"Of course!" Haran nodded confidently.
"Then why go through all this trouble to come in and find a burial spot? Wouldn't it be easier to just toss the body anywhere?" Uchiha Retsu asked, completely baffled.
He truly couldn't understand the logic of these cat demons. If they were just going to let the corpse turn into a monster anyway, why bother being so formal about choosing a grave?
"That won't do!" Haran shook her head immediately.
She glanced at him, then winked mischievously, a sly smile forming on her lips.
"You're thinking—if we're taking burial so seriously, why would we let the corpse turn into a demon, right?"
"Exactly." Retsu nodded. That was precisely what he couldn't figure out.
"Because the monsters born from those corpses are natural gravekeepers!" Haran revealed with a grin.
Retsu paused for a moment—then it clicked.
This place wasn't the living world, but a boundary between the underworld and the mortal realm. There were no dedicated guardians here. Letting the corpse itself produce a monster to guard the grave…
It really was the simplest solution.
"But if the corpse turns into a demon, how does it guard the grave?" he still asked, slightly confused.
"The corpse is the corpse, and the guardian is the guardian—they're not the same thing!" Haran waved her hand dismissively.
Seeing he still didn't get it, she shrugged.
"You'll understand when you see it."
"…Alright." Retsu decided to drop the question for now.
Then something suddenly occurred to him. His expression turned strange.
"So the skeleton monsters we just killed… were basically someone's gravekeepers?"
"Pretty much," Haran replied calmly, completely unconcerned.
"Most of the skeleton monsters here are born from the remains of powerful demons buried in this place. Calling them gravekeepers isn't wrong."
She continued walking as she spoke:
"But don't worry about it. Demon clans bring bodies here all the time. These guardians never run out—kill one, and another will eventually be born."
"…Fair enough." Retsu gave a thumbs-up.
It was crude—but very much in line with demon logic.
With their long lifespans, the fact that they even bothered to find proper burial grounds instead of just dumping bodies randomly was already impressive.
Expecting human-like reverence for the dead was asking too much.
"By the way," Retsu added, unable to suppress his curiosity,
"Inuyasha once said he entered his father's grave, and there weren't any gravekeepers like you described. How does that work?"
"Inuyasha? Sesshomaru's little brother?" Haran frowned thoughtfully.
"The Great Dog General's corpse didn't produce a demon? That's strange… for a demon that powerful, his leftover energy should've created something."
She thought for a while but couldn't figure it out.
"Who knows? Maybe he was unlucky. Or maybe he put all his power into something before he died."
Retsu's eyes flickered.
He had a guess.
The Great Dog General's power had likely been sealed into a weapon—
the blade Inuyasha inherited from his father's body: Tessaiga.
If all the remaining demonic energy had been poured into that sword, then it made sense that no corpse-born guardian ever appeared.
Whether he was right or not…
There was no way to verify it now.
"Alright, we're here! This is the place!"
After walking a bit further, Haran suddenly lit up and shouted excitedly.
Before Retsu could respond, she dashed toward a towering rock, leaping up with agile movements until she reached the top.
Retsu followed, chakra gathering beneath his feet as he ran straight up the rock face, landing beside her with ease.
"So? Not bad, right?" Haran pointed proudly at the open space below.
"Our clan spent a long time choosing this spot!"
Retsu looked down.
The area below was covered in scattered stones and broken bones—no different from anywhere else they had passed.
He genuinely couldn't see anything special about it.
Maybe… feng shui?
Or some kind of clan-specific tradition he didn't understand?
Not wanting to ruin the moment, he nodded seriously.
"Yeah. Looks great. Definitely a good spot."
"HAHAHA!"
Haran suddenly burst into laughter, her voice echoing through the mist.
"You have no idea what's special about it, do you?"
"…I don't."
"Honestly, neither do I!" she admitted cheerfully.
"An old lady in the clan picked this place. She's always half-asleep—maybe she just pointed randomly. But since we don't understand it either, we just went along with it!"
"…Seriously?"
Retsu stared at her, speechless.
So that solemn explanation earlier… was all an act.
This whole grave selection process wasn't even as reliable as flipping a coin.
At least a coin toss could be called "fate."
"Alright, time to open the entrance and call my big sister!"
Haran suddenly grew serious again.
She removed the cherry blossom ornament from her hair.
Only then did Retsu notice a black pearl embedded at its center.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Could it be the same kind of item as the black pearl in Inuyasha's eye?
Before he could ask, Haran infused it with demonic power and tossed it upward.
Instead of falling, the pearl floated into the air.
The space around it rippled—
A small dimensional portal opened.
"Big sis! I've reached the burial site! Bring the lord in!" Haran shouted into it.
Retsu stood to the side, watching with interest.
Scenes like this—transporting the remains of a great demon into a graveyard—were rare.
Moments later, the portal rapidly expanded.
Then—
A massive, grotesque panther-cat corpse slowly forced its way through the opening…
To Read 60+ advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146