Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

Ubuyashiki Teriyaki knelt down and reported the situation to the 'Pillars'.

Upon hearing this, Himejima Gyomei clenched his fists. Although he had survived the battle against Muzan Kibutsuji a few days ago, he was now severely injured and unable to move for a while. With the Demon Slayer Corps in such a precarious state, it was extremely agonizing for Himejima Gyomei, the man his former 'master' had trusted most, to be unable to help his son.

"Then let the surviving swordsmen shoulder more responsibility, and we 'pillars' will also give it our all..."

'Wind Pillar' Sanemi Shinazugawa stated his thoughts without hesitation.

Rengoku Kyojuro nodded heavily. Although his injuries had not yet fully recovered, he was able to begin moving around.

You could see that everyone's faces were full of exhaustion, but at this moment, they were still willing to shoulder the responsibility and run around to fight ghosts and put out fires.

Su Mu's gaze swept across the faces of every Pillar present, glancing at Ubuyashiki Teruya, and he sighed softly.

"No, it's not a matter of putting in more effort."

All eyes fell on him at the same time. Shinazugawa Sanemi's brows furrowed into a knot. Just as he was about to retort, Su Mu continued, "Demon hunters have always been fighting with their lives on the line. In such a terrible situation, having swordsmen move around everywhere will only lead to more swordsmen being sacrificed."

"I propose that we temporarily abandon our ghost-hunting expeditions and go into hiding."

The moment those words were spoken, the air in the entire room seemed to freeze.

Kyojuro Rengoku's bright eyes suddenly widened, and his lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to say something but then swallowed it back.

Kanae Butterfly raised her eyes, and a rare look of shock and confusion appeared in her usually gentle eyes.

Sanemi Shinazugawa reacted the most violently, standing up abruptly, his scars turning slightly red with anger.

"What did you say?!"

Shinazugawa's voice was almost squeezed out of his throat, "Give up demon hunting? Go into hiding? You want us to just watch those demons slaughter at will in the night? Do you know how many people die at the hands of demons every night?"

Although Beimingyu Xingming couldn't see, tears slowly streamed down his tightly closed eyes.

He said nothing, but his calloused hands gripped the edge of the stretcher tightly.

"Shinazugawa, calm down." Rengoku Kyojuro finally spoke, but his voice lacked its usual enthusiasm and cheerfulness, replaced by a suppressed heaviness: "I want to hear your reasons. You should know very well what this means for the Demon Slayer Corps."

Su Mu nodded: "Since its establishment, the Demon Slayer Corps has never abandoned the protection of humans. Every swordsman who joins the Demon Slayer Corps is prepared to kill one more demon, even if it means sacrificing himself."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"But I want to ask everyone a question: why did you join the Demon Slayer Corps?"

"Is that even a question?!" Shinazugawa Sanemi gritted his teeth and said, "To kill all the demons in the world!"

"To prevent more people from suffering the same pain that my sister and I went through," Kanae Kocho added softly, her voice trembling slightly.

Kyojuro Rengoku straightened his back: "To protect the weak."

Himejima Gyomei remained silent, but his tears flowed even more profusely.

Su Mu nodded: "So, everyone is doing this to 'eliminate evil spirits,' right? Not to kill a few ghosts, not for temporary peace, but to fundamentally and thoroughly eliminate all evil spirits in this world."

This time, no one objected.

"Then I'll ask everyone another question."

"Thousands of years have passed, and generation after generation of swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps have died one after another, killing tens of thousands of demons. But have the demons been eradicated?"

silence.

A suffocating silence.

Kyojuro Rengoku lowered his head, his fiery red hair obscuring his expression.

Kanae Butterfly's fingers were tightly clenched together, her fingertips turning pale from the force.

Sanemi Shinazugawa's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his chest heaving violently, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Because they all know the answer.

It was not eradicated.

Not only did they fail to eliminate them, Muzan Kibutsuji continued to create new demons, like weeds that could never be eradicated.

"We kill ordinary demons as easily as we cut down the branches of a large tree."

"If you cut off one branch, two more will grow. No matter how hard we try, as long as the roots are still there, the tree will never wither. For thousands of years, what the Demon Slayer Corps has been doing is essentially cutting branches. They cut them very well and very hard. Every generation has tried their best to cut them, but the roots have always been there."

He raised his eyes and looked at everyone.

"There is only one way to truly eradicate evil spirits: sever the root and kill the first demon, Muzan Kibutsuji."

Everyone knows that to eradicate evil spirits, one needs to kill Muzan Kibutsuji, but that's simply impossible. Muzan Kibutsuji has always been extremely cautious, and it's almost impossible to find him when he hasn't shown himself, let alone kill him.

At this moment, Teruya Ubuyashiki spoke up, "Does the master mean to concentrate all forces and carry out a decapitation operation?"

"Instead of scattering our forces to put out fires everywhere and exhausting ourselves, we should concentrate all our strength, find Muzan's weakness, formulate a meticulous plan, and strike him down in one fell swoop. Until then, we need to lie low, preserve our strength, and avoid making any more unnecessary sacrifices."

Another silence followed.

"But... what about those who have been attacked by ghosts?"

The Demon Slayer Corps was originally established to eliminate evil spirits and protect humanity. This is why many people choose to embark on this path even though they know it is a path of no return.

Su Mu was silent for a moment before speaking in a low voice: "For the swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps, from the moment they embark on this path, they will not hesitate to risk their lives. Even knowing they will die, they will still continue forward. Compared to that, watching others die is more painful than death itself. But have all these years of protection really solved the problem? Have the demons truly been eradicated? Right now, we are only sacrificing some lives."

"Namo Amitabha Buddha..."

With tears streaming down his face, Kyōmei Himejima chanted a Buddhist prayer: "So many years have passed, and the problem remains unsolved. There's no sign of the demons being eradicated. I myself have killed countless demons, yet the number of demons has never decreased. Muzan remains at large, and demons continue to emerge. Sometimes I wonder, when will this killing end...? But I dare not think about it, because I can't stop. I only think about protecting one demon at a time, and slaying one demon at a time..."

He couldn't continue speaking; tears streamed down his face and dripped onto the stretcher.

Rengoku Kyojuro raised his head: "I understand what you mean by lying low, but we are swordsmen, and my sword is born to slay demons. You want me to put away my sword and watch demons devour humans... that's hard to do."

"I can't do it either."

Sanemi Shinazugawa gritted his teeth, turned around, and slammed his fist into a pillar, sending wood chips flying. His shoulders trembled violently, and no one could see his expression, but everyone heard his suppressed voice, which was almost squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Since its inception, the Demon Slayer Corps has never backed down."

He spoke slowly and deliberately.

For ordinary people, it's perfectly fine to choose to retreat or lie low for a while when faced with danger or an unfavorable situation.

But they are ghost hunters.

If they all retreat, what about ordinary people? What kind of despair will they suffer when facing evil spirits? He dared not imagine.

“I cannot accept this.”

Kyojuro Rengoku stood up: "I will not hide at this moment."

From the moment he became a demon hunter, he understood the path he was meant to take. Just as his mother had told him when she was critically ill, the responsibility of a born strongman is to protect the weak, not to use the talent bestowed upon him by heaven to harm others or enrich himself.

He always kept his mother's words of advice in mind.

He cannot stand idly by when he sees the vulnerable being harmed.

.........

The "Pillar Meeting" ended amidst arguments, but it was ultimately decided that the Demon Slayer Corps would focus on accumulating strength in recent years. While they would not stop hunting demons and protecting humanity, they would not exert their full power as before.

After the 'Pillar Meeting' concluded, Su Mu returned to the residence that Teruya Ubuyashiki had specially arranged for him at Fujikazeyama.

Night fell without us noticing.

When the sun sets, evil spirits appear, and raven flutter about, emitting mournful cries; these are mostly evil spirits encountered in various places.

In the past, the 'headquarters' would coordinate efforts across various regions, immediately dispatching swordsmen to hunt down demons in the areas where they appeared, almost without hesitation in making sacrifices. But this time, they were unusually silent.

Ghostly incidents are becoming more and more frequent and larger in various places, and ghosts that were previously unknown to the public are gradually becoming known to more people.

When people learned of the existence of demons that feed on humans, ordinary citizens began to panic, and a sense of unease seemed to be brewing in various places.

Officials also began to communicate frequently with 'Ubuyashiki', but received an extremely pessimistic outcome.

The official stance on the existence of the Demon Slayer Corps has always been extremely ambiguous, merely tacitly acknowledging its existence.

But given the current situation, we have no choice but to provide more support.

…………

As the ravens flapped their wings and flew by, emitting mournful cries, Su Mu looked up and watched silently. He didn't feel much, but many others who heard the news found it hard to accept.

Having long been accustomed to immediately going to hunt down evil spirits upon hearing news of them, the swordsman is now unable to do so as before. The thought of many people losing their lives is a painful thought for him.

Many people were also dissatisfied with his suggestion to remain in seclusion.

Su Mu didn't care too much about these things. He was different from the swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps; he didn't have the belief of sacrificing himself to protect others.

He was wandering around Fujishima Mountain alone. This was his second time visiting Fujishima Mountain. Just like the first time, wisteria trees covered the mountainside, which would be unbearable for any ghost to be there.

Only a perfect ghost like him could walk freely in this area full of wisteria flowers.

Just then, a warm voice, like sunshine, came from behind me.

"one person?"

Turning around, one sees a tall, slender girl wearing a Demon Slayer Corps uniform, a haori with butterfly wing patterns, and long, jet-black hair.

'Flower Pillar' Butterfly Kanae.

"It's Ms. Kanae. This is probably the second time we've met at Fujikasayama."

Kanae Butterfly naturally remembered that the last time they met was when Su Mu participated in the Fujikasayama assessment, and the other party had left a deep impression on her at that time.

"Sir, please don't worry about it. It's not that people have a problem with you, it's just that they really can't accept the current situation."

Kanae Butterfly stepped forward, walked to the side, and spoke softly.

"I know."

Su Mu nodded.

Kanae Butterfly looked Su Mu over carefully with her beautiful eyes, and only after confirming that he was really as she had said did she breathe a slight sigh of relief.

"I brought some food with me when I came over. I wonder if you're hungry, sir? Would you like something to eat?"

Su Mu did not refuse, and began to eat after the food box was taken out.

Sitting on a blue stone, eating while looking at the scenery of Tengxi Mountain, Su Mu looked puzzled: "Why don't I see your sister?"

Logically speaking, if he could participate in this 'pillar meeting', then Shinobu Kocho should also be qualified to participate.

“’Ren’ suffered very serious injuries and is still in a coma.”

Kanae lowered her eyes. Back then, when the Twelve Demon Moons attacked the Butterfly Mansion, her younger sister fought against the Lower Moon 2, Rokuro, all by herself to protect everyone. Although she managed to kill the opponent, she was on the verge of death.