Yuka Was Taken Away

Following the direction the screams had come from last night, Han Zhiqi and Nohime traced the tracks left by Kimura and the others to the place where they had been attacked.

Corpses littered the ground. The gruesome scene was horrifying to behold, and even after an entire night, the thick stench of blood had yet to dissipate.

Nohime clutched Han Zhiqi's sleeve and followed closely behind him, chills rising in her heart.

Mutilated bodies, severed heads swaying endlessly in the wind, entrails dragging across the ground, pools of crimson blood—the vast clearing resembled a massive battlefield of carnage.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Nohime let go of Han Zhiqi's sleeve and hurried out of the clearing. Reaching a clean tree, she braced herself against its trunk and began vomiting.

Han Zhiqi walked straight to the center of the slaughterhouse, which should also have been the center of Kimura's group.

He judged this to be the center because the bodies were densest here. More than a dozen backpacks of various sizes had also been piled on the ground. They must have fled in too much of a hurry last night to take them with them.

Han Zhiqi inspected the backpacks one by one, selected the three largest, then stuffed them full with food, water, and any medicine that might prove useful from the remaining bags. Finally, he slung the three packs over his shoulders and headed back toward their camp.

Nohime, who had vomited until she was nearly delirious, saw Han Zhiqi leave without even saying a word. Fighting back her nausea, she hurried after him.

Not long after the two left, several more groups emerged from the woods, in pairs and trios, or clusters of four or five. They packed up everything edible and useful that remained and took it away. They had probably been hiding in some remote corner as well.

After returning to their camp, Han Zhiqi placed all three backpacks on the stone platform, pulled out some food from one of them, and began eating by himself.

Dragging her weakened body along, Nohime went to the spot where she had spoken with Yuka last night and carefully sat down. Everything she had eaten last night had been thoroughly vomited out, and an inexplicable chill ran through her body.

Watching Han Zhiqi eat with such relish, she wanted to eat too. But whenever she recalled what she had just seen, her stomach churned uncontrollably, and she had to dry heave several times before she felt better.

Nohime could not help feeling annoyed. If I'd known Han Zhiqi was going there to scavenge supplies, I wouldn't have followed him. But then she reconsidered. Where else could I have gone if I hadn't followed him? Besides, how was I supposed to know the scene would be so horrific beforehand?

For someone who regarded food as life itself, wanting to eat but not daring to eat—what a miserable thing that was!

Nohime only drank a little water during the day and did not manage to eat anything until evening.

With three huge bags of food behind them, the two gazed at the stars filling the sky. They were living quite comfortably; this hardly looked like an examination. It was more like they had come sightseeing.

One or two screams still rang out from time to time at night, but compared with the slaughter of the first night, things were much better.

They occasionally encountered one or two demons out hunting, but they would usually lose their heads the moment they came face-to-face with Han Zhiqi, their lives snuffed out in an instant.

The Bouncing Demon never appeared again. Neither did the six-legged Spider Demon or the six-armed Three-Headed Demon Yuka had mentioned. Of course, they might simply have appeared elsewhere.

In any case, the two spent the next few days in peace. Whenever they had free time, they would discuss their understanding of Breathing Styles together.

As time passed, fewer screams could be heard at night. Mount Fujikasane seemed to have suddenly fallen quiet, until the evening of the seventh day—the final day.

Before night had even fallen, an unusual scent filled the air. The atmosphere felt exactly like it had on the first day of the examination: heavy, oppressive, restless, and strange in every way.

Not only was the atmosphere the same as on the first night, but so was the weather. A round, full moon hung at the edge of the sky, bathing all of Mount Fujikasane in light as bright as day.

"Hey, Han Zhiqi, where are you planning to go have fun after we head down the mountain tomorrow?"

"That has nothing to do with you."

"How can it have nothing to do with me? We're good friends who've been through life and death together."

You went through life and death, not me."

"You're so cold when you talk. Talking to you feels like walking on ice in winter, like I'm treading on thin ice."

"Mm. That's quite an apt expression."

Nohime tilted her head, her face filled with smiles. She had already begun looking forward to leaving Mount Fujikasane and becoming an official member of the Demon Slayer Corps.

"I'm going to visit my sister first. I wonder if she'll hit me. Then... hey, Han Zhiqi, where do you live? I'll come find you."

"No need. It would be best if we never met again."

"Hmph, what are you saying? That really hurts. And here I thought of you as my best friend." Pouting, Nohime raised a hand and lightly patted Han Zhiqi's arm. Calling it a pat was generous—it was more like a caress.

"Then thank you. My family is very poor, so please don't make things worse for us."

"You... you're making fun of me again."

As they spoke, clear footsteps came from the woods below the stone platform.

Nohime immediately stopped fooling around and gripped the hilt of her sword with her right hand. She thought another demon with a death wish had wandered in. Having seen so many demons these past few days, she no longer made as much of a fuss as she had in the beginning.

Two people emerged from the forest.

"Yuka, Akino? You... weren't you...?"

Once she recognized them, Nohime was so shocked that she could not close her mouth. Then she dashed down from the stone platform, grabbed Yuka's hand, and jumped about happily.

"Didn't you go down the mountain? How...?"

Yuka glanced at Akino beside her. "We weren't willing to just go back like that. Our families were all killed by demons. If we returned home like this, I'm afraid we'd never be able to live with ourselves for the rest of our lives."

A sorrowful expression appeared on Nohime's face. "I'm sorry, I... I didn't know..."

"It's all right. It was a long time ago. I've already moved on."

Yuka looked up at Han Zhiqi. "We hadn't planned on coming to find you, but I really wanted to see you. We thought that, since it was the last night, there probably wouldn't be any danger, so..."

"If I'd known, then back then... back then..." Nohime stammered for a long while, but could not bring herself to say, "You should have been allowed to stay back then."

"Back then what?"

Seeing Nohime's troubled expression, Yuka knew she had not been the one who could decide that matter. With a soft laugh, she said, "All right, don't worry about that anymore. Let's find somewhere to have a proper chat. There's so much I want to tell you. You won't chase us away again tonight, will you?"

"No, no, of course not. Whoever dares chase you away will have to answer to me." Nohime turned back and glared fiercely at Han Zhiqi. That last sentence was clearly meant for him.

Nohime and Yuka were like a pair of sisters reunited after a long separation. Holding hands affectionately, they went to sit on the stone platform in the clearing. On the night they first met, they had sat here and talked all night.

Han Zhiqi sneered inwardly. Just don't regret it later.

The moment they sat down, the two started chattering away. Before long, they got up together and headed into the woods behind them.

Akino, uneasy, asked where they were going.

Nohime glanced back at Akino and said, "Do I need to report it to you even if I'm going to the toilet?"

Akino flushed with embarrassment and could only lower his head before sitting back down on the stone platform.

Not long after Nohime and Yuka entered the woods, a girl suddenly screamed. Then Nohime stumbled out of the forest, tears in her eyes as she looked anxiously at Han Zhiqi.

"Yuka was taken away! Han Zhiqi, you... you have to save her."