Chapter 301

"Right, my name is Tanjiro, Kamado Tanjiro, and this is my younger sister, Nezuko."

Luo En nodded. "I know."

Tanjiro looked up at Luo En before him, stunned for a moment. "Eh? You know us?"

Luo En looked at him with a smile. "Mm, but you probably don't know me. Let me introduce myself—my name is Luo En, a human, and let's just say I'm a traveler."

"Luo En… Mr., is it… I'll remember that."

Tanjiro firmly committed the name to memory.

Shinobu Kocho, standing to one side, stared fixedly at Luo En and likewise committed the name firmly to memory.

"You saw him, didn't you?"

Hearing Luo En's words, Tanjiro was first stunned, then recalled that fellow's human form, and a surge of fury instantly welled up inside him, making him clench his fists uncontrollably, veins bulging.

"I saw him—that guy… Kibutsuji Muzan, he actually transformed into an ordinary human and was hiding among the crowd!"

Shinobu Kocho and Kanao went pale at the words.

"Kibutsuji Muzan?! You saw him!?"

Shinobu Kocho stared at Tanjiro and asked urgently.

Although Tanjiro had no goodwill toward the woman before him who had wanted to kill Nezuko, he still nodded. "I saw him. He even turned a passerby into a demon right in front of me—that guy… is undoubtedly Kibutsuji Muzan!"

Shinobu Kocho was still somewhat incredulous. "How were you able to find him?"

Tanjiro pointed at his own nose. "Because of the smell."

"The smell?"

"My nose is very sensitive—once I've smelled something, I never forget it. Just now, I caught the same scent as back at my home, so I followed it and tracked that guy down."

Tanjiro clenched his fists, grinding his teeth. "When I found him, he had a wife and daughter with him. In front of them, I couldn't bring myself to swing my blade… That guy must have eaten a human, then taken on his appearance and inherited his identity to hide among humans! Damn it!"

Listening to Tanjiro's words, Shinobu Kocho's heart surged with towering waves.

If what he said was all true.

Then… that progenitor of demons the Demon Slayer Corps had searched for all these years without finding—Kibutsuji Muzan—was now… in this very city!

The first thought that flashed through her mind was to notify the Demon Slayer Corps of this news at once.

"If you had swung your blade, you'd probably be dead by now."

Luo En's calm voice rang in their ears.

The few of them looked up at him.

Luo En took a sip of wine and, in a lazy, casual tone, looked down at Tanjiro before him and said:

"With your current strength, you're not even a match for the successor of the Insect Pillar right beside me. Facing that Kibutsuji Muzan, you absolutely couldn't take even a single hit."

Tanjiro glanced at Kanao, who had stayed silent the whole time and was short in stature, his brows knitting tightly together.

Am I… really that weak?

"Could it be… you knew all along?"

Shinobu Kocho stared fixedly at Luo En.

"That Kibutsuji Muzan was here, and you also guessed that if he chased after it, he'd run into that guy?"

"!"

Tanjiro and Kanao looked up, startled, at Luo En.

Luo En held the Endless Wine Gourd in one hand and smiled at Shinobu Kocho. "That's right. Is there a problem?"

The three of them stared at him in a daze.

Under the dim yellow light, this young man of unknown origin before them appeared all the more unfathomably mysterious, like a sage beyond the world.

Luo En caught a sidelong glimpse of the three staring at him in stunned, awestruck silence, and felt a touch of pleasure inside.

As expected, the decision back then not to solo Kibutsuji Muzan was the right one.

Luo En, in good spirits, picked up the Endless Wine Gourd and took a sip of wine, slightly reining in this addictive sense of pleasure.

Tanjiro stared at Luo En blankly. "Mr. Luo En, you really do know everything… Could you be a god?"

"Cough, cough."

Luo En, who had been drinking wine, choked on his words.

"A god? That's a bit of an exaggeration. I can't count as any kind of god—I just happen to know a little more than you do, that's all."

Tanjiro scratched his head. "Is that so…"

Shinobu Kocho stared intently at Luo En.

This man was absolutely not someone who merely knew a little more.

His strength, abilities, knowledge, origins, purpose… everything was shrouded in mist, mysterious and unknown, impossible to see through clearly.

It was the first time Shinobu Kocho had ever encountered such a person.

Luo En looked at Tanjiro. "Tanjiro, you've already met Tamayo, haven't you? You have her scent on you—looks like she helped you out."

"Tamayo…"

Tanjiro was briefly stunned, then sniffed the fragrance on himself and immediately caught on. "Mr. Luo En means that beautiful woman with the attendant?"

"That's right. Her name is Tamayo—both a demon and a doctor. The attendant by her side is called Yushiro, also a demon."

Tamayo…

Hearing the name, Shinobu Kocho was slightly taken aback.

She seemed to have heard this name somewhere before.

"Tanjiro, bring your sister and follow me."

Luo En stepped forward and walked past Tanjiro.

"Ah… yes!"

Tanjiro immediately obeyed, helping Nezuko up from the bench, and followed behind Luo En.

Luo En glanced at Shinobu Kocho and Kanao: "If you want to grow stronger, come along too."

With that, he led Tanjiro and the other into the alleyway.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Shinobu Kocho still brought Kanao along to follow.

Luo En led the group through the illusion wall set up by Yushiro's Blood Demon Art.

They arrived before that mansion.

Tanjiro looked quite surprised: "There's actually a mansion at the end of the alley…"

"Blood Demon Art, huh…"

Shinobu Kocho looked around, her slender brows slightly furrowed.

There was the presence of a demon…

The great door opened.

"What took you so long? Where on earth did you run off to…"

Yushiro walked out.

He spotted Tanjiro and Nezuko behind Luo En and was momentarily stunned.

Then he saw Shinobu Kocho and Kanao, draped in butterfly-patterned haori, behind them.

His expression changed drastically.

"Demon Slayer Corps… a Hashira?!"

Kanao reached out and gripped the hilt of her Nichirin Blade.

Yushiro's pupils contracted, and he immediately roared at Luo En: "You bastard actually brought a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps here—what exactly are you trying to do?!"

"Yushiro?"

Tamayo walked up behind Yushiro, and upon seeing the situation in the courtyard, was also slightly taken aback.

Yushiro immediately stepped in front of her, staring fixedly at the group outside the door: "Lady Tamayo, it's very dangerous here…"

"No."

Luo En took a sip of sake and smiled at him: "With me here, this is the safest place there is."

"Because… I'm invincible."

11. The Origin of Breathing Styles—Luo En recounts a story from the past

The few of them stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Arare, did I kill the mood? Ehh~ sorry about that,"

Luo En gave an embarrassed laugh: "Because I've wanted to say that line for a long time now, so just take it as me trying to look cool—don't mind it."