Elsewhere

Sato stood on the rooftop, and seeing that the crowd below had at least regained some order, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He slowly raised his hand to wipe away the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, then turned his head and cast his gaze in a specific direction.

The ice sculpture of the Bodhisattva was rapidly approaching them at a chilling speed. In the depths of Sato's eyes, a complex mix of emotions—panic, anxiety, and fear—surged up like a tidal wave.

"Given the current situation, it's definitely impossible to evacuate everyone before the ice sculpture arrives, so..."

"Should I lead the other Demon Slayer Corps to stop him? But..."

His gaze was fixed on the ice sculpture of the Bodhisattva, which was over forty meters tall, and his lips trembled slightly.

"Is something like this really something that we, who aren't pillars, can stop?"

"Hateful!!!"

Sato cursed angrily, then lowered his head and resumed giving instructions with full concentration.

"Everyone, run as fast as you can! The ghost is coming!"

"Also, don't push or shove while running! Otherwise you'll fall and run even slower!"

Sato shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice seemingly trying to pierce through the noisy night sky.

After coughing lightly twice to slightly relieve the discomfort in his throat, Sato was about to continue speaking when his gaze suddenly froze on a figure below.

A short, elderly man was being carried on the back of another man as they ran forward. However, the old man showed no appreciation and kept hitting the man on the head.

"This is... the village chief?" Sato muttered to himself, "Why did the village chief hit that person?"

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The village chief's hand slammed repeatedly on the back of Yoshida's head as Yoshida, who was standing with his back turned, shouting loudly:

"Hey! Yoshida! Put me down right now!"

"Village chief, stop messing around. Even ghosts are coming over. Why would I put you down?" Yoshida retorted, dissatisfied.

"Damn it! That ghost dares to invade our village! I'll teach him a lesson!" the village chief roared, continuing to slap Yoshida on the back of the head. "Hurry up, do you hear me?! Put me down!"

"Damn it! Village chief, stop messing around!! If you keep this up, I'll throw you down here and let the ghosts eat you!!!"

Yoshida shouted angrily, but despite his words, he showed no intention of loosening his grip on her back.

At the same time, he kept shaking his head from side to side, trying to avoid the village chief's slaps, but the village chief was right on his back, and it was not so easy to dodge such an attack.

The snapping sound continued.

Fortunately, the village chief was old and frail, and his strength was not great, Ueya the blow to the back of his head didn't cause much pain.

Seeing the village chief's expression, Sato sighed helplessly, turned to look at the ice crystal statue that was almost upon the village, pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and shouted:

"Takahashi, Ito, Nakamura, Honda, come with me and hold off this Upper Rank to buy everyone some time!!"

The people whose names were called were slightly taken aback, then their gazes instinctively turned towards the ice crystal statue rushing towards the village, and they fell silent for a moment.

"What? Didn't you hear me?" Sato roared again.

Upon hearing this, Nakamura, whose name was mentioned, was the first to respond:

"Yes!"

"Yes!" the remaining three responded in unison.

The five of them leaped across the rooftop toward the ice crystal statue.

Going back in time.

On the other side, in the woods.

With a solemn expression, Yamamoto carried the Kotetsu on his back and ran quickly towards the workshop.

At this moment, a rumbling sound, like muffled thunder, rolled in from afar, but fortunately, the sound was getting farther and farther away.

"What's that sound?" Kotetsu asked curiously from behind Yamamoto.

Yamamoto hesitated slightly upon hearing this. He was also a little curious. Lady Kanroji hadn't told him, and since he wasn't far from where the sound came from, and time was of the essence, he had no choice but to carry Kotetsu and run.

Now that Kotetsu has asked, he might as well take a look and have a better understanding of the situation.

Thinking of this, Yamamoto quickly stopped, put Kotetsu down, and instructed:

"Wait here for a moment, I'll jump up the tree and take a look!"

"Okay!" Kotetsu nodded.

Yamamoto took a deep breath, then instantly exerted force with his feet, leaping high into the air and landing on a branch of a large tree nearby.

After securing himself on the branch, he quickly looked in the direction from which the sound came from.

What comes into view is a towering ice sculpture of a Bodhisattva, much taller than the surrounding trees.

The ice sculpture of the Bodhisattva exuded a chilling aura as it glided towards the residential area.

Along the way, sturdy trees were crushed like fragile reeds, cracking and sputtering, raising clouds of dust.

Upon seeing this, Yamamoto's mouth involuntarily opened, his eyes filled with disbelief.

That ice sculpture of a Buddha must be at least thirty or forty meters tall, right?

Are the Pillars fighting monsters like this?

If that's the case, then he feels it's best not to aspire to become a pillar!

"So? What did you see?" Kotetsu shouted from under the tree.

Hearing Kotetsu's call, Yamamoto snapped out of his daze, glanced once more at the breathtaking ice sculpture of the Bodhisattva in the distance, then slowly withdrew his gaze, and with a light leap, jumped down from the tree.

Yamamoto crouched down, gesturing for Kotetsu to climb onto his back. Kotetsu understood immediately and quickly climbed up, asking again:

What did you just see in the tree?

Yamamoto hesitated slightly, then said with lingering fear:

"That was caused by the Upper Rank's Blood Demon Art, but don't worry, that Upper Rank is heading towards the residential area now!"

"Isn't everyone over there in great danger?" Kotetsu frowned, his voice full of worry.

Upon hearing this, Yamamoto smiled and reassured him, "Don't worry, I already arranged for my team to evacuate the villagers when I came over. Besides, Lady Kanroji went there too, didn't she? She must..."

Thinking of that 30-40 meter tall ice sculpture of a Bodhisattva, Yamamoto hesitated for a moment, then said somewhat uncertainly:

"Lady Kanroji will definitely find a way to stop the Upper Rank!"

Upon hearing this, Kotetsu could only nod reluctantly, then asked with some concern:

"If that Upper Rank went that way, does that mean we're safe?"

"Hmm, the workshop should be relatively safe now!"

Yamamoto nodded, then said seriously:

"But we still need to go to the workshop first to see if the people there have been evacuated. If they haven't been evacuated yet, then we'll go and help with the evacuation! If they have been evacuated, then I'll send you to another place to take refuge!"

"Okay!"