The Black Dog Demon confirmed that this was indeed the room.
The Bat Demon behind him, however, still hesitated. He couldn't be sure of Lord Hantengu's current state inside that room.
If Lord Hantengu had truly defected, would the two of them—rashly disturbing him—meet a good end? Nine times out of ten, they would be killed by Hantengu on the spot.
But there was no other choice. Lord Muzan had given them a strict order: if alive, they must see the person; if dead, they must see the corpse. They had to witness Lord Hantengu's true condition with their own eyes before they could return and report.
The Bat Demon sighed. Whether he stretched his neck out or pulled it back, the blade awaited either way. It was a situation of "damned if you do, damned if you don't."
He waved his hand, signaling the Black Dog Demon to step aside. Then, he walked up to the door, knocked politely, and asked aloud:
"Excuse me, is Lord Hantengu inside?"
Inside the room, Horitake heard the inquiry. Simultaneously using his Spirit Vision to peer through the door at the situation outside, realization dawned on him.
That's right, he thought. The demons likely have absolutely no idea what has actually happened to Hantengu.
Now, this gets interesting.
Horitake revealed a wicked grin. He pinched his throat and began to mimic Hantengu's voice. And you wouldn't believe it—the imitation was uncannily accurate.
"Who is outside? Daring to disturb me without permission?"
Horitake's imitation of Hantengu's voice was spot on, and that tone of impatient condescension was captured perfectly.
The two demons outside didn't suspect a thing. Hearing that voice, and specifically hearing the impatience in Lord Hantengu's tone, both demons became quite nervous.
The Bat Demon immediately became much more respectful. Standing outside the door, he bowed and scraped with great reverence.
"Lord Hantengu, you have been out of contact with Lord Muzan for a long time. Lord Muzan is very worried about your situation, so he specially sent the two of us to find you and see if there is anything you require assistance with."
Inside, Horitake continued to pinch his throat and spout nonsense.
"I am very sorry to have worried Lord Muzan.
"However, there is nothing here that requires help. You two may leave!"
The impatience in his tone grew even more pronounced.
Outside, the Bat Demon grew increasingly nervous, while his suspicion regarding the possibility of Hantengu's defection deepened.
The Bat Demon continued, "Lord Hantengu, we have come to find you under Lord Muzan's direct orders. Please open the door and at least let us confirm your condition. Otherwise, we have no way to report back to Lord Muzan.
"I only wish to confirm your status; I will do nothing else. Once confirmed, we will leave immediately. Please rest assured!
"Lord Hantengu, surely you do not wish for Lord Muzan to be enraged by this?"
The voice from inside the room became distinctly angry.
"What? Relying on just the two of you, you dare to use the tiger's might to threaten me with Lord Muzan's name?! Let me tell you, I do not accept threats from anyone!
"For the sake of us all being demons, I will spare you this once. If you continue to pester me, I will not be polite!"
The Bat Demon's face turned incredibly ugly.
The Hantengu inside had explicitly issued an order for them to leave.
Moreover, judging by his tone, he didn't seem to hold that much respect for Lord Muzan anymore.
Could it be that Lord Hantengu, the majestic Upper Rank Four, has truly defected?!
This is a catastrophic event!
What should I do? Without seeing Hantengu with my own eyes, and only hearing his voice, how can I go back and report to Lord Muzan?
For a moment, a chaotic mess of thoughts filled the Bat Demon's heart. He began to waver—should he force his way in?
Undoubtedly, if he broke in by force, he would definitely be killed by the enraged Lord Hantengu!
But if he went back to report like this, he might also be killed by Lord Muzan!
How should he choose? Both paths led to death!
The Bat Demon fell into a state of indecision.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Horitake was waiting for the Bat Demon's reaction.
In the adjacent room, Shinobu watched Horitake's actions and listened to his words, and she, too, understood his plan.
What plan?
Horitake intended to execute a Ploy to Sow Discord (a Counter-间计)!
He wanted these two demons to mistakenly believe that Hantengu had officially defected!
This way, when these two demons returned and reported the news of Hantengu's defection to Muzan, Muzan would certainly be furious—absolutely livid!
Think about it: Hantengu, one of his most loyal subordinates, had defected!
If that could happen, then what couldn't happen?
This event would surely be a massive shock to Muzan, causing his paranoia to grow heavier and heavier.
And the first to bear the brunt of Muzan's suspicion would be the other Upper Rank demons.
Given Muzan's terrible personality, once he started suspecting his subordinates, nine times out of ten he would lash out, perhaps even targeting them in various ways.
In doing so, the harmony between lord and subjects would be broken; a rift would form between Muzan and the Upper Ranks.
How wide this rift would grow remained unclear.
Would Muzan kill his own subordinates out of suspicion? Would the Upper Ranks resist or even defect because of Muzan's suspicion and targeting?
The possibility of the latter was small, but not non-existent!
Even if Muzan didn't go that far, the relationship between master and servant would be fractured. Muzan would only grow more suspicious, and the Upper Ranks would only grow more estranged from him.
Therefore, once this ploy was set in motion, no matter how great an effect it had on Muzan, it would weaken the demon side to some extent.
In other words, if this move worked perfectly, great; if not, it didn't matter.
Realizing all of this, Shinobu couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Truly worthy of Horitake. Truly worthy of the Sky Hashira. To come up with such a resourceful adaptation in such a short time.
If she were in this situation, what would she have done?
She definitely would have killed these two demons and then immediately transferred Hantengu elsewhere.
But look at what Horitake did.
Facing the same two demons of little strength and low value, Horitake found a different worth in them. Instead of killing them, he turned them into instruments for his scheme!
Letting these two demons live to report the news of Hantengu's defection back to Muzan...
In this scenario, the value of letting them execute the ploy was far greater than the value of killing them.
In an instant, he turned waste into treasure. Horitake is incredible!
Thinking of this, Shinobu's heart was filled with sincere admiration for Horitake. And beyond that admiration lay a sense of intoxication and affection that even she hadn't noticed yet.
Shinobu remained silent, watching Horitake's operation quietly, hoping his scheme would succeed.
As long as the two demons outside didn't forcibly break down the door, this ploy was already more than half successful!
If it were just the Black Dog Demon, it would be fine; everyone could see that the Black Dog Demon's intellect wasn't very high, and he didn't think much. If he encountered this situation alone, he would have left immediately.
But this Bat Demon clearly thought too much, which made him hesitate all the more.
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