Demon Slayer: Tanjiro becomes a ghost, Nezuko becomes a pillar!

Chapter 16 Wisdom Sea

Nezuko gently laid Tanjiro down on the ground, her eyes red and swollen as she looked at her brother's neatly severed arm and the bloody hole in her chest.

Anger and self-blame overwhelmed her like a tidal wave; her heart felt like it was being pierced by countless needles, the pain almost suffocating her.

Midouzi slowly raised her head and looked angrily at the monk ghost.

"I will never forgive!"

Upon hearing this, the monk ghost was first taken aback, then burst into a wild and piercing laugh. But as he laughed, long-forgotten memories uncontrollably surged into his mind.

[You monster! You must have eaten Master Zhihai! You monster! I will never forgive you!]

In his memory, the villagers he had saved surrounded him with machetes and wooden sticks, questioning him repeatedly.

In his memory, there were the villagers he had risked his life to protect.

They were surrounded by men holding machetes and wooden sticks, their faces filled with fear and hatred, their questions piercing his heart like sharp knives.

At that time, he had just become a ghost and was still desperately suppressing his instinct to eat people. He opened his mouth as if to explain.

But the vibrant energy emanating from the villagers was like a deadly poison, relentlessly robbing him of his reason.

The fragrance emanating from those women, in particular, was so sweet that it made him tremble.

Even so, he curled up on the ground, his hands tightly covering his head, pressing against the cold ground.

He recited Buddhist scriptures over and over again, trying to suppress his instincts with faith:

"Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha..."

Even so, those sweet smells kept uncontrollably entering his nostrils.

The feeling of hunger permeated every nerve in his body.

"Huh? This monster actually dares to chant scriptures? Everyone, attack together and kill him!"

A woman who was closest to him heard his murmur and was instantly enraged, shouting angrily.

The surrounding villagers, as if they had found a leader, raised their weapons and began to smash them against him.

Zhihai could only grit his teeth and desperately hold onto his last line of defense, letting the sticks fall on his body while he continued to chant scriptures.

In the chaos, the woman was jostled by the villagers beside her, stumbled and fell toward him, and the broom in her hand slammed heavily in front of his head.

At that moment, he slowly raised his head, and a fair wrist suddenly appeared before his eyes.

The push from the villagers behind him caused him to stumble forward an inch uncontrollably.

But in that instant, the sweet and enticing aroma completely filled his nostrils.

It was like a delicious meal offered to a starving person.

Zhihai could no longer hold back. Before the woman could retract her hand, he suddenly opened his mouth and bit down!

"ah--!"

The screams of agony echoed throughout the temple, leaving the villagers who had gathered in shock.

Zhihai, like a wild beast out of control, frantically bit at the woman's wrist, causing blood to splatter.

The screams and chewing sounds mingled together, completely shattering everyone's sanity and destroying his last vestige of humanity.

As his thoughts returned, the monk ghost slowly lowered his head, the smile on his face gradually disappearing, replaced by a deep-seated ruthlessness, his eyes filled with madness and resentment.

"You said... you'll never forgive?"

Midouzi didn't reply, staring intently at the monk ghost, using all her senses to perceive the monk ghost's every move.

As the monk-demon slowly raised its severed arm, it began to regenerate at a visible speed under Mizuko's extreme senses.

When Nidouzi saw this scene, she was instantly stunned!

His...his...his hand is growing back.

"Little girl, you said you would never forgive me for hurting you."

The monk ghost's gaze swept over the dilapidated temple, his tone full of mockery and resentment.

"Back then, I ended up in this inhuman state to save those villagers. When they shouted 'We will never forgive them,' who among them would never forgive them?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the monk ghost's arm had been restored. He looked at his restored arm as if admiring a work of art.

Mizuko recovered from her brief shock and looked at the monk ghost's perfectly intact arm. Her heart was still trembling, but she did not take a step back.

She took a sudden step forward, firmly protecting the weak Tanjiro behind her, gripping the axe even tighter, her eyes meeting the monk demon's gaze with unwavering determination.

"This is no excuse for your indiscriminate killing! You said you saved them, but you still killed them with your own hands in the end, and now you're going to ruthlessly murder innocent people like me and my brother!"

Her voice trembled slightly, yet every word was clear and resounding.

"You were once a monk, spouting Buddhist teachings of compassion. Did your scriptures really teach you to vent your hatred through killing and fill your own suffering with the lives of others? Your compassion has long been devoured by greed and hatred!"

Upon hearing the words "Buddhism" and "scriptures," the monk ghost froze, a fleeting look of disorientation crossing his狰狞 (zhengning - ferocious/hideous) face, as if recalling the past.

A familiar figure automatically appeared in my mind.

He was a kind old man with white hair and beard, wearing a somewhat worn monk's robe, sitting under the ginkgo tree in the temple, holding a yellowed scripture in his hands.

His voice was as gentle as the warm spring sun as he slowly explained the true meaning of Buddhism to him.

"Zhihai, the core of Buddhism lies in compassion, in helping others and oneself. Even in dire straits, one must hold onto the goodness in one's heart and not be consumed by hatred and desire..."

The old man's voice was so clear it seemed to be right next to his ear; the sensation of his fingertips tracing the pages of the book, the weight of the ginkgo leaves falling on his shoulder—all these felt so real they sent a shiver down his spine.

At that time, he was a young monk with a sincere heart, full of the belief in relieving suffering and rescuing people from distress.

Even when faced with danger, they never thought of giving up compassion.

But the warmth in my memory was shattered by cold malice in the next second.

The villagers' angry roars, the excruciating pain of being hit by sticks, and the sweet scent of the woman's wrists.

The images of his own uncontrollable biting madness intertwined, shattering his reason.

"Shut up...shut up...shut up..."

The monk ghost suddenly clutched his head, letting out a painful and furious roar from his throat.

"That's all fake! Compassion is useless! Buddhism is useless! Scriptures are useless!"

He shook his head violently, as if trying to shake away the image of the old man in his mind, and the violent aura around him began to overflow wildly.

His fingernails dug deep into his scalp, and black blood slowly flowed out.

His past kindness and present malice tore him apart, making him increasingly ferocious and terrifying.

Midouzi keenly sensed his wavering, her grip on the axe tightened slightly, and a hint of hesitation flashed in her eyes, but she still did not let her guard down.

Soon, the monk demon reverted to its ferocious appearance, looked at Midouzi's cute face, and said in a sinister tone.

"You're so annoying!"

Then he looked at the crawling demon that Tanjiro had just knocked over.

Mizuko instantly became alert and followed the monk ghost's gaze, only to be met with an even more terrifying scene.

The crawling demon that Tanjiro had knocked away with one blow was now slowly getting up.

"Go, kill her, and I might mercifully give you a leg to eat...!"