Chapter 138: 138 ’Breathing
"Infinite Train" —— the name sounds quite impressive, almost leading one to mistake it for something extraordinary.
But in fact, the so-called Infinite Train is just referring to a train named "Infinite".
This train was well-known, perhaps because trains in this era were not as numerous and widespread as in later times, and any incident related to the Infinite Train often made newspaper headlines.
Recently, a strange incident occurred on this train.
It’s said that passengers riding the Infinite Train mysteriously disappeared after the train reached its final stop.
It wasn’t that the entire train’s passengers vanished, rather every so often, someone would mysteriously go missing after boarding the train; there were those who saw them board, but no one saw them get off.
This incident caused quite a stir, was reported in the newspapers several times, and garnered considerable attention.
Thus, from some point, a rumor that "the Infinite Train consumed people" began to spread.
When Reiger saw the newspaper, the reason it specifically highlighted the title "the man-eating Infinite Train" was precisely because of this.
Thanks to this, the Infinite recently underwent factory maintenance, and it wasn’t until the maintenance crew was absolutely certain there wasn’t anything abnormal about the train that it was put back into service.
Today is the first journey of the Infinite Train since it resumed operation.
"Woo—— woo——"
When the loud whistle sounded in the night, the train with its dark steel engine and wooden carriages arrived from the other side of the tracks and stopped in front of the platform.
People queued up in an orderly fashion to board, entered the carriages, and began to find their seats.
Reiger also blended in, holding his ticket, and like a young fellow ready to travel, found a window seat and sat down.
Behind Reiger, several other passengers were conversing.
"So this is the man-eating Infinite Train?"
"Don’t talk nonsense. How could there possibly be a man-eating train in this world?"
"If there were, I’d actually like to meet it. It’d be nice to see which part of the train eats people."
"Perhaps it uses the engine?"
"Hahaha."
The few people spoke and laughed in this way, clearly treating the rumors of the man-eating train as a joke.
Reiger didn’t turn around to look at those who, if this were a horror movie, would likely be the first victims, and took out the lunchbox he had bought at the station, intending to fill his stomach first.
But just as Reiger opened the lunchbox, suddenly, a loud voice came from behind him.
"Don’t be careless and underestimate, everyone!"
It really was a very loud voice, so loud it was almost enough to make one’s eardrums ache.
"Ahh!"
"Who, who are you!?"
"Such a loud voice!"
The passengers behind Reiger seemed to have gotten quite a scare.
The owner of the voice seemed not to care about these passengers’ reactions and continued to speak.
"Rumors, once they arise, must have a basis. One must never treat potentially dangerous situations with an attitude of amusement. Everyone must be extra careful, understand? Everyone!"
The owner of the voice seemed to be intentionally shouting, the volume increasing, drawing the vision of the surrounding passengers towards him.
"What’s with this person?"
"So weird!"
"Let’s change carriages."
A few passengers instantly felt the urge to keep their distance and quickly scurried away, no longer staying there.
It seemed there were quite a few passengers with the same thought, as the once relatively crowded carriage suddenly emptied quite a bit, feeling a little cold and deserted.
Reiger then dropped his hands from his ears, half-closing his eyes, turned his head, and looked behind him.
The next moment, someone entered his field of vision.
It was a memorable young man.
The young man had striking blonde hair, a modern hairstyle like a burning blaze, with even the edges of some of his hair tinted red.
He also had thick black eyebrows, sparkling eyes, and was dressed in a coffee-colored uniform, draped in a haori with flame patterns on the hem, dressing very distinctively, obviously a unique character.
Of course, this paled in comparison to the large number of lunchboxes he was holding in both hands.
Looking at this young man, who was holding a lot of lunchboxes and whose dress and appearance were quite distinctive, Reiger silently remarked to himself in his heart,
"We’ve just boarded and already encountered an important character from the original story?"
This conspicuous and distinctive personal style and attire allowed Reiger to recognize the person’s identity at a glance.
In contrast, the other party was smiling, seemingly unconcerned by the surrounding gazes, and didn’t even notice Reiger’s gaze, just shouting at the passengers who ran to another carriage.
"Remember to be very careful, and if you encounter any danger, just shout loudly, you hear me? Everyone!"
This loud voice eventually resulted in the passengers running even faster.
The young man sporting flame-patterned clothing saw this scene and, as if he had completed a task, nodded in satisfaction and sat down.
The place where he sat was precisely where those passengers had been sitting, right behind Reiger.
Reiger didn’t turn his head to look back at him but just smiled faintly and began to eat his packed lunch.
It was an exceptionally good beef hotpot bento. Although it had cooled down somewhat, it still tasted quite unique.
Reiger had not had even a single grain of rice since he crossed over from Dimensional Travel the previous night. The timely meal was just right to fill his stomach.
However, Reiger wasn’t thoroughly focused on enjoying his bento. Instead, he mechanically continued eating while gradually shifting his attention to the person behind him.
Without looking back, Reiger could still keenly sense that the other’s breathing was different from others.
Specifically, the way of breathing was very peculiar.
Whether it was the rhythm or the frequency, this person’s breathing was unlike any ordinary person’s. At first glance, it might not appear to be anything special, but the reality was that the individual was inhaling a large amount of air while exhaling very little, raising the question of where all that air was going.
"Is this the breathing technique of this world?"
Reiger silently pondered to himself.
Yes, this world also had a breathing technique.
But unlike the technique in the Akasha Continent, which served merely as an auxiliary method to a Swordsman’s training, the breathing technique here was a combat support method, developed to empower humans to fight against the demons with their fragile bodies.
Its primary function was to strengthen cardiac and pulmonary functions by using special breathing methods to draw in a massive amount of oxygen, rapidly activating the blood and allowing human physical abilities to significantly increase in an instant, thus temporarily matching a demon’s physical prowess. Its official name was "Total Concentration Breathing."
The ability of the Ghost Hunters in this world to fight against demons, engage in close combat, and even slay demons hinged greatly on this Total Concentration Breathing.
The majority of those who were proficient in Total Concentration Breathing belonged to an organization called the "Demon Slayer Corps," specializing in hunting demons.
At that moment, the impressive individual sitting behind Reiger was undoubtedly a Ghost Hunter who had mastered this breathing technique.
Listening to the breathing of that Ghost Hunter, Reiger gradually formulated an idea.
"Is that so?"
Reiger began to consciously adjust his breathing, aligning it closer to that of the Ghost Hunter.
This wasn’t difficult for Reiger.
He himself had practiced breathing techniques due to his training in the Steel-Breaking Sword Skill, so even if the breathing techniques of different worlds offered different effects and functions, Reiger’s learning speed allowed him to master them quickly.
Furthermore, having a reference point right there, it wasn’t long before Reiger adjusted his breathing frequency to almost match the other’s.
In that instant, Reiger truly felt the oxygen he inhaled invigorating his bloodstream, accelerating blood flow and making his heart and lungs stronger and more powerful, giving rise to a surge of energy within his body.
"Interesting."
Feeling all this, Reiger’s lips curved into a smile as he began to breathe once more.
This marvelous sensation almost made Reiger lose himself in it, momentarily forgetting the movements around him.
But soon, a voice roused him.
"Simply inhaling a large amount of oxygen isn’t enough. Finding the right moments to breathe in and out is also important, you know? Young man!"
As that familiar loud voice echoed once again, Reiger finally snapped out of his reverie
Turning his head, Reiger saw that someone had taken a seat next to him without him noticing.
It was the young man with the flame-patterned attire.
Sitting beside Reiger with a multitude of bento boxes, the young man had settled quietly, holding an open bento box in his hands. While eating, he flashed a broad smile at Reiger.
"Come on, keep breathing. Your form just now was good. If you can continue to breathe like that, you’ll be able to graduate!"
The other party had clearly noticed Reiger trying to learn his breathing technique.
However, not only did he not seem to mind, but he had also begun to offer guidance, acting very much like a willing teacher.
"I apologize." Reiger naturally wouldn’t continue after being discovered, and he bowed his head in apology, saying, "I noticed your breathing was quite peculiar and interesting, and I couldn’t help but imitate it. I did it without your permission; please forgive me."
Upon hearing this, the other party still seemed not to care, instead focusing on eating his bento.
"Delicious!"
After taking a bite, he immediately exclaimed loudly.
Reiger then noticed that the bento the other was enjoying appeared to be from the same place as his own.
"Delicious!"
The young man with the flame-patterned attire continued to exclaim loudly, as if no one was around, before he suddenly addressed Reiger.
"My name is Rengoku Kyoujurou! What’s your name? Young man!"
The young man with the flame-patterned attire was Rengoku Kyoujurou.
A pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, and one of the most important characters in the original Infinite Train arc.