Tanjiro was baffled by the sudden move, but he quickly understood why Inosuke had done it. He caught that familiar, foul stench coming from not far beneath him.
Tanjiro turned around in midair and, sure enough, saw a white-haired woman in white standing in the clearing below, staring up at him in terror.
This was the demon controlling the spiders from behind the scenes!
"Water Breathing: First Form..."
As Spider Mother watched herself about to be beheaded, terror appeared on her face. Yet it quickly vanished, replaced by joyful relief. She opened her arms toward the sky, as though gladly welcoming death.
Tanjiro suddenly froze, flipped his blade, and changed techniques.
"Water Breathing: Fifth Style: Drought Rain."
The Nichirin Blade gently swept across Spider Mother's neck without causing the slightest pain. It was like a ray of light shining upon her, warm and magnificent.
Spider Mother's head drifted gracefully to the ground.
In her final moments, she recalled the time she had spent with her so-called family.
Demon Father's senseless rage, the children's merciless mockery—no matter what she did, she could never satisfy them. Now, she no longer had to carefully curry their favor.
This was not a family. A real family should have been harmonious and warm. This had merely been that child's one-sided fantasy.
Tanjiro watched her head gradually turn to ash. He felt no hatred, only endless pity and compassion.
On the western mountain path of Mount Natagumo, Han Zhiqi and Nohime were walking along at an unhurried pace.
The forest's atmosphere was stifling and oppressive. Under the hazy moonlight, they looked around and saw spiderwebs everywhere, with pale spiders scuttling back and forth across them.
Girls were naturally afraid of furry insects and eight-legged creatures like spiders, and Nohime was no exception.
Nohime clutched Han Zhiqi's