It was dark all around.
"Tanjiro, remember to breathe."
In the dark and groggy mind, deep voices echoed layer by layer.
"breathe……!"
Kamado Tanjiro suddenly woke up from his suffocation.
"Cough! Cough cough cough!!"
He took a deep breath, but was choked by the snow that buried his head deeply.
His whole face turned purple from being suffocated for a long time and being buried in the cold snow.
The brain is congested!
--correct!
——Father, father is still at home!
With his father's voice echoing in his mind, Tanjiro looked panicked and hurriedly pulled his head out of the snow:
"Father!"
White snow shook from the top of his head, and Tanjiro, who had just woken up, suddenly raised his head and looked in the direction of his house.
The scalp-numbing smell of blood in the air still existed, and was even getting stronger.
Tanjiro's eyes trembled slightly, and the smell in the air made him feel very uncomfortable.
"Ha ha…"
He breathed in the air, and the breath he exhaled formed a white mist in the cold environment.
The cold air stung his lungs.
The wind and snow were blowing randomly, and the bone-chilling chill almost froze Tanjiro's limbs that were stuck in the snow due to his fall.
in front of him.
Creak...
The sound of feet in the snow.
A familiar thin figure was standing at the door of the house, leaning sideways towards Tanjiro, blocking Tanjiro's front.
He was draped in a yellow and black square feather fabric.
Her long dark red hair was uncharacteristically tied into a high ponytail.
The sun-patterned earrings on her ears were swaying slightly due to the snow mixed with the cold wind.
In his hand was a fighting knife that he had never seen before.
That was the back of Kamado Tanjiro's father, Kamado Tanjuro.
Tanjiro's slightly trembling eyes reflected the two figures in front of him, and he was in a daze.
After a year of slumber, did my father finally wake up?
now.
Tanjuro was holding the black sword in his hand, the tip of the sword was drooping, and its sharp cold light was facing forward.
Confronting his father was a man Tanjiro had never seen before, wearing a black suit and a white hat.
The disgusting smell of blood filling the air was all emanating from this strange man.
Because Tanjiro fell into the snow, he couldn't see his father's expression, which was facing away from him.
But he can see the other side.
——The man in the black suit had a look of horror in his red pupils.
It was an expression as if he had seen a ghost.
…
…
one day ago.
Mountain.
A well-decorated wooden house is located here.
This is the Kamado family's house.
They have lived here for generations, and it is said that it can be traced back to the Warring States Period.
At this moment, the sky is bright and the morning fog is wrapped around the mountains.
Winter mornings always make people shiver with cold, let alone in the mountains.
"Bang! Bang!"
A bit of chill seeped into the wooden house through the cracks in the open door, and the wooden door swayed slightly in the cold wind, making a sound.
The sleeping children in the room all curled up subconsciously and tightened their blankets.
Seemingly noticing this, the young man who had just walked out the door turned back with an apologetic face and closed the door softly.
"Creak..." The old wooden door was squeezed and made a decaying sound.
Carrying a bamboo basket of charcoal on his back, the crimson-haired boy, whose face was covered in black and gray, smiled and looked at his sleeping brothers and sisters through the crack in the door.
After locking the door, he straightened up and prepared to set off with a basketful of charcoal on his back.
He is Tanjiro, the eldest son of the family.
Inside the wooden house.
"call……"
Several children were huddled together, hugging each other and sleeping soundly.
The slightly older one was a girl. She was sitting up in a daze, rubbing her hazy eyes.
"Ha-ah..." stretched.
Turning his head, he looked at the wooden door that was slowly closing its cracks, and there was a bit of dazzling light coming from there.
The girl tilted her head slightly, glanced at the empty seat next to her in confusion, and said to herself:
"…elder brother…?"
His anxious eyes moved from the empty space beside him to the middle of the pavilion.
She saw her father who had lost his quilt because of the unconscious fight between his sleeping brothers.
"ah!"
In an instant, the confusion and sleepiness were swept away.
"Really..."
She smiled helplessly and sighed, then with a smile she took back the bedding from her brothers and laid it on her father again:
"Wake up, Takeo, Shigeru."
"No matter what, I can't take away my father's quilt."
When their names were called, the two boys who were sleeping hugging each other opened their eyes hazily.
He responded vaguely:
"Sorry...sister..."
Looking at her brother and mother's bed that had been made up in the room, and the faint sound of conversation coming from outside the door, the girl was also ready to get up:
"alright."
"Brother and mother have already gotten up. You should hurry up. You may have to go down the mountain today."
"good--"
In the room, there was the sound of people starting to pack and get dressed.
"Mao, you hit me!" Zhuxiong put on his scarf and kicked Mao, who had shaved his head.
"It hurts... Brother Zhuxiong." Mao, who was younger than Zhuxiong, stood up quickly and touched his smooth head:
"Sister Hanako, are you going down the mountain today?"
"Yes!...if you can."
The Kamado family currently has a total of six children.
They are Tanjiro, Midouzi, Takeo, Shigeru, Hanako, and Rokuta.
Except for Tanjiro who got up early, everyone is now awake and stretching to get up.
In the room, there was a person who was not making up his bed at the moment. He was as silent as a plant and was still lying there. He was particularly eye-catching under the praise of others.
——A middle-aged man with a sallow complexion, long dark red hair, and a shallow scar on his left forehead.
His eyes were closed tightly, and his bare hands showed his withered muscles.
The skin is thin and yellow and has no luster. At first glance, you would think that he is a poor person who is terminally ill and has only a short time to live.
From beginning to end, he didn't make a sound.
It was so quiet that one couldn't help but wonder if he was already dead.
Everyone else in the room seemed to be very used to the middle-aged man's lack of reaction.
Only the youngest Liu Tai, who had just reached the age where he could speak, held the man's finger and cried, unwilling to get up:
"Whoa whoa whoa-daddy!"
His crying instantly attracted the attention of other people in the room.
Often the only ones who can express their feelings most directly are children.
"Rokutai..." Zhuxiong looked at Liutai's crying appearance, and then looked at the middle-aged man's still closed eyes, feeling a little depressed.
The same goes for Mao, who is two heads shorter.
The middle-aged man lying down with his eyes closed was none other than them and Tanjiro's father, Kamado Tanjuro.
"Be good, be good, Mrs. Six, if you want to sleep, just keep sleeping." Mi Douzi, who had already packed up, reached out to pick up the crying Mrs. Six, and coaxed him skillfully:
"Father is still sleeping, don't disturb him."
Mi Douzi hugged Rokuta and shook her slightly.
"Well…"
Soon, Mrs. Six calmed down under Midouzi's comfort, lay in Midouzi's arms, and fell into a deep sleep again.
Zhu Xiong looked at his sleeping father. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.
But Mao, who is younger than him, is even more childlike:
"Father, I have been sleeping for almost a whole year."
Although Mao said this, the low emotion in his eyes could not be concealed:
"Sister, brother."
"Will father wake up again?"
After these words were spoken, the room was quiet for a while.
Zhuxiong turned to look at Mao beside him, stretched out his hand and pinched him secretly.
Mao also knew that he had said the wrong thing, so he lowered his head and did not scream.
"Most definitely."
It was Midouzi who broke the silence.
She smiled, hugged Rokuta who was sleeping in her arms, and looked at Takeo, Shigeru, and Hanako:
"I will definitely do it." Midouzi took a deep breath and just repeated this sentence without explaining too much.
At this time.
Creak - bang
The door of the wooden house was slowly opened halfway, revealing a space for one person to pass through. The white light reflected by the snow outside instantly filled the dim room.
Along with the light came cold air - although the wind was no longer blowing.
A woman wearing a white scarf and a purple and white square-patterned kimono stood at the door, smiling at the children in the room:
"Ah, I'm already up."
This is their mother, Kamado Aoi.
Kamado Aoi's voice was soft, and she noticed Rokuta who was still sleeping in Midouzi's arms. She smiled and nodded to Midouzi:
"Thanks for your hard work."
Then, her eyes moved to Tanjuro who was still lying down. After seeing that he was still sleeping, her expectant eyes slowly dimmed.
Snapped!
She clapped her hands and smiled slightly, but she couldn't hide the fatigue in her eyes:
"Tanjiro has gone down the mountain to sell charcoal, but it snowed heavily yesterday, so everyone should not go down the mountain."
"Hey——!" Shigeru and Takeo, who were excited to see the thick snow, were immediately poured a bucket of cold water on them, and their happy faces suddenly fell:
"Mother!"
Mao looked at his mother with pleading eyes.
"Tanjiro has gone down the mountain." Kamado Aoi's answer was still rejection.
"well……"
"Let's go, Mao."
"knew…"
In the end, the lost Shigeru could only go out with the equally lost Takeo.
"But." Kamado Aoi changed the subject. She touched Shigeru's head and raised the corners of her mouth:
"Tanjiro will bring delicious food back."
When Zhuxiong heard this, he turned back instantly, a sharp light flashed in his eyes:
"real?"
Kamado Aoi nodded.
"Very good!"
The two of them instantly became happy and cheered.
They picked up an ax and skipped to chop down trees closer to home.
Hanako combed her hair and started to learn to pack things at home with her mother.
Mi Douzi wrapped herself in a quilt and carried Liu Tai on her back to prevent her from catching cold. She went to the charcoal cellar nearby to check whether the heavy snowfall last night had made the cellar damp.
——If the cellar is damp, new charcoal may not be burned in the next few days.
…
inside the room.
The open door had been closed, as if he was afraid that the cold wind outside would catch Tanjuro while he was sleeping.
Tanjuro lay quietly on his back.
Sudden.
It seemed to be because of the noise just now.
or……
It's because above Tanjuro's head, there is a bright red light that cannot be noticed by others, but is constantly flashing.
——The word "danger".
His fingers twitched.
…
…
the other side.
An extremely distant place.
It's so far away that it seems like it's in another world.
"Sekiro" world.
The inner hall of Xianfeng Temple.
Wow——
The sound of water flowing came from outside the temple, which was the pond outside the temple.
In the inner hall,
The Son of God changed into a cane and stood at the door of the inner hall. He seemed to be confused and looked back into the hall:
"What's wrong? Qingzi's ninja... no, Ryu's ninja."
She put on her headscarf and looked at the ninja "Wolf" behind her who was half-kneeling and getting up, but his eyes kept looking around.
The ninja was wearing some shabby orange linen clothes, and the flaxen scarf looked weathered.
——The large dark red and ferocious lines on the left forehead prove the special nature of the ninja.
now.
The ninja frowned slightly, and his hands unconsciously tightened the Kakimaru around his waist, becoming alert.
——Something is wrong.
——Are there enemies nearby?
At this moment, his perception ability has been maximized, and he can clearly detect the danger coming from all around his body.
The word "danger", which represented the danger he perceived, seemed to be flashing above his head.
Even if he had faced Sword Master Ashina who had returned from hell, the warnings in his heart had never been so sharp and frequent.
Sweat broke out on his forehead, and the hand holding the handle of the knife turned white.
The ninja's eyes quickly looked around.
As if someone was holding a needle between his eyebrows, a chill ran up his spine.
Suffocating.
But after waiting for a long time, nothing seemed to happen.
The ninja looked at the Son of God in front of him, and slowly swallowed his heart:
"fine."
Seeing the nervous look on the ninja's face, Bianruo Shenzi nodded calmly:
"It's okay, let's go."
"To the West, the home of the sacred dragons."
Then, the Son of God resolutely stepped out of the inner hall.
The frightened ninja "Wolf" saw this and quickly followed.
However, before leaving the palace, he couldn't help but worry in the back of his mind.
——It has been more than thirty years since I came to this world.
——I don’t know what is happening to Aoi Eda, Tanjiro, and Yadouzi.
——The neon here has not found its way back, so will there be a way back to the hometown of dragons in the west?
Thinking about it, the ninja's hand didn't let go of the handle of the knife.
Ninja "Wolf"
——It is none other than Kamado Tanjuro who traveled from another world.
To be precise, this is Kamado Tanjuro's third life.
He was originally born in modern times, on Earth at the beginning of the 21st century, but when he was 20 years old, he was casually ended by a truck and ended his life as an ordinary person.
Then he was reincarnated into another world, which looked like an ordinary modern neon place.
——The world of the manga "Demon Slayer".
but.
When he was first born into this world, Kamado Tanjuro did not awaken the memory of his previous life on Earth.
Instead, he grew up peacefully, got married, had children, and practiced Kagura dance year after year.
It wasn't until he killed the man-eating bear that was near his home that he overdrafted his body and was about to die of illness.
He just recalled everything from his previous life.
So, deep down in his heart, everything there is everything to him, his family, his real family.
But when he died of illness, it was too late for him to say anything.
Before he could say anything, heavy fatigue made him close his eyes.
That's probably just death, he thought.
With his eyes closed, he once again came to this ancient neon world similar to the neon Warring States Period - the game "Sekiro".
Second rebirth.
He became the original protagonist "Wolf" who was picked up from the battlefield and raised as a ninja from an early age.
More than thirty years passed.
At this moment.
He has completed the most difficult hidden ending in the original game - Return of the Dragon.
He is preparing to leave Neon and go to the country in the west of Neon with the Son of God.
He wanted to go back, to the home that belonged to him.
Unfortunately, I have never been able to find a way back.
now.
The ninja raised his head and looked outside the temple.
It seemed that because he had not raised his head for too long, his field of vision was a little dark, making it appear that the sun-filled palace outside was very bright.
tread!
As the ninja stepped over the threshold and towards the light outside the door.
The dazzling light made him want to close his eyes.
He actually did close it.
After a while, Ninja felt as if he had missed a step.
As your eyes adjust to the dazzling light.
Kamado Tanjuro slowly opened his eyes.
--What happened?
The light gradually dissipated.
What comes into view is the roof of a wooden house that was once so familiar.
--roof?
Am I lying down?
Tanjuro blinked his dry eyes, and his vision gradually recovered.
Slowly raising his left arm, he clearly felt the stiffness and soreness in his body.
Um?
hand?
"!" Kamado Tanjuro looked at his left hand that appeared in his field of vision and his pupils shrank.
hand? !
——The left hand of the ninja "Wolf" was broken long ago and turned into a prosthetic ninja hand made of bone.
——But what is in sight at this moment is an intact human hand!
Tanjuro was thinking quickly in his mind.
Could it be that…
Even Kamado Tanjuro, who had lived three lives for almost a hundred years, could not suppress his inner emotions at this moment.
Creak...
Kamado Tanjuro tried to sit up from the bed.
"Clang!"
Beside him, there was a sound of something falling.
Tanjuro subconsciously turned his head to look.
As soon as Kamado Kuie opened the door, the stone teacup in her hand fell to the ground unconsciously due to shock.
At this moment, she was covering her mouth, her eyes filled with mist, and she looked into Tanjuro's gray eyes in disbelief.
She thought she would scream subconsciously, but on this day, Kui Zhi realized that she couldn't scream at all.
Tanjuro's movement of trying to sit up stopped in place, and he quietly looked at his wife, who had a slightly tired look on his face.
He opened his mouth and couldn't say a word for a long time.
After a while, the two people who were speechless finally came back to their senses.
"...I'm back." Kamado Tanjuro said hoarsely, trying hard to squeeze out a smile with the extremely stiff muscles on his face.
Kamado Aoi nodded equally vigorously, trying not to choke, and smiled:
"…Welcome home."
