Tracking

Hiruma, fearing he might alert them, deliberately entered the village along its outermost perimeter. The girl's house was on the other side of Fish Scale Village.

It was a somewhat dilapidated wooden house, standing quietly about a hundred meters from the sea, as if forgotten by time.

Constantly eroded by the sea breeze, its outer walls had peeled, revealing the wooden structure within, giving it a particularly weathered and desolate appearance.

The layout of this wooden house was strange, situated hundreds of meters away from the rest of the village, as if it didn't belong there.

Hiruma glanced at the Blade in the sky and teasingly remarked, "Blade, you're not tailing that girl, are you?"

"Otherwise, how would you know where she lives?"

The Blade shot Hiruma a glare, its cold tone laced with a hint of anger. "Savior, I was just checking things out, you useless master."

Hiruma didn't argue. He did owe a favor for the meal.

Suddenly, a peculiar thought flashed through his mind: If Giyu is here, could I possibly set them up?

Heh heh heh! <(ΦωΦ)>

Giyu, do you want a wife?

The thought of Giyu's expression at that moment made Hiruma incredibly excited.

Seeing his master's shifty eyes, the Blade was utterly disgusted. This guy was definitely up to no good and thinking of causing trouble again.

A moment later, the Blade stopped on the roof of the wooden house, while Hiruma squatted beneath the window like a thief.

Still, squatting stealthily under someone's eaves like this certainly felt like stealing.

However, there was one thing that bothered him: the light was still on inside. It was very unreasonable for someone not to be asleep this late, in an era without smartphones and the internet.

Looking at the village in the distance, not a single light was on.

"Kansaburo, see what she's doing?" Hiruma poked the dozing elderly crow on his shoulder and whispered.

"Huh?"

"What's up?"

"Is there a demon?"

Kansaburo's confused triple question was the worst part; its voice nearly shook the heavens. Hiruma quickly moved to cover its mouth, but it was too late.

The young girl cautiously peeked out. Upon seeing Hiruma, her brow furrowed tightly. After all, anyone would be startled to suddenly find a stranger squatting outside their window in the middle of the night.

Once she recognized him, she spoke softly, her voice filled with confusion, "Mr. Traveler, if you're hungry, please knock. This is quite terrifying."

The girl pouted and withdrew her head. Soon, the door opened, and she looked at Hiruma. Noticing the crow on his shoulder and the sword at his waist, she immediately asked with suspicion, "Mr. Traveler, what exactly do you want?"

"Didn't I tell you? Stay away from this village!"

Hiruma awkwardly scratched his head and shot a resentful glance at Kansaburo. The old crow was really good at getting its teammates into trouble.

"Uh, I wanted to ask you about someone," he said, standing up and smiling. Since he'd already been discovered, it was better to tell the truth. "A guy who looks like he deserves a beating, about my age, a guy."

Feeling his description wasn't quite accurate, he added, "The kid who smashed your village's shrine. I'm his friend."

As soon as Hiruma finished speaking, there was a loud clang. The girl slammed the door shut, and her displeased voice came from inside.

"Mr. Traveler, I haven't seen the friend you're talking about, and I don't know how the shrine was broken. Please leave my house immediately!"

The girl's words were so agitated that anyone not foolish could tell she knew something.

"Sigh!" Hiruma sighed deeply. Why did this girl act like a completely different person whenever Giyu and the shrine were mentioned? She was clearly trying to hide something.

Before he could ask further, the door opened again. This time, the girl came out holding a kitchen knife. She gave Hiruma a sidelong glance and said, "I don't want to resort to violence, please leave my house quickly!"

Seeing this, Hiruma was completely stunned because the young girl had placed the knife against her own throat.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Hiruma said, backing away and trying to calm her down. "I'll leave right away. Put the knife down, it's dangerous. Kids who play with knives wet the bed at night!"

"Hurry up and leave. Don't think you can threaten me with force. I know guys like you know some martial arts..." As soon as she said it, the girl regretted it. This implied she had admitted to meeting people like Hiruma.

Blushing, she urged him, "I'll count to three. If you don't leave, I'll die, and then you will have indirectly caused a death!"

Hearing this, Hiruma turned and ran, disappearing into the village in the blink of an eye.

"Sigh!" The girl sighed, closed the door with a helpless expression, and muttered, "Why doesn't anyone listen?"

At three in the morning, when everyone was fast asleep, Hiruma lay on the beach, observing the small wooden house by the sea with binoculars.

As expected, the door of the wooden house opened. The girl, carrying a fish basket, quietly closed the door, cautiously looked around, and then hurried towards the cliff on the other side of the village.

Seeing her go, Hiruma quickly followed. She indeed knew where Giyu was being held.

Following her all the way, Hiruma entered a small grove. Through the dense branches, a dilapidated temple with a faint light could be seen. Two sleeping adult men sat in front of the temple, appearing to be villagers from Fish Scale Village.

The girl quietly pushed open the temple door without making a sound.

"I remember now, Giyu is in there!" Kansaburo exclaimed, a flash of inspiration hitting it upon seeing the familiar place. It remembered everything.

Hiruma shot it a glare and complained helplessly, "Uh... I figured that out too!"

"Yes..." Before Kansaburo could speak, Hiruma grabbed its mouth, signaling it to stay quiet. The incident at the small cabin was still fresh in his memory.

"Please, just stop using your powers, Mr. Kansaburo."

Hiruma circled around to the back of the dilapidated temple, only to find it had no windows, damn it. With no other choice, he climbed onto the roof. This rundown temple wasn't even as tall as his home on Mount Peach, so climbing it was simple.

He moved aside a roof tile and peered through the gap, the flickering candlelight illuminating two figures.

One was Giyu, bound like a caterpillar, and the other was the young girl.

It was clear the villagers were truly afraid of Giyu escaping. Besides wrapping him with several loops of rope, they had also chained his hands and feet.

The girl repeatedly emphasized that Giyu shouldn't make a sound. Seeing him nod in agreement, she then removed the cloth stuffed in his mouth.

"Let me out, there's a demon in the village!" Giyu said calmly, not shouting. He looked nothing like a kidnapped person.

"Also, I only smashed one shrine, the rest weren't me..."

Before Giyu could finish, the girl placed her index finger on his lips and said with a hint of guilt, "I know it wasn't you, but please eat properly."

"Once I steal the key to the chains, I'll naturally let you out."

Giyu nodded, and the girl smiled before taking out rice balls and water from a fish basket.

As she brought a rice ball to Giyu's mouth, she couldn't help but say, "Good boy, open up, ah~"

Giyu bit down expressionlessly. She was right; he needed to fill his stomach, otherwise, he wouldn't have the strength to fight demons.

Once he got out, he would definitely find that demon.