Giyu reached out his right hand, grabbed the Yaoshi's hair, and pulled the still-shouting head right in front of him.
"Gurgle."
The Yaoshi swallowed a non-existent saliva.
The arrogant and domineering attitude that had just been there instantly shrank under the gaze of those eyes that seemed to see through everything.
"What... what do you want to do?"
The Yaoshi stammered, his eyes darting uncontrollably to the side, unable to meet Giyu's gaze.
Giyu ignored this blustering nonsense and spoke coldly.
Answer my question.
"Muzan doesn't know you ate the Blue Spider Lily, right?"
This is not a question, but an affirmative statement.
The Yaoshi's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints, and his lips twitched violently a few times, still trying to remain stubborn.
"Muzan!! Lord Muzan's power is boundless! All the demons' thoughts are under his control!!"
"If I suffer Muzan injury, Lord Muzan will sense it immediately! You'll all be in for his wrath!!"
"Snap!"
A sharp cracking sound suddenly came from the side.
Sabito had somehow crouched down next to the bundle of parts tied up like a crab, holding Nichirin Blade with the blade wedged into a section of thigh bone.
Sabito turned his head, his eyes full of a benevolent smile, and slowly pressed the blade down.
"Oh dear, your bones seem a bit crooked. Shall I set them for you?"
"Ah! No, no! I'll tell you! I'll tell the truth!!"
The Yaoshi was so frightened that his facial features scrunched up together o(><)o, he completely broke down and started howling in his hoarse voice.
Faced with this group of lunatics who have no sense of martial ethics, the dignity of a noble scholar is nothing; preserving one's spare parts is the only important thing.
Giyu tightened his grip, making the Yaoshi's scalp ache, and he waited coldly for what would happen next.
The Yaoshi had a long face; he no longer had any of the airs of an Upper Rank demon, but looked exactly like a caught car thief.
"Lord Muzan... no, that Zhou Bapi doesn't check his subordinates' memories all the time!"
"Even that old monster's brain can't handle processing so much junk information every day!"
"Only every so often will that old monster summon us to Infinity Castle to report on our work progress!"
Upon hearing this, Sakonji Urokodaki and the Kocho Sisters exchanged a glance, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.
It turns out that the Demon Slayer Corps' supposed absolute mind control actually had flaws!
Giyu's eyes sharpened as he pressed for more information.
"Since that's the case, and you're no longer afraid of sunlight, why don't you immediately report to your master through the mind connection?"
"This is something he's been searching for for a thousand years."
Upon hearing this question, the Yaoshi's pale face instantly turned bright red, and his expression became extremely interesting.
"Am I crazy to tell that vampire?!"
The Yaoshi gritted his teeth and, in a fit of desperation, revealed all his plans.
"That old monster is looking for the Blue Spider Lily so he can stand in the sun!"
"If I told that guy I'd evolved into the perfect Ultimate Lifeform, he'd immediately crawl over the internet cable, devour me alive, and absorb all my cells!"
"I finally became a god! Why should I go back to being a beast of burden?!"
I understand.
This guy is a complete traitor, trying to sneak away and go solo.
Giyu nodded knowingly, his tense jawline relaxing slightly.
When is the next work report?
The Yaoshi's eyes flickered, and his voice was so weak it was like a mosquito's hum.
"This afternoon."
After the sun sets.
The atmosphere suddenly plummeted to freezing point.
There is now less than half an hour until sunset.
Once the sun sets, Muzan will immediately sense something is wrong when he checks Muzan the situation and finds he can't contact the Yaoshi.
Time is running out for the Demon Slayer Corps.
Without another word, Giyu grabbed the Yaoshi by the hair, turned around, and strode off towards the secluded wooden house deep within the Mount Sagiri.
His quick steps stirred up a gust of wind.
Sabito shouldered his Nichirin Blade, kicked the bundle of parts on the ground, and happily followed after them.
Tamayo's secluded residence.
The room was filled with the aroma of herbs.
Yushiro was holding a freshly brewed cup of black tea, its surface brimming with pink bubbles, and was handing it to Tamayo.
"Tamayo, you must be tired from reading. Please have some tea to soothe your throat."
His tone was so gentle it was almost dripping with tenderness, like a professional five-star sycophant.
Tamayo put down the medical book in her hand and was about to thank him when the door was violently pushed open from the outside.
Giyu Tomioka, exuding a chilling aura, strode in.
Yushiro's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot, his anger level soared to its limit, and he turned around, pointing at Giyu's nose and cursing loudly.
"You rude, expressionless jerk! Don't you know how to knock before you come in?!"
"Can you really take responsibility for disturbing the beautiful Tamayo?!"
Giyu didn't even lift his eyelids, and suddenly swung his arm.
A dark shadow traced an arc in the air, flying straight towards Yushiro's face.
Without a second thought, Yushiro dropped his teacup and frantically caught the incoming unidentified flying object.
The moment I touched it, a strong, pungent smell of blood and the aura of a demon assaulted my senses.
Yushiro looked down.
His gaze met that of the head in his hand, whose eyeballs were still darting around.
"Holy crap!!"
Yushiro was so frightened that his scalp tingled, and his hands trembled so much that he almost threw the thing out like a bowling ball.
"What disgusting trash have you brought to pollute Tamayo's tranquil retreat! Take it away right now!!"
Yushiro held the head in disgust, feeling his hands were no longer clean, and wished he could chop them off on the spot.
Giyu stood still, his tone stiff, as if he were issuing a military order.
"This is Upper Rank Seven - Yaoshi."
"Use your Blood Demon Art to invade the brain and fabricate memory images."
"Stop Muzan's regular check-ins."
Not even a single extra punctuation mark.
Yushiro was stunned. He looked down at the head in his hand, which looked like it had a face full of frustration, and then looked up at Giyu. He almost laughed out of anger.
"Why should I?! Who do you think you are? How dare you order me around?!"
"My Blood Demon Art is for protecting Tamayo, not for cleaning up your messes!!"
Yushiro clutched his head, ready to smash it out the door, his resolve as resolute as a martyr who would rather die than submit.
The Yaoshi was so dizzy from being shaken around by Yushiro that his stomach was churning, and he couldn't help but protest.
"Stop shaking! Stop shaking! Get your brains evenly mixed! I'm going to throw up!"
Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, a soft and melodious voice rang out from inside the room.
"Yushiro."
Tamayo stood up, her gaze sweeping over the head, a knowing glint in her beautiful eyes.
"Mr. Tomioka brought back a tremendous opportunity."
"This matter is related to the ultimate plan to eliminate that man."
Tamayo walked slowly to Yushiro, gently placed her hands on Yushiro shoulders, and spoke sincerely.
"Please, Yushiro, help the Demon Slayer Corps."
Just this one sentence.
Just this one sentence.
Yushiro's indomitable spirit, which he would rather die than submit, was completely revealed.
His face, which was originally as black as the bottom of a pot, turned red at a visible speed, and white smoke even rose from his head.
Yushiro stood up straight, his feet together, and his voice was so loud it could lift the roof off.
"Yes, Tamayo!!"
"Since it's Lady Tamayo's request, I'll go through fire and water for her!"
"That mere Upper Rank cockpit head? I'll take care of it in no time!"
This lightning-fast face-changing skill left S Rabbit, who followed in behind, dumbfounded, exclaiming that she was an expert.
Yushiro turned around, glared fiercely at the Yaoshi, and pulled out several talismans covered with strange runes from his pocket.
"If you don't want to suffer, then stay still! If you dare resist my magic, I'll rip your brainstem out and drink it like tofu pudding!!"
The Yaoshi shut his mouth in grievance o(╥╥)o, not daring to utter a single word of dissent, and could only be manipulated like a lamb to the slaughter.
Yushiro's movements were extremely rough; with two loud slaps, he firmly stuck two talismans to the Yaoshi's eyes and forehead.
He then rapidly formed hand seals while chanting incantations.
Blood Demon Art: Eye Veil Activation.
An invisible wave surged through the talisman and penetrated deep into the Yaoshi's brain.
The Yaoshi let out a muffled groan, his eyes instantly losing focus and becoming cloudy.
Yushiro closed his eyes, veins bulging on his forehead, clearly indicating that building a false firewall in the Upper Rank demon's mind was extremely taxing.
The illusory scenes began to be reconstructed little by little in the Yaoshi's memory.
The light outside the window gradually dimmed.
The last rays of the setting sun hung on the horizon, turning vast expanses of fiery clouds blood-red.
Time passed, second by second.
A real storm is brewing beneath this false calm.