Muzan: My daughter can't be that weak!

This time, Muzan was clearly a little more patient than before.

He occasionally responded to Xue Nai's whimsical and illogical questions, though mostly briefly, he did not completely ignore them.

Yukina was soon drawn to a nightclub on the street with a noren curtain hanging up and bursts of laughter and knocking sounds coming from it.

Through the open door, one can see that the room is brightly lit and bustling with people. An artist dressed in traditional clothing is sitting on a high seat, reciting rakugo fluently.

Yukina had never seen this before and was so curious that she couldn't move. She tugged at Muzan's sleeve, her little face full of "I want to go in and take a look".

Muzan's brows furrowed immediately.

The environment, a mixture of human body odor, food smells, and excessive noise, was torture for his keen senses.

Moreover, rakugo is really boring for him.

"dad……"

Xue Nai looked up, her eyes filled with longing, and gently shook his sleeve, her voice soft and sweet, drawing out the melody.

"Please, Daddy~ just go in for a quick look, just for a little while..."

Seeing that Muzan remained expressionless and unmoved, she simply tilted her small body to the side, making a gesture as if she was about to sit on the cold floor at the shop entrance.

It had the air of someone who wouldn't leave unless you agreed.

Muzan's forehead twitched, and he glanced at the pedestrians around him who were beginning to cast curious glances.

This is really troublesome...

Now he's even learned to be persistent and clingy. Did he learn that from Douma?

He clicked his tongue in extreme impatience, finally giving in to this shameless pestering.

Muzan raised his hand and half-covered his mouth and nose with his wide sleeve, as if this would block out some of the annoying smells and sounds.

Her other hand was tightly gripped by Yukina, and she stepped into the bustling rakugo shop with an almost disgusted expression.

Xue Nai immediately cheered and squeezed into the crowd to find a spot near the front.

Muzan stood behind her with a cold expression, completely out of place among the enthusiastic audience around him.

The performers on stage were witty and exaggerated, eliciting bursts of laughter from the audience.

At first, Xue Nai was a little confused, but she was quickly attracted by the vivid performance and listened with great interest, her little face never stopping smiling.

When she hears something interesting, she claps along with the people around her, and even imitates the exaggerated tone of the performers, mimicking their speech indistinctly, her little head nodding.

Muzan had been standing behind her, bored out of his mind, coldly surveying the irritating environment.

But when he caught a glimpse of Yukina's face, which was intently imitating him, his brows softened slightly.

However, this emotion only lasted for a brief moment before he quickly suppressed it.

He snorted coldly, straightened his face again, turned his head away, deliberately avoiding looking at her, and continued to cover his mouth and nose with his sleeve, critically examining the store's furnishings and the people inside.

Just then, his gaze settled on an inconspicuous shelf in the corner.

There were several decorative ceramic pots there, with an old-fashioned style, which didn't quite match the overall atmosphere of the shop.

One of the bluish-gray pots stood out remarkably quietly against the backdrop of the bustling surroundings.

No, it's not just quiet.

The pot seemed to be trembling very slightly.

"Jade Pot".

His voice resounded directly within the consciousness of the ghost in the pot, "Do you think I'm stupid? So stupid that I can't even sense a ghost that's right next to me?"

The jade pot, which was hiding inside and trying to disguise itself as an ordinary ornament, was startled by the sudden sound.

The kettle shuddered violently and almost rolled off the shelf.

He quickly steadied himself and responded obsequiously in his mind as fast as he could:

"Oh dear! How could this be, Lord Muzan!"

"You are the wisest, most brilliant, and greatest being I have ever seen! Even the sun and moon cannot describe the brilliance of your wisdom! I... I was just worried that appearing here would disturb your refined enjoyment and ruin your... well, experience of this human art!"

He racked his brains to find excuses for himself.

Deep down, he was secretly cursing him.

My God! How could an adult come to a place like this?!

Listening to Rakugo?

This...this is completely out of line with the refined and aloof taste of an adult!

Pshaw, what I mean is, how could adults be interested in this kind of human entertainment?

It's all my fault for listening too intently and not noticing.

Then, the jade pot, observing the outside world through its body, carefully landed on Muzan's side.

Eh eh eh!

He saw a little girl who was laughing heartily at rakugo, her little hands unconsciously tugging at the hem of Muzan's clothes.

A rich aura of bloodline...

It's undoubtedly a ghost.

Jade Pot's consciousness was instantly and immensely impacted.

Who is this little girl...?

An adult was actually holding her hand? The adult hadn't even held her hand before… and yet he brought her to listen to rakugo?!

Is it...

An absurd yet reasonable guess took shape in Yu Hu's artistically inclined mind.

Is Muzan playing a family game this time? Taking his daughter to experience human life in the city?

This is truly an unprecedented performance art piece, full of contrasting aesthetics!

As expected of an adult, I wish I could join them.

"Dad, we can go out now."

Although Yukina was still not satisfied, she also noticed Muzan's displeasure with the place.

She suppressed her reluctance, tugged at Muzan's sleeve, and whispered.

Muzan glanced at the performer on stage and suddenly spoke up, "If you still want to hear more, just turn him into a demon and take him back to the Infinity Castle. That way, you won't have to come to a place like this every time."

Yukina's eyes lit up for a moment because of the first part of the sentence, but quickly dimmed again, and she shook her head.

"No... The Infinite Castle is full of demons. If he comes, he'll have to leave his family and everyone who loves listening to him talk. Even if he can hear him perform rakugo every day, he definitely won't be happy."

Muzan paused for a moment, then his voice turned cold. "Suit yourself."

He didn't understand why he should care about other people's feelings when he was happy.

He's definitely not smart.

After saying that, he didn't linger and turned to walk out of the store. Xue Nai quickly ran to catch up and grabbed his drooping hand again.

Leaving the bustling, warm shop and stepping into the cool night breeze, Muzan seemed to breathe more easily.

He stopped walking along the main street and instead, holding Xue Nai's hand, turned and entered a relatively quiet alley.

At the other end of the alley, a man walked towards us.

The man was tall and sturdy, dressed in dark clothes that allowed for easy movement, with a haori (a type of traditional Chinese garment) casually draped over his shoulders. He seemed to have a long, narrow object wrapped in cloth around his waist.

He looked to be around twenty years old, with slightly messy but neat short black hair, well-defined eyebrows and eyes.

Xue Na looked up curiously and her eyes met for a moment by chance with the unfamiliar older brother walking towards her.

She just felt that this older brother looked different from the other people on the street.

She couldn't quite put her finger on what was different.

However, in that brief moment of eye contact, Hagiwara's expression changed, and his eyes instantly sharpened.

His intuition, honed through years of fighting demons, made all the muscles in his body tense up.

The two people in front of me, one big and one small, especially the little girl being led by the adult...

Something is wrong!

A sense of unease was faintly emanating from that direction!

Almost instinctively, just as the two brushed past each other, Hagiwara's figure moved without warning, like flowing water.

His right hand had somehow already grasped the hilt of the knife in the cloth bag; the movement was so fast that it left only a pale blue afterimage in the air.

"Water Breathing - First Form -"

A deep sound accompanied by a clear, sharp whooshing sound.

"Water Surface Slash!"

A straight and swift arc-shaped slash aimed at the junction of their arms.

The goal was to force the two apart and expose the little girl's true colors.

However, this lightning-fast strike missed its mark.

Muzan didn't even lift his eyelids; he simply took Yukina a step to the side, leading her away from their original position.

The sharp, water-colored slash barely grazed Yukina's hair, striking empty air and only creating a slight gust of cool air.

Hagiwara was startled. He naturally assumed that the young lady was unaware of the situation and immediately shouted:

"Miss! Please get away from that child immediately! She's not human, she's a ghost!"