Why had he brought Tanjiro before him? To put his mind at ease? To keep him too occupied to deal with anything else?
At that thought, he asked Tanjiro, "Did you see the Insect Pillar and the others?"
Tanjiro shook his head.
Tetsu no Sosuke gave a quiet snort. "Looks like that's exactly what's going on."
Staying here might not solve anything. Thinking it over, perhaps Kokushibo had kept chasing him precisely to lure him farther away from that courtyard.
"Let's head back." He sprang up and raced toward the Water Pillar's courtyard.
Though Tanjiro wanted to find Nezuko, he had no idea where she was and no direction to go in. In the end, he could only follow Tetsu no Sosuke.
The two soon returned to the courtyard.
Blood and corpses still covered the ground.
One glance at the bodies was enough to send Tanjiro into a panic. "How could this happen?"
He saw Nezuko, Zenitsu Agatsuma, Inosuke, and Shinobu Kocho lying on the ground... Their bodies were all here, lying in pools of blood.
"What did you see?" Tetsu no Sosuke glanced at Tanjiro. "Whatever you see, don't believe it."
"But... their bodies are right here."
Tanjiro pointed at the ground.
Tetsu no Sosuke followed his gaze, raised his eyebrows, and suddenly said to Tanjiro, "Come here."
"Huh?"
Tanjiro hesitated for a moment, then came over to Tetsu no Sosuke's side.
Then Tetsu no Sosuke pressed two fingers against Tanjiro's forehead.
"Sosuke?"
"Though I can't use Blood Demon Arts and don't have Yushiro's abilities, that one experience gave me a few unusual ideas about this sort of thing. And since this is the Spiritual World, it might amplify similar abilities. Let me try... and see whether I can actually do it."
His explanation explained nothing. Tanjiro still had