Bouncing Demon

Nohime slumped to the ground, staring at where the demon had vanished and gasping for breath. Not from exhaustion, but from fright.

A moment later, she turned back toward Han Zhiqi with a cute smile and raised a V-sign. Her smug expression seemed to say, See? I told you I could protect you.

But she failed to notice a black shadow leaping out from behind a nearby boulder. It jumped more than ten meters into the air and was now descending toward her from above. For the time being, let's call it the Bouncing Demon.

The Bouncing Demon had been waiting for this very moment—for Nohime to let down her guard.

Han Zhiqi had been waiting as well.

The reason he had let Nohime go down and behead the other demon was not truly to test her strength. He wanted to lure out the demon behind the rock, and sure enough, the beast had taken the bait.

What Han Zhiqi had not expected was that it possessed such an ability.

He had read that some demons' blood mutated after the fact, allowing them to evolve certain special abilities.

Clearly, he had been fortunate enough to encounter one today.

"Ice Breathing: Sixth Form: Phantom."

Han Zhiqi's figure instantly vanished from the stone platform. A string of illusory afterimages stretched from the platform all the way to Nohime.

By the time Nohime came back to her senses, he was already standing behind her.

"So fast, Han Zhiqi. What Breathing Style was that? It looked so beautiful. Huh? Why is it so cold?"

Nohime had yet to realize that danger was near. As she turned around and struggled to rise from the ground, the sudden chill made her whole body feel uncomfortable.

Han Zhiqi gripped the scabbard with his left hand, flicked open the guard with his thumb, and clasped the hilt with his right, assuming an iaijutsu stance.

"Ice Breathing: Fifth Style: Swift Ice Thorn."

A dazzling flash of white light streaked past. Nohime instinctively shut her eyes, and a sharp whistle rang in her ears, like the prelude to fireworks soaring into the sky—only far more piercing.

Swift Ice Thorn was the fastest and sharpest of all Han Zhiqi's techniques, exceptionally effective against sudden situations.

Sure enough, in midair, the Nichirin Blade pierced straight through the Bouncing Demon's palm—but only its palm.

In that instant, one above and one below, their eyes met. Both knew they had encountered a formidable opponent.

During that brief stalemate, Han Zhiqi watched in shock as the Bouncing Demon used the blade for support, lowered its legs, clamped the blade between its feet, and forcibly pulled its hand free from the frozen Nichirin Blade. Then it performed a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree backflip and landed steadily in an open patch of ground several meters away.

It landed without making a sound, standing straight beneath the moonlight.

Yes, just as you imagined—it looked exactly like the perfect landing of a gymnast at a competition.

What a light, nimble body. What terrifying flexibility.

At last, Nohime noticed the Bouncing Demon and realized that Han Zhiqi had saved her. She hurriedly scrambled to her feet, Nichirin Blade in hand, and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

Under the moonlight, the two of them finally saw the demon clearly.

It too had a bald head and a bare upper body. Its lower half wore only a pair of tattered shorts, probably the last thing it had worn as a human.

Its muscles overlapped and bulged across its body without a trace of excess fat. Its lines were graceful, its skin smooth and gleaming as if coated in oil. Its long, slender legs were even more taut and full, as though a pair of springs had been fitted behind them.

A streamlined body reduced air resistance, while powerful lower limbs increased jumping strength.

The mutation in its blood had not only given it a unique ability; it was gradually changing its appearance as well.

This was only one mutated demon. Who knew how many powerful mutated demons like it were scattered across Mount Fujikasane? The Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection truly was not simple. Before long, the entire examination might become hell.

"Th-this... what is that thing?"

"A demon. A mutated demon."

The Bouncing Demon raised its injured palm and examined it. The wound in its palm had been frozen over, white cold vapor rising from it. Then it lifted its head and glanced at the two people opposite it.

Perhaps sensing that it could not defeat Han Zhiqi, it turned around, bent its knees, and sprang directly ten meters into the air. It landed in the distant forest and disappeared from sight.

"Th-this..."

Nohime's mouth fell open. When she had been attacked earlier, she had not seen what the Bouncing Demon did.

Now that she had witnessed it herself, she was too shocked to close her mouth. Only after the Bouncing Demon vanished into the night did she slowly recover and turn to Han Zhiqi beside her.

It had probably intended to attack her from the air just now. If Han Zhiqi had not blocked it for her, then right now she would probably... Nohime did not dare continue the thought.

As the Bouncing Demon disappeared, Han Zhiqi withdrew his gaze as well. He casually sheathed his Nichirin Blade, then turned and saw Nohime staring blankly at him with her mouth wide open. He reached up, hooked a finger beneath her chin, and closed her mouth for her.

"Still not full? Have you switched to eating people now?"

Her upper and lower teeth clicked together with a crisp sound.

Nohime shuddered and snapped out of her daze. Catching up to Han Zhiqi, she hurriedly asked, "W-what was that thing just now?"

Han Zhiqi did not answer, because he had already answered that question. Besides, Nohime clearly knew the answer. Asking again now was merely her way of confirming whether she had heard correctly.

"Was that a demon? How could a demon look like that?"

The two returned to the stone platform one after the other. Nohime stared anxiously at Han Zhiqi, desperate for a reasonable explanation, her ample chest pressed entirely against his arm.

Han Zhiqi shifted his arm slightly.

What Nohime did not know was that he knew no more than she did. She had never seen a demon, and he had only seen two in total, including that man. The two of them were equally clueless.

Nohime asking Han Zhiqi was like asking herself in a mirror.

"What do you think a demon should look like? You've never seen one either," Han Zhiqi replied with a question.

Those words struck Nohime right in the heart. She had no answer and slumped woodenly to one side.

She had never seen one, but she had imagined them. She had heard her older sister talk about them, as though listening to stories.

"It probably mutated. The books say that when demons are extremely hungry, they eat their own kind, and cannibalizing their kind can trigger blood mutations. Demons are unstable lifeforms to humans, full of unknowns."

Han Zhiqi had originally intended to use this examination to test the results of his training. Now, it seemed that surviving seven days without injury would already be remarkable—especially with such a treasure following him around.

Even now, he could not figure out how he had ended up tied to her. And earlier, he had actually been unable to stop himself from saving her. Though he had intended to use her as bait, this was far too unlike him.

"By the way, I heard the Breathing Style you used earlier. Was it called 'Training Breathing'? Is that also a derivative of one of the Five Great Breathing Styles?"

Nohime nodded. "It's a derivative of Flame Breathing. Flame Breathing has special requirements for the practitioner's body temperature. The women of our clan have powerful hearts and lungs, large appetites, and fast blood flow, so our body temperatures are slightly higher than normal."

Among the Five Great Breathing Styles, Water Breathing had the most practitioners and was also the easiest, because it was highly adaptable and did not place many demands on the body, unlike the other Breathing Styles.

For example, Flame Breathing required powerful heart and lung function as well as a high body temperature.

Thunder Breathing excelled in speed and required extraordinary leg strength.

Stone Breathing relied purely on physical strength in battle and demanded exceptionally high physical qualities from its practitioners, which was why it had the fewest practitioners.

Wind Breathing likewise had few practitioners, because it required immense upper-body strength. Only then could one wield a Nichirin Blade while slashing out blades of wind.

A derivative style sounded impressive when called a derivative, but a more accurate name would be a downgraded style or a simplified style.

Limited by their own conditions, they simply could not bring out the ultimate power of the Five Great Breathing Styles. Only four people could truly be considered to stand at the pinnacle of the Five Great Breathing Styles.

First, the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima; second, the Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa; third, the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku; fourth, the Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka. As for the other derivative styles, they could only be considered the second tier.