Giyu Tomioka, Who's Good at Adding Burdens to His Master

As soon as Tanjiro said that, Mr. Dan Lei's forehead instantly sprouted several cross-shaped veins, indicating that this kid's mind was full of dirty thoughts—was his talk of studying her inside and out really like teasing a young girl?

You see, Dan Lei was already 193 years old at this point. Although within the Chizuru Clan, Dan Lei was only just considered an adult, much like an ordinary eighteen-year-old young man.

However, Dan Lei had been single his entire three lifetimes. In his first life, he was too much of a homebody, plus his pockets lacked the capital, so he never found a girlfriend.

In his second life, just surviving took all his effort, leaving no mood for romance.

In his third life, "praise" the damn Longevity Species worldview; now most people on the Luofu saw him as a child. And while the Chizuru Clan had many good points, they couldn't reproduce.

In short, finding a Chizuru Clan member as a husband was about the same as getting a 1:1 life-sized adult tool—aside from adding the option of emotional comfort, there was no other difference.

A classic example was the love story of Xiao Cong and Jingzhai. The Chizuru Clan member Xiao Cong fell in love with Jingzhai through multiple reincarnations, and she married him several times. But he always died young and entered reincarnation again, leaving Jingzhai completely numb. Even if feelings remained, the woman had no intention of rekindling that connection.

So, although the Luofu was full of beauties everywhere, it had nothing to do with Dan Lei. After all, by the standards of the Foxian Clan and Luofu people, the vast majority couldn't accept marrying someone who couldn't bear offspring.

As for between Chizuru Clan members, well, there was simply no need to partner up for life.

But Dan Lei could only complain about this in his head. If he revealed the fact that he was 193 years old, whether Tanjiro and Giyu Tomioka believed him or not, it would be troublesome either way.

So Dan Lei could only grit his teeth and explain.

"What I meant by inside and out is mainly drawing some blood, collecting your sister's hair, nails, skin flakes, and such to study her Oni Clan bloodline.

You keep saying you want to cure her, but how can you treat her without understanding her body at all?"

Hearing Dan Lei's explanation, Tanjiro finally breathed a sigh of relief, then asked with eager anticipation.

"Mr. Dan Lei, do you mean Nezuko can still be saved? Does she still have a chance to become human again?"

To this question, Dan Lei answered truthfully.

"I don't know about Oni, but in foreign lands, the Dead Apostles similar to them do have stories of turning back into humans. However, I have no idea how that's done.

Moreover, I've seen this Oni species for the first time today, so I can't give you any promises. I can only say I need to study it first.

Also, young man Tanjiro, you actually don't have the right to refuse. If you don't let me study her, I'll have to kill this Oni sister of yours today to eliminate the threat."

Upon hearing this, Tanjiro could only fall silent, because he truly had no choice.

But at this moment, Giyu Tomioka spoke up again, saying directly.

"You can actually take this Oni to my master on Sagiri Mountain.

If Mr. Dan Lei wants to understand Oni, my master, who has been a demon slayer his whole life, surely has information that would interest you. I can write you a letter of introduction."

Dan Lei knew that Giyu Tomioka was actually saying this to soothe Tanjiro, since his own words had carried a hint of bullying through power.

However, if Sakonji Urokodaki were present, he'd definitely want to punch Giyu Tomioka, because both Dan Lei and Nezuko were considerable troubles, and Giyu Tomioka wanted to dump them all on his master.

But Dan Lei was actually more interested in the Breathing Technique than the Oni. After all, enabling ordinary people to unleash elemental strikes through training was a skill whose value might exceed what it showed on the surface.

The main reason for studying Nezuko was to figure out how she managed to absorb energy directly from the Ley Line over two years, completely breaking free from the need to eat humans.

You see, the Holy Grail inside Dan Lei required a massive amount of Ley Line energy to charge, but Dan Lei didn't want to become a pylon in this world, trapped in a Ley Line absorption array.

So Nezuko's ability to move while absorbing Ley Line energy was exactly what he needed.

Thus, Dan Lei spread his hands in a very agreeable manner, then deliberately asked.

"No problem. At the same time, I promise that subsequent research on Nezuko will be conducted at... uh, what's your name?"

It was only then that Giyu Tomioka realized he had never introduced himself, which was extremely rude. He quickly introduced himself.

"My name is Giyu Tomioka, the current Water Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. As for the Corps, you can learn more from my master later."

Seeing Giyu Tomioka again pass the buck to Sakonji Urokodaki, Dan Lei silently mourned for the latter for a few seconds. Having such a disciple wasn't easy.

But Dan Lei could also guess that Giyu Tomioka didn't know how much information about the Demon Slayer Corps to reveal to Dan Lei, so he dumped everything on his master.

So Dan Lei didn't call him out and continued.

"Alright. I'll conduct the subsequent research on Nezuko at Giyu Tomioka's master's place. Conveniently, young man Tanjiro, you can also learn some skills from Giyu Tomioka's master. In this world, without some ability, you can't control your own fate."

Hearing Dan Lei's words, Tanjiro nodded very seriously, then directly addressed Kojiro Sasaki.

"Actually, if possible, I'd like to learn from this gentleman."

Dan Lei laughed upon hearing this, walked over, and patted Tanjiro on the shoulder.

"Haha, Tanjiro, you have good eyes. But learning from him is like a baby trying to run before it can crawl—the gap is too vast.

You see, even I, if I wanted to learn the blade from him now, would have to start from scratch."

With that, Dan Lei flicked his wrist, using a magic thread to slice a tree cleanly, then instantly swapped the tree to right in front of him.

With a dazzling flurry of hand movements, within seconds, the tree was cut into wooden strips and made into a box, threaded with rattan to form a backpack.

After finishing, Dan Lei said.

"Newborn Dead Apostles are generally afraid of light. I imagine Oni are similar. When I tied up Nezuko earlier, I sensed she could freely change her size, so during the day, let her hide in this.

Oh, and Giyu Tomioka, don't rush off just yet. Sunrise is near. Let's go up the mountain together to take a look. That way, you can be more at ease, right?"

Giyu Tomioka nodded. Indeed, as long as this Dan Lei could bask in the sun, it would completely rule out the possibility of him being an Oni.

So Giyu Tomioka turned and led the way.

"No problem. You've mentioned the term 'Dead Apostle' several times, which seems to be a monster very similar to Oni. I'm also very interested in information about them. Please don't hesitate to enlighten me."

Giyu Tomioka's request didn't bother Dan Lei—every word he'd said about the Dead Apostles was true, except that those things weren't in this world.

Still, the story of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba only unfolded in this tiny island nation; Dan Lei had no idea how vast the outside world was.

But given the intensity of the Great Source here, it wouldn't be strange for this world to have Dead Apostles or vampires of its own.

After that, Nezuko obediently shrank down and crawled into her box, Tanjiro put his shoes back on, and carrying the box on his back, he accompanied Dan Lei and Giyu Tomioka up to the mountaintop.

As for Kojiro Sasaki, he simply turned into a Spirit Body.

But Dan Lei acted mysterious, claiming the swordsman was still nearby. Giyu Tomioka and Tanjiro could only assume their own strength wasn't enough to detect the movements of such a master, so they dropped the subject.