"You want to see Warabihime first?"
Kanae quickly nodded in agreement. "Yes, I'd also like to get acquainted with my future colleague, especially this courtesan."
The madam was startled for a moment, then smiled and said, "I understand. Since you've chosen Kyogoku House, meeting Warabihime is inevitable. However, you should be prepared; Warabihime is not easy to get along with. She has a very willful temper."
Warabihime was treated like royalty by her. Even though she was the madam, she was still ordered around by Warabihime, who seemed to completely disregard her status.
Or rather, in Warabihime's eyes, the entire Kyogoku House was just a tool for her to display herself. Her arrogant and condescending attitude wasn't just directed at men; it was the same towards everyone.
Afterward, led by the madam, Kurozawa and Kanae went through the floors, step by step, arriving at the fourth floor.
On the entire fourth floor of Kyogoku House, only Warabihime and a few personal attendants who helped her with her makeup resided. After reaching the fourth floor, past the room at the very end of the hallway was Warabihime's residence.
In Kurozawa's Fighting Spirit perception, the Demon's presence was also becoming increasingly strong.
It wasn't just Warabihime; in the other rooms on the fourth floor, the rooms of Warabihime's personal attendants mentioned by the madam, there were also Fighting Spirit attributes of Demons. There were a total of three of them. Their strength was much lower than Warabihime's, but they were still considered elite among Demons, roughly at the level of Rui's family on Mount Natagumo.
After glancing around the rooms on the fourth floor for a moment, Kurozawa gave Kanae a look, signaling her not to lower her guard. Kanae generally understood what he meant and also cautiously looked at the other rooms.
"Warabihime's room is ahead, but are you still going in with your swords? She seems to dislike people carrying weapons."
The madam looked at the Nichirin Blades at Kurozawa and Kanae's waists.
Carrying a sword was actually quite common; it could be used as decoration, and when traveling alone, it could also prevent some people's prying eyes and malice. The madam had no issue with the Nichirin Blades at their waists. Among the travelers who came to the Yoshiwara Pleasure District, half of them carried swords with them.
However, Warabihime was always very displeased with those who carried swords.
In the past, when a guest came to Kyogoku House with a sword and was seen by Warabihime, the look of disgust and danger in her eyes still sent a chill down the madam's spine whenever she thought about it.
Kurozawa didn't mind. For him, the Nichirin Blade was truly just decoration. What Kurozawa was currently carrying was even just an ordinary iron sword. His Nichirin Blade was damaged on Mount Natagumo and hadn't been repaired yet, so he was just carrying an ordinary iron sword used for daily training as a placeholder.
Kanae wasn't aware of this. Unlike Kurozawa, who relied on a physique stronger than a Demon's to fight, all of Kanae's skills were in her exquisite Breathing Technique and Sword Forms. Without her Nichirin Blade, her combat power would be directly halved, or even reduced to ten or nine percent.
As a Demon Slayer Corps Swordsman, a Nichirin Blade had to be carried at all times, even while eating, sleeping, or bathing. Although for experienced Demons, a Nichirin Blade would expose the Swordsman's identity, it was a necessary measure. A Swordsman without a Nichirin Blade was like a tiger without claws or teeth.
"It's fine, we can just leave them at the door later," Kanae said after thinking for a moment.
This was just a casual remark; Kanae had no intention of actually putting down her Nichirin Blade.
She could determine the other party's exact location through her breathing at the door, allowing her to either actively attack or defend against their surprise attack. At the same time, she couldn't rule out the possibility that Warabihime had already discovered them, as Demons had various and diverse methods.
The madam walked ahead, saying as she walked, "Alright, I'll take you there. When you meet Warabihime, don't take her words seriously. Sometimes she's like an ignorant little girl, very willful in her actions, regardless of other people's thoughts."
Soon, the three of them arrived at Warabihime's door.
Since entering Kyogoku House, Kurozawa had been trying to lower the activity level of his Fighting Spirit, but he found it very difficult to completely still his Fighting Spirit. It was currently impossible.
There was still a sixth stage of the Breathing Technique. Perhaps the sixth-stage Breathing Technique could completely control the circulation of one's Fighting Spirit.
However, at present, a certain degree of reduction was possible. Because his Fighting Spirit was suppressed, Kurozawa's presence had been decreasing along the way, and by this time, he was like an ordinary person. Kanae even looked at him with surprise, not understanding how Kurozawa had achieved this.
Strong individuals could always sense each other, which was actually because their Fighting Spirits were resonating.
Although she hadn't entered the room yet, Kanae already felt her cells becoming slightly more active. Warabihime inside the room might have also sensed some abnormality.
Kanae was proficient in the Breathing Technique and could unconsciously lower her Fighting Spirit slightly, but compared to Kurozawa, the difference was too great to escape the perception of someone of the same rank.
Inside the room, a beautiful but inexplicably unpleasant female voice rang out: "Who is it!"
Warabihime looked at the closed door, her eyes gradually filled with malice.
Outside her room, it seemed an uninvited guest had arrived.
Without dialogue, without words, she roughly guessed the other party's disgusting identity. Over the past hundred years, quite a few Pillars had died by Warabihime's hand. The person outside had a similar aura to those Pillars.
As for Kurozawa, whose aura was like an ordinary person, and the madam who came with him, they were directly ignored by Warabihime. Her gaze seemed to pass through the obstacle of the door, directly staring at Kanae.
Warabihime trusted her intuition. She had been in Kyogoku House for a long time. After today, it seemed she would have to find another place. Outside, the madam gave a smile and said, "Warabihime, I just..."
Whoosh. White mist emerged. Before sensing Warabihime's malice, Kanae had already activated her Breathing Technique and entered Total Concentration mode. Veins popped out on her delicate and gentle face.
*Crack!* Before the madam could finish speaking, the door shattered directly. Three intricate sashes extended from within, simultaneously wrapping around Kurozawa and the other two.
However, before that, a bright Nichirin Blade had already appeared in Kanae's hand.
With a few swift slashes, Kanae cut the sashes into shredded rags that fell to the ground. Immediately after, her figure flashed, and she entered the doorway.
In Kanae's sight, a woman with dark golden pupils and black hair stood there. A wanton and arrogant smile was on her face, which had an exotic flower tattoo. Two small sharp fangs were exposed, and around her arms, intricate sashes were moving as if they were alive.
This appearance was different from what she had seen before, only about fifty to sixty percent similar, and at the same time, much more beautiful.
The previous appearance was just Warabihime's disguise. When she decided to kill the people around her, she no longer used the disguise and reverted to her true form.
The madam also saw Warabihime in this state and was startled by the sudden change, standing frozen in place. "W-Warabihime?"
On the woman's face, some traces of her previous appearance could still be faintly seen.
The golden-eyed woman let out a loud laugh, then tilted her head slightly and looked at the madam with contempt. "Warabihime? How pitiful and ignorant. You've been played and kept in the dark by me all this time without knowing it."
Quietly putting away his iron sword, Kurozawa tried his best to suppress his Fighting Spirit, while also pretending to be a random passerby with a bewildered look like the madam. He looked at Daki's expression and remembered that Daki had also made that small movement of tilting her head when she looked down from upstairs before.
On the other side, Daki casually glanced away and ignored the madam, while also ignoring the seemingly weak Kurozawa. Then, she stuck out her bright red tongue and licked her lips, shifting her gaze to Kanae. Black characters gradually appeared in her pupils like engravings. "Upper Moon" was carved in her left eye, and "Six" in her right: "My name is Daki, Upper Moon Six."
"I've killed seven Demon Slayer Pillars like you."
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