The Bat Demon was still hesitating—vacillating between leaving immediately or forcibly breaking down the door to confirm Lord Hantengu's condition.
At this critical moment, his foolish companion, the Black Dog Demon, unwittingly gave Horitake a perfect assist.
The Black Dog Demon tugged at the Bat Demon's arm, shaking his head nervously, and whispered urgently, "I confirm that it is Lord Hantengu inside! Absolutely no mistake! Lord Hantengu seems to be enraged; his scent is getting stronger and stronger!
"If we really force our way in, we're both dead!
"Or do you really think the two of us can escape Lord Hantengu's lethal grasp?
"Let's just go!"
The Bat Demon looked at the Black Dog Demon with a troubled expression. The scales in his heart began to tip toward the choice of leaving immediately.
As for why the Black Dog Demon said Hantengu's scent was getting stronger? That was because inside the room, Horitake, wanting to make the act more convincing, had deliberately opened the box.
With the box open, how could Hantengu's scent not be strong?
And in the Black Dog Demon's imagination, the intensification of the scent meant Hantengu was furious!
This Black Dog Demon was truly an excellent assistant!
Any other demon would have surely left immediately by now, disregarding everything else.
But this Bat Demon just wasn't decisive. He kept wavering back and forth, enough to drive anyone mad!
The Bat Demon said to the Black Dog Demon, distressed, "But Lord Muzan gave us an order: if alive, see the person; if dead, see the corpse. We must see Lord Hantengu's condition with our own eyes. If we just leave like this, how will we report back to Lord Muzan later?
"Lord Muzan will kill us!"
Hearing this, the Black Dog Demon also looked troubled.
Inside the room, Horitake was on the verge of tearing his hair out. If this Bat Demon didn't have value for his counter-intelligence scheme, Horitake would have long since chopped this nagging, indecisive creature into pieces!
Horitake quickly calmed himself. He decided to take further action—to gamble!
Horitake stood up and walked forward, making deliberate, audible footsteps until he reached the door.
At this point, Horitake naturally wouldn't open the door. Instead, he pressed the open box tightly against the door, right up against the crack, so the Black Dog Demon outside could smell it even more clearly.
Incidentally, because Hantengu inside the box was injured to the extreme and pinned by spikes, he couldn't make a single sound. So there was no worry about him causing a disturbance or revealing a flaw.
Maintaining this position, Horitake continued to pinch his throat, mimicking the ferocious aura of a demon. He projected this cruel, savage presence outward to intimidate the two demons.
"It seems you two are quite afraid of Lord Muzan!
"Lord Muzan can kill you, but do you think I cannot?!
"If you don't scram right now, I don't know what Lord Muzan will do to you, but I will definitely make you wish you were dead!
"Scram! Now!"
Outside, the Black Dog Demon clearly smelled Hantengu's scent. He had identified it beyond a doubt: Hantengu was right behind the door, separated only by a thin layer of wood!
The Black Dog Demon panicked. He grabbed the Bat Demon's arm and dragged him backward.
"It is definitely Lord Hantengu! No mistake! The scent is too obvious! I stake my head on it!
"Damn Bat! We have to go! If we stay here any longer, do you want to die?!"
Not just the Black Dog Demon—even the Bat Demon was now incomparably certain that the person behind the door was Hantengu!
Because he heard the approaching footsteps and felt the savage aura radiating from behind the door. Such a ferocious, malicious presence could only be emitted by an Upper Rank demon!
The Bat Demon turned pale with fright and stumbled back repeatedly.
At this moment, the Black Dog Demon's most desperate plea became the final straw that broke the camel's back.
He said, "Damn Bat! Hurry up and go! Do you want to die that badly?!
"I really don't know what you are thinking! If we stay here and make Lord Hantengu angry, we will definitely die.
"But if we go back and report this situation to Lord Muzan, he might spare us.
"One side is certain death; the other is possible death. Don't you know which one to choose?!"
This sentence immediately pulled the Bat Demon back from his mental dead end.
Realization dawned on the Bat Demon. He felt the Black Dog Demon's words made too much sense!
Although he hadn't seen Lord Hantengu with his own eyes, he could confirm that Hantengu was in that room!
Taking this intelligence back to report to Lord Muzan would count as completing the mission. There was a high chance Lord Muzan wouldn't hold it against them and would spare their lives.
But if he continued to pester Lord Hantengu, he would definitely be killed!
In this situation, even a fool knew what to choose!
While cursing himself internally for being so stubborn, the Bat Demon turned and fled in a hurry.
The two demons had barely turned and run a few steps when a final few words came from the room behind them:
"Halt!"
Feeling the savage aura, even though the two demons were terrified, they had to slam on the brakes, standing in the hallway, trembling violently.
Did Lord Hantengu change his mind? Is he going to kill us right here?
The next words from the room allowed the two demons to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"When you return, pass a message to Lord Muzan for me. Tell him... Hantengu has wronged him!
"Now, get lost!"
The Bat Demon and the Black Dog Demon felt as if they had been granted a general pardon. They fled immediately, darting out of the inn and leaving the area quickly, terrified that Hantengu might regret his decision and chase them down.
Why did Horitake add that last sentence? Wasn't he afraid of "drawing legs on a snake"—doing too much and arousing suspicion?
Actually, no. That last sentence was precisely Horitake laying a false trail.
Think about it. As one of Muzan's most loyal subordinates, Hantengu's sudden defection would surely cause Muzan to be puzzled.
At this juncture, adding the sentence "Hantengu has wronged Lord Muzan"...
When Muzan hears this, his imagination will surely run wild. He will overthink it.
Why would Hantengu suddenly defect and betray me? He said he wronged me at the end... Does Hantengu have some hardship? Or is there another reason for his betrayal?
People—and demons—fear their own imagination the most. Once the imagination starts filling in the blanks, it creates a self-justifying narrative. Once a person convinces themselves of something through their own imagination, eight horses couldn't pull them back. People believe most in the "facts" they concoct themselves.
In this way, when the message is relayed to Muzan, and Muzan starts overthinking, even if he can't guess the reason for Hantengu's defection, he will confirm one thing: Hantengu has indeed betrayed him!
Muzan is not a good person.
He won't care about Hantengu's reasons for betraying him.
Betrayal is betrayal! He will never forgive it, no matter what!
Thus, Muzan's belief in Hantengu's betrayal will be solidified beyond doubt!
This is the effect Horitake intended to achieve by laying that final false trail.
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