Demon Slayer: After raising Shinobu, I died in front of her.

"Yes!"

After finishing speaking, Lingchuan Tetsu turned to Kanae and Shinobu and said, "Let's go."

As soon as the group left, the hidden man immediately grabbed the human trafficker on the ground: "Damn it, don't move!"

……

"Master, how did you know the Hidden Ones were here?" Ren asked curiously. She had just seen so many people approaching and was thinking of running away with everyone.

"They've always been there, you just haven't noticed." Ling Chuanche smiled and looked down at the somewhat nervous girl.

"Master, let's go home first!" Kanae said to the girl in front of her.

"Ah."

Chapter 34 Kanao

Back home, Kanae immediately turned around and went to boil water to prepare a bath for the girl.

Ren stood helplessly to the side, looking at the little girl who was covered in dirt, her brows furrowed and her eyes filled with heartache.

Ling Chuanche didn't speak, but stood quietly under the corridor, watching everything calmly.

With warm water prepared, Kanae led the little girl into the inner room.

Ren followed her in, but when she saw the filth all over him, she wrinkled her nose in disgust, but in the end she still rolled up her sleeves to help.

When the warm towel wiped the mud off the girl's face and washed away her tattered, musty-smelling old clothes, everyone was surprised to find that this seemingly unremarkable little girl actually had delicate features like a porcelain doll and skin so white it was almost transparent.

After changing into a clean and simple casual outfit, Kanae squatted down in front of her, revealing her gentlest smile: "Alright, I feel much better now. What's your name?"

The little girl's eyes were vacant, as if her soul had been ripped out; she showed no reaction and just stared blankly ahead.

Kanae was not discouraged. She patiently asked again, "Don't you have a name? What did people call you before?"

The little girl remained motionless, like a doll, not even her eyelashes trembled.

Kanae and Shinobu exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness and heartache in each other's eyes.

Then, the two of them turned to look at Ling Chuanche, who was standing silently at the door.

"Master, please name her!" Ren said hastily, as if she had found a savior. "You are knowledgeable and experienced; you must have a good name!"

Ling Chuanche was stunned for a moment, looking into those heartbreakingly empty eyes, and remained silent for a while.

He didn't really want to get too involved, but seeing the expectant looks in his two disciples' eyes, he could only bite the bullet and think for a moment, "How about... Little Flower? Or Little Grass? Or Little Green? They sound festive and are easy to raise."

The air froze instantly.

Kanae and Shinobu's expectant expressions froze instantly, then they became speechless, and even the corners of their mouths twitched slightly.

Unable to contain himself, he complained, "Master, this name is so corny! It sounds like the name of the dog belonging to Granny Wang in the next village! This is someone who's going to be living with us!"

Kanae covered her mouth and chuckled helplessly, shaking her head: "Master, although the meaning is good, let us choose the name."

Seeing them pondering their names, Ling Chuanche silently stepped aside, his eyes regaining their composure.

He did it on purpose. In this world of intertwined cause and effect, giving someone a name means binding yourself to a very deep karmic connection with that person.

He was uncertain about his future. The powerful evil spirit that killed his sister was always a shadow over his heart. He didn't know when he would die in some corner.

He didn't want to get too involved with other people's karma; he just wanted Kanae and Shinobu to take good care of her and grow up safely, preferably without any connection to him, a man destined to die young.

“Master’s surname is Lingchuan, so let’s name this child Lingchuan Kanao!” Kanae’s eyes lit up and she said with a smile, “Kanao sounds very spirited, and she looks a lot like us. From now on, we will be a real family!”

Ling Chuanche was slightly taken aback, and his heart skipped a beat.

He intended to stay out of it, but his plan backfired; instead of giving the girl a name, he simply made her take his surname.

Seeing the satisfied smiles on Kanae and Shinobu's faces because of the name, and seeing the girl named "Kanao" still looking empty but seemingly with a sense of belonging.

He finally acquiesced, letting out a soft sigh: "...Whatever you want."

However, real-world problems soon followed, shattering this warm atmosphere.

During dinner, Ren quickly realized something was wrong.

Everyone sat around the table, the aroma of food filling the air. Kanae served Kanao a bowl of rice, placed it in front of her, and said gently, "Kanao, time to eat."

Kanao sat there, her hands on her knees, motionless, not even glancing at the bowl of rice.

He chewed the food in his mouth, looking at her with a puzzled expression: "Why isn't she eating? Is it not to her liking?"

Kanae shook her head, picked up her chopsticks, and placed a piece of fish in Kanao's bowl: "Kanao, eat this, it's delicious."

Kanao made a move; she picked up her bowl and started eating, but that was all she did. After finishing her meal, she sat there like a mindless puppet.

Ren was completely exasperated. She stood up, her voice filled with a mixture of exasperation and frustration: "What's wrong with this child? She won't do anything unless we talk to her, and she won't eat unless we feed her. This is too dangerous! If we're not around, is she planning to starve herself to death?"

Ling Chuanche said, "It must be the trauma she has suffered over the years that makes her only able to hear other people's commands."

She had simply suffered too much, and to protect herself, she had completely closed her heart. It wasn't that she didn't want to do it, but that she didn't know how, and wasn't even afraid to make her own decisions.

"Those damned guys!"

Shinobu clenched her fists, thinking of that despicable human trafficker, and wished she could take her Nichirin Blade and stab him with two holes.

Seeing her sister's angry expression, Kanae gently tugged at Shinobu's sleeve and soothed her tenderly, "Shinobu, don't be anxious, don't scare her."

Ren took a deep breath and looked at the girl who was like a delicate doll. The irritation in his heart gradually turned into helpless heartache.

Kanae walked up to Kanao, knelt down, patiently held her cold little hand, and began to speak to her gently.

"Kanao, if you ever encounter something you don't know how to do, don't be afraid or freeze up." Kanae took out a shiny coin from her pocket, placed it in Kanao's palm, and gently closed her fingers. "If you don't know how to make a decision in the future, just flip this coin."

Kanao looked down at the coin in her palm, and a faint light seemed to appear in her empty eyes.

"If it's heads up, do it; if it's tails up, don't do it." Kanae's voice was as gentle as a spring breeze. "Given the right opportunity, a person's heart will slowly blossom. So it's okay, take your time, your older sisters will always be there for you."

Kanao clutched the coin tightly. After a long while, the corners of her mouth curled up very slightly, as if a crack had finally appeared in the frozen world.

......

Spring goes and autumn comes, and a year passes quietly.

Demon Slayer Corps, Ubuyashiki Mansion.

Ling Chuanche sat on the balcony, waiting silently.

Footsteps sounded behind me. "Everything you wanted is here."

He turned around and saw Kagaya Ubuyashiki slowly walking over. He waved his hand, and the hidden person placed a bunch of medicinal herbs in front of Toru Ayakawa.

"Cough cough,"

He slowly sat down next to Ling Chuanche, and just by doing that, he was already a little out of breath.

Ling Chuanche watched him silently.

"Don't look at me like that."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki smiled and said, "Tetsu, you know about the curse of our Ubuyashiki clan. At my age, I am still so 'robust' that I am already very satisfied."

Ling Chuanche sighed softly.

The Ubuyashiki family has a blood relationship with the Demon King Kibutsuji Muzan from a thousand years ago.

After Muzan became a demon, the Ubuyashiki family seemed to be affected by a "curse." The male members of the family were generally weak and sickly, not only physically frail but also with extremely short lifespans. Almost no one could live past the age of 30, and newborns were also very likely to die young.

In order to prevent their family bloodline from dying out, the Ubuyashiki clan followed the advice of the shrine priest and insisted on marrying girls from the priest family for generations, using the priest family's bloodline to "extend their lives" and thus prolong the lifespan of the male members of the family and continue their lineage.

“These medicinal herbs were all sourced from all over the world by my own people,” Kagaya Ubuyashiki said with a smile. “Could you tell me what you need these for?”

There's nothing wrong with saying this.

"I prepared this for Shinobu."

Lingchuan Tetsu said softly, "Kanae has become a Flower Pillar, and Sanemi will also meet the requirements for promotion in a few months. Although Kane is kind, she has the strength to support her, so I'm not too worried about her and Sanemi's future."

She can only endure; her only means of killing evil spirits is poison. But sooner or later, there will be an enemy she can't defeat with poison. So, I can only help her collect various toxins from all over the world now to create a more powerful poison.

"So that's how it is."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki nodded slowly: "You've worked so hard for them, doing so much for them."

Ling Chuanche said calmly, "The only ones I can't let go of and who I'm always worried about are them."

"Really?"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki smiled and said, "Is it the concern a master has for his disciple?"

"Otherwise what? What else could it be?" Ling Chuanche frowned.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki suppressed a laugh: "Ahem... But recently, I seem to have heard that someone in our team has a crush on Shinobu?"

Ling Chuanche immediately stood up: "Who?"

Seeing his serious expression, as if he would rush to find the person the moment he learned their name, Kagaya Ubuyashiki quickly laughed and said, "It's probably just a rumor. I don't know who it is."

Ling Chuanche breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this and slowly sat back down.

"thorough."

"Ok?"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki looked up at the sky, a smile spreading across his face, and suddenly said, "Thank you."

Ling Chuanche was somewhat puzzled.

"Thank you for everything you've done for the Demon Slayer Corps all these years."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki turned his head and looked at him: "Sometimes you don't have to make things so hard for yourself."

"It's fine now."

"The Demon Slayer Corps is different now than before. Everyone has grown up. The Demon Slayer Corps is no longer the one that could only rely on you to support it."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki looked gently at Toru Ayakawa's profile: "In my heart, you are the most important person in our Demon Slayer Corps. Your significance to the Demon Slayer Corps is no longer just that of a Pillar."

"My lord, you seem a little strange today."

Ling Chuanche stared at him silently.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki stared at Toru Ayakawa for a few seconds before looking away.

"Maybe."