Hateful Bugs

No wonder he had smelled a fragrance the moment he entered. Tsugikuni Kuuga walked over to the incense and sniffed it carefully. There was a scent he recognized—Wisteria Flower and insect repellent.

After all, he had come from the Butterfly Mansion. How embarrassing would it be if he did not recognize a few medicinal herbs?

After sniffing it, Tsugikuni Kuuga lay back down. It seemed this old man was no ordinary person.

"By the way, why is there incense burning in the room?" Tsugikuni Kuuga asked.

"Grandpa said it keeps bugs away, because mosquitoes are really annoying." The little boy clenched his tiny fists.

"They really are!" Tsugikuni Kuuga nodded.

Tsugikuni Kuuga noticed that after eating some, the little boy hid the bag away as though it were treasure.

"Why did you stop eating?"

"I'm saving the rest for Grandpa!" the little boy said with a smile.

The boy's kindness nearly blinded Tsugikuni Kuuga. What a sensible child. Kids his age should have loved snacks like these.

Tsugikuni Kuuga rubbed the little boy's head. "It's fine. Eat if you want to. Big Brother has more!"

"Really?" the little boy asked timidly.

"No problem. Consider it payment for letting me stay the night. Eat as much as you want—I've got plenty!" Tsugikuni Kuuga said with a smile.

With Tsugikuni Kuuga's reassurance, the little boy happily took out his "treasure" and began eating. He quickly finished the Dorayaki.

Tsugikuni Kuuga chatted with the little boy for a while longer. From their conversation, he learned that the boy had rarely gone outside, so he yearned for the world beyond the village that Tsugikuni Kuuga described.

The two had a wonderful time talking. After all, children always had wild imaginations and dreams unique to childhood—the most priceless and purest dreams of all.

As they talked, the little boy fell asleep. Tsugikuni Kuuga also learned from him that the old man had been a hunter in his youth, and that the village's strange state seemed to have begun a year ago.

But the little boy did not seem to know anything else. Tsugikuni Kuuga was not sleepy at all. Ever since healing his mother, he had noticed that his Mental Power had improved somewhat.

He even suspected that every time he surpassed himself, his Mental Power grew a little. Was this some kind of self-harm-based growth?

Midnight soon arrived. A continuous rustling sound came from outside. Tsugikuni Kuuga immediately rose alertly, one hand resting on the sword at his waist.

He turned to look at the little boy and found him sound asleep. Tsugikuni Kuuga quietly crept to the door.

He slowly opened it a crack to inspect the situation outside.

By the faint moonlight, Tsugikuni Kuuga saw the ground crawling with bugs. More accurately, it was covered in centipedes—densely packed centipedes.

Even Tsugikuni Kuuga, who did not have trypophobia, broke out in goosebumps. In any case, a whole floor full of crawling bugs was disgusting.

Tsugikuni Kuuga hurriedly shut the door. Strangely enough, the centipedes only filled the corridor and had not entered the room. Perhaps it was because of that incense.

The instant Tsugikuni Kuuga closed the door, he heard another door open. Rather than reopen his own door, he activated Tai Chi Sense.

Tsugikuni Kuuga found that Tai Chi Sense could now perceive everything within a radius of ten meters.

Through Tai Chi Sense, he saw that besides the densely packed bugs on the ground, there was now a large figure among them. Looking carefully, he realized it was the old man.

Tsugikuni Kuuga abruptly pushed open the door and called out to the old man several times, but the man ignored him completely. He simply kept walking forward, like a puppet on strings.

Even stranger, the centipedes on the ground naturally parted to make a path, and the old man proceeded along the road they had opened.

Tsugikuni Kuuga first returned to the room and moved the incense to the doorway. Only then could he ensure the centipedes would not get inside.

Sure enough, once the incense was moved to the entrance, the centipedes scattered, leaving a semicircular open space. After checking on the little boy once more, Tsugikuni Kuuga closed the door and stepped onto the cleared ground.

Tsugikuni Kuuga found that the centipedes were avoiding him as well. He raised his sleeve and sniffed it. Sure enough, the scent had soaked into him. No wonder.

Although Tsugikuni Kuuga wanted to leave as quickly as possible, the sight of these arthropods covering the ground made him deeply uncomfortable. His goosebumps had not faded since he first saw these "little darlings."

Tsugikuni Kuuga ran over and patted the old man's shoulder, but the man still did not respond. Left with no choice, Tsugikuni Kuuga followed him outside.

Outside, the moonlight was brighter, making everything easier to see. Tsugikuni Kuuga was grateful that he had only lightly patted the old man's shoulder earlier.

That was because a centipede nearly half a meter long was clinging to the back of the old man's neck. It was probably controlling him. Hateful bug.

When Tsugikuni Kuuga looked up, an even more shocking sight entered his view. The entire village was covered in centipedes, and someone was walking out of every household—men and women, young and old, none missing.

Their expressions were dazed, their faces pale, and their eyes bulging. All of them walked along the special paths formed by the centipedes. From afar, the centipedes could be seen crawling toward the mountains outside the village.

At that moment, two black shadows came toward him against the flow. Tsugikuni Kuuga hurriedly hid between two houses.

Tsugikuni Kuuga cautiously peeked out and discovered they were two demons. For some reason, despite seeing people all over the ground, they showed no desire to eat them.

Suddenly, one demon turned around. Fortunately, Tsugikuni Kuuga had already ducked back into hiding, or he would have been discovered.

"I told you the boss is smart. He pens up a group of people and takes their blood regularly. It's much better than going out hunting every day, and no one dies to bring those damned Demon Slayer Corps members here!"

"It's good and all, but there's nobody to eat," the other demon sighed.

"Not necessarily. If you can't eat the people in this village, can't you just go outside?"

"Oh, right. You're right. The boss never said we couldn't!"

The two demons grinned as though their scheme had succeeded. They looked down and saw that all the centipedes had left, which meant everyone had gathered.

"Let's go. Everyone's here, so we're done. Maybe we can even get a sip when we get back!"

Neither demon noticed that Tsugikuni Kuuga was also hidden in the darkness.

Tsugikuni Kuuga calmly listened to their conversation and obtained quite a bit of useful information. First, there were probably three demons, and they were raising humans in captivity. This was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

Tsugikuni Kuuga had never imagined demons could get this creative. They did not eat people and only drank blood. No wonder the villagers looked severely anemic.

Tsugikuni Kuuga planned to follow them and assess the situation. He would first locate the demons' hideout. If he rashly charged in under these circumstances, there would definitely be casualties. He could only confirm the location and act tomorrow.

Suddenly, a young child's voice, tinged with tears, rang out:

"Grandpa, Big Brother, where are you? I'm scared!"

Tsugikuni Kuuga and the two demons turned around at the same time. For one side, it was good news; for the other, a disaster.