Higashino Makoto took a step back and crossed his arms.
"Kanae, you've killed many demons and saved many people; your merits are immense. But you've also carried a heavy burden of karma... perhaps it's accumulated during the years you were dead?"
Kanae Kocho's fingers tightened slightly.
"I... don't quite understand."
"Simply put, your soul didn't go to heaven after you died, but wandered the human world. All those years, you watched Shinobu grow up, watched Kanao train, and watched many Demon Slayer Corps members die. Your obsessions were too heavy, so heavy that they affected your soul; those obsessions became karma."
Kanae Kocho lowered her head, her purple eyes gleaming with a complex light.
"Ren, you have relatively little karma, but some of your sister's karma has been transferred to you. It seems that karma can flow between family members?"
Shinobu Kocho's lips trembled slightly.
"Kanao, your work is the purest. It's not for revenge, not to prove anything, but simply because your sisters want you to do it. This state of mind makes your soul exceptionally clean."
Kanao Tsuyuri didn't speak. She simply lowered her head slightly, as if she was thinking about something, or perhaps trying to conceal some emotion.
The room was quiet for a moment.
"Mr. Higashino."
Kanae Kocho raised her head.
"Why are you telling us all this...?"
Higashino Makoto walked back to the window and opened it. Sunlight streamed in, illuminating the entire room.
"I'm conducting an experiment. Regarding how merit and achievement are transferred, eliminated, and altered, I need more samples, and you—"
He turned around and looked at them.
"It's mine, so you're the first batch of test subjects."
Shinobu Kocho's lips twitched slightly.
"You're so direct. Couldn't you have been a little more tactful?"
"I've always been direct."
Higashino Makoto walked to the table and sat down.
"Now, I need to go to a place, the Ubuyashiki Estate, to see that lord."
Kanae Kocho's brows furrowed slightly.
"My lord? What do you wish to see him for?"
"His Curse, that Curse bestowed by the gods, passed down through generations of the Ubuyashiki Family —I want to know if it's a kind of karma, and if so, whether it can be transferred, eliminated, or offset through spiritual practice."
The three sisters exchanged a glance.
"Mr. Higashino, can you... lift the lord's Curse?"
Shinobu Kocho's voice carried a hint of suppressed excitement.
"I don't know, but it's worth a try."
Higashino Makoto stood up and walked towards the door.
"Let's go, we'll talk on the way."
The carriage traveled along the mountain road for a whole day.
Higashino Makoto leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.
The question kept swirling in his mind—
What is the essence of success and achievement?
If God is the collective unconscious of humanity, then merit and achievement are humanity's evaluation of that individual.
When a person does a good deed, the collective subconscious believes that he "should be rewarded," and thus his soul is imbued with merit.
When a person does something wrong, the collective unconscious believes that he "should be punished," and thus his soul acquires karma.
But the question is, who set these evaluation criteria?
Is it humankind itself?
If so, then that means that merit and achievement are not absolute, but relative.
In a society that glorifies killing, murderers may accumulate merit rather than karma.
This explains why the definitions of good and evil differ across different eras and cultures, because the collective unconscious itself is constantly changing.
"Interesting."
He said in a low voice.
"Cheng-san, what are you saying?"
Momo sat beside him, her purple eyes looking at him.
"I'm wondering who sets the standards for merit and achievement."
Who made that decision?
"I don't know, it could be humans themselves."
Higashino Makoto opened his eyes, a certain light gleaming in his golden eyes.
"In other words, if I can change people's general perception, I can change the standards of merit and achievement. If everyone believes that 'being loyal to Higashino Makoto is a good deed,' then those who are loyal to me will accumulate merit."
Momo's eyes widened slightly.
"Cheng-san, you want to... change the world's perception?"
"Not for now."
But it's worth remembering.
He closed his eyes again.
The carriage continued its journey. Outside the window, the setting sun was painting the sky a golden-red hue.
In the distance, the outline of the Ubuyashiki Estate was faintly visible in the twilight.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat under a cherry blossom tree in the center of the courtyard.
His face was paler than when Higashino Makoto last saw him; his eye sockets were deeper, and his lips were almost bloodless.
An old blanket covered his knees, and he held a folding fan in his hand. The fan was not opened; he simply held it, as if using the coolness to dispel the heat in his body.
He looked at Higashino Makoto as he walked into the courtyard with his purple eyes.
"Mr. Higashino, you've arrived."
Did you know I was coming?
"I don't know. But I've asked someone to wait for you at the door."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki's lips curled up slightly.
"Last time, when we attacked Doma, the Pillars all thought we had failed, and the Insect Pillar sisters were killed in battle. Later, I heard that the Eternal Paradise Faith was destroyed and Doma went missing. I guessed that it was you who intervened, and that you would come back to check on things."
Higashino Makoto sat down opposite him.
Momo stood behind him, while the three butterfly sisters stood further away, not approaching.
"My lord."
Kanae Kocho bowed slightly.
"Kanae, Shinobu, Kanao."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki's gaze swept over them, and the smile on his lips deepened.
"You're still alive, and you look... good."
"Thank you for Mr. Higashino's care."
Kanae Kocho's voice was very soft.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki nodded and looked at Higashino Makoto again.
"Mr. Higashino, what brings you here?"
Higashino Makoto did not answer immediately.
He looked up at the top of Kagaya Ubuyashiki's head—
There, there was a huge, almost black mass of karma.
It was as black as ink, as thick as fog, almost enveloping his entire body.
But in the deepest part of that darkness, a faint light flickered.
"I see your Curse."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki's fingers tightened slightly.
"Karma, immense karma. It has been passed down from your ancestors, accumulating with each generation and intensifying with each passing year. That Curse was not something God intentionally placed upon you; rather, it was a reaction from God that occurred passively after the karma of your Ubuyashiki Family had accumulated to a certain extent."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki remained silent for a long time, his once calm heart now stirred with ripples.
Lifting this Curse has been the long-cherished wish of the Ubuyashiki Family for generations.
"Mr. Higashino, you can see it, is there any way to remove it?"
Higashino Makoto looked at him for two seconds.
"Yes, but it's likely only temporary."
"What's the meaning?"
"Radiant Purification" "Greater Heal"
A pure light appeared before him, and the Curse was removed.
But just as Higashino Makoto was preparing to take things a step further, the Curse struck again.
He stopped what he was doing and did not continue.
It's speculated that killing him once and then resurrecting him should transfer the Curse to his child, restoring his health.
What will Karma do after killing everyone in the Ubuyashiki Family?
Will it dissipate?
Or should we follow their souls and Curse their reincarnation?
"I feel so much better, I've never felt this good. Thank you so much, Higashino, for lifting the Curse on the Ubuyashiki Family. As long as..."
Before he could finish speaking, Higashino Makoto interrupted him.
"I've only temporarily removed the Curse from you, but the karma won't disappear. Because of the healing magic I just used, your body will temporarily recover, and you can live like a normal person."
He paused.
"But karma has not disappeared; the Curse will return."
"That's not bad either, but why?"
"Because the root of karma is not in you, but in your bloodline, in your ancestors. The sins they committed are the karma of the entire Ubuyashiki Family. As long as you are a member of the Ubuyashiki Family, as long as you have Ubuyashiki Family blood in your veins, and as long as there are people who fear and die because of demons, karma will continue to accumulate. Once it is cleared, it will accumulate again; once it is cleared a hundred times, it will accumulate a hundred times."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki lowered his head, looking at his pale hands.
So... there's no solution?
There is a solution.
Higashino Makoto held up one finger.
"First, eliminate the root of the karma, so that the gods no longer believe the Ubuyashiki Family should be Curse. This requires killing Muzan Kibutsuji, or changing the collective perception of all humanity, making everyone believe that the Ubuyashiki Family is innocent."
"Killing Muzan Kibutsuji, but changing human perception is almost impossible."
He held up his second finger.
"Secondly, you can use your merits to offset your karma. Karma is negative, and merit is positive. If you can accumulate enough merit, you can offset your karma, and the Curse will be lessened or even disappear."