"Hmm?"
Li Xuan's gaze shifted toward Tanjiro, and a flicker of surprise crossed his face.
"He evolved all of a sudden?"
A subtle smile curved his lips.
"Looks like Tanjiro is going to have a tougher time now."
He sheathed his Nichirin blade and no longer paid attention to Suzamaru, who was disintegrating into gray ash with a look of horror frozen on her face. Without sparing her another glance, he picked up the burlap sack that held Gyokko and walked toward Lady Tamayo, who had been watching the battle from a distance.
He had no intention of helping Tanjiro.
Unless that demon on the other side went completely berserk and began flying through the air, there was no need.
"He should be fine," Li Xuan muttered, carefully sensing the demon's aura.
He still had faith in Tanjiro's capabilities.
If it came down to it, Yushiro could always use his Blood Demon Art to give Tanjiro a cheat-level vision enhancement.
Or perhaps Nezuko could join in, and the siblings could tag-team the demon?
…
"Mr. Li Xuan…" Lady Tamayo's voice was tinged with unease when she saw him return. Clearly, she too had noticed the sudden change in Yahaba's aura.
"It's alright. He can handle it," Li Xuan replied, his expression calm as ever. His gaze conveyed quiet reassurance.
"He's too slow. He keeps falling for the same tricks," Yushiro commented with a frown, observing Tanjiro's fight from the sidelines.
Beside him, Nezuko could barely contain her instinct to rush forward and help her brother.
At that moment on the battlefield, Tanjiro was being thrown around like a rag doll. Dozens of invisible arrow sigils launched by Yahaba flung him in every direction, leaving him barely able to catch his breath. He was constantly forced to use sword techniques to mitigate the blows, parrying and rolling with the momentum just to stay alive.
It was starting to look like he really could not win...
Li Xuan had just finished saying he trusted Tanjiro, yet now even he began to question that judgment.
The invisibility of Yahaba's arrows was simply too punishing. What made it worse was that the demon had grown significantly stronger, with a noticeable increase in both the power and number of arrows he could summon.
"Mr. Li Xuan, Yushiro's Blood Demon Art can allow Mr. Tanjiro to see the trajectory of the demon's attacks," Lady Tamayo said, her tone cautious. The meaning was clear—she wanted Yushiro to assist Tanjiro.
"Wait."
Li Xuan narrowed his eyes, watching Tanjiro carefully. Amidst the chaos, he noticed that Tanjiro was beginning to adapt to the rhythm of the attacks. He was learning to predict the directions the arrows would take. Though the progress was slow, he was steadily closing the distance between himself and the demon.
Tanjiro was evolving.
In the midst of battle, he was learning, adjusting, and thinking.
"He should be fine now," Li Xuan concluded with a soft smile.
Though Tanjiro still seemed to be at a disadvantage, he had already begun to take control of the battle's tempo.
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form—Constant Flux!"
A few moments later, the sound of flowing water echoed through the air.
Tanjiro weaved around and through the arrows with elegant precision, sometimes dodging, sometimes absorbing their force through momentum. He finally closed the distance and stood face-to-face with Yahaba. His blade danced through the air, delivering a single, breathtaking strike.
"What?!"
Yahaba's expression froze in disbelief as his head was severed.
I had fully absorbed the blood Lord Muzan granted me. I was stronger than ever... so why...?
I haven't even completed Lord Muzan's orders. I didn't even get to kill that other damn hunter...
His consciousness faded into silence.
The water's flow stilled. Tanjiro retracted his Nichirin blade into its sheath, exhaled deeply, and turned around with a joyful smile. He waved at his companions who had been watching from a distance.
Nezuko was the first to reach him, throwing herself into his arms with a tight embrace.
"Mr. Tanjiro is truly a powerful demon-hunting swordsman," Lady Tamayo said after witnessing the entire fight.
"He still has room to grow," Li Xuan said calmly, his eyes fixed on the siblings.
From his perspective, Tanjiro's current strength was not yet enough to defeat even a Lower Moon on his own.
"He's already come very far," Tamayo said gently.
Then she turned to Li Xuan and locked eyes with him. Her gaze held an indescribable depth.
"Mr. Li Xuan, I entrust the task of defeating Muzan to you."
Li Xuan's eyes remained tranquil, like a still lake. "Why entrust me with something like that?"
"Because I believe you are an extraordinary swordsman," Tamayo replied, bowing her head slightly.
"I will do my best."
Li Xuan's response was calm and unwavering.
"Thank you, Mr. Li Xuan."
Ignoring the intensity in Yushiro's eyes, which were filled with unspoken emotion, Li Xuan lifted the burlap sack again and walked toward Tanjiro.
"Lady Tamayo, why would you ask him to do something like that?" Yushiro whispered once Li Xuan had left.
"Because… he reminds me of someone," Tamayo replied, her eyes misty as she stared at Li Xuan's back.
"Of whom?" Yushiro pressed, confused.
"Of someone from long ago. He reminds me of Mr. Yoriichi Tsugikuni…"
"But their personalities are nothing alike!" Yushiro said, baffled.
Tamayo shook her head softly.
It wasn't their personalities… it was something deeper. That same overwhelming solitude. That sense of being detached from the world, yet invincible against all odds.
…
"Tanjiro, I'll be heading out," Li Xuan said with a nod.
"Huh? Already?" Tanjiro looked disappointed. Nezuko mirrored his expression with a subtle pout.
"The mission's done. Time to move on."
"Then let me come with you…" Tanjiro began, but Li Xuan flicked his forehead with two fingers.
"Go say goodbye to Lady Tamayo first. I have something to take care of."
Tsk. Why did that flick hurt his fingers a little?
"Alright…" Tanjiro said with a reluctant smile.
"See you next time."
Li Xuan gave a wave and turned to leave.
Once more, he stood upon the bustling city streets. He closed his eyes, drawing a long breath through his nose.
With the enhanced olfactory senses from his dual sign-ins—one from Sakonji Urokodaki and the other from Tanjiro Kamado—his sense of smell was honed to its absolute limit.
He wanted to find Muzan's scent. He wanted to make contact, even from afar, just to get a rough estimate of the difference in strength between them.
He centered his breathing.
Thousands, tens of thousands of scents surged into his nose, only to be instantly filtered and discarded.
Two minutes passed.
"Found it."
Li Xuan opened his eyes, and a cold gleam flashed across them.
With a sharp inhale, he activated his breathing technique. His body vanished from the spot like a mirage.
Passersby rubbed their eyes furiously as if they had seen a ghost.
"A blood scent? But… it's not human. Not a demon either."
Li Xuan, sprinting at high speed, suddenly detected an odd scent near Muzan's position.
A back alley?
In less than a second, he turned into a dimly lit alleyway.
Roughly ten meters ahead, a handsome man stood by the wall, dressed neatly in a formal western suit.
Muzan.
Li Xuan instantly recognized him. He knew Muzan's current disguise as a human male.
"Who are you?"
Muzan turned slowly, his face deathly pale and twisted in gloom. It seemed something had put him in a foul mood.
Li Xuan didn't respond. Instead, his gaze shifted to two bodies lying beside Muzan.
They looked familiar.
A strange feeling crept into Li Xuan's chest.
The alley was dim, but thanks to his high night-vision ability from a past sign-in, he could clearly see the bodies' features.
A quick comparison in his mind triggered a flash of recognition.
They were two veteran Reincarnators from the Fourth Squad of Zhongzhou.
People who had once shared a meaningful connection with him.