"What did he say?" Shinobu looked at her sister in disbelief.
"He asked us to kill him?" Kanae also felt like she was dreaming.
Both women sensed something was wrong with their worldview, yet the words "Lower Rank Five" in the Demon's eyes before them were indeed real.
What happened between this young man and that Demon?
Unexpectedly, it could make the Twelve Moons of Demons, who could devour many, so fearful!
Kanae and Shinobu gazed at Shun with confusion and curiosity.
At this moment, Shun skillfully punched the back of Rui's head. With a sharp sound of bones breaking, Rui made no noise and stopped struggling.
Shun held the collar of the exhausted Rui with satisfaction. Noticing the gazes of the two women, he lifted his head and gave a gentle smile that was harmless to humans and animals.
"This kid is too noisy, so I'll let him sleep for a bit."
"This isn't just a nap!"
At this moment, Shinobu couldn't help but complain:
"If it were anyone else, they would have been dead long ago."
"But this is a Demon. I think it's better for the Demon to die." Shun said casually.
"Mm, I agree with this." Shinobu suddenly had a good impression of the person before her.
Unlike her sister, she felt no sympathy for the Demon.
Shinobu deeply hated Demons. Her parents were killed by a Demon. After her parents died, she promised her sister to eliminate as many Demons as possible and not let others experience the same fate as them.
She also strongly agreed with Shun's words.
At this time, Shinobu was only fourteen. Before her sister's death, she had a straightforward character that wouldn't hide her thoughts.
"You are a swordsman using the long-lost Sun Breathing, right? Can you meet Oyakata-sama of the Demon Slayer Corps?"
"That's not impossible. Coincidentally, I also have some dealings with him."
If nothing else, the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters should have five basic breathing styles: Water Breathing, Thunder Breathing, Flame Breathing, Stone Breathing, and Wind Breathing.
If not, relying solely on one-on-one teaching and word-of-mouth promotion without classical texts for nearly a thousand years would make it difficult to pass down techniques and swordsmanship.
Shun planned to gather some and bring them back to teach Kashiwagi Nagisa and the others.
After all, these highly universal and effective breathing techniques could be considered valuable in the world of spiritual energy recovery.
Grandma Mitsue mentioned in popular science before that spiritual energy recovery also allowed some warriors to achieve significant breakthroughs. It was said that powerful swordsmen were as lethal as Onmyoji.
"In two or three hours, dawn will break. We will set off after sunrise."
Shun pointed toward Rui, who was sleeping.
"I promised him to let him bathe in the sunlight and greet death."
Shinobu and Kanae exchanged subtle expressions at the same time.
❀❀❀
No one knew where the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps was hidden.
If ordinary people wanted to find out, they would need to contact retired Hashira. As their strength diminished with age, these individuals would act as trainers, selecting prospective swordsmen and sending them to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.
If such a swordsman wanted to join the team, he had to undergo strict assessment. Staying on Mount Fujikasane for seven days and nights, where many Demons captured by the Demon Slayer Corps members were imprisoned, the death rate was extremely high.
Of course, Shun, who killed the Twelve Moons of Demons right after coming down from the mountain, would be allowed to stay in the main house, which served as the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps, under special circumstances.
Because the leadership of the Demon Slayer Corps had been held by the Ubuyashiki family for generations. The original Demon Slayer Corps was also formed by this family, so the leader's residence was the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps, the Ubuyashiki family residence.
Since the location of the mansion could not be exposed easily, on the way to the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps, Shun and the Kocho sisters entered it by air-tight carriage.
Although it was somewhat annoying, the experience of riding in a rickety carriage with warm-scented girls on either side was quite pleasant.
Once the three of them entered the house, they heard the puzzling caw of crows from a distance:
"The one who will come!"
"He has arrived!"
Under the guidance of Kanae and Shinobu, Shun walked through a garden filled with beautiful flowers and plants, crossing a small bridge and flowing water with artistic conception, finally arriving in front of a mansion.
This was a Japanese-style house with a strong sense of long history.
In front of this large house, sitting under the eaves was a man who had long suffered from illness.
He was the current master of the Demon Slayer Corps – Ubuyashiki Kagaya.
Not only was he not a strong person, but he was even so weak that he was not as good as an ordinary person due to his illness.
Because Muzan was born into the Ubuyashiki family, their bloodline had been cursed. Under normal circumstances, a child born would die early. Only by marrying a woman from a priestly family could a child be born weak and sick, but it was possible to live up to thirty years.
Such a family had been cursed by the Demon King, yet had continued for thousands of years. Each generation could marry women from the priestly family and always lead the Demon Slayer Corps.
Today, Kagaya was the 97th member of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Due to his illness, the upper part of his face was completely ruined, even uglier than a Demon, yet his body radiated an unparalleled aura of peace like the spring breeze.
As Shun stepped into the courtyard, several figures appeared.
Accompanied by sounds that pierced the air, these Hashira displayed their physical skills and landed in the open space of the courtyard.
'It seems you still don't believe me. But that's normal.'
Shun looked at these people with great interest.
The long-haired one with yellow and red, sword-like eyebrows, and sharp eyes was the Flame Hashira: Rengoku Kyojiro.
With three scars on his face and his entire body covered in scars, the fierce-looking one was the Wind Hashira: Shinazugawa Sanemi.
Wearing a diamond-studded forehead protector on his head, with light cyan chains hanging from both sides of his headpiece, and his silvery-white hair tied into a prominent ponytail, he must have been a winner in life, the Sound Hashira: Uzui Tengen.
Wearing a brown robe with "Namo Amitabha" written on it, holding Buddhist beads in his hands, and blind, the strong man was the Stone Hashira: Himejima Gyomei.
At this current timeline, Mitsuri Kanroji was not yet mature and might still be developing her own breathing method, thus not yet a Hashira.
The Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito might not be either.
As for the Serpent Hashira Iguro Obanai and the Water Hashira Tomioka Giyu, they were most likely absent as well.
After all, if Kanae was included, there were already five Hashira present.
The members of the Demon Slayer Corps had traveled all over the country to slay the demons, yet they could not gather all the Hashira just for Shun.