Chapter 23: Don't persuade others to be kind without experiencing their suffering

Perhaps because he drank too much wine, Rengoku Shinjuro sat opposite Zero and chatted with him, crying as he talked, speaking the truth after drinking.

Only then did Zero understand what Rengoku Shinjuro's past was like.

According to Rengoku Shinjuro himself, the Rengoku family had been Flame Hashira for generations, and Rengoku Shinjuro's generation was no exception.

Rengoku Shinjuro was once a man with an optimistic and enthusiastic personality in his youth.

He mastered the family's ancestral Flame Breathing technique and relied on his powerful strength to become the Flame Hashira.

He traveled everywhere to kill evil demons that were causing chaos, protecting people's lives and property safety.

Decades ago, Rengoku Shinjuro married a woman named Rengoku Ruka and had two sons with her, named Kyojuro and Senjuro.

Usually, Rengoku Shinjuro punished evil and promoted good outside, while his wife Rengoku Ruka stayed at home to teach their children. The family lived happily and harmoniously.

In order to uphold the ancestral teachings of the Rengoku family, the Rengoku Kyojuro brothers began to receive their father's teachings from a young age, practicing Flame Breathing and corresponding sword skills, so that one day they could inherit Shinjuro's position as Flame Hashira.

Among the two brothers, the older brother Rengoku Kyojuro was gifted, and since childhood, he had been deeply influenced by his father's optimistic style, so he also became an optimistic and cheerful person from a young age.

The younger brother Rengoku Senjuro had no talent for sword skills and had developed a relatively pessimistic personality since childhood.

But Rengoku Shinjuro never gave up on teaching him, constantly encouraging him to strive to become a useful person.

However, his wife Ruka had been in poor health since giving birth to their youngest son Senjuro, and later had been bedridden, but she still insisted on teaching the Kyojuro brothers personally.

A few years ago, during a mission to Hachijo Island, Shinjuro accidentally encountered a child who was almost killed by a half-human, half-snake female demon.

Upholding his duty, Rengoku Shinjuro used Flame Breathing sword skills on the spot to easily kill the snake demon and save the little boy.

However, when Shinjuro took the little boy to find the only survivor in his family, his cousin, he was scolded by his cousin.

Afterward, just as Rengoku Shinjuro was about to leave, the little boy begged Shinjuro to take him to join the Demon Slayer Corps.

Rengoku Shinjuro was very puzzled, but still did as he was asked.

This little boy was Iguro Obanai, the current Serpent Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps.

Not long after, a girl named Kanroji Mitsuri joined the Demon Slayer Corps to find a husband. Rengoku Kyojuro saw her aptitude and took her as his successor.

Later, she changed to practice Love Breathing, a branch of Flame Breathing, and became the Love Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps.

However, not long after, his wife Rengoku Ruka's condition suddenly worsened, and she finally passed away.

His beloved wife suddenly passed away, and Shinjuro, who suffered the pain of losing his wife, was hit hard and never recovered.

Afterward, he not only resigned from the position of Flame Hashira and stayed at home, but even began to drown his sorrows in wine every day, and even stopped guiding the Rengoku Kyojuro brothers in sword skills.

But the strong Rengoku Kyojuro did not lose confidence because of his father's self-abandonment.

He taught himself from the three volumes of the family's ancestral Flame Breathing guidebook and later successfully succeeded his father as Flame Hashira...

Speaking of this, Rengoku Shinjuro couldn't help but shed tears again, saying: "Zero, am I very useless... Clearly both of my sons took me as a role model, but now I am so self-abandoned..."

After speaking, he picked up the wine bottle again and took a big gulp.

Seeing this, Zero didn't persuade or comfort him: "Rengoku-san, I think you are not wrong at all! On the contrary, you are just like this because you love your wife too much."

Hearing Zero's words, Rengoku Shinjuro looked at Zero in disbelief.

"Rengoku-san, don't persuade others to be kind without experiencing their suffering. There are some things I cannot experience, so I will not give you any persuasion or comfort."

"On the contrary, you have become like this, I think it is because you love your wife very much! I think your wife must be very happy, but also very sad!"

"Why do you say that?" Rengoku Shinjuro asked.

"Happy because she met a husband who loved her more than himself, and sad because she left early and couldn't continue to accompany her loved one and children, watching her loved one become like this because of her departure."

Zero's words made Rengoku Shinjuro's heart shake, feeling a bit strange. Before, many people persuaded and comforted him, but he was unwilling to listen to any of them.

But Zero said that he became like this because he loved his wife very much!

Thinking about it, during the years he served as Flame Hashira, after marrying Ruka, he had been performing missions and hadn't accompanied her well.

But she didn't have any complaints, always staying at home to teach their children, waiting for his return.

Every time he returned home, Ruka would always say to him, "Husband, welcome back," which made him feel full of happiness.

Thinking of these, it felt as if everything happened yesterday, and scenes flashed through his mind.

"Rengoku-san, you love your wife so much, I believe your wife must be accompanying you in a place you can't see."

This time, Rengoku Kyojuro was like a sudden enlightenment, as if he understood something. Since his wife passed away, he had always ignored his two children and ignored this family.

But now he understood that the dead cannot come back to life, but she might really be accompanying him in a place he can't see, as Zero said...

Drinking with Rengoku Shinjuro, he didn't expect that this drink would last until nightfall.

At this time, Rengoku Shinjuro was drunk, and his mouth kept muttering things like "Ruka, I miss you so much."

Zero felt helpless. He really loved his wife to the bone.

And just at this moment, the door of the private room opened, and the tavern boss brought a child who looked somewhat similar to Rengoku Shinjuro here.

"This guest, he is Rengoku-san's son—Rengoku Senjuro. This child saw his father hadn't gone back all day, so he came to find him."

At first, the tavern boss thought Zero was a girl, until Zero told him later that he was a man, which made him realize he had misunderstood, and he even gave some snacks to apologize.

Looking at the little boy who looked somewhat similar to Rengoku Shinjuro, Zero also learned while chatting with Rengoku Shinjuro that he had a seven-year-old youngest son named Rengoku Senjuro.

"So you are Rengoku Senjuro!"

"Yes, sorry, my father has caused you trouble! I'll take him back now."

"It doesn't matter, it just so happens that I'm also going to perform a mission, so I'll help you send him back, which will be more convenient."

"That's really thank you very much!"

"You're welcome."

Looking at the tavern boss, he said: "Boss, thank you for your hospitality today, the snacks are also delicious."

"You are polite, sir, I also like the wine you gave me. If you have time, remember to come often."

"I will."

Afterward, the tavern boss collected the white wine and turned back to the servant: "Go and prepare a few more wine and dishes for the people in this private room."

"I... haven't drunk enough... continue... continue drinking... hiccup... together... hiccup... continue drinking..."

Rengoku Shinjuro was drunk, began to speak drunken words carelessly, and even when supported, he stumbled while walking.

"Sorry, my father will be like this when he is drunk, causing you trouble."

"It's okay." Zero felt helpless. He really didn't know how Rengoku Senjuro, such a small child, had brought his father home from the tavern before. It was really hard for this child.

Arriving at the tavern entrance, Zero took out the 【Dark Alloy Armored Vehicle】 from the 【Nano Space】.

With a loud "bang," the 【Dark Alloy Armored Vehicle】 landed on the ground, and everyone was startled by the sound and came out to see what was going on?

Even the tavern boss was startled, staring with big eyes and mouth open, not knowing what to say...

Rengoku Senjuro didn't know what was going on, staring dumbfounded at the white giant in front of him.

Zero and Rengoku Senjuro supported the drunk Rengoku Shinjuro to the back seat, opened the door, and placed him on the seat in the back seat.

"Senjuro, you just watch your father here, I'll send you home, which will be more convenient."

"Oh oh... good, then it will trouble you... by the way, I haven't asked your name..."

"My name is Zero!"

"So you are Zero! Zero Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps!"

"You know me?"

"Yes, my older brother often told me about you when he came back. He said you are very strong, and even wiped out an Upper Rank demon alone! If only I could be as powerful as you, maybe father..."

"Senjuro, I believe that day will come. One day you will also become strong!"

"Thank you, Zero-san."

"Just call me Zero!"

"Then I'll call you Zero-dage!"

"Uh... okay, whatever... whatever..." Zero felt helpless, but it didn't matter. After all, Tanjiro also called him that, so one more wouldn't matter.

"Then you just watch your father here first, I'll drive you home."

"Mm, thank you Zero-dage."

Finally, Zero opened the driver's door, started the vehicle, closed the door, and sent the father and son home.

Just like that, the car started moving fast and left under the shocked gazes of everyone.

After driving for about ten minutes, the vehicle stopped at the Rengoku family's entrance. Afterward, he came to the back seat from the driver's seat, opened the door, and helped Rengoku Senjuro support Rengoku Shinjuro back to his room.

"Zero-dage, thank you very much!"

"You're welcome, then I'll go first, after all, I still have to perform a mission, so I can't stay too long."

"Yes, I can't entertain you this time, please forgive me. Next time, please come here to sit when you have time, I will definitely entertain you well."

"Then I'll thank you first. When your father wakes up, say hello for me. I won't disturb you anymore."

"Mm, I will, Zero-dage. I wish you success in your mission."

Under Rengoku Senjuro's gaze, Zero drove away from the Rengoku family and headed to his jurisdiction.

…………

A few days later.

At dawn, an evil demon was running wildly, and only fear and despair could be seen in his eyes.

He was afraid that if he was one step slower, he would die without a burial place.

Originally there were four of them, but one was directly beheaded, another was cut in half at the waist and then beheaded, and the last one had his limbs cut off and then beheaded.

What was even more terrifying was that the wounds couldn't regenerate!

The remaining evil demon was originally keeping watch, saw that the situation was not good, and immediately ran away, which led to the scene of running away now.

As for the reason... the time had to go back to half an hour ago.

Half an hour ago, these four evil demons found a relatively remote household because they were really hungry.

These days they kept changing their hiding places, but it was useless.

The other evil demons were hiding well, but the demon hunter didn't know what method he used to find them easily.

The means of torture didn't look like a person at all, more like a devil. Rather than a devil, it was more appropriate to call him a god of death.

The demon hunter held a two-meter-long pitch-black scythe in his hand, the blade of the scythe emitting a scarlet red light, plus a pitch-black outfit, just like a god of death coming to claim his life!

Even in the daytime, he could find the evil demons and drag them out to the sun.

If there was any resistance, he would be directly hit by a strange gun, paralyzed and fainted, and finally dragged out to the sun...

Tonight, the four of them were really hungry, so they decided to gamble one last time. As long as they could fill their stomachs, they would run away immediately.

As a result, they just broke in, ready to eat the people in the house. Before they could make a move, a scarlet edge flashed, and three evil demons were separated from their bodies, one was cut in half, and the other had his limbs separated...

The evil demon who was keeping watch outside was so scared that he used all his strength to escape. He didn't care if he was hungry or not, he just wanted to leave here immediately...

Running and running, he stopped, fell to the ground without standing still, and looked at the demon hunter not far away, those scarlet eyes, the red scythe blade...

Seeing these, his whole body couldn't stop trembling.

"Keep running, it's okay, I don't care how long you can run, I haven't played enough yet!"

Zero held the scythe in one hand and an apple in the other, took a small bite, and approached the evil demon step by step.

"Demon!!!" The evil demon couldn't bear it anymore, shouted, quickly climbed up from the ground, and ran behind him.

Bang!

The evil demon didn't notice that there was a tree behind him, and when he got up to escape, he hit it directly and fainted on the ground...

Zero: "(? _?)"

Zero, who was a bit speechless, came to the evil demon, poked the evil demon's body with the handle of the scythe, didn't expect that he really fainted, and his head was bleeding from the bump...

"Speaking of which, isn't he a demon himself... really shameful! Pfft!"

Spat at the evil demon, finished eating the apple, and then dragged the evil demon's leg to a tree facing the sunrise.

Took a rope from the 【Nano Space】 to tie the evil demon to the tree, while he jumped onto the trunk, took out a diary and a pen, and began to write a diary:

【X month X day, dawn, weather: God is sneezing.】

【Early this morning, I met four evil demons again, but the other three were already dead, and the last evil demon fainted because he hit a tree while running away! This is fine, but before fainting, he actually shouted "Demon" or something, this is too shameful! Isn't he a demon himself...】

【And am I that scary? Is it necessary to run when seeing me? I just want to play with them for a while... sigh~ ╮(︶﹏︶)╭】

At the end, he also drew a sighing expression, and at this time, the sky had gradually revealed a fish-belly white.

As the sun rose, the sunlight shone on the evil demon.

But the evil demon didn't feel any burning pain, but felt for the first time that this sunlight was so warm, so dazzling and brilliant.

"Finally liberated!" The evil demon finally smiled and turned into ashes, dissipating in the air.

Zero: "..." ===== CHAPTER 24 =====