Reincarnation as Lower Rank Five in Demon Slayer

The stars twinkled in the sky, and fireflies danced in response in the mountains. A winding dirt path snaked through the mountains, flanked by tall, straight trees that seemed to bid farewell to travelers.

But today, the guests are different. Standing six or seven meters tall, they rival the height of trees. Walking on all fours, their massive bodies widen the path.

Li Lei rode a giant bear, as large as a small black mountain, along a narrow mountain path, heading towards an unknown distant place.

Li Lei, perched on Xiao Hei's back, closed his eyes to rest, waiting for Xiao Wu to deliver a message from ahead. Suddenly, Li Lei, who was resting with his eyes closed, opened them and looked ahead.

Noticing Li Lei's change, Xiao Hei stopped and looked around warily, waiting for any enemy that might appear at any moment.

"Hey Black, why did you stop?"

Li Lei asked, puzzled.

"Aren't there enemies around Master?"

Xiao Hei asked, puzzled.

"Who told you there were enemies around???"

Li Lei asked again.

"That's what told me when you suddenly opened your eyes and looked straight ahead, Master."

Xiao Hei's voice began to soften as he answered.

Li Lei looked at Xiao Hei beneath him, who had already realized his misjudgment, and said to him with a forced smile:

I did that because I saw some useful information that Xiao Wu had sent before!

Hearing Li Lei's reply, Xiao Hei covered its face with its front paws, feeling extremely ashamed.

"Okay! Xiao Hei understands. Xiao Hei won't be so easily startled anymore."

Li Lei looked at Little Black, who was still clutching his face. He found it incredibly cute. This was especially true considering the information Little Black had sent from the town ahead.

The two combined made Li Lei very happy.

Somewhat pleased, he said to Xiao Hei, "Xiao Hei, I'm going to play in the town ahead. Xiao Hei, you find a place to hide here and wait for me to come back."

Upon hearing that its master was going to play in the town ahead, Little Black, who had been covering its face, immediately raised its head and looked back at Li Lei with expectant eyes.

"Master, can I come along?"

"That probably won't work."

Faced with Xiao Hei's request, Li Lei really wanted to take it with him. However, looking at its height of six or seven meters when standing on two legs, and more than three meters when walking on four legs, he hesitated.

Even a regular elephant looks tiny next to it! If you take it to the town ahead, it'll be mistaken for a monster!

Seeing Xiao Hei lying sadly on the ground because he didn't take it to play, Li Lei jumped in front of it and patted Xiao Hei's head.

"Sweetie! Wait here for me, I'm going to play in the town ahead for a while, and I'll bring you something delicious later."

Upon hearing about food, Xiao Hei immediately raised its head to look at Li Lei in front of it.

"Really? Master, you can't go back on your word!"

"I promise that as Xiao Hei's owner, I will definitely bring Xiao Hei some food later."

"Then Master, please go and return quickly!"

Little Black wagged its short tail, typical for a bear, urging Li Lei to hurry back.

Having received a reply, Li Lei didn't linger. Holding the Nichirin Blade at his waist, he ran towards the town ahead.

The little black dog, who had been lying on the spot, looked up at the receding figure, wagged its tail, stood up, and darted into the nearby forest, quickly disappearing from sight.

The path, which had been noisy just moments before, is now quiet.

Li Lei, who was heading quickly toward the town, recalled the little black dog that had wagged its tail at him on the path earlier and had readily agreed to wait for him there when it heard there was food.

I never imagined that Xiao Hei, who is usually so bear-like, would change his attitude so drastically today when he heard about food.

Things have changed, but why have they changed in such a vulgar and sleazy way?

As Li Lei was pondering this, twinkling lights appeared ahead of the path, mirroring the stars in the sky; the unknown town was approaching.

As Li Lei gazed at the town drawing ever closer, he unconsciously recalled the town of Chiba he had encountered earlier, and Chiba Genki, the first older sister he had recognized since coming to this world.

Although I didn't know much about Chiba Genhime, whether she was a human or a ghost, I will never forget the promise I made to be her younger brother when she left this world.

Li Lei stopped not far from the town, gazing at the brightly lit, unnamed town. People came and went on the streets, and orange lanterns hung in front of the houses. Street vendors hawked various goods.

Most importantly, there were couples walking together everywhere on the streets, just as Xiao Wu had described. Today is a special day.

Having been in Demon Slayer for so long, surrounded by anime-style scenery, Li Lei finally gets to experience celebrating a holiday in an anime world!

Before, because I was too weak, I was always trying to become stronger and was unable to live a proper life.

After obtaining the Water Breathing Technique, Li Lei, due to his considerable talent in it, was able to learn the technique based on his original abilities.

After learning breathing techniques based on his own demonic abilities, his strength increased day by day.

Li Lei can't say he already has the strength of an Upper Moon demon, since he's never fought one. But he's definitely far stronger than a Lower Moon demon.

For Li Lei, who may already possess Upper Moon strength, as long as he doesn't recklessly kill a large number of people, thus provoking an attack from multiple Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps, or launch a bloody battle against an Upper Moon demon unaware of his own strength, he'll be safe.

In the world of Demon Slayer, the next ten or twenty years will be very safe. Li Lei can live his life however he wants during this time.

Twenty years later, the protagonist Tanji discovers that his family has been ruthlessly murdered by Muzan Kibutsuji, and his sister Nezuko has been turned into a demon. To restore Nezuko to human form, Tanji joins the Demon Slayer Corps, embarking on a path to eliminate demons and kill Muzan Kibutsuji.

In addition, the Demon Slayer Corps was at its strongest at the time, second only to the first generation of swordsmen.

It would be very dangerous for him to be a ghost by then. Therefore, Li Lei decided to spend a few wonderful days in this small town.

Afterwards, in the time that follows, Li Lei will try every means to make himself stronger, so as to prepare for overcoming sunlight and becoming the ultimate life form in the future.

Just as Li Lei was planning for the realization of his ultimate goal, Xiao Wu, who had been waiting in the town, immediately flew towards him after sensing his arrival.

Li Lei, who was staying outside the town, began to control the changes in his body, from his hair turning from white to black, the ghost patterns on his body hiding, and the number 5 in his left eye disappearing.

Finally, he transformed into the weak, human form of Lower Moon Five, Rui, and the demonic aura emanating from him vanished once more.

Shortly after Li Lei disguised himself as a human, Xiao Wu appeared before him.

"Master! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Li Lei looked at the little crow in front of him and asked:

"How's it going with your task of inspecting the entire town?"

"Reporting to Master, the task you assigned me to patrol the entire town has been completed."

Xiao Wu looked at Li Lei in front of him and answered truthfully.

"Did you find anything during the patrol?"

Li Lei looked at the brightly lit town and asked Xiao Wu.

"Reporting to Master, I found two ordinary Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen in the town, and also saw a five- or six-meter-tall wisteria tree in a rather large courtyard. I haven't found any demons in this town."

Li Lei looked at the bustling town not far away and calmly listened to Xiao Wu's report.

"Is that so? Hmm! I understand."

"Let's go, Little Wu, let's go to town for a visit."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Lei's figure headed towards the town.

Seeing Li Lei heading towards the town, Xiao Wu immediately skipped and hopped after him.

……