69novels Chapter 9 The Curse in the Bloodline
Chapter 9 The Curse in the Bloodline
The fragrance of wisteria blossoms in the garden of the Ubuyashiki residence should have been delightful, but instead, a sense of tension permeated the air.
"You can ask Tanjiro how this 'holy milk' dispelled that despairing nightmare on the train," Pei Qi said, looking at Tanjiro.
Tanjiro immediately stepped forward and excitedly described to everyone how the bucket of milk had instantly eradicated the Blood Demon Art.
"Such miraculous power... I wonder if it can remove the bloodline corruption left by the progenitor of demons?"
Kagaya Ubuyashiki raised his head slightly and let out a self-deprecating exclamation.
"Perhaps, this is truly the last glimmer of hope that Heaven has given to the Ubuyashiki family after a thousand years. Shinobu, thank you for your help."
Shinobu pursed her lips. This Insect Pillar, who always wore a professional smile, had her fingertips trembling slightly at this moment.
She carefully served Kagaya, helping the frail leader slowly drink the enormous amount of milk from the bucket.
As the milky white liquid flowed down his throat, a near-miraculous spectacle unfolded before everyone's eyes.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki's originally cloudy, dull, and even lifeless skin became translucent in just a few seconds, as if the dirt on a dusty jade stone had been wiped away.
The purple markings that had clung to his upper face like poisonous vines faded and shrank rapidly before everyone's eyes, eventually disappearing completely.
Kagaya's back, which had been hunched over for years due to illness, suddenly emitted a crisp sound of bones grinding together as he straightened his body.
"My body... feels lighter. It's like the heavy shackles that have been weighing on my soul for so long have suddenly been broken."
Yaozai murmured softly, his voice no longer hoarse, but instead carrying an incredible tremor.
Disregarding etiquette, Butterfly immediately stepped forward and grabbed her lord's wrist.
A moment later, her usually calm pupils suddenly dilated, and she almost cried out in surprise.
"The chronic ailment...it's gone?! The chronic ailment that has been tormenting our lord for so long has been completely 'vanished' in that instant!"
"Aside from the deficit caused by years of illness and weakness, my body is now perfectly healthy!"
She turned her head and looked at Pei Qi as if she were looking at a god who had descended to earth.
The courtyard instantly erupted into chaos.
The curse that had plagued the Ubuyashiki family for a thousand years was actually solved by a bucket of milk that could be found anywhere on the roadside?
However, Pei Qi did not show any joy.
He keenly noticed that the "Debuff icon" above Yaozai's head, which had been cleared, flickered with a faint purple shadow again after only a few seconds.
Just as Yaozai was about to thank Pei Qi, his body, which had just straightened up, suddenly swayed violently, and his face instantly turned ashen white again.
The sudden weakness nearly made him fall off the cushion, but fortunately Shinobu Kocho reacted quickly and caught him by the shoulder.
To everyone's horror, the purple lines on Yaozai's face were visibly seeping back out from under his skin. Although the color was much lighter than before, the persistent expansion showed no signs of stopping.
"Just as I thought. This is a 'continuously refreshing' curse. Drinking a bucket of milk only clears the status judgment for that one second, but since Muzan, the source of this curse, still lives somewhere in this world, his 'connection' with this bloodline will not be broken."
As long as the connection remains, the curse will reappear, like an automatically refreshed patch, over and over again.
"It's like the Ancient Guardian in the underwater temple in Minecraft who can apply 'Mining Fatigue.' You can only clear the effect for a second by drinking a bucket of milk, but since the monster is still nearby, the curse will be reapplied immediately the next second," Pei Qi thought with a sharp look in his eyes.
He originally thought this was just a static negative state, but he didn't expect that Muzan's karmic entanglement with this family was so deep.
Pei Qi no longer hesitated. He reached out and took out another golden apple from his backpack.
"This is the golden apple that saved Mr. Flame Pillar back then..."
Tanjiro exclaimed in surprise. He had personally witnessed how Rengoku-san was instantly revived from the brink of death after eating this thing.
"Mr. Pei Qi, since the root of my illness lies in the source of my bloodline and cannot be cured by external forces, there is no need to waste such a precious treasure on me."
Yaozai realized the rebound in his body. Although he was weak, his tone remained open-minded.
"Since this curse can only be ended by defeating Muzan, let's leave it to the warriors on the front lines. I'm already content just knowing that 'hope' truly exists. After all, it's been many years since I've seen the world as clearly as I did just now."
"My lord, your thinking is wrong in my eyes."
Pei Qi stepped into the delivery room and forcefully stuffed the golden apple into his hand, his tone so cold and hard that it brooked no refusal.
"You are the core of the Demon Slayer Corps' will. If you can maintain high efficiency for one more day, the morale and organization of the entire Demon Slayer Corps can be maintained for one more day."
"In my logic, whether something is precious or not is not important; what matters is using it on an irreplaceable 'strategic pivot.' Right now, you are that pivot."
Under the almost breathless persuasion of the Nine Pillars, Kagaya swallowed the golden apple.
Although the curse was still stubbornly refreshing, the "life restoration" and "damage absorption" effects of the golden apple successfully suppressed the speed of the curse's erosion to a negligible level.
"Alright, the most troublesome maintenance work is temporarily over."
"I have a general idea of how to completely end Muzan. But this idea requires the cooperation of all of you, including you 'Pillars'," Pei Qi said.
"Please speak! We are willing to go through fire and water to eliminate that evil spirit that has plagued us for thousands of years!"
Yinzhu Yuzui Tianyuan was the first to step forward. His gorgeous attire and passionate speech contrasted sharply with Pei Qi's cold demeanor.
"It's not that exaggerated. I don't need you to fight Muzan to the death."
"To be honest, even if all nine of you went together, your chances of winning were close to zero," Pei Qi calmly stated, revealing a very painful fact.
These words caused the expressions of the Pillars present to change, and the Serpent Pillar, Iguro, even let out a displeased snort.
"My plan is simple. In the final battle, all of you, the nine Pillars plus Tanjiro, have only one mission: to hold back all the Upper Moons around Muzan, including those countless small fry."
"What you need to do is cut off the battlefield, preventing them from returning to support their master."
"You mean... you want to take on Muzan one-on-one?" Serpent Pillar Iguro sneered, his single eye, visible outside the bandages, flashing with a cold light.
"Even if you kill Upper Moon Three, that man named Muzan is far more powerful than an Upper Moon. Are you sure you're not just throwing your life away?"
"It seems you still don't quite understand my strength. I can tell you very frankly that as long as I can suppress Muzan's ability to split, I am confident that I can defeat Muzan head-on."
Pei Qi smiled and replied.
As everyone knows, the biggest difficulty in defeating Muzan is preventing him from escaping. Muzan may lack other skills, but he is unparalleled in his ability to survive.
In a thousand years, any intelligent person could have ruled the entire country of Japan. It can only be said that Muzan's obsession with survival was so deeply ingrained by his brutal defeat in the battle against Yoriichi Tsugikuni that it became an obsession.
"The intelligence I've gathered happens to indicate that there's an Upper Moon demon in the Youguo region. You'll understand why I'm so confident in saying this when the time comes..."