Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began When I Became Yoriichi's Sister

Chapter 713 Long Gui's Actions

Upon seeing this spiritual energy appear, Long Gui had only one thought in his mind.

The pain I endured tonight was worth it.

We need to get out of here quickly.

Looking at the mess on the ground, Long Gui grimaced as he got up. The fight had been quite loud, and he was in trouble if he got caught.

She wiped the blood from her forehead, put Xueya back into the wooden sword bag, and dragged her even heavier steps toward home.

Her injuries shouldn't be too serious; the pain is still within a tolerable range. However, she might have to skip class tomorrow.

Also, you need to clean up the bloodstains on your body before you get home, otherwise it will be even more troublesome if your family sees them.

As Long Gui was pondering about asking for leave tomorrow, she suddenly stopped at a crossroads, quickly retreated to the corner, and slowly peeked out from behind it.

Across the street, the museum, a landmark of Karakura Town, is currently shrouded in an eerie mist.

The fog wasn't thick, but it had an uncomfortable damp chill, as if isolating the museum from the surrounding world.

What Long Gui cared about most were those figures standing in front of the museum gate.

The orange spiky hair stood out under the streetlights, and the oversized shihaka uniform and the huge zanpakuto wrapped in bandages on his back were undoubtedly those of Ichigo.

Beside him were... Ishida, and the Shinigami who had come to the school to look for Ichigo.

"Ichigo?"

Ryuki instinctively wanted to call out to them, but the moment he opened his mouth, Ichigo's voice came through the intersection first.

"I still can't find Auntie."

Teacher?

Long Gui was stunned for a moment.

It's late at night, and sounds can carry far, let alone the loud shouting of a few people.

In addition, Long Gui's hearing was enhanced to a certain extent due to the breathing technique and spiritual power, which is why he could hear clearly.

Long Gui thought to himself, "What are they doing at the museum? Is it because of the trial the teacher mentioned?"

"Could something really have gone wrong?" the red-haired Shinigami said.

"You...didn't you just say it was absolutely impossible?"

Even horses can stumble, and people can make mistakes; who can say for sure?

As expected, it was the trial that Teacher Yuko mentioned. It seems that Ichigo and the others haven't realized it was a trial yet, and Inoue hasn't really disappeared.

Long Gui instantly understood.

"No! We've already lost one pretty girl, please don't let anything happen to the beautiful lady!"

The sudden, impassioned voice caught Long Gui's attention again. She looked closely and saw that the speaker was...

"Play, dolls?"

The doll talked?!

In his shock, Ryuki heard Ishida's voice again:

Instead of worrying about the teacher, you should think about how to snatch Inoue and Chado back from the other side later.

"I have no idea what Auntie and that unscrupulous businessman are up to."

"Inoue was kidnapped for no reason, and now the fake kidnapping has become a real kidnapping. We don't even know who the enemy is."

Long Gui was stunned.

Did the fake kidnapping turn into a real kidnapping?

In other words, they already knew about the teacher's trial, but Inoue had an accident and was kidnapped by the real enemy.

"Stop talking so much and let's go. If we keep dawdling, it'll be dawn soon."

The red-haired Grim Reaper pushed the two of them from behind and headed towards the museum.

Speaking of which, why haven't I seen Chadu?

Just as Ryuki realized this, he heard Ichigo's last voice.

"We need to rescue Chado and Inoue as soon as possible."

The three figures disappeared through the museum's gates.

Chad was arrested too?!

Ryuki's heart clenched suddenly. First Inoue, and now even Chad...

Could it have been done by the teacher?

Ichigo's meaning is that they should have already discovered that Orihime's disappearance was done by Ikuko-sensei, and that Orihime has now truly been kidnapped by bad guys.

Long Gui looked down at himself.

His martial arts uniform was filthy, he had exhausted most of his strength, and the back of his head was still throbbing.

Reason told her that she should turn around and go home immediately. In her current state, following her would only be a burden.

"but……"

Long Gui's fingers gripped the strap of the cloth bag behind him tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

In her mind, the image of Orihime standing before her to protect her reappeared.

“I am no longer the Long Gui who could only stand behind you and watch your backs, unable to move forward.”

“Orihime is my friend, and so is Chad… Ichigo, that idiot, always carries everything on his own shoulders.”

If she didn't follow, if her hesitation led to irreversible consequences, she would never forgive herself.

Long Gui took a deep breath and adjusted his breathing rhythm.

Inhale...exhale...

As oxygen entered my lungs, that cool, calming sensation returned. Although the physical fatigue couldn't be eliminated, the pain seemed to become bearable.

She tightened her grip on the wooden knife pouch on her back, her eyes shifting from hesitation to determination.

"Wait for me, everyone."

Long Gui emerged from the shadows without hesitation and ran toward the museum gate shrouded in mist.

Her figure quickly disappeared into that eerie darkness.

The streets returned to a deathly silence, with only the dim yellow streetlights flickering faintly.

……

Shortly after Long Gui entered the museum.

"despair."

A soft sound, like the sole of a shoe stepping on metal, was heard as a figure silently landed on the iron arm extending from the lamppost where Ichigo and the others had just stopped.

That's Ikuko.

She was dressed in a simple black outfit, with a Zanpakuto hanging at her waist. The night wind blew her snow-white hair, which danced wildly in the air.

This state means that she has now removed her prosthetic body.

"Honestly, another reckless fool."

Yuko sighed softly.

In fact, she arrived just in time after sensing Long Gui's condition.

Upon sensing Tatsuki's desire to fight, she did not choose to attack directly, but instead used the power of her Zanpakuto to seal off the surrounding area.

This is also why Ichigo and the others didn't notice Tatsuki's battle even though they weren't far apart.

To be honest, Long Gui really gave her a pleasant surprise.

Although she doesn't have the same talent as others, she still has strengths in certain areas.

Despite having only studied for a few days, he had already grasped the basics of breathing techniques and even sensed his own spiritual power.

That void became a catalyst for Longgui's growth.

Just like Ichigo, he's a reckless guy.

You could have just called her to confirm.

Of course, she was actually capable of stopping Long Gui.

But she didn't.

Yu Zi shook her head: "I was originally planning to wait until she recovered from her injury before starting the next stage of special training, but I didn't expect her to jump in so eagerly."

"Going to venture into such places while injured is really worrying."

Although she said that, Yuko had already started walking towards the museum.

We must prevent those three guys from accidentally injuring Long Gui without knowing the reason.

We need to keep an eye on it a bit.

As for Ichigo and the others... it doesn't really matter.

……

Inside the museum.

A special exhibition for Ichigo Kurosaki and his group.

As soon as Ichigo and the others entered the hall, they saw this sign.

"Hey, we're here! Where are you?"

Ichigo shouted in the empty hall, and his voice carried far.

"Hee hee hee."

A girl's voice came from the loudspeakers in the lobby.

"Here it is."

Ichigo frowned: "Give Inoue and Chad back."

"Hmm~ the big brothers are ghosts. Once they find us, they'll release the person~"

"what?"

"But we have to follow the rules of the game first. Put your Zanpakuto over there."

Ichigo and the others subconsciously looked to the side, where two exhibition booths had already been prepared.

"Tsk."

Although they were unhappy, Ichigo and Renji had no choice but to leave their Zanpakuto outside, considering the safety of Chad and Inoue.

It's not a big problem; those guys clearly didn't take Ishida's presence into account.

The three of them walked inside calmly, but soon realized that something was wrong.

Ishida, who was walking ahead, was the first to stop.

Ichigo approached, puzzled: "Why did you suddenly stop? Ishida."

Uryu Ishida pushed up his glasses: "Take a look."

Ichigo looked around in confusion, only to find that the passages in front of him and to his left and right were exactly the same.

Renji: "Hey, hey, hey, what's going on here?"

Ichigo: "Is this place really that big?"

"The trick to navigating the maze is to keep walking along the same wall, touching it repeatedly." Ishida Uryu stroked his chin. "Let's just go to one side."

He casually pointed to one side.

No one objected, and they walked in one direction.

After passing through several rooms, Ishida looked puzzled: "How strange. We went through four rooms on the right, and we should have returned to where we started, but the entrance has disappeared."

"what?"

The two looked around in unison and found that the entrance had indeed disappeared. Now, no matter which way they looked, it was the same passage.

"Hey, Soul, didn't I tell you to keep an eye on what's behind you?"

"I am watching!"

Ichigo clicked his tongue: "Then let's break the wall with our fists."

"Eh? Big brother, are you going to break the rules? Dame yo~"

The girl on the radio seemed to be constantly monitoring everyone.

Ishida calmly said, "Calm down. Since they've already mentioned it's the game rules, there should be some clues."

"Hehe, big brother is right."

The three ignored the broadcast. Ishida took the soul from the back and took out a ball of thread from its modified belly.

"Hey! What did you bastard do to my body?!"

Ishida ignored him and said to Ichigo and the others, "Let's tie one end of the rope here, and we'll understand the pattern next time we see it."

"I see!"

Ichigo and Renji's eyes lit up.

"Kon, I'm leaving the string laying to you." Ishida slung Kon back over his back.

Hun crossed his arms, his tone displeased: "Huh? Why would I do something like that?"

That bastard dared to cut a hole in my stomach.

"Please, this is an important thing that only you can do."

"...No, there's really no other way, just leave it to me." Soul waved his hands happily, pointing at Ichigo and the other two, "You two, make way for me!"

"..."

They're so easy to fool.

After dealing with the spirit, Ishida pointed straight ahead and said, "Anyway, let's go ahead and see what happens this time."

"That passage seems different from the others."

Ichigo turned around and looked back. "Indeed, I can't see anything in the room."

The three exchanged a glance and walked towards the room.

Upon entering the room, they found it filled with a hazy mist, obscuring the room's layout and making the three of them more alert.

The room was small, and like the maze they had walked through before, the three of them soon reached the end of the wall.

There were several glass display cases shaped like human figures.

Ichigo looked down and saw that the labels on the display cases showed the names of the three of them.

“What…” He looked around abruptly and saw that the display cases on both sides contained…

"Aunt?"

Upon seeing the figure in the display case, Ichigo's pupils constricted sharply, and he didn't even notice Inoue and Chad standing next to him.

Yuko stood in the display case with lifeless eyes, as if she were being controlled.

Are you kidding me? Even your auntie fell for it?

Ichigo's hair stood on end. Before they could think any further, the girls' laughter rang out again.

"whee……"

As the girl's laughter rang out, the surrounding fog suddenly thickened, obscuring the view.

Before Ichigo and the others could figure out what was happening, the scene before them suddenly changed, and by the time he realized what was happening, he was already locked inside a display case.

The same applies to Renji and Ishida.

My body...I can't move...

boom!

Ichigo's cheek was suddenly attacked, and the scene before him changed again. Kon was punching Ichigo's face with his puppet fist.

"What, what's wrong?"

Ichigo suddenly woke up.

"I was just about to say that you suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed."

"Renji! Ishida!" Ichigo snapped out of his daze and woke the two of them.

After hearing what Soul said, Ishida frowned and said, "That must be some kind of hallucination. We need to be careful from now on."

Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief.

That's really scary, especially if even the auntie...

Speaking of which, is it really true that we can't get in touch with Auntie?

Thinking about this, Ichigo couldn't help but feel a little worried.

……

Upon entering the hall, Ryuki's gaze was immediately drawn to the Zanpakuto displayed in a showcase.

"They even abandoned their weapons..." Long Gui muttered to himself, his voice echoing in the deathly silent hall.

Since the weapons are all here, it means they've already gone in, and they're unarmed.

It seems the other side threatened Ichigo and the others by threatening Orihime and Chad's lives, demanding they lay down their weapons.

This is the only possibility.

"I can't lose either."

She reached for the wooden knife pouch on her back, and only when her fingers touched the hard hilt of the knife did she feel a little more at ease.

No one came out to stop her; perhaps the enemies were all drawn to Ichigo and the others. The entire museum was like a gaping maw, silently waiting for her to venture deeper.

Ryuki glanced at the Zanpakuto twice, hesitated for a moment, and then took a step forward, walking towards the passage ahead.