The Warrior of Love

Rubbing his temple which was still slightly swollen and painful, Jiang Liu sat up on the bed and began to observe his surroundings.

The room was clean and spacious, with a wooden structure as the main body. The bed where Jiang Liu was lying was covered with clean white sheets. There were similar beds on both sides, but they were empty now.

It looks like a hospital or a similar sanatorium facility, but compared to modern large hospitals, there is no pungent smell of disinfectant here, only a faint floral scent in the air.

"At least it doesn't look like a dangerous place."

Jiang Liu looked at himself and saw that he had been changed into a loose hospital gown without him noticing, and the burns and fractures on his body had been bandaged.

Maybe it was because of the analgesics he took, or maybe it was the effect of divinity that made Jiang Liu's physique different from that of ordinary people. In any case, he didn't feel as much pain as he had expected, and it was much easier than the difficult situation before he fainted.

The lighting in the room was very good. The bright sunlight shone in through the transparent and clean glass windows, making Jiang Liu squint his eyes slightly and relax for a rare moment.

At this time, a gentle and ethereal voice came: "You have woken up, much faster than I expected. Your body is very strong."

Jiang Liu turned around in surprise, only to find a slender and petite figure appeared in front of the bed, looking at him with a smile.

Not to mention the sound of footsteps, he couldn't even sense the slightest breath - suppressing the astonishment in his heart, Jiang Liu smiled at the woman in front of him and nodded in greeting.

"Excuse me, were you the one who saved me? I'm so grateful."

“Well, let’s just say I saved you, but seriously, your injuries are serious but not fatal—assuming they don’t get worse, so I only saved half of you.

Haha, I'm just kidding, please don't take it seriously, little hero."

This is a woman who always has a smile on her face. She should be older than Jiang Liu, but definitely no older than 20 years old. She is still very young, but she has an incredibly soft aura like a mother or sister, which makes people feel friendly... but also makes people feel at a loss.

She is very beautiful. Even from the perspective of Jiang Liu, a "future man" from the 21st century, she is still a rare beauty. Especially her soft and beautiful facial features and gentle atmosphere set off each other, making her look very elegant and dignified.

She was not wearing a white coat like doctors or nurses, but a black uniform with a cool texture, and a gorgeous kimono with flowers, birds, insects and butterflies printed on it. The two kinds of clothing that didn't match well were combined together without any sense of disobedience.

Jiang Liu glanced at the butterfly-shaped hairpin she used to tie her hair, and seemed to have thought of something in a trance, but he couldn't make a judgment for a moment.

"A little... hero?" Jiang Liu pointed at himself and asked in surprise, "Are you talking about me?"

"Of course, because you defeated those two evil spirits by your own strength."

She smiled sweetly and said softly, "I checked the scene and I can roughly guess what happened. Although I don't know how you subdued the two ghosts, your courage is indeed precious.

Those two demons have been tracked by our Demon Slayer Corps for a while, but we haven't been able to spare any manpower recently, so they escaped once. This time we happened to find their tracks... but it seems I was too late.

I was very surprised. After all, ordinary people have almost no way to fight against evil spirits."

"I was just trying my luck..." Jiang Liu shook his head. "No matter how hard I chopped them, they wouldn't die. I could only cut off their heads separately. I wanted to see if I could kill them by drying them like leeches..."

"You are really lucky. The evil spirit's weakness is sunlight."

The beautiful woman with the temperament of a Yamato Nadeshiko tilted her head: "But you don't seem to be surprised at all, about the devil. And... you also acted very calm about being rescued."

"I knew about the existence of evil spirits before, but I had never seen the real thing..." Jiang Liu took a deep breath, "I never thought that one day I would see the real thing... Then it naturally occurred to me that since evil spirits exist but human society has not been seriously damaged, there must be some kind of force that suppresses evil spirits."

Having said that, Jiang Liu took a serious look at the black uniform on the woman.

"It's just that at first I thought it was the military or the police or something like that."

"Even the army has a hard time killing evil spirits. You've seen the immortal body, right? The only ones who can deal with them are swordsmen trained in special methods - that's us."

"you?"

"The Demon Slayer Corps - the people who defeat evil spirits."

She gave Jiang Liu a gentle smile: "Let me introduce myself. I am a member of the Demon Slayer Corps: Shinobu Kocho. Excuse me, sir, where do you live? We can take you home."

It was indeed her - Jiang Liu took a deep breath and his eyes became serious.

"My name is Yuanshan Jiangliu, and I... have no place to go back to."

-

A wanderer who lost his family and home due to an accident became homeless. He was caught by evil ghosts when he got lost in the mountains. He escaped when the ghosts were not paying attention and planned to kill the two ghosts - this was Jiang Liu's explanation of his origins.

Although a lot of things were concealed, the general facts were indeed like this. And it was not known whether Jiang Liu's own "righteous people's favorability UP" buff had taken effect, but Shinobu Kocho did not express any doubt about his explanation.

Even Shinobu Kocho didn't ask Jiang Liu how he defeated the two demons, making all the excuses he had prepared useless.

In fact, Jiang Liu's judgment made some errors because his memory was too old.

In this world, evil spirits are the enemies of mankind, and many members of the Demon Slayer Corps are people who have a blood feud with evil spirits, so they join the cause of fighting against them without hesitation, such as Shinobu Kocho.

Apart from attacking evil spirits, the Demon Slayer Corps will not harm humans. They can even be said to be very "gentle".

Moreover, although humans in this world do not know magic, fighting spirit, chakra, etc., there are indeed some extremely special beings born occasionally, such as those with innate supernatural powers, extraordinary five senses, etc. There are many such people in the Demon Slayer Corps.

Shinobu Kocho probably also regarded Jiang Liu as this kind of person. In addition, Jiang Liu was very secretive about his life experience, so she must have thought that he had other secrets, so she was unwilling to explore it further.

During the period of recuperation, Jiang Liu also met many members of the Demon Slayer Corps, most of whom were medical teams and logistics personnel, but there were also front-line fighters who came for treatment due to injuries.

Jiang Liu would occasionally chat with them, but more often he would quietly observe them from the side, and finally made a judgment: even though they were all mortal bodies, there was a huge gap between the members of the Demon Slayer Corps!

The difference between a novice and an experienced swordsman is almost visible to the naked eye, and those elite members of the Demon Slayer Corps are, in Jiang Liu's opinion, even close to the limits of human physical fitness. As for the "Pillar" Shinobu Kocho... Jiang Liu can't see through it at all.

Come to think of it, if humans had not been trained to this level, how could they rely on cold weapons to fight against nearly immortal evil spirits with special abilities?

However, this also shows that the effect of the "Full Concentration Breathing Method" on improving physical strength is stronger than Jiang Liu imagined!

Jiang Liu originally thought that it was just a technique to burst out physical energy, but now it seems... it is a bit like the internal strength in martial arts novels, which will improve a person's physical fitness in all aspects over time.

After his injuries were almost healed, Shinobu Kocho asked Jiang Liu about his future plans, and Jiang Liu took the opportunity to express his desire to join the Demon Slayer Corps.

“I have no place to go back to… Rather than continue to wander and live a mediocre life, I would rather use this body to do something meaningful.

In the past, even though I knew that evil spirits existed, I just regarded them as urban legends. But now that I have seen real evil spirits, I can no longer pretend that I didn’t see them…

Please let me join the Demon Slayer Corps, Miss Shinobu!"

Chapter 11: The Red-haired One-eyed Trainer

"Trainer? Isn't Miss Shinobu the one who will teach me?"

"No, I'm not a professional trainer. I have other jobs. Although I have a disciple...well, her situation is rather special." Shinobu Kocho smiled subtly.

Shinobu's disciple was a girl named "Kanao". Jiang Liu remembered that she also had a certain role in the original work, but she did not appear too many times in the animation. He only remembered that she was a girl who didn't like to talk much.

In fact, Jiang Liu did see Kanao several times during the half month he was in the hospital, but they never said a word. The girl always looked at somewhere with a smile on her face or did her own thing.

The aura of loneliness was so strong that Jiang Liu couldn't even find a chance to talk to him.

"The Demon Slayer Corps has a very strict entrance test. You must receive training from a trainer and pass the test before you can truly become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps."

Shinobu Kocho continued, "I can't teach you anymore, but don't worry. I have a trainer who I know and she's looking for a suitable disciple. She's very strong. Although she's very strict, if you want to grow up quickly, then she's definitely your best choice."

"Since he's an acquaintance of Miss Shinobu's, I'm relieved... May I ask who the trainer is?"

"She was injured and retired from the front line. Her name is——"

"Beacon..."

A deep, magnetic female voice with a hot and moist breath hit Jiang Liu's ears, instantly making him startled.

"Daolintang Feng."

When did it get behind me?!

Jiang Liu opened his eyes wide and subconsciously wanted to look back, but suddenly he felt a pain in the back of his neck and everything in front of him went dark.

"Miss Feng, why are you so rude? Mr. Yuanshan has only just recovered."

"Don't take it seriously. It's just a small test. Is this kid the one that Shinobu recommended? He seems to have some backbone, but I don't know..."

At the last moment when he lost consciousness, all Jiang Liu saw was the slightly fluttering short red hair.

-

"You were unconscious for about three hours, and I had planned to let you sleep for a day. Shinobu was right. Your physique is better than most ordinary people."

In the temple-like lobby, there was only an oil lamp emitting a dim light, dimly illuminating the small area.

The red-haired woman who called herself "Feng" sat with an evil look on her face where the clay statues of gods and Buddhas should have been. Her expression could not be seen clearly, and she was looking down at Jiang Liu who had just woken up.

"I checked you while you were unconscious. Although you have some muscles, you haven't undergone any systematic training, nor have you learned any martial arts. Is this physique innate?"

"Uh..." Jiang Liu blinked, and it took him a while to realize where he was. He subconsciously wanted to stand up, but as soon as he raised his body, half of his side felt numb and he fell to the ground again involuntarily.

The red-haired woman narrowed her eyes slightly. "Are you able to move already?... It seems that they have a higher opinion of you. The amount of anesthetic is enough for two people. Logically speaking, you can't move even if you wake up."

"You gave me medicine?!" Jiang Liu felt a surge of anger in his heart.

He is not a criminal or a demon. He is here to receive training to join the Demon Slayer Corps. What is wrong with this woman? What does she think of him?!

Is the person introduced by Shinobu Kocho so unreliable?

“It’s not ‘eat’, it’s ‘inject’.”

Feng raised his gauntleted right hand and extended two fingers, and a silver light flashed in the darkness.

"I injected the anesthetic into you when I first attacked you. I prefer this gentle method to physical knockout."

Gentle? Does this woman have any misunderstanding about gentleness?

Jiang Liu's mood was reflected on his face, but Feng just smiled indifferently: "If you want to hate me, then go ahead and hate me. I'm not a likable woman.

However, even if you hate me, you have to remember this feeling now, the feeling of being unable to move. Because only by experiencing it yourself can you have a deeper understanding of the medicinal properties. "

"Huh?" Jiang Liu was stunned for a moment.

"Why, you don't understand? This is my first lesson for you. From now on, I will teach you the various weaknesses of humans and how to kill humans more easily.

Swords, gunpowder, poison, ropes, steel needles, caltrops - only after you have mastered these, will you be qualified to proceed to the next stage: ghost hunting!"

"Method of killing?"

"What's so surprising? Ghosts were originally humans. If you can't even kill humans, how can you hunt evil ghosts? Compared to humans, evil ghosts are just harder to kill, but they are definitely not immortal. You can kill them even without swordsmanship - you should have realized this."

Jiang Liu said in surprise: "Aren't you going to teach me swordsmanship and breathing techniques?"

"Of course I will teach you, but that will come later. You are not even qualified to hold a sword right now. Don't think that you can quickly master the Sun Blade, learn the breathing method, and then kill ghosts and be invincible - I am not going to teach you that kind of thing!

An unexpected number of fools die from stupidity and arrogance, so the first thing you have to learn is how to survive and... be respectful!"

The red hair swayed in the light, like an elusive shadow, and the woman's condescending words deeply shook Jiang Liu's heart.

"You will not be able to touch a real sword for quite a long time... Compared to other trainers, my training is not only cruel but also "unprofessional". If you don't mind this, then I will teach you all the techniques without reservation."

"Okay." Jiang Liu looked at her deeply, and with difficulty raised his arms to lift himself up from the ground, trying hard to avoid being looked down upon by her.

"Wow... he's quite courageous. I like guys like him the most because they're fun to train."

Feng Youran walked down from the altar, picked up the oil lamp and walked around, lighting other lamps. The brightness in the hall gradually increased, and finally the paintings on the four walls and the statues were clearly reflected.

It was only then that Jiang Liu realized that this was indeed a Buddhist temple, but neither the murals nor the statues showed any mercy. On the contrary, they all looked like angry kings, with endless fire of anger, ready to turn all evil spirits into ashes!

Several statues had not yet been painted and were only half-carved. There were also a lot of sawdust and tools such as knives on the ground.

"Welcome to hell."

The regular footsteps passed by Jiang Liu and came to the front of the lobby, causing Jiang Liu to raise his eyes again.

The first thing that attracted his attention was the main statue in the hall, a deity about five meters tall. Although it was a female, her appearance was solemn. She had three faces and eight arms, each with a different expression and holding a different weapon.

Branches, ropes, longbows, vajra, long needles, arrows, axes - under the light, the shadows of the weapons were cast on the walls, looking more like the shadows of Asuras than gods and Buddhas.

And under this shadow stood Jiang Liu's future nominal "teacher".

It was then that Jiang Liu noticed that Dao Lin Tang Feng's attire was very different from that of women of that era. It was not a kimono or a short jacket worn for farm work, but tight-fitting black clothes and pants that showed off her slender and graceful body contours without reservation, but not much skin was exposed.

She had a very eye-catching red hair, which, perhaps for the sake of convenience, was only kept to ear level. She also had a gray scarf around her neck that hung down to her waist.

And her face—

"Hmm!" Jiang Liu suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"Why, are you scared?" Feng said jokingly, "This face is very recognizable, right?"

Jiang Liu nodded silently.

It was a rather "contradictory" face. On the left side was a beautiful face that would not be inferior to anyone else's. There was a heroic look between her eyebrows, but it was a little cold and sharp.

But the right side was occupied by a huge scar that covered two-thirds of his face, even his eyes were affected, so he had to wear an eyepatch to cover it.

I can only say it's a pity.

For women, this is definitely the saddest thing, but Feng herself doesn't seem to care much.

"Let me introduce myself again. My name is Torindou Feng, a former member of the Demon Slayer Corps and now a trainer. In addition, I was also..."

Feng raised his thumb and pointed at the statue behind him - Jiang Liu later found out that it was "Marichi".