In the pre-dawn hours, under a slightly overcast sky, the sun, which could dispel darkness, had yet to rise.
Tanjiro bid farewell to the old man, hoisted his bamboo basket onto his back, and jogged towards his home on the mountain.
For some reason, he felt an urgent need to return home.
Last night, he had dreamt of Kie and Hanako.
Kie, as always, had a gentle expression, and Hanako, along with his three younger brothers, smiled as they looked at Tanjiro.
No one else spoke, but Kie's voice, soft as a feather, said to Tanjiro:
"Tanjiro... Tanjiro... Mother is taking Hanako and the others to leave you, to go to a new world without sorrow or worries."
"Don't be sad, Tanjiro, and don't grieve. Your happiness in life is what we want to see."
"Farewell... Tanjiro..."
With that, Kie, along with the other children, turned and walked away into an endless white light.
An inexplicable sadness washed over him, and Tanjiro felt an urge to cry.
"Don't go..."
He desperately ran in the direction Kie had left, reaching out his arms as he ran, trying to grasp the fluttering hem of Kie's clothes.
But no matter how hard Tanjiro tried, he couldn't catch up to Kie, even when he was utterly exhausted.
He could only watch helplessly as Kie and the others disappeared into the white light.
"Ah, don't go!"
Tanjiro suddenly awoke from his dream. Upon realizing what had happened, he was relieved that it was just a dream.
He truly couldn't imagine what life would be like without Kie and the others.
After escaping the sadness of the dream, Tanjiro felt his cheeks were wet. He touched them curiously.
He found that, unknowingly, two lines of tears had streamed down his face.
Looking out the window, the sky was still dark, but the wind and snow had lessened, making it possible to move.
Tanjiro quietly took a handful of snow from the windowsill and used it to wipe his face, refreshing himself.
Then, he silently put on his overcoat, slung the bamboo basket over his back, and prepared to leave.
Tanjiro didn't want to disturb the old man's sleep, so he planned to quietly slip away. He left a note for the old man to see when he woke up.
However, as he stealthily opened the door, the old, ill-maintained wooden door let out a grating, creaking sound.
Tanjiro's heart skipped a beat; the old man must have been woken up.
Sure enough, the old man woke up and saw Tanjiro, packed and ready to leave, standing by the door.
The old man yawned and then asked:
"Tanjiro, are you going home? It's still dark, won't you wait until dawn to leave?"
"Before the sun rises, there are man-eating demons roaming, you know."
Tanjiro scratched his head awkwardly:
"I don't know why, but I feel empty inside, a bit worried about my family's safety, so I want to go back quickly."
The old man nodded understandingly:
"So that's it. Well, Tanjiro, don't worry about me, go back quickly."
"Many people don't believe it, but I'm sure there's a mysterious connection between family members. Even if they're thousands of miles apart, sometimes they'll have a sudden premonition."
Hearing this, Tanjiro became even more worried. Had something really happened to Kie and the others? Was that why he had such a dream?
At this point, the old man seemed to remember something and suddenly sighed.
"Alas, when my son had trouble outside back then, I also had nightmares for several days in advance. If only I had realized sooner, maybe I could have prevented it all."
"Tanjiro, hurry now. In one's life, family is the most important thing."
Tanjiro quickly agreed. Although he was very anxious, he still gently closed the door for the old man after stepping outside.
Noticing Tanjiro's actions, the old man smiled knowingly inside:
"Such a gentle and kind child, surely fate will be kind to him."
However, fate is not always kind to good people.
On the contrary, fate often enjoys pushing people to their limits, then watching them struggle to survive in despair, taking endless pleasure in it.
After a while, Tanjiro had jogged halfway up the mountain, now close to his home.
However, Tanjiro's nose twitched slightly, catching a scent.
"This... this smells like blood?"
Suppressing the unease in his heart, Tanjiro quickened his pace, only hoping his guess was wrong.
In the swirling snow, a small figure battled the wind and snow, stumbling recklessly across the white expanse.
Along the way, the smell of blood grew stronger and stronger, a somewhat metallic scent lingering in his nasal cavity.
Tanjiro was unwilling to believe it, but past experience told him that the smell of blood was coming from the direction of his home.
"Nezuko, Hanako... Rokuta, please don't let anything happen to you."
Clutching a sliver of hope, Tanjiro ran frantically without stopping.
Until he personally saw his home, that warm wooden house that protected them from the cold in the wind and snow.
Now, its door was shattered into scattered wooden pieces, and blood was vaguely visible on the snow...
Due to his urgency, Tanjiro tripped over a stone and fell in the snow.
Ignoring the pain in his body, Tanjiro scrambled and crawled into the house.
But the bloody scene before him was like a sharp knife, cleaving Tanjiro's entire world apart.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
"Mother, Nezuko, Hanako, Takeo, Shigeru, Rokuta..."
Tanjiro, forcing back his tears, checked them one by one, only to find that the six people before him were lifeless.
He collapsed to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes in torrents.
Under the immense sorrow and pain, his heart felt like it was being crushed, leaving Tanjiro breathless.
Just as Tanjiro was about to pass out from grief and pain, he suddenly saw Nezuko's shoulder tremble slightly.
"Nezuko!"
As if seeing light in the darkness, grasping at a straw of hope, Tanjiro ignored Nezuko's blood-stained clothes and hugged her tightly.
"Nezuko, thank goodness, brother will definitely save you, hang in there."
There was no time. He had almost thought Nezuko was dead just now. She must be severely injured, but there was still a chance for her to survive.
"Mother... and my younger siblings, I'm going to save Nezuko first. Wait for me to come back."
Time was short. Tanjiro only planned to take Nezuko down the mountain to find a doctor, and then return to deal with the bodies of his loved ones.
It was then that Tanjiro caught a glimpse of writing on the wall out of the corner of his eye. The handwriting was hurried and messy, but Tanjiro could still distinguish that it was his brother Akihiro's handwriting.
"Tanjiro, don't despair. You must live, live, and wait for me to find you."
So, was his brother Akihiro still alive? But why did he abandon everyone and leave?
Too worried about Nezuko's injuries, Tanjiro no longer thought about these things, temporarily pushing them to the back of his mind.
He just wanted to quickly take Nezuko to see a doctor.
After a reluctant glance at the other bodies, Tanjiro carried Nezuko on his back and burst out of the house.
He ignored his physical exhaustion and ran desperately down the mountain.
He just didn't see that Nezuko's eyes were still tightly closed behind him, but her small face was gradually becoming distorted, with bluish veins exposed through her pale skin...
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