Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

"If Sister Ren doesn't want to drink the herbal medicine, you should tell Mr. Su Mu later. It should be ready soon."

Kanzaki Aoi leaned over, looking at Shinobu's pretty face: "Mr. Su Mu spent two hours in the kitchen making herbal medicine for Shinobu."

As she spoke, the girl's voice carried a teasing tone: "It seems that Mr. Su Mu cares a lot about Sister Ren!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Shinobu's face flushed red.

"whee……"

Seeing Shinobu's expression, Kanzaki Aoi took a small step back, dodging Shinobu's outstretched hand that was about to grab her, and swayed her twin tails: "Shinobu-neechan, I'm going now, Mr. Su Mu will be here soon."

Watching Kanzaki Aoi leave with her twin ponytails swaying, Shinobu Kocho's delicate face turned bright red, and at that moment, she felt her heart pounding even harder.

I even felt a little nervous for no reason.

After Kanzaki Aoi left, the room quickly became quiet, and it was also peaceful outside.

Even though only a short while had passed, Shinobu Kocho felt that time had suddenly slowed down, and she would look out the door every now and then, subconsciously wanting to see him.

There was no sign of them.

Upon seeing that figure, my mood instantly brightened.

Su Mu walked in carrying a steaming bowl of herbal medicine. When he saw Shinobu Kocho, he gave her a gentle smile.

Shinobu blushed slightly, quickly turned her head away, and bit her lip slightly.

Why haven't you left yet?

"Seeing how badly you are injured, I have to stay and take care of you for a few days until you are almost fully recovered before I can leave with peace of mind."

Su Mu picked up the soup bowl and said in a low voice, "I asked Miss Tamayo before, and she said it's okay to add a little sugar to the medicine. This time the medicine shouldn't be so bitter."

"I don't want to take her medicine."

Butterfly's voice was muffled.

Su Mu naturally knew that this 'she' was Tamayo.

"Is it because the other party is a ghost?"

Shinobu Kocho didn't speak, but that was tantamount to acquiescence; her hatred for demons was almost etched into her heart.

"But she was once a person too!"

Su Mu sighed: "I remember you told your sister Kanae that you two made a promise to save the demons together."

The girl lowered her head slightly: "That was just my sister's kind thought. In fact, my hatred for demons has never diminished. I have never even thought about saving demons. I only hope to cut off their heads and send them to hell one by one."

Su Mu lowered his brows:

"What if I were a ghost too? What would you do?"

"No way, you couldn't possibly be a ghost or something disgusting."

They rejected it almost without hesitation.

Su Mu looked at Shinobu Kocho, remained silent for a moment, and then picked up a spoon to feed her the medicinal soup.

The girl didn't refuse, but her face turned bright red.

“I think you could work with Ms. Tamayo to research a drug that can target Muzan.”

After feeding him a few mouthfuls of the herbal medicine, Su Mu spoke again.

Shinobu Kocho was somewhat resistant, not only because of her disgust for Tamayo's identity, but also because of her distrust of her, and even her suspicion that Tamayo was a pawn that Muzan Kibutsuji wanted to infiltrate the Demon Slayer Corps.

Naturally, Shinobu Kocho also expressed her distrust.

"Miss Tamayo is unlikely to be a pawn of Muzan Kibutsuji."

Su Mu shook his head and chuckled.

"Why do you believe in a ghost? I don't quite understand."

Shinobu took another sip of the medicinal soup, her lips slightly bulging.

Su Mu would never tell all this because he was familiar with the original future. Although the future has changed, the people have not.

These are things that, of course, cannot be told to Shinobu Kocho.

"I know Tamayo's past, her past as a demon queen."

He spoke softly, recounting Tamayo's past.

Tamayo was originally a human suffering from a terminal illness who longed to live and her greatest wish was to see her child grow up. However, this was impossible for Tamayo, who was terminally ill. It was at this time that she met Muzan Kibutsuji and received a promise that if she became a demon, her body would regain health and she would have a long life. In order to see her child grow up, Tamayo chose to become a demon.

However, Muzan Kibutsuji did not tell Tamayo what the price of becoming a demon was. Thus, driven by her demonic instincts, Tamayo murdered her husband and her family. Only after suppressing her demonic instincts with her willpower did she realize what she had done. Afterward, she remained lurking around Muzan Kibutsuji, searching for his weaknesses...

Shinobu Kocho clearly never imagined that a demon would have such a tragic past, nor could she imagine the despair she would feel when she destroyed the thing she cared about most and wanted to protect most.

Is that really the case?

Shinobu Kocho was still somewhat skeptical.

“If you don’t believe Tamayo, you should at least believe in our lord. The Ubuyashiki family has always cooperated with Tamayo…”

Su Mu spoke.

Shinobu Kocho remained silent for a moment.

"Ren, what you hate, despise, and loathe, is it really a demon?"

Su Mu spoke again at this moment.

"It's a ghost, of course."

The answer was almost without hesitation: she would never forget that night when the ghost destroyed her happiness.

"But if there is such a ghost, that does not eat human flesh, does not wantonly destroy other people's happiness, and has never bullied anyone, would you cut off its head?"

Shinobu Kocho shook her head, answering firmly, "Such a demon does not exist."

Why not?

Su Mu shrugged: "For example, Yushiro, who is by Tamayo's side, has never eaten human flesh. At most, he only drinks some human blood and has never destroyed other people's happiness. Why would you cut off the head of such a demon?"

The butterfly remained silent.

"In fact, some people do more evil than ghosts."

As he spoke, Su Mu looked at Shinobu Kocho: "What you truly hate is not the demons, but the people who ruin your happiness. That's what you truly hate."

"It's just because the person who ruined your happiness is dead, and you can no longer take revenge on the person you hate, so you take that hatred out on other ghosts."

Shinobu was momentarily bewildered, or perhaps her hatred for the demon truly stemmed from the demon that had destroyed her happiness.

"I think the demons that the Demon Slayer Corps eliminates are never those who restrain their desires and instincts, but those who, after gaining power, act recklessly and wantonly dominate the fate of the weak."

“These are the demons that Shinobu hates and resents. I think Shinobu can definitely distinguish them clearly.”

As he spoke, Su Mu looked at Shinobu Kocho quietly: "The root of all this is to kill Muzan Kibutsuji. As for those demons who restrain their desires and instincts, they have never been the targets of the Demon Slayer Corps. This should have been the case from the beginning. Otherwise, the Lord would not have cooperated with Tamayo."

"Is that right?"

"Is not it?"

Su Mu calmly looked at Shinobu Kocho: "If I were a demon, would you hunt me?"

"You can't be a ghost."

The answer was almost certain.

Su Mu shook his head and chuckled, but still spoke up: "What if I were a ghost? Imagine, right now, I'm a ghost standing in front of you. After you know my identity as a ghost, what would you do?"

Butterfly unconsciously tried to think as Su Mu had suggested, imagining the man in front of her as a ghost, but she found that she couldn't transfer her hatred for other ghosts onto the man in front of her.

Or rather, it's simply impossible to hate the person in front of you.

Even if he really is a demon, I probably wouldn't be able to lift my Nichirin Blade against him.

"Therefore, don't harbor such deep hatred towards Ms. Tamayo. You should cooperate with her to develop a drug to target Muzan Kibutsuji. Tamayo has done a lot of research on this, but she has probably hit a bottleneck by now. Shinobu is also skilled in medicine, and perhaps he can help Tamayo solve this problem."

"If we can really develop a drug that targets Muzan Kibutsuji, then the hope of killing Muzan Kibutsuji will be much greater. Only in this way can we truly eradicate the evil spirits from this world."

"I understand."

Shinobu nodded. Although she still felt some dislike for Tamayo, she chose to conduct research with her after her body had recovered sufficiently.

That's good.

Su Mu also smiled, somewhat expectant, wondering if Tamayo and Shinobu's collaboration would lead to even greater breakthroughs in medicine.

After all, in this life, Tamayo has not encountered a rare example like Nezuko, who became a demon but was able to maintain her restraint, nor has she encountered the demon in Asakusa with special blood demon arts. If things continue as they are now, Tamayo is probably unable to develop the drug in the anime that is so effective against Muzan.

However, having a physician like Shinobu Kocho who can develop wisteria flower poison to kill demons might bring about a greater breakthrough.

After persuading Shinobu Kocho to cooperate with Tamayo, Su Mu simply chatted casually with Shinobu Kocho.

For Shinobu Kocho, ever since her family's happiness was destroyed by demons, she has been constantly striving and working hard because of the hatred in her heart, never stopping for a moment.

Now, although he is unable to move due to extremely serious injuries, he is able to rest and relax to chat in a very peaceful state of mind.

Although it was just a very ordinary chat, I felt very fulfilled and happy, and my heart was pounding with joy.

A gentle breeze brushed against her face through the window. As Butterfly listened to Su Mu's gentle words and felt the tenderness of the wind on her cheeks, she suddenly felt something different.

This feeling is hard to explain.

It's like a black and white picture that's always been filled with hatred and the pain of the past, and then one day, a pen is inserted into this black and white picture, and various colors are depicted.

Suddenly, she remembered her sister's expectations of her, her expectation that she would leave the Demon Slayer Corps, live like an ordinary person, find someone to marry, have children, and achieve the happiness of an ordinary person.

Shinobu Kocho never thought she could forget all of this.

She witnessed her beloved father and mother being murdered by ghosts right before her eyes, and she could not forget it.

But at this moment

Shinobu Kocho admitted that she suddenly had an impulse. Perhaps, if she married the man in front of her, had children with him, and then lived an ordinary life together, she wouldn't be so opposed to it.

Thinking of these things, the girl's face became even redder, and she couldn't help but steal a glance at Su Mu. She saw him with a very gentle smile. Kocho Shinobu, who was usually serious and never smiled, also showed a rare happy smile.

It's not like in the anime, where Shinobu Kocho keeps imitating her sister's fake smile after Kanae Kocho's death.

It was Shinobu Kocho's genuine smile from the bottom of her heart.