"This is an ancient town," the old man said.
"Yes, I know it's an ancient town." Fang Hao nodded. The small town was indeed ancient and quaint. The setting of demon slayer is the Taisho era, which is the early 20th century, but this small town doesn't have the style of that era. It's probably several hundred years old, so calling it an ancient town is certainly not a problem.
"What specific town is it then? What's the name of this small town? Are there any iconic buildings around, or any mountains or rivers?"
The old man was somewhat exasperated, "My esteemed guest, you don't know, but our small town is simply called Ancient Town. There aren't any famous buildings, but there's a Peach Mountain nearby. This Peach Mountain has beautiful scenery, and there are many…"
"Peach Mountain!" Fang Hao's heart skipped a beat. In the original work, Zenitsu's master, the former Sound Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kuwajima Jigorou, retired from the front lines of demon slaying and lived in seclusion on Peach Mountain as a Trainer. "Could it be that Peach Mountain?"
As soon as he thought of this, he quickly interrupted the old man, who was about to write an 800-word essay about Peach Mountain. "Elder, I've long heard of Peach Mountain. I heard that the sword master Kuwajima Jigorou lives on Peach Mountain. Have you ever seen him?" Fang Hao looked at the old man expectantly.
"Master Kuwajima? Of course, I've seen him." The old man grinned, "Master Kuwajima even ate the rice cakes from my stall. Would you like to try some, esteemed guest? You don't know, but my rice cakes…"
Perhaps Fang Hao had once again hit the old man's sweet spot, and the old man immediately launched into his mini-essay mode, no longer the timid and hesitant person he was before.
"Grandpa, I still prefer you the way you were before. Can you go back to that?" Of course, Fang Hao didn't say this teasing remark out loud. He was busy secretly enjoying himself and had no time to interrupt the old man.
"What does it mean to search high and low for something only to find it effortlessly? What does it mean to be surprised as hell! I can go directly up the mountain, without any fear or worry. I can learn Thunder Breathing, and I can even get free food and lodging. How can there be such a good thing in the world! Woohoo, I'm taking off!"
Thinking of this, he interrupted the old man's self-promotion again, mainly because he had no money; otherwise, he really would have wanted to try. But this place was at the foot of Peach Mountain, and once he went up the mountain, he would have plenty of opportunities later.
"Elder, I have long admired Master Kuwajima. Now that I have the opportunity to meet him, I am overjoyed. I will go and apprentice myself to him now. Please excuse me." Fang Hao cupped his hands and strode towards the mountain.
"Alas, I still wanted to give the esteemed guest a few strings of rice cakes to taste, what a pity." The old man sighed.
The pity was that Fang Hao had already gone far and couldn't hear this sentence. Now, roughly speaking, he missed out on a hundred million.
"Tired, I'm exhausted."
Not long after, Fang Hao was leaning on his divine artifact, panting heavily. It was unexpected that this stick could be used for something other than sharpening his sword heart (satisfying his chuunibyou tendencies).
He underestimated Peach Mountain this time. After all, Peach Mountain is not like the mountains in China that are tourist attractions, which are called mountains but are actually hills. Although it is not high, it is rugged, which adds a lot of difficulty to climbing. He also overestimated himself. As a person with an E- physique, he finally understood the true value of E-.
Of course, although Fang Hao was complaining about being tired, and he was indeed very tired, if you asked him if he could climb, he definitely could. After all, it was just tiring, and there was no time limit. If he were in a deep mountain forest, he would, of course, have to climb as quickly as possible, because even if he didn't encounter demons, there were wild beasts in the mountains, and it was easy to not see the road clearly at night, leading to danger.
However, Peach Mountain had none of these problems. With the former Sound Pillar, Kuwajima Jigorou, there would certainly be no demons or large wild beasts. As for the road conditions, although the Peach Mountain road was uneven, even with his E- physique, it was indeed unlikely that he would climb until night, as the sun was high in the sky at this time.
"Peach Mountain isn't very big. Although I don't know the exact location, there's only this one path up from the ancient town, so taking this path should be fine." Fang Hao wiped his sweat and slowly walked up the mountain, leaning on his trekking pole.
Although his goal was clear—to become an apprentice—Fang Hao wasn't sure if Kuwajima Jigorou would accept him. While Kuwajima Jigorou was mentioned in the original work, it was only in relation to Zenitsu and Kaidake. He could roughly tell that the old man taught according to individual aptitude, doted on Zenitsu, was strong, and responsible, but that was all.
The legendary compendium gave him Identity Implantation, but he had no related memories, so it probably just gave him a legitimate identity, and the possibility of this identity being related to the Demon Slayer Corps was, to be honest, not high.
Since he had no relatives or connections, it would be normal if Kuwajima Jigorou didn't accept him. Although cultivators train talent for the Demon Slayer Corps, who they accept is certainly based on the cultivator's own wishes.
In the original work, Zenitsu was favored by Kuwajima Jigorou because he was swindled out of all his property by a woman, and Kuwajima Jigorou took pity on him and brought him up the mountain.
"Hmm, in terms of being broke, I'm quite similar to Zenitsu." Fang Hao thought carefully, "Should I show off my swordsmanship talent again? Besides that, I don't have anything else, sigh. Life is not easy."
Amidst Fang Hao's increasingly heavy breathing, he slowly approached the summit.
"Found it." Fang Hao looked at the few houses ahead with surprise. Although the houses were blurry in his eyes due to his nearsightedness, he couldn't be mistaken.
On this Peach Mountain, the people living in the houses were probably Kuwajima Jigorou and his disciples. If not, then so be it; at least he could ask the people inside where Kuwajima Jigorou lived.
At this moment, a figure approached him. Fang Hao focused his gaze and saw that the person was short, leaning on a cane, and had a large scar on his face.
"Isn't this Kuwajima Jigorou's appearance from the original work? Although there's a big difference between two-dimensional and three-dimensional art styles, judging from these features, it must be him."
Fang Hao sized up the figure in front of him, cupped his hands, and said, "Excuse me, are you the legendary Master Kuwajima?"
Kuwajima Jigorou said, "If you are looking for Kuwajima Jigorou, then it is indeed this old man."
Fang Hao was filled with joy at this moment. He took a step forward, "Master Kuwajima, I have come to apprentice myself and learn skills. Please take me in!" He bowed deeply and remained bowed, patiently waiting for Kuwajima Jigorou's reply.
Hearing Fang Hao's words, Kuwajima Jigorou's voice became a bit deeper: "Young man, why do you want to become my disciple?"
Fang Hao raised his head, looked at the solemn-faced Kuwajima Jigorou, and said, "So that when I need strength, I don't have to hate my own weakness!" He spoke these words with conviction, for they truly came from his heart.
He wanted to learn breathing techniques not because of any idea of evil demons harming people and that he must slay all evil demons. He certainly didn't mind protecting the common people, but it was more for self-preservation. In this world where demons eat people, he would only feel safe if he held a nichirin blade.
After he mastered it, he would certainly slay demons and save people, but if it meant sacrificing his life, Fang Hao was unwilling. Slaying demons wasn't something only he could do, and the people he saved were strangers, so it wasn't worth risking his life. If he had to save someone he knew and it meant risking his life, to be honest, he wouldn't know what he would do until that moment.
Humans are such simple yet complex creatures.