"Mm! This food is great. Yushiro, your cooking has gotten even better!"
"Hey! I made that for Lady Tamayo! Can you stop hanging around here freeloading all day?"
"But I already said I'd be staying here for a few days. Are you really not going to feed me? How am I supposed to survive?"
"Huh? What do I care whether you live or die?"
"Forget it. I'm not arguing with a simp. Eating comes first."
"What does 'simp' mean? Explain yourself, you brat!"
"Yushiro, don't be rude to our guest!"
"Yes, Lady Tamayo!"
Ye Chen hadn't stayed at Tamayo's hideout for very long. After four days, he felt there was nothing else he needed to ask her about, so he decided to leave.
He had learned quite a lot. After all, Tamayo was a demon who had lived for over five hundred years, and she knew plenty about all sorts of things, such as what made certain mutated demons difficult to fight and how to handle them. Even when she didn't know how to counter them, she could describe their traits, leaving Ye Chen to work out a solution himself. There were also some troublesome Blood Demon Arts and so on.
Tamayo had also discovered that Ye Chen actually knew little about Muzan Kibutsuji and the Twelve Kizuki. Yet any single piece of information he did know was a bombshell, enough to cause an uproar among both the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons.
"As you requested, I'll keep the fact that you know this information about Muzan Kibutsuji secret from everyone, including the Demon Slayer Corps."
Standing opposite Ye Chen, Tamayo spoke gently, without losing any of her elegance.
"Thanks. This trip was well worth it for me, too."
Ye Chen grinned. He was satisfied with all the information he had learned. Next, some demons would be facing their nightmare once again.
"Actually, I still got the better end of the deal. Most of the demons I know about aren't particularly powerful. For you, Ye Chen, knowing about them probably doesn't make much difference, does it?"
Tamayo smiled with pursed lips. She couldn't quite understand why Ye Chen wanted information not only on powerful demons, but on minor ones as well.
"Hahaha! You don't get to decide whether it matters."
Ye Chen laughed, then added, "I wonder if you've ever heard this saying, Miss Tamayo."
"Hmm?"
"You can never have too many skills! Well, until we meet again."
With that, Ye Chen headed off with Xiao Hua. It was time to part ways.
"Hey, brat!"
As Ye Chen was walking away, Yushiro suddenly called out from behind him. Ye Chen glanced back curiously. Why's this brat stopping me? Is he going to tell me never to come back?
"Your information was very useful to Lady Tamayo. Thanks."
Yushiro's mouth twitched as he slowly forced out those words. Then, seeing Ye Chen's almost-smirk, he flew into another rage.
"Goodbye, and don't come back!"
Sure enough, the brat had said it anyway. Ye Chen rubbed his nose, then waved as he walked off into the distance with Xiao Hua, calling back over his shoulder.
"That won't do. If I don't come back, who's going to bring you demon blood?"
Ye Chen left town and resumed his journey. Thanks to the information he had received, he finally knew where to find a Demon Slayer Corps outpost. The rest would be simple: join the Demon Slayer Corps, take part in the Final Selection, become a Hashira, complete the two missions, and take care of a few things along the way. Then, depending on the circumstances, he could lie low for another two years. By then, Muzan Kibutsuji won't mean shit! Let's see if I can finish him in a single slash.
For now, though, it was better to stay cautious. After all, wherever you were, surviving came down to following your heart. Didn't get it? In one word: cowardice.
Being a coward for a while wasn't a bad thing. Anyone who had played StarCraft, Warcraft, or Red Alert knew that getting strong meant building up while growing stronger. In the early game, you could put minimal effort into fighting, so long as you disrupted your opponent's pace. Once you had developed enough, you could steamroll the bastard without giving him a single chance.
"The Demon Slayer Corps really is far away. I've probably only covered half the distance, and it's getting dark again. Another night camping outdoors." Ye Chen rubbed his head. He had set out at noon, and now it was evening, but he still hadn't arrived. Around twenty-five li wasn't especially far, but these mountain paths were hardly easy to walk, and he wasn't really in any hurry.
"Oh well. Xiao Hua, let's head up a mountain and beat up a few demons."
"Meow..." Xiao Hua scratched its head, then followed Ye Chen toward a mountaintop.
"Hahaha, a human! Who would've thought we'd find a human here at night? Now we don't have to go near town! Hahaha!"
"Hey, brat, why are you drawing your sword? Planning to fight back?"
"Aaaah! Run! This thing isn't human!"
"Holy shit, run! How is even the cat this strong?!"
Ye Chen severed two demons' heads with one slash while mentally calculating his speed.
"Six demons in total. Xiao Hua took out one, and I took twelve seconds from drawing my sword to finishing. That's a little over two seconds per demon..."
After receiving information from Tamayo, Ye Chen had gained an understanding of these demons' habits, their reactions and thoughts when encountering humans, and what they would do when trying to escape. As a result, his demon-hunting speed had improved considerably once again.
Others might not have been able to improve so much, but the Monster Hunter System Ye Chen had activated was fundamentally a mechanism for training hunters. Learning about these demons was like giving wings to a tiger, and his demon-slaying speed had once again grown by leaps and bounds.
"At this rate, it probably won't be long before I get a B-Rank Combat Power rating."
Ye Chen looked at his combat power icon, which was still at B-, but didn't particularly mind. Then he glanced at Xiao Hua, who had already reached LV5. Xiao Hua's combat power rating had risen from E+ to D, and its strength was now on par with some intermediate demons capable of using Blood Demon Arts.
At dawn, Ye Chen continued his journey with Xiao Hua. Soon, he reached the location described in the information. He made his way halfway up the slope between two mountaintops and looked around, spotting a wooden house ahead. After a moment's thought, he walked toward it.
Although Ye Chen had killed plenty of demons by now, he had yet to meet a single member of the Demon Slayer Corps. He felt a little nervous.
Soon, he spotted a figure in a tree in front of the wooden house. It was a young girl who looked about fourteen or fifteen. Her beautiful black hair hung down to her waist, and her face was lovely and cute, her quiet demeanor carrying an air of innocence. Dressed in a light blue kimono, she looked like a fairy walking among mortals. Ye Chen froze for a moment when he saw her.
"Who are you?"
The girl had noticed Ye Chen as well. Sitting in the tree, she swung her slender legs a few times, then jumped down and softly asked him, "What brings you here?"
"Mm, could you help me contact the owner of this place? Uh, if I remember correctly, that should be Mr. Sakonji Urokodaki, right?"
After a moment's thought, Ye Chen gave the name, though he also felt somewhat puzzled.
Huh, how did I end up meeting her? Does that mean there's still at least a year before Demon Slayer begins-before Tanjiro starts out?