Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

The old man behind the mask sneered: "I remember you once told someone not to hand over the power of life and death to others. Right now, aren't you handing over that power to others?"

Su Mu remained silent, but then smiled: "It is indeed very insecure to hand over the power of life and death to others, but some people, even if they hold the power of life and death, cannot easily end the lives of others."

"Ah……"

Urokodaki Sakonji sneered, lightly stroking the blade of his Nichirin Blade: "Boy, I don't end other people's lives easily, but do you really think I care about the life of a demon like you?"

"Or do you think my heart is so weak that I don't even have the resolve to cut you off, you demon? I know very well that you are a demon who can bask in the sunlight. If you, this demon, were to do evil, the evil you would bring would even surpass that of Muzan Kibutsuji."

Almost instantly, Urokodaki Sakonji's attack broke through Su Mu's defense, and the sharp blade of his Nichirin Blade was pressed against Su Mu's neck: "At this moment, if my blade moves forward just a little further, I can sever your head and cut off the neck of a demon. If a demon does evil, the evil it brings can even surpass the neck of Muzan Kibutsuji.

"If my senior judges me and ends my life based on what he believes I might do evil in the future, then what difference is there between my senior and those ghosts?"

Su Mu sheathed the blade of his Nichirin Blade and quietly looked at the old man: "If you, senior, are judging my life or death based on what I will do in the future, or on your own perception of the future, then senior, you may draw your sword now."

As he spoke, Su Mu closed his eyes.

"I won't be soft-hearted."

Urokodaki Sakonji whispered, promising not to repeat the mistake of the previous Hand Demon, but he still couldn't bring himself to swing the sword in his hand.

But in the end, the old man did not draw his knife.

After waiting for a long time, the sensation of his neck being severed did not occur. Su Mu couldn't help but open his eyes and look at the old man who still had a knife to his neck.

"Senior, if you can't wield the sword, please put it away. It's scary to have a sword at your neck."

Su Mu shrugged casually, and with his movement, the sharp blade that was pressed against his neck drew a thin line of blood on his skin, but he didn't care at all.

This, in turn, caused Urokodaki Sakonji to immediately sheathe his sword.

"Are you really not at all indifferent to your own life and death?"

Urokodaki Sakonji found it somewhat difficult to accept.

"Because I know that with your personality, it would be difficult for you to do such a thing. After all, you even let go of the Hand Demon back then. That was a demon that ate its own brother and a man-eating demon."

"Now, facing a demon like me who has never tasted human flesh, can you, senior, simply raise your sword and end my life at will?"

He said it calmly.

In fact, it's not just that; more importantly, it's because even if his head is cut off, this ghost will not die.

Perhaps, he is no match for Urokodaki Sakonji.

However, it wasn't as easy for Urokodaki Sakonji to kill him as he imagined; at least, simply severing his head wouldn't suffice.

Perhaps, knowing that Sakonji Urokodaki had accepted Nezuko as a demon, he wanted to try it out himself, wondering if Sakonji would do the same for him as a demon.

Of course, if Urokodaki Sakonji really did sever his head with a sword, then he would probably take a different path, at least one where he would not have any expectations of anyone.

In fact, he didn't have any expectations of anyone except Kanao, but ultimately he didn't want to go to such an extreme.

Urokodaki Sakon glanced at Su Mu again, then drew his sword once more. However, this time he didn't swing the sword at Su Mu, but instead slashed his own palm.

Blood flowed down his palms, but the old man's eyes beneath the Tengu mask remained fixed on Su Mu.

A gentle breeze carried the scent of blood to the surroundings. If it were a ghost, it would be hard to bear the delicious taste of human flesh and blood.

"You're already so old, the smell of your blood isn't as appealing anymore, at least not to this ghost."

Su Mu tore off a strip of cloth from his own body, walked up to Urokodaki Sakonji, and began bandaging his wounds, joking as he did so: "You should know, Kanao by my side is a million times better than your flesh and blood, old man. How could she possibly eat an old man like you who's almost in his grave..."

"It seems you have truly overcome your desire to devour human flesh and blood."

Urokodaki Sakonji breathed a slight sigh of relief: "It seems I should believe that you won't become a man-eating demon in the future."

Upon hearing this, Su Mu casually shrugged: "Human predation? How could I possibly do something like that? If I couldn't even uphold the bottom line of being human, I wouldn't be the person I used to be."

"But you... are already a ghost."

"Yes! I'm already a ghost."

Su Mu sighed softly: "This is an unchangeable fact, but ghosts were once human too! At least I remember my former identity as a human. Although almost all ghosts forget their former human identity, there are always exceptions. At least, I am that exception now."

"I hope you will always remember this in the future."

Urokodaki Sakonji stared intently into Su Mu's eyes.

Su Mu smiled and looked at the old man: "Senior can keep an eye on me."

"Ha, I won't live much longer."

Urokodaki Sakonji shook his head and sighed.

"I can also turn you into a ghost. As long as you are willing, once you become a ghost, you will have a long life."

Su Mu smiled.

Urokodaki Sakonji raised his cloudy eyes to look at Su Mu, then shook his head: "Even if I die and become a demon, I will never have such thoughts."

Such unwavering resolve.

The words were spoken with such seriousness.

After saying that, the old man's tone became even more serious: "I don't want you to become another Muzan Kibutsuji in the future."

Chapter 197 How Long Can He Live?

"I don't want you to become another Muzan Kibutsuji in the future."

Urokodaki Sakonji spoke in a serious and earnest tone.

In the old man's eyes, Su Mu possessed all the qualities that Muzan Kibutsuji had. In fact, he had even overcome the flaw of sunlight and the desire to devour humans. In Urokodaki Sakonji's eyes, Su Mu was practically another Muzan Kibutsuji.

Even more terrifying than Muzan Kibutsuji.

After all, no matter how powerful Muzan Kibutsuji was, he was ultimately just a creature of darkness, destined to walk in the shadows and never daring to be exposed to the sunlight.

But Su Mu was already able to bask in the sunlight.

"Kibutsuji Muzan?"

Upon hearing this, Su Mu simply shook his head: "I would never become such a pathetic creature."

As he spoke, he looked at Urokodaki Sakonji:

"No matter what the future holds, there is only one thing I will always remember: I am a human being, or at least, I was once a human being. Even though I have become a ghost now, my bottom line as a human being will not change."

In the past, no matter how difficult things were, I never gave up my bottom line as a human being, and I will continue to do so in the future.

Urokodaki Sakonji carefully observed Su Mu for a long time. He could smell the determination in Su Mu's words and sense that what Su Mu said was not false, but rather what he truly thought in his heart.

After a long while, Urokodaki Sakonji finally sighed, "I hope that this time, I won't make the same mistake as the Hand Demon."

Because he was too soft-hearted and didn't kill the Hand Demon, his disciple suffered the fate of Fujikasane Mountain.

This time, he again chose to let the matter go. If he had made the wrong choice, the disaster that might have occurred this time would have been far more terrifying than the birth of the first demon, Muzan Kibutsuji.

But in the end, he chose to believe, to believe in the ghost before him, to believe that this ghost would be different.

Su Mu didn't say anything more. Seeing that Senior Linlong was swaying weakly, he smiled and said, "I'll carry you back."

"Alright."

Urokodaki Sakon nodded.

Su Mu carried the old man on his back as they walked along the road. The mountain breeze was blowing. Urokodaki Sakonji looked at the path leading to Mount Sagiri and sighed softly. Many of his disciples had left for Mount Fujisaku via this road and never returned.

Now, only Makomo and Giyu Tomioka remain as his disciples.

Thinking of his last disciple who was now by his side, Urokodaki Sakonji lowered his head:

"Don't tell Makomo about your identity as a demon."

Su Mu paused slightly in his steps, then smiled wryly:

"I'll try my best."

A hint of worry appeared in Urokodaki Sakonji's eyes. He knew his disciple Makomo had too many relatives who had died at the hands of demons, which made Makomo hate demons very much.

If Makomo knew that the person she liked was a demon, Urokodaki Sakonji really didn't know what kind of disappointment his disciple would experience.

…………

Carrying Urokodaki Sakonji on his back, they arrived at the house halfway up the mountain. Everyone was waiting, and many of them had worried in their eyes. Perhaps they had sensed something was wrong before leaving. However, seeing Su Mu and Urokodaki-senpai return safely, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Master, what happened to your hand?"

Soon, Makomo noticed the blood-stained strip of cloth wrapped around Urokodaki Sakonji's hand.

"I accidentally got a cut, it's nothing."

Urokodaki Sakon shook his head.

Makomo checked him over nervously and found that it wasn't too serious, so she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she gave Su Mu a reproachful look, as if blaming him for not taking good care of his master.

Su Mu couldn't explain that Urokodaki Sakonji had drawn the line himself, so he could only smile awkwardly and then help Urokodaki Sakonji into the house.

…………

The raven flapped its wings and landed.

A man with long black hair tied in a low ponytail, wearing a dark Demon Slayer Corps uniform, walked silently down the road.

It was Giyu Tomioka

Hearing the noise, they also looked up.

After receiving the message from the raven, a sadness unconsciously appeared on the face of this taciturn swordsman, and he headed towards Mount Sagiri almost without hesitation.

…………

Shinobu Kocho, who had only left Mount Sagiri a few days earlier, returned to Mount Sagiri.

After showing it to Sakonji Urokodaki, he silently shook his head in the face of Makomo's expectant gaze.

Upon seeing this, Makomo's beautiful eyes immediately dimmed, and the others in the room also became much more somber. However, Urokodaki Sakonji, the person directly involved, didn't seem so heartbroken; instead, he casually inquired...

How much longer can he live?

Shinobu Kocho hesitated for a moment before finally whispering, "At most half a month."

"Not bad, he lived longer than I expected."

Urokodaki Sakonji was even a little happy, then pointed to the notebook beside him: "This is a record of the various physical characteristics I've experienced since activating the 'Scarlet Mark'. It might be helpful for future 'Scarlet Mark' treatments."