Several hours later.
As the sun began to set, the twilight bathed the town in a reddish-orange glow.
"Mr. Giyu, we've arrived."
Shinobu patted Giyu's shoulder and very sensibly slid off his back.
She very considerately took out a fragrant silk handkerchief from her bosom, stood on tiptoe, and wiped away non-existent sweat from Giyu's forehead.
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Giyu. Your back feels so comfortable," Shinobu said with a smile.
Giyu turned his head slightly, his deep blue eyes looking at Shinobu's stunningly beautiful face so close to his own, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Um."
He responded in a low voice, forcibly shifting his gaze forward.
The three of them stood outside the gates of Nara Prefecture.
This is a bustling county with tens of thousands of people, marked on the map.
The towering city walls, the wide streets, and the shops lining both sides all testify to its former prosperity and bustling atmosphere.
However--!
The moment they stepped through the city gates.
It was dusk, a time when vendors should be packing up, residents should be cooking, and the streets and alleys should be busiest.
However, only a few scattered pedestrians could be seen on the wide main street.
These passersby were all in a hurry, their necks hunched, their eyes darting around in fear, as if some invisible monster was chasing them.
Almost all the shops on both sides of the street had their doors tightly shut, with the wooden boards nailed shut.
Every household's doors and windows were densely covered with all sorts of yellow talismans used for praying to gods and Buddhas.
Some of the talismans were even torn and tattered by the wind, swaying forlornly in the breeze.
"What an eerie atmosphere."
Shinobu instantly dropped the sweet and alluring smile from her face.
Her purple eyes narrowed slightly, her professional instincts instantly putting her into battle mode.
She could smell a faint, lingering scent of blood in the air.
Giyu's deep blue eyes swept across the tightly closed doors and windows like those of a hawk.
"The Demon Aura here is very faint, and it's extremely well concealed. But the level of fear among the common people is extremely high."
Giyu's voice became cold and professional.
"The ghost has turned this city into its exclusive hunting ground, and it's clever enough to know how to conceal itself."
Just then,
From a nearby tea stall that hadn't completely closed up, several commoners could be heard whispering amongst themselves.
"Have you heard? Mr. Li, the richest man in the east of the city, hired ten carriages in the middle of the night last night, spent all his wealth, and ran away with his wife and children!"
A gaunt man held a chipped teacup, his hands trembling, spilling tea all over the table.
"Can't you stop running?!"
Another man with a mustache lowered his voice and spoke mysteriously, as if afraid of disturbing some ghost or spirit:
"That thing comes every night! There's no way to stop it! The Li family hired more than a dozen guards with knives, and last night they all had their necks bitten off; the blood stained the yard red!"
"Where are the government officials? Don't the county magistrate and his men care?"
"Mind your own business! The night before last, the most capable constable Wang, whom the county magistrate sent on patrol, died in a dead-end alley in the south of the city!"
"I heard that when they found it, even the skin had been completely removed, leaving only a bloody skeleton, with its internal organs scattered all over the ground!"
"The government has already mobilized all its troops to the quarry thirty miles outside the city overnight, claiming it's a restricted area. I think they're just hiding like cowards to save their own lives!"
Hearing these scattered rumors, the words "skinning" and "quarry" immediately caught the attention of the three men like radar signals.
"We've found a lead."
Obanai Iguro, who had been holding back her anger and was eager to prove herself, suddenly had a glint of light flash in her heterochromatic eyes.
"Finally! Finally, it's my time to shine!"
"All along the way, just watching that Tomioka and that green tea bitch flaunt their love, my dignity as the Serpent Hashira has completely vanished! When have I, Obanai Iguro, ever suffered such humiliation?!"
"I'll show Tomioka that when it comes to carrying out missions and being decisive in killing, I, Obanai Iguro, am the most professional! I'll make him ashamed to have this burdensome woman with him!"
Thinking of this, Obanai snorted coldly.
He straightened the bandages wrapped tightly around his face, puffed out his chest, and strode towards the tea stall with an air of domineering confidence.
Hey, you guys.
Obanai walked to the tea table and slapped her hands on it.
"Tell me everything you just said about the evil spirits and the quarry, word for word! If you hide even a single word, you'll lose your heads!"
However--
Obanai severely overestimated the "positive image" of her appearance in the eyes of ordinary people.
Imagine this: on a night when the city is haunted, people are being skinned alive every night, and the whole city is gripped by fear.
A cold-looking man whose face was mostly wrapped in white bandages, looking like he had suffered serious injuries.
It has heterochromatic eyes, one gold and one green, which are eerie and menacing, like those of a monster.
To ordinary people, this image is even more monstrous than a man-eating monster that comes out at night!
"Ah..."
The gaunt man who had been gossiping just moments before slowly raised his head, meeting Obanai's golden eyes, and then glanced at the white snake that was flicking its tongue at him.
The man's pupils dilated tenfold instantly!
He could even feel the cold air exhaled by the white snake!
"Gaa--!"
The man let out a piercing scream.
His eyes rolled back, and his body fell straight backward like a log struck by lightning.
"Thump--"
He was foaming at the mouth and his limbs were convulsing violently; he was so frightened that he went into shock on the spot!
"Oh my god!! Monsters have entered the city!! A snake demon is eating people!!"
The other man with the mustache was so terrified that he scrambled backward.
He kicked over the tea table, spilling scalding hot tea all over the floor.
"Help! A snake demon is going to eat people! It can even talk! Run!"
Clang!
The tea shop owner was even more decisive. He threw away the rag he was using to wipe the table, abandoned the money box full of copper coins, and crawled under the counter.
He clutched his head, trembling uncontrollably, barely daring to breathe, and frantically muttering:
"May the Bodhisattva protect you, may the Bodhisattva protect you..."
"..."
A gust of bleak autumn wind swept through the empty teahouse.
A withered yellow leaf swirled up and drifted down in front of Obanai's bandaged face.
Obanai maintained her imposing posture with both hands slammed on the table, completely petrified and frozen in place as if she had been glanced at by Medusa.
Above his head, a gloomy, dark thundercloud rose, accompanied by several flashes of lightning.
An epic social media Waterloo!
A pickup attempt backfired spectacularly! Intelligence gathering failed! Public panic reached 1000%!
"Pfft... Haha! I can't take it anymore, I'm going to die laughing!"
Standing ten meters away, Shinobu covered her stomach with both hands, laughing so hard that tears were almost streaming down her face.
She pointed at the petrified Obanai without any regard for her image and launched into a tirade:
"Wow, Mr. Iguro's intelligence gathering methods are truly unique, earth-shattering, and awe-inspiring!"
"Are you planning to scare all the people in the city to death before you even kill the ghosts? That way, the ghosts won't have anything to eat. This tactic is truly awe-inspiring and far-sighted!"
Giyu Tomioka stood to the side, watching the petrified Obanai. His expressionless face revealed neither mockery nor seriousness.
"Your camouflage skills definitely need improvement. Next time you ask for directions, remember to hide the snake. It looks fierce."
"Snap!"
Obanai seemed to hear the crisp sound of her fragile self-esteem shattering into pieces.
His face turned bright red with anger, and he roared furiously:
"What do you know! You bunch of stupid, cowardly commoners! They're the ones who are too cowardly! I'm not a monster! I'm a noble pillar!"
Obanai her sleeve, and a raging black fire burned in the background.
"I'm too lazy to waste my breath on you! I'll go find out myself! I'll definitely find out who the ghost is!"
After saying that, he disappeared like a whirlwind at the end of the street.