It was winter, and heavy snow was falling.
Everything was covered in silver, and the mountains were draped in a silvery cloak.
"Hoo~"
Yuko arrived at the small town at the foot of the mountain, a faint wisp of white breath escaping her lips.
"It's really cold, this weather."
Her lungs felt like they were freezing.
Fortunately, the appropriate Breathing Technique could alleviate the discomfort brought by the harsh winter.
Cold air does affect Breathing Techniques, but by using the right breathing, one can largely avoid discomfort caused by the cold.
The intel Yuko received stated that a man-eating monster had appeared on the mountain behind the town, abducting women and children every night.
Several people had already gone missing.
Yuko glanced around; the intel seemed to be true.
The sun hadn't even set, yet the streets were already empty of people, and every household had its doors and windows tightly shut.
Yuko walked out of the street to the foot of the mountain, where there was a civilian dwelling.
Piles of firewood were stacked around the dwelling; it should be the home of a woodcutter.
In front of the dwelling, a thinly dressed man was sharpening a knife.
The man's body trembled continuously as he sharpened the knife, as if he were afraid of something.
"..."
Yuko walked up and gently patted him on the shoulder.
"Ah!" The man shivered all over, shouting and yelling as if mad, turning around and swinging his hatchet.
Then, he froze in place.
Yuko pinched the blade with one hand, preventing it from moving an inch, and softly asked the dumbfounded man, "Excuse me, do you know of any place in this mountain where one can hide?"
The demon chose to abduct people instead of killing them directly, which indicated it had its own lair in the mountain.
The man remained foolishly stunned.
Yuko had to rephrase her question: "I heard a demon appeared here, and I've come for it."
The man's dull expression subtly changed, the muscles in his face could no longer hold, and tears streamed uncontrollably.
All his strength seemed to drain away, the hatchet dropped, and the man braced himself on the ground with his hands, tears dripping from his face.
"Zhizi… Zhizi, she…"
A choked sob, filled with tears, gradually rose.
Yuko stood silently, waiting patiently.
Even just looking at it on a computer screen, she could feel the demon's abhorrence.
Not to mention being there in person; Yuko, who had slain over ten demons in two years, had already witnessed countless tragedies in the human world.
Sadness?
Of course, sadness. No one would encounter such a thing without feeling pity and sympathy.
But having experienced it so much, besides slaying the demons, they could do nothing else.
The man cried for a while, then slowly calmed down, saying with a choked voice, "The temple… there's a temple in the mountain, the demon is there."
Yuko frowned slightly: "You've been there?"
The man's eyes held a hint of despair: "Yesterday, the town organized people to go into the mountain… everyone died, only…"
Only he saw that something was wrong and escaped.
"I understand. Please wait safely for a night; that thing is not something you can handle." Having received accurate information, Yuko did not linger and turned to leave.
"Wait!" She had barely taken two steps when the man suddenly called out to her.
Yuko tilted her head slightly.
The man propped himself up: "That temple is deep in the mountains; it's easy to get lost if you haven't been inside. I can take you there."
Yuko looked at the sky; the sun would set in about an hour.
"Then I'll trouble you."
The man asked uneasily, "Can you, can you really kill that demon?"
Yuko smiled faintly, patting the nichirin blade at her waist: "This isn't just for show."
Hope sparked in the man's eyes, "Please follow me."
He led Yuko into the mountains without another word. Wind and snow swirled through the forest, a vast expanse of white stretching as far as the eye could see.
The man was right; someone who hadn't been there before could easily get lost.
After walking against the wind and snow for about half an hour, behind a tall forest, a temple hidden deep in the old mountains appeared before Yuko's eyes.
The temple's roof was covered with a thick layer of snow, and the dilapidated, long-unrepaired temple had a certain ancient charm.
Yuko didn't possess Tanjirou's excellent sense of smell, but just standing at the temple entrance, a strong smell of blood assailed her.
The man seemed unaware, pointing inside and saying, "This is it. Yesterday, everyone was…"
His voice faltered as he looked at the scattered body parts in the courtyard, unable to speak.
"Ugh~"
Yuko surveyed the temple expressionlessly, saying softly, "Before the sun sets, you should go down the mountain."
The man was stunned, and much of the discomfort in his heart dissipated.
"Then you…"
Yuko interrupted him: "If I haven't come down the mountain by dawn tomorrow, it means I'm dead. Wait patiently; don't seek death yourself. Others will come to handle it."
"...I understand." The man nodded blankly, took a deep look at Yuko and the villagers' corpses, then turned and went down the mountain.
Ever since she became a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, Yuko had long ago put life and death aside.
She wasn't as strong as her two older brothers; it wouldn't be surprising if she were eaten by a demon at any time.
With the last glimmer of the setting sun at her back, Yuko entered the temple.
The dismembered bodies in the courtyard could vaguely be pieced together to form five or six individuals, all male, with no obvious signs of being eaten.
Combined with the information she had received earlier.
A demon that only eats women and children… Yuko followed the source of the bloodstains to the main hall. On the main seat of the hall were several statues of Buddhas she didn't recognize, creating a sense of incongruity.
Logically, in such a dilapidated temple, the Buddha statues should be uncleaned, yet the statues before her were so clean it was as if someone cleaned them daily.
Most importantly, a very strong smell of blood wafted over.
Suddenly, without any warning.
The Buddha statue with several arms growing from its middle suddenly moved its eyeballs, looking down at Yuko, as if appraising her.
"What, a Demon Slayer Corps member?" The Buddha statue spoke.
"But it's a woman. A woman who can use swordsmanship?"
"Can you even wield a sword?"
"I haven't eaten a female Demon Slayer yet. I wonder what she tastes like?"
"The men's flesh is too tough; it's not satisfying to eat. Women and children are much more tender."
"Hehehehehe…"
A piercing laugh rang in Yuko's ears. She calmly asked, "Where are the people you abducted?"
The Buddha statue's eyeballs rolled, "Guess?"
Clang!
With a sound, the tsuba of the nichirin blade was gently pushed aside. A wisp of golden energy overflowed from Yuko's mouth, transforming into a golden electric flash that shot straight towards the Buddha statue.
The Buddha statue's eyeballs suddenly constricted, as if it hadn't expected Yuko to move so quickly.
"Guess your mother's ass." An incomprehensible Chinese phrase echoed in the Buddha statue's ears, followed by a low voice.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash."
The golden lightning slash directly severed the Buddha statue's head in mid-air.