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Snow piled up in the forest. Winter was a season of silence. No food was produced in this season, and all creatures depended on the food reserves. The black bear probably did not prepare enough fat in the fall, so it woke up from hunger in the winter, and then chased Li Mo madly, and was finally killed by Kamado Tanjuro.
Li Mo said, "I will stay until then and leave."
"it is good."
The topic ended there. Tanjuro Kamado stopped asking about Li Mo's past. He seemed to realize that such inquiries would bother him.
The two came to where the black bear's body was. Tanjuro had taken care of it when he came, so now they just had to carry it back.
"A whole night has passed, and no wild animals have come to eat the corpse?"
"It's winter now, and animals rarely move around during this season."
"is it?"
Li Mo felt that this should not be the answer.
After carrying the useful things left by Black Bear back to the Kamado family, Li Mo asked Kamado Aoi this question and got a different answer from her.
"That's because other animals treat this place as a predator's territory." This is what Aoi Kamado said.
Li Mo found the answer from this sentence. Yes, even though Tanjuro Kamado looked weak, he was actually very likely a strong man with natural markings, and he was definitely a high-level skill called "Transparent World".
He is truly the most powerful predator around.
"I already knew it from Juro. Li-kun, do you want to stay?"
"Well, I'll trouble you in the days ahead."
"I'm so happy that I can't even express myself. I was just wondering, who will take care of Tanjiro and the others after my belly gets bigger? If it's Mr. Li, I'll feel relieved." Aoi Kamado showed a dazzling smile.
The Kamado family are all good people.
Li Mo finally asked out the confusion that was suppressed in his heart, "Ms. Kamado, aren't you worried that I'm a bad person?"
"As someone who can happily play with children, Juro and I both think that Li-kun is not a bad person."
"This, this is it..."
Anyone who can play with children is not a bad person?
Does this mean you are young?
That's great.
Li Mo's mood became cheerful. He didn't mind being treated as a child. Because human beings are such contradictory creatures. If adulthood is likened to entering a city, then people outside the city want to enter the city. People who enter the city want to leave the city.
Coming back to his senses, he asked, "So, Ms. Kamado. Before, when you were pregnant with Takeo, who took care of Tanjiro and Nezuko?"
"She's my mother, Tanjiro's grandmother. But...she passed away last year."
"Feel sorry."
"It's okay, so much time has passed. The only shameful thing about that incident is that the one who discovered his mother's death was that kid Tanjiro." Aoi Kamado turned her gaze to Tanjiro who was playing in the yard.
While he was playing, he was also paying attention to Takeo's movements, fulfilling his responsibilities as the eldest son.
"Tanjiro has a well-developed sense of smell, almost as good as that of a hound. On the day his mother died, it was Tanjiro who noticed that the smell of her mother had changed." Aoi Kamado muttered.
"Is that so?" Li Mo said.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Li Jun, how old are you this year?"
"Eighteen years old."
Some time ago, he just celebrated his birthday. Li Mo didn't forget the original owner's birthday, but the time was calculated according to the time of the main world.
"Hey, so you're only one year younger than Juro?"
"Yeah. I guess so."
Tanjuro Kamado, 19 years old, is only one year older than Li Mo. He already knew this, and he gave birth to Tanjiro when he was 14 years old, which seems very early. But considering the background of the times, this seems normal?
Please, it’s Taisho now.
Later, Li Mo discovered that after knowing his age, Kamado Aoi's eyes changed subtly, and he became inexplicably scared.
Chapter 13: Breathing
Women of advanced age, women who have established families, women who have married, all have a common interest, which is to pay attention to the marriage of the younger generation. This is particularly evident after a group of women gather together. Kamado Aoi is not free from vulgarity.
Li Mo's age, in this era, is considered an older unmarried man. At least in this rural area, that's the case. Zaomen Kuizhi couldn't help but ask Li Mo indirectly whether he was willing to get married.
He refused with a smile.
——I’m only 18, why am I being urged to get married? Damn it. At least wait until I’m 25.
After being rejected, Kamado Aoi stopped asking about this topic. She could sense obvious resistance from Li Mo.
Taking advantage of this free time, Li Mo asked where the nearest river was. Then he let little Tanjiro take him to the river and fetch water for daily use.
In just half a day, he started to do things naturally.
"Uncle, why did you come to the river? Are you here to take a bath? But you already took a hot bath this morning."
With Tanjiro's guidance, Li Mo came to the place where the family got their daily water - it was a stream with clear water. You could see the pebbles at the bottom of the river, but unfortunately, no fish were seen.
He tapped Tanjiro's forehead as a response, but he didn't dare to use too much force, because the boy's forehead was very hard and he was afraid of hurting it.
Later, Li Mo answered: "Tanjiro, uncle has his own secrets."
Tanjiro knew that he should not explore other people's secrets easily, so he made a gesture of closing his mouth, indicating that he would not ask any more questions. Then, Tanjiro saw the young uncle squatting on the river bank, in a daze.
Is this uncle's secret?
Tanjiro quietly observed this uncle who was willing to play with them. He could not see what the other could see.
Now, Li Mo's eyes were filled with images that only he could see. The system's panel unfolded in the slowly flowing stream.
The first thing I checked was the experience bar on the upgrade page. It was no longer zero. Instead, it was filled to a certain extent. The only thing related to combat in the past two days was the special training in the dream and the chase scene with the black bear.
Apparently, it should be the latter. After accepting the special training, he took a look and it seemed that his experience did not increase. So, even if the kill was not his, he could still get experience? The judgment mechanism is a bit special.
Thinking of the chase last night, Li Mo felt his muscles swell up. Last night's chase lasted for more than ten minutes. The amount of exercise brought by the intense chase was too much for an ordinary student like him.
If I had known that I should have taken care of my physical condition two days ago, I would have felt much more relaxed yesterday.
Apart from this, there are no other changes. It seems that the experience bar of "Dissipation" has moved a little, but I don't know what effect it will have after upgrading.
"what?"
"Uncle, what's going on? Did you see any fish in the river?"
"Nothing, I saw it wrong."
The system panel is not missing any corners? The last time I looked at it, one of the four corners of the interface was missing. Wait, I seem to have been operating it with my mind? I don't need to operate it manually, right?
Is it actually being repaired? Then what is the purpose of bringing me to this world? What should I do to completely repair it? Damn, isn't there a beginner's guide? What about the system performance?
I could only hide my complaints in my heart. After a while, I calmed down and comforted Tanjiro. I scooped water and carried the bucket home. On the way, I taught Tanjiro a nursery rhyme to distract him.
"Insects fly, flowers sleep, only in pairs are they beautiful~~~"
The tender voices of children echoed in the empty forest.
……
……
In the afternoon, Li Mo followed Kamado Tanjuro out again, and their purpose was to chop wood.
The Kamado family has been making charcoal for generations. They go out to chop wood, burn it into charcoal and sell it to obtain the necessary resources for survival. Therefore, chopping wood is what every generation of Kamado family heads must do.
New Year is coming soon, and Tanjuro is preparing to sell charcoal for the last time before the New Year, stock up on some daily necessities, and then not go out again.
Li Mo understood in his heart that this was inseparable from his appearance.
"Click."
Tanjuro Kamado's movements when chopping wood are very methodical. He can always chop down the wood with the least effort, and from an outsider's perspective, it seems that chopping wood is not a difficult task.
But when you really do it, you’ll find that it’s so tiring!
An hour later, Kamado Tanjuro's head was completely sweaty, while Li Mo's head was covered in sweat. In terms of work efficiency, Li Mo was far inferior to Tanjuro.
"Why don't you feel tired at all, Tanjuro?" Li Mo asked him during the break.
Tanjuro Kamado said, "Because of breathing."
"Breathing?" Li Mo recalled that the Fire God Kagura of the Kamado family was the Breathing of the Sun. Not only the sword form was passed down, but also the breathing method.
"Do you want to learn?"
"Those are your family's things. It's not right to do this." Li Mo evaded the question.
Tanjiro didn't say anything more, but changed the subject, "What's the story about the Sun Wheel Earrings? When I asked Tanjiro, the kid said he didn't know with an awkward expression, and then ran away."
Li Mo has already imagined the scene of Tanjiro's awkward expression because of lying. That kid can't lie at all. Every time he lies, his expression is weird and unnatural.
"I was the one who asked Tanjiro to keep it a secret."
"Got it. I won't ask about this story again."
"That's not necessary, I'm just worried..."
Immediately, Li Mo told Tanjuro the story of Tsuguki Yuichiro. This quiet man, like a plant, was as reassuring as a tree hole. The version he told was more detailed than the one Tanjiro heard. The protagonist was no longer the unknown swordsman, but Tsuguki Yuichiro.
"I see? I understand. This story is just a story, please don't take it too seriously. Secondly, if an evil spirit sees this, he will notice it too."
Tanjuro Kamado pointed to the sun wheel earring on his ear.
The man who knew the whole story did not show any emotion and said calmly, "As long as this story is not spread, the ghost king will probably not know about it."
Li Mo said: "From today on, I will not tell this story to anyone anymore."
Tanjuro said, "This is just a stopgap measure, as you said. As long as the evil spirits are rampant in this world, people will continue to suffer. Even if the Kamado family knows nothing, they may be attacked by evil spirits one day in the future."
Tanjuro Kamado saw this very clearly.
The topic was paused at this time. Tanjuro Kamado went to chop wood again.
He is right.
As long as Muzan Kibutsuji lives in this world, there will be people being preyed upon by evil spirits. I think I can probably understand the feelings of the members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Later, Li Mo put his mind at ease and followed Tanjuro to chop wood. But just like before, his action of chopping wood was tiring and inefficient.