Under the night sky, in the mountains and wilderness... a vast expanse of white.
Two samurai led the way, followed by sedan chair bearers and maids.
These two samurai were from the magistrate's office, primarily responsible for Oboro's safety.
They were not far from their destination, but had not yet entered the town limits.
Generally speaking, traveling at night was dangerous unless there was an urgent matter. Besides demons, there were also vagrants, bandits, and robbers.
No one could guarantee they wouldn't be targeted... Some audacious individuals would lurk in towns, looking for prey, and secretly follow.
However, due to the limited pace of travel and the varying distances between towns in each region, Oboro's sedan chair did not reach the town at the foot of Mount Okumoto Toriyama during the day. It was estimated they would arrive past midnight.
Everyone could only hurry their pace.
"How much longer?"
From behind the sedan curtain, Oboro's voice was heard.
"Reporting, Master... about an hour more. After this mountainous area, you'll see lights. However, about a few kilometers ahead, I remember there's an abandoned shrine. Travelers often stop there to rest. If you feel tired, we can take a break there," one of the samurai replied, turning his head.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Oboro let out a violent cough.
"Be careful."
He reminded them.
"Yes."
But clearly, the samurai didn't take his words to heart.
In the cramped sedan chair, Oboro lowered his gaze, a smile playing on his lips.
These two seemingly battle-hardened samurai were completely useless... Oboro could already smell the scent of blood in the air.
It might not be a demon, but possibly a human conflict.
...
After traveling a short distance further, everyone looked up and glimpsed a dilapidated house by the roadside. A candlelight flickered in the window, indicating someone was inside.
But in the next second, a cold wind seemed to sweep in, extinguishing the light...
The samurai frowned deeply, only now sensing something was wrong. He saw some bloodstains on the road ahead.
Just as he was about to speak, suddenly, without warning... a force swept him away instantly into the dark forest beside them, and he disappeared.
To onlookers, it was as if in the blink of an eye, the samurai master had been lifted off the ground and whisked into the mountains, vanishing.
"Who?"
"What is it!"
The remaining samurai were greatly alarmed, drawing their swords and looking around in confusion.
They shouted in panic.
Then, as if something else was rushing towards them, it collided with the samurai, carrying his body into the forest.
The speed was so fast that neither of them had time or strength to react.
The mountains were silent... filled with an eerie and sinister atmosphere.
The sedan chair bearers and maids felt a chill colder than the biting weather.
The four sedan chair bearers almost simultaneously dropped their burdens and fled for their lives.
They were not guards. In a life-or-death situation, their own lives were at stake, so how could they care about Oboro's life?
Then, the two maids watched the four sedan chair bearers who had fled, one by one, suddenly leap into the air, as if controlled by an invisible force, and were dragged into the forest.
Accompanied by piercing screams, silence returned.
The sedan chair fell. Oboro, sitting inside, touched the ground with his toes, dissipating the remaining force, and was unharmed.
Outside the sedan chair, the maid holding the Gohei dropped the item and curled up at the sedan door, trembling...
The other maid instinctively looked towards the sedan chair, her teeth chattering, "Mas... Master..."
Oboro bent over and walked out of the sedan chair.
His expression was calm.
With just one glance, he could discern the demon's ability...
Although there were messy footprints on the snow, where the two samurai had stood, there were straight footprints extending from both sides into the forest.
The demon... was simply invisible.
Unseen...
It must be its Blood Demon Art.
Then, with explosive speed, it would abduct living people into the forest for slaughter.
"Hehehehe..."
Suddenly, a strange laugh, impossible to pinpoint its direction, echoed in the night sky.
"You seem to be... quite an important person."
With a whoosh, a gust of wind and snow stirred, and a figure appeared ten meters in front of the sedan chair.
A demon.
It wore a tattered robe, still stained with large patches of uncoagulated blood. Its hair was tied back like a samurai's, its pupils were unusual, its skin was dark purple, and its fingernails were as sharp as a beast's.
The veins on its limbs bulged, and the entire person exuded a fierce and brutal aura.
Clearly, before transforming into a demon, he was a samurai.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Oboro observed the demon before him with interest, a smile on his face.
He clenched his fist against his mouth, coughing incessantly.
"A sickly person..."
The demon narrowed its eyes.
The person before it was very young, with short, curly black hair sticking to his forehead. He wore a fluffy black haori, leaned on a katana with one hand, using it to support his frail body.
It seemed the sword was more like a cane, and the man's face was even paler than the snow on the ground.
It seemed as if he could collapse at any moment without the demon needing to act...
Extremely weak.
"Master..."
A maid, her face filled with fear, mustered her courage and spread her arms to shield Oboro.
Signaling for Oboro to run.
"You have some charm... I'll enjoy you properly later."
The demon wasn't in a hurry. It looked at Oboro and the others as if they were fish on a chopping block, stroking its chin, a playful smile appearing on its face.
"It's just as I thought."
Oboro observed the demon for a moment and smiled faintly.
The demon's flesh and blood aura was too thick, indicating that Muzan's blood had a strong catalytic and assimilating effect.
If this were in the world of Hunter x Hunter, it would be an invaluable treasure... Let alone enhancing the Nen output of Nen users, even for ordinary martial artists, there would be no need for years of training and refinement.
Although it was a low-level world, some things... still had some value.
Not entirely without merit.
"Hmm?"
The demon's expression turned strange as it saw Oboro extend his hand and place it on the maid's shoulder, motioning her to step aside.
The other party was too calm... unlike ordinary people who would be terrified upon seeing him. His eyes were as calm as still water.
"With that attire, you must be a high-ranking official of the Town Magistrate... a retainer of the Shogunate?"
As the demon mentioned the Shogunate, veins bulged on its forehead, and its face contorted.
"How could a good-for-nothing like you be a high-ranking official? The Shogunate indeed deserves to fall..."
The demon taunted.
Oboro knew from his memories that the current political situation was unstable. Rebellions had already appeared in various regions, and these rebel forces were mostly composed of samurai.
Those captured were almost all beheaded... The identity of the person before him was also like that.
Otherwise, a pure ronin wouldn't be familiar with the political situation, and couldn't have deduced his identity just by killing two minor officials from the magistrate's office and glancing at his attire.
"It's still genes... still evolution..."
Oboro's response completely ignored the demon, as if discussing something else.
He tightened his clothing and softly asked, "Who bestowed their blood upon you? With your physical strength, it couldn't have been Muzan himself, nor could it have been an Upper Rank... Was it a Lower Rank? Where did you wander from?"
"Which Lower Rank?"
As soon as he spoke, the demon's pupils shrank to the size of needles.
"You... you... you..."
"You actually... dare to utter... that... Master's name..."
The demon's eyes showed more fear than shock.
It seemed the name 'Muzan' held some magical power for it... a symbol of supreme authority and terror.
"You, a sickly person who can't even wear clothes properly... die!" Seeing Oboro about to speak again, the demon panicked and instantly turned invisible, disappearing into thin air, letting out a fierce roar.
It swung its sharp claws and lunged at Oboro.
Although the demon was invisible, it was too easy for Oboro to pinpoint its location.
The flow of wind, the trajectory of snowflakes in the air, the tracks on the ground... everything provided 'information' to Oboro.
In the world of Hunter x Hunter, 'intelligence' was extremely important.
This combat tactic was too low-level...
Oboro's originally calm eyes instantly became sharp.
He slightly crouched, and the wide haori, almost enveloping his entire body, hovered in mid-air due to his sudden movement...
Oboro inhaled a wisp of cold air into his lungs, "Breath of Souls, First Form: Yellow Springs Funeral."
With that said, countless falling snowflakes in the sky froze.
One by one, rhombus-shaped ice crystals shattered and exploded, forming a white powder that drifted in the air, washing away the 'scene' of space like a river.
A thin, silvery-white blade of light, like a straight line, swept across the demon's neck.
And Oboro, shedding the haori, appeared behind the demon.
Blood splattered from the transparent void...
In the demon's eyes, everything became incredibly wondrous. It was no longer a cold, snowy night, but his soul was enveloped in a warmth. He transformed back into his youthful appearance, standing on a bridge, with a gentle stream flowing beneath the bridge, a pleasant scene.
He looked down at the yellow water flowing under the bridge, and a young face was reflected in the water. This made him suddenly remember why he had wanted to become a samurai in the first place...
"Yes... When did I start forgetting my original intention... Using my samurai status to do evil, to wield my sword wantonly against civilians, it shouldn't be like this..."
"Zeno, what are you thinking? Hurry up... it'll be too late if we delay. Be careful of being reprimanded by the Master."
A childhood companion suddenly appeared beside him, smiling brightly and warmly at him.
Grabbing his hand, they ran away together.
In reality, the demon's body materialized from the void, its head and body separated.
The severed head rolled several times on the snow.
Then, the body slowly turned into flying ash...
Tears flowed from the demon's eyes as it looked at Oboro's figure. In its dying moments, it whispered inaudibly, "Thank you."
"Cough, cough, cough, cough..."
Oboro coughed violently, his palm covering his mouth stained with a touch of crimson.
This was going to be fatal...
Although he had tried it out with the intention of testing, and used the minimum force possible, the damage to his body was still considerable.
"Heh heh... But it's just as I thought... I can achieve the same effect without a Nichirin Blade. Coming from a higher world, my application of power is beyond common sense... The stronger the world, the purer the level and essence of power I can access. In a low-level world... within a limited power environment, breaking the 'settings' is not too difficult."
Oboro smiled.
Then he coughed again.
He was too familiar with the soul.
As for this so-called 'Breath of Souls,' he had just made it up to fit the occasion.
To put it bluntly, it was just a form of power application and transformation.
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