Chapter 136 - Eternal Paradise Faith.

Butterfly Mansion.

Kanzaki Aoi stood at the gate of the Butterfly Mansion, she looked worriedly in the direction outside the gate, and didn't come back to her senses for a long time.

In her hand, the Nichirin Sword that had never been unsheathed, was gripped tightly.

She hesitated for a long time.

Step.

Her eyes trembled, but she forcefully took a step out of the Butterfly Mansion.

...

...

Night.

The shadows of the trees swayed, the breeze brushed past the treetops, slightly shaking.

Two figures, one in front and one behind, were struggling to move forward in the mountains.

Crack.

The gravel fell off the mountain body as the two of them walked, rolling down the slope.

"Excuse me... is it really okay?"

Walking on the gravel, the woman walking behind the believer looked back worriedly, looking at the pitch-black forest behind her.

Her clothes were somewhat worn, her hands unconsciously hugged together, rubbing.

The traces of mending on the clothes were obvious, and the elbows exposed due to damage also looked dirty.

She was a courtesan who had escaped during the chaos in Yoshiwara's red-light district a while ago.

She thought she had finally escaped from hell.

But because of her identity and growing up in Yoshiwara since she was a child, she couldn't do any other work at all.

In the end, she fell to the streets to beg.

Her eyes were faintly uneasy as she looked at the figure of the believer in front of her, her tone hesitant:

"That, your so-called Sect, is it really in such... deep mountains?"

Her hands were scared together, as if she was ready to run away at any time.

After all...

The woman looked at the believer in front of her, who was dressed in luxurious clothes and holding a rosary.

As long as she followed him to believe in the religion, she wouldn't have to do any hard work and could live in the state she wanted.

——The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed!

Plus, they were now going in a more and more remote direction!

Even a fool could sense that something was wrong!

Hearing the woman's words, the believer's footsteps slowed down slightly.

In his hand, the prayer beads were thoughtfully turned twice.

"Haha." The believer's expression suddenly changed a bit, then he turned back with a smile, comforting her softly:

"Calm your mind and cross the world, those who observe themselves will be liberated——this is the doctrine of our sect, don't worry."

His squinted eyes slowly opened, reflecting the moonlight in the pitch-black forest:

"Eternal Paradise Faith is just ahead."

Saying that, the believer stretched out a hand, pointing to the distant treetops in the forest:

"Look."

The woman looked in the direction of his finger.

Her gaze passed through the treetops, to the rolling mountains in the distance.

In the layers of forest, there were some unremarkable temple-like buildings.

There, the lights were bright, which seemed out of place in the pitch-black surroundings.

If you listened carefully, you could indeed faintly hear the sound of singing and cheering coming from there.

Seeing the woman's stunned look, the believer withdrew his gaze, smiled and turned back, humming softly.

——Ignorant mortals.

Then he walked forward, his voice gradually fading away:

"When you see the founder, you will understand everything."

The woman's gaze was torn between the temple in the distance and the figure of the believer gradually moving away in front of her.

Her pupils trembled, and she subconsciously wanted to turn around.

But suddenly, she caught sight of her incredibly worn-out clothes and the messy hair in her peripheral vision.

Her ears echoed with the words she had said to the beggars on the street during the day as a believer:

[Don't do anything hard, or anything you don't want to do]

[Live with a stable and happy mindset]

[This is my church—Eternal Paradise Faith]

She stared blankly at her worn-out straw shoes.

She slowly raised her head and took a step forward as if she had lost her soul.

Step, step...

Just as the woman gradually quickened her pace to keep up with the believer's steps.

Ahead of them.

The fork in the forest path.

Tanjuro and the others, after a day's journey, finally arrived near the temple at nightfall.

"Believer-san——"

Kocho Shinobu smiled, she asked softly towards the front: "Are we there yet?"

At this moment.

"What's the rush." The bruised and swollen bald believer was suffering, he muttered unwillingly in a low voice:

"We're almost there."

"Ah?!" Behind him, Shinazugawa, who had several Kocho knots on his head, heard this, and immediately glared at him fiercely, very unfriendly:

"What kind of tone is that?!"

Slap! He forcefully pinched the shoulder of the bald believer.

At this moment.

Step.

A faint footstep sounded from the other side of the road.

Shinazugawa glared at the bald believer, then slowly retreated and stood back among the people.

Soon.

The believer holding the rosary beads came out from another fork in the road.

The two believers looked at each other at the Y-shaped fork.

After hesitating for a moment.

"—Sanjo? Is that you?!"

The other believer instinctively shouted the other's name, he seemed a bit excited, he even forgot to move the rosary beads in his hand:

"You're finally back!"

Under the dim moonlight, he walked over with a full face of joy, for a moment he couldn't see the bald believer clearly.

He instinctively looked behind the other.

Looking at the pitch-black figure following him, he couldn't help but exclaim:

"You're really something! Every time you bring back many high-quality new believers!"

The bald believer heard this, he glanced at the people behind him, seeing that they had no reaction, he could only smile awkwardly: "...um, haha."

The rosary believer laughed and patted the bald believer on the shoulder: "You're not being modest this time? The church leader has been waiting for you for a long time..."

At this moment.

After getting closer, the bald believer's face became clearer.

The bruised and swollen marks on his face could also be vaguely seen.

Seeing that the other party looked like he had been beaten a lot.

The rosary believer was a bit surprised for a moment, his tone choked, his eyebrows furrowed, he took a step back, pointed at the bald believer:

"You... how did you... get so disheveled..."

After getting closer, he looked at the bald believer's grimacing face.

He tilted his head in confusion.

Suddenly!

Whoosh!

From the crowd of shadows behind the bald believer, a figure in a blue kimono suddenly sprang out.

"Yeehee haha!"

Inosuke leaped into mid-air, his blue kimono tightly bound his movements, but he still released himself to his heart's content.

Plop.

He landed behind the rosary believer, forcefully tilted his head back, his beautifully made-up face was full of excitement: "I'm on stage!"

He yelled at the rosary believer in a rough voice:

"Eat my headbutt!"

"—What the hell?!" The rosary believer was surprised and wanted to turn his head, his wide-open eyes were full of panic.

Then.

Bang!

Inosuke's headbutt hit the unsuspecting rosary believer's side neck hard!

"Puk cough!"

The rosary believer's eyes rolled back, his body staggered, his head jerked back.

His whole body fell down with a thud, and he fainted on the ground.

He tried to stretch out his hand, wanting to point at the bald believer, but in the end, he could only fall down powerlessly and sleeping like a baby.

The bald believer watched the whole process in a daze, he slowly stared at his fallen colleague.

Gulp.

Swallowing in fear.

He thought he was about to reach his own territory, where he could be a little more arrogant...

He sighed to himself——it seems it's still not possible. 

"Hahaha!" Inosuke stood on the spot, slowly straightening up, a bright curve hooked at the corner of his mouth, he clenched his fists:

"How about that! You know how powerful I am now!"

In his eyes, full of pride.

——This is the headbutt he practiced day and night against the tree, preparing to compete with Tanjiro!

A lump gradually emerged on his forehead.

Behind him.

Whoosh!

"Who told you——" Uzui Tengen appeared behind Inosuke with a dark face:

"——to act on your own?!"

Slap!

A slap hit the top of his head.

"Uh!" Inosuke gritted his teeth, covering the top of his head that was slapped painfully, and squatted down with a grunt.

In his eyes, however, there was a hidden fighting spirit towards Uzui Tengen.

Not far away.

"...Huh?"

The woman dressed in ragged clothes hesitated to take a step, she blinked her eyes, staring blankly at the rosary believer who had already fallen to the ground:

"What happened...?"

Her eyes were dazed as she looked up at Inosuke and the others.

After seeing the tall figure of Uzui Tengen and the vague figures of others behind him.

"Ah!" She was immediately scared pale, not caring about the believer lying on the ground.

She quickly turned around, her eyes teary as she stumbled and ran in the opposite direction.

——As expected! Following this guy is not a good choice!

Thump thump thump!

Tanjuro stood behind several people, his gaze moved, looking at the woman who was running away not far away.

——Ordinary people... were they also deceived?

Looking at her panicked appearance, Tanjuro slightly lowered his head.

He poked the bulging bag in his arms and called softly: "Gohachiro, Gohachiro."

"Huh?" Gohachiro poked his head out of Tanjuro's arms, his crow head shook in confusion.

Tanjuro pointed in the direction of the woman, his voice lowered:

"Follow her, don't let her encounter a demon."

"Caw!" Gohachiro nodded, he crawled out of his body, flapped his wings, and flew high into the sky.

...

After a long time.

Everyone continued to move forward.

The gate of the Paradise Faith Church.

"——Sanjo?!"

The believer guarding the gate held a cannon, he looked at the bald believer in front of him in surprise: "You..."

His tone hesitated for a moment, looking towards Sanjo's back.

Inosuke and the Tokito brothers with dead faces stood at the forefront.

Looking further back, there was Kocho Shinobu with a cold smile on her face, and Obanai with bandages wrapped around his face.

"...Well done." After a moment of silence, the gatekeeper admired Sanjo and nodded:

"You're really something."

"Hehe." Sanjo tugged at his neck, forced out a couple of laughs, his voice hoarse: "Then, let us go."

And Sanjo's bruised face had long been covered by thick makeup.

"Of course." The believer nodded, naturally making way.

Watching Sanjo leave with several people, the believer hugged the cannon in his arms and stood back on the stone steps.

On the side.

In the dense forest of Shigeru.

Tanjuro opened the transparent world, his own breath converged, and he freely climbed over the wall from the forest into the temple.

"Uh! Uh!!"

Uzui Tengen was carrying the struggling Shinazugawa, hiding in a tree on the side, quietly observing the surroundings.

He squinted his eyes, his gaze swept over the brightly lit prosperous temple, and murmured:

"...These people seem to be living quite comfortably."

In the temple.

The light passed through the window, and the figures of people toasting, laughing heartily, and singing loudly were everywhere.

...

...

At the same time.

Paradise Faith Church.

Main hall.

The hazy ribbons hung down from the ceiling.

In the dim room, the moonlight faintly penetrated the window, passed through the pervasive dust, forming a few soft beams of light.

The wall was engraved with golden lotus patterns, shining brightly in the bloodstains.

"Ah, Akaza-dono is dead?"

Doma was sitting in the middle of the room on a soft cushion, leaning against the huge cushion, with a surprised expression.

Snap!

He opened the folding fan, covering his face, his astonished expression was incredibly exquisite:

"...No wonder, I couldn't feel his presence, I thought he was..."

Doma hesitated for a moment, then immediately laughed and shook his head:

"Well, since Muzan-sama you said so, it must be that I sensed it wrong."

In front of him.

A creature resembling an eyeball, rooted at the bottom, was supporting its body with short tentacles.

It was looking at Doma.

The creature was slightly swaying its tentacles, as if saying something.

Suddenly.

"Eh." Doma straightened up, he exclaimed in surprise, then as if talking to something:

"Then in this case, I will be the only Upper Rank Demon left..."

He pointed with his finger, staring at the raised index finger.

The demons he remembered seemed to have all died.

After a long time, Doma's expression closed the fan, and he sighed with melancholy:

"It's really lonely——"

At this moment.

The eyeball in front of him flicked its tentacles.

"Don't worry about these."

Muzan's cold voice echoed in Doma's ear, his tone was very impatient, as if he was in a hurry:

"Is there any news about the Blue Spider Lily?"

After learning from the last lesson of consciousness stored in Daki's body, unable to escape for a while.

He decided to store the visuals one by one in Nakime's blood demon art.

Instead of directly controlling the body of the Upper Rank.

After all——while controlling the body, the transmission of pain is real.

Hearing this, Doma's smile slightly faded, even he didn't dare to joke with Muzan about bad news:

"Unfortunately no, you have already reviewed the items with similar characteristic that have been found now, ."

Muzan fell into silence.

At this moment.

Thump thump thump.

Outside the spacious room, next to the beautifully decorated sliding door.

The dull sound of knocking on the door slowly sounded.

Doma carefully looked at the eyeball-shaped Muzan, seeing that he didn't seem angry, then frowned, wanting to scold the rude believer outside the door.

"Excuse me, Church Leader."

The believer outside the door hurriedly spoke first, he shouted with a trembling voice:

"Sanjo has returned, he said, he said——"

The believer suddenly took a deep breath, his voice hoarse:

"——He found the Blue Spider Lily!"

Upon hearing this.

Snap!

The eyeball's tentacles trembled violently, and the pupils instantly looked in the direction outside the door.

...

...

Outside of the temple.

On the dark corridor.

Obanai stopped at the end of the corridor, guarding the entrance.

The believer who had just reported the news had already fainted, Kocho Shinobu was slowly releasing her hand covering his mouth, the hand with the sleeping drug.

Tanjuro stood on one side of the door.

Uzui Tengen was hiding in the ceiling compartment, he was carefully listening to the sound in the room.

"...This is the fastest way to see the church leader."

The bald believer became much more arrogant, he was laughing and talking.

Shinazugawa Sanemi was leaning against the wall, one hand around the bald believer, the other hand pulled out the sword, the hilt slightly against his neck.

His eyes full of bloodshot, but staring straight at the position behind the door.

(End of the chapter)

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