Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

Chapter 176 Friends?

Turn around, swing the knife, miss, everything happens naturally and smoothly.

Lin Guang was standing right in front of him, not too close, not too far, not so close that he could cut his neck with a single swing of his knife, but not so far that he would lose the desire to chase him.

Tanjiro looked at him. He had thousands of words to say to him, but at this moment, he didn't know where to start. It seemed that there were too many things that should be said between them, too many things that needed to be explained and understood, but Tanjiro couldn't open his mouth. His brain was thinking, his chest was heaving, and his hands were shaking. Tanjiro couldn't tell whether it was fatigue, anger, or more complicated emotions. The emotions were completely intertwined, becoming the only support that allowed him to still stand here.

He shouldn't have thought about this, but his physical fatigue paralyzed his mind.

To be honest, he was completely exhausted and didn't want to move at all. Every time he moved his body, it felt like he was moving an iron barrel filled with lead. He never knew that his body could be such a heavy burden. Did the Nichirin Sword have such a weight in the past?

"You can't swing a sword anymore, Tanjiro."

The boy stood in front of him, his eyes looking at him quietly. He was obviously very aggressive when he just arrived, but now, at this moment, they stood opposite each other, and the boy did not move. If Rinkou attacked at this time, could he dodge it? Tanjiro asked himself, could he find a way to dodge Rinkou's attack and then find a way to subdue Rinkou.

"I don't like fighting, I don't like killing, and I have no interest in eating people. I just like making friends."

Lin Guang stood there with his hands behind his back, his posture and expression showing ease.

"Where are Mr. Rengoku and Mr. Fuzugawa?"

Tanjiro grasped his scattered thoughts. There were too many things flashing through his mind, and he couldn't distinguish them clearly. He could only find the most clear nodes while his mind was still clear.

Yes, where did Mr. Rengoku and Mr. Fuzugawa go? They just drove Rinko farther away, but why did they appear here now? What happened to them? Were they injured, or worse, were they killed?

But how could that be? They were both such powerful pillars, it was impossible. Rinkou was covered in blood, on his clothes, on his body, everywhere. But judging by the shape of the blood splatter, it looked more like blood from his own body. Were they trapped somewhere?

"He's probably still running around in circles. Look, he's right over there, two blocks away. Maybe we can catch up to him soon. After all, at this distance, the blood vampire magic will gradually lose its effect."

The boy raised his hand, turned and pointed somewhere behind him. Just as Tanjiro thought, they were not dead. That's great. They were not dead, they were just trapped temporarily.

Great.

Tanjiro was actually in a trance for a moment. What was he thankful for? Was it that Mr. Rengoku and Mr. Busui were fine, or...

Lin Guang did not kill anyone.

Will Lin Guang kill people?

This question had lingered in Tanjiro's mind for a long time. He knew and witnessed that ghosts were good at disguising and deceiving. So what about Rinko? Could he also disguise and deceive?

Tanjiro thought of the previous meeting of the Pillars, he thought of the arguments of the Pillars, he thought of the past, the stories they told. In everyone's eyes, Rinko had almost the same image, and it seemed that in his eyes, Rinko did not have the peculiar stench of ghosts. Almost like Nezuko, he did not have the smell of blood on his body. Does this mean that he is innocent?

He asked himself, and the Rinko in his heart, "Are you innocent?"

The boy wouldn't answer him, and he didn't know the answer, Tanjiro thought, he just hoped so.

Tanjiro remembered what Busei said.

"He's an upper-rank demon. This alone means he can't be a demon who hasn't eaten humans."

This makes a lot of sense. The Lower Ranks are stronger than Demons, and the Upper Ranks are stronger than the Lower Ranks. Moreover, the gap between them is far more than a simple step, but a mountain that cannot be easily crossed. Rinko is Upper Rank Zero.

But Mr. Ubuyashiki also said that Zero may not mean being stronger than One, but rather represents some unique advantages he possesses, such as an aura that cannot be detected by others, or the special ability to survive or even become stronger without eating human flesh.

"You said you only like making friends, so why do you help these ghosts? Aren't we your friends?"

Tanjiro asked him, the boy seemed to be stuck on the question, he saw Rinkou lower his head, thinking, his eyes lingering on the floor for a long time before looking up, finally shaking his head and nodding.

"You are my friends, but so are they, so I have to help them."

"Even if you have to kill us in exchange?"

This question seemed more difficult to answer than the previous one. Tanjiro didn't know what was going on in Rinko's head. He thought he really couldn't guess it. He just relied on the faint smell on Rinko's body to judge that the other party was indeed not lying.

"Like I said, I don't like fighting or killing, but I don't have many friends, and I don't want to lose any of them."

The negotiations seemed to have broken down. The boy went from still to moving in the blink of an eye. When he opened his eyes, he was standing there. When he opened his eyes again, the fist was already in front of him. Tanjiro quickly retreated and swung his sword, but this time it did not miss, but collided with another long sword.

Tanjiro didn't notice where Rinkou pulled the sword from, but he recognized it as a Nichirin Sword. He didn't know where it came from, but Tanjiro recognized the style.

"Have you ever thought that maybe there is another way for you to go, Rinko? We are all your friends and are willing to be your friends. Why, have you never thought about changing a path?"

The blades of the two long swords crossed each other, and every time Tanjiro swung his sword, it was easily blocked. The clanging sound of iron colliding was endless.

"I'm a ghost, and you're a human. The prerequisite for us to be friends is that you won't discover my identity, right? But now you all know."

"Even so! Mr. Purgatory still considers you a friend, doesn't he? I'm still willing to talk to you, don't I?!"

The boy easily blocked and swatted away his every move, and the feeling was familiar, as if Tanjiro had faced it before.

And in the next second, when Lin Guang swung his knife, he remembered that he had indeed seen it.

"Mr. Urokodaki, I'm here, waiting for you to come back! Rinkou!"

The simple words seemed like a stone that broke the glass. Tanjiro saw Rinko's brief hesitation. After just a brief hesitation,

The answer he received was not the surprise he expected, and Lin Guang looked at him with a slight frown.

"Mr. Urokodaki, who is that?"