Infinite: Start as a ghost

Tanjiro looked at Jiang Jiu with a puzzled expression. Hadn't he gone to investigate the situation? Why didn't he encounter any other members of the Demon Slayer Corps?

Jiang Jiu remained expressionless: "What's going on? How long have you been here? How many people are here in total?"

The boy replied tremblingly, "We only arrived about half an hour ago, and now we've been completely wiped out."

"There were ten people in the group, and when I escaped, more than half of them were dead or wounded. Now... I don't think anyone can survive."

At this point, the boy burst into tears: "I'm so useless, I'm so useless, I'm a coward, sob sob sob."

Jiang Jiu patted his shoulder and comforted him, "You've done a great job. Being able to come out alive is already half the battle won. Leave the rest to us."

Tanjiro also kept comforting him.

When Zenitsu saw the boy's miserable state, he refused to go in no matter what.

The pig-headed man, on the other hand, was in high spirits and wanted to charge straight ahead.

The boy suddenly widened his eyes: "You, you don't go in! Go and ask for backup! The demons inside are too powerful. No one but a Pillar-level expert can handle them."

Jiang Jiu patted his shoulder again: "Don't worry, leave it to us. I have the strength of a pillar, and these young men are at least at the level of D."

The boy's pupils were filled with doubt: "You're a Pillar? But you're not one of the Nine Pillars. I've met all nine Pillar-level masters."

Jiang Jiu patted his head: "You seem to have misunderstood something. The prerequisite for becoming a Pillar is having Pillar-level strength, not having Pillar-level strength because you have the title of Pillar."

"I am not a Pillar, but I possess Pillar-level strength. Is that clear?"

The boy mustered his courage and stood in front of the four (Nezuko was in the box, so her head wasn't counted).

"No, this is not child's play, we can't be so reckless."

Jiang Jiu laughed and said, "Then, you go down the mountain to get reinforcements, and we'll go inside and check out the situation first."

"You've seen my skills; you should be able to protect yourself, right?"

The boy was finally relieved.

The pig-headed man was already impatient: "Why bother arguing with him? He's so weak, he can't stop us."

Tanjiro shouted softly: "Inosuke..."

The pig-headed man scoffed, "Tch, can't even beat a ghost, what else is he but trash?"

The boy remained silent, accepting Inosuke's explanation in his heart.

Tanjiro stopped him from continuing.

"Alright, you go down the mountain first to inform headquarters. We'll go in and check the situation. See you later, young man," Jiang Jiu said with a smile.

"May you have good fortune in your martial arts and all things go well." The boy stopped stopping them and let them in.

"Hmph, that kind of trash, I'll definitely give him a good beating next time I see him."

"Alright, stop talking, Inosuke."

Amidst desperate cries, Zenitsu was dragged away by Kang-kyu, and the four of them continued on their way.

"Ugh, what a awful smell!" Tanjiro suddenly covered his nose in discomfort.

Jiang Jiu asked, "What did you find?"

Tanjiro said with a pained expression, "There's a demonic aura, but it's mixed with some strange smells."

The pig-headed man suddenly drew his twin swords: "Hmph, scared already?"

"I'll lead the charge, and you'll all tremble and follow behind me, hahaha."

After saying that, he rushed into the dense forest.

"Inosuke, don't be reckless!" Tanjiro chased after them, and together they disappeared into the forest.

Jiang Jiu didn't follow them, but instead glanced at Zenitsu: "Your turn..."

"What? It's my turn?" Zenitsu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly grabbed Kang-gyu's leg and said, "No, I don't want to go in alone. Please, don't leave me behind."

"What about Nezuko?" Jiang Jiu asked. "Tanjiro took her in with him."

"Ah, right, my Nezuko." Zenitsu's expression turned very strange. Have you ever seen someone who is half cowardly and half brave?

Jiang Jiu saw it today, and the difficulty level of his expression was at least nine stars, even surpassing that of Suma.

Zenitsu finally caught up with him, his steps incredibly fast yet heavy.

I have no idea how he was able to perfectly blend these two completely opposite artistic conceptions together.

Jiang Jiu was utterly speechless.

"Is this the legendary pillar of color?" Jiang Jiu exclaimed, "Seeing is believing!"

To be willing to risk one's life for the sake of "lust" is quite an extraordinary thing, isn't it?

If Zenitsu had been clinging to his leg the whole time, Kangju would have thrown him straight into the forest.

Fortunately, he was conscientious enough that Jiang Jiu didn't have to do such a troublesome thing.

Everyone went inside, and his plan had achieved its first success.

The next step is to proceed to the second step.

If you follow Tanjiro, you'll eventually meet Lower Moon Five.

Suddenly, he seemed to realize something, and his expression changed drastically.

"Oh no! Shinobu O-Shinobu won't be coming up the mountain this time. No one can cure Zenitsu's poison. His life is in danger!"

Chapter 52 Training Zenitsu

Jiang Jiu was in a dilemma. If he went to help Zenitsu, there was a high chance that he would miss the Lower Moon Five.

Although he repeatedly warned them to retreat if they encountered him, it was hard not to worry that Tanjiro would fight him alone, given that Tanjiro also had a stubborn streak.

After much deliberation, he decided to find Zenitsu first, since his situation was truly a matter of life and death.

The forest was unusually quiet, with only the occasional sound of insects crawling and the wind.

"Headache, where did he go?" Just as Jiang Jiu was wondering how to find Shan Yi, he suddenly heard a sparrow chirping.

"Chirp chirp chirp, chirp chirp chirp."

The birdsong didn't initially attract Jiang Jiu's attention, but he suddenly remembered something: due to the scarcity of chain crows, the liaison crow that replaced Zenitsu was a sparrow.

Looking up at the ceiling, he asked, "Is this sparrow following Zenitsu's?"

When there were no clues, he could only try his luck and follow the sparrow.

He is a ghost with terrifying night vision, coupled with his terrifying motion capture ability, so nighttime is not much different from daytime in his eyes.

So even though it's nighttime, keeping up with the sparrows is a very easy thing for him.

"Chirp chirp chirp, chirp chirp chirp."

In less than five minutes, Zenitsu's striking bright yellow outfit came into Kang-gyu's view.

"Ah, demons, please don't come out and scare me! I just want to find Nezuko, please don't come out, please don't come out!"

Jiang Jiu rushed over immediately and came to his side, almost scaring Shan Yi into fainting.

"Ah ah ah."

"What are you yelling about?" Jiang Jiu scolded, then grabbed his arm to examine him: "Have you been bitten by insects?"

Upon seeing that it was Jiang Jiu, Zenitsu breathed a huge sigh of relief: "No, nothing."

"That's good." Jiang Jiu said, "Be careful of spiders here. They may very well have been created by ghosts, and they could be highly poisonous."

"Ahhh!" Zenitsu was terrified and clung to Kang Jiu's leg again. "It's so scary! Please don't leave me!"

"Sigh," Jiang Jiu sighed, "Can't you be a little more sensible? Your master would definitely be disappointed to see you like this."

This had a slight effect; although Zenitsu was still afraid, he at least let go of Kang-gyu's leg.

"Grandpa..." Zenitsu murmured, his eyes hardening slightly.

"Let's go, let's go kill the demons." Jiang Jiu's words softened, giving Zenitsu a strange sense of power.

Suddenly, Jiang Jiu Ri drew his blade and swung it toward Shan Yi's neck.

"Ahhh!" Zenitsu was startled. "What are you going to do?"

"Look at the ground," Jiang Jiu said.

Zenitsu looked at the ground as he spoke, and saw a small spider demon split in two, its body turning into smoke.

Jiang Jiu said, "You must be careful of these ghost insects; they are extremely dangerous."

Without realizing it, Zenitsu grabbed Kang-gyu's arm, almost holding it tightly.

"Hey, don't come near me," Jiang Jiu said. "I'm not interested in men."

Just then, a human head with eight legs ran out from behind a tree in front of them.

"Aaaaah, what is this? A ghost!" Zenitsu screamed, instinctively trying to run away.

Jiang Jiu grabbed him: "Why are you running? You can take care of this brat with one slash. He's very weak."

"No, no, don't come any closer!" Zenitsu completely lost his mind and cried out desperately.

Jiang Jiu had a headache; he had even brought out Sangdao Jiwulang, but it still didn't work.

Since that's the case, he can only make use of the properties of the "color pillars" again.

"Imagine Nezuko being surrounded by these kinds of demons, what would you do?"

"Huh? Nezuko? Demon? Surrounded?" Zenitsu's body gradually stopped trembling.

"How dare you hurt Nezuko! I will never forgive you!"

Driven by both fear and lust, Shan Yi descended into madness.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form, Thunderclap Flash..."

Under Jiang Jiu's guidance, he used his moves in a conscious state for the first time.

"Huh?" He was somewhat surprised to see the spider-headed creature so easily cleaved in two. "Am I that strong?"

Jiang Jiu laughed and said, "Your strength is not weak at all. You are on par with that pig and Tanjiro. It's just that you are too cowardly to realize this."