**Chapter 154: The Cowardly and Tearful Mukago**

**Chapter 154: The Cowardly and Tearful Mukago**

As Lower Rank Four, Mukago's skin was a sickly pale. There were two dark red stripes on her cheeks, and a pair of protruding snow-white horns grew among her hanging white hair. Her eyes were large with deep red pupils, and the character 'Four' was engraved on her left eyeball. At this moment, Mukago looked like she was about to cry.

"Are... are you here to kill me?" Mukago's eyes were filled with tears. She didn't want to die yet...

"Four, you are the Lower Rank Four of the Twelve Kizuki?"

"No, you've got the wrong person."

Mukago immediately covered her right eye with her small hand. "No, it's this one."

Realizing she covered the wrong one, Mukago quickly covered her other eye and stubbornly denied, "Big brother, I'm not the Lower Rank Four you're looking for. My name is Zero, and I've lived here for a long time."

"Do I look like an idiot?"

Seeing Xia Shang walk towards her, Mukago was like a startled kitten. *Snap*, she pulled back her head and closed the door.

She leaned against the door, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes. Wiping her tears with her sleeve, she said with a sob, "Don't be afraid, Mukago. It's just... (sob) just a Hashira, right? Since you escaped from a Hashira before, *wuwuwu*, you can definitely do it this time too."

She kept trying to encourage herself.

"*Blood Demon Art: Jumping Gazelle!*" Mukago leaped lightly. Transformed by blood threads, her legs became nimble and slender, like an antelope's legs. However, Mukago felt that this one Blood Demon Art wasn't secure enough, so she softly called out, "*Blood Demon Art: Walking on Air*."

However, just as she leaped onto the beam of the House, preparing to break through the Rooftop and escape...

A powerful, transparent tentacle instantly shot through the wooden door and wrapped around Mukago's slender waist like a whip. What was this? Before Mukago could react, a tremendous strength pulled her, smashing through the wooden door. As wood splinters flew, she found herself before Xia Shang.

Mukago's eyes still held tears, but when she noticed the tentacle around her waist, she immediately burst into laughter through her tears.

"So you're a Demon too! Did that Lord send you? What does that Lord want with me?" As long as it wasn't a Hashira from the Demon Slayer Corps, Mukago felt relieved. After all, they were all on the same side. Although she didn't know why Xia Shang, who was covered in marks, hadn't gotten an Upper Rank position.

But she didn't dare ask too many questions. Perhaps it was just that Lord's arrangement.

"That Lord? Do you mean Muzan, that cowardly turtle?" Xia Shang examined Mukago's neck, as if considering the best place to strike. His gaze sent a chill down Mukago's spine. Then, her voice trembled as she said:

"You, how dare you call that Lord by name! You're not a Demon! You're a Human!" Instantly, Mukago's hair stood on end. A terrifying thought surfaced in her mind: Could this person not be a Demon under Lord Muzan, but a Hashira from the Demon Slayer Corps?

"I'm terribly sorry, I've had aphasia since I was a child. Please don't believe anything I just said."

"Do I look like an idiot?"

"Wah! Please spare my life! I really don't want to die! There are so many things I haven't tried yet, like drinking coffee in the morning, shopping at the new store that just opened, changing into a beautiful kimono..." Mukago rattled off a long list of things she wanted to do before she died. With teary eyes, she looked at Xia Shang and finally choked out, "I don't want to die."

Xia Shang frowned slightly. He was trying to recall if there was such a cowardly Lower Rank Demon in the Demon Slayer source material. Unfortunately, Mukago hadn't left any impression in his memory.

"If you want to live, tell me what's valuable about you." Unexpectedly, just as Xia Shang finished speaking, a look of astonishment flashed across Mukago's face, who had been preparing to die. As Lower Rank Four, she was well aware of the Demon Slayer Corps' style. When they encountered a Demon, they would fight with their lives to slay it. If ordinary members were like this, let alone the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.

"You're really willing to let me go?" Mukago's eyes widened as she looked at Xia Shang in disbelief.

Xia Shang didn't want to waste any more time. His face darkened as he said, "A life for a life. Tell me the locations of the other Demons among the Twelve Kizuki, and perhaps I can consider letting you go."

He didn't ask Mukago for Muzan's location, because he already knew asking would be pointless.

"No problem! But I don't know much, after all, I'm just Lower Rank Four. As for the Upper Rank locations, I don't know them."

"Tell me the one closest to here."

"Rokuro, Lower Rank Two, lives in a village about ten kilometers away. I saw him not long ago. His desire for strength is extremely strong, so he's probably feeding right now." The very timid Mukago immediately betrayed her comrade. Of course, in the eyes of Demons, the word "comrade" doesn't exist.

"Keep going."

Xia Shang retracted the tentacle wrapped around Mukago's waist.

"Oh, and don't think about escaping. I've planted a little something inside your body. If you get more than twenty meters away from me, it will... *bang*, explode, like this." Xia Shang smiled, extended his right hand, and made an opening gesture.

The next second, dozens of sharp spikes erupted from various parts of Mukago's body. The intense pain instantly made Mukago kneel before Xia Shang. She had been planning to find an opportunity to escape, but now she curled up her body, letting out sounds of pain.

"I know Demons are immortal, so that thing grows along your bones. Unless you have the guts to peel open your body with a knife and cut along the bones, you'd need to clear out over three hundred pieces of bone."

"Oh, and a friendly reminder: the demon blood inside you cannot corrode my tentacles. Their defense is beyond your imagination."

After speaking, Xia Shang controlled the tentacles inside Mukago's body, making them return to their original state.

"I won't escape anymore, wah, I really won't escape!" Mukago cried her eyes out. She now suspected that Lord Muzan had a twin brother, as their means were surprisingly cruel in the same way. If Xia Shang hadn't just cursed that Lord, she definitely would have mistaken him for Muzan.

"Alright, I'll give you ten minutes to take me to Rokuro, Lower Rank Two. Otherwise... you know the consequences. Stop crying. Crying counts as time."

"Okay, okay, lord."

Mukago wiped the tears from her face with her kimono sleeve, but unexpectedly, the more she wiped, the more tears flowed. Why was her life so miserable? Mukago wailed inwardly but didn't dare make a sound.

She could only walk ahead and lead the way for Xia Shang.

"Um... (inhales) Lord, the Twelve Kizuki are ranked by strength. I'm just Lower Rank Four, and he's Lower Rank Two. His strength is much greater than mine. You'd best be prepared. I see you didn't even bring a nichirin blade. Why don't you go get a nichirin blade?"

(End of Chapter)