Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

Chapter 128 Meaning

Kokushibo has patience far beyond that of ordinary people. The reason why he is compared to humans instead of demons is because most demons are not even as patient as humans.

Most ghosts cannot learn to wait, cannot learn to be patient, and even less can they learn to persevere.

This may be one of the reasons why they die so easily.

A more powerful ghost might be more patient, but that patience is also limited.

If it were Douma, he'd do whatever it takes to achieve his goal. If it were Akaza, he'd turn his head the moment he saw a woman. This is their difference, but also their similarity: they won't do anything they don't want to do, but when it comes to achieving what they want, they don't care about the process.

Similarly, they are not willing to waste too much time and energy on things that are uninteresting or meaningless.

Lin Guang used to be that meaningless part, and their interest supported their brief attempts to become his teachers, but time proved that most ghosts really did not have enough patience. They did not persist until he really learned anything completely, and gave up the idea of becoming his teacher.

In the end, you just become his friend, or a colleague he doesn't like very much.

So Rinko would also be curious whether the reason that supports Kokushibo's persistence is also interest.

But interest wasn't enough to sustain it for so long. If it was just interest, it would have faded after so many years. So Rinko guessed that maybe Kokushibo had found some meaning in him.

But what was the point of him? Was there any point in trying to teach him breathing techniques, or something more powerful, or even to enable him to eventually protect himself?

Rinko himself is a ghost, so he knows very well that he and Kokushibo can be friends, can be seniors and juniors, but they will not be family. Kokushibo is an 'elder', not a 'family'. What the other party needs is respect, not intimacy.

"...Rinko...stand up."

The call pulled him back to his escaping thoughts. Lin Guang liked to take a break from his busy schedule like this. Thinking that had no meaning but was enough to kill time was a way for him to relax. He was avoiding everything he didn't want to face.

Lei's death, the disappearance of the Lower Moon, the breakup with his friends, there were so many problems he wanted to avoid, so many that he didn't know how to dodge.

Maybe that was one of the reasons why he agreed to train with Kokushibo.

"coming."

The moment he regained control of his body, the scattered spider webs were retracted, and all the strands of his fantasies fell to the ground, silently shattering. His attention shifted from the horizon to his eyes, and his eyes refocused, smoothly landing on the unsheathed blade.

Kokushibo is a qualified teacher, but not a qualified sparring partner.

His strength far exceeded all the skills mastered by his students, so in front of him, Lin Guang could only experience repeated breaking into several sections, or even shattering into pieces, which was not a good experience.

Any other ghost would have probably tried to run, but Rinkou didn't, and he didn't look like he wanted to run.

Faced with failure again and again, he just stood up again and again, as if that was something that would make him happy, even if there was no smile on his face.

"You need to...focus..."

This was instruction, a reprimand, and also an education. Lin Guang leaped lightly into the air, twisting his body nimbly in the air, his strength and speed creating a whistling sound. If he had wielded the Nichirin Blade at that speed, he could probably have chopped off someone's neck. But the Nichirin Blade simply lay quietly in the pot tied to his wrist, and he still refused to take up a weapon.

Just dodging, dodging constantly.

Rinkou kept repeating the same pattern of dodging quickly among the dense moon blades, without fighting back or running away, until he was distracted or the speed increased beyond his tolerance. When the moon blades hit him, he would be easily chopped off and fall to the ground like a puppet, and Kokushibo would wait for him to recover quickly and continue with the next training session.

----

"Why... don't you fight back..."

Lin Guang felt that this sentence even sounded a bit unreasonable.

Facing Kokushibo, who could raise the blade and fight back? Just dodging those moon blades had already exhausted his energy.

"If I add a knife, my speed will only be slower."

This is Lin Guang's reason and also his excuse.

"You should...know...what...I'm talking about..."

A long silence stretched between them until Lin Guang exhaled, fell down, and lay on the ground, looking at the empty sky above, looking at the distant pillar, and uncontrollably wondering whether the pillar would fall down in the next second and hit him directly in the face.

"Rinko."

Only when his name was called did Kokushibo become decisive and scary.

"I don't know any breathing techniques, so I can't use any effective sword techniques."

It was still an excuse, but Kokushibo was not satisfied with this explanation, and the heavy gaze falling on him undoubtedly emphasized this point.

"Okay. Because I don't want to."

Kokushibo remained silent because of this answer.

Lin Guang rarely refuses something so bluntly, and rarely is he so firm in his own ideas.

No. This is a very subjective emotion, so subjective that it can be completely ignored.

"reason...."

"I don't know what's the point of learning how to kill someone. I just need to hide, I just need to avoid being caught, run fast enough, hide well enough, and then wait to be eaten or run away with someone, that's it, isn't it."

Rinkou turned his head and looked at Kokushibo. The six eyes were still staring at him, but to be honest, he had begun to get used to this feeling of oppression and could even catch a flash of confusion in those eyes.

"There's no point in running away. You need to learn to fight back."

Rinko thought, maybe Kokushibo wanted to teach him not for any meaningful reason, it was just a man's obsession.

Like Akaza, Akaza wanted to become stronger, but he didn't know why, and he didn't remember why. He just wanted to become stronger, so when he saw him, he subconsciously wanted him to become stronger. Kokushibo was actually very similar to Akaza, he also wanted to become stronger, so Rinko had to suffer with him.

So what is his obsession, Rinko asked himself.

What kind of meaning does he need?

He wanted to live. Although dying was fine, it would be better if he could live. Why? It seemed that he didn't need a reason. He wanted to make friends, taste more delicious food, and see more scenery.

But none of this sounded right, because now he had lost his friends, his taste, and his freedom.

It was nothing like he had hoped for, but he was still alive.

So these are not reasons.

What is the reason.

The answer was right there, and Lingguang closed his eyes.

"I don't need to learn to fight back, I just need to stay alive."

Because Muzan wants him to live.

So he lives.