Demon Slayer: I will play the ancestor of the Flame Pillar

The snow was still shining, and the sky was full of snow.

The howling north wind swept across the fields, and the sky and the earth were covered with silver.

In such weather, generally speaking, no one would go out without knowing how to do anything, but a row of footprints appeared on the snow-covered path.

Following this line of footprints, at the end of the road, a black dot wrapped in a cloak was growing from small to large.

"Ha~"

Lin Heng exhaled a cloud of white mist from his mouth, which rose up along the air flow, and in the blink of an eye, it dissipated in the flying snow.

Tightening the cloak on his body, Lin Heng patted the leather pocket in his arms.

"We are going into the mountains. Gugu, are you okay now?"

"Gugu, Gugu, Gugu."

(-̩̩̩-̩̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩___-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩)

A listless voice came from his pocket.

Lin Heng smiled bitterly.

Logically speaking, owls are not migratory birds. They can stay awake and spend the winter safely under normal conditions, but the owl in his arms is extremely afraid of the cold.

Gugu is indeed different from other eagles, and the winter in Yunqu is more severe than that in other places.

Hmm?

Suddenly, Lin Heng was slightly startled. Within the range of super perception, a life feature that was much more vigorous than that of ordinary people appeared.

Could it be such a coincidence?

With a hint of strange emotions, Lin Heng hurried in that direction.

Trampling the snow, the boy in a green plaid haori was carrying an empty basket half a person's height and trudging through the snow.

He looked only thirteen or fourteen years old, with short dark red hair, a flame-shaped scar on his left forehead, and black charcoal marks of varying depths on his not-so-fair face.

So it was really you...

Lin Heng's eyes swirled around his face, his expression slightly condensed.

Tanjiro Kamado.

Huh, huh.

The north wind blew violently, and Tanjiro instinctively squinted his eyes and turned around to avoid the snow. He slapped his face hard to wake himself up.

When he looked back, the boy's eyes suddenly widened.

At some point, a stranger wrapped in a black cloak suddenly appeared beside him, staring at him without saying a word.

After sniffing a few times, Tanjiro felt a strong and strange fragrance rushing into his head.

I've never smelled a smell before, who is he?

"Hello, I've never seen you before, I guess you're not near Mount Kumotoriki."

The boy instinctively stepped back a few steps, holding down the axe he carried with his right hand, with a little caution, but still very friendly.

"What's wrong, are you lost here? Do you need my help?"

The tightly wrapped weirdo shook his head, but the voice coming from under the cloak was unexpectedly young and crisp.

"No, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Jiguo."

Ah?

After a moment of hesitation, Tanjiro shook his head in confusion.

"Did you recognize the wrong person? I'm not Jiguo, and I don't know anyone with this surname. My name is Tanjiro Kamado."

"Tanjiro Kamado? I'm so rude."

Lin Heng said in surprise, and then whispered.

"You shouldn't be mistaken, it's the Breath of Fire..."

What a weirdo, the smell is also very strange, completely covered by the fragrance, and it's impossible to judge.

Frowning, the kind-hearted Tanjiro hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke.

"Well, it snows heavily today, and it's getting dark. If you must go into the mountains, let's go together."

"Okay, let's go together for now..."

Unexpectedly, the mysterious man under the cloak agreed very readily.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Rengoku Hengshoulang. Just call me Mr. Rengoku..."

Huh, huh...

As the sky gradually darkened, the relationship between the two people walking in the snow advanced by leaps and bounds. They hit it off as soon as they met, and talked and laughed all the way.

Tanjiro asked excitedly.

"Then, Mr. Rengoku, what did the human side do next? Did Mr. Doctor successfully defeat the evil dragon?"

"Well, you guessed right."

Lin Heng stretched out his hand wrapped in snakeskin gloves and stroked his chin, without continuing to keep the secret.

"Under the guidance of the friendly dragons, the man gained the power to fight against the evil dragons. They joined forces to fight and successfully expelled all the evil dragons."

Tanjiro waved his fist excitedly.

"Great, after destroying the evil dragons, the people on earth can finally live a happy life in peace."

"No, it's a pity..."

Unexpectedly, staring at

Tanjiro was happy, but Lin Heng shook his head.

"Because he learned too much taboo knowledge and bathed in a large amount of dragon blood, his teeth became dragon teeth, his limbs became dragon claws, his body became a dragon body, and he grew dark wings different from dragons."

Tanjiro, who was in an excited state, gradually cooled down and widened his eyes. He didn't expect the story to develop like this.

"Next, regardless of good or evil, the man killed almost all the dragons, and the end of the story was that he himself became the last black dragon."

Tanjiro looked disillusioned, and the simple child said that this was completely unacceptable.

"It's a lie, how could it be, those coexistence factions are all a group of friendly dragons, and they also selflessly helped people."

"The old king fell, and those humans who survived because of the man called him the Dragon King. The war that gave birth to the Dragon King was the Dragon King Festival."

The calm voice continued to narrate without any emotion. Ignoring Tanjiro's doubts, Lin Heng finished the last bit of the story.

"The king's name is Akunologia."

"This..."

Looking at Tanjiro who was disappointed after listening to the story and followed behind with his head down, Lin Heng's eyes darkened.

"Tanjiro, in fact, many things are not as simple as you think..."

The person in front suddenly stopped, and Tanjiro's lowered head collided with Lin Heng violently. He was surprised and raised his head when he came to his senses.

In a glimpse, Tanjiro suddenly found with fear that the boy wrapped in the black cloak had red gold pupils and his face was covered with strange patterns.

The low words sounded with a strange rhythm, as if it was a black hole that tempted people to fall, constantly pulling the consciousness of the audience and ruthlessly filling it into the abyss.

"People who fight monsters must be careful to prevent themselves from becoming monsters..."

The boy's blood ran cold, his whole body stiffened, and he unconsciously raised the axe in his hand.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing... Stop it, stop it."

Lin Heng, who had just made a strange low voice, suddenly jumped to the side and pointed at Tanjiro and shouted.

"Ouch, what are you doing..."

The axe was suspended in the air, and Tanjiro woke up and said subconsciously.

"There are patterns on your face, it's a monster..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Lin Heng waved his hand to stop, took a few steps quickly, and put his face close to Tanjiro.

"Look carefully, it's a mask, a mask, with a snake pattern engraved on it, it's not a monster."

Tanjiro took a closer look and found that it was indeed the case. He breathed a sigh of relief, retracted the axe that had been raised in the air, and then touched his head apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Purgatory, I was too impulsive just now, but who told you to say something so scary, and you were wearing such a scary mask."

"It's just a story, Tanjiro, you're still a child, how could you be so easily scared."

Touching his mask, Lin Heng said intoxicatedly.

"You know, these are all art, I spent a lot of time carving them, but if you really want them, I can consider giving you one another day."

Hehe, hehe...

Tanjiro echoed dryly.

For this thirteen-year-old boy, no matter how kind and trusting he is, everything that happened today is too bizarre, as if he had strayed into some kind of monster story.

The wind and snow became more and more urgent, and the two turned a corner, and then suddenly the light in front of them appeared, and a small house with lights on appeared at the intersection ahead.

Tanjiro excitedly ran to Lin Heng and pointed at the house and said.

"That's Grandpa Saburo's house. It's not far from my house. Wait a minute. I'll ask Grandpa to get some charcoal to warm it up."

Tanjiro doesn't need it on normal days, but today he has Lin Heng with him.

Although it's a bit weird, Tanjiro inexplicably feels that Mr. Purgatory is a good person, but his character is a bit bad. If he leaves him alone in the snow, something might happen, so Tanjiro decided to take him to his home to rest for a night.

The kind boy knocked on the door gently.

"Grandpa Saburo, are you there?"

"Hmm? Who is it?"

The wooden door opened, and the old man yawned and walked out slowly, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said with surprise.

"Ah! It's Tanjiro, come in, come in, why are you back so late today, are you delayed in the town?"

Tanjiro shook his head and said.

"No, no, don't worry. Grandpa Sanlang, can you lend me some charcoal first? I'll return it to you next time I come."

"Charcoal? There's not much left, but..."

The old man took a look.

The sky was dark, and then he reached out and patted Tanjiro's shoulder vigorously.

"It's so late, it's very dangerous to walk at night, let's stay here."

Tanjiro took a step back and shook his head apologetically.

"I'm really sorry, actually I have a friend with me today, we have to go back quickly."

"Ah? Where is my friend?"

The old man was stunned for a moment, with a suspicious look on his face, he walked out of the house in his ordinary clothes and looked around.

"Huh? Mr. Purgatory!?"

Tanjiro turned his head suddenly, and the figure who was following him just now was gone.

Shaking his head vigorously, Tanjiro rolled his hands into a trumpet shape and put them to his mouth, shouting loudly.

"Hey! Mr. Purgatory, we should go home."

The old man looked at the boy with a strange look.

"Tanjiro, what are you talking about? Where is Mr. Purgatory? You are the only one here from the beginning."

No way, are you kidding me?

The boy's pupils suddenly widened.

The old man pulled Tanjiro's shoulders with his hands and pushed the boy into the house with great force, his tone was very firm.

"You have been walking alone for too long and you have hallucinations. You must stay at my house tonight..."

At this point, the usually gentle grandfather Saburo's expression became unusually serious and his tone was solemn.

"According to the old people, there will be man-eating evil spirits in this area at night."

Hearing the evil spirit, Tanjiro's struggling body froze and was pushed into the room.

...

The old man looked at Tanjiro with a smile, stretched out his hand to light the candle, and evenly put half of the remaining charcoal fire into Tanjiro's room.

"That's good. It won't be too late to go back tomorrow if we get up early."

Lying in the room, Tanjiro's face looked a little strange. He had encountered too many bizarre things today.

"Grandpa Saburo, do you think there are really man-eating ghosts in the world?"

"Of course."

The old man lit his pipe and told the story with great interest.

The ghost story was not as good as the previous one. The young man lying down was absent-minded and kept recalling the face covered with strange patterns.

No, it was a mask...

"But don't worry too much. Although there are ghosts at night, there are also a group of ghost hunters protecting us humans."

Looking at Tanjiro with his eyes wide open, Saburo wondered if he had scared the child, and he quickly added.

"If you are really scared, you might as well recite a few Bishamonten blessings in your heart. I heard that the Northern Heavenly King has been very effective recently and has repeatedly performed miracles."

Thinking of the recent rumors around him, Saburo said mysteriously.

"When in danger, call out to the Northern Bishamon, the Treasure King of Heaven, and maybe the Lord of Heaven will come to save the suffering..."

After telling a story for a while, Saburo tucked in the quilt for Tanjiro and stood up.

"It's late, and it's my fault. It's not good for children to hear too much of such things. They won't be able to sleep."

Knocked off the last bit of ash, Saburo extinguished the candle, turned around and closed the door.

"Good boy, good night."

Squeak.

The wooden door closed.

The boy's eyes opened quietly.

Sorry, Grandpa Saburo, I've heard too many strange stories today.

After getting up, Tanjiro leaned against the window and scratched his head, looking at the cold moon in the sky with some confusion.

Mr. Purgatory, where have you been?