Muzan's Awakening, Demon Slayer's Diverging Path

"Do you know each other?"

Hearing their conversation, Kocho Kanae keenly sensed that these humans who had suddenly appeared on Mount Fujikasane knew one another.

The Professor's gaze shifted slightly before he quickly smiled and spoke.

"Yes, we're all adventurers from overseas. We came to this country and heard that Man-eating Demons were running rampant here, so we wanted to investigate. We didn't expect to be attacked in these mountains after nightfall and get separated."

The Professor was very skilled at dealing with Plot Characters. Though his story was not without flaws, Kocho Kanae had no way to verify it in such a short time.

Moreover, the traces of battle on them did not seem fake. Combined with the fact that Bai Cangshu, who had just killed a demon with his bare hands, did not deny the man's words, Kocho Kanae nodded thoughtfully.

"So, you were the ones fighting demons on Mount Fujikasane tonight?"

"I thought... some trainer from a remote region was still sending disciples to Mount Fujikasane..."

There was both relief and disappointment in Kocho Kanae's voice.

Several years ago, Kibutsuji Muzan had somehow seemed to suddenly "wise up," completely changing his usual methods.

He had proactively approached high-ranking officials and nobles, using the wealth he had accumulated over a thousand years, along with secret arts that could grant people "eternal life," to swiftly gain the support of the powerful. In the end, he had made contact with figures high above.

The Taishō Era was an age of immense change for the entire country after the Meiji Restoration. The Heian Era, when Jujutsu Kaisen had been at its height, had ended far too long ago. Those Shintoism priests had long since lost their divine miracles, and Kibutsuji Muzan had become the new "true god" in the eyes of many elderly nobles and officials.

In the end, with the support of one of Emperor Taishō's descendants, Kibutsuji Muzan began actively purging the interference of the Demon Slayer Corps. The Ubuyashiki Family's businesses were affected, while the Demon Slayer Corps was regarded as a private armed force and could no longer move openly.

The number of Man-eating Demons began to surge in this environment.

The Demon Slayer Corps, meanwhile, was suppressed to the point where it could barely show itself.

The Minister of the Left also led people to burn vast areas of Mount Fujikasane. From then on, trainers across the land began losing contact with Demon Slayer Corps headquarters. Quite a few Demon Slayer Corps members were arrested, left the Corps, and defected to the government.

All these signs had nearly made it impossible for the Demon Slayer Corps to continue.

Fortunately, the core of the Demon Slayer Corps—the Hashira-level Swordsmen—remained behind and continued working in secret. The Stone Hashira Himejima Gyomei consecutively slew three Lower Ranks, slowing the Twelve Demon Moons' search efforts. The Lower Ranks no longer dared to act alone.

Yet even Lower Ranks traveling in pairs were still hunted down by the Stone Hashira. Kibutsuji Muzan was infuriated by this, promoting many so-called Lower Rank Candidates and imposing a brutal elimination system among the Lower Rank demons, periodically eliminating Lower Ranks without achievements every six months.

This drove the Lower Rank demons into revolt, and the Demon Slayer Corps suffered grievous losses.

Today, Lady Ubuyashiki Amane, who possessed priestly blood, announced that she had received a revelation: new power had appeared around Mount Fujikasane. Kocho Kanae had thus led a team here to investigate, only to be pursued by the Public Order Officers and a Man-eating Demon force that had also arrived.

That was how things had ended up as they were now.

After hearing Kocho Kanae's explanation, the reincarnators all wore different expressions.

Clearly, they had all realized that this world truly differed from the Plot World they remembered. The greatest change was naturally Kibutsuji Muzan. In the original work, that boss had been nothing but trash, possessing neither brains nor courage, yet he had suddenly wised up.

He had begun using humans to control the greater situation.

The Professor went a step further. He realized that if, after entering this world, he had swiftly coordinated everyone's opinions and had the seven of them work together to hold back the Man-eating Demons when they charged over—

They would then have encountered the Demon Slayer Corps faction represented by the Flower Hashira, Kocho Kanae, as well as the Kibutsuji Muzan faction represented by the Public Order Officers and Man-eating Demons.

After that, the reincarnators could have chosen to aid one side based on their own inclinations and objectives, defeat or even kill the other side, and thereby fulfill the requirements of Main Mission 1 and Main Mission 2. They might even have directly gained a batch of faction reputation.

What a pity...

The Professor's eyes shifted before finally settling on the man who had "disguised" himself with that terrifying visage.

What a pity that the strongest person in the team had such an unpleasant personality.

Just as the man in the conical hat, Liu Qi, had said, the first Man-eating Demon to appear had displayed an unreasonably intense desire to attack this man. The only explanation they could think of was that this man was exceptionally powerful and had thus been targeted by the space.

Or perhaps...

The Professor steadied his breathing before stepping forward and taking the initiative to speak with Kocho Kanae.

She wanted more detailed intelligence.

For instance, the current number and strength of the Twelve Demon Moons, even Kibutsuji Muzan's whereabouts, and so on.

But Kocho Kanae merely shook her head gently and refused.

"The night has not yet passed. I should first tend to this gentleman's injuries. Once dawn comes, we can find somewhere to discuss things in detail."

She walked up to Bai Cangshu and took the initiative to bandage the injury on his right hand.

Seeing this, the others could only disperse. Vincent and Elizabeth lingered at the very edge of the group, their eyes constantly assessing Bai Cangshu.

In their eyes, Bai Cangshu was the chief culprit who had made this mission so perilous.

Of course, they would not be foolish enough to erupt at this moment. Reincarnators had their own rules for survival, and the most important one was—do not provoke someone stronger than yourself, especially when... that person was not a "good person."

When Elizabeth saw Bai Cangshu give her a dangerous smile, her gaze instinctively shifted away.

At that moment, she was indeed somewhat certain that Liu Qi and the Professor had been right. This man was extremely dangerous!

Anyone who provoked her without knowing her true capabilities was either an idiot or an insanely confident madman.

Only after the blond man and green-haired woman averted their eyes did Bai Cangshu withdraw his gaze in satisfaction, like a victorious general.

Kocho Kanae truly came from a family of physicians. Her bandaging technique was extremely professional; it did not make Bai Cangshu feel that his arm was overly restrained, while his twisted finger joints and ruptured capillaries were all properly compressed.

"You must not exert force with that right hand for a while, or it may become deformed."

Bai Cangshu was unmoved by the "doctor's orders." So-called reincarnators were disposable weapons of war. So long as they did not die, any injury could be healed upon returning to the space.

Besides...

Bai Cangshu had maintained the unique rhythm of Hamon through his nose and mouth all along. That tingling sensation lingered continuously in his right hand. Beyond its combat applications, Hamon was also quite remarkable at healing and prolonging life.

He felt that his right arm would recover very soon.

"Once dawn comes, I need you to come with me to meet someone. We need to find a way to resolve the matter of killing the Public Order Officer."

Kocho Kanae spoke softly, but her words were firm. At some point, the hand she had used to bandage him had gripped Bai Cangshu's arm at the joint.

Bai Cangshu did not care in the slightest. Having heard Kocho Kanae's previous explanation, he knew that this was probably another story of the ruling class collaborating with Kibutsuji Muzan to jointly exploit ordinary people.

Such stories played out almost every moment. With a casual guess, he could infer the general course of events. The Minister of the Left, the Public Order Officers—they were all merely carrying out the will of that emperor's son.

"Does something like this need someone else to resolve it?"

"Tell me where that minister and the demons are. I'll go communicate with them myself. It'll be easy to settle."

Kocho Kanae felt that although the man before her had heroic brows and eyes (Plot Characters would not be affected by the disguise of the Visage of an Ancient God, but they would be affected by charisma), he acted far too recklessly. She frowned.

"You killed someone. How are you supposed to communicate?"

Bai Cangshu nodded.

"Exactly. I killed someone. Why would I need to communicate?"