Demon Slayer: Muzan, will you dance too?

Kiyokawa Izumi stood at the bow of the boat, his dark haori fluttering in the cold wind as the three-meter-long wooden boat cut through the dark green water.

This flat-bottomed boat is made of century-old red pine wood. Perhaps due to its age, the sides of the boat have been worn with a textured wood grain.

Two official members of the Demon Slayer Corps were rowing the boat with all their might, and whirlpools were forming and bursting on the not-so-calm lake.

The sheer cliffs on both sides slope down toward the river, and occasionally, branches can be seen hanging down from the crevices of the rocks, submerged in water.

"Be careful, watch out for what might be lurking in the water."

Kiyokawa Izumi suddenly turned around and shouted loudly to the team members behind him.

The mission location is a very secluded little village, surrounded by rivers and mountains.

Five official team members went into the mountains one after another, but no news has come out since, which makes people suspect that something has happened to these team members.

There is probably an extremely powerful evil spirit in the mountains, and it is even possible that it is one of the Twelve Demon Moons.

Because among the team members who lost contact, there were high-level swordsmen.

"yes!"

The team members said in unison.

They all came from nearby areas. After the first group of team members had an accident, headquarters forbade them from entering the mountains again.

Kiyokawa Izumi, who arrived two days later, naturally became their leader.

Given that the mountain villages are too isolated and have almost no contact with the outside world, headquarters considered that Kiyokawa Izumi was still young and might not be able to handle it alone.

So he ordered the nearby swordsmen to assist him.

He wasn't standing at the bow of the boat to pose for a photo; he was simply being vigilant about potential problems—taking the boat was a last resort, and if something went wrong, the entire team could be wiped out.

What about a swordsman who has mastered breathing techniques?

You can't breathe underwater, let alone use the water to perform sword techniques.

The water flow is not particularly rapid, but it is not gentle either.

Knowing the risks involved, why would anyone choose to travel by wooden boat?

The reason is simple: the other mountain road is even more treacherous, and the only wooden bridge is broken due to years of disrepair. Even if Qingchuan Quan's physical fitness far exceeds that of ordinary people, it is impossible for him to leap twenty or thirty meters.

He arrived here in the morning, and considering that it would only take one to two hours to get there by boat, he decided to take the risk.

Among the four team members who went into the mountains with Qingchuanquan, there were C-level and D-level swordsmen. Their levels were not low, and their strength was also quite good.

With their combined strength surpassing Murata's, the four of them have a very good chance of defeating Oni.

Headquarters wouldn't send a group of low-level swordsmen to hinder them.

From the perspective of the pillar, the average team members are not many in number and there are quite a few with average strength, but there are also some high-level members, so they are barely passable.

"The closed-off mountain villa prevents news from spreading quickly and reinforcements from arriving promptly... Why do I have this uneasy feeling?"

Kiyoshi Izumi's initial assessment is that the evil spirits in the mountains may have existed for quite some time, and may even have been worshipped as gods by the ignorant mountain people.

It's not impossible.

Such closed villages, with a maximum of a hundred or so households and a total population estimated to be between three and six hundred, are characterized by an imbalanced male-to-female ratio or the reluctance of women from other villages to marry into them, resulting in an alarmingly high probability of inbreeding.

The journey was uneventful. In the distance, we could see a few small fishing boats, and the general outline of the village came into view. Due to its isolated location, the village was not yet connected to electricity.

Looking into the distance, rows of three-story thatched houses, resembling hands clasped together, appear before your eyes, their steep roofs at a 60-degree angle.

To Kiyokawa Izumi's surprise, most of these houses were made of wood and thatch, and were fixed together by mortise and tenon joints and rope knots, without even using iron nails.

"An outsider?"

An old man on the fishing boat looked at them with some doubt, his expression somewhat gloomy.

Kiyokawa Izumi never intended to hide his whereabouts, nor could he actually do so—how could a stranger possibly hide in such a small village with so few people?

The team members behind him skillfully began talking to the old man, without revealing their identities as members of the Demon Slayer Corps, instead making up a random identity to fool him.

The old man looked at them thoughtfully, neither saying he believed nor disbelieved.

Kiyokawa Izumi, however, had a vague feeling that this person probably knew something, and did not show an overly wary expression when he saw them wearing Nichirin Blades.

Some houses still have wisteria flowers hanging outside. Although there aren't many, the fact that the scent of wisteria can ward off evil spirits suggests that people are aware of the existence of ghosts.

It could also be a legend passed down from ancestors—that hanging wisteria flowers can protect a family.

What happened to the first group of swordsmen who entered? And why did the Kasugai Crow also go missing?

The little creature that came with Kiyokawa Izumi hovered high up and kept calling out, but received no response.

"Not long ago, a group of people dressed similarly to you came by... The village is in a bad state now, and children are constantly disappearing... Some say they were carried away by wild animals in the mountains, but no trace of the animals can be found."

After a brief chat, the old man warmly led them into the village.