When Ichiro followed Tanjiro to the hill not far behind Kamato's house, he couldn't help but open his mouth slightly as he looked at the sea of flowers blooming in the sunset.

Genichiro didn't expect that he would easily, or even inadvertently, "bump into" Onimai Tsuji, who had been looking for something for nearly a thousand years without any result—the Blue Flower.

According to Zhu Shi, Onimai Tsuji once thought that this special flower could help him overcome the sun, so he kept searching for it. This is also his original intention to use blood to create other ghosts, and the casualties caused by ghosts to humans on the way are always only a by-product of the process of achieving their goals, as for attracting and diverting human attention, that is secondary.

But what Onimai Tsuji couldn't have imagined was that this thing that he had been thinking about for thousands of years was actually his old enemy...... In the back mountain of the charcoal burner who is suspected to be a descendant of the country, it is blooming in patches, which is not as rare as imagined.

"It's ironic......"

Ichiro was a little creepy by this coincidence, and goosebumps involuntarily floated on his body, as if he was in the scene, and he felt the heavens' targeting of Onimai Tsuji.

However, what he didn't quite understand was that this flower was blooming here like this, and there were three or four thousand ghosts under Onimai Tsuji before he was miserable, how could he just leave out this kind of place?

Judging from the memories of the ghosts of his subordinates, it is precisely because of the belief that he "has searched all over Japan" that he and Kuro have the idea to get a way to enter Ashina - because it is the only place where the demons have never set foot, and insists that the Onimai Tsuji is believed that the blue flower is in Ashina.

It can be seen that he can only be so sure when the vast majority of land is searched.

Could it be that all the demons who set foot here were killed by Tanjiro's ancestors?

But judging from the conversation with Tanjuro, until the existence of ghosts was recognized by the government, the Kamado family's understanding of ghosts only stayed at the stage of "grandma's story".

The sword shape of the breath of the sun has been adapted into a non-lethal dance, and there is no trace of the use of the sun wheel knife at home.

Therefore, the possibility that the ghost who came to investigate was killed, is very small.

So, why did Onimai Tsuji miss out on this?

After thinking for a while, Genichiro noticed another strange thing......

That is, the blue flower in front of me is obviously different from the normal wild flower——。

At this time, although the sun is setting, there is a warm wind on this hillside, which makes people a little anxious, far exceeding the suitable temperature for the survival of red and white wild flowers.

You know, the reason why the flower is called "the flower of hell" and "the flower of death" is because this plant likes a damp environment, and often grows on human graves, and even the flowering period is in the autumn when most flowers and plants begin to wither......

But now it's the height of summer, and it's also the sunniest days of the year.

In other words, the growth habits of the blue flower seem to be the opposite of that of its close relatives.

After discovering this feature, Koichiro suddenly had a conjecture.

"Tanjiro," he asked, with a somewhat strange expression, "is this blue flower only blooming during the day?" ”

In this way, it can explain why Onimai Tsuji Muru couldn't find the location of this thing!

Because this flower is not open at night!

"Eh, have you seen this kind of flower before?"

Tanjiro asked suspiciously, and then gave the answer, "You're right, this flower is very magical, it only blooms during the daytime around Obon, and it only blooms for two or three days. However, it doesn't open every year, only on sunny days. ”

"In other words, it has to be in direct sunlight for it to bloom."

Ichiro changed his words, "That's what it means, right?" ”

"Yes. But then came the most amazing. ”

Tanjiro walked to the edge of the sea of flowers and knelt down and plucked one of them, "Whether this flower is picked or not, once the sun sets, it will wither and wither as if it were dead, and its color will turn a dull dark red." But the next morning, at the first moment of sunlight, the unpicked flowers will 'come back to life' and bloom again. ”

Ichiro's eyes couldn't help shrinking, and he suddenly felt that Onimai Tsujino was really miserable. Unless he had the help of humans, he would never want to see this flower alive.

But this place is very hidden, and if it weren't for a local like Tanjiro to guide you, I'm afraid no one would take the initiative to find it.

"On Obon, the year my grandmother died, I sat here all night and saw it all with my own eyes."

Tanjiro's words are not very interested in the flowers themselves, but the possibilities that this place has.

"It was when it bloomed the next day that I smelled my grandmother's scent, and although it was very faint, I would never mistake the smell."

Tanjiro looked at Ichiro tenderly and continued, "Although I didn't see her, I knew she was here, and she knew I could smell her presence. She told me through the smell that I should help my mother take care of my younger siblings and let my father pay attention to his body, and also told me about my mother's belly with Hanako......"

Ichiro looked at him quietly, and he couldn't help but feel a little panicked in his heart, and he didn't know whether he wanted to turn on his spiritual vision or not.

"Don't hold back, I can see that you haven't seen each other in a long time."

Tanjiro seemed to feel the subtle change in Shinichiro's mood and gently held Shinichiro's wrist with a warm hand.

"But, Genichiro, there must be a reason why you came to my house today. And it's no coincidence that you can see things like your dad can't. When he said this, his tone was childish, but he seemed to be very convinced, "There must be someone who cares about you who has led you here." ”

"So...... In any case, you can't miss it, and you can't disappoint those who want to care about you. ”

After saying that, he picked a few bunches of blue flowers from the ground and put them in his pocket, and took the body of the buck from the shoulder of the slightly stunned string, and hung it on his shoulder, looking a little difficult, but he still held on.

"I'll go back to deal with the ingredients first, you have to hurry."

After all, when the flowers on the other side wither at sunset, the magical abilities of this sea of flowers will also disappear.

After saying the last sentence, Tanjiro turned around and left, leaving Genichiro at the edge of the empty sea of blue flowers.

The red-gold sunset slanted the afterglow, illuminating half of Genichiro's face, but the other half is shrouded in a deep shadow, perfectly representing his conflicting moods.

"Yes...... Will it be...... Are they? ”

Ichiro said to himself softly, "But after all, they died in another world, how could they be here?" ”

He pulled out a bitter smile, "It's impossible." ”

For the second time in his life, Genichiro had a strong idea of retreating.

And the last time, when he came home from archery practice, he saw the samurai of the inner province leading people to break into his house to kill, rob and set fire.

That time, he hid, but it was also from that day that he forgot about his family and only remembered hatred. It was also from that day that he would rather choose to burn the jade than accept the possibility of failure......

In the face of this hardship, it was as if he had returned to that day, to his true childhood, to become helpless and frightened.

But immediately, the habits he had developed over the years caused shame and anger towards himself to flood into his mind like a flood that burst his banks.

He will always remember what he had lost the last time he ran away.

He won't repeat the mistakes of the past.

He walked towards the center of the sea of flowers, letting the pleasant scent enter his nostrils without the slightest precaution.

"Vision."

As the invisible third eye of the eyebrow was opened, everything in sight changed.

The sea of flowers, which originally only occupied the hillside, suddenly expanded infinitely in all directions—and the unique topography of the mountain disappeared completely, replaced by a flat river. Ichiro found himself seemingly intruding into a huge chessboard covered with blue flowers.

The air here has a familiar stickiness.

Koichiro immediately understood that this was not the real world.

Rather, it is like the Phantom Gallery, which is the narrow room between life and death, the junction of the world and the Yellow Spring.

It seems that what Tanjiro said about smelling his dead grandmother is not his own fantasy. It's just that his spiritual vision, or sense of smell, is not strong enough, so he can't enter this fantasy land.

As he recognized the truth of everything in front of him, the flowers in front of him parted to both sides like soldiers in a line, revealing a path that smewed with white soft light.

This path is a bit like the gap in "Demon's Souls" where the protagonist enters the fog-shrouded Borretania, and it is a path from which there is no return.

But at the end of that path is the person that Genichiro wants to find.

He kept moving forward, and finally after a few minutes, he found a small spot on the road directly ahead.

The unprecedented tension gripped his heart, but he didn't hesitate, getting closer and closer to that little dot, walking faster and faster-

It wasn't until he could see what was in that little spot that a hint of surprise appeared on his face, but it was immediately replaced by a tangled, complicated look, but there was no surprise he had imagined when he met this man again.

At the end of the road, there is a low couch.

An old man in a white yukata was leaning on a low couch drinking wine, and on his vicissitudes of life, one eye revealed a vague edge.

That's not Reed's one-hearted, who can it be!

Genichiro really never expected that the person Tanjiro said would actually be his grandfather!

Seeing the visitor walking along the flower path, the old man put the flask aside and suddenly said loudly as usual.

"It's Ichiro Koichiro!"

Ichiro stopped in front of the couch, did not salute, did not say hello, did not speak, as if he could not even breathe.

Edina's body gradually straightened up, and there was a slight smile on his face full of age spots.

"I thought you would be more cheerful when you made new friends."

"As a result, even if you live again, your personality still hasn't changed."

"Don't you even call me grandpa......"

Yixin didn't just drink too much or something, and his tone was a little weird, not like an old man, but more like when the two first met.

Ichiro sat down on his knees across from Ichishin and quietly looked at the person in front of him.

“…… Grandfather. His lips moved, but it took a long time for a recognizable voice to come out, "Sorry to disappoint you." ”

For Isshiro, death may have been a recent past.

But for Koichiro Reina, who was forced to clear the Soul series hundreds of times, it has been a long time since the last time they met.

It's just that he was excited when he saw Ashina Ichishin again, and he wasn't even excited when he resurrected the ghost court Masataka.

It was full of emotions in his heart, which can even be said to be flat, confused, and confused.

After all, although his name is Ghost Court Yaxiao, he actually treats him as his father in death.

And he called Ashin Grandpa, but more often, he regarded him as a lord or benefactor.

"I'm disappointed in you, Ichiro."

After a brief period of calm, Ashina's first words plunged into Kuichiro's heart like a sharp knife.

"But not because of the past...... Not because of the all-engulfing fire. ”

"It's because God has given you such an opportunity—"

His voice grew high-pitched, just as he used to speak.

"You're only willing to be a ghost haunted by the past...... I don't want to really survive. ”

"Grandpa......" Genichiro raised his head and looked directly at the other party's one-eyed eyes that could penetrate people's hearts, but his heart was as confused as numb.

"I'm disappointed because you actually found me, a dead person, before you found yourself."

Ashina shook his head in annoyance, as he said something that was incomprehensible to Koichiro.

"If you think that what you have done now is a reward for me."

"Then Ichiro, your reward is inevitably too cheap."

"You ......," Ichiro furrowed his brows, unable to take away the metaphysical sentence, "What do you mean by that?" Isn't it to your liking to bring the name of the reed into this world? ”

"Haven't you noticed it yet?! You care too much about what I think, far more than your own! You are just living to repay me, but you never ask and ponder your own heart, and even deliberately avoid it. ”

Ashina shouted and said, "Got it? You're not Ichiro! You're only guilty of you! Your unwillingness! Your anger! Your tangle! A hint of your obsession! ”

"Ke Ichiro, you're not the only one who is yourself!"

As the words fell, a purple lightning bolt suddenly slashed across the top of Koichiro's head, tearing the entire sky dome apart directly.

And Genichiro was also like a thunderbolt, standing on the spot, like a scorched tree that had lost its moisture.