Cult

The homeless man who had been urinating by the roadside earlier had, for some reason, caught up to her.

"Hey, where did you come from, kid? I've never seen you before..."

The homeless man, with an unfriendly expression, reached out towards her, his hand about to land on her shoulder.

Just as Yuko was about to dodge, the homeless man suddenly stopped, his words trailing off. His drunken eyes fixed on Yuko's chest, and his eyes immediately widened.

"Heh heh, Miss, are you lost?"

"How did you end up in a place like this all alone?"

The homeless man's body odor, mixed with the stench of alcohol, wafted into Yuko's nose, making her feel a little dizzy.

"Do you want me to take you home?"

He said flirtatiously, even striking a pose as if to embrace her and reaching out with a lecherous hand.

Yuko's eyelids drooped slightly. She sidestepped the homeless man's grab and then extended her right leg.

With a BOOM, she tripped the homeless man, sending him sprawling to the ground.

The pain from the fall sobered the homeless man up a bit. He turned around and angrily berated her.

"Hey! You damn bi-"

Yuko expressionlessly stomped on his face, grinding him into the ground.

On the ground, a suspicious liquid flowed along the road and onto his face.

The nauseating smell, combined with the pain of his head being pressed against the ground as if it would explode, instantly cleared away his drunkenness.

"Ah!!" the homeless man screamed, cursing viciously, "You damn dirty bitch, I'll definitely..."

Yuko's foot increased in pressure. The homeless man struggled, realizing it was useless, and quickly begged for mercy.

"I was wrong, I was wrong! Miss, please be magnanimous."

Yuko's foot remained on his face, its pressure undiminished. She said calmly, "I have a question for you."

The homeless man quickly replied, "Yes, yes! Tell me!"

"I heard girls have been disappearing around here. Do you know anything about it?"

"Yes, yes!"

"I heard it was the work of man-eating demons?"

The homeless man first cried out in pain, "Miss, I'm going to die from the pain~"

Yuko removed her foot. The homeless man quickly scrambled up, kneeling on the ground and rubbing his cheek.

"So slow."

Yuko's cold voice made him shiver. Without looking up, he quickly said, "It's not man-eating demons at all."

"Oh? Then what's really going on?" Yuko narrowed her eyes. As she had walked here, although the mixed scents had dulled her senses, she hadn't detected any trace of demonic energy.

The homeless man dared not hide anything. "I don't know the specifics, just that their parents sent them away."

"Where does that family live?"

Yuko frowned slightly. Human trafficking?

In this era, it was indeed common to attribute such acts to gods and demons, precisely to deter people from investigating.

When Yuko was part of the Demon Slayer Corps, she had encountered similar false reports.

Upon arriving at the scene, she discovered that the so-called demons were actually fabricated rumors spread by evil people to cover up their own misdeeds.

Human trafficking in ancient times was difficult to track due to slow information spread.

And this was something the family was doing themselves.

It was clear they were sending their own daughters away for money.

Such acts were commonplace in this era, and even the authorities turned a blind eye.

There was no point in finding the people and bringing them back; the parents wouldn't acknowledge them and would instead see it as meddling.

"It's just ahead, turn left. The house with the stone table in front is theirs," the homeless man said, pointing in a direction before hesitantly asking, "Um... can I go now?"

Yuko, lost in thought, waved her hand dismissively.

She had no intention of dealing with such scoundrelly behavior.

The homeless man scrambled away a couple of steps, then suddenly noticed a stone by the roadside.

An idea suddenly sprouted in his mind.

In the end, she was just a woman. He had just been disoriented earlier and fallen for her trick.

The homeless man recalled the moment he was pinned under her foot, and his hatred grew deeper.

Just a mere slut!

He picked up a stone from the roadside, crept up behind Yuko, licked his lips, a glint of malice flashing in his eyes, and swung the stone towards Yuko's head.

Sssshh~

In mid-air, a line of pitch-black blood soared.

The vagrant stared blankly for a moment, realizing the stone in his hand hadn't hit Yuko's head. He couldn't help but swing his arm.

Sssshh~

The gushing blood splattered from his arm onto his face, and the belated pain instantly flooded his brain.

"Ah!!!"

The vagrant's loud, miserable scream drew the attention of other vagrants sleeping nearby.

Upon realizing it was a personal dispute, they quickly lowered their heads and became turtles in their shells, pretending they hadn't heard or seen anything.

After all, in a place like this, it wasn't strange for a corpse to appear at any time.

No one paid any attention.

A bit of blood slowly seeped into the snow-white blade.

It was a sword made of her flesh and blood, so it could naturally devour living beings.

Yuko raised the Demon Blade and placed it by the man's neck.

Only then did the vagrant notice that two katanas were sheathed at her waist.

Compared to life and death, the pain in his arm seemed less severe.

"Spare, spare me..."

Yuko tilted her head up slightly, and a glint of red light flashed in her eyes hidden within her hood.

"Scram!"

The vagrant stared blankly for a moment at the red light. After confirming in his mind that he wasn't hallucinating, his expression became somewhat frantic.

"A demon!"

The vagrant's sanity broke, a foul odor emanated from him, and he scrambled away, crawling towards the distance.

Dealing with someone like him, Yuko didn't mind giving him a little punishment.

As for whether he could survive after losing an arm, given his financial situation, it no longer mattered from the moment he picked up the stone.

Because of his shouting, more people began to pay attention to the commotion.

Although it was unlikely to be the work of a demon... since they were here, they might as well go and take a look.

Yuko sighed inwardly, put away the Demon Blade, and headed in the direction the vagrant had pointed.

There was a stone table in front of a house.

Yuko saw it as soon as she rounded the corner. Candlelight flickered inside, and noisy voices could be heard, sounding like an argument.

Her eyes flickered, and she stealthily moved to the side to listen.

It seemed to be a man and a woman inside.

"How could you send Kyoko away without my permission, you bastard!" a mournful female voice rang out.

"I'm doing this for Kyoko's own good, what do you know?!"

Hearing this, Yuko's eyelids drooped slightly. So it is human trafficking?

Although I'm sorry, I can't do anything about this kind of thing.

Yuko turned around, about to leave.

"That cult is nothing but a scam! Aren't you pushing Kyoko into a fiery pit by sending her there!"

Yuko's footsteps faltered, and she stopped.