"Hey, young hunter, are you serious about these meat prices?"
"Of course! I'm in a hurry, so all this meat is on clearance!"
Ye Chen glanced at the cat sleeping beside him and answered with a smile.
"All right, give me a kilogram." The customer inspected the meat, relaxed, then took out a few copper coins and placed them in Ye Chen's hand.
Ye Chen cut a piece of meat from his stall, wrapped it up, and handed it over.
"Ah, I could sell meat a hundred times and never get tired of the profits."
Ye Chen counted the day's earnings with a sigh of appreciation. Meat bought with a few points could earn him money just like that. Money really was the easiest thing to make. That great man from his previous life hadn't lied to him.
"Xiao Hua, you've slept all morning. Come on, let's see if there's anything to buy and ask around about the Demon Slayer Corps while we're at it."
Having sold four kilograms of meat, Ye Chen patted Xiao Hua's head to wake the cat, then stood and headed deeper into the crowd.
Along the way, Ye Chen took in some of the customs and culture of this era. Suddenly, his gaze froze. A bead of cold sweat slowly trickled down his forehead. He let out a quiet breath and changed direction with Xiao Hua.
"Hm?"
Just as Ye Chen turned away, a pale man who looked to be in his twenties suddenly glanced back in his direction. He wore a white hat over black hair that curled slightly at the ends.
"What's wrong?"
A beautiful woman beside the man asked.
"Nothing. I thought I saw someone I knew, but on closer inspection, it seems I was mistaken."
The man smiled faintly, a sinister glint in his eyes, then put his arm around the woman and walked deeper into the crowd. A trace of doubt lingered in his gaze.
Someone from the Demon Slayer Corps? No, the sword at his waist isn't a Nichirin Blade, just an ordinary samurai sword. But why does he give me such a strange feeling?
The man's eyes flickered, but he pushed the thought aside and slowly walked away.
After turning away and putting some distance between them, Ye Chen let out a forceful breath.
"This is ridiculous. Running into the final boss already? That's not good."
The corner of Ye Chen's mouth twitched. The man he had just encountered, with that appearance, was undoubtedly the progenitor of demons he had seen in the original story: Muzan Kibutsuji.
Muzan Kibutsuji's strength remained a mystery, but judging by the difficulty of his mission, he was at least an A in the system's rankings. Ye Chen was only a B- right now, still far too green. Without another year or two to develop, he really wouldn't dare claim he could face Muzan Kibutsuji head-on.
Ye Chen assessed his own strength. A B- rating from the system should put him among this world's top fighters. The Lower Ranks of the Twelve Kizuki, for example, were probably somewhere between D and C.
The Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps and the Upper Ranks of the Twelve Kizuki were probably between C+ and B. Excluding Muzan Kibutsuji, they represented this world's highest level of combat power. With Ye Chen's B- rating, even among the Hashira, only the strongest, the Stone Hashira, might have an edge over him.
Of course, he knew better than to trust combat ratings completely. There were plenty of precedents for powerful fighters being killed by weaker opponents through underhanded means. The Insect Hashira, for example, might not even possess Hashira-level strength in terms of raw power, but her skill with poison was formidable enough to earn her a place among the Demon Slayer Corps' Hashira.
"Ah, I'm still not strong enough. Forget Muzan Kibutsuji-even against Upper Rank One, Kokushibo, Upper Rank Two, Doma, or the Demon Slayer Corps' Stone Hashira, I'm not confident I could win."
Ye Chen shook his head slightly and stopped dwelling on it. He shifted, took a bag of coins from his pocket, and handed it to a passerby before asking:
"Hey, do you know where I can find the best information broker around here?"
"Hm? Oh! An information broker? The best one around is up ahead, in an alley a little way past the left turn."
The passerby had initially seemed impatient, but the sight of the bag of coins immediately brought a delighted smile to his face, and he answered without hesitation.
Ye Chen nodded, then headed in the direction the man had indicated.
Ye Chen entered a somewhat gloomy alley and spotted a small window ahead. After a moment's thought, he walked over.
"What are you here for?"
A voice soon came from behind the window. It was rather hoarse, making it impossible to tell whether the speaker was male or female.
"To buy information." Ye Chen wasted no words and stated his purpose directly.
"Speak." The person behind the window clearly had no desire to reveal much and kept their words brief.
"Where is the nearest Demon Slayer Corps location to this town?"
Ye Chen quickly explained what he wanted. This was why he had come here in the first place. Most people probably didn't even know what the Demon Slayer Corps was, and he had no desire to ask them one by one. An information broker was undoubtedly his best option.
"..." The person behind the window fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "Five hundred coins."
Ye Chen did a quick calculation. That was roughly what he earned from selling three kilograms of meat. Although he sold his meat more cheaply than other people, meat was still very valuable in this day and age. Besides, a Demon Slayer Corps outpost wasn't its headquarters, so it shouldn't be particularly well hidden. Was this one piece of information really worth that much?
"The Demon Slayer Corps is unlike ordinary people. Contact with their side carries a certain amount of risk for us. That's why any information concerning them, no matter what it is, won't come cheap."
As though sensing Ye Chen's confusion, the voice slowly offered an explanation.
"Fine."
Ye Chen didn't waste any more words. Money wasn't particularly important to him, so he took out a bag of coins and placed it through the window.
A slip of paper was then passed out through the window. Ye Chen took it and read it.
"About twenty-five li along the western road, halfway up the slope between two peaks."
"Thank you."
Ye Chen smiled. The note was crudely written, but it was enough. He slowly rose and left.
"All right, I've got the Demon Slayer Corps' address. Now I need to head over, find a good teacher, complete my Breathing Style, and join the Corps while I'm at it."
As he walked, Ye Chen worked through his plans. The plan he had intended to carry out had already begun to take shape. He was only a little short of being able to put it into motion, but clearly, the time wasn't right yet.
"Xiao Hua, stop slacking. We're hitting the road again."
"Meow..." Xiao Hua stretched out a paw and gave a lazy yawn, then followed Ye Chen into the distance.
"Come to think of it, the nearest Demon Slayer Corps location is actually twenty-five li away. That's over twelve kilometers. Walking more than ten kilometers sounds miserable. Forget it, I'll stay in town for a couple of days first and get a feel for the local customs and culture."
After some thought, Ye Chen found an inn nearby and settled in. As for Muzan Kibutsuji, he didn't think the man would come looking for trouble. He had a fairly good grasp of Muzan Kibutsuji's personality: powerful though he was, he was fundamentally a coward. He wouldn't act without certainty, for fear of exposing his whereabouts. After being defeated once by the Sun Flame Swordsman five hundred years ago, for example, he had gone straight into hiding and hadn't dared show himself again until that swordsman was dead.