Demon Slayer: My breathing technique went awry after Nezuko pushed me down.

Well, there's no escaping it now.

Shirakawa Yu kicked Tanjiro at his feet with a helpless expression, "Don't you have... a more elegant way?"

Tanjiro looked up, grinned, and had a "I'm very professional" expression on his face. "It's daytime now, the demon's scent is faint, so this is the most effective way."

"..."

Shirakawa Yu took a deep breath and shook her head. "Then you keep smelling. I'll find it in my own way."

Tanjiro tilted his head: "Senior, do you have a way to find demons?"

"Not only do they have it, but they're also faster than you."

Tanjiro gave him a "I know you're putting on a brave face, but I'm being kind by not calling you out" look, gave a perfunctory "oh oh" twice, then lowered his head and continued his "tanjiro the puppy" style search.

Feeling slighted, Shirakawa Yu curled his lip and said, "...Tch."

He turned around, randomly stopped a passerby, crossed his arms, and asked without any politeness, "Where does the mayor live?"

Passersby saw Shirakawa Yu dressed in a black outfit.

His white and pink striped feather coat and handsome face didn't make him intimidating, but the two long swords tucked under his elbows at his waist told you he was not someone to mess with.

Without saying a word, he pointed out the direction.

Five minutes later.

Bai Chuanyu kicked open the gate to the mayor's courtyard.

"Bang--!!!"

The sound of the door slamming to the ground startled the entire house.

Three servants carrying sticks and tools, along with two guards with knives, rushed out in a panic and surrounded Shirakawa Yu.

Then, a middle-aged man with a haggard face and bloodshot eyes came out—he looked to be the town mayor.

The town mayor frowned when he saw the twin swords at Shirakawa Yu's waist, but remained polite. "This...swordsman, what brings you here?"

"To exorcise the demon," Shirakawa Yu said succinctly.

The mayor was stunned: "...Exorcising ghosts?"

“Yes, the one that eats people.” Shirakawa Yu pointed outside. “Fifteen girls have gone missing in your town in half a month, right?”

"Yes." The mayor's expression turned strange, as if he were looking at a fool. "You mean... this was done by a ghost?"

Shirakawa Yu then asked, "Do you know about the Demon Slayer Corps?"

"What Demon Slayer Corps?"

Seeing the mayor's puzzled expression, Shirakawa Yu sighed.

Clearly, this town mayor is out of the loop.

Demons and the Demon Slayer Corps are non-official, private organizations.

But most people who can become town mayors, even if they haven't met them, will have heard of them.

Of course, this is not absolute.

There are always some people in charge who are completely unaware of this kind of thing.

They had no informed superiors to warn them, nor had they experienced it themselves, or rather, even if they had, they wouldn't have known it was a case of ghosts eating people.

In these people's minds, murder is always done by humans. Even if someone is eaten, it's the work of wild animals.

Ghosts only exist in legends.

Now that he'd run into such a hothead, Shirakawa Yu was too lazy to waste any more words.

Under the watchful eyes of three servants and two guards, who were on high alert, he walked straight to the rockery in the courtyard and stood there.

Before anyone could react to what he was about to do, Shirakawa Yu suddenly drew his sword.

A flash of pinkish-purple light appeared.

"Crack—Boom!!!"

The artificial mountain, weighing several tons, was cleaved in two with a single stroke and collapsed with a crash.

The mayor and his servants' jaws dropped to the ground; they were all terrified.

Seeing this, Shirakawa Yu nodded in satisfaction and directly stated his requirements.

"Find a reason and immediately go and screen all the girls in the town who are between fourteen and twenty-four years old."

"We don't want the ugly ones, we don't want the married ones, the rest of you will all stay overnight at your house, and I'll lure the ghost out."

"this......."

At this moment, the mayor was already beginning to believe what the boy had said.

After all, being able to cut through a rock weighing several tons with a single stroke is clearly beyond the realm of human capability.

He hadn't believed in ghosts before, but he had heard rumors about them.

Now, seeing Shirakawa Yu, who doesn't even seem human...

He believed in ghosts...

But his request was just... utterly absurd.

"If I do that, what will happen to my reputation? What will happen to those girls' reputations?"

Seeing the mayor make excuses, Bai Chuanyu frowned, somewhat impatient.

"You only have one night. I'm going to exorcise ghosts in another place tomorrow. If you don't do it today, then there's no need to do it."

"Wh...what do you mean?"

"It means, just wait for the ghosts to slowly devour people."

Bai Chuanyu said calmly, "But it doesn't matter. This ghost is probably quite picky about food. Once he's eaten all the young and beautiful girls in your town, he'll naturally move on to another place."

A young and beautiful girl?

Eat it all!?

Upon hearing this, the town mayor immediately stood up straight.

"Go! Notify the whole town to send all the eligible girls over tonight! Don't leave a single one out."

"Yes!"

Chapter 34 1V40, Bai Chuanyu’s wine pond and meat forest.

The sky gradually darkened.

The mayor's mansion was brightly lit and bustling with activity.

Tanjiro crouched in the shadows of the house's outer wall, his nose pressed against the ground, sniffing carefully like a hunting dog.

He spent the entire afternoon searching almost the entire town, finally tracking down the latest trace left by the ghost—

And the end of that aura was the mayor's house.

He straightened up and frowned as he looked at the mansion.

The air inside was filled with the clear laughter, voices, and songs of girls... it was as lively as a festival.

Tanjiro brought his nose close to the crack in the door, intending to carefully discern the scent of the demon, but as soon as he inhaled, his entire face turned bright red.

girl.

So many girls!

Ten...no, twenty...no, at least forty!

They were all girls around his age, in the prime of their youth!

The warm, soft, and slightly refreshing scent of young girls emanating from them, mixed with the aroma of wine and meat, enveloped the entire house like a pink cloud.

Tanjiro covered his nose, his ears turning bright red.

How dare they!

Haven't you heard about the girls going missing lately? Don't you know ghosts are lurking nearby? And you're even having a party together?

Isn't this like serving a buffet to ghosts?!

Tanjiro was anxious.

He kicked the door open—

"boom!"

Not far behind the door, a servant, covered in sweat and clutching his back, stared blankly at the door that had fallen to the ground again, the hammer and nails in his hand clattering to the ground.

"I just fixed it..." he murmured.

Tanjiro ignored him and dashed into the main house of the mansion.

He flung open the door.

Then, he saw a scene that left his mind blank.

The spacious Japanese-style room was filled with beautiful young girls, some standing, some sitting, some lying down, and some reclining.

Some of them were chatting and laughing softly, some were playing cat's cradle, some were huddled together looking at picture books, and a few were dancing gracefully in the center of the room to the melody of the shamisen.

In the center of all the girls, a happy-looking male figure seemed so out of place.

It was his senior brother, Shirakawa Yu.

He sat cross-legged on the main seat of the low couch, surrounded by at least seven or eight girls.

On his left, a woman was pouring him wine with a sweet laugh; on his right, a woman was gently fanning him with a round fan; behind him, two soft hands were massaging his shoulders and head; and in his lap sat a disheveled woman handing him fruit.

With a slightly flushed face and a smile on his lips, Bai Chuanyu was drinking from a girl's hand, and after finishing his drink, he kissed the back of her snow-white hand.

This elicited a shy, soft sound and the girls' playful banter.

Tanjiro's face flushed red.

It wasn't shyness, it was anger.