Chapter 164: The Village of Eternal Life—First Arrival and Demon Slaying!

Autumn is gradually coming to an end and winter is approaching. The branches have become bare, with only a few dead leaves clinging to the branches stubbornly, trembling in the wind and refusing to fall.

A carriage sped past the road, bringing with it an even colder atmosphere.

In the carriage, Rengoku Fujuro held his wife's thin hand and asked softly, "How long will it take to reach the village?"

"Sir, we will definitely be there today!" The tightly wrapped member of the [Hidden Department] looked at the current location, calculated it, and replied respectfully.

"Thank you for the trouble." Rengoku Fujuro nodded and thanked him.

He looked down at his lover who was in a coma, feeling heartbroken but also hopeful: "You also went to that village to investigate, right? Is that doctor... really as good as the rumors say?"

"Don't worry about that, sir!"

The member grabbed the reins with one hand and patted his chest with the other hand. "That day I saw with my own eyes a man who fell from the roof and vomited blood. The doctor cured him in no time! That method was simply amazing!"

"That's it..."

Rengoku Gojuro looked into the distance expectantly through the gap in the curtain, but he immediately came to his senses and closed the curtain tightly to block the cold wind from blowing in.

The sound of horse hooves hitting the ground was so rhythmic that he leaned against the carriage and slowly fell asleep.

Don't know how long it has been.

The member driving the horse said happily: "Sir, we will be there soon!"

Rengoku Fujuro woke up with a start and stuck his head out.

Compared to the hazy village in the distance, the first thing he saw was the road below.

The fairly spacious road was paved with stone bricks! Many large towns can't do this!

In addition, every five meters on both sides of the road, there is a solemn shrine with a stone-carved Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva inside.

only……

“Isn’t this number too much?”

The driver heard his mumbling and explained, "It seems that the merchant who paid for the construction of this road strongly requested it... He seems to believe in it very much."

Shaking his head helplessly, Rengoku Fujuro looked at the shrine a few more times and then retreated back into the carriage.

He gently woke his wife up, put a warm coat on her, and helped her get out of the carriage after it slowly stopped.

"grown ups!"

The driver hurried over to help, and Gojuro thanked him.

After standing still, they looked towards the village in front of them.

What caught my eye was a huge red torii gate! This thing is usually only erected at the entrance of a shrine to express the boundary between the secular world and the divine realm.

But why would an ordinary village build this at the gate?
The driver saw Rengoku Gojuro's puzzled expression and told him everything he knew.

"This was built 20 days ago after the doctor came here. It is said that the villagers believe that he is a god from the bottom of their hearts, so they regard the entire village as a shrine to worship him."

Something is wrong!
Something is wrong!
Rengoku Fujuro looked at the stone with the words "Changse Village" engraved on it next to the torii gate, and felt that everything he had experienced was even stranger than what his lord had described.

He once read a lot of books in order to find information about the powerful swordsman who used the [Initial Breathing Method] during the Warring States Period.

If I remember correctly, there is a story about a country called Tokiyo in the Nihon Shoki of 644. It is a country beyond the sea, an ultimate utopia where people never change, never grow old, and can return to youth.

"Immortality?" Rengoku Fujuro chewed on these four words, and his loose back tightened little by little.

Through the torii gate, he could see the village bustling with people coming and going - nothing seemed unusual.

But after thinking it over, he decided to let [Yinbu] and his wife wait outside the village while he went to find the miracle doctor to find out the truth.

Walking into the village, the first thing you can smell is a faint floral scent. Rengoku Fujuro didn't care about that. By asking passers-by, he could easily find the residence of the miracle doctor.

——It is the most imposing house in the village.

Knock on the door.

Ten seconds later, someone opened the door from the inside.

"Sir, are you here to seek medical treatment?"

Rengoku Fujuro narrowed his eyes and stepped over the threshold: "Yes."

He quickly took a look at the scene inside: "Are there many people like me?"

Although it is the most imposing house, considering the size of the village, it only has a small courtyard, a main house and a side house.

The house is built in a dark place, and the atmosphere is gloomy, but the evergreen trees planted around it are full of vitality.

The man in linen clothes led the way and answered, "It was fine before, but in the past two days it seems that the name of the miracle doctor has spread, and many people have come here."

As they were talking, the two walked into the main house.

In the slightly dim hall, there was a large grandpa chair, on which sat cross-legged a very young person... no, it should be said that he was a very young person.

Wearing a yellow jacket, he looks like a child who is ignorant of the world, but his blood-red eyes destroy his innocence.

"Are you... the doctor?" Rengoku Fujuro pressed the hilt of the knife completely instinctively.

Vaguely, he felt that this person seemed familiar!

The kid didn't mind his defensive movements, holding the handrail and jumping down lightly: "Yes, I am."

He smiled and said, "You can just call me doctor... Please don't mind my appearance! I started studying medicine just to heal my body that had stopped growing."

Rengoku Fujuro bowed his head slightly: "Excuse me."

But he still didn't let go of her hand.

Su Beixun smiled and got to the point: "Do you want me to treat your body that is sick from worry?"

He looked at the bright-haired man in front of him and said, "From your expression, it seems that you have been afraid of something, or you don't want to face it."

Rengoku Fujuro was silent for a moment, then bowed sincerely: "Doctor, please save my wife."

"sure."

Su Beixun's eyebrows curved: "Where is she?"

He Shoulang pursed his lips, and a deep look flashed across his lowered eyes: "Because of her family's health problems, she is still staying in the carriage outside the village. Could you please go over and treat her?"

"Is that so..." Su Beixun looked a little embarrassed, but before Purgatory could persuade him again, he suddenly nodded gently: "If the distance is not far, I have no problem."

After saying that, he walked right past the stunned body of Gojuro and walked out of the hall first.

Purgatory came to his senses and hurried to follow.

Because of the season and weather, the sunshine also has a cold tone. But no matter what, sunshine is always sunshine!
Gojuro walked behind and stared at the doctor's exposed skin, but it was still pale and there was no sign of turning into ashes.

[Am I overthinking? ]

Rengoku Fujuro frowned. Although the lord had said that he had investigated and found nothing wrong, he still instinctively thought that this doctor was suspicious when he saw him!
No reason, no cause, just his "inner" opinion.

As he walked, he briefly exerted force with his right foot, secretly kicking up a piece of gravel, which brushed past the doctor's trouser leg with a "whoosh" sound.

"Ah!" The doctor felt a pain in his ankle and looked down subconsciously. He saw a tear in his pants at the ankle, and a few strands of blood oozed out of his skin.

"Strange, where is it hung?"

The doctor muttered something, lowered his head and looked around, but found nothing and could only scratch his head in confusion.

Rengoku Fujuro looked concerned: "Do you need a bandage?"

"No, no, it's just a minor wound." The doctor bent down and wiped the blood carelessly, then continued forward without caring.

【No healing.】

Gojuro glanced at the wound, and half a minute later it was still oozing blood.

After two experiments, he could only bury his doubts in his heart and temporarily believe the doctor's identity.

He raised his head in a state of wandering thoughts.

But suddenly!
Suddenly, everything in front of Rengoku Fushoulang's eyes went dark! The leaves of the evergreen tree rustled in the darkness! And at its thriving roots, there was a figure covered in blood!
what? !

Rengoku Furious Shouro's hair stood on end, he stopped subconsciously and pulled out half of the blade!
"What's wrong?" The doctor looked back at him curiously, noticing that Changdao was a little timid: "Is...something wrong?"

The swordsman paused, only to find that he was still standing under the bright sunshine. At the roots of the tree, there was only brown soil! Looking up, the green leaves were still full of vitality.

Purgatory opened his eyes wide in disbelief. He rushed to the roots of the tree and reached out to feel around, but the dry touch between his fingers and the smell in his nose told him that everything was normal!
"Are you... hallucinating?" the doctor asked in a low voice.

Anjuro immediately turned around and stared at him: "You know?!"

As if frightened by his murderous aura, the doctor took a step back and quickly explained: "It may be that you have been under too much pressure recently, and your heart is suffocated and your nerves are tense, so this situation has occurred."

Purgatory narrowed his eyes and said nothing.

The doctor immediately made up for it: "I told you this just now after I saw your complexion. But you said it was your wife who needed treatment. I guessed the root of your illness, so I wanted to talk about this after I cured your wife."

"I didn't expect...your condition is more serious than I thought!"

Hallucination?
Gojuro doesn't believe this! As a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, he has killed countless demons in the past ten years. He would rather believe that this is a demon working in secret!
Looking around again, he suppressed his thoughts and pretended to be convinced by the doctor, and asked with a grim expression: "Then what should I do about my illness?"

"Go see your wife first." The doctor suggested when he saw him put away the knife and wipe the sweat from his forehead.

With Purgatory's nod, the group set off again.

Gojuro asked casually, "Doctor, where did you practice medicine before you came to this village? Why have I never heard of you?"

"Ah! I have been living abroad for a long time. I was away from home for too long and couldn't stand the homesickness. So I came back recently and plan to settle down in Japan."

"The house you live in now..."

"Oh, it was given to me by the village! I heard that its owner disappeared a long time ago, so after I promised to treat the villagers for free, they decided to let me live there."

"Missing..."

Gojuro repeated in a low voice.

As he spoke, he observed the expressions of the passers-by on the road. Perhaps all he saw was a very normal and peaceful village, so ordinary that there was nothing unusual about it!

Step through the Torii gate again.

The remaining members of the Hidden Department came over with a stretcher and said, "Sir!"

Purgatory nodded in response, looking at his wife who had fallen asleep again on the stretcher. Although he was on guard, he couldn't help but ask: "Doctor, what do you think..."

The doctor nodded, went over to look at the woman's complexion, then pulled her slender wrist to take her pulse.

【Traditional Chinese Medicine?】

The swordsman raised his eyebrows in surprise. From 1872 until 1906, six years ago, Japan abolished traditional Chinese medicine in 30 years and completely accepted the concept of Western medicine.

Therefore, in all the years since his wife fell ill, this was the first time he met a doctor who could take her pulse, so he didn't need to give out any more hope.

About five or six minutes later, Su Beixun raised his head and said something that made the man excited: "It can be cured!"

"Really? Doctor?!" Purgatory raised his voice in an uncontrollable manner.

Su Beixun nodded and instructed, "Carry this lady into my house. It's not good for her health to be exposed to the cold wind here all the time."

The members of the [Invisible Department] were about to nod, but Purgatory suddenly frowned and interrupted: "Please wait a moment!"

He explained, "Doctor, we have some things to finish at home, so we need to return urgently. Can we come back tomorrow morning?"

Su Beixun smiled: "Of course, if it only takes one day, it won't be a big delay for the lady."

"Thank you."

After watching the doctor re-enter the Torii Gate, Rengoku Fujuro asked solemnly, "Did you find anything wrong while you were staying outside the village?"

Something's wrong?
Several members were confused and looked at each other: "You mean..."

【There's none.】

Rengoku Fujuro understood the answer when he saw their expressions, and did not explain any more. He called out the other swordsmen who were hiding deep in the woods and asked the same question, but the answers were all the same.

"It seems... the abnormality is only in the doctor's home?"

He asked the members of the [Hidden Department]: "Have you gathered any information about the previous owner of the doctor's residence?"

"Ah! Yes!" Someone responded quickly: "We also noticed this at the time, but perhaps because it was a long time ago, there are many different opinions about the reason why the homeowner disappeared, and we can't find any accurate information at all."

As he spoke, he took out a scroll from his arms and said, "But we have managed to restore the owner's appearance by asking the old man."

Rengoku Fujuro took it and took a look. After sorting out his chaotic thoughts, he took a deep breath and sat beside his wife, waiting for the night to fall.

Gojuro made up his mind - tonight, he must investigate all the abnormalities. Otherwise, he couldn't leave his lover there with peace of mind!
……

The daylight passes by in the blink of an eye.

When the sky darkened and the moon was high in the sky, Rengoku Fujuro stood up. He refused to be followed by other swordsmen and returned to the village behind the Second Torii alone.

The village was completely silent, with no sound at all. Everyone had turned off their oil lamps, and there was no light to be seen.

But for a swordsman who has been slaying demons in the middle of the night for years, these are not a problem!

Turning corners and passing through alleys, he could memorize the topography of the village after walking through it once.

But when he came to the road outside the doctor's room, the scene in front of him shocked him!
people!
A lot of people!
In this pitch-dark night, there are dozens of figures walking together!

They carried hoes and sickles on their shoulders or bamboo baskets on their backs, and walked silently on the wide dirt road.

In the dark night, they look like tall ghosts!
The cold wind brings a chill!

Rengoku Fujuro immediately shrank back and hid himself back at the entrance of the alley. He held the hilt of the knife with a serious look.

No sound!

The movements of so many people were accompanied by no sound at all!

There is something wrong with this village!
Purgatory immediately became alert. When the last person passed by, he got out of the alley and landed carefully at the back.

As they walked further and further, the villagers gradually dispersed. Their directions and goals were clear: they all wanted to go to their respective fields to carry out farming operations.

The hoes dug into the ground again and again, making no sound, but one could imagine the dull thumping noises. They bent over or over, skillfully harvesting the crops.

If it weren't for the gloomy sky and the silent atmosphere, this would be a very common scene in the countryside.

"Surprised?"

who? !

Rengoku Fushoulang felt a chill in his heart. He rushed forward quickly and turned around, holding the hilt of the knife with full vigilance!
Behind him stood a grey-haired old man who was estimated to be around 60 years old. His skin was loose and his limbs were slender, but his belly was unusually large, even larger than that of a ten-month pregnancy.

"...Fusesan Songyuan?"

Gojuro recognized his identity by his face - he was the previous owner of the doctor's house!
"That was my previous name." The old man shook his head and said with a smile: "Now I am called Box Garden..."

But before he could finish his words, he suddenly tilted his head back!
The sharp blade slashed across, leaving a silver line in the air!
Rengoku Fujuro took action without hesitation!
The Sun Blade slashed past! But Rengoku Fujuro's expression became even more solemn!

——The knife just now didn’t feel like it hit the target!!
"Ouch! Ouch!" The old man was so scared that he fell to the ground. He touched his neck and seemed to be still frightened.

But then he stood up again pretending to be calm, brushing off the non-existent dust: "Don't try, swordsman! You can't cut me at all!"

Rengoku Fujuro narrowed his eyes.

He was not shaken by these words, his expression was calm, and he took a deep breath. The cold air flowed into his lungs through his trachea, and his strong heart drove the blood to burst out instantly!
The blazing flames light up the night!
A torrent of flames seemed to appear between heaven and earth, expanding in all directions with sharp and hot sword light!
The breath of fire is like the winding of raging flames!

With himself as the center, Rengoku Fujuro chopped all around him in a short period of time! In an instant, the world was filled with the sound of burning!

But when the flames gradually dimmed and were carried up to the sky by the wind, even though the ground where the two men were standing had been pierced with a dense network of knife marks, the old man, with his hands hanging down, still did not have a single scar!

[Illusion? Or not in the same space?]

The battle-hardened Rengoku Fujuro did not panic. He looked at the knife marks spreading under the evil ghost's feet and silently analyzed the opponent's abilities.

But he didn't have much time! The evil ghost roared and raised his arms and rushed towards him!
The fist swung out slowly. Purgatory narrowed his eyes, did not dodge, but used the knife to attack!

But the slender fist actually passed through the blade! With great force, it hit his face hard!
Rengoku Fushouro couldn't hide his surprise and fell out!

He flipped in the air and landed lightly on the ground. He looked at the laughing old man and had some guesses about his abilities.

[A ghost in a different space...]

[No! That's not right!]

Gojuro quickly glanced at the villagers in the distance who were working silently, and the moon in the sky that didn't move at all, and immediately corrected his thoughts.

[The one in the different space... is me!!]

As he was thinking, he punched the hand that the evil ghost stretched out! But after a burst of pain, he was hit on the cheek again!

【Trouble! 】

Anjuro distanced himself.

[It's not that immune objects can only collide with each other physically, but whether they can touch each other will depend on the other party's thoughts. 】

"Go to hell! Go to hell! Go to hell!"

The evil ghost's arms kept swinging towards Gojuro, but these clumsy and chaotic movements couldn't even touch the opponent!

Purgatory dodged left and right without pulling away, and calmly consumed the opponent's physical strength. The strength of this old ghost was not strong, and his speed and strength were not much better than ordinary people. The only tricky thing was his [Blood Ghost Art].

However, it is impossible to be flawless!

[Even if it is up to him to decide whether to make contact, when making contact, it is impossible for only one side to appear in this space. There must be a minimum appearance volume.]

The pupils of Rengoku Shoulang narrowed! He was not careful when he stepped back, and was tripped by the protrusion on the ground, stumbling a few steps, and a huge flaw appeared on his left side!

The evil ghost's eyes lit up, and he clenched his fist and smashed it down! Seeing that the opponent was hammered to the ground, he continued to hit the body of the angry Shoulang!
"Go, die, die, die..."

But just as his expression became more and more excited, a burning flame suddenly shot out from the corner of his eyes!
A huge tiger leaped up with flying flaming fur and swallowed the old man whole before he could react!
Breathing of Fire Type 5 Flame Tiger!
A shrill scream!

The old man sat on the ground, holding his bleeding wrist and moving backwards frantically! His right hand was thrown out by the previous slash and fell to the ground, twitching constantly.

"I see... Every time there is contact, at least one limb the size of a palm must enter the alien space."

Rengoku Fujuro slowly stood up from the ground, a smile on his face: "This way, it will be easier to deal with!"

"hateful!"

The evil ghost realized that he had been tricked, stood up, roared angrily, twisted his ankle and ran directly towards the villagers who were working in the fields.

The villagers turned their heads subconsciously when they heard the noise, but they were at a loss when they saw a white-haired old man with a big belly rushing towards them.

"Run!" Rengoku Fujuro's expression changed slightly and he roared angrily.

But it didn't work!
Now the evil ghost is in the same world with the villagers, and he can't even communicate with them because he is in a different space.

No time to hesitate!
Relying on his superior physique, he arrived first and stretched out his hand to push the stunned villager away, but as expected, he passed straight through the other person's body!

The evil ghost gave a hideous smile and thrust forward with its sharp claws!

Rengoku Fujuro stood in front of the villagers, but the hand went through his chest and ripped out the heart of the villager behind him!

When the others saw this scene, they couldn't help but run away.

"asshole!!!"

Fen Shoulang's eyes were wide open with anger, and fire was faintly emitting from his breathing!

"This is your punishment!"

The evil ghost laughed loudly: "Why don't you just let me kill you obediently? Why do you have to resist?! Why do you have to be so smart?!"

He stuffed the heart in his hand into his mouth, chewing it until it was full of blood! As he ate, his broken hand slowly grew back.

"Swordsman, you are indeed very strong! But what's the use?"

The evil ghost licked the minced meat between his fingers, his expression gloomy and despicable.

"I have locked you up in this alien space. You cannot touch anyone except me, and you will not be touched by anyone else."

"As long as I don't want to contact you, you will always be a spectator! No matter what I do in reality, you can't stop it!"

The evil ghost laughed wildly: "Swordsman, do you understand?!"

He clenched his fist in front of the other person.

"Well then! I'm going to attack you now!"

He slowly walked towards Rengoku Fujuro: "Of course you can resist, you can dodge! But as a price, I will kill a villager!"

"Anyway... you can only chop off one of my hands at best!"

boom!
A fist hit Shoulang's face firmly! He didn't do anything.

His head was knocked to the ground again and again! Rengoku Gojuro looked at the evil ghost punching him with anger, but his heart was calm.

The opponent's [Blood Demon Art] could never be so perfect! Otherwise, Muzan Kibutsuji would have absorbed it long ago!

So... where's the flaw?
【By the way…when did I get infected? 】

Rengoku Fujuro's entire body was kicked away!
[Before entering the village, I was with the rest of the Demon Slayer Corps. After entering the village, I didn't feel anything unusual and came directly to this different space.]

The evil spirit put his hands together, trying to rip out Gojuro's heart, but with such a strong body, his full-strength attack only left five shallow scars.

[Something is wrong! I have been on edge since dark, so I should be very sensitive to the fluctuations when the blood demon art is activated!]

boom!
A small hole was directly punched into the soil.

The evil ghost stepped forward, and when he saw the other party tilt his head to avoid it, causing his attack to miss, he shouted excitedly: "You dodged! You dodged again! Haha, someone is going to die because of you again!"

But Rengoku Fujuro ignored him!

He turned over and jumped up, rushing towards the doctor's house!
"Wait... wait a minute! Where are you going?! Come back quickly!" The evil ghost's face suddenly changed.

He subconsciously wanted to stop him, but due to the speed difference, he could only watch the other party getting farther and farther away: "Asshole! If you don't come back, I will kill someone!"

Listening to the shouting behind him, Anjuro had no desire to slow down at all.

He is definitely not a pedantic person who has been slaying demons for so long! It's fine if he has no clue, but once he has an idea, he will be responsible to more people by slaying the evil demons as soon as possible!
And judging from the other party's reaction, his idea is correct!

——From this morning till now, the only thing that made him feel strange was the fleeting illusion in the doctor's yard!

I skillfully climbed over the wall of the doctor's house, and everything here was indeed quite different from what I saw during the day!

The position of the tables and chairs, the amount of rubble... and the bloody skeleton under the evergreen tree, which was obviously eaten by evil spirits!

Rengoku Fujuro thought for a moment - although he found this key place, he still hadn't figured out how to get out.

However, remembering the illusion during the day, he hesitated for a moment, walked to the tree and the skeleton, and reached out to feel around. After finding no effect, he walked back to the place where he was when the illusion occurred during the day, and stood there silently.

one second...

Two seconds...

Click!

Suddenly, there was a shattering sound in my ears, followed by all kinds of noisy noises!

The sound of the wind, the chirping of birds, and faint screams in the distance.

Out!
Rengoku Fujuro quickly came to his senses, grasped the handle of the knife and flipped out again!
He circulated his breathing in the most exquisite way and rushed towards the chaotic area at the fastest speed!

Along the way, in addition to the body of the villager who died in the field, there were seven or eight other people lying dead outdoors!
The anger in my heart is growing higher and higher!
With his eyesight, he could already see the big-bellied evil spirit rushing towards the torii gate in the distance, trying to escape from the village!

The old man also heard the noise behind him, and when he looked back, he was immediately scared out of his wits! He knew that there was a huge gap between his strength and his opponent's, and after discarding the [Blood Demon Art], the gap was even greater.

So when he saw that the other party had noticed, he immediately wanted to leave here! But considering the speed and distance of both parties, it might not work!
So he rushed into a villager's house and took out a hostage.

Then he panicked and shouted at Rengoku Fujuro: "Stop now! Otherwise I will..."

But before he could finish his words, a bright flame slashed across his neck with a whistling sound!

The field of vision gradually tilted and collapsed. Before darkness fell, the evil ghost only saw the back of a cold figure putting away a knife.

Putting the sword back into the sheath, Rengoku Gojuro looked down at the old man who was gradually turning into ashes, his face expressionless.

This demon's [Blood Demon Art] is indeed tricky.

According to his speculation, an independent space attached to the village should be formed.

This space is always in darkness. During the day, evil spirits will stay here to avoid the sunlight and can mark targets by allowing people to see the scene inside.

Of course, considering the identity of this ghost, the target may have to be in the "doctor's house" to be marked.

Once the marked person enters the village at night, he will be trapped in a different space.

The way to escape is to stand still again at the place where you were when you were marked during the day, and you will be able to get out of the different space in about three seconds.

And with the weak strength of this evil ghost, once he can get rid of the [Blood Demon Technique], it will be easy to kill him!
(End of this chapter)