Muzan walked before these test subjects, relishing their expressions of pain.
And these swordsmen, upon seeing Muzan arrive, all looked at him with eyes full of hatred. Then, one by one, they began to curse.
"You damned bastard!"
"If you have the guts, kill me!"
"Bastard!"
...
Listening to their impotent rage, Muzan's lips curved into a faint smile.
"Oh my... It's this expression, it delights me. This expression of wanting to kill me, but being unable to."
Upon hearing Muzan's words, the swordsmen all became enraged, with the sole exception of Kaigaku, of course.
He was trembling with fear at this moment. He didn't want to die, he wanted to live.
Muzan had finished admiring them, so next was the question and feeding time.
He approached a swordsman. "Want to live? If you want to live, say things like 'I want to become a demon'."
The swordsman who was asked stared intently at Muzan before him. "Bastard! Why aren't you going to..."
"Pfft!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Looking down, there was a large hole in his chest.
Muzan played with his heart, then opened his mouth wide and swallowed it.
Then he looked at the next person. "What about you?"
The swordsman who was asked had firm eyes, wide with anger, and shouted loudly, "I will absolutely not become a monster like you! Muzan, you have committed countless evils, and sooner or later, you will face retribution!"
Muzan sneered disdainfully, "Hmph, a stubborn one."
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and dug out another heart, and put it into his mouth to chew.
Blood splattered onto Kaigaku's face and he trembled in fear.
Muzan slowly walked towards Kaigaku. "If you want to live, you just need to say 'I want to become a demon'."
Kaigaku's lips trembled, his eyes filled with fear and struggle. "I... I..."
"Have you decided?" Muzan looked at the fellow before him with amusement.
Kaigaku lowered his head, sweat streaming down, and finally, he spoke, "I am willing to become a demon! I want to live! Even if it means becoming a demon to survive!"
As Kaigaku shouted these words, the surrounding swordsmen all looked at him in disbelief. Then one by one, they became furious.
"Kaigaku! You traitor!"
"You don't deserve to wear this uniform!"
Kaigaku, in response to the accusations from others, retorted with a ferocious expression, "What do you all understand! I just want to live! Even if I have to become a demon, I want to live!"
He looked at Muzan and said, "Muzan-sama, please turn me into a demon."
Muzan smiled with satisfaction. "At least you're sensible."
With a wave of his hand, Kaigaku fell from the air. Then he tossed a piece of meat to Kaigaku.
"Eat it, prove yourself."
Kaigaku looked at the piece of meat before him and picked it up, the smell of blood rushing into his nostrils.
To live, he could resort to any means. This bit of flesh was nothing.
Kaigaku gnawed on the piece of flesh, then swallowed it.
The other swordsmen looked in disbelief at Kaigaku, who was tearing at the flesh of his own kind.
This guy!
"Muzan-sama, please turn me into a demon!" Kaigaku immediately prostrated himself before Muzan.
Muzan looked on with great satisfaction. "Hahaha, not bad, you're very interesting. Come, I shall bestow you with blood."
Saying that, Muzan pierced Kaigaku's head and then injected blood.
As the blood was injected, Kaigaku's forehead veins bulged, and then he began to drool profusely.
After a while, he grew fangs, his ears became pointed, his skin turned pale, the whites of his eyes turned black, and he had black marks on his face.
"Thank you for bestowing new life upon me."
"Not bad."
Muzan was very pleased with his appearance, then said to him, "Next, eat them."
"As you command."
Kaigaku turned to look at the swordsmen hanging behind him, and walked over.
Soon, screams and chewing sounds began to echo.
—
The sky was faintly lit, and the snow had stopped.
A charcoal seller was walking up the mountain path, he was Tanjiro. He walked quickly, looking forward to seeing his family soon.
Yesterday, due to heavy snow, Saburo, who lived at the foot of the mountain, had insisted he stay the night at his house, citing "demons at night" as the reason.
Suddenly, Tanjiro's nose twitched slightly, as he smelled something.
This was... the smell of blood?
And a strange scent, a smell he had never encountered before.
Never mind. Hurry home.
Tanjiro's steps quickened.
Soon he arrived at his doorstep, but he was stunned by the sight before him.
The front door was completely destroyed. At the same time, there was a large patch of blood outside the door.
What exactly happened last night?
This made Tanjiro instinctively forget his sense of smell. He walked towards the house with some worry.
"Mom! Nezuko..."
Before he could finish speaking, Tanjiro saw his family and a white-haired man sitting together, drinking hot tea.
Hearing her son's voice, Kie looked outside. "Tanjiro, you're back, come here."
Tanjiro didn't understand why, but he still walked in and sat down.
Looking at Abel before him, his nose twitched slightly. Abel carried a scent he had never smelled before. However, he exuded kindness, he wasn't a bad person.
"Mom, so what exactly happened yesterday?"
"It's like this."
Kie recounted the entire story to her son.
After listening quietly, Tanjiro prostrated himself before Abel and said loudly, "Thank you, Abel-san, for saving my family's lives!"
Abel waved his hand. "It was nothing."
Then he said seriously, "Since Tanjiro has arrived, let's leave now. We'll stay somewhere else for a while."
"Okay, Abel-san."
And so, with Abel's help, the Kamado family moved to the town.
However, Abel seemed to have forgotten something.
At this moment, on the mountaintop, the Water Hashira, Tomioka Giyu, stood at the family's doorstep, beginning to feel self-conscious.