The stamina provided by that half-rice ball had long since been depleted.
That Izumi Kiyokazu was able to hold on until the very end was entirely due to Sun Breathing forcibly wringing every last drop of potential from his body. Much like the Hinokami Kagura, it allowed for the extreme exploitation of physical potential in short bursts, but the subsequent side effects were devastating.
Now, Qinghe knelt on one knee, gasping for air. Every breath brought a searing, tearing sensation to his lungs.
Yet, he forced his mind to remain clear. On the rusted dagger in his hand, the faint crimson glow was slowly receding, like the dying light of a setting sun.
He couldn't afford to collapse yet. The look in the tall man's eyes as he fled was filled with pure loathing and madness. Furthermore, the thugs hadn't truly lost their ability to fight. Though they were all wounded to varying degrees, they were still a lethal threat if they decided to truly risk their lives.
If Qinghe were to lose consciousness now, Ume's situation would remain unchanged—it might even become worse because he had injured them. He had seen the unfiltered malice and lust in those bastards' eyes when they looked at her.
Even if they intended to sell her to the madams and couldn't "ruin" the merchandise, in their world, pawing at her or forcing a few kisses was considered perfectly normal. A quick wash, and no one would ever know. Or perhaps even worse... those bastards were capable of anything as long as the "inspection" passed when they finally handed her over.
If he fell here, Ume would face a fate worse than death.
Had this been the Daki from the original story—the one who had murdered countless innocents—Qinghe would never have gone this far. But the girl behind him wasn't Daki yet; she was Ume. The Ume who had shared her life-saving food with him.
At that thought, instead of fainting, Qinghe braced his hands against his knees and forced himself to stand once more. Sun Breathing surged again. A faint white mist began to emanate from the surface of his skin, and his flesh took on a reddish hue—a sign that his blood circulation had been accelerated to its absolute limit.
He kept his head low, staring fixedly in the direction the thugs had fled. The sheer intensity of his gaze felt as though it could scorch the very air.
The tall man, who was being carried away on a comrade's shoulder, looked back and saw Qinghe. It was as if he were looking at a literal monster. He shrieked frantically to his cohorts, "Go! Faster! That brat is a fiend! He's a fiend!"
On the surface, the man seemed scared out of his wits, but through the heightened perception of Sun Breathing, Qinghe could clearly sense a terrifying, poisonous resentment hidden beneath that fear. That man would not let this go!
Qinghe stood firmly before Ume's dilapidated wooden door. Even as his consciousness began to slip away, his body remained upright and unyielding.
He remained standing long after the thugs had vanished from sight. His hand was still pressed firmly against the doorframe, blood dripping from his fingers and staining the ground into a dark, damp patch.
Through the cracks in the wooden door, Ume had witnessed everything. She had wanted to rush out and help while he was fighting, but she had restrained herself. She wasn't a fool; she knew that charging out blindly would only cause trouble and drag him down.
But now that the men were gone, Qinghe still hadn't moved.
Watching his trembling frame and the rhythmic drip of crimson blood, Ume felt a sensation in her heart she couldn't describe.
Why...? Why would he go this far? It was just half a dry rice ball...
What an idiot!
She released her grip on the wooden hairpin she had been clutching, then tried to pull the door open, only to find it wouldn't budge—Qinghe was still leaning his weight against it.
It was only then that Ume realized he was in a semi-conscious state. The fact that he was still standing was nothing short of a miracle.
Ume pressed her hand over her mouth, her blue eyes fixed on his silhouette through the gaps in the wood, etching his image into her soul. Tears began to well in her eyes; she didn't even know why she felt like crying.
The moment those men had appeared, Ume had been prepared to die. To her, death was far better than being sold into a place like that. But Qinghe's appearance had shattered that inevitability. She had only dragged him into her room and given him a bowl of water and half a rice ball; such a small kindness didn't warrant this level of sacrifice.
She had pulled him back from the brink of death, yet looking at him now, Ume knew he was dying again. But unlike before, this time he was dying for her.
An unprecedented wave of emotion crashed against Ume's heart—a feeling she had never experienced before, one of staggering complexity. In this filthy hell, no one except her brother, Gyutaro, had ever done so much for her. No one had ever built such a reassuring bulwark between her and the surrounding rot.
"Izumi Kiyokazu..."
She whispered the name subconsciously, as if trying to carve those three characters into her very spirit. She pulled at the door with all her might, her voice choked with sobs.
"Hey... it's okay now. Quick, come inside and rest. If you keep this up, you're going to die..."
Through the haze, Qinghe heard Ume's voice. The hand that had been bracing the door finally slumped down. The strength granted by Sun Breathing vanished completely. Using the last shred of his strength, he gasped out:
"Leave here... quickly. Don't worry about me. They won't give up... they'll be back soon. You have to leave..."
Before he could finish, he collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness entirely.
Ume looked at his fallen form, and her tears became an unstoppable torrent. Damn it, damn it! She wasn't supposed to be weak; why couldn't she stop crying?
Stumbling, she ran to his side and began to drag him toward the shack with all her strength.
"I'll leave, but I'm taking you with me! I'll tend to your wounds and then we're going. Once my brother gets back, everything will be fine. Please... please just hold on until then!"
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Demon Slayer: Starting by Snatching Daki
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