"Hh-"
Enmu's neck was clamped tight in the grip of the person before him, leaving him able to make only a few meaningless sounds of pain.
He looked at the crimson-haired swordsman before him, his face filled with pain and shock.
Hadn't this guy fallen under his Blood Demon Art the instant he opened the lid of his boxed meal?
And he had personally seen this guy and the other swordsman, who looked a lot like an owl, slump over the table asleep.
Why?
Why could this guy realize he was trapped in a dream?
Why could this guy grab his neck before he had even fully woken up?!
He had even called out his name!
At that moment, only one thought remained in Enmu's mind-
What the hell!
Meanwhile, Lin Yoriichi's grip tightened further.
Recalling what had just happened, he was truly disgusted.
Disguising his own eye as a boiled egg and putting it in a boxed meal.
That way of thinking was just too fucking grotesque!
Fortunately, he had put that boxed meal straight down and switched to another one himself.
Otherwise, even eating that meal in a dream would have disgusted Lin Yoriichi!
At that thought, Lin Yoriichi instinctively glanced around.
Kyojuro Rengoku was slumped over the table, clearly asleep.
The elderly shopkeeper and her granddaughter were also fast asleep.
In the boxed meal before Kyojuro Rengoku sat another egg that was actually a disguised eyeball.
Fortunately, Kyojuro Rengoku had probably fallen asleep the instant he saw the eyeball, just as he had.
Thus, that boxed meal had merely had its lid opened and remained untouched.
At that thought, Lin Yoriichi tightened his grip again.
Yet the next moment, he saw the terror slowly fade from Enmu's face, and a smile actually appeared.
The sight immediately made Lin Yoriichi's skin crawl.
Holy shit, I'm squeezing his neck. Don't tell me this bastard is enjoying it...
Immediately afterward, Lin Yoriichi saw Enmu abruptly raise his arm and show him the back of his hand.
A mouth had actually grown on the back of his hand, and it could even speak:
"Sleep!"
[Blood Demon Art: Whispers of Forced Sleep Hypnosis]
Feeling the grip around his neck loosen, Enmu immediately grew excited.
Although this guy had completely exceeded his expectations, forcibly breaking free of the dream and even finding him.
Hadn't he still fallen under his Blood Demon Art now and sunk into sleep again?
At such close range, even if this guy could forcibly escape the dream again, still...
Swish!
A blade's gleam burning with solar flames appeared in an instant, slicing through Enmu's neck in a flash!
[Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance]
Enmu's severed head fell to the ground, staring at the person before him in bewilderment.
W-why?
Hadn't this guy fallen asleep right before his eyes this time? Why could he still use sword techniques?!
Enmu watched Lin Yoriichi slowly open his eyes, his voice filled with disbelief:
"How did you do that?"
With an odd smile, Lin Yoriichi asked in return:
"Have you heard of Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms?"
Enmu froze.
As early as the Edo period, the Three Kingdoms had begun to gain popularity among the people of Japan.
And during the Meiji period, large numbers of Three Kingdoms-themed prints had appeared among the Japanese populace.
So Enmu really had heard of the Three Kingdoms and knew of Cao Cao.
But why was this guy asking him about that?
Lin Yoriichi smiled sinisterly.
"You want to know how I did it?"
"Of course it's because, just like Cao Cao, I enjoy killing in my sleep!"
As his words fell, Lin Yoriichi released his grip, letting Enmu's headless body drop to the ground.
But his expression did not relax.
That slash had cut through far too easily; he had not felt much resistance.
He had already slain two Lower Rank demons and knew very well how a Lower Rank demon's neck should feel.
Especially since Enmu was Lower Rank One!
Even if, at this point in time, he had not received the extra blood Muzan Kibutsuji had given him in the original story.
His neck still should not have felt so yielding.
Moreover, his portrayal accuracy remained at 51%, and he had received no reward for slaying a demon.
Sure enough, although Enmu's head on the ground had begun to disintegrate, his face still wore a smile:
"Although I can't figure out why you can kill in your sleep, what you just cut wasn't my real body."
"As for where my real body is, hehe, take your time looking!"
Lin Yoriichi gritted his teeth. Rather than immediately search for Enmu, he first checked on Kyojuro Rengoku and the others.
At present, neither Kyojuro Rengoku nor the elderly shopkeeper and her granddaughter had fully awakened.
Clearly, Enmu's real body was not too far away, merely hidden somewhere relatively hard to find.
It had to be said that Enmu truly was the most troublesome demon Lin Yoriichi had dealt with since transmigrating.
In terms of combat strength alone, this guy was absolutely no match for Upper Rank One, Kokushibo, and might not even measure up to Lower Rank Three, Byōyō, or Lower Rank Six, Kamanué.
But this ability to put others to sleep, along with his way of creating an additional body outside his real one to act through, was truly troublesome.
For instance, when Lin Yoriichi had first fallen into the dream, had the dream Enmu created not been almost identical to the original storyline Lin Yoriichi had seen, giving him a strong sense of déjà vu and wrongness, he would not have broken free immediately.
As for why he could still choke Enmu and even behead him while trapped in a dream, that was even less of a challenge for Lin Yoriichi.
After all, in the original story, Kyojuro Rengoku could still precisely seize someone by the neck while trapped in a dream.
Compared with Kyojuro Rengoku, Lin Yoriichi merely remained capable of using Breathing Style sword techniques as well.
After all, the person he was cosplaying was the legendary swordsman, Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
As he thought, Lin Yoriichi drew a peculiarly shaped small knife from inside his clothes, the very one Miss Tamayo had given him.
Previously, when facing Kyogai, who had drums embedded in his body, Lin Yoriichi had considered using this knife.
But considering that the other party was merely a former Lower Rank Six, he had not used it.
As for Kokushibo...
Although he had become Almost-Beheaded Kokushibo, he had ultimately given Lin Yoriichi no opportunity to draw his blood.
Now, however, Lin Yoriichi had thought of another ingenious use for this small knife.
He toyed with the blade and smiled. "I choose you, Chachamaru!"
Then Lin Yoriichi threw the knife, embedding it in Enmu's headless remains, which had not yet fully disintegrated.
As blood flowed into the knife's handle, a cat's cry immediately rang out in the air.
When the second "meow" sounded, Lin Yoriichi indeed saw Chachamaru, the cat carrying a small bag on his back.
Lin Yoriichi crouched down and stroked the top of Chachamaru's head.
Yet under Chachamaru's puzzled gaze, Lin Yoriichi did not immediately place the blood-filled knife into the bag on his back, instead pointing toward the headless corpse.
"Help me sniff out that guy's scent, then tell me where he's hiding!"
Before you continue