After leaving Tamayo's mansion, the two returned to the Asakusa lit streets of Asakusa.
Giyu Tomioka walked ahead without saying a word.
His cold face was completely expressionless, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than a play that had nothing to do with him.
The Sabito followed behind, its mind still a complete mess.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the Sun Breathing, the Demon King who overcomes his weakness to decapitation...
This amount of information is overwhelming; any one of these pieces would be enough to shatter the worldview he's built up over the past decade.
But when he glanced at his companion walking ahead, he felt that it wasn't so hard to accept after all.
After all, standing right next to him was a living, breathing monster, even more outrageous than the legends.
"Hey, Giyu."
Sabito quickened her pace to walk beside him and couldn't help but ask, "What are we going to do next? Just sit here and wait for news from that female ghost?"
"Ghost hunting."
Giyu uttered two words without stopping.
His eyes, I don't know when, have returned to that empty, lifeless look.
There was no light in their icy blue eyes; they were like two pieces of clear glass.
"Transparent World."
In an instant, the noisy Asakusa changed completely in his eyes.
The colorful lights have turned into monotonous black and white light and shadow.
The crowd, walking around and laughing, transformed into blurry human silhouettes radiating a faint warmth.
All the noise was filtered out, and the world became a silent film.
His gaze pierced through the buildings and the crowds, like a highly sophisticated radar, rapidly scanning this steel forest for anything unusual.
Sabito glanced at Giyu's absent-minded expression, pursed his lips, and wisely shut his mouth.
He knew this guy was cheating again.
All I need to do now is stick close to him and wait to see what happens.
The two of them walked one after the other through the crowded streets.
A country boy, seemingly unsophisticated and naive, looked around curiously.
The other one looked like a lost rich young master, expressionless with empty eyes.
This strange combination attracted curious glances from passersby, but no one dared to approach and speak to them.
The main reason is that Giyu Tomioka's "keep away" aura is just too damn strong.
Time passed second by second.
Just when Sabito felt like his legs were about to break, Giyu suddenly stopped.
"Found it."
He spoke softly, his gaze fixed on a busier commercial street diagonally opposite.
In his Transparent World, a black humanoid figure, emitting a faint blood-red glow, stood out starkly against all the surrounding gray outlines.
The ghost was disguised as a refined man in a suit and tie, with a warm smile on his face, following leisurely behind a young girl in a fashionable dress.
The girl seemed completely oblivious, still chatting and laughing with her companion as she looked at the merchandise in the shop window.
But the ghost's eyes were like those of a venomous snake eyeing its prey, filled with greed and desire.
His steps were light, each step precisely landing in the densest, most unnoticed gaps in the crowd.
He is gradually closing the distance between himself and that girl.
"You're really brave."
Giyu's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
In a crowded place like Asakusa, how could someone possibly kidnap a girl in front of so many people?
This guy is either stupid, or he has absolute confidence in his ability to disguise himself.
"Make a move?"
Following his gaze, Sabito also noticed the man in the suit whose behavior seemed a bit suspicious.
He lowered his voice, his right hand already on the hilt of the knife, and his blood began to boil.
But Giyu shook his head.
"You wait here."
Before he could finish speaking, he vanished from the spot as if he had merged into the air.
There was no sound, no airflow.
Even the people jostling around him didn't cause the slightest commotion because of his disappearance.
Sabito's pupils suddenly contracted!!
He stared intently at the spot where Giyu had just stood, and the hairs on his body stood on end in an instant!
Disappeared?
How is that possible?!
That's not about speed, it's not a trick!
It is a true, complete "disappearance" from the visual, the perceptual, and all levels of perception!
Just as Sabito was utterly shocked...
Across the commercial street, the man in the suit and tie had already walked up behind the girl.
His smile turned incredibly eerie, and he quietly raised one hand, about to pat the girl's shoulder.
But just as his fingertips were about to touch the girl's clothes...
A faint, almost invisible blue afterimage flashed past behind the ghost.
It's almost at its peak.
It was as if it were just an illusion caused by a flicker of light.
The next second, Giyu Tomioka reappeared beside Sabito, still with his arms crossed and expressionless.
It's as if he never left at all.
Time, at this moment, seemed to resume its flow.
"Pfft!"
A very faint sound, like something being punctured, rang out.
Across the street, the man in the suit and tie suddenly froze, his eerie smile gone.
Then, before he could even react, his head, straight up from his neck, flew straight up into the air!
The head, still suspended in mid-air, even retained the bewildered and confused expression it had before death.
Blood gushed out of the severed neck like a fountain!
"Ah--!"
A scream loud enough to pierce eardrums burst from the mouth of the girl in the dress!
She turned around and saw a headless corpse falling straight down towards her, its blood splattering all over her.
After a brief moment of deathly silence, the crowd erupted in chaos!
"Murder!!"
"Someone's dead! Run!"
Panic spread like wildfire, and the once bustling streets instantly turned into a living hell.
People screamed, pushed, cried, and scattered in all directions; the scene was utter chaos.
Sabito just stood there blankly, watching the ghost head trace an arc through the air before finally falling to the ground with a "thud," its mind completely blank.
He saw nothing.
He swore he didn't even blink, but he just didn't see anything!
He didn't see Giyu, he didn't see him draw his sword, and he certainly didn't see him swing it!
They didn't even sense the slightest fluctuation of sword energy!
If it weren't for that ghost head still rolling around on the ground, he might have thought that everything just now was just his hallucination!
What does that mean?
This means that if Giyu wanted to kill him, he wouldn't even know how he died!
This is no longer a matter of strength versus weakness...
This is an insurmountable chasm between gods and mortals!
"If we don't leave now, the government officials will be here."
Giyu's calm voice pulled Sabito back from his immense shock.
He turned his head to look at the culprit who had caused all this commotion, only to find that the other person's face was still that of a calm, expressionless corpse, as if this human tragedy had nothing to do with him.
"Oh oh!"
As if waking from a dream, the Sabito stumbled and followed in Giyu's footsteps.
The two of them went against the chaotic crowd and quickly disappeared into the shadows at the street corner.
Half an hour later.
The two followed a Kasugai Crow, winding their way through the streets, until they finally arrived at a magnificent-looking mansion.
The high walls and ornate iron gates revealed a large, neatly manicured courtyard and a three-story villa with lights on.
Sabito tilted his head back, looking at the super mansion in front of him that was even more extravagant than Tamayo's. His mouth opened involuntarily again, and he couldn't close it for a long time.
"Hey, Giyu... are you sure this is the place? We... have we gone to the wrong place?"
He stammered, feeling his worldview being challenged once again.
Weren't they here to hunt ghosts? What are they doing in a place like this?
Giyu didn't answer, but stepped forward and pushed open the heavy iron door.
A middle-aged woman dressed in a neat maid outfit, looking quite capable, was already waiting at the door.
Upon seeing the two people enter, she immediately bowed respectfully.
"Tomioka, Lord Sabito, you must be tired from your journey."
"My Master has already given instructions that this will be your residence during your stay in Asakusa. I am the steward here; please feel free to contact me if you require anything."
"This... where is this..." Sabito was completely dumbfounded.
"In response to Sabito,"
The butler maintained his polite smile and explained, "This is one of the Ubuyashiki Family's properties in Asakusa. Before Lord Tomioka came to Asakusa, our Master had already transferred ownership of this residence to Lord Tomioka."
"In other words, from this moment on, this place is Tomioka's private property."
Boom!!
The butler's words were like a thunderbolt from the heavens, striking Sabito hard on the top of his head!
He felt a buzzing in his head, his vision went black, and he almost lost his balance.
Private... private property?
He abruptly turned his head and looked at Giyu Tomioka with the eyes of someone looking at an alien. The man walked in calmly, as if he were just going home. A huge, indescribable sense of imbalance instantly overwhelmed his reason!
"Wait a moment!"
He grabbed the butler who was about to leave, his voice trembling.
"You mean... everyone in the entire country, there are... everyone lives in a mansion like this?!"
The butler paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
"Yes. The Ubuyashiki Family's businesses are spread throughout the country, and they can provide the highest level of logistical support to all the Pillar-level lords at any time. This is a rule set by our Master."
"As for swordsmen of other ranks, they can only temporarily stay at Wisteria Houses in various places..."
Sabito could no longer hear what the butler said after that.
He felt as if his worldview had been repeatedly shattered, rebuilt, and then smashed to pieces once again throughout the day.
He remembered the dilapidated little wooden house on Mount Sagiri where he had lived for more than ten years.
I remembered how, after each mission, we would squeeze into the cramped dormitory room at the Wisteria House, listening to the deafening snores of our companions around us.
Now take a look at this mansion in front of you.
Then think about Giyu Tomioka's check for ten million yen.
A surge of bitter tears welled up uncontrollably in my eyes.
"This is unfair..."
He let out a mournful cry, squatted down, and buried his head in his hands.
Why is there such a huge difference between people?! o(╥╥)o