--Tanjuro and the Yaoshi!
It's late at night.
Inside the Kamado family's wooden house, apart from the occasional suppressed cough of their father, Tanjuro, only the even breathing of the children could be heard.
The medicine Tanjiro brought back today doesn't seem to have any immediate effect.
Tanjuro lay on the bedding, staring at the dark ceiling, unable to fall asleep at all.
It wasn't because of physical pain, but rather a kind of... inexplicable anxiety.
It's similar to the oppressive feeling in the air before a heavy rain, the kind that silences even the insects.
He slowly sat up, put on a thick coat, grabbed the gleaming axe from the corner of the wall, and quietly left the house.
He wanted to sit in front of that grave for a while.
For some reason, the air there always made him feel at ease.
The mountain path was difficult to walk, but Tanjuro's steps were unusually steady.
He stepped precisely on the thinnest part of the snow with each step, his body not swaying at all. It didn't feel like he was walking; it felt more like the mountain wind was pushing him forward silently.
Soon, that familiar open space came into view.
But tonight, an unexpected figure appeared there.
A man in a white coat stood motionless in front of the grave, his back to him, his head tilted back as if gazing at the cold moon.
The night wind ruffled the hem of his snow-white clothes, making him look particularly eerie in the darkness.
Tanjuro's body tensed up immediately.
Nights in the mountains are fraught with danger.
Wild beasts, mountain bandits, and those man-eating demons that only circulate in the mouths of old people.
The man in front of me appeared too suddenly, too abnormally.
A sense of vigilance, rising from the depths of his blood, buzzed wildly in his mind like an alarm.
Is it a ghost?
Tanjuro's breathing became long and slow, and in his eyes, the world was undergoing an incredible change.
Skin, flesh, tendons, bones, blood vessels, internal organs...
All appearances were fading away; the whole world, in his eyes, had become a transparent painting.
This is his innate ability— to Transparent World.
He looked at the white figure.
The twisted, filthy, and ominous ghostly body that I had imagined did not appear.
What he saw was a human body that was so perfect it looked like it was drawn in a textbook.
Clearly defined skeletal structure, well-proportioned muscle tissue, steadily flowing bright red blood, and a heart beating powerfully...
All organs are in a state of absolute health and perfect harmony.
He was even more perfect than any healthy adult he had ever seen.
Tanjuro's heart, which had been in his throat, slowly settled back into his stomach.
So it was a person...
It was him; he was too nervous.
He loosened his grip on the axe handle, preparing to apologize for his rudeness.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Yaoshi was also experiencing a tremendous surge of emotions.
He had sensed someone approaching from behind a long time ago.
A dying man, his steps unsteady, his breathing weak, his entire body radiating signs of impending death.
He didn't even bother to turn his head.
'These incredibly low-level carbon-based life forms don't even deserve my attention.'
But just now, he suddenly felt a... gaze.
A strange gaze, seemingly able to see right through him, inside and out!
'How is this possible?!?!'
The Yaoshi's back was instantly covered in a layer of cold sweat.
A surge of anger, feeling offended and provoked, suddenly welled up inside me!
'Kill him!'
'How dare a lowly, dying mortal look at me like that?!?!'
The demon blood within him had begun to boil uncontrollably, and his killing intent was almost solidifying!
But, just as he was about to turn around and tear this reckless guy to shreds...
Reason forced me to apply the brakes.
'No!'
Not now!
' The Blue Spider Lily, I haven't gotten my hands on it yet!'
'Before obtaining that ultimate treasure that will determine my fate, absolutely, absolutely no mistakes can be made!'
He forcefully suppressed his surging killing intent, allowing the boiling ghost blood to cool down once more.
As he slowly turned around, his face already wore that signature, gentle, refined, and flawless smile.
"Hello, it's so late, aren't you resting yet?"
His voice, like the gentlest evening breeze in the mountains, could easily dispel all the guardedness in people's hearts.
Tanjuro was stunned when he saw that face.
"You are... the legendary healer in town?"
"Hehe, I wouldn't dare call myself a miracle doctor."
The Yaoshi's smile seemed even more welcoming.
"My name is Yaoshi, just a traveling doctor."
"But you, I heard from your son during the day that you haven't been feeling well. Why are you still out in the cold wind so late?"
His words were natural, considerate, and full of concern.
Tanjuro's last remaining doubts vanished completely.
He smiled a little sheepishly and explained:
"I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come out for a walk. I didn't expect to bother you here."
"No, no, I won't bother you."
The Yaoshi waved his hand, his gaze seemingly casual, falling on the grave, a perfectly measured expression of curiosity on his face.
"To be honest, the reason I'm here is because I'm very interested in some of the legends around here."
"Legend?"
"Yes."
The Yaoshi began his impromptu performance.
He spoke in a scholarly, inquisitive tone:
"I've heard that on Mount Kumotori, there's a peculiar blue flower that only blooms quietly beside graves when the sun is at its strongest."
"It has the miraculous power to bring the dead back to life."
"As a doctor, I'm really susceptible to these kinds of strange and bizarre stories, so I thought I'd try my luck."
As he spoke, he mentally gave himself a thumbs up.
However, after hearing this, Tanjuro shook his head and a gentle smile appeared on his face.
"Doctor, you must be referring to our family's heirloom, 'Azure Sky Illusion Dream'?"
"However, what you've heard might be a little inaccurate. That flower can't bring the dead back to life!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
The Yaoshi raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise, but his heart skipped a beat.
'Damn, this seems like they've overdone it.'
'This guy's a local; he knows more than I made up! A blunder! A blunder!'
Completely unaware of the turmoil in the other's heart, Tanjuro raised his head, gazing at the sky with a distant look in his eyes.
"That kind of flower only blooms all at once during the few days of the year when the sun is at its strongest, when the sun is at its highest point."
Its flowering period is very short, so short... it's like a dreamlike bubble that only exists under the blue sky.
"I see... I see..."
The Yaoshi muttered to himself, his face displaying an expression of "sudden realization," but inwardly he was already ranting and raving.
'So, I, this ghost, risked my life, hiding in this dilapidated forest all day, just to wait for something that even the locals think is like a dream, something ethereal and unreal?'
'Why is my life so miserable! o(╥╥)o'
"Doctor, is there something urgent you need that flower for?" Tanjuro asked with concern.
"Cough cough..."
The Yaoshi cleared his throat, quickly composed himself, and put on that compassionate expression again.
"To be honest, I'm researching a miracle drug that can cure all the world's incurable diseases."
"And this miraculous flower, which exists only in legends, is the most crucial ingredient in my prescription."
"So that's how it is..."
Tanjuro's face showed an expression full of respect.
He looked at the young doctor before him, who was searching desperately in the mountains late at night for a vague legend, and his heart was filled with admiration.
"You are truly a remarkable doctor."
You flatter me.
The Yaoshi smiled modestly, then changed the subject, his gaze falling on Tanjuro.
"Compared to my insignificant pursuit, I'm much more interested in your body."
He stepped forward and looked Tanjuro up and down.
"If I'm not mistaken, your body is probably on the verge of collapse, isn't it?"
"Even though the flame of life is so weak it could be extinguished at any moment, it can minimize the damage to its body through some technique I can't understand."
"It could even... produce a feeling that made me, a top-tier doctor, feel a slight sense of unease..."
The Yaoshi's lips curled into a smile.
"Mr. Tanjuro Kamado, can you tell me how you did it?"