Chapter 20: Reward Distribution, Ripple!

In a hidden cave, Muzan's scattered flesh pieces slowly gathered together, and soon a terrifying-looking baby took form.

Those sinister and fierce eyes flashed with a cold gleam of hatred, as if wishing to devour that bastard in an instant.

"That bastard Jotaro!"

After this battle, his vitality was severely damaged, and he didn't know how long it would take to recover. Now, his ability to restrain other demons had greatly weakened.

The baby's little fists pounded fiercely on the ground. The ground remained intact, but his hand broke with a snap.

"I must hurry to recover from my injuries!"

Those weak demons knew very little about him and didn't hold any useful information. If they slipped from his control, so be it.

Even if they spoke his name, it wouldn't be a big deal. What use was knowing his name? It's not like they could make paper dolls with his name on them and curse him to death.

If that actually worked, he'd make a thousand paper dolls tomorrow with Jotaro's name on them and stab them hard.

Besides, the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps already knew his name, it wasn't some great secret.

The key was those powerful demons. The Upper Moons knew quite a few of his secrets.

The Demon Slayer Corps didn't matter, that garbage organization hadn't eliminated a single Upper Moon in all these years, he didn't take them seriously at all.

He only worried about one thing. That during this period of his recovery, the Upper Moons might encounter Jotaro. If Jotaro learned his secrets from their mouths...

"Impossible!" Muzan comforted himself.

In the vast sea of people, the chances of the Upper Moons meeting Jotaro were basically zero. Even if they did meet, considering the Upper Moons' level of loyalty, they might not betray him.

Most importantly, Jotaro didn't know his identity. So the worst-case scenario absolutely wouldn't happen.

Muzan's emotions finally calmed down a little. "No matter what, I must recover quickly."

The wounds on the body would be easy to heal, but the trauma in the mind wouldn't be so easy to fix.

Muzan had already decided, once he healed, in order to avoid meeting that beast Jotaro again, he would have to hide peacefully for a few years.

Only time could heal the wounds of the soul.

———

"Big Sister!"

Inside the dilapidated house of the Kamado family, heart-wrenching cries broke out. Several children threw themselves onto Nezuko, their faces covered in tears.

The demon had left, and their tightly-strung nerves could finally relax, but there was not the slightest joy in surviving.

Their hearts were filled only with sorrow. That gentle, lively big sister lay quietly on the ground, unable to smile at them ever again.

"Nezuko..."

Tanjiro clutched his head, both heartbroken and filled with guilt.

Jotaro could more or less understand his feelings.

Jotaro clenched his fists, trembling faintly, if he had mastered time stop earlier, this girl wouldn't have died. He had wanted to protect this family, but in the end, he still couldn't do it.

This was the scene he least wanted to see.

'Yare yare… the more you don't want something to happen, the more likely it is to happen...'

That was a famous law.

The sky had begun to brighten, yet the surroundings were still gloomy. The sun hadn't risen, this was terrible weather, just like everyone's terrible mood.

Jotaro looked exhausted. Only he knew how hard the battle last night had been.

The demon's power far exceeded his expectations, if it weren't for his Stand, he would've died instantly.

It looked like the journey ahead would only be even harder. That's what he thought.

Fortunately, the battle against the demon had improved him greatly. Star Platinum had been under pressure and grown rapidly. At this moment, even the knack of time stop had been grasped.

As long as he practiced more, he should be able to stop time for longer.

The next time he encountered a demon, handling it should be easier.

Just as he was lost in thought, a system prompt suddenly rang in his mind. Because he protected the Kamado family from the demon, the system's reward had been distributed.

'Ripple?' Jotaro frowned.

That was the technique used by that old man, and that old man's grandfather, which meant his great-great-grandfather, in their battles against vampires.

His attention briefly passed over the word "Ripple" and focused on the system's prompt.

'All seven members of the Kamado family survived?'

Ripple was the reward for all seven surviving. Jotaro suddenly turned around and spoke to the people surrounding Nezuko's body, "Move aside!"

He used his hand to push away Kie and Tanjiro, then arrived in front of Nezuko.

"Jotaro-san?"

Kie was still wiping her tears. Suddenly being pushed aside by Jotaro, she looked confused.

Jotaro knelt down, his gaze landing on Nezuko's face. Nezuko's complexion was deathly pale, completely bloodless, but her expression was peaceful, just like someone sleeping.

However, there was no breath coming from her nose, so it was no wonder the others thought she was dead.

Jotaro reached out and grabbed Nezuko's slender wrist. Star Platinum suddenly appeared.

His fingers touched her blood vessels through the skin. Blood was still flowing inside, although very faint, the blood vessels showed subtle contractions and expansions, and Star Platinum could still sense it.

His eyes moved from Nezuko's hand to her chest.

The demon's blood whip had pierced below her chest, and now the blood had turned black, making it hard to see the specific wound.

Jotaro didn't hesitate. He immediately tore open Nezuko's kimono at the chest, revealing her snow-white skin.

Jotaro withdrew his gaze and focused on the wound below her chest. The area around the wound pierced by Muzan had blood vessels turned black, and the dark veins bulged like the roots of a tree.

Kie, Tanjiro, and the others were still shocked at why Jotaro had torn open Nezuko's clothes. To the dead, this was somewhat disrespectful.

But when they saw the change around Nezuko's wound, their mouths fell open.

"Jotaro-san, what's going on? Nezuko, she..."

Jotaro covered her with the torn kimono again and stood up.

"That bastard actually injected his blood into Nezuko's body!"

[ 🎊Shoutout to Dragonwolf for joing patreon and keep me motivated to keep going~ 🙇

═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═

patreon.com/XenosX

🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰