After eating and drinking to their fill, the three of Tanjiro rubbed their round bellies and lay on the tatami, groaning.
"Let's go see the legendary secret hot spring that can cure all diseases."
Yamada stood up and found a bath towel from his bag to put on his shoulder.
Upon hearing the word hot spring, Zenitsu, who was half-dead, instantly sprang up from the ground as if he had been injected with adrenaline. His hair was messy, but his eyes were shining with a sneaky light, and a suspicious trickle of drool even flowed from the corner of his lips.
"Boss, I heard that the hot springs in the Swordsmith Village can not only heal injuries, but because the space is limited, some pools are mixed-gender, right?" Zenitsu rubbed his hands, the expression on his face gradually becoming perverted.
"If there's a chance to meet a female swordswoman who comes to repair her sword... hehehe..."
Yamada glanced at him and didn't speak.
Tanjiro sighed helplessly, "Zenitsu, can't you think of something proper in that head of yours? We're here to train."
"Shut up, Tanjiro! How would a blockhead like you who has his sister with him understand the pain of us bachelors?" Zenitsu rushed out of the sliding door with big strides.
"Hot spring! Pretty girl! Here I come!"
However, Zenitsu hadn't even run ten steps when Yamada, who was walking behind, flicked his finger, and a peeled peanut shell hit the acupuncture point in the back of Zenitsu's knee.
"Ouch!"
Zenitsu's legs went soft, and he fell face-first onto the corridor, sliding all the way to the edge of the stairs, his head hitting the pillar solidly, and he fainted.
"Carry him." Yamada tilted his chin at Tanjiro.
The hot spring of the Swordsmith Village was built in the dense forest behind the mountain, simply surrounded by bamboo fences, and the steaming spring water gurgled out from the crevices of the rocks, carrying a strong mineral smell.
Yamada took off his yukata, revealing his well-proportioned and well-defined muscles.
He stepped into the hot spring, leaned against the smooth rock, and let the warm spring water submerge his chest. He closed his eyes and listened to the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the bamboo leaves nearby.
Just then, a light humming sound suddenly came from the small path in the bamboo forest next to him.
Following the singing, a slender figure walked over in wooden clogs.
The visitor was wearing a loose pink yukata, and her long pink hair was draped over her shoulders, wet, obviously having just come out of the hot spring from another pool.
She was holding a bottle of milk in her hand, and her cheeks were flushed with an alluring redness due to the steam of the water.
It was the Love Hashira, Kanroji Mitsuri, who had arrived at the Swordsmith Village a step ahead.
"Eh? Isn't this Yamada-san and Tanjiro-kun?"
Seeing the few people soaking in the pool, Mitsuri waved her hand in surprise.
The loose collar of her yukata opened slightly with her movements, revealing a limitless view.
Zenitsu, who had just been awakened, was sitting by the pool rubbing his head. When he looked up and saw this scene, his nosebleed instantly sprayed out like a fountain, and he fell straight backward, fainting in the hot spring again.
"Kanroji-san!"
Tanjiro quickly stood up from the water. Because he was too restrained, he didn't know where to put his hands, so he could only scratch his head awkwardly.
Yamada opened his eyes, leaned against the rock without moving, and just lazily greeted, "What a coincidence. You're here to repair your sword too?"
"Yes."
Mitsuri walked to the edge of the pool and squatted down without avoiding anything, her eyes looking at Yamada brightly.
"My sword rolled its edge a little when I was on a mission before. But the happiest thing is the food here, I ate three big buckets of matsutake rice tonight."
Hearing the unit of measurement "three big buckets," Tanjiro silently gulped in the water.
"By the way."
Mitsuri suddenly seemed to remember something, and the soul of gossip on her face burned fiercely.
She looked left and right, and lowered her voice to say to Yamada. "Yamada-san, Shinobu-chan isn't following you? I asked Shinobu-chan later, and she blushed and drove me out. Are you two planning to go to Master to apply for marriage?"
Faced with this barrage of gossip, the corner of Yamada's lips twitched slightly.
This Love Hashira's brain circuit, apart from eating, is thinking about watching others fall in love all day long.
"She has to stay at headquarters to prepare medicine." Yamada casually scooped up a handful of hot water and poured it on his shoulder.
"As for marriage, let's wait until I twist off Muzan's head as a betrothal gift. What's the rush now?"
"Wow!"
Mitsuri held her heart with both hands, her eyes filled with stars. "Taking Muzan's head as a betrothal gift! This is too romantic!"
No, she would only scold me for being sick in the head.
Yamada slandered in his heart, not bothering to correct this love-brained Hashira.
"Alright, stop blowing in the cold wind here. Go back and put on your clothes after soaking in the hot spring, so you don't catch a cold." Yamada waved his hand to issue an order to evict the guest.
"Mm-hmm. Then Yamada-san, you guys soak slowly, I'll go back to sleep first. See you tomorrow."
Mitsuri waved her hand happily, humming a little tune, and left in her wooden clogs.
The night grew darker.
Tanjiro and Inosuke were dizzy from soaking, and dragged Zenitsu, who had fainted again, back to the guest room.
In the large open-air hot spring pool, only Yamada was left.
Everything around was silent, with only the slight sound of the spring water rolling.
Yamada raised his head, looking at the crescent moon in the night sky obscured by thin clouds.
The black in his eyes faded, and the complex pattern of the Eternal Mangekyo quietly emerged, his gaze piercing through the heavy fog and mountains.
In his perception network, the faint aura of demons from the day had become much stronger at this moment. It was no longer probing, but like countless cold poisonous snakes, tightening the encirclement bit by bit from all directions.
"Upper Rank four, Upper Rank five."
Yamada leaned against the rock. "The quantity has increased, but it's just a group of small fry huddling together."
Since you chose to secretly set up Blood Demon Arts and summon clones in the middle of the night, then I will be merciful and give you a night of preparation time.
When the night falls tomorrow, this quiet Swordsmith Village will become the burial place for you two mice.
Splash.
Yamada stood up from the hot spring. He put on his wide yukata, tied his belt, and leisurely walked towards the guest room down the mountain in his wooden clogs.