Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

Returning from the kitchen, the proprietress handed a plate full of food to Aoi Hanako, asking with some curiosity, "Why didn't you have your husband serve it?"

As the chestnut blossoms fell, Kanao slightly raised her eyes, said nothing, and simply turned around, carrying the tray back to her room before closing the door.

The proprietress touched her nose, but helplessly returned to the counter.

After closing the door, Kanao Aoi immediately took the plate and crawled under the bed. The aroma of the food on the plate made Kanao Aoi swallow involuntarily, but the girl did not eat it.

"Eat quickly."

Su Mu sensed these things beneath the wooden plank and spoke with a smile.

"Uncle, would you like some too...?"

The chestnut blossoms fell. Kanao really wanted to eat, but she didn't touch the food.

"I will not eat."

Su Mu shook his head.

"But Uncle hasn't eaten anything, he must be feeling very unwell."

As the chestnut blossoms fell, Kanao bit her lip slightly.

“This is not my food; eating this is useless.”

The cave was pitch black. Su Mu shook his head.

"What kind of food does Uncle eat?"

This was the first time Kanao had asked such a question, but Su Mu remained silent in the dark cave.

Chapter 28 Listening to Your Inner Voice

What is his food?

As a demon, how could he not know?

Especially at this moment, his body's instinctive craving for flesh and blood was constantly conveying his bodily needs, clearly telling him what his food was.

However, as someone who was once a human, he still cannot accept it even now that he has become a ghost.

So

He couldn't answer Kanae Aoi's question.

Therefore, he could only remain silent in the dark cave covered by wooden planks.

"Eat."

After a long while, he continued to speak.

Kanao is a very sensitive person to her surroundings. She sensed that her question was making her uncle unhappy, so she didn't dare to ask any more questions and obediently ate her meal in small bites.

The food on the plate was plentiful, and for Kanao Awaka, who had previously only dreamed of having a full meal, it was naturally an unparalleled delicacy.

But right now, it doesn't taste so good...

Even though my body feels like I really like the food, my heart suddenly... doesn't like it.

A sudden, eerie feeling washed over Kanao Aoi, who couldn't understand why she felt this way. She just felt that her uncle, who hadn't been eating, must be... very hungry.

After finishing all the food on her plate in small bites and licking it clean, she placed the empty plate aside. Then, Kanao hu huddled in the corner under the bed, and the whole room became quiet.

Compared to the quietness of the room, it was quite lively outside. Curled up under the bed, Kanao looked up and heard children's laughter, accompanied by a series of messy footsteps. It seemed that children were playing happily nearby.

The girl blinked her purple eyes unconsciously, then immediately lowered her head and remained quiet.

Su Mu lay quietly in the dark cave, his fists slightly clenched. His primal craving for flesh and blood surged within him once more, especially with the occasional aroma of food wafting around him, which intensified his desire.

Silently gritting their teeth, silently enduring it.

Silently upholding their own bottom line.

…………

Time slipped away quietly, and before we knew it, the sun had set and darkness descended upon the earth.

As the sun set, Su Mu felt his body become more active and excited. This was a ghostly instinct, a joy at the departure of sunlight and the arrival of darkness.

Su Mu lifted the wooden plank covering the hole and peeked out. He saw Su Hualuo Kanao curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees. The girl had heard the noise and was looking at him with her beautiful pinkish-purple eyes, which were sparkling.

"Won't it stay under the bed forever, will it?"

Su Mu muttered something under his breath, and seeing the girl approaching, he gestured with his lip towards the front: "Climb out first."

The girl stared wide-eyed as her uncle climbed out, and excitedly followed him, as if it were a game of seeing who could climb faster.

He scurried out from under the bed in a flash, then stood outside, bent over, and stuck his head under the bed, his big eyes looking out as if to say, "I crawled faster than you!"

"They're just like little kids."

Su Mu couldn't help but think to himself, but then he paused slightly, as if he realized that Su Hana-ro Kanao was not very old, and could actually be considered a child.

However, perhaps due to her childhood experiences, the girl always seemed dull and rarely spoke, which made Su Mu's impression of Su Hanako Kanao was that she was rather rigid and lacked the youthful vitality that a child of this age should have.

Therefore, when Kanao Awaki displays childlike behavior, it feels very abrupt and inconsistent with Kanao Awaki.

But actually

This is what Kanao Komatsu should look like.

"You climb really fast."

He crawled out from under the bed and praised him with a smile.

Kanao looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. She had just crawled out from under the bed, and her hair was messy and covered in dust.

Su Mu reached out and gently brushed the dust off the girl's body. He then found a towel in the room, soaked it in water from a wooden basin, and came to Su Hanako. He gently wiped the girl's face.

The warm towel slid across her face, and the girl's eyes widened as she looked at her uncle's gentle demeanor.

"Close your eyes."

Su Mu tapped Su Hualuo Kanao on the head. Even with a towel wiping her eyes, she still didn't know to close them.

The girl obediently closed her eyes, and could clearly feel the towel sliding down her cheeks, wet and warm.

After washing Kanao Aoi's face, Su Mu put the towel back in the wooden basin. When he turned around, he found that Kanao Aoi still had her eyes closed.

"Kanao, come here."

He waved to Kanao.

As the chestnut blossoms fell, Kanao followed the sound and ran towards Su Mu, only to bump into him.

Su Mu was also surprised by the sudden collision, but seeing that Kanao's eyes were still closed, he probably understood: "Open your eyes."

The girl immediately opened her eyes.

Su Mu reached out and gently stroked Su Hualuo Kanao's little nose: "I'm telling you to close your eyes, but I'm not telling you to keep them closed. You can open them after I wash your face."

The girl looked at him, blinked her beautiful pinkish-purple eyes, and seemed to understand something, yet also seemed not to understand.

Looking at Kanao Awaka, Su Mu couldn't help but think of Kanao Awaka from the anime.

In the future, after being rescued by Kanae, Kanae is always like a wooden doll because of her childhood experiences. If no one calls her to eat, even if her stomach is growling with hunger, she will not touch her chopsticks. If no one tells her to do anything, she will not make any decisions, not even a decision as simple as picking up her chopsticks to eat.

So, Kanae gave her a coin and taught her to make decisions by flipping a coin. However, even when flipping a coin, there were times when she would not breathe after flipping the coin, and Kanae would hold her breath and almost suffocate.

"From now on, you must learn to listen to your inner voice, okay?"

He patted Kanao's head.

The chestnut blossoms fell. Kanao blinked.

"It's the voice of your own heart."

Su Mu said in a low voice, then reached out and pressed his hand on the girl's abdomen: "It's just your own feeling, like when you feel hungry, you should eat. For example, when I wiped your face with a towel, when the towel was about to touch your eyes, you should close your eyes when you feel you should close them, and you should open your eyes when you feel you should open them. You don't need to wait for me to make a decision for you."

Please give me your guidance in Chapter 29.

Listen to your inner voice

"The chestnut blossoms fall," Kanao murmured, seemingly trying to understand her uncle's words. However, her brain, which hadn't thought things through in a long time, didn't know how to try to comprehend them.

Take your time, there's no rush.

Su Mu looked at Su Hualuo and spoke gently.

After all, the cruel experiences of her childhood had already closed off the girl's heart, and it was unrealistic to expect Kanao Aoi to suddenly regain the youthful exuberance that a girl of her age should have.

"Let's go out first, and we can think about it later."

…………

Holding Aoi Hana's hand, he walked out of the inn. This time, he walked very slowly. He would stop to look at things that were interesting. However, Aoi Hana remained calm about most things that would make a child laugh. It seemed that the girl's emotions were hard to be stirred by external factors.

"Try to feel it..."

Su Mu whispered beside him.

The chestnut blossoms fell. Kanao tilted her head and looked at him.

Su Mu smiled and didn't continue explaining, as these things couldn't be explained away by his own efforts.

Before long, they arrived at the 'Hiko Dojo'.

He met Arakawa Akihiro again and followed him to learn the Flying Sword Style.

While Su Mu was studying, Su Hualuo.Kanao stayed obediently nearby, quietly watching her uncle study.

Time slips away quietly while I'm studying.

Two hours later, 'Arakawa Akihiro' corrected Su Mu's sword-wielding posture again before whispering, "It seems that you understand most of what I have taught you, but understanding and truly mastering are two different things."

"How to say?"

Su Mu frowned.

"It's like knowing what to do in your head, but when it comes to actually doing it, you don't know how to do it. For example, you know which sword style to use to block an enemy's thrust, but if the enemy suddenly changes the way they thrust, you start to panic..."

Su Mu nodded: "Then how can we truly master it?"

"True mastery cannot be taught by professors; the most important thing is practical experience."