Chapter 175: Chapter 175: Lavender Melon Soup and Naku Weed

Chapter 175: Lavender Melon Soup and Naku Weed

“This is a medicinal tea my master personally formulated,” Yasumoto said as he brought over the steaming cups.

“It helps prevent colds and fevers. The taste? Absolutely divine. Even the mighty Raiden Shogun herself wouldn’t be lucky enough to try something like this.”

He had clearly taken a moment to wash up—his hair was still damp, wisps of steam rising as he wiped it dry.

Bai Luo glanced toward the rain-soaked wall where a straw raincoat and bamboo hat were neatly hung.

“Don’t you have a raincoat and a hat? Why go out in the downpour like that?”

It wasn’t that the tea wasn’t helpful—but going out in this weather still seemed like an unnecessary risk.

Yasumoto paused. His tone dropped slightly.

“They belonged to Naoko-sensei. She… she was infected by the Tatarigami after following a terminally ill patient. Eventually, she lost herself to madness. The village chief had no choice but to lock her in the cellar. And in the end…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but the grim look in his eyes told Bai Luo and Gorou everything they needed to know.

“…Chief Washizu is a good man, really,” Yasumoto added quietly.

“According to the village’s laws, anyone showing signs of contamination should’ve been exiled immediately. But he defied the council and insisted on keeping my master safe—even if it meant locking her away.”

He chuckled softly, almost bitterly.

“In a way, that was for the best. In her condition, she would’ve hurt others. Or herself.”

His words seemed less like a defense of the village chief and more like self-consolation.

Washizu really had been a good man—before the Tatarigami took hold of his mind.

But remembering the look in his eyes back in the village…

Neither Bai Luo nor Gorou felt they could trust him anymore.

“After Naoko-sensei died, the villagers burned everything she left behind. Only this”—he nodded toward the hanging raincoat and hat—”was something I managed to save under a false excuse.”

His expression grew dim as he looked up at them.

Who could’ve imagined that their final farewell… would become a goodbye forever?

Her body still lay in that pitch-black cellar.

No one could retrieve it.

The house itself had become uninhabitable from the sheer contamination of the Tatarigami’s influence.

No one dared go near.

“So… you found a way to treat the Tatarigami?”

Bai Luo’s gaze drifted outside to the rain shelter where the handcart and cauldron sat.

He had more or less pieced it together.

If he remembered correctly, there had been a similar quest in the game, set right here on Yashiori Island.

And the NPC responsible for it… was Yasumoto.

The one most surprised, however, was Gorou.

There was a reason why both the Resistance and the Shogunate treated the Tatarigami problem with such seriousness—

There was no cure.

At best, its spread could be delayed with sealing charms or warding artifacts.

But the corruption always returned.

And now, someone was saying they could counteract it?

How could he not be thrilled?

“…It’s just lavender melon soup,” Yasumoto replied after a moment, chuckling bitterly.

“Really, that’s all it is.”

Neither Bai Luo nor Gorou were from the village, so Yasumoto didn’t feel the need to hide the truth from them.

Besides, the villagers had all tasted the soup before.

Even if he had added a few special herbs for extra nutrients or altered the flavor slightly, they knew.

They just… chose to believe in it anyway.

“I can’t cure the Tatarigami,” Yasumoto said. “Not even Naoko-sensei could do that. All I can do is throw in a few strengthening ingredients—maybe help someone hold on a little longer before they fall completely.”

That statement alone explained why Higi Village had collapsed, yet its people were still alive.

It was Yasumoto, and Yasumoto alone, who was keeping them going.

“This rain isn’t stopping anytime soon,” he continued.

“Before night falls, you should take this flyer and head to the Kujou camp. At the very least, they have ships that can get you back to Inazuma City.”

He glanced at the untouched tea cups in front of the two guests, but said nothing.

He wasn’t surprised.

To these two outsiders from the city, perhaps someone like him—who lived among the deranged—must seem like a lunatic himself.

And maybe… they wouldn’t be wrong.

After all, who in their right mind would choose to stay here?

“Can we even trust this?” Bai Luo asked, casually slipping the flyer into his sleeve.

He had a hunch this thing might be useful later.

“I noticed that many in Higi Village seem pretty hostile toward the Shogunate.”

Yasumoto gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head.

“Actually, when the Shogunate found out I was providing medicine to Higi Village, they sent someone to invite me.”

“The moment they learned I was Naoko-sensei’s student, one of their officers personally risked a visit to persuade me. But think about it—someone like the Commissioner probably has skilled doctors around all the time. But here, on Yashiori Island? These sick people… they’ve only got me.”

“I won’t leave. I can’t leave. My enemy… is only the Tatarigami.”

As he spoke, Yasumoto’s tone grew firm—his eyes no longer as soft as before.

Did he really seem so at peace with his master’s death?

If he were, he wouldn’t have kept her straw raincoat and hat.

Wouldn’t have let himself get drenched every time it rained just to avoid using them.

But Yasumoto had nowhere to vent that grief—no one to blame.

He couldn’t bring himself to resent the ignorant, frightened villagers.

Because deep down, he understood—

The one who took his teacher’s life… was the Tatarigami.

And since that day, the Tatarigami became his only enemy.

“Seems like you’ve made some progress studying the Tatarigami?” Bai Luo asked, raising a brow.

There was something different about Yasumoto’s conviction.

Something that made Bai Luo wonder—had he discovered something new?

“There’s a saying,” Yasumoto replied, “Where venomous snakes roam, within seven steps lies the antidote.”

“The place most corrupted by the Tatarigami is none other than the Musoujin Gorge, split open by the Raiden Shogun’s Musou no Hitotachi. That’s where the serpent god’s resentment is the deepest.”

“Before Naoko-sensei lost her mind completely, she told me she followed a group of refugees into the gorge… and brought back this.”

He carefully pulled something out from his robe—a dried, fragile piece of plant.

“Naku Weed?” Bai Luo recognized it immediately.

He’d seen the stuff before—especially back when he was grinding materials to level up Yoimiya.

He wasn’t proud of it, but he’d shamelessly begged his way into other players’ worlds just to get more.

“Right,” Yasumoto nodded.

“This plant grows inside the Musoujin Gorge. I’m convinced it’s the best possible medicine for treating the Tatarigami.”

“I’ve already started experimenting with it—adding it to my remedies. But aside from this sample that Naoko-sensei managed to retrieve… there’s no more.”

“I haven’t dared use it in high doses. I’ve only been testing it on myself. But if I could get more…”

He didn’t finish.

Bai Luo looked at the weed in his hand and hesitated.

He wanted to tell Yasumoto the truth.

That Naku Weed wasn’t some mystical antidote birthed by Tatarigami-tainted land.

It simply grew in areas saturated with Electro energy.

The Musoujin Gorge wasn’t cursed ground—it was ground torn by the Shogun’s sword, overflowing with concentrated lightning.

Of course something like Naku Weed would grow there.

As for whether it could heal Tatarigami corruption… that was a complete unknown.

There was no scientific link between them at all.

But in the end… Bai Luo didn’t say a word.

Just as the villagers clung to lavender melon soup as a symbol of hope, Yasumoto clung to this Naku Weed as his master’s final legacy.

Taking that away from him now—telling him it meant nothing—wouldn’t help anyone.

Maybe… some truths were better left unsaid.

. . . . .

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