"Why aren't we there yet?"
Amidst the mountains, Zenitsu fell into despair, looking at the unchanging scenery around him.
"Hmm~" Kochou Shinobu flipped through the map to check their location. "Logically, we should be nearby already. Let's keep walking forward."
Mizuki stood to the side, holding Kochou Shinobu's suitcase and gazing into the distance. Of course, she saw nothing; there was only forest besides the trees.
Zenitsu questioned, "Really?"
Kochou Shinobu frowned, examining the map, and said without looking up, "If Zenitsu finds it troublesome, why don't you go back alone?"
Zenitsu instantly broke: "...How can you say such a thing? That's too..."
"Too what?" Kochou Shinobu's delicate eyes calmly looked back.
Zenitsu's lips twitched, and he forced a smile: "I questioned Miss Shinobu, I truly deserve to die."
At this moment, just like when Tang Sanzang went on his pilgrimage, the monkey always bounced lively in front, looking into the distance.
"Hey! Come and see!" Inosuke stood at the edge of the forest, bouncing back and waving his arms excitedly at everyone.
Zenitsu drooped his eyelids: "I wonder where this idiot gets his energy..."
He was really about to collapse.
Mizuki smiled faintly: "Well, good energy is a good thing."
Although she personally didn't like people with too much energy; she preferred quiet.
Everyone slowly walked towards Inosuke.
Inosuke complained from afar: "You guys are so slow."
Tanjirou scratched his head: "Inosuke runs too fast."
"Hahaha~ this great lord is naturally the fastest!" Inosuke laughed with his hands on his hips.
Zenitsu's eyelid twitched: "No, I don't think that's a good thing to say."
Everyone walked out of the forest and came to Inosuke's side. The view suddenly opened up, and a prosperous village appeared among the mountains.
Calling it a village was an understatement; the orderly houses before them made it seem more like a town.
Although its scale might not be as large as a town, the architecture was no less grand than modern cities like Asakusa, very impressive.
The Ubuyashiki family's business acumen was truly outrageous.
Even Mizuki, who didn't believe in gods or Buddhas, felt this was a divine aid bestowed upon Ubuyashiki to defeat Muzan.
Tanjirou exclaimed, "As expected of an important base of the Demon Slayer Corps, I never imagined it would be located deep within these mountains."
Mizuki said calmly: "Against Muzan, if they didn't have such a cautious attitude, the Demon Slayer Corps would have ceased to exist long ago.
To be honest, for thousands of years, although the Demon Slayer Corps has always wanted to slay Muzan.
But for thousands of years, no one has ever been able to push Muzan to a corner... No, it should be said that they haven't even had the chance to meet Muzan.
Although it can be said that Muzan is too cautious, in reality, even if the Demon Slayer Corps discovered Muzan's location, they wouldn't be able to slay him.
However many go, however many die; that describes the gap in strength between the two sides.
Even dealing with the Twelve Demon Moons has already exhausted the Demon Slayer Corps.
Each Upper Rank has devoured how many Hashira? Even Daki, who completely lacks the strength of an Upper Rank, personally dealt with several Hashira, let alone the other Upper Ranks.
And how much chance do the Hashira have against an Upper Rank?
Even the Stone Hashira, who possesses a powerful physique unseen for centuries and is hailed as the strongest in the Demon Slayer Corps, in Mizuki's opinion, could at most defeat Akaza, and would have no chance against Upper Rank Two.
Hearing Mizuki's words, Kochou Shinobu couldn't help but glance sideways.
There are actually quite a few individuals in the Demon Slayer Corps who lack self-awareness. Iguro Obanai complained that Uzui Tengen and his group only defeated Upper Rank Six, and Shinazugawa even thought Tanjirou was lucky to encounter Muzan.
It had been over a hundred years since the Demon Slayer Corps last slew an Upper Rank, and most swordsmen who faced Upper Ranks were unable to relay information.
This led to powerful Hashira having no self-awareness. If the Lower Ranks are so weak, how strong could the Upper Ranks, also part of the Twelve Demon Moons, possibly be?
Those capable of becoming Hashira all have absolute confidence in their own strength.
People like Giyuu are very rare.
As everyone arrived at the entrance of the Swordsmith Village, Tanjirou saw from afar a man wearing a fire man mask pacing back and forth at the entrance, and another man, also wearing a fire man mask, standing by the door behind him.
They were none other than Haganezuka and Tetsunomori.
"That seems to be Mr. Haganezuka," Tanjirou swallowed hard.
Speaking of which, the blade Mr. Haganezuka forged for him broke again... Could he be waiting here specifically to cause him trouble?
Mizuki's eyelid twitched, also having a bad premonition.
Sure enough, before everyone even reached the entrance, Haganezuka impatiently rushed over.
"Eek!!!" Tanjirou was scared out of his wits; he thought Haganezuka was coming to trouble him.
But Haganezuka had no feelings for him at all, bypassed him, and went straight for Mizuki, who was chatting with Kochou Shinobu behind him.
Mizuki expressionlessly half-drew the demon blade she named Shura from her waist.
Haganezuka slammed on the brakes.
Mizuki gestured with her chin towards Tanjirou.
Haganezuka instantly understood, turned around, and pressed towards Tanjirou again.
Tanjirou had just let out a sigh of relief and hadn't even had time to turn around when a strong gust of wind suddenly assailed him from behind.
He instinctively turned, but before he could resist, he was pinned to the ground by Haganezuka.
"Hehehe~"
Haganezuka looked at the Nichirin Blade he had snatched from Tanjirou's hand, and a wicked laugh came from beneath his fire man mask.
Everyone expressionlessly walked past the two.
They're crazy!
Tetsunomori also ignored the two struggling on the ground, stepped forward, and greeted Kochou Shinobu and the others: "Lady Kochou, Lady Mizuki, the village chief has been waiting for a long time."
Kochou Shinobu smiled: "Thank you for your trouble."
"No, I am honored to be of assistance to you all."
As Mizuki passed the two, she silently picked up Nezuko and took her away.
Led by Tetsunomori, everyone walked into the Swordsmith Village.
As for the sounds coming from behind.
"bastard brat! You broke the blade I forged again!"
"I'm sorry! I couldn't help it! That was Upper Rank One!"
"Excuses! Just an Upper Rank!"
Looking at the scene inside the village, everyone felt a surge of emotion: "It's truly a peaceful place."
The fire man mask seemed to be a tradition here in the Swordsmith Village; almost everyone wore one.
After greeting the village chief at his residence, everyone walked out and saw Tanjirou, looking disheveled, approaching from a distance, clearly having been tormented by Haganezuka.
Mizuki lowered her gaze and glanced at the Nichirin Blade at his waist. It seemed that that idiot still had some sense of proportion.
Kochou Shinobu looked at the sky and suggested: "The sun is about to set, shall we go to the hot springs?"
"Hot springs..." Zenitsu's mind instantly connected, and his face turned suspiciously red, thinking of something.
Tanjirou blinked: "Speaking of which, I did smell hot springs."
As expected of his dog-like nose.
Inosuke foolishly shouted: "Yosh! Hot springs! Hot springs!"
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!