I'm a magnetic field madman

But the remaining people are harder to approach.

Rear Admiral Kuroda and his wife can be ruled out, as Murata had seen them traveling at noon.

Demons cannot be exposed to the sun; this is a law that neither the Upper Moons, Lower Moons, nor even the Demon King Muzan can overcome.

If a demon can overcome the sun's weakness, then the Demon Slayer Corps will no longer have the ability to kill its opponent.

So, in the entire mansion, there were actually only two people left whom Murata hadn't investigated.

One was the newly arrived maid, Reiko, and the other was Major General Kuroda's daughter, Yumiko Kuroda.

According to Murata's observation, the master and servant never went out in the sun...

Although the reasons given to the public were that he was frail and sickly and that he had to take care of the young lady, Murata sensed some unsettling factors in them.

Okay, actually it's just using the process of elimination, and the remaining two targets are too obvious.

Murata couldn't sneak into Ms. Yumiko's room; if he forced his way in, he would probably be shot dead.

A troubled Murata began to ponder how to complete the task, but then something unexpected happened that evening.

"what!"

Accompanied by screams that echoed throughout the mansion, the servants who quickly gathered over witnessed an incredibly bloody scene in the backyard of the mansion!

Miss Yumiko screamed and collapsed onto the white sand in the courtyard, unconscious. Her face was deathly pale in the dim sunlight.

Before her lay a mutilated, or more accurately, a mangled corpse.

Murata remembered him; he was the butler named Inuda who had asked him to clean the toilets on the first day.

The wounds on its body, resembling those of a large carnivore, and the fact that half of its head had been gnawed off, were instantly recognizable to Murata—undoubtedly the traces left by a demon that hadn't been completely devoured.

Murata immediately felt a cold sweat break out. In order to infiltrate and investigate, he had to hide his Nichirin Blade in the artificial hill in the courtyard. Without the Nichirin Blade, he now felt a chill run down his spine.

Fortunately, it is dusk, and even a sliver of sunlight is enough to deter any ghosts from attempting a hunt.

Murata's gaze quickly swept across the crowd. In fact, after almost eliminating everyone else, the only one who was not present, the maid named Reiko, was already almost 100% suspicious!

As for Ms. Yumiko, one of the original targets, judging from the way she lay on the white sand under the direct sunlight, she couldn't possibly be a ghost.

Murata's first reaction was to immediately prepare to contact the Demon Slayer Corps.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

Firstly, as a member of the team, he only has the ability to receive messages from Kasugai-rai unilaterally, and the message can only be delivered after Kasugai-rai arrives.

Secondly... no matter what, he is a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, and he can't just watch a demon who is about to start a massacre run rampant!

Now that it's been confirmed that the girl named Lingyu is a ghost, Murata can't just sit idly by!

Thinking this, Murata clenched his fists, but his attempt to encourage himself was quickly interrupted by a roar.

"You bastard! Investigate! Investigate everyone! If I find out which bastard is plotting against me, I'll tear him to pieces!!"

Holding his unconscious daughter, Major General Kuroda roared with red eyes, drawing his command sword from his waist and brandishing it... but no one doubted that this high-ranking major general would actually do such a thing.

Murata shrank back, and for a moment a strange thought came to mind—perhaps humans are more terrifying than ghosts.

Soon, night fell.

Murata carefully bypassed the guards and sneaked to the artificial hill in the courtyard, where he took out the hidden Nichirin Blade.

The blade reflected a dark color under the moonlight, which meant that Murata was not a talented Demon Slayer.

But that doesn't really matter. In fact, most of the Demon Slayers who join the Demon Slayer Corps to carry out such dangerous and terrifying missions probably have a tragic story and have a blood feud with demons.

Murata composed himself, hid the Nichirin Blade in his trouser leg, and carefully returned to his room.

He decided not to act at night, because that would be the choice of a foolish brute.

If the enemy is in the open while we are in the dark, then of course we should choose the moment that is most advantageous to us to strike.

What better time to kill a demon than when the sun rises?

The cautious Murata thus endured the night... and at the break of dawn, he carefully made his way through the Kuroda residence.

Although security was much tighter because of yesterday's events, it was no problem for Murata, who was already very familiar with the area.

After all, no matter how weak he is, he is still a swordsman who knows breathing techniques.

Having bypassed all the defenses, Murata arrived outside the room of the girl with the remaining limbs, gripped his Nichirin Blade, and suddenly pushed open the door!

A white figure suddenly rushed towards Murata!

Without a second thought, he activated the power of his breathing technique, and the blade in his hand, propelled by the rapidly compressing and expanding muscle bundles, slashed forward!

Her head spun and fell off, landing on the corridor floor.

Murata stood frozen amidst the blood splattered on the ground.

Because the corpse did not burn under the rising sun... because the skin did not develop charred scars from the cuts of the Nichirin Blade.

This only proves one thing, a terrible thing.

Sure enough, before Murata could fully react, a series of noisy footsteps sounded, and as soldiers and gun barrels surrounded him, Murata's mouth dropped open slightly.

"You bastard, you despicable murderer!"

Before he could even speak, the enraged Major General Kuroda punched him in the temple. As his brain swelled and he became dizzy, he only felt the fist being placed on his body.

What exactly did I do?

Did I just kill a person, not a ghost...?

5. The tacit understanding between the demon and the demon hunter

In fact, neither ghosts nor ghost hunters want to make their battles public.

As for Muzan Kibutsuji, if he were to make his existence public, it would likely lead to more people "hunting" him, making it much harder for him to survive.

Admittedly, if he were willing to do it, let alone just Japan, with his abilities he would even be qualified to play a role like the world's behind-the-scenes manipulator!

But he just wasn't willing to do it, and Muzan Kibutsuji didn't care about any of that.

Or rather, more than power and other things, Muzan Kibutsuji's greatest desire was simply to survive.

Live on, live on at all costs, no matter how pale your life may be. He wanted to overcome the sun, not only to reclaim the daylight, but also to banish his only weakness.

Therefore, he would never allow the existence of demons to be made public... and he was unwilling to create any unnecessary familiars unless absolutely necessary.

Muzan has his own retinue and his human servants, but all of them are merely tools for him to find the Blue Spider Lily.

In reality, this ghost king did not want even half a so-called fellow human to exist.

The reason why demons are unwilling to make their struggles public is also very simple.

Because the demon hunters simply don't believe in the bottom line of secular human governments.

Demons eat people, are afraid of the sun, and when they become demons, they are forced to lose all their past memories under Muzan's deliberate influence, and may even become Muzan's puppets.

However, ghosts can live forever.

This single advantage easily outweighs all the above disadvantages.

Demon hunters are unwilling to gamble their fragile humanity on an outcome, because they know they don't have the capital to lose.

Once Muzan's power catches the eye of the higher-ups in the secular government...

Then their long-cherished dream of the Demon Slayer Corps might really become a laughable illusion.

They are also highly likely to become "terrorists" targeted for eradication by secular governments.

Ultimately, the Demon Slayer Corps, as a collective armed group, is nothing more than an uncontrollable terrorist group in the eyes of any government.

A group of highly skilled swordsmen, who, despite wielding cold weapons, possessed destructive power far exceeding that of an infantry company.

Coupled with ample financial resources and a robust R&D support system, it even possesses some little-known "special abilities."

Even without a conflict of interest, such a group would certainly be seen as a thorn in the side by those in power.

So it's quite ridiculous that, even though they are mortal enemies, Muzan and the Demon Slayer Corps have maintained this "rule" in a very tacit way.

However, what happened in Murata tonight is not applicable to this.

Murata, who was arrested and taken to the police station, was first subjected to a brutal beating!

Enraged Major General Kuroda personally beat the poor Demon Slayer member unconscious.

It was thanks to his breathing technique that his body became much more resilient; otherwise, he would probably have died on the spot in this cell.

However, despite this, his torment was clearly not over.

"Give him a good welcome. When I come over tomorrow, I want to see him explain everything!"

Major General Kuroda uttered a vicious threat, removed the blood-stained bandage from his fist, picked up his sword, and left.

Murata, who was hanging upside down and tied to a wooden frame, had no good skin left on his body.

The flesh was covered in bruises from being pounded, and the face was so badly mangled that it was unrecognizable.

His back was ripped open and covered in scars, making his spine a complete mess.

But even so, the torment had only just begun.

Compared to humans, Muzan's so-called methods of torture are really nothing.

Especially in this era of gradual advancement in medical technology, although we are not exactly enlightened, our ability to prolong life is much better than in the past.

"Kid, I don't know what you've done wrong, but since Major General Kuroda has specifically asked you to explain, we'll have to give you a proper welcome today."

The warden beckoned, and a prison guard immediately handed him a vial of white medicine.

A syringe of "heroine" was brutally injected directly into Murata's neck... and this invention, along with the "White Devil" of 1895, was only listed as a controlled substance two years ago.

Even so, this drug was still used on the battlefields of World War I and even World War II.

Because its analgesic effect is 4 to 8 times that of morphine, it can be used to treat pain, depression, bronchitis, and asthma.

Even doctors at the Naples psychiatric hospital prescribed this drug to their patients, noting that it had a "long-lasting sedative effect" and that "there were even several cases of recovery."

A Russian psychiatrist used heroin to dispel "the pain of the soul".

Even mountaineering clubs recommend that their members take this before climbing...because it makes breathing easier and allows them to climb higher.

Yes, what a wonderful medicine it is. But the side effects are its strong addictive properties and irreversible acute and chronic poisoning damage to various systems and organs, including the cardiovascular, nervous, immune, respiratory, reproductive, and endocrine systems.

Of course, not many people in this era would know this, not even the British who first discovered them...

It was more than fifty years later that it was removed from the British Pharmacopoeia.

Not many people understand this, so for Murata, who was on the verge of death, using such a drug was considered a "generous" treatment.

And just like that, after the drug was injected, Murata quickly felt the pain in his body go away... The intense feeling of comfort crossed the blood-brain barrier and caused his brain to start secreting dopamine like crazy.

But this physical pleasure didn't last long before an intense stinging sensation came through my body!

"Ahhh!"

Murata screamed as a large bucket of concentrated salt water was poured over his wounds...

The excruciating pain from the seeping, bloody wound nearly killed Murata!

Especially after the injection of drugs caused his body to enter a state of lethargy, he was even unable to resist the pain with his mind.

"We have plenty of time to play around." The warden grinned maliciously, picked up the branding iron next to him, spat out some saliva, watched the sizzling white smoke, and extended it towards Murata.

A piercing scream pierced the air through the interrogation room window, while outside, a swaying yam plant, laden with tiny fruits, slowly retreated back into the soil.

Far away, in Major General Kuroda's residence, Miss Yumiko, who should have been lying in a hospital bed, suddenly sat up and let out a strange, giggling laugh...

"Foolish fellow, an idiot who only knows how to use brute force."

Do you consider yourself very smart?

A cold voice rang in her ears, and "Yumiko's" smile froze on her face, instantly replaced by overwhelming fear!

Without hesitation, she knelt down on the ground, trembling as she pleaded with the empty space in front of her...

"Lord Muzan, I, I, I..."

"I asked you to investigate who is misusing my name, and you, you idiot, have handed a Demon Slayer Corps member over to the authorities."

Muzan's cold voice rang out inside Zero's body, and the rampaging cells instantly caused Zero's body to expand and destroy in a deformed and twisted manner!

"Remember what I told you? Those who casually reveal my name, and even our existence..."