"Little Zennie, great work today~ Don't forget to come on time tomorrow~"
"Sure thing! See you all!"
"Bye~"
As night fell, the production crew where Zenitsu was working wrapped up today's filming.
After waving goodbye with a smile, Zenitsu turned and started walking home.
[Today was such a happy day...]
"Hmm hmm hmm~"
With that bizarre white-faced, rouged-cheek, tiny cherry-lips makeup still on his face, his steps were quite light.
[Who knew I had such talent? So that's it—I was born to be an actor!]
[Damn it, if only I'd known about this talent earlier, why would I have let Grandpa drag me into the Demon Slayer Corps to live this life of desperately fighting demons every day?]
[Speaking of which, should I just quit the Demon Slayer Corps and enter the entertainment industry to become an actor instead?]
Zenitsu seriously considered this future for a moment, but ultimately shook his head and sighed softly.
[I really can't...]
[Although being an actor seems pretty great, Grandpa has been so good to me, and there's Tanjiro and the others... I really can't just abandon them and run off like that...]
A night breeze passed by. Thinking of this, Zenitsu suddenly stopped. He raised his head, quietly gazing at the bright moon above, hands on his hips.
[I hope I'll still have a day when I can leave the Demon Slayer Corps alive...]
"Alright, I should head back soon, otherwise that Sound Hashira will definitely... huh?"
As if a current of electricity flashed through his mind—like finally remembering something important he had forgotten—the instant he recalled the name Uzui Tengen, Zenitsu froze abruptly, his expression suddenly becoming extremely ugly.
He forgot to investigate information about Uzui Tengen's wives!!
His knees crashed heavily to the ground, Zenitsu supported himself with both hands, his whole body trembling.
[I'm done for, done for! If that bastard finds out, he'll definitely kill me!]
[No! I absolutely can't go back like this!]
[Right! I still have a chance to fix this! I'll go investigate other production crews right now! As long as I can find even a little intel, I'll have something to show for it!]
Thinking this, Zenitsu immediately got up and sprinted out with sparks and lightning!
It was already nighttime. Most of the production crews in the movie studio had finished for the day, with only a few that needed to shoot night scenes still working.
Just follow the lights and you could quickly find where they were.
After sprinting all the way, the first place Zenitsu arrived at was also an ancient architectural area nearby, where a production crew filming Warring States period material was located.
However, unlike the romance-focused crew where Zenitsu was working, this crew seemed more historically oriented.
What they were filming tonight was exactly the famous historical scene of "the burning of Honno-ji Temple."
The male lead, the great demon king of the Warring States Oda Nobunaga, trapped in Honno-ji Temple due to his subordinate's betrayal, after finding escape hopeless, ultimately chose to burn Honno-ji Temple and commit suicide together with his wife Kicho.
Of course, in real history, this wife of Oda Nobunaga had a very weak presence, and was not actually by Oda Nobunaga's side during the burning of Honno-ji Temple.
So why did this crew specifically design this plot?
The answer was simple—aside from adding some emotional scenes between the male and female leads to attract audience interest.
More importantly, the actress playing Kicho was a veteran of great renown in the country's entertainment industry—
Ume.
Many viewers of this film had developed expectations for it precisely because of Ume's extreme popularity. Since that was the case, the crew definitely had to add more scenes for her.
"Oh~ so that's Ume~ She looks even better in person than on screen..."
"Yeah, although her temper is pretty bad normally, her beauty is acknowledged by everyone..."
Silently blending into the surrounding staff, Zenitsu watched from afar as Ume acted opposite the male lead inside the temple, unconsciously letting out a sigh of admiration.
Although Zenitsu wasn't a fan of Ume, he had to admit at this moment that this elaborately dressed woman was indeed the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.
Her exquisite features didn't show at all that she was a woman almost forty years old!
[I really want to marry her...]
Involuntarily, this thought popped into Zenitsu's mind again.
[No no no! I'm here on a mission! Not to get married!]
Suppressing the fantasies in his mind with strong willpower, Zenitsu turned to look at the staff member beside him and asked:
"By the way, uncle, has anyone disappeared from our crew recently?"
"Disappeared? I don't think so... Holy shit bro, who are you?!"
The middle-aged uncle turned his head subconsciously, and upon seeing Zenitsu's creepy, bizarre makeup, nearly screamed in terror.
"Don't panic, uncle, I'm from the crew next door, this is makeup from filming today..."
Casually explaining, Zenitsu pulled out three photos from his chest and handed them to the middle-aged uncle.
"To be honest, my three aunts said they wanted to find work at the movie studio some time ago.
They were doing fine, but suddenly stopped coming home these past few days, and we can't find them anywhere, so I wanted to come look and see if something happened..."
In the photos were three women with different temperaments, but equally beautiful faces and equally fine figures.
Without a doubt, these three photos were what Uzui Tengen had given to Tanjiro's group—pictures of his wives.
"Let me see..."
The warm-hearted middle-aged uncle took the photos and looked. When he saw one of them, his expression suddenly changed.
"Huh? Isn't this Suma from our crew?"
"Uncle, you know her?!"
Completely unexpected that intel could come so easily, Zenitsu hurriedly asked.
"Ah, this girl came to our crew some days ago. She's a somewhat timid, introverted girl. Although she's pretty, she completely can't act, so normally she just helps out with odd jobs...
Now that you mention it, it seems she hasn't come to the crew since yesterday. Could something have happened to her..."
[Excellent! Found one!]
Listening to the middle-aged uncle's explanation, Zenitsu was incredibly excited.
Suma had an incident in this crew. Working backwards from this, the demon lurking in the movie studio was very likely hiding in this crew!
At least somewhere nearby!
He had to hurry back now and tell this news to...
"Cut! Great! Good work! That's a wrap for tonight!"
Just then, from the filming set ahead, the director's voice suddenly rang out.
With this call, the entire crew's staff began packing up equipment, preparing to get off work.
Among them, Ume also walked out of the temple with that male lead. Many people around her hurried over to shower her with attention and fawn over her.
"Right, why don't I go ask Ms. Ume for you."
Beside Zenitsu, the enthusiastic middle-aged uncle suddenly said:
"I remember that Suma girl used to often help around Ms. Ume. Maybe she'll know something..."
"Huh? Oh, sure, thanks uncle..."
Hearing this, Zenitsu, who had been planning to leave, stopped again. He watched as the middle-aged uncle squeezed into the crowd ahead, quickly saying something to Ume.
Soon, Ume's gaze suddenly shifted over, instantly penetrating through the wall of people around her, precisely locking onto Zenitsu standing on this side.