Catching Demons

Three days earlier.

Night had fallen over the forest, but it was bustling with activity. Six children had gathered there.

"Hehehe, Xiao Ying lost! You get to be the human and catch us!" a little boy said with a mischievous grin to a little girl wearing a cherry blossom hair ornament.

"O-okay, but don't hide too far away. I'm a little scared..." Xiao Ying looked around at the dark, silent surroundings as she spoke to the other five children.

"Don't worry! We'll hide right around here. You'll find us in no time," one of the boys promised, patting his chest.

"Okay!" Reassured, Xiao Ying nodded happily.

Then she turned toward a tree, leaned against it, closed her eyes, and began counting.

"One-"

"Two-"

"Three-"

"..."

"Where should we hide?" one of the children asked a boy in their group.

The boy said nothing, merely smiling and pointing to the top of a large tree. The others understood at once. All five hurried over to it and helped one another climb up, settling on different branches.

"Hehehe, Xiao Ying won't find us up here, right? And we're still hiding nearby," the boy said smugly.

The other children nodded in agreement.

"Twenty-nine-"

"Thirty!"

Xiao Ying finished counting, opened her eyes, and turned around to find that all her friends had disappeared.

"I'm coming to find you!"

Xiao Ying looked around and called out, hoping to hear some movement nearby, but everything remained silent.

Everyone's hidden so well.

With that thought, Xiao Ying picked a direction and began searching.

The five children in the tree watched her run past, covering their mouths to hold back their laughter. Only after she had gone did they let out quiet snickers.

After laughing for a while, the boy said to the others, "Let's climb down the next time Xiao Ying comes by. If she can't find us, she'll probably get scared and start crying."

The other children agreed.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ying searched for a while but still failed to find anyone.

"Where did everyone hide...?"

Looking around at the dark, silent surroundings, Xiao Ying grew more and more frightened.

"If you run around outside at night, you'll run into demons!" An old woman's warning from town suddenly echoed in her mind. She swallowed, feeling even more afraid.

Maybe I should just go back...

Just as the thought occurred to her, footsteps reached her ears through the stillness of the night.

"Aah!!!" Already frightened, Xiao Ying squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.

"That's Xiao Ying!" The five children heard her scream too.

"Do you think she's in danger?" one of them asked worriedly.

"Come on, let's go find her!" said the boy who had suggested hiding in the tree. He slid down first, and the others followed.

The five children ran in the direction Xiao Ying had gone.

"Little girl, did something happen?" A rich, resonant voice reached Xiao Ying's ears.

Hearing it, Xiao Ying opened her eyes fearfully. A tall young man dressed in black, wearing a black-and-white hat, was walking toward her. His face was pale, and his eyes were plum-red.

Oh, it's just a person.

Xiao Ying breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of him, then said a little sheepishly, "Sorry, mister. I... I thought there was a demon."

Something shifted slightly in the young man's gaze. Then he smiled at Xiao Ying and said, "I see. Why are you still out so late?"

With another "person" beside her, Xiao Ying was no longer so frightened. She answered with a smile, "I'm playing catch the demons with my friends. I lost at rock-paper-scissors, so I have to be the human and catch them. But everyone's hidden so well that I can't find any of them."

The young man reached out and patted Xiao Ying's head, smiling as he said, "I see. But why does the human catch the demons, rather than the demons catching the human?"

Puzzled, Xiao Ying looked up. Still smiling, the young man placed his right index finger against her forehead.

The next second, the smile vanished from his face, replaced by cold indifference. The nail on his index finger suddenly lengthened and pierced Xiao Ying's forehead.

"Aaaah!!!" After nearly ten seconds of agonized screaming, Xiao Ying's appearance changed. Her teeth sharpened, and her nails began to lengthen.

Only then did the young man pull his nail out of Xiao Ying's head. This figure with the appearance of a young man was the progenitor of demons, Muzan Kibutsuji.

"Search this place for the Blue Spider Lily. If you encounter any Demon Slayers, kill them," Muzan Kibutsuji told Xiao Ying coldly, while transmitting the information about the Blue Spider Lily from his mind into hers.

"Yes..."

The dominance of his blood left Xiao Ying utterly unable to defy Muzan. She knelt and answered respectfully. By now, her memories of being human had all but vanished.

"Xiao Ying! Xiao Ying! ..."

Just then, several voices drew closer from the distance. The other five children had found their way here.

"We found you!"

It was too dark for them to see the changes in Xiao Ying. They called out and ran toward her.

Newly transformed into a demon and still terribly weak, Xiao Ying drooled uncontrollably at the sight of the five children.

"Go," Muzan said coldly, looking at them.

With Muzan's permission, Xiao Ying immediately lunged at them.

Only then did the children realize something was wrong, but it was already too late. In an instant, she crushed the neck of the child running in front, and his clothes began to corrode.

"A m-monster!!!" The other children trembled as they turned and fled, but how could their physical abilities compare to a demon's? Screams rang out one after another as blood sprayed everywhere.

"She can use a Blood Demon Art immediately after becoming a demon. A decent talent. Perhaps she'll join the Twelve Kizuki someday." Muzan offered a few indifferent remarks on what he had witnessed, then lost interest, turned, and left.

The screams faded, replaced by the sound of flesh being devoured...

Some time later, the children's parents came to the forest to search for them. By then, the corrosion demon had eaten her fill. Her lingering memories allowed her to recognize her older brother, so she did not show herself again. Taking the unfinished corpses with her, she leaped into a thick tree, corroded its trunk, and hid inside, sheltering herself from the daytime sun.

Only three days later, after her memories of being human had vanished completely, did she emerge again upon catching the scent of her blood relative...

In the silent forest, Chiba Yo stood alone beneath the moonlight, clutching the boy's outer garment...