Who are you calling a stable boy?!

The Buddha Tathagata used his magic power to press down on Sun Wukong's waist with the Five Elements Mountain.

It was suppressed for five hundred years, but fortunately, the Tang Dynasty brought forth the Tripitaka.

I now return to the Western Paradise, ascending to Thunderclap Temple to see Yu Hao. Go and inquire throughout the universe, and I shall be the most renowned demon of all time!

Zheng Jing's impassioned words struck the demon's head like a thunderbolt, leaving him dizzy and with a lingering buzzing in his ears.

"You—you're a monster?"

He could only roughly understand the meaning of this long string of words, even though he couldn't write his own name.

In the past, if someone had said these things to him, even he would have just ignored them and thought they were talking nonsense.

What kind of time is this? Where do all these monsters come from?!

But now, he himself is a "monster"!

He had even seen monsters far more powerful than himself!

If there are ghosts, what's impossible about having other monsters—some monsters even more powerful than ghosts?

Thinking this, and looking at Zheng Jing's unbridled smiling face, the evil spirit trembled, staggered, and took two steps back.

Could it be...?

"No, I'm just an ordinary person, but I'm pretty good at impersonating the Monkey King."

Grinning, sticking out his tongue at the demon, Zheng Jing pointed at his face and laughed.

"See, you believed it!"

"..."

"......"

At this point, even someone as brainless as this evil spirit finally came to his senses.

"—You're kidding me, you bastard!!"

Chapter Four: There's no need to talk about chivalry with these evil spirits!

"Oh, look, you're in a hurry again."

Just as the evil spirit was about to rush forward, Zheng Jing's expression turned serious, and he swung his right fist in front of him, assuming a fighting stance.

That composed demeanor made the demon, who still retained a sliver of rationality, pause in its actions.

Then, he saw Zheng Jing's lips twitch.

Without any hesitation, he turned and ran!

"...Ahhh!!"

This finally snapped the last string in the demon's head.

Enraged, his already chaotic movements became even more disordered. He opened his arms wide and lunged at Zheng Jing with his front wide open!

But Zheng Jing seemed to have eyes in the back of his head; the moment the demon arrived, he kicked backward without turning his head—

It hits the demon's groin squarely!

Although it's unknown whether that skill will still be useful after becoming a ghost, it's clear that at least when that skill is severely damaged, the pain a ghost feels will not lessen.

Furthermore, this was a kick from Zheng Jing.

—He never said that he only had superhuman strength in his right hand.

This kick caused the raging demon to bulge its eyes, drool, and contort its face in pain.

Before the evil spirit could instinctively bend down and squeeze its knees together, Zheng Jing followed up with his left foot, kicking the evil spirit in the forehead.

The evil spirit fell backward.

Seeing the evil spirit lying on its back, Zheng Jing immediately turned around and kicked the evil spirit, which was curled up like a ball on the ground.

Straight! Center! Butt! Eye!

The demon stared in disbelief, its whole body stiffening at first, then trembling slightly, large beads of sweat mixed with a liquid that was hard to tell whether it was tears or saliva, streaming down its body.

It is said that Fang Yu, who had practiced martial arts since childhood, always fought fiercely with his invincible skills. However, when he fought a powerful enemy, he was kicked in the buttocks and died.

Clearly, this is the best strategy when dealing with someone who thinks they're not afraid of a fight.

This event is also recorded in "Emperor Qianlong's Tour of the South"!

-

(I don't know if I'll make it in time!)

Smelling the pungent smell of blood, Tanjiro Kamado ran as fast as he could.

After parting ways with Miss Zhu Shi and the others, he set off with Nezuko towards the next mission location, following the instructions relayed by the crow. They arrived at this small town, and as night fell, they decided to rest there for the night.

Unexpectedly, Nezuko woke him up in the middle of the night, and Tanjiro immediately smelled a faint scent of blood.

To be precise, it tastes like human blood.

He quickly changed his clothes and followed the scent, only to smell a ghost!

Now that things have come to this, he's not completely clueless anymore. From this situation, Tanjiro can naturally deduce that there's a demon hiding in this town, and that someone must have been murdered tonight—while he was fast asleep!

(Damn it, I should have thought of this before the sun even set!)

Tanjiro was extremely regretful.

When he and Nezuko arrived in the town, the sun was already setting.

When he tried to find a hotel to stay in, he found that the people in the town looked at him with suspicion, and the air was thick with fear.

He finally found a hotel willing to take him in, and the owner's mother-in-law repeatedly told him not to go out after sunset...

(There were so many clues reminding me... I was clearly capable of avoiding it!)

Gritting his teeth, Tanjiro leaped onto another rooftop.

He felt apologetic towards the homeowner, but he couldn't just stop there.

Guided by his innate, keen sense of smell, Tanjiro was certain he was not far from the demon—

(Huh? What's that smell?)

Suddenly, a strange smell made Tanjiro pause involuntarily.

"Yeeeart!"

Immediately afterwards, he heard a loud shout.

anyone?

Is someone... fighting that evil spirit?

Is he a member of another Demon Slayer Corps?

A mix of anxiety and curiosity got the better of Tanjiro. He leaped up and, thanks to his excellent leg strength honed through rigorous training, he spotted the source of the smell and sound on a rooftop after a few jumps.

"call......"

After adjusting his breathing and aiming, Zheng Jing delivered another kick.

This thing's resilience exceeded his expectations. After taking so many of his soccer kicks, it still managed to land a hit and was still alive.

How about we try using this guy's head as a ball?

Just as Zheng Jing was seriously considering which plan was better, he caught a glimpse of a figure jumping over from the rooftop not far away.

"Who is it? As you can see, I'm busy right now. If it weren't for the fact that someone from this dog breed's side came to lend a hand, there's no need to talk about chivalry with these shady characters!"

"Uh."

Upon hearing this, Tanjiro, who was about to speak, choked and didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Ok?"

Seeing that the other party did not make a move, Zheng Jing temporarily put aside the thoughts that had just popped up and carefully looked at the figure by the moonlight.

He looked somewhat immature, appearing to be a teenager, and the sword hanging under his wide clothes, sheathed and conspicuous, was quite eye-catching.

Judging from the skill his opponent had just displayed, Zheng Jing would not casually treat that sword as a toy.

However, what attracted Zheng Jing even more than these things was the boy himself.

A prominent birthmark on her forehead, a large suitcase on her back, paired with this black and green outfit...

"Holy crap! Kamado Tanjiro!"

"Do you know me?"

Hearing Zheng Jing's shout, Tanjiro was startled and pointed to himself in surprise.

He was quite certain that he had never met the other person before.

Otherwise, there's no reason he would forget such a peculiar flavor.

"what."

Zheng Jing scratched his cheek.

"Well, of course we know each other. Well, I have a friend who... I heard about you from my friend."

This is a lie.

Tanjiro easily recognized it.

However, although it was a lie, it was not malicious.

In fact, even the slight stinging sensation he had felt earlier had disappeared from the man in front of him.

"Let's put that aside for now, you've come at just the right time, Charcoal Boy!"

Tan, Tanzai?

Tanjiro opened his mouth, feeling somewhat bewildered by the new nickname he had suddenly received from someone he was meeting for the first time.

"This guy is a ghost, right? I don't have any weapons, so I can't kill him. I was originally planning to let him sunbathe until morning, but with you here, things are much easier!"

As he spoke, Zheng Jing vigorously rubbed the toes of his shoes on the clothes of the demon who had fainted early due to repeated, excruciating thrusts, and then kicked the guy around so that he was belly up like a turtle.

Zheng Jing pointed to the demon's neck.

"Slash it here! Come on, hurry up!"

Chapter Five: Explosive Tail Kill!

"Oh, wait a minute."

Zheng Jing suddenly remembered a question.

The question is, if Tanjiro were to deliver that powerful final blow, would the courtyard not award him any experience points?

Even if they don't send any at all, or even send fewer than they should, there's probably no way to argue about it...

Scratching his cheek, Zheng Jing turned his head and stared at the sword at Tanjiro's waist.

He knew it was no ordinary weapon.

"Charcoal Boy, how about we make a deal?"

Seeing Zheng Jing suddenly grin and bend over to approach, Tanjiro looked on blankly and leaned in to listen.

"Hey, can I borrow your little treasure for a bit?"

"baby?"

Following Zheng Jing's gaze, Tanjiro looked down.

"You mean the Nichirin sword?"

"Yes, yes, yes, a Nichirin Blade, can I borrow it for a bit? Ah! I won't borrow a long one, just for a single strike, this way—"

Zheng Jing tapped the ghost's neck with his toe.

Just once!

"..."

Tanjiro opened his mouth.

He had seen people who wanted to kill evil spirits with their own hands before.