Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

Chapter 200 Damn it

That night in the swordsmith village could definitely be called tragic, both for the swordsmiths and for the pillars and other swordsmen who participated in the battle. There were countless people who could never open their eyes in the battle, and there was no telling how many people were injured. Even the pillars left with many injuries.

As one of the survivors after participating in the war, Tanjiro has a lot to say about this.

His completely overdrawn body and serious injuries left him completely unconscious in bed for a week after the battle. It was not until a week later that he finally opened his eyes on the hospital bed in Butterfly House. He felt as if no bone in his body was in the right position. He was in excruciating pain and exhausted.

Although he is fully awake, his injuries will not recover as quickly as his mind. Tanjiro still needs to continue recuperating here until he gets Shinobu's personal permission before he is allowed to get out of bed for recovery training.

As for now, Tanjiro's daily work and tasks are to rest peacefully in bed, sleep, eat, and occasionally greet his comrade and fellow patient in the next bed - Xuanya. This is his daily routine.

Occasionally, there would be some different moments. The member of the group with whom he had a close relationship, Mr. Goto, would come to see him when he was free, bring him a lot of food, and chat with Tanjiro. This was when Tanjiro was happier during his rest time.

Because from the conversation with each other, Tanjiro also got some external information, such as Tokito and Kanroji have recovered and left, and can start recovery training; for example, Inosuke and Zenitsu are carrying out missions one after another, and he is happy every time they return safely; for example, Nezuko is in good condition now, playing with Aoi and the others every day. Thanks to them, Nezuko has also begun to learn some other words, and looks very happy every day; for example, the swordsmiths in the swordsmith village are working hard to transfer and recover quickly.

Mostly good news.

Now Tanjiro only needs to recuperate quietly. When he recovers, he can go back to training and continue working hard to cut off Muzan's head and for Nezuko to turn back into a human. Although Nezuko's affairs have troubled Tanjiro for a while, no one can say whether such a change is good or bad, but at least seeing Nezuko walking freely in the sun and still alive and healthy is a comfort to Tanjiro.

As for the rest, we can only keep working hard and leave it to fate.

Tanjiro thought that such a peaceful life would last for a while, but the letter brought by Crow arrived earlier than Mr. Koutsuka and his Nichirin Sword.

A letter from Miss Tianyin. When the letter was unfolded, the words on it clearly stated that the thing that Tanjiro had always wanted to do but could not do came true.

----

----

"Hey, hey, hey, is it okay to just leave him like this? That guy's eyes have that "high-ranking" written on them, right?"

Tian Yuan's long sword tapped lightly on his shoulder again and again, bumping against it and shaking it slightly. The chains made a crisp sound when they collided. The face that was always full of smiles rarely showed a subtle dissatisfaction. His brows were slightly wrinkled, and he was very serious, which was rare.

"Anyway, it's daytime now, he probably won't have the guts to climb out of the box."

Xiao Banei's tone was calm, but his hand remained on the hilt of the knife and refused to move away at all, and even his eyes were always on the box.

"Who cares? If he dares to mess around, I'll just stab him through and cut his neck. He's a ghost after all, so no matter how powerful he is, he'll be finished if his neck is cut off."

Shimi stepped on the wooden box under his feet and said nonchalantly, while shaking the knife in his hand, as if looking for the right angle.

"But hasn't the Lord always said that if conditions permit, we should do our best to keep him alive... It wouldn't be good to handle it without authorization."

Mitsuri looked at the group of men in front of her who were holding knives and looked as if they were going to chop the small box and its contents into pieces in the next second, and whispered to them with some concern.

"Speaking of which, how did you two catch this guy? I remember he was very difficult to deal with last time when you and Purgatory dealt with him. You even scolded me for a long time after you came back."

Tianyuan squatted down and pressed the tip of the knife against the box. The box was gently lifted up by his force, and then hit the ground after he let go. Apart from that, there was no other movement, as if there was nothing inside.

"Ah... rather than saying we caught him... it's better to say we found him, or snatched him. We were chasing ghosts, and for some reason, a bunch of them gathered together. They were just a bunch of ragtag creatures, so it was a bit troublesome to deal with them. But not too far away, Iguro said there was something there, so we went to check it out, and then we saw this guy lying on the ground. But on the way back, we bumped into a lot of ghosts, as densely packed as cockroaches, one group after another."

When Shiya said this, he spat fiercely and stomped on the box under his feet.

"I don't know what's going on."

Xiao Banei gently touched the hilt of the knife, and finally shifted his gaze slightly.

"It was Kabutomaru who said there seemed to be something over there, so we went over there and saw this guy. He was a complete mess, but he was still breathing, and his neck was not completely severed. So we found a box and brought him back."

His fingertips tapped on the hilt of the knife again and again, and Xiao Banai's gaze shifted inconspicuously towards Mitsuri. He paused for a moment when scanning the bandages on the other person's body, and then moved away quietly.

"That's really weird. Wasn't this kid always protected by the Upper Ranks? That weird-looking pot, and the Upper Rank Six before him, weren't they always protecting him? How could they just leave him there like he was dying?"

Shimi moved his feet and gently kicked the box again, but he didn't know whether it was because the sun in the sky was too dazzling or because the boy's injuries were too serious. In any case, the box shook slightly, but it still didn't look like what was inside. If they hadn't put the thing in with their own hands, they would have suspected that they had brought the wrong thing.

"Could it be a trap? Like, he deliberately let you take it away? After all, didn't he seem to have summoned something before?"

Muichiro lowered his gaze, pausing briefly on the box. The blade flicked out of its scabbard. Although the naked eye couldn't discern anything unusual, at least the smell of blood in the air, perceptible even to humans, was real. This proved that the box contained a wounded creature. But, weren't demons' wounds healed quickly? Why was this happening? And according to Busou and the others, this fellow should be an upper-rank demon...

"We had our suspicions before, so we deliberately waited there for a long time. We threw him into the box because it was almost dawn and the guy was about to burn to death, but no ghost cared. We stayed outside for a few more days. Aside from some low-level ghosts who kept trying to rob him, we didn't see anything unusual about him. And for some reason, his wounds hadn't fully healed when he came back."

Obana looked over and offered a reasonable explanation. But it was only a relatively reasonable explanation. The real reason was undoubtedly the lord's order to capture Upper Zero alive if conditions allowed. Since they had this opportunity, they should capture him first. Even if it was a trap or deliberate, the demon's life was in their hands. At worst, even if they died together, it would still be a major problem to deal with. Furthermore, this place wasn't a significant hidden location; it was merely a temporary base, far from the lord's residence, the Butterfly House, and even from human habitation.

"Come to think of it, didn't you kill the guy he called earlier? Wasn't that Upper Rank Five and the Upper Rank Six who was protecting him also dealt with by Tengen and the others? You didn't throw him out because protecting him was too much of a demon, did you? But it does sound like something a demon could do."

Compared with the uneasiness and suspicion of these two people, Shimi's mentality is much calmer. If it is not a trap, then he will complete the task successfully. If it is a trap, then he will just kill the person who set up the trap. What is there to be afraid of? If one comes, kill one. If two come, kill a pair. If he finds a whole nest, then he will make a fortune.

"Anyway, let's wait until Purgatory and the others return from the lord before we talk."

Shi Tou nodded slightly and temporarily pressed the blade into the scabbard.