The carriage resumed its journey, rolling over the gradually thinning town lights and entering the increasingly dark and silent wilderness.
Inside the carriage, Tanjirou and Nezuko, sated from their meal and exhausted from the continuous days of travel, leaned against each other, their breathing gradually evening out as if they had fallen asleep.
But Tanjirou's hand, resting on his sister's shoulder, had slightly whitened knuckles, revealing his inner tension.
Giyu Tomioka still sat on the carriage shaft, his back as rigid as a solidified rock.
Only the occasional slight sway of his haori's hem in the wind showed any sign of life.
Cheng Mo leaned back against the carriage wall with his eyes closed, seemingly having also fallen into a light doze.
However, his consciousness was highly focused, his Eye of Truth acting like an invisible radar.
He clearly "saw" two chilling, demonic presences, trailing the carriage from afar like maggots clinging to bone.
"They're here," Cheng Mo's voice was extremely low, his lips barely moving.
Giyu Tomioka gave an almost imperceptible nod, slightly adjusting his fingers on the hilt of his sword.
Tanjirou's breathing instantly hitched, and his other hand quietly gripped the axe hidden by his side.
Nezuko also seemed to sense the change in atmosphere, her body tensing slightly.
The carriage traveled a bit further until it was completely away from human habitation, surrounded only by the howling mountain wind and the swaying shadows of trees.
This is it!
Kamanue, who had been trailing behind, had a look of bloodthirsty excitement and impatience flash in his eyes.
He abruptly signaled to the scouting demon beside him.
The single eye on the scouting demon's forehead flared with red light, locking onto the carriage!
Kamanue then took a deep breath, his chest swelling in an unnatural manner, and a strange wriggling sound emanated from his throat.
He didn't choose a conspicuous roar, but instead stomped his foot, and a rock beneath him silently shattered.
The sound of the shattering was extremely faint, but under the enhancement of a certain Blood Demon Art, this subtle sound source was instantly amplified and distorted, transforming into rings of invisible yet deadly sound waves.
The sound waves spread rapidly like ripples, instantly catching up to the carriage and enveloping the entire compartment.
Wuwuwuweng—!!!
A bizarre roar, not perceived through the ears but directly affecting the brain and internal body, suddenly exploded!
The air seemed to freeze for a moment; the horses pulling the carriage let out a painful whinny, their front legs buckling, and they collapsed to the ground, blood oozing from their mouths and nostrils.
The carriage shook violently!
"Ugh!"
Giyu Tomioka let out a muffled groan, his body swaying abruptly as if struck in the head by an invisible heavy hammer.
He shook his head vigorously, a hint of pain and a momentary blankness appearing on his face, his hand on the sword hilt loosening slightly, his body leaning weakly against the carriage shaft.
On the other side, Cheng Mo also "painfully" grabbed the carriage shaft with one hand and pressed his other hand to his temple at the same time.
He curled up, his brows tightly furrowed, seemingly resisting the terrifying sound wave invasion.
At the same time, his lowered left hand's fingers moved ever so slightly.
Two extremely faint, almost transparent, azure electric threads silently shot out, like nimble snakes, instantly sinking into Tanjirou and Nezuko's backs.
The siblings felt a cool, slightly numbing warmth instantly flood their bodies, quickly enveloping their brains and eardrums.
The negative effects of the maddening shriek were immediately greatly reduced.
Although they could still hear it, it was no longer unbearable.
"Brother!" Nezuko let out a "terrified" whimper.
Tanjirou, on the other hand, simply "fainted," collapsing beside his sister, unmoving.
"I got them!"
Kamanue saw the carriage's reaction, especially the pained expressions of the powerful swordsman on the shaft and his target, as well as the silence from inside the carriage, and instant ecstasy overwhelmed him.
"Hahaha! What kind of strong individual would even Muzan-sama pay attention to? He's nothing more than this! It seems he's just fast, but ultimately he can't withstand my Blood Demon Art!"
He dropped to all fours, his arm and leg muscles suddenly swelling and deforming, presenting a bizarre, powerful appearance like a combination of an ape and a tiger, with even two faint streams of air jetting from his ankles.
This granted him temporary explosive speed and low-altitude gliding ability!
Whoosh!
He shot forward like an arrow from a bowstring, so fast that he left only a blurry black shadow in the night, directly pouncing on the seemingly defenseless carriage!
His target was clear—the black-haired youth who was first affected by his "sound blast."
Tear him apart first!
The tens of meters distance was covered in an instant, Kamanue's grotesque face wore a cruel smile, his enhanced claws cutting through the wind.
Just as his claws were about to touch Cheng Mo—
The black-haired youth's position, where he should have been painfully curled up, vanished without a trace.
Only a few faint, flickering azure electric arcs remained in his original spot, emitting a soft "zzzt" sound.
"What?!"
Kamanue's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpricks, his ecstasy instantly frozen, replaced by immense astonishment and an instinctive ominous premonition.
The next second, a calm yet chillingly cold voice, like a ghost, sounded right behind his head.
"Sound waves? A decent trick, but unfortunately, a bit slow."
It was the black-haired youth's voice!
Kamanue's blood almost froze!
Without thinking, his enhanced arm swung violently backward at an incredible angle.
At the same time, he opened his mouth, attempting to unleash another sound blast!
But it was already too late.
A hand covered in wildly flickering blue-white lightning struck first, easily cutting into his mutated, bulging shoulder as if piercing through tofu!
Zzzzt—
The ear-splitting sound of lightning scorching flesh erupted!
"Ah ah ah ah—!!!"
Kamanue let out an agonizing shriek, his entire right arm severed at the shoulder, the wound charred black, even the gushing blood instantly carbonized!
Even more terrifying, the violent lightning energy, as if alive, furiously drilled into his wound, spreading throughout his body along his blood vessels and nerves.
Intense numbness and tearing pain instantly swept over his entire body, and the power he had gathered to unleash his Blood Demon Art instantly dissipated.
He collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut, his body convulsing violently, blue electric arcs constantly flickering across his skin.
"Lightning... Lightning Release... Why..."
Kamanue lay paralyzed on the ground from the intense pain and numbness, his eyes filled with unbelievable terror and shock.
This power... was completely different from the Breathing Technique he knew!
More violent, more... restraining to him!
Cheng Mo's figure solidified beside him, slowly retracting his hand, which was covered in Lightning Release Armor.
His eyes were calmly devoid of any ripple, as if he had just casually swatted a fly.
He hadn't even drawn his sword.
"Lower Moon Six... is this all you amount to?"