Chapter 96: Cruelty
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The wind roared in Aoki's ears and the sea rolled beneath his feet.
Shinobu came to her senses and looked up.
Mr. Aomura had black hair and golden eyes, and was extremely handsome. He had a pair of huge black wings behind him, like a legendary demon.
She had always known that Mr. Aomura was very powerful, but what she saw and heard today still shocked her.
But soon, Shinobu's attention was diverted.
There was a hint of blood in the air. As they got closer to the village, the smell became stronger. She even saw several corpses in the distance.
Whoosh!
Aoki and Shinobu landed on the roof of a building and looked down.
The village was small, with only one main street and houses scattered on both sides.
At this time, the entire street was almost stained red with blood, and many limbs were scattered on the ground. The most terrifying thing was a huge vase in the center of the street with a pillar made of countless corpses inserted into it.
The arms and thighs were inserted around the pillar like branches, with faces twisted in fear embedded on the surface.
The sickening smell of blood wafted above the streets.
The whole village was silent, without any sound.
Aoki also noticed that among the corpses on the street, there were almost no children.
Douma likes to eat women, while Gyokko prefers children.
Shinobu's face turned paler and paler, and she suddenly turned around, her stomach twitching as she vomited.
Aoki handed her a bottle of water. "Here you go"
He had guessed this possibility, but what Gyokko did was even more cruel.
Shinobu took it and drank two large gulps of water, her expression slightly improved.
She thought she had seen many cruel scenes and could remain calm when facing battles with rivers of blood and hundreds of corpses piled up.
However, the scene on this street was still beyond her endurance.
The corpses in other battles were just corpses, representing simple death, but here was a cruel and bloody hell created by twisted and cruel demons.
Taking a deep breath, Shinobu asked, "Mr. Aomura, is there anyone alive here?"
"I don't know. If there is, they're hidden and might reveal themselves soon."
After Aoki said that, he suddenly grabbed Shinobu's arm.
The two figures flashed and appeared at the end of the street.
The broken corpses were piled into a hill, and in the middle was a woman with a high ponytail. Most of her body had disappeared, and even her head was mutilated, but the some broken word could still be seen on her clothes.
"They are our team members!" Kocho Shinobu's face tightened, her expression cold and stern.
"It should be the member who discovered Gyokko."
Aoki observed the surroundings. "She must have seen Gyokko's evil deeds and couldn't hold back and rushed out."
Shinobu's chest rose and fell rapidly, and the killing intent in her eyes almost solidified.
"I must find Gyokko and kill him!"
Aoki turned around. "Let's go!"
"Let's go? What should we do here?"
"The people are dead, and there isn't much we can do. Even if we have to deal with it, it should be done secretly.
Now we have only one task, and that is to find Gyokko as soon as possible to prevent him from causing more casualties."
Shinobu gradually calmed down and knew that what Mr. Aomura said made sense.
"Yes, the most important thing now is to find Gyokko! What should we do?"
Aoki said, "Let's split up and act separately!"
"Alright" Kocho Shinobu had no objection.
This was the reason why she insisted on coming.
The two soon separated.
Aoki went east, while Kocho Shinobu went west.
Whoosh!
Aoki flapped his wings and flew into the sky.
The weather was good today, the view was clear, and there were few obstructions on the beach, making it easy to see everything below.
However, finding traces of Gyokko was not easy. If he deliberately hid, the difficulty of the search would increase significantly.
"With Gyokko's character, would he choose to hide?"
Aoki searched and thought quietly.
"Gyokko encountered the members of the Demon Slayer Corps and must have known that his whereabouts had been exposed, leading to the Corps' pursuit.
My cooperation with the Demon Slayer Corps shouldn't be a secret to the Upper Moons.
As long as Gyokko has a brain, he should be able to guess that I will come to hunt him down.
So, will Gyokko choose to hide or run away directly because he is afraid of me?"
Aoki was not sure.
They had fought against each other in the Infinity Castle, and Gyokko had suffered a loss.
It stood to reason that Gyokko would not want to encounter him alone and would definitely hide far away.
However, Gyokko was cruel, arrogant, and had a twisted personality. It was hard to say if he could think like ordinary people.
Suddenly, Aoki froze and stopped in mid-air.
Why did Gyokko leave that disgusting pillar of human flesh in the village just now?
Just to satisfy his "artistic hobby"?
This was indeed a possibility, but there were other possibilities as well.
Aoki tapped his fingers. "Is Gyokko deliberately provoking? Is this another trap?"
He would never doubt Kibutsuji Muzan's murderous intent towards him.
Last time, the bait was Akaza. This time, it could be Gyokko, which made sense.
After a moment, Aoki shook his head and denied this guess.
First of all, not long after the defeat, he didn't think that Muzan would be able to find another way to restrain "space shuttle" so quickly.
Secondly, if this were a trap, there should be clear clues. Otherwise, if he ran aimlessly like he was now, when would he fall into the trap?
The possibility of a trap was not high.
But the possibility of deliberate provocation was still there.
Gyokko was cruel and conceited, with a twisted personality and an abnormal mind. Perhaps he derived some pleasure from this.
According to this idea, how could Gyokko be found?
Aoki thought silently.
If it was a provocation, Gyokko would definitely not stop there and might continue to commit crimes nearby.
The target he chose wouldn't be too close to the previous village, because it was too dangerous, but not too far, so the effect of the provocation would be good.
A map immediately appeared in Aoki's mind.
The previous month's time was not wasted. Not only had he made a large number of space marks, but he had also memorized all the nearby maps.
There were many small villages on the coast. There were not many that met this condition, but there were enough.
Aoki quickly locked on several targets and decided to prioritize them for investigation.
However, this was just his guess.
No one knew Gyokko's real plan and thoughts.
Whether it was analysis or speculation, it was just to increase the probability of success.
It was better than running around like a headless fly.
"I have to tell Shinobu about this guess first."
Aoki spread his wings and quickly disappeared.
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