"I need to go find my sister first," Tanjiro said, remembering Nezuko who had been left at the udon shop.
"You two should get this person some medical treatment first," Lexon said, pointing to the unlucky passerby pinned underneath Tanjiro.
"Alright," Tamayo nodded and gestured for Yushiro to restrain the unlucky demon.
"I will have Yushiro find you later."
"Okay," Lexon replied, then said to Tanjiro, "Let's go. It's been a while since I've seen Nezuko. I've missed her."
Tanjiro smiled and said, "Nezuko has missed you a lot too."
Seeing his long-lost friend again, Tanjiro's low spirits from his encounter with Muzan gradually began to improve.
Although Lexon and Tanjiro weren't formally designated as senior and junior disciples under Urokodaki Sakonji's tutelage, Lexon's broad knowledge and more mature mindset made Tanjiro inevitably see him as an older brother figure during their time together.
Having him around always made him feel more at ease and happier.
"By the way, Lexon, this demon on your back..." Tanjiro suddenly asked on the way.
"You noticed, huh..." Lexon shook the burlap sack. As if in a conditioned response, the contents of the sack trembled.
"Inside is a very vicious and powerful demon that I've captured alive," he explained.
"Then why not slay this evil demon?" Tanjiro asked, puzzled. Although he was kind and would sympathize with demons, he wouldn't spare a vicious one because of it.
"This demon has many other uses. Just like the demons you encountered in the Final Selection, it can be used to temper others."
"I see..." Tanjiro said in realization, then changed the subject back to the Final Selection. "Lexon, you disappeared after the Final Selection was over. I thought something had happened to you. Thankfully, those two girls explained your whereabouts to me..."
"With my strength, what is there to worry about?" Lexon boasted jokingly.
But Tanjiro nodded seriously. "That's true."
Gradually, the two of them arrived in front of the udon shop.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
Seeing her brother and Lexon arrive, Nezuko called out with pleasant surprise and happiness.
"You're in high spirits."
Lexon patted Nezuko's head and said gently.
Nezuko obediently lowered her head to accept the pat.
"Nezuko really did miss you, Lexon," Tanjiro said with a laugh.
In Nezuko's memory, the last time she had seen Lexon was at the ancestral hall. After waking from her slumber, she had never seen him again. Coupled with the fact that her brother was always talking about Lexon these days, she couldn't help but miss him.
"Let your big brother have a turn," After Lexon finished patting her head, Tanjiro also moved closer, wanting to pat Nezuko's head.
But Nezuko just hummed a few times and moved her head away, not letting Tanjiro touch it.
Instantly, Tanjiro's entire body turned to stone.
"Is she blaming you for leaving her behind?" Lexon laughed, watching the interaction between the two.
"I'm sorry, Nezuko, for leaving you all alone!" Tanjiro quickly said to Nezuko.
"Hmph, hmph!" Nezuko happily patted her brother's head, indicating that she had forgiven him.
"Hey, aren't you going to eat your udon!" At that moment, a bald owner popped out from inside the udon shop.
"It's you!"
The bald owner cried out the moment he saw Tanjiro.
He ran out of the shop and said to Tanjiro in a heated tone, "You're the guy who abandoned my udon earlier!"
"I'll pay for it!" Tanjiro said quickly.
"I don't care about the money, I care about the udon! It's that you didn't eat my udon! And you, and you! One of you is biting on bamboo! The other is carrying a burlap sack! Put them down! Eat udon!"
As the bald owner spoke, his tirade expanded to include Nezuko and Lexon.
"In that case, I'll have a bowl," Lexon said with a smile.
Although he had just eaten not long ago, eating a little more wasn't a problem.
"Give me two bowls! Sir!" To prevent Nezuko from having to take off her bamboo muzzle, Tanjiro stepped forward in time and said with great vigor.
"O-Okay..." The owner was startled for a moment, then went back into the shop and cooked a few bowls of udon.
Lexon ate his noodles slowly, but Tanjiro finished two bowls in just a few slurps.
"He looks very hungry. You should cook him two more bowls," Lexon suggested to the owner.
"Alright!"
"Huh?"
Tanjiro stared dumbly at the two steaming bowls of udon that were quickly placed in front of him again.
...
"I can't eat anymore, I can't eat anymore..." Tanjiro clutched his round, bulging stomach. Looking like a chibi character, he was supported by Nezuko, walking with faltering steps.
"That's why you can't eat too much at once," Lexon said with a laugh.
"Ah..." Tanjiro was too full to reply.
At this moment, the green-haired Yushiro suddenly emerged from the side of the road. "Hmph, isn't that woman a demon! I didn't expect you to be here for this ug—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Lexon shot him a sharp glare, making the rest of his words get stuck in his throat.
'Strange, why am I a little afraid of this person...'
Yushiro could only attribute it to the powerful strength of the person before him, who was unaffected by Lady Tamayo's Blood Demon Art.
"Let's go. Take us to Lady Tamayo."
Seeing the atmosphere turn cold, Lexon took the initiative to speak.
Yushiro nodded subconsciously.
Then he led the way in front.
The group barely exchanged any words on the way.
Tanjiro was too full to walk properly, let alone talk much. Nezuko was busy supporting and taking care of her brother. Yushiro didn't want to talk, and Lexon had nothing he wanted to say either.
Before long, the group arrived in front of a wall.
Yushiro walked up to the wall and just slowly walked right into it.
"Eh?"
Both Tanjiro and Nezuko were a little surprised.
Lexon understood that this was Yushiro's Blood Demon Art, used to hide his and Tamayo's residence.
After all, Tamayo had ultimately defected from Muzan's side, so she wouldn't be lacking in necessary precautions.
He followed Yushiro and walked straight in. Tanjiro and Nezuko followed closely behind.
The two humans and one demon followed Yushiro's steps to the outside of a house.
Yushiro knocked twice on the door.
"Please come in," Tamayo's voice came from inside.
"I've brought them back."
"Welcome back."
Inside the house, an injured woman was lying unconscious on a bed, with Tamayo tending to her wounds at her side.
The woman was the wife of the unlucky passerby whom Muzan had randomly chosen to turn into a demon earlier.
Because she had been bitten, she was brought back to be treated.
The unlucky man who had been turned into a demon was fine, full of energy, but because of his craving for flesh and blood and having lost his sanity, he was now locked in the basement.
"I'm sorry for leaving everything to you just now. That lady..." Tanjiro, having recovered, walked forward and said with concern.
"This lady will be fine," Tamayo finished treating the wound and covered the woman with a blanket. "But I'm very sorry that her husband has been tied up by us and locked in the basement."
"Doesn't treating a person's wounds feel difficult for you?" Tanjiro asked.
Hearing this, Lexon tapped Tanjiro on the head.
"They aren't ordinary demons. They should be surviving on human blood," Lexon said.
"How did you know?" Yushiro looked at Lexon in surprise.
Lexon pointed to his nose. "I smelled it. My nose is very keen. I can't smell the obvious stench of eaten flesh and blood on you."
Hearing Lexon's words, Tanjiro gave a deliberate sniff and did indeed notice something was off. Although the two people before him also had the scent of a demon, they didn't carry the peculiar foul odor that other demons had.
"Is that so..." Tamayo said in a low voice. She had lived for so long and had seen people with keen noses before, just never one this keen. But she didn't dwell on the issue for too long.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]