It wasn't just on the walls.
The brave villager also saw all kinds of snacks on the table.
They looked delicious. The villager couldn't help but swallow.
There were also rice balls and tea. Everything had been prepared quite thoroughly.
This despicable evil oni had really gone to great lengths to trick the villagers inside.
But after looking around the room, the villager didn't see any sign of the red oni.
Just as the villager tiptoed carefully toward the room, preparing to sneak a taste of the food the red oni had prepared, a slightly childish voice suddenly came from beside the door.
"Welcome, honored guest."
"The house has prepared snacks, rice balls, and tea. Please come in and taste them."
It was the red oni's voice.
Ever since he had returned home, the red oni had figured the villagers would be coming soon.
So he had waited by the door to welcome the guests.
Sure enough, he hadn't been disappointed. Before long, voices came from outside.
Then a brave villager poked his head in, trying to sneak inside and steal the prepared snacks.
And he hadn't noticed the red oni standing to the side of the door.
These snacks and rice balls had been prepared for guests. The red oni naturally wouldn't stop the villager from coming in to enjoy them.
Not only that, he warmly invited the villagers in.
He gave the brave villager a friendly oni smile.
But as an oni with horns on his head and red skin, the red oni looked very frightening in human eyes.
The moment the villager heard the red oni's voice and saw him, his eyes went wide.
His whole body trembled. His hands and feet went numb. He even forgot to run.
A moment later, a scream like a slaughtered pig came from the villager's mouth.
"An oni!"
"The red evil oni is going to bite people!"
"Run! Run!"
The villager scrambled and crawled, fleeing the red oni's house as fast as he could.
The red oni behind the door was utterly confused.
What was going on?
Had he not been warm enough? Had he not served properly?
The red oni didn't chase after the fleeing villager. Instead, he waited even more cautiously, smiling, for new guests to come in.
Meanwhile, at the red oni's door, the villagers watched the villager who had scrambled out in a panic.
They were equally confused.
What was going on?
He had only taken one look and was scared that badly?
There were so many of them. Were they really afraid of two little evil oni? How ridiculous.
Seeing the terrified villager flee, the others were a little scared. Some even thought about running away.
But for the sake of their pride, none of them ran.
Instead, they raised their hoes and clubs, ready to avenge the villager who had fled.
"There are so many of us. There's nothing to be afraid of!"
"Let's go in together. If he dares to bite us, we'll hit his head with our hoes!"
"A little red oni dares to act so boldly?"
"Let's teach him a lesson!"
"Let's go in together!"
And so, several villagers with hoes mustered their courage and used their hoes to push open the door.
They saw what was inside the room.
But where was that red oni?
Where had he gone?
Could he be hiding in the shadows, planning to lure the villagers in with food and then eat them?
The villagers raised their hoes and carefully walked into the room, looking around.
But just like the villager before, just as they were drawn in by the food and about to grab some snacks and rice balls, they heard the red oni's voice from beside the door.
"Oh, you're here!"
"Welcome, welcome!"
"Please try the snacks Blue made. They're really delicious!"
The red oni had learned from last time.
This time, his oni smile was even brighter. He even bared his sharp teeth completely, making him look terrifying.
This scene, combined with the shadows around the red oni, his frightening horns, and his red skin, made him look especially horrifying.
The villagers were scared stiff on the spot.
The snacks in their hands fell to the ground.
The hoes in their hands fell to the ground.
After a series of clattering sounds, the villagers' minds were filled with the red oni's frightening smile, his terrifying teeth.
And the red oni's voice.
Really delicious!
Really delicious!
The repeated "really delicious," the red oni's scary face, and the beast bones on the wall echoed in the villagers' minds.
"Ahhh, he's going to eat us!"
"Run!"
"So scary!"
"We've been tricked! That damned evil oni deceived us!"
The villagers screamed and rushed out of the house.
Outside, the other villagers heard the screams and couldn't hold back any longer.
They all turned and ran, screaming as they went.
Leaving only the confused red oni alone in the house.
He hadn't even had time to introduce himself, to express his goodwill to the villagers, to clear the oni's name.
To let the villagers know that oni were not demons and didn't bite people.
The villagers had all been scared away?
Was he really that scary-looking?
No way. Yesterday, those human children had chased him and thrown beans at him. Why hadn't they been scared away?
The red oni was very confused.
And very sad.
He and the blue oni had prepared invitations for an entire day, and it had failed just like that.
He hadn't even had a chance to show humans his goodwill.
He hadn't even had a chance to communicate.
The more the red oni thought about it, the sadder he became. He squatted on the ground and burst into tears.
"Why do they say I bite people?"
"We oni are clearly kind. We've done so many good deeds. Why do they call us evil oni?"
"We've never done anything bad!"
"Wah wah wah—"
"I failed again—"
"How can I become friends with humans?"
The reason the red oni was so determined to befriend humans was entirely because of the oni elders' teachings.
In this day and age, only by changing the image of oni and integrating into human society could the oni survive.
While the red oni cried loudly, the sound carried to the other room and woke the sleeping blue oni.
Hearing the crying, the blue oni came to the living room and saw that the snacks and rice balls on the table were almost untouched.
He immediately understood everything.
This time, it had failed again.
The blue oni quickly went to comfort the red oni. "Red, don't cry!"
The red oni cried loudly, "Am I really that ugly? That scary?"
The blue oni quickly said, "Red, you're not ugly at all!"
Then the blue oni began to investigate the cause.
When he saw the animal bone decorations behind the red oni and on the other walls, he understood everything.
The villagers must have mistaken the animal bones for human bones. Combined with the dark room and the red oni's smiling face, it had amplified their fear.
The blue oni looked at the crying red oni and comforted him. "Red, don't lose heart. We still have one better method."