After entering the town, Ye Chen made no attempt to ask about demons. Instead, he found a restaurant, ordered a bowl of ramen, and tucked into it with relish.
The crow beside him stared anxiously, but it hardly dared urge him on. This man was ruthless, after all.
"All right, it's almost dark. Time to get going."
Ye Chen finished his ramen and wiped his mouth, letting the crow beside him breathe a sigh of relief. Was this guy finally going to slay the demon?
Instead, Ye Chen went to an inn, rented a room, took a leisurely bath, and lay down on the tatami to rest.
"The mission! The mission!"
Seeing Ye Chen like this, the crow threw caution to the wind. This man was going too far! Had he come here on vacation?
"All right, all right, let me see. Hmm... that should do it. Time to collect the body." Ye Chen rubbed his head, yawned, and headed out with the crow.
Ye Chen still did not ask around town for information. He simply walked along until he reached a corner, where a demon lay on the ground, its condition unknown.
Ye Chen stepped forward, slowly drew a Nichirin Blade, and lightly swept it across the demon's neck, separating its head from its body.
"All right, mission complete. What's the next mission? Never mind, tell me tomorrow."
Ye Chen slowly sheathed his blade and strolled back to the inn, leaving the crow standing there utterly bewildered.
He just came outside, killed a demon lying on the ground, and that was it? Since when had Demon Slayer Corps missions become this easy? This was ridiculous! It had never encountered anything like this before.
Ye Chen returned to the inn and rested. Naturally, he had arranged all of this himself. Earlier, when he had stuffed the crow into a bag, he had used the Clone Technique, sending his clones into town to gather information. They had followed the clues, tracked down the demon, and beaten it half to death before leaving the finishing blow to his real body. It was that simple.
Mainly, he did not want to attract too much attention too soon. It would be a little troublesome if the Trash Boss tracked him down here. Although he doubted Muzan would be bold enough to come looking for him, he still had to take precautions.
He also knew that completing missions this way would eventually draw the attention of the Demon Slayer Corps' higher-ups, but that was fine. It was deliberate: getting noticed would make it easier to become a Hashira, and he still had a system mission to complete. Besides, hiding his strength like this seemed pretty entertaining.
"The next mission is to the south-southeast! South-southeast!"
The next morning, not long after Ye Chen got up, the crow perched on the window and shouted in its raspy voice. The last trace of his drowsiness vanished, replaced by an irritation that made him want to punch it.
"If there's a mission, just tell me. Don't shout so loudly. What if you disturb the neighbors?"
Ye Chen spoke to it with some irritation, making the crow shiver involuntarily and fall silent.
Still, Ye Chen knew the missions had to be done. Besides, most demons targeted by the Demon Slayer Corps were worth a decent number of exchange points, since quite a few could use Blood Demon Arts.
Ye Chen headed in the direction it had given him. Seeing that he was as unhurried as ever, the crow did not dare raise its voice and could only urge him along quietly.
"Relax, relax. It's no big deal."
Ye Chen stretched his waist. Seeing how much more obedient the crow had become, he spread his hands and said, "Who knows? Maybe there'll be another demon lying around waiting to be harvested."
The crow: "..."
Though it was not especially intelligent, it knew that situation had been anything but normal. How could it possibly happen twice? If it did, there was definitely something strange about this ruthless man.
Sure enough, the crow had not followed Ye Chen for long before it spotted two demons lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth and unconscious.
Yes, there were two demons this time. To Ye Chen's delight, both possessed low-level Blood Demon Arts, and together they were worth nearly three hundred exchange points-a pleasant unexpected bonus. Without wasting words, he raised his Nichirin Blade and harvested both demons.
The crow gave him a peculiar look. It was certain now: there was something strange about this young man. Very strange indeed.
Ye Chen did not care in the slightest about its stare. Playing weak while secretly being strong felt great.
Before he knew it, another two months had passed. Ye Chen continued slaying demons according to his plan and completed a full seven Demon Slayer Corps missions. Sometimes, when the scent of demons was strong, he also sent out clones armed with heavy bowguns to hunt them on his own. His exchange points did not increase as explosively as they had in the sea of wisteria flowers, but the gains were still considerable.
Ye Chen also wondered whether he should buy a monster from the Monster Mall. By now, he was not particularly afraid of drawing a little attention. Even if he ran into the Trash Boss, he could still escape if he could not win.
Come to think of it, he had never bought a monster before. The elder dragons in Monster Hunter were so terrifying, yet the mall sold them for only twenty or thirty thousand exchange points. He had not thought much of it before, but now that seemed awfully cheap. Was there some kind of catch?
"Forget it. I'll wait until I become a Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps. There's too little freedom as an ordinary member. Given what I've been doing, the Corps should have noticed me by now."
Ye Chen shook his head and dismissed the idea, continuing toward the next mission the crow had given him. What he did not know was that this mission was a test from the Demon Slayer Corps-and a turning point.
"I see. There are quite a few capable people among this batch of recruits."
Reading the papers that had arrived, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the Demon Slayer Corps' Oyakata-sama, wore a gentle smile before turning his attention to another sheet.
"Has this young fellow completed his mission in that same strange fashion again?"
The paper in his hand was clearly a report on Ye Chen's mission progress.
"Oyakata-sama, isn't it a little risky to give this mission to a newcomer? Even we Hashira are still gathering information, and there's a very real possibility that one of the Twelve Kizuki is there..."
Beside Kagaya Ubuyashiki, a young man knelt on the floor and asked in confusion. He could not understand why Oyakata-sama would send a newcomer on such a dangerous mission.
This young man was the current Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka. He had taken note of Ye Chen after learning that he had killed the Hand Demon in the sea of wisteria flowers.
Although the newcomer in the report seemed quite mysterious, his next mission was nothing like the previous ones. Losing such a promising new recruit over it would hardly be worth the risk.
"To think you would come to me over a newcomer, Giyu. Don't worry. Tengen has already gone ahead. He'll keep an eye on the situation, and if there's an emergency, he'll intervene."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki smiled faintly and continued, "Besides, I have a feeling this newcomer may be even more mysterious than you imagine. I don't have much time left. This may be a turning point in our fight against Muzan Kibutsuji."
Hearing this, Giyu Tomioka fell silent. Oyakata-sama truly did not have much time left, and his instincts were usually quite accurate.
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