As Rui's body crumbled into drifting ash, Li Xuan could not help but sigh inwardly at the demon's misfortune. He had signed in and obtained all of Rui's Blood Demon Arts in one sweep. With everything secured, there was no longer any need to keep him alive.
He had even considered letting Rui keep Gyokko company, so the pot-dwelling demon would not seem quite so lonely.
"Your brother's condition is stable, right?" Li Xuan turned away from the fading embers of Rui and walked toward Nezuko.
"Mhm, mhm." Nezuko, biting her bamboo muzzle, nodded obediently. She had grown larger in order to carry two men—both of whom were taller than she was—and so her figure now loomed over Li Xuan.
Standing before the now statuesque Nezuko, Li Xuan said, "You can set them down."
Nezuko obeyed, carefully lowering the wounded onto the ground. Li Xuan noticed that Tanjiro was still conscious, though he could not move. His wide eyes were fixed blankly on Rui's fading remains.
Ah… Tanjiro's usual post-battle melancholy phase.
Li Xuan did not interrupt. Though he never agreed with this habit of sympathizing with demons, he had no reason to interfere either.
Suddenly, the dense forest behind them stirred with swift movement.
A figure was approaching at high speed.
"The scent of Shinobu Kocho."
Li Xuan's nostrils twitched—he knew immediately who it was.
In the next instant, a haze of illusory butterflies drifted through the air. Both Tanjiro and Nezuko felt their minds waver, as though caught in a dream. But Li Xuan remained completely unaffected.
"Killing intent."
Both he and Tanjiro smelled it at once.
The figure emerged—Shinobu Kocho. She stepped lightly, her uniquely shaped Nichirin Blade flashing as she swung it straight at Nezuko.
"Nezuko!" Tanjiro cried out, panic seizing him.
Clang!
Li Xuan drew his blade in an instant. Steel met steel with a sharp, ringing clash as his sword intercepted Shinobu's strike.
Her form wavered, but with a graceful spin midair she softened the blow's recoil and landed lightly on her feet.
"Li Xuan." Shinobu returned to the address she had used when they first met. Her lips curved in a gentle smile, but her words carried a sharp edge. "Why are you interfering? Why protect a demon? You do realize, don't you? That is a violation of Corps law."
The words were delivered sweetly, yet beneath them lay a cold blade.
"She's my sister… not a demon… or… no, not exactly not…" Tanjiro forced himself upright, straining to explain.
But Shinobu cut him off with that same smiling expression. "Ah, your sister? How pitiful. Then let me kill her gently with poison, so she won't suffer. That way, she can be freed."
Her grip tightened on her blade. She leveled the tip at Li Xuan.
"Would you kindly step aside, Li Xuan?"
"Dame. Not happening."
Li Xuan smiled back, his expression eerily mirroring hers.
Seeing his mockery, a faint vein seemed to pulse at Shinobu's temple, irritation flashing beneath her calm exterior.
In a blur she dashed forward, blade slashing once again at Nezuko.
Clang!
Steel rang out once more. Li Xuan's blade intercepted hers.
But this time Shinobu let her blade glide down along his, sliding past as she tried to cut Nezuko from below.
Li Xuan read her move at once. He lifted his leg and swept it hard into Shinobu's waist.
Her slender body was hurled through the air. She spun several times before she landed, this time her face stripped of its usual smile.
"Are you serious?" Her voice was cold. "Or is it because you yourself can become a demon that you feel the need to harbor one?"
He can become a demon?
Tanjiro and Nezuko both stiffened in shock. Yet trust held them silent. They would wait for a better time to ask.
"As long as I am here, you will not kill her." Li Xuan did not explain further, but his stance was unmistakable.
"I see…" Shinobu raised her sword slightly, her tone icy. "The Demon Slayer Corps forbids members from attacking one another. But you obstructed me from killing a demon and broke our mission's creed. That makes my attack justified."
"If you have the ability, then try."
Shinobu's expression darkened. "I have spent over a month with you. I know well that I am no match for you. Which is why… I have prepared."
As her words fell, another figure stepped silently from behind her.
A young girl in a Corps uniform, draped in a white cape. Her long hair was tied in a single ponytail, her eyes dull and expressionless, her face as blank as porcelain. She moved like a puppet.
This was Kanao Tsuyuri, Shinobu's pupil, destined to inherit her mantle as Hashira.
"We may not defeat you even together," Shinobu admitted, her voice still cold. "But if I can hold you back, Kanao will have the chance to kill the demon."
At that, Kanao drew her Nichirin Blade without hesitation.
"Then by all means, try."
Li Xuan remained calm, as though certain of victory. His presence radiated unwavering confidence.
The two sides stood locked in a tense standoff, sparks of hostility crackling in their gaze. Shinobu's faith in slaying demons clashed with Li Xuan's quiet determination to shield Nezuko.
The wind whispered through the trees, rustling leaves as though the forest itself waited.
Then, from the skies, a harsh cry split the air.
"Orders! Orders!"
A black shadow swooped down—a Kasugai crow, the Corps' messenger. Its voice was shrill and human-like.
"Orders from headquarters!"
"Apprehend Tanjiro Kamado and the demon Nezuko! Capture them alive and return to headquarters!"
Another crow swooped in, cawing even louder.
"Tanjiro Kamado—checker-pattern haori! Scar on forehead! Accompanied by a demon girl with a bamboo muzzle, Nezuko Kamado! Both must be taken to headquarters!"
Shinobu's brows drew together. She exhaled slowly, then slid her blade back into its sheath. Across from her, Li Xuan did the same.
"Kanao, sheathe your blade."
"Yes." Kanao obeyed without emotion, tucking her sword away.
"I-Inosuke! Inosuke, are you alright?" Tanjiro finally had a chance to worry about his fallen companion.
"He only fainted, though his injuries are severe," Li Xuan said. Without ceremony, he tossed the unconscious boar-headed boy toward Shinobu. "He is one of your Corps. Treat him."
Shinobu frowned, but caught him all the same. She slipped a small vial of medicine between his lips.
Inosuke's pale face flushed faintly red. Though he remained unconscious, his condition clearly stabilized.
Soon after, the Kakushi—the Corps' masked medical unit—arrived and took him away for more thorough treatment.