"Cough… cough…"
Kanae's cough immediately drew Shinobu's attention back.
"Sister!"
Her eyelashes trembled as Kanae slowly opened her eyes.
"Shinobu… I'm… not dead?"
It felt strange. Her breathing was smooth, and even speaking no longer drained her strength.
She knew her own condition better than anyone. Shinobu could never have saved her.
Kanae understood this more clearly than anyone else.
Was it that mysterious person?
Overwhelmed with relief, Shinobu hugged her sister tightly, her voice choked with emotion.
"Yes, sister… you're still alive…"
"Alive and well…"
Kanae's lips curved into a gentle smile as she lightly patted her sister's back.
The two sisters stayed like that for a while. Eventually, Kanae gently pushed Shinobu back and asked,
"I think I just heard someone speaking."
Shinobu hurriedly explained, "It was she… she saved you, sister."
Kanae lightly touched her neck—there was no wound at all.
Even the most skilled doctor could not have restored her so quickly.
Everything that had just happened felt like a hallucination.
Noticing her sister's action, Shinobu spoke to clarify, "She applied her own blood to your wound… and it healed immediately."
Kanae's face showed surprise.
Such a method…
Shinobu hesitated before asking, "Sister… do you think that person… might be a… demon?"
Kanae looked at her sister's complex expression and pointed gently to the horizon.
"But the sun has already risen."
Following her gesture, Shinobu looked—and indeed…
By the time she had arrived, the sun had already come up.
If it were a demon, it would have been impossible for them to appear under sunlight.
That's common sense. Even Kibutsuji Muzan, the progenitor of demons, could not act in the sunlight.
But aside from demons, she couldn't think of any other way a wound could heal so quickly.
Seeing Shinobu's hesitation, Kanae smiled and explained, "This world has never lacked extraordinary people. I once heard a story that really happened centuries ago."
"It was about a certain medical clinic."
"Apparently, the clinic's owners were two women of divine beauty. They never charged patients, and those treated by them would recover quickly. So, people would voluntarily bring them food and daily necessities as gifts."
"One day, a young herbalist in the mountains injured his arm and went to the clinic. The divine women gave him a plaster, instructing him to remove it after three or five days."
"But back home, the young man found his arm pain-free shortly after applying it. Forgetting the doctors' instructions, he removed the plaster."
"To his amazement, the severe scrape on his arm had already healed, even though the plaster had barely been applied."
"When he later returned to express his gratitude with a gift, the clinic had vanished without a trace."
"Inquiring locally, he learned that the two women's appearances had never changed for many years."
Watching her sister's smile, Shinobu sighed, "Sister… that's just a folk tale, isn't it?"
Moreover, it wasn't some random tale—it was told by their parents!
The Kocho family had a long lineage in medicine, so they had often heard such stories growing up.
As for whether it was true… of course, it couldn't be! It was likely just hearsay.
"It's true," Kanae said, smiling as she patted her sister's head. "And even if she is a demon, she must be a good one."
Shinobu paused, unexpectedly offering no rebuttal.
Her sister was just too gentle—gentle to humans, gentle to demons, even believing that humans and demons could become friends.
In Kanae's philosophy, the Demon Slayer Corps was not only to slay demons but also to free them from suffering.
Shinobu had never fully supported her sister's excessive kindness to demons—but this time… she couldn't argue.
That person, with such beautiful eyes, must be a good person.
…
Yuko walked along the road, her thoughts gradually drifting.
Snow Breathing…
She had never imagined that one day, her technique would become someone else's trump card.
Eighth Form—the one purely designed to sever a demon's head—was also the strongest form of Snow Breathing. Unfortunately, it had never been used.
She… indeed shouldn't have focused so much on Sun Breathing.
Over the years, to conceal her identity, she had hardly ever used Snow Breathing, instead relying on the five major breathing styles in combat.
She had even practiced Sun Breathing far more than Snow Breathing.
Because Sun Breathing was the most effective counter to demons and Muzan, she had forced herself to deeply study a style she was not naturally proficient in.
But the strongest style wasn't necessarily the best fit. The style best suited to her was truly the strongest.
She should refocus on Snow Breathing.
The current Snow Breathing… was still not enough…
Not strong enough.
She could become stronger.
…
In the past two years, a wealthy woman had bought a mansion at the foot of the mountain near Tanjiro's hometown.
At that time, the town was small; residents all knew each other.
But the woman kept to herself, and hardly anyone had ever seen her, not even those who visited.
The news that the owner was a woman came out only by accident.
Being wealthy, she naturally lacked servants, so many had applied for work—but most never got past the gate, let alone saw her.
People assumed she had merely bought the house to leave it empty.
Later, a thief tried to break in at night, screaming that there was a ghost. The town's police were alerted, and finally, curious residents glimpsed her.
Not fully, though—only half her face, tightly covered from head to toe.
Even so, her exquisite features were visible, with wine-red long hair that astonished many who saw it.
Afterward, many men were dragged away by their wives for staring too long.
Soon, rumors spread that the woman had an ailment triggered by sunlight, that exposure to the sun could be fatal, and so on.
After the fuss died down, the mansion remained silent, and the townspeople gradually gave up.
…
During another bitter winter,
A boy with short, fiery red hair and sun-shaped earrings appeared in the town, carrying a basket.
"Well, isn't this Tanjiro?"
---
Currently at chapter 312 for advance chapters
https:// ko-fi.com/rabi08