Demon Slayer: After raising Shinobu, I died in front of her.

The cool, refreshing touch instantly sobered him up considerably.

"Hahaha!" Shinobu couldn't help but burst into triumphant laughter upon seeing his masterpiece.

"Master! Take this!"

Several more snowballs came hurtling towards him, and Lingchuan Tetsu scrambled to dodge them. Then, feigning anger, he shouted at Kanae, "Hey, Kanae, you two ganged up on me, didn't you!"

With that, he strode off after them.

"Sister, run!"

Seeing this, Shinobu and Kanae took off running in the snow. The children chased and played in the yard, their laughter dispelling the winter chill.

The raven "Jixiang" landed on the eaves and shook its head helplessly at the scene.

Lord Cangzhu, who is as fast as lightning when killing demons, can't even catch up with two little girls in his own yard, and can't even dodge a snowball. Tsk tsk tsk.

Suddenly, a snowball flew out of nowhere and hit Jixiang squarely on the forehead. It squealed and nearly fell off the eaves.

The three people burst into laughter upon seeing this scene in the courtyard.

"Quack quack!"

Jixiang was furious. It flapped its wings and swooped down, starting to peck at Ling Chuanche relentlessly.

Moreover, it had a clear target, pecking only at Lingchuan Tetsu, as if Shinobu and Kanae were invisible.

Lingchuan Che ran while clutching his head and wailing, "Stop chasing me! It was Kanae and Shinobu who did this to you! You're so biased!"

Jixiang was furious: "It wouldn't peck at Shinobu and Kanae, so why wouldn't it peck at you?!"

The war in the yard gradually evolved into a comical chase between a man and a bird.

"Jixiang, we're here to help you!" Upon seeing this, Xiaoren immediately ran over and hugged Ling Chuanche's leg.

"Alright, now you're starting to betray your master and ancestors!!"

The group was making a ruckus, and Kanae watched this scene with a warm smile on her face.

How wonderful! How lively!

In the end, the battle ended with Lingchuan Che raising the white flag in surrender. It's always the same; Lord Cangzhu, who has never tasted defeat outside, never wins once he returns home.

Ling Chuanche sat under the eaves, his hair disheveled, as if he had been severely bullied. Beside him, Jixiang, like a victorious rooster, proudly preened its feathers.

In the yard, Shinobu and Kanae were enthusiastically building a snowman.

Children seem to have inexhaustible energy, even in the freezing cold, they seem to never tire.

"Knock knock knock!"

Just then, a few steady knocks came from outside the courtyard gate, interrupting the laughter and chatter inside.

"I'll go open the door!" Shinobu Kocho clapped the snow off her hands and ran over like a happy little deer.

As the courtyard gate opened, several members of the covert team in uniform stood outside.

"Who are you looking for?" Shinobu blinked her big eyes, curiously looking at the people in front of her.

One of the team members bowed respectfully and said, "Excuse me, we are here on orders to deliver New Year's supplies to Lord Cangzhu."

Kanae, who was standing nearby, also came over, covering her mouth and exclaiming, "The Demon Slayer Corps has such good benefits! They even give us gifts for the New Year."

The two stealth unit members exchanged a glance and scratched their heads somewhat awkwardly.

Normally, the Demon Slayer Corps does not distribute physical New Year's gifts.

After all, the lord distributes generous salaries on time every month, and the swordsmen can buy whatever they want themselves.

The problem is that, although Lord Cangzhu receives a considerable salary, he is a complete "life idiot" who never spends money and whose rice jar is often empty.

Left with no other choice, Kagaya Ubuyashiki had to specifically instruct the Inspectorate to purchase good things and send them to him.

Shinobu stepped aside to make way, and with a wave of his hand, the Hidden Squad members quickly carried in the large and small bags.

"Lord Cangzhu, where should we put these things?" The hidden soldier asked earnestly, holding two bags of rice.

Ling Chuanche looked around his empty room, his expression blank, clearly stumped by the question.

Seeing this, Kanae smiled helplessly yet gently, and stepped forward to naturally take over the conversation: "Come with me, just put it in the storage room over there."

She skillfully directed everyone to put things away neatly, her busy demeanor making her look exactly like a young mistress managing household chores.

On the roof, Jixiang watched this scene, couldn't help but shake his head, and clicked his tongue in amazement: "Tsk tsk tsk, look at the kind of master you are."

Ling Chuanche frowned and asked irritably, "What's wrong?"

"You're over twenty years old, and you're not even as good at managing a household as a young girl." Jixiang finished her merciless criticism, and seeing that Ling Chuanche was about to lash out, she flapped her wings and flew away in advance.

In the courtyard, Shinobu and Kanae were directing people to put things into the house, their laughter filling the air.

Ling Chuanche stood there, watching this scene, but gradually fell into deep thought.

The Lunar New Year is almost here...

In the past, when he was alone, the Lunar New Year was just an ordinary day for him, something he would just casually get through.

But now that we have these two chattering little ones in the house, we certainly can't live as casually as before.

Chapter 13: Debt

Tick.

Tick.

Warm blood slowly seeped down the cracks in the floor and dripped onto the boy's face.

"thorough……"

The girl lay on the ground, looking at the boy curled up beneath the floor, a gentle smile barely escaping her lips: "No matter what happens... please don't make a sound..."

"elder sister……"

Clang!

The door was violently smashed open, and the hideous monster burst in instantly.

With a flash of cold light, the older sister's body was severed at the waist.

In her last moments before losing consciousness, her eyes were fixed on the trembling boy peeking through the crack in the floor.

She murmured silently, her lips opening and closing slightly.

She kept repeating that sentence—

Don't make a sound...

elder sister!!

The boy covered his mouth tightly, tears streaming down his face.

He wanted to rush out to save his sister, but her pleading and desperate gaze was like a shackle that kept him rooted to the spot.

……

Sister... Sister... Sister!

"Ha ha--!"

Ling Chuanche suddenly sat up in bed, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for breath.

Cold sweat had already soaked through his clothes and slid down his forehead.

He lowered his head in pain, pressing his hands tightly against his forehead, as if trying to force back the tearing pain in his mind.

"Uh……"

Hot tears spilled uncontrollably from between his fingers.

In the darkness, his voice was hoarse and trembling, filled with a deep-seated hatred: "Sister, I've become very strong now... I will definitely avenge you! That evil spirit who killed you, I will absolutely, absolutely not let him go!!!"

The darkness that night was too intense for him to see the ghost's true form.

But he would never forget it until his death—the monster was wearing a purple kimono and holding a cold samurai sword.

Ling Chuanche got up, poured himself a glass of ice water, tilted his head back, and gulped it down. The cold liquid slid down his throat and into his stomach, finally clearing his muddled mind a bit.

Unable to fall asleep any longer, he got up, put on his clothes, and passed by Kanae and Shinobu's room. He saw Shinobu sleeping with her legs wrapped around the blanket, looking quite unsightly.

After covering them with blankets, Ling Chuanche sat in front of the door, staring blankly at the cold, waning moon in the sky.

The details of that day replayed uncontrollably in my mind. Those memories were like a rusty, dull knife. Whenever I thought of my sister's desperate eyes before she was cut off, my heart felt like it was being stabbed by countless needles, and I couldn't breathe from the pain.

But he had to keep recalling, he had to repeatedly deepen his understanding of the monster's characteristics.

He has done this every single day for years, without exception.

Because he was afraid that as time passed, that deep-seated hatred would fade, and he was afraid that he would forget the evil spirit who killed his sister.

"Master, why are you up so early?"

Suddenly, soft footsteps came from behind him. Lingchuan Che came back to his senses, turned around and saw Kanae walking towards him.

Before he knew it, dawn was breaking. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but Kanae had already woken up.

"I'm going to cook for my master." Kanae said with her usual gentle smile.

She is usually the first one to get up, because she is unsure whether her master will have a mission to leave the next day, so she always wants to prepare breakfast as early as possible.

"Master, what's wrong?"

As she took a few steps closer, Kanae keenly sensed something was amiss.

"Hmm?" Ling Chuanche asked, somewhat puzzled.

Kanae stretched out her finger and gently pointed to the corner of Ayakawa Tetsu's eye.

Ling Chuanche was stunned for a moment, then raised his hand to touch something, his fingertips touching something cold and wet... Without realizing it, he started to cry.

Kanae looked at her master's reddened eyes and felt a surge of worry: "Has something happened?"

"It's nothing," Ling Chuanche quickly concealed his emotions, not wanting to show his vulnerable side in front of his disciple. "I just had a nightmare yesterday."

Kanae gave him a deep look, her eyes full of unspoken concern, but in the end she didn't ask any more questions and just obediently turned around and went back into the house.

A moment later, deliberately light footsteps crept up behind Ling Chuanche. Immediately afterwards, a pair of warm little hands abruptly covered his eyes, and a playful voice whispered in his ear: