The vagrant who had just been urinating by the roadside, for some reason, had chased after her.
"Hey, where the hell did you come from? I've never seen you around here before—"
With an unfriendly look, he reached out toward her, his hand about to land on her shoulder.
Yuko was just about to evade him when the vagrant suddenly froze. His voice cut off, and his drunken, bleary eyes shifted to her chest—then instantly widened.
"Heh, heh. Miss, did you get lost?"
"How'd you end up in a place like this all by yourself?"
The stench of alcohol and filth clinging to him rushed into Yuko's nose, making her feel slightly dizzy.
"How about I walk you home?"
He spoke flirtatiously, spreading his arms as if to hug her, extending his filthy hands.
Yuko lowered her eyelids slightly, sidestepped his advance, and then extended her right foot.
With a loud thud, she tripped the vagrant flat onto the ground.
The pain from the fall partially sobered him up. He rolled over and snapped angrily,
"Hey! You filthy bitch—"
Expressionless, Yuko stepped down hard on his face, slamming him back into the ground.
On the filthy street, some suspicious liquid trickled along the road and ran across his face.
The nauseating stench, combined with the crushing pain of having his head pressed against the ground, completely wiped away his drunken haze.
"AAH!!" the vagrant screamed, hurling venomous curses. "You damn bitch! I swear I'll—"
The pressure of Yuko's foot increased gradually. He struggled and quickly realized it was useless, immediately begging for mercy.
"I was wrong! I was wrong! Miss, please be generous—have mercy!"
Yuko didn't lift her foot, her tone calm and flat as she said,
"I'm going to ask you something."
The vagrant hurriedly replied,
"Yes! Yes—go ahead!"
"I heard young girls have been going missing nearby. Do you know anything about it?"
"Yes, yes! I do!"
"I heard it was the work of a man-eating demon?"
The vagrant wailed,
"Miss, I'm about to die from the pain—!"
Yuko lifted her foot. The vagrant scrambled up and dropped to his knees, rubbing his face.
"You're too slow."
Her cold voice made him shudder. Without lifting his head, he hurriedly said,
"It's not some man-eating demon at all."
"Oh?" Yuko narrowed her eyes slightly. "Then what exactly is going on?"
Along the way, although her senses had been disrupted by the mixture of foul odors, she hadn't detected even the slightest trace of a demon's presence.
The vagrant dared not hide anything.
"I don't know the full details. I only know that the girl's own parents sent her away."
"Where do they live?"
Yuko frowned slightly. Human trafficking?
In this era, incidents like that were indeed often blamed on ghosts or spirits—simply to prevent people from digging deeper.
Back when Yuko was still with the Demon Slayer Corps, she had encountered similar cases of false reports.
Only after arriving at the scene would they discover that the so-called 'demon' was merely a fabrication spread by criminals to cover up their own crimes.
In ancient times, it was extremely difficult to find trafficked people—information traveled too slowly.
And in this case, the family themselves had done it.
It was obvious they had sold their daughter for money.
In this era, cases like this were everywhere—even the authorities usually turned a blind eye.
Finding the girl would serve no real purpose. Her parents wouldn't acknowledge her. They would only think you were meddling.
"It's just ahead—turn left. The house with a stone table in front of it," the vagrant said, pointing the way. Then he asked timidly, "Um… can I go now?"
Yuko was lost in thought and waved her hand absentmindedly.
She had no interest in dealing further with petty harassment.
The vagrant staggered away a few steps, then suddenly noticed a stone by the roadside.
A thought abruptly formed in his mind.
At the end of the day, she was just a woman. He'd only been muddled earlier and let himself fall for her trick.
The memory of being crushed beneath her foot made the hatred in his mind grow deeper.
A worthless bitch!
He picked up the stone and crept quietly behind Yuko. Licking the corner of his mouth, a vicious glint flashed in his eyes as he swung the stone toward her head.
Szz—
A jet of pitch-black blood sprayed into the air.
The vagrant froze in place, realizing his stone had never struck Yuko's head. He subconsciously swung his arm—
Szz—
Blood burst from his arm and splattered across his face. A split second later, searing pain flooded his brain.
"AAAH!!!"
His scream drew the attention of nearby vagrants as they instinctively looked over.
But once they realized it was merely a personal dispute, they quickly lowered their heads again, pretending they had seen nothing and heard nothing.
In a place like this, it wasn't strange for a corpse to appear at any time.
No one interfered.
On the snow-white blade, traces of blood slowly seeped in.
It was a sword forged from her own flesh and blood—it was only natural that it could devour living beings.
Yuko raised the demon blade and placed it beside the man's neck.
Only then did the vagrant notice the two swords hanging at her waist.
Compared to death, the pain in his arm no longer seemed so unbearable.
"S-Spare me… please spare me…"
Yuko lifted her head slightly. From beneath the brim of her hat, a crimson glint flickered in her eyes.
"Get lost."
The vagrant stared at the red glow in shock for a moment, making sure he wasn't seeing things—then his expression completely collapsed.
"A demon!!"
His mind broke. A foul stench erupted from below his waist as he scrambled away in terror, rolling and crawling into the distance.
Against people like this, Yuko didn't mind handing out a little punishment.
As for whether he would survive losing an arm with his level of wealth—that stopped mattering the moment he picked up that stone.
Because of his screaming, more people in the area had begun to pay attention.
Although it was most likely not the work of a demon… since she was already here, she might as well take a look.
Yuko sighed softly to herself, sheathed the demon blade, and headed in the direction the vagrant had pointed.
There was a stone table in front of the house.
Yuko saw it as soon as she turned the corner. Candlelight flickered inside, and the sound of loud arguing spilled out.
Her eyes glinted faintly as she quietly leaned closer to listen.
Inside were the voices of a man and a woman.
"How could you send Kyoko away without my permission, you bastard!" a grief-stricken female voice cried out.
"I did it for Kyoko's own good! What do you even understand?!"
Hearing this, Yuko lowered her eyes slightly. So it really was human trafficking.
Though she felt sorry about it, this was not something she could intervene in.
She turned around, about to leave.
"That sect is nothing but a pack of swindlers! Aren't you pushing Kyoko straight into a pit of fire?!"
Yuko froze mid-step.
---
Currently at chapter 270 for advance chapters
https:// ko-fi.com/rabi08