Chainsaw Man, starting contract to cut down the Demon Line

Recalling the two female guards from earlier, Yan Liang had vaguely noticed something lurking beneath their wide robes. Now, reminded of this, he suddenly realized what it meant.

Yan Liang felt his stomach churning again, and a bead of cold sweat silently appeared on his forehead.

This was a feeling he had never experienced since coming into this world. Even when facing Machima or other ruthless demons and monsters, he remained unfazed. But facing this cult leader, for the first time, he couldn't maintain his composure.

With just one sentence, the other person threw him into disarray, almost turning him into a sweating soybean.

"call……"

Yan Liang exhaled a deep breath, trying hard not to break his composure. He shifted his attention from the two guards and looked back at the cult leader on the platform in front of him.

At this moment, there was no third person in the dojo.

The moment the door closed, the cult leader on the lotus platform, who had previously seemed detached from worldly affairs, underwent a dramatic change in attitude, and a warm smile blossomed on his face.

"Oh--"

He stood up directly from the lotus platform, opened his arms, and said to him:

"Welcome! Welcome!"

"you……"

Yan Liang cautiously took a half-step back, before he could finish speaking. The cult leader, however, had already impatiently leaped down lightly from the half-meter-high platform, his bare feet stepping onto the wooden floor, and quickly walked to the front of the platform.

He stretched out his hand and pointed to a futon placed in the center of the wooden floor.

The cult leader looked at Yan Liang with a smile and said to him:

"Please sit down, don't be shy."

The cult leader pronounced his name accurately, then added:

"I've been waiting for you here for a long time...

The other person's attitude was clearly not how one should treat a stranger. Noticing this, Yan Liang asked in a deep voice.

"Do you know me?"

The cult leader shook his head, a warm smile on his face.

No, I don't know you.

"But I know that everyone who comes here must be filled with anxiety and confusion."

"Since you took the initiative to come to me, it means you have questions that need answers. And I am certainly happy to guide you."

Upon hearing these superstitious words, Yan Liang did not respond.

"Come, please sit down. You can't calm your mind while standing."

Seeing Yan Liang remain silent, the cult leader stretched out his hand again, pointed to the futon in the center of the wooden floor, and made a "please" gesture.

Yan Liang stared at the prayer mat, then glanced at the empty temple grounds around him.

Now that we've come this far, being hesitant will only make us look guilty.

As long as he still has the ability to cut off the enemy's head, no matter what trap the cult leader sets for him, he is confident that he can cut off the enemy's head before anything happens.

With that thought in mind, Yan Liang no longer hesitated, walked to the futon, and sat down cross-legged without hesitation.

The cult leader also took two steps forward and sat down on the ground about two or three meters away from Yan Liang.

The distance is perfectly balanced, neither too dangerous nor too distant. In this distance, both people can see each other's subtle movements, making it an ideal space for a heart-to-heart talk.

Let's get to know each other formally.

The cult leader straightened his posture, smiled, and began to speak:

"My name is Love-stained".

"Of course, in this village, everyone is used to addressing me respectfully as the leader. But if you call me by my name, I have no objection."

Love has filled it.

Yan Liang silently repeated his name in his mind, then uttered two words softly:

"Yan Liang."

"Yan Liang... Okay, okay, I understand."

Aizen Manchu pondered the name for a moment, his smile widening. Then, he quickly asked:

"Then, Yan Liangjun."

"What kind of help are you seeking here?"

"..."

Faced with the straightforward question of love, Yan Liang suddenly felt a little lost.

On his way here, he was seething with anger, thinking that if the cult leader was completely inhuman or wanted him dead, he would have a perfect excuse to kill him.

Yan Liang knew the principle of not hitting a smiling face, and since the other party was being so kind to him at the moment, he didn't want to fall out with Ai Ranman.

Moreover, Yan Liang was unable to give a clear answer to his question.

What kind of help is he seeking?

What he truly needed was help, which was also his biggest secret—

As a time traveler, his thoughts naturally revolved around how to return home to the normal world he once knew.

But could I say such things directly to this cult leader whose background is so unclear?

Chapter Ninety-Two: I'm Going to Begin Telling a Story

Sitting opposite Ai Ranman, meeting his unusually enthusiastic gaze, Yan Liang twitched his eye.

Of course, he couldn't possibly reveal everything. After a moment's thought, Yan Liang decided to play along and pass the buck back to him.

"Didn't you claim to be the spokesperson of the gods, all-knowing and all-powerful?"

Yan Liang spoke, his tone tinged with a hint of probing:

"Since you're so amazing, can't you just guess what I'm thinking right now?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Aizen Man, who had just been putting on an air of profound mystery, looked helpless.

"what?"

"Who told you that? Was it the villagers?"

"Isn't that a bit too much? Omniscient and omnipotent...?"

Ai Ranman shook her head with a bitter smile:

"Yan Liangjun, please don't think of me like that. Only charlatans and cult leaders would say things like 'omniscient and omnipotent'."

Ai-ran, with her legs crossed, began to pour out her grievances:

"How could I possibly have such great abilities? I'm just an ordinary person, nothing special. At most... I'm just a nobody."

"My ability is, at best, to treat people's illnesses or answer some simple questions."

"If I encounter a problem that even I can't solve, I will consult the demon with whom I have a pact, and it will give me the answer. That's all."

At this point, Aizen Man spread his hands and sighed: "If I were truly omniscient and omnipotent, able to have whatever I wanted, why would I still be stuck here, getting advice from people every day? Wouldn't that just be making myself suffer?"

Seeing the other person's reaction, Yan Liang was stunned.

Did you make a contract with the devil?

Yan Liang wasn't surprised by this; after all, it would be strange if an ordinary person could do those things.

However, Yan Liang's train of thought was not swayed by him. He coldly retorted:

“Since you claim to be an ordinary person who only helps people heal and resolve their doubts…” Yan Liang pointed in the direction outside the church, “then why did you brainwash the entire village and create such a chaotic situation here?”

Brainwashing?!

Upon hearing this word, Aizen Manji reacted as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. His previously languid posture immediately straightened, and his tone rose eight octaves:

"Are you kidding me! You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want! When did I brainwash them?"

Ai Ran's face was full of grievance:

"Before I came to this village, it was full of poor people suffering from cancer, and there was constant strife and chaos. People hurt each other without realizing it; it was a living hell."

"After I came to this village, through my persuasion and treatment, the villagers gradually became more positive and motivated to live, and the village began to prosper again."

“I visited every single person in this village, one by one, and persuaded them to come back by reasoning with them and appealing to their emotions!”

"How can this be called brainwashing? This is slander against me!"

Aizen Man shouted as if he had really been slandered, looking extremely aggrieved.

If Yan Liang hadn't carefully investigated the village, he almost would have believed it.

Although his words suggested that the people in the village were normal humans, it only made things more bizarre.

He knew the true situation of this village. In Yan Liang's opinion, almost everyone they encountered in the village was mentally unstable.

Now, Yan Liang was too lazy to argue with him anymore, so he asked directly:

"Okay, even if you were the one who persuaded me, why did you do it?"

"How did you turn such a perfectly good village into this...this horrible mess?"

Upon hearing the question, Aizen lowered his head, seemingly deep in thought. After a couple of seconds, he spoke again, his tone now sounding weary and worn.

"Why... Yes, it's a very, very long story."

“Yan Liangjun, since you are so eager to hear this, I am not unwilling to open my heart to you.”

"That was a long time ago..."

"and many more!"

Just as Ai Ranman was about to begin reminiscing, Yan Liang's intuition warned him, causing him to unusually stop her.

When memories came up, Yan Liang thought of that person in the casino and the story of Nakamura, the tumor demon. He suddenly realized that the other person's story couldn't possibly be anything serious, and if he were to tell it to him, it would inevitably cause him another bout of mental corruption.

"You don't have to say it..."

Thinking of this, Yan Liang resolutely retorted, "Can we get straight to business?"

Ai Ran stared blankly at Yan Liang, clearly unhappy:

"Yan Liangjun, that's very impolite of you."

Love dyed her eyebrows into wrinkles:

"Respect is mutual. To show my respect, I asked you to sit on the ground. I answered all your questions frankly. But now, this is very disrespectful to me."

"That's not what I meant."

Yan Liang calmly replied, "I just don't really like listening to people tell stories because of some things that happened in the past. I hope you can understand me."

"Oh? Is that so?" Aizen Mitsuru looked at Yan Liang with some skepticism. "Then it's not incomprehensible."

"Alright, since you're so resistant..."

Aizen Mitsuru stroked his chin and proposed a compromise:

How about we each take a step back?

“Okay, I’ll continue telling my story. If you feel uncomfortable or don’t want to hear a certain part during the narration, you can just shout to skip it.”

"Let's treat this as a safe word between us. If you say 'skip this,' I'll just go straight to the next part. Is that okay?"

Yan Liang stared at Ai Ranman for a long time, unable to figure out what he wanted to do. But there was one thing the other man said that he agreed with: respect is mutual.

Normally, he wouldn't want to compromise with others. But this time is different; he still has questions that need to be answered. Besides, Aizen Mitsuru has already lowered himself so much to treat him this way, so it's wise to listen to him for now and decide what to do next after getting the answer.

And there's no better way right now. Since he's already gone this far, he can just let things slide if things don't look good. There shouldn't be any problems...

I think so.

“…Okay.” Yan Liang nodded, reluctantly agreeing to the request.

“It’s a deal. If I feel something’s not right, I’ll yell ‘skip’.”

It's a deal.