On a clear morning at Mount Kumotori, the wind and snow continued to howl relentlessly.
Achoo!
A sudden, earth-shattering sneeze shattered the tranquility of the cabin.
Tanjiro Kamado rubbed his nose, which was red from the cold, and scrambled up from the tatami mat, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.
He felt as if his head had been stuffed with a ball of water-soaked cotton, so heavy that his neck could barely support it.
"Oh no, I think I've caught a cold."
Tanjiro sniffed, forced himself to stay awake, and habitually walked to the corner of the wall, reaching out to grab the huge charcoal basket that was almost as tall as him.
The instant his fingers touched the edge of the bamboo basket.
"Smack!"
A fair and gentle hand patted the back of his hand lightly.
Kie Kamado, wearing an apron, frowned slightly, her eyes filled with undisguised worry and heartache.
She snatched the heavy charcoal basket from her son's hands and set it aside.
Tanjiro, you're not going anywhere today.
Kie's tone was firm and left no room for refusal, "Your face is as red as a ripe apple, and your forehead is burning hot. Go back to bed right now!"
"But Mother..." Tanjiro tried to reason with his sense of responsibility as the eldest son, "Grandpa Saburo in town is waiting for my charcoal to start the fire. And the New Year is just around the corner, I want to earn more money to buy everyone some good food."
Are you delirious from the fever?
Suddenly, a sarcastic, high-level comment came from the side.
Takeo walked in carrying a bundle of freshly chopped firewood.
He threw the firewood down beside the stove with a clatter, put his hands on his hips, and looked at his older brother with the eyes of someone looking at a fool.
"I thought your head was harder than that pickle-eating stone in the backyard, but I never imagined even your blockhead could get sick."
Takeo rolled his eyes dramatically. "Have you forgotten how many things that expressionless old man left under Mother's pillow when he left?"
When this was mentioned, both Kie and Tanjiro turned their heads and looked at the bedside table in the inner room.
There was a small wooden box wrapped tightly in cloth.
Inside was the ridiculously extravagant top-grade silver note that Giyu Tomioka had left behind before he left.
"Takeo is right."
Kie sighed and reached out to touch Tanjiro's burning forehead. "The money Mr. Tomioka left behind, although we haven't been willing to exchange it at the money exchange in town, is enough for our whole family to live on for several years if we just take out any bill."
"But that money is too precious; it's the savings that Giyu- san earned with his life. We can't just squander it!"
Tanjiro stubbornly adhered to his bottom line.
"Nobody told you to spend money recklessly! But it's absolutely unacceptable for my sick eldest son to go down the mountain to sell charcoal in this heavy snow!"
Without a word, Kie pushed Tanjiro back into bed and covered him with a thick quilt, tucking the corners in tightly.
"The note Mr. Tomioka left clearly states, 'Don't sell charcoal, don't starve.' If you collapse from exhaustion in the snow today trying to sell these two baskets of charcoal, he'll definitely be angry when he comes back next time."
Just imagining that cold-faced Water Hashira looking at him with unwavering eyes and then uttering, "You're too weak and disobedient," Tanjiro shrank back pathetically.
In the end, the eldest son, who was always hardworking, gave in.
He lay obediently in bed, watching his mother and younger siblings busy in the house, and a warm feeling welled up in his heart.
"Brother, open your mouth."
A soft, sweet voice sounded in my ear.
Nezuko carefully knelt down beside the bed, carrying a steaming bowl of ginger soup.
She picked up the wooden spoon, gently blew on the steam, and then held it to Tanjiro's lips.
"Thank you, Nezuko."
Tanjiro was so moved that he almost cried.
He drank the spicy ginger soup in one gulp and felt a warm current flow down his throat and into his stomach.
"Big brother is sick. You must take your medicine obediently so you can get better quickly."
Nezuko smiled, her eyes crinkling, her large, dark pupils sparkling with understanding.
In another corner of the room, Delia and Shigeru were playing cat's cradle by the fireplace.
"Mao, you've got it wrong! You should go through from underneath!"
Delia angrily accused him.
"That's not wrong! It's clearly because your fingers are too short!"
Mao retorted without backing down.
"Cough cough."
Tanjiro cleared his throat, attempting to resolve the dispute using his recently acquired knowledge.
"Delia, Shigeru. Giyu- san said that finger dexterity depends on the control of the forearm muscles. You can try Total Concentration Breathing to deliver oxygen to your fingertips..."
"Shut up!"
Takeo walked over carrying a basin of freshly poured cold water, rudely interrupting Tanjiro's bizarre theory that he had learned from Giyu Tomioka.
He wrung out a cold towel and slapped it onto Tanjiro's burning forehead.
"The things that expressionless old man taught you are all things that no normal person could do!"
While complaining irritably, Takeo gently adjusted the position of the towel for his brother.
"If you dare mention 'Total Concentration Breathing' again, I'll throw you out into the snow to cool you down physically!"
Seeing Takeo's typical tsundere appearance, Tanjiro couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Takeo actually cares about me a lot."
Tanjiro spoke in a voice with a heavy nasal tone.
"Who... who cares about you!"
Takeo's face instantly turned bright red, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"I'm just worried that if you get sick, all the work of chopping wood and carrying water tomorrow will fall on my shoulders! I don't want to be worked to death!"
"Yes, yes, thank you for your hard work Takeo."
Kie walked over carrying a plate of grilled salted fish, smiling as she patted Takeo's head.
The whole cabin was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation.
Tanjiro lay in his warm bed, watching this happy family.
The firewood in the stove crackled and popped, and the orange glow of the firelight illuminated everyone's faces.
He felt so happy.
As long as the family can stay together peacefully, even if life is ordinary, it is the most precious treasure in the world.
"I will definitely protect everyone."
Tanjiro silently made a vow to himself.
Time always flies when you're in a warm and cozy atmosphere.
Before we knew it, it had gotten completely dark outside.
The wind and snow intensified, the gale-force winds carrying icy snowflakes, howling like wild beasts, relentlessly battering the flimsy windows of the cabin.
It's time to go to bed.
Kie blew out the oil lamp in the house and led her younger siblings into sleep.
Before long, only their even and deep breathing could be heard in the room.
Tanjiro remained lying in his bedding.
Perhaps because he had slept too much during the day, or perhaps because of the aches and pains from his cold and fever, he tossed and turned in the dark, unable to fall asleep.
His nose was congested due to a severe cold, so he could only breathe through his mouth, his breathing slightly labored.
"It's still so hot."
Tanjiro reached out and touched the cold towel on his forehead, only to find that it had been warmed by his own body heat.
He was about to sit up and wash the towel again in the basin of water next to the stove.
Sudden.
Tanjiro's movements froze in mid-air.
In the utter silence of the night, an indescribable, strange feeling instantly spread throughout his body.
Even with his nose, which was normally far more sensitive than most people's, blocked out due to a severe cold, he still managed to detect a faint scent seeping in through the crack in the door.
What kind of taste is it?
Tanjiro's pupils suddenly contracted to their maximum size.
This doesn't smell like any wild animal from the mountains at all!
This flavor... is so pure.
It's like boiling hundreds of years' worth of rotting flesh mixed with aged black blood in an iron pot.
I only inhaled a tiny bit of that smell.
Tanjiro felt a churning in his stomach, a deep-seated nausea and fear that instantly froze the blood in his limbs.
He felt nauseous, but couldn't vomit at all.
What is this...?
Tanjiro bit his lower lip hard, trying his best not to make a sound.
Danger!
Extremely dangerous!
This smell is the very source of all evil!
Just as he was still in shock...
Amidst the sound of wind and snow outside, a faint noise suddenly came from inside.
"Crunch... crunch..."
That's the sound of something heavy stepping on thick snow.
The sound was very steady and rhythmic.
Unhurried and unhurried, yet carrying an air of superior arrogance and absolute indifference to life.
Who's outside?
Tanjiro's mind went completely blank.
He turned his head and, in the dim moonlight, glanced at his mother and younger siblings who were sleeping soundly beside him.
Nezuko smacked her lips softly in her sleep, while Takeo rolled over and put one leg on Shigeru's stomach.
They were completely unaware that a terrifying presence was standing outside the door, capable of dragging this warm family into utter hell.
"Crunch--"
The footsteps finally stopped outside the cabin door.
They were separated by only one door.
The suffocating stench of blood instantly intensified tenfold, pouring into the room without restraint through the thin wooden door.
Tanjiro's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
He slowly reached out and touched the old axe used for chopping wood, which lay beside his pillow.