He continued, "But I've lived here for over ten years and have never seen any wild beasts. Xiao Ying must still be alive, I want to find her…"
As the boy spoke, he started to walk forward unsteadily again. His legs were already trembling, likely due to continuous walking without rest.
It must be the work of a demon...
Chiba Yo looked at the boy with great sympathy. Having not found her for three days, his younger sister had likely met with misfortune.
Suddenly, the boy stumbled, lost his balance, and fell to the ground.
Thud.
Seeing this, Chiba Yo immediately stepped forward and supported him. The boy's body was already very weak, and he didn't know how long he had been searching like this.
"Are you alright?" Chiba Yo asked with some concern.
"I'm fine…" the boy replied, then immediately tried to continue walking forward.
"Let me help you," Chiba Yo said to the boy.
Although he felt that the boy's younger sister had a low chance of survival, Chiba Yo still wanted to help him. Moreover, what the boy said was likely the work of a demon, and following him would increase the chance of finding the demon.
Turning to see Chiba Yo's sincere gaze, the boy nodded and agreed.
Then, Chiba Yo supported the boy, and together they searched the forest. Although it was night, the moonlight made it clear enough to see the path.
"This is where the police found the bloodstains. There's nothing else besides these bloodstains. Even if there really was a wild beast, there should be other things left behind…"
The boy pointed at the bloodstains on the ground and said to Chiba Yo.
The two searched the forest for a while but found nothing. Chiba Yo then suggested they go to the place where the police found the bloodstains to see if they could find any clues.
Chiba Yo observed generally and found that, as the boy said, there was nothing but bloodstains. However, these bloodstains were scattered, with a puddle every ten meters or so, and some on the trees.
"Xiao Ying is very timid. She only dared to come out that day because she was with friends. I was helping a customer repair shoes at the time, so I didn't pay attention and casually agreed. If only I had known, I should have stopped her then…"
The boy muttered to himself remorsefully, tears flowing from his eyes. In truth, he knew deep down that his younger sister might have met with misfortune. The bloodstains here couldn't have appeared out of nowhere. It was just that he himself was unwilling to believe it; as long as he hadn't seen his sister's body with his own eyes, he felt there was still hope.
"Life was slowly getting better, why did something like this have to happen…"
The boy's words made Chiba Yo feel a pang of sympathy, and also a sense of empathy. He had been like that too, filled with self-blame, pain, and confusion. Fortunately, he met Kyoujurou and was able to join the Demon Slayer Corps, thus gaining a purpose.
Should I tell this boy about the demons? Perhaps he would also join the Demon Slayer Corps.
Chiba Yo thought to himself.
However, it was not yet certain that these incidents were caused by demons. Even if he told the boy his conjectures and about demons, he probably wouldn't believe him.
Chiba Yo also knew that now was not the time to say such things, so he remained silent and continued to observe the bloodstains, hoping to find some clues from them.
"Hiss—"
A sound like a hot iron searing skin rang out. Chiba Yo suddenly turned his head to the source of the sound. For some reason, a large tree trunk had been corroded with an opening, and this opening was continuously growing larger.
The boy also noticed this situation. For some unknown reason, he stood there in a daze.