Demon Slayer: I am a Demon

"Chrysanthemum petals fall. Kanae."

The girl murmured the name repeatedly, and a long-lost joy welled up in her silent, barren heart. This sudden surge of emotion left her somewhat bewildered.

Su Mu had been observing the girl. Seeing how she reacted to something so simple just because of her name, he felt a pang of sadness. At the same time, he couldn't understand how parents could be so heartless towards their own child.

He inexplicably harbored murderous intent towards someone he had never met before.

Everyone says that evil spirits are terrifying, but some people's hearts are even more cruel than those of ghosts.

"Kanao, eat your food properly."

He spoke gently to the girl, who was experiencing a long-lost sense of joy.

The girl blinked her pretty pinkish-purple eyes, and after a while, she realized that "Kanao" was referring to her. So, she obediently lowered her head again and ate her meal. But her numb heart was like a dried-up pond that suddenly had a spring. The cool spring water gushing out of the spring gradually moistened the pond that had been dry for who knows how long.

She ate her food in small bites, while secretly glancing at the man.

The man had returned to the campfire. At that moment, the gentle moonlight shone through the window and fell on him. The flames on the campfire burned, and the flickering light fell on the half of his face that was visible.

The girl held the small bowl in both hands, and a feeling of satisfaction suddenly welled up in her heart. How wonderful it would be if she could stay by his side like this every day.

The thought that she would be sold by her father in two days, and that she would never be able to see her uncle at night again, or stay by his side again, filled her with fear, and she felt as if she were suffocating.

I used to feel fear and anxiety, but I silently endured them. Gradually, I stopped feeling these emotions. Now, feeling them again, I feel like I can't bear it anymore.

Without any apparent reason, she took a step forward and came to the man by the campfire, reaching out her small hand and gripping his sleeve tightly.

Su Mu looked down at the girl's gesture of pinching his sleeve, then reached out and tapped her on the head.

"Tell me, if I asked you to stay by my side from now on, would you be willing?"

As the chestnut blossoms fell, Kanao froze, her eyes suddenly turning red, her small body trembling, and her little hands clenching tightly.

"But following me might be dangerous, and besides, I... how should I put it, I'm actually not the same person you think I am right now. When you grow up and know what I am, you might start to feel fear and apprehension..."

After all, he was a demon. The girl didn't yet understand what a demon was, and she didn't know how terrifying it was to be around one.

It is important to know that evil spirits are all "human-eating". Many people who have become ghosts have not been abandoned by their former relatives, but in the end, these relatives will become "food".

As he spoke, he seemed to imagine what 'Kanao Aoi' would look like in the future: "If you don't stay by my side, you might meet a very kind older sister who will take good care of you. In the future, you will also meet someone you like..."

Although the girl is like a withered flower now, just as Kanae Butterfly said, Kanae's heart will bloom in the future when the right opportunity arises, and she will change when she meets a boy she likes.

But Kanao didn't seem to hear much, or rather, she didn't care at all. Her little hands were tightly gripping his sleeve, and her pinkish-purple eyes were fixed on him.

For Kanao Awaka now, he seems to be more important than she imagined.

"Since you've made this choice, I'll take you back to say goodbye."

Su Mu looked at the girl's behavior and spoke.

Kanao Suhana didn't quite understand what Su Mu meant, and Su Mu didn't explain. He simply stood up and gently picked Kanao Suhana up.

The girl was very thin and light; to Su Mu, who was a demon, she was as light as a willow catkin.

Holding the fallen chestnut blossoms, Kanao returned to her front door.

"Bang."

There was a loud noise as something was smashed on the ground.

"Where did you run off to, you little bastard? If I catch you, I'll skin you alive."

From inside the room came a man's angry roar.

At this moment, Su Mu's embrace caused Aoi Hanako to tremble involuntarily, her eyes clearly revealing fear.

For children, home is undoubtedly a warm harbor, but for Kanao Aoi, home is more like a terrifying thing.

Sensing Kanao's emotions, Su Mu reached out and gently stroked the girl's head, saying softly, "It's alright."

Although Kanao still instinctively felt afraid, the warmth of her uncle's large hand stroking her head suddenly made her less afraid. Even if her father whipped her later, she could endure it.

…………

Pushing open the door and walking in, one sees a man dressed in tattered clothes with messy hair. Upon seeing this man, Kanao Aoi, who is being held by him, visibly trembles.

This person in front of me is probably the girl's father.

"Who are you? What are you doing holding my daughter? Put her down right now..."

The man turned around when he heard the door open and saw Su Mu holding his girl, which made him very angry.

Su Mu ignored the man and gently stroked Su Hualuo Kanao's head, lowering his voice to say, "I killed your father, so what?"

These were clearly cruel words, but for Kanao Aoi, they didn't seem as cruel as she had imagined. In fact, as her father's daughter, she didn't resist them much.

"What did you say? What happened?"

The man didn't quite hear what Su Mu had said earlier, since Su Mu's voice was too soft. Moreover, seeing that Su Mu was reluctant to put his daughter down, he stepped forward, ready to snatch his daughter away from the stranger.

After all, he had already sold his daughter. If she disappeared, he wouldn't know how to explain it when his employer returned.

As for the man who came back with his daughter, he didn't care at all, nor did he take him to heart.

"you……"

The man stopped in his tracks. The pain in his abdomen made him look down. A knife, glowing with the color of flames, had somehow pierced his abdomen. In his vision, crimson blood was dripping from the blade onto the ground.

The man stared wide-eyed as he looked up at Su Mu, who was holding his daughter so close to him, not quite understanding why.

"I said, how about I kill you?!"

Su Mu looked at the man with a gentle smile, but in the man's eyes, he seemed like the most terrifying demon in the world.