"Breathing styles really came in all varieties. Which 'love' was it? The 'love' in practice? Or...?"
Nohime glanced at Han Zhiqi and lowered her head awkwardly. "N-No... it's the 'love' in romance."
"The 'love' in romance? How could someone come up with a name like that?" Han Zhiqi found it hard to understand.
Training a Breathing style should have been a serious matter. Even if it did not have an impressive, lofty name, it should at least have sounded reasonable. Where had this "love" come from?
"My older sister taught me this Breathing style. You've seen what our family is like—we eat a lot, and our bodies are like this. So my sister could never find someone to date. Later, she joined the Demon Slayer Corps because she wanted to find a boyfriend too. That's how the 'love' came about."
After saying that, Nohime blushed, secretly glanced at Han Zhiqi, then quickly lowered her head again.
Han Zhiqi was utterly speechless. As the saying went, birds of a feather flock together.
So both sisters were treasures. One had joined the Demon Slayer Corps to date, while the other had joined so she could eat her fill.
Han Zhiqi nodded solemnly. "I see. I never expected such a beautiful story behind this Breathing style. Your sister wanted to date, so it was called Love Breathing. You want to eat, so yours should be called Eating Breathing. I think you should change it later."
The first half sounded rather pleasant, but by the second half, Nohime knew he was making fun of her again. She lightly slapped Han Zhiqi's arm and pouted, "Y-You're awful. Don't make fun of me."
"If you think Eating Breathing sounds bad, you could call it Food Breathing instead. That sounds more elegant."
"You're still at it..." Nohime raised her hand as if to hit him, but in the end, she put it down without doing anything.
"What about you? I heard you mention Ice Breathing earlier. Does that mean your Breathing style is a derivative style too?"
"Yes. I was born in the snowy mountains and grew up there. When I was young, I got caught in a blizzard while hunting in the mountains and lost my way. I met an old man along the way, and he taught me a Breathing method and two Martial Skills. Thinking about it now, that old man was probably from the Demon Slayer Corps too."
"Why did you join the Demon Slayer Corps? Like you said, I joined for food. What about you?"
Hearing that question, Han Zhiqi could not help trembling. His wounds had clearly healed, yet he could still feel a scorching pain. And somewhere else hurt as well—his heart hurt, so much that he could barely breathe.
That's right. Why did I join the Demon Slayer Corps?
I came to save my older sister and kill the man named Igu Qigan.
When no answer came for a long while, Nohime turned to look at Han Zhiqi, only to find his gaze icy and murderous, his expression utterly terrifying.
Nohime jumped in fright. Han Zhiqi had always looked cold before, but that coldness had merely kept people at a distance. Now, however, it was a bone-chilling coldness that inspired fear at a glance.
"A-Are you okay?" Nohime forced herself to ask softly.
Suddenly, Han Zhiqi turned to look at her, and in an instant, killing intent surged from his eyes.
Nohime's breath caught. Startled, her body toppled to one side. Her rosy little face was filled with fear and confusion.
The two stared at each other like that. Gradually, the killing intent in Han Zhiqi's eyes faded bit by bit, and finally, a trace of guilt flashed through them as he held out a hand to Nohime.
Nohime hesitated for a moment before extending her own hand and taking his.
Nohime felt that Han Zhiqi's palm was ice-cold.
Han Zhiqi pulled Nohime up from the ground and said guiltily, "I'm sorry. I scared you just now."
"It's okay." Nohime tried hard to force a smile that looked as though nothing was wrong, but her expression was stiff and strained.
"I'll tell you about it another time."
"Ah..." Still shaken, Nohime had momentarily forgotten what he meant. After briefly thinking back, she remembered it was about why he had joined the Demon Slayer Corps. She hurriedly murmured, "Mm... mm," to show that she understood.
Nohime had never imagined that a question she had asked so casually would cause Han Zhiqi such a tremendous reaction, and she immediately felt somewhat guilty.
At the same time, she vaguely guessed that the reason Han Zhiqi always looked so cold might also be related to this matter.
After this incident, the atmosphere between the two became somewhat awkward.
On the other side of the mountain, Kimura was directing the other members as they methodically repelled the demons' attacks.
The circular defensive formation was indeed effective. No matter which direction the demons attacked from, the members stationed there would intercept them.
On average, three members worked together to defend against one demon. One took the lead in attacking while the other two assisted from the sides. With the enhancement of their Breathing styles and Nichirin Blades, they could force the demons back without much difficulty.
Even if someone was accidentally injured, members from within the circle would promptly fill the gap and continue the defense, while designated people treated the wounded.
Although they could barely hold back the demons' attacks with their iron-barrel formation, anyone could sense just how weak and powerless this passive defense was.
Demons possessed endless vitality and never grew tired. Even if they were injured, they would recover in an extremely short time. Humans, however, could be wounded and exhausted. Most importantly, their confidence could collapse.
In just the first half of the night, the demons had launched no fewer than twenty individual and group attacks. No matter how strong the members were, they could not keep standing around the circle for hours on end, fending off demon attacks.
Many members were showing signs of exhaustion. Beyond the strain on their bodies, the tension and fear in their minds worsened their fatigue. Their initial high spirits had long vanished.
Even Kimura, the captain, found the hand gripping his sword beginning to tremble uncontrollably. By now, he had realized that gathering everyone together had been a terrible idea.
As the saying went, there was strength in numbers, but numbers did not work in every situation.
A flock of sheep and a wolf. Even if the sheep gathered together, they were still sheep.
The more people there were, the bigger the target became, and the easier it was to attract the attention of more demons—just like now, when they were trapped in encirclement after encirclement.
If it had only been one person or a small group, they would have been a smaller target. Perhaps they could have avoided the demons' notice and endured until the end.
Kimura felt that the contestant in white at the square must have noticed this problem, which was why he had left without hesitation.
His strength was among the best of these people. If he had chosen to travel alone like that contestant in white, perhaps he would not be trapped here now, planning a future for a bunch of weaklings.
Kimura could not help regretting his original decision. He had thought himself brilliant, only to find that he had dug his own grave.
Just as everyone maintained their tense defense and prepared for the demons' next wave of attacks, a black shadow suddenly dropped from the sky. It landed squarely in the center of the circle, standing straight before a female member.
Before you continue