Roy sipped his tea, silently.
Tanjiro felt a lump in his throat, restless.
The old woman and the lady turned pale, the latter only recently realizing the situation, wrung her hands together, her fingers digging tightly into her clothes.
After a moment, a sigh…
The old woman seemed to age ten years in an instant, murmuring ominously, "Guangzhi, this child, is so stubborn."
"He'd travel far and wide, valuing silver coins more than his own life..."
"He once said, unless he was no longer there, no one should dare touch his basket…"
Now the basket has returned, but he hasn't; the implication is clear…
"Child, tell me the truth," the old woman said, her voice trembling as if she were on the brink of collapse, yet her strong will forcefully held her together…
"Is Guangzhi never coming back?"
The suffocating air in the cabin suddenly solidified, though the stove was lit on the table, it felt colder than the harsh winter outside.
Tanjiro turned his stiff neck to Roy for help…
Roy noticed the little girl Jing Ji looking at her mother, then her grandma, and finally Roy and Tanjiro with confusion. He gestured to Tanjiro to take Jing Ji outside under the pretense of a snowball fight.
Neither the old woman nor the lady objected.
Roy finally put down his teacup and slowly said, "Honestly, I think it's best if Uncle Minamino himself explains this matter."
The old woman and lady were taken aback.
Then they felt a warm current from the table climbing up their knees, spreading towards their eyes, and then—
They suddenly noticed a familiar figure that had appeared before them.
It was…
The old woman's child, the girl's father, the lady's husband — Minamino Guangzhi.
"Guangzhi!"
"Mother… Naoko…"
The "Nen" connecting the old woman and the lady with the table as a medium fluctuated violently,
Roy closed his eyes to rest, leaving the space to the three of them, while he understood clearly... this was the result of being hit by "intense emotions."
The "emotion" reflected in the "Nen ability" can manifest in different colors…
If the room was filled with nen users, a small cabin would become saturated with emotions, mostly gray and somber, filled with unspeakable sadness and pain.
"Woo—woo—" the northern wind howled outside, mixing in the joyous laughter of children…
Roy instinctively opened his eyes to look outside, where Jing Ji was running happily with Tanjiro.
Beside the snowman she and her mother built, she had abandoned the bamboo horse Minamino Guangzhi bought for her.
She shouted, laughed, and scooped up some snow to throw at Tanjiro, who forced a smile, pretended to be in pain, and fled clumsily, provoking her to chase excitedly...
Meanwhile, the room gradually calmed down.
The tea boiled, lifting the lid and releasing a burst of steam,
After talking with Minamino Guangzhi, the old woman and the lady crossed their hands in front of their foreheads, bowed deeply before Roy, performing a traditional sign of respect and gratitude.
"Thank you, Eiichiro Oda-sama, for avenging my son/husband!"
"It was merely a convenience." Roy offered them a hand to stand up, glanced at Minamino Guangzhi, and honestly said, "We brothers were just seeking shelter and fought off the evil ghost out of self-defense."
"There's no need for the old woman and aunt to thank us."
"Eiichiro Oda-sama is too humble," said Minamino Guangzhi with a smile to the old woman and the lady, "Mother, Naoko, perhaps you didn't know how Eiichiro Oda-sama played with it that day..."
"I saw it clearly from the side, that evil ghost was no match for him, had it not been Eiichiro Oda-sama's intention to train his brother Tanjiro-dono…"
"I'd bet that evil ghost would not withstand a single blow!"
Roy didn't deflect this praise. After finishing his tea, delivering his gifts, and completing his task, he planned to leave.
The old woman and the lady insisted on keeping him, but seeing the tears not yet dry on their faces with more welling up...
Roy firmly refused them, pushed open the door, and walked into the yard.
The old woman and the lady stood to see him off... Tanjiro led the weary Jing Ji close.
Under the gaze of a few people—
Roy handed over the gourd storing Minamino Guangzhi's essence to Minamino Guangzhi's mother…
"This is Uncle Minamino's resting place, Granny, take it as a memento."
The old woman shakily accepted the gourd and hugged it close, the tears flowed uncontrollably again…
The lady, seeing this, suppressed her grief and supported the old woman's back, while only Jing Ji looked at all this blankly, not knowing what to do.
Minamino Guangzhi laughed amiably and comforted, "Don't cry, Mother, since ancient times life has always had an end, just consider that I've reached Nirvana early and am enjoying bliss..."
Saying this, as if to validate his words, Minamino Guangzhi could no longer control his spirit and began to dissipate…
The old woman and lady became even more saddened, clutching his hand, refusing to let go.
Roy quietly watched all this from the side, seizing the chance to use "Nenryoku" to ask him, "Do you want to say goodbye to young Miss Jing Ji?"
Minamino Guangzhi lovingly watched Jing Ji run to her mother's and grandma's sides, wiping tears from one and then the other, constantly saying "Don't cry... don't cry…"
Full of endless longing, he gently shook his head…
"Eiichiro Oda-sama, I, Minamino Guangzhi, rarely thank anyone, and besides my mother, I have never bowed to anyone..."
"Even when encountering mountain bandits and getting stabbed once, I did not kneel and beg for mercy..."
"But this time, truly, thank you…"
"Thank you for bringing me home, allowing me to find contentment…"
The cold wind blew, vapor drifted from the mouth of the gourd… Minamino Guangzhi's voice grew faint until—
He took one last, deep look at Jing Ji with a smile…
And dissolved into small specks, drifting towards Roy, and instantly merged into his body...
[Notice: You have purified a soul...]
[Entrusted by them, you've inherited their cause and effect; their last energy is transferred to you...]
[Hint: "Life Energy" +1...]
[The host is free to allocate it, to be added to the "Constitution" category]
Roy was startled, suddenly feeling that the copper coin, dug out from the snowy ground beside Minamino Guangzhi's basket, became unusually heavy, so heavy that—
He had to take a deep breath to feel somewhat better.
'So, this is the true gift, huh?' the youth murmured softly, standing silently in the wind and snow for a while…
Returning to his senses, he called out to Tanjiro, bid farewell to the Minamino Family, and turned towards the depths of Sagiri yama…
"Goodbye, Brother Tanjiro…"
"Goodbye, Jing Ji…"
"Goodbye, Minamino Guangzhi…" Roy never looked back, silently adding in his heart…
The sun and mountain earrings hanging below his earlobes swayed with the wind, gradually merging into the snowy scene...
"Whoosh~" The wind intensified, the snow grew heavy… the footprints of the Kamado Brothers were erased, leaving only a fence courtyard, two sorrowful adults, and a bewildered child, watching them fade away, staying there for a very, very long time…