Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

"I've had my fill of wine, now I'm going to sleep."

The man, who was about to die, smiled, and then his breathing gradually stopped.

Chapter 68 Uncle, you don't need to worry about me. Only Kanao is allowed to worry about you. (5/5)

"Cough cough cough..."

Looking at his father, who seemed to be asleep, Tanjiro coughed incessantly. Whether it was sake that had gotten into his eyes or he was truly heartbroken, tears streamed down his face, followed by low sobs, and finally, painful wails.

The boy's sorrow echoed in the small cave.

Su Mu also silently watched the crying boy.

Seeing her uncle looking at Tanjiro, Kanao also looked at Tanjiro, noticing the tears streaming down his face and his sorrowful expression. She then tilted her head, looking at Su Mu with a puzzled expression.

"Uncle, look, he's crying so sadly!"

There was no empathy whatsoever, only curiosity and doubt.

Tanjiro wiped his eyes with his hand. Being asked such a question by a girl made him feel instinctively embarrassed and unmanly, but looking at his father, tears flowed uncontrollably again.

"Please accept my condolences; everyone must die eventually."

Su Mu looked at Tanjiro and sighed.

"Father, he's just asleep."

Tanjiro shouted loudly.

"Don't yell at my uncle so loudly."

Kanao frowned, her beautiful brows furrowing.

Tanjiro pursed his lips. He knew he shouldn't vent his emotions like that, nor should he be so rude to others, but he couldn't help himself when the other person told him that his father had died.

"Everyone will eventually die."

Su Mu looked at the dead 'Kamado Tanjuro' and patted Kanao's head: "No matter how sad you are, it won't change anything."

Tanjiro, tears streaming down his face, collapsed to the ground.

Su Mu poured another glass of wine and handed it to Tanjiro: "Drink more wine, it might make you feel better."

Looking at the wine cup handed to him, Tanjiro hesitated for a moment before drinking it down in one gulp.

The fiery liquor stung his throat, causing Tanjiro to cough again, and then he started crying.

Kanao tilted her head, looking at the boy who had buried his head in his lap, then looked up at her uncle: "Is it really necessary to be so sad that your father has died?"

Why can't I feel it?

Tanjiro, who was crying, couldn't help but raise his head and look at Kanao.

The girl tilted her head, looking at him with a puzzled expression as he wept.

Tanjiro couldn't help but wipe away the tears on his face, not wanting others to see his vulnerable side, especially since he was a girl.

Wiping away tears while filled with anger:

"If your father dies, how can you not be heartbroken? How could you not be heartbroken? How could you not be heartbroken?"

"Uncle, is it really necessary to be sad?"

Kanao tilted her head, looking at Su Mu with a puzzled expression.

Su Mu gently patted Kanao's head and said in a gentle tone, "It might be sad for others, but it's different for Kanao."

Why are they different?

Children always have a lot of questions.

"Because, for others, their father is very important in their lives, but for Kanao, her father is not important."

Unconsciously, he thought of that so-called 'father' of Kanao. How could such a person be worthy of Kanao's sadness and grief?

Tanjiro looked up at Su Mu in disbelief: "How could you say such a thing?"

Su Mu quietly looked at the boy:

Why can't I say such a thing?

Tanjiro opened his mouth, about to say something, but Su Mu waved his hand to stop him. He had no intention of arguing with Tanjiro about these things. Different people, different experiences, how could one understand if one had never experienced them?

People will only stand on their own side.

If he hadn't witnessed Kanao's ordeal firsthand, how could he have imagined that such heartless parents existed in this world?

Seeing this, Tanjiro could only sit back down. However, looking at his father lying there, he silently shed tears, but he did not make a sound.

…………

The campfire burned, its flickering light illuminating the faces of different people and ghosts.

After a long while, Su Mu finally looked up at the heavy snow outside the cave:

"Do you need me to carry your father home? You must have been out for a long time. If you don't go back soon, your family will probably worry."

Tanjiro seemed to come to his senses, looking at his father who had closed his eyes and was still lying by the campfire. The boy silently approached 'Tanjuro Kamado'.

My father's body was already cold, and I could not feel any breath from him.

Tanjiro pursed his lips, turned his head to look at Su Mu who was looking at him: "My father is just asleep, just asleep."

"Okay, he's just asleep."

Su Mu shrugged.

"I can carry it back by myself, I don't need your help."

Tanjiro gritted his teeth, perhaps thinking that as long as he didn't acknowledge the man, his father was still alive.

Although Tanjiro told him not to help, Su Mu still helped Tanjiro put his father's body on his back so that he could carry it.

"My father is just asleep."

Carrying his father out of the cave, Tanjiro turned back and repeated the same sentence to Su Mu.

"Yes, she's just asleep."

Su Mu replied.

"You'll wake up tomorrow, and things will get better tomorrow."

After saying that, the boy carried his father's body on his back and staggered through the snow, his steps uneven.

The wind whistled through the trees, and faintly, the sound of a boy's sobbing could be heard.

Su Mu watched the boy stagger away and patted Kanao's head, who was standing next to him: "Don't stay outside. It's snowing so heavily, don't let yourself get cold."

"It's not cold, Uncle."

The girl smiled sweetly.

"Even if it's not cold, you have to go in."

Su Mu tapped the girl on the head.

"I'll listen to my uncle."

The girl clung to the man's arm: "I want to go inside with you, Uncle, so you won't be cold."

Su Mu looked down at the girl, then shook his head helplessly and led Kanao into the cave.

"uncle……"

"Ah."

"My uncle just said that everyone dies eventually."

"Ah."

"What will happen to my uncle if I die one day?"

Su Mu stopped abruptly.

"My uncle said that a father is a very important person to others, and only when the father dies will others be sad. I hope that Kanao will not be a very important person to my uncle, so that even if Kanao dies in the future, my uncle will not have to care."

"What are you talking about?"

Su Mu slapped Kanao hard on the head.

This time, he hit her a little too hard, and he immediately realized something was wrong, so he quickly patted the girl's head: "Did I hurt you?"

"It doesn't hurt."

Kanao blinked her pinkish-purple eyes, those bright eyes shimmering with the image of a demon: "It was Uncle who hit me, so it won't hurt."

Su Mu sighed, wanting to say something, but ultimately sighed again, turned his head away, not wanting to look at the girl, and simply pulled her into the cave.

"Uncle, you're not allowed to care about me anymore."

Kanao followed along, whispering, "Only Kanao is allowed to care about Uncle."

Chapter 69 Perhaps, this is what growing up is all about (1/4)

No matter how unwilling or how unwilling you are to believe it.

If you die, you're really dead.

Feeling the coldness on his back, Tanjiro gradually understood everything.

Tanjiro, carrying his father on his back, stumbled along, crying all the way.

However, as they approached home, the crying gradually subsided. Unconsciously, they raised their heads to look at the starry sky under the dim night and the constantly falling snowflakes. Perhaps, as long as they tilted their heads back, the tears would not fall.

Tanjiro wiped his face with his hand and forced a smile. He was the eldest son in the family, and now he was the one who bore the burden of the family. How could he allow himself to continue to be sad?

I gently pushed open the door, and the wind and snow outside blew in.

The gentle-looking woman put down the wood she was about to put into the stove, looked up at her husband who was being carried back by his son, and pursed her lips.

"Your father..."

Kamado Aoi woke up very early. When she discovered that her husband was missing, she searched the whole house and found Tanjiro missing as well. She vaguely understood what was going on.