Chapter 255

I didn't stand in the sunlight for too long. I heard sounds from the end of the corridor and parts of my body were scattered all over the courtyard. My perception was more detailed than I had imagined.

Just from the sound of my feet hitting the wooden floor, I could clearly tell that it was Tanjiro Kamado's voice.

It's strange, swordsmen like them have very light footsteps and a faint breath, but I can sense them so clearly.

I retracted my open arms and turned around to see Tanjiro, who had just changed into a yukata and had obviously come here after training and washing up.

"You're finally awake, Mr. Ao!" The marks on Tanjiro's forehead became more obvious, directly connected to the dark red hair. From the half-open mouth of his yukata, I could see his strong muscles, and his hands had wounds and thick cords that were inconsistent with his age.

Although he has been through so much hardship, the expression on his face is still so sunny and warm; although I am older, when he looks at me, I always have the urge to call him brother.

Is it my problem?

"I'm sorry to have worried you." I touched my neck, but surprisingly, I didn't feel dry. "Have I slept for a long time?"

He nodded, holding the water bottle in his hand and walked from the corridor into the courtyard. "It's been almost a month."

One month?!

I was surprised. It felt like only a few minutes or hours, but how long had it actually been?

"If Miss Shinobu and Miss Tamayo hadn't repeatedly assured you that there was nothing wrong with your body, Mr. Komaji would have been unable to sit still."

As he spoke, he lifted the water bottle and started pouring water under my feet.

???

Looking at his behavior, I slowly typed a question mark.

What are you doing?

Maybe my expression was too obvious, Tanjiro stopped immediately and said with a smile: "I didn't realize that I didn't have to water the house when Mr. Qing woke up."

I touched my neck again. Could it be that because Tanjiro comes to water me every day that I don’t have that dry throat?

"I've only observed the flowers in the river at the foot of our mountain with Takeo before, so I wasn't sure about the water at first. Did you notice when Mr. Qing fell asleep? I think I watered too much in the beginning." He rubbed his cheek with one finger, a little embarrassed, "But later I followed the process when I was growing vegetables with my mother."

Lots of water?

I recalled that vague dream. I wondered why I felt like I was sinking in the sea. Turns out it was all your fault!

"Mr. Qing is very easy to take care of. He smells very different when he's feeling comfortable and uncomfortable." Although Tanjiro has stopped, I can feel the wetness of the soil. When he was watering, he probably couldn't tell where my roots were buried, so he watered the entire yard. This is not a small project, and it would be very time-consuming if I had to do it every day.

Just as I was about to thank him, something important suddenly occurred to me.

What did he say at the beginning? According to what standards would he take care of me?

Growing vegetables?

I suddenly had a bad feeling, because after waking up from a month of deep sleep, not only did my throat no longer feel dry, but I also didn't feel hungry at all.

My breathing suddenly became rapid, with some barely perceptible tremors. "Besides watering, did you do anything else..." I asked him with difficulty.

Hearing my question, he gave me a thumbs up and said with a clear smile: "Don't worry, Mr. Qing, I also fertilize well!"

What did you say?

Apply fertilizer!

What kind of fertilizer is used? Tanjiro grew up in the mountains and has never seen a train. Is it some kind of farm manure? !

Calm down, I need to calm down. Although Tanjiro Kamado is a simple country boy, he is a smart boy after all. Fertilizer is definitely just a name, and it should not be what I imagined.

"They are all poured in directly after loosening the soil regularly. They are not the ones sold in the town now. I asked everyone to help make them. They are very natural!" Tanjiro said proudly, "Especially Ms. Tamayo and Mr. Komaji, they really helped a lot."

Mr. Komaji, how come you have fallen too?

I really looked ashen and felt my stomach aching.

Could you please not be so honest and let me know why?

Cat crying head.jpg.

"What's wrong, Mr. Ao?" Tanjiro's nose twitched, probably noticing the sadness that permeated me, "Is there something else that's making you feel uncomfortable?"

“…It’s okay.” As long as I don’t blink, the tears won’t fall.

What sin have I committed?

Tanjiro's nose is never wrong. He could tell that I was worried, but he was very tactful and didn't ask any more questions. I don't know what he was thinking about, so he immediately changed the subject to something I should be more concerned about. "Whenever Komaji-san is free, he will always stay by Ao-san's side. But maybe because the battle is approaching, Komaji-san's training has become more and more severe."

Has Mr. Komaji already joined the Demon Slayer Corps?

My eyes softened unconsciously, and Tanjiro felt relieved when he saw the smile on my face.

"Mr. Ao, do you want to go and take a look?" Tanjiro asked, "I usually go to train again after watering. Do you want to join us?"

Do you want to see the Demon Slayer Corps' training?

I was indeed curious, so I nodded with great interest, changed into the yukata prepared in the room, and left the courtyard with him.

Along the way, Tanjiro helped me introduce the current changes in the Demon Slayer Corps and the outside situation.

Muzan Muzan was very quiet for a while, but his desire for immortality finally outweighed his fear of an unexpected doll, and the actions of demons from all over the place suddenly became unbridled.

It seems that Muzan Muzan also came here with the determination to get what he wanted.

The Demon Slayer Corps, which was originally undergoing comprehensive training, naturally needed to send its members out to kill evil spirits during training.

After the devilish training of the Nine Pillars and Mr. Komaji, the quality of the Demon Slayer Corps members has been greatly improved. They are also equipped with life-saving medicine developed by Chouya and Ms. Tamayo with the help of my power. However, some casualties are inevitable.

I heard from Tanjiro that Zenitsu's senior encountered Upper Six during a mission - no, now I should say it was the siblings of Upper Four.

Because the prior intelligence did not match the information about the Upper Four hiding in the Flower Street, the support team arranged in advance also made a misjudgment, leading to the death of Zenitsu's senior brother Inadama Inoue.

This is also the only death of a Demon Slayer Corps member in this month.

"I heard that Zenitsu's grandfather, Grandpa Jigoro, is very sad and has decided to retire completely and no longer train new swordsmen. But because he is worried about Zenitsu, Grandpa Jigoro is now here to supervise Zenitsu's training." Maybe he is afraid that this last little disciple will also die in a place he doesn't know?

Tanjiro looked a little sad. He was so well prepared, but there were always unexpected things. "Recently, Zenitsu has been training very seriously. He is no longer the same as before, always complaining about pain and tiredness and skipping training."

Speaking of this, Tanjiro was quite touched, "I have to work harder to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji Murei!"

I listened to him say this, but I didn't feel much emotion in my heart. It was clearly a report of the death of a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, but I actually felt a little bit of relief for the death of my senior brother Inadama Shigeno.

This realization makes me feel like I have been alienated. Is this the original me?

So indifferent.

But I imagined in my mind, if the person who died was not Zenitsu's senior brother, but my wife Zenitsu——

I couldn't help but feel a hint of sadness and anger.

The mere thought of this possibility caused such a noticeable change in my mood.

Why then...

I pursed my lips and lowered my head.

Perhaps the sadness and anger that lingered in me because of my own assumptions were too obvious, so Tanjiro comforted me somewhat misunderstood, "Mr. Ao, we will defeat Muzan Muzan together and make him pay for everything he has done!"

Looking at his determined eyes, I seemed to see through his appearance the swordsman who created the breathing method hundreds of years ago and led the Demon Slayer Corps out of an absolute disadvantage. I laughed and threw all those assumptions behind me, "Yes, we will!"

Before we even reached the training ground, Tanjiro and I heard Shinobu Kocho's angry voice.

"Mr. Busui, I have told you many times that the injured should not act recklessly, especially when trying to use the "Stripes". Did you forget?"

Shinobu Kocho's voice is always like this. It is a very light tone, but it carries an aura that is hard to ignore. "It seems that my words are useless. Do you want the lord to come and discuss this issue with you in person, or let Xiao Xuanmi take care of you?"

When he heard that his lord had to come and talk about this matter in person, and that his own brother had to look after him, Fuzugawa Miyabi's veins were about to pop out, but he seemed to be in the wrong and dared not say anything.

Phew, it's like someone is grabbing the soft belly of a hedgehog with its fur standing on end. The visual effect is so strong!

"Mr. Shinobu is trying to activate the 'Stripes' again. Miss Shinobu looks very angry." Even a natural hero like Tanjiro wants to go around those two people.

Wait, what did he just say, "'Markers'?" I turned to look at Tanjiro.

"Well," he said a little embarrassedly, "in the last battle with the former Upper Four, there was a moment when I felt that my strength had increased exponentially. Later, when reporting, the lord found the explanation from the past records, which were about the "marks"..." He paused here, as if he was recalling Mr. Sanyashiki's description.

But instinctively, I spoke up, "Anyone who has stripes will cause those around them to also have stripes, as if in resonance." I added this sentence.

Tanjiro looked over in surprise, "Hey, does Mr. Ao know?"

I nodded.

"I had no idea how I opened the "Spotted Marks" afterwards, but my body was severely injured after that. If it weren't for Mr. Qing's ability, I probably wouldn't have survived." He looked at me gratefully, "That's why Miss Shinobu and Miss Tamayo concluded that improperly opening the "Spotted Marks" would cause huge physical problems and could even lead to death."

No, even if the "marking" is opened correctly, it will have a great impact on the body.

"So Miss Shinobu is working with the lord and Miss Tamayo to search through a large amount of past records to find the right way."

I see. I thought...

I recalled some of the things left in my memory -

"The Markings can only be activated by people with sufficient understanding: a pulse of over 200 and a body temperature of over 39 degrees - this is the basic condition for activating the Markings." I didn't stop talking. At the distance where Tanjiro and I both heard Shinobu Kocho's voice, my voice naturally reached their ears as well.

The first thing Busui Kagawa Shimizu saw was me. He rushed over to me, but he didn't ask me what I had just said as I had imagined. Instead, he bowed to me heavily and said, "Xuanya, I am grateful for your care."

Hedgehog bows.jpg!

I felt flattered for a moment. It turned out that this seemingly bad-tempered person could have such a gentle side.

"Xuan Mi is a good boy, and he also protected me." I helped him up. Facing Shi Mi's eyes, which didn't even have bloodshot, I was a little overwhelmed. I cleared my throat and said, "Mr. Shi Mi, you don't have to do this."

"Mr. Qing, how are you feeling? Are you feeling any discomfort?" After slowing down a few steps, Kochi Ninja asked with a smile, "Mr. Qing's health has not been good. If you have just woken up, it is not advisable for you to walk around for a long time."

Different from the smile I saw the last time I saw her, Miss Shinobu seemed to have been relieved of something, and even the lines between her eyebrows and eyes were much softer.

But the last sentence seemed to carry some inexplicable dark aura, which made me shudder from the bottom of my heart.

"Thanks... to Tanjiro, everything is fine." I paused in the middle of my words.

She observed my complexion, confirmed that it was delicate, rosy and shiny, and then said: "It seems that the fertilizer made with drugs and demon blood proposed by Tanjiro is very effective."

"Huh?" I was stunned for a moment, "Medicine and ghost blood?"

"It's a special fertilizer made because Mr. Qing can't eat." She nodded as a matter of course, poked her cheek with a finger, tilted her head slightly, and asked back: "Otherwise... what does Mr. Qing think it is?"

...Sorry, I overthought it.

I misunderstood you, Tanjiro - you are just natural, not stupid.