After bidding Shinobu Kocho farewell, Han Zhiqi headed toward the mountaintop alone.
The narrow path beneath his feet seemed not to have been traveled for a long time, nearly obscured by the weeds on either side.
The woods were damp and stifling. Han Zhiqi's body was already weak, and before long, he was panting heavily and drenched in sweat.
The bandages absorbed the sweat and clung tightly to his body. Sweat seeped through them into his wounds, and the salt irritated the injuries, making them painful and itchy.
With no other choice, Han Zhiqi took off his haori, exposing his bandage-wrapped upper body as he tried to use his Breathing Style to cool himself down.
He did not know how long he walked before he finally left that narrow trail behind and arrived at a spacious clearing.
It seemed to be a temporary rest stop, with a stone table and stone benches. Beyond it lay a proper mountain road paved with bluestone slabs.
Han Zhiqi sat down at the stone table and looked at the orderly mountain path directly below. He realized that Shinobu Kocho had pointed him down a side route, though whether she had done it deliberately was impossible to determine.
What an idiot woman!
Han Zhiqi cursed under his breath, leaning against the stone table and looking up at the tree branches that blotted out the sky. Remembering Shinobu Kocho's face so close to his own, he could not help feeling flustered.
And she was a "Hashira," too. She had no regard for her own behavior at all.
From the books, Han Zhiqi had learned that Hashira were those who stood at the pinnacle of the Demon Slayer Corps.
There were currently nine Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps, and Shinobu Kocho was one of them, known as the Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho.
Among the nine Hashira, she was the weakest. Unlike the others, who killed demons through sheer combat strength.
Her grip strength was insufficient to sever a demon's neck, so she could only seek another path and develop wisteria poison to kill demons. Even then, it only worked on weaker demons.
Shinobu Kocho had become the Insect Hashira largely because of her older sister, the former Flower Hashira Kanae Kocho, making the title somewhat undeserved.
Han Zhiqi stopped thinking about Shinobu Kocho and decided to rest briefly before continuing onward.
After all, it was already afternoon. If he failed to reach the summit and find that cultivator before nightfall, he would likely have to spend the night in the mountains.
Suddenly, rustling came from the bushes nearby. Han Zhiqi straightened up and turned toward them, only to see a gray rabbit leap past him.
The tension in Han Zhiqi's heart eased slightly, but in that instant, an inexplicable chill rose from within. He clearly sensed that something had entered the area around him.
Thinking of that rabbit from earlier, he suspected that it had not merely been moving about, but fleeing from something terrifying.
Was there some ferocious beast in these woods?
Han Zhiqi did not dare make any rash moves. The sensation of a blade at his back told him that he had already been targeted by that thing.
Han Zhiqi took a deep breath and adjusted his condition to its peak.
"Cold Tide."
He used his Breathing Style first, releasing cold air to enhance his senses.
The woods were already thick with water vapor. When it met the cold he released, it instantly formed a cloud of fine, snow-white ice crystals that floated around Han Zhiqi. As his breathing deepened, the chill gradually spread outward.
That thing seemed to realize it had been discovered. It finally stopped hiding, leaping down from a nearby tree and pouncing straight at Han Zhiqi.
The instant it touched the cold air, Han Zhiqi had already determined the direction of its attack. He jumped twice in quick succession toward the mountain path, widening the distance between them.
It was not that Han Zhiqi did not want to counterattack. Of course, he had nothing with which to counterattack. More importantly, he wanted to see exactly what had attacked him.
From their brief contact earlier, he felt it was not an animal. Its body temperature was clearly much lower than that of ordinary humans and warm-blooded animals, more like a cold-blooded creature.
The thing had missed its pounce and was now crouching atop the stone table, covered in snow-white ice crystals like a white-furred monkey.
The ice crystals seemed to make it uncomfortable. It made strange "huh-ha" noises as its claws continuously scratched at its arms.
Han Zhiqi stood on the stone steps, using the faint light to look toward the stone table.
This was indeed not an animal. It had arms and legs, and it was even wearing tattered clothing.
Could it be a beggar?
Before Han Zhiqi could fully figure it out, the thing on the stone table suddenly turned around, opened its mouth, and let out a threatening "Ha!" at him.
The moment he saw its face, Han Zhiqi's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the ground.
Its face was bluish, its fangs protruded, and its pupils were the same color as a beast's. Gray fur and fresh blood still clung to the corners of its mouth.
This was no wild beast. It was clearly a demon!
A living, breathing demon!
Why would a demon appear on the cultivator's territory?
What the hell was going on?
That idiot woman had said she could only escort him this far. What did that mean? Did she know there was a demon on the mountain?
How could she know there was a demon on the mountain? Or was this demon a test for climbing the mountain?
That was the only explanation. Otherwise, how could a demon possibly appear on a cultivator's territory? It made no sense.
Han Zhiqi vaguely pieced together the situation. If this demon really was a test, perhaps that cultivator was watching him from somewhere.
The cultivator most likely wanted to use this to assess a candidate's ability to respond on the spot, escape, and fight in actual combat.
After all, no method could reveal a newcomer's abilities more quickly or comprehensively than real combat.
What should he do?
Han Zhiqi forced himself to calm down. Having figured out the cultivator's intentions, he began analyzing the situation. In his current predicament, he could either fight or flee.
Since it was a test, if he fled, he could only flee uphill. Running downhill would likely mean disqualification.
But fleeing uphill had one fatal drawback: it consumed an enormous amount of stamina.
Running seemed like a good idea, but when he thought it through, it was actually a dead end.
Setting aside the possibility of the cultivator rescuing him, his strength had recovered to seventy or eighty percent after resting just now. In his current condition, he should have enough strength to fight the demon before him.
But if he chose to run, then once exhaustion caught up with him and the demon caught him, he would not even have the strength to resist. He could only let the demon slaughter him. Besides, his body had not fully recovered yet; even if he ran, he would not get far.
Therefore, the wisest choice was to fight. Since this was a test, the cultivator surely would not let someone about to become his student die miserably.
After analyzing the situation, Han Zhiqi steeled his resolve. He took a deep breath and assumed a stance to draw his sword and attack, only for his hands to reach his waist and discover that he had forgotten something extremely important.
He had no sword!
Wanting to slay a demon without a sword was like going to chop firewood without bringing an axe.
That stingy idiot woman! She could have at least given me a sword for protection!
Was this really a test, or was she deliberately delivering food to the demon?
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