The medicine seller had to admit he'd never seen an oomukade in person before. The centipede yokai were as massive as the tales said: the size of a mountain's peak with legs that could rattle the earth itself and the temper of an angry dragon. They were solitary, highly territorial, and incredibly rare. How one became a mononoke was as big of a mystery as how he would slay something that large.

"I… I don't think I need an explanation of what an oomukade is…." Kayo babbled. She was in shock. She'd seen some wild things while traveling with the medicine seller but a giant centipede mononoke that caused mudslides and earthquakes was absolutely definitely a first. She glanced at him, concerned that he too looked slightly surprised.

"I…..that…" Masa stammered. "That isn't… that isn't the mountain god, right?"

"It is not," the medicine seller replied. He turned back to the group, jabbing the taima sword at them. "It is a mononoke that will continue to destroy this town if we do not learn how this creature was created. What truly happened with the bridge?"

"Th-that's everything I know!" Masa insisted. "Could something have happened to my Tokubei?!"

Seijiro scoffed. "Of course it would be him, cursing this town."

Masa glared at him. "What is with you, Seijiro!? What is your problem?!"

"My problem is that your sake-filled husband was always stealing all the bamboo shoots for himself!" Seijiro hissed.

The medicine seller glanced between them. It seemed the truth was finally starting to emerge. With the oomukade quiet at the moment, letting them argue might reveal the truth and reason in the process. Hopefully soon. Something that large could easily flatten this town and everything down to the mountain's base. Mononoke rarely stopped at simply destroying the source. Their ire would continue, and combined with a naturally angry yokai, this mononoke could cause some terrible damage.

"Wh-what?!" Masa stared at him in shock. "What in the kami's name are you even talking about?! Why would Tokubei steal the takenoko?!"

"You have the most prosperous farm and we'd always see him sneak into the bamboo forest at night with a basket!" Seijiro jabbed an accusatory finger at her. "Gathering all the bamboo shoots and fiddleheads then keeping the profits for you both!"

"That's preposterous!" Masa seethed.

"We've all seen him," one of the townsfolk agreed. "I'd seen him emerge with a full basket. The forests are growing thin, Masa. He's been taking them all himself."

"This is insane!" Masa hissed. "Do you really think he's to blame for the lack of shoots? The numbers have been dwindling for years! The forest isn't doing well. Why do you think we built the shrine to the mountain god? We need to appease him so our forest will grow again!"

"Excuses!" Seijiro accused. "It's all to cover up what Tokubei was really doing!"

Masa's face twisted in anger. "Are you even serious, Seijiro?! Do you know what he was doing with our crops and whatever he gathered? He was selling it off in the next town for supplies! Do you remember when your son got sick? Who bought him medicine?"

"Tokubei," the woman recalled.

"He paid for it himself," Masa pointed out. "Same with the wood for when your roof went out, Junsuke. He's been selling everything excess to help the town so we can thrive together!"

"Did we… did we do the wrong thing…?" came a meek question from the gathered crowd.

There it was, the pathway to the truth and reason that the medicine seller had been waiting for.

Masa stared in horror. "What happened, Junsuke?!"

The man stared at the ground, his eyes growing wide. "We did…."

"We did everything right!" Seijiro proclaimed, stepping out from underneath the ledge. "See, even now he wants us to suffer!" He pointed at the house trampled by the oomukade. "That thing is nothing but a bane on this town!"

Stomping to the fallen house, Seijiro kicked over a few boards, locating an axe. "I'll end this myself. You should've died that night with the bridge!"

Kayo gasped. "Did he…."

"We delayed Tokubei as Seijiro cut the bridge ropes nearly all the way through," Junsuke confessed, breaking into sobs. "Then during the storm, He filed off the last rope so the bridge would fall. Tokubei, he…. I'm sorry, Masa!"

The taima sword chattered in confirmation of the revealed truth.

"That's horrible," Kayo buried her face in her hands.

"It was necessary!" Seijiro shouted over his shoulder, brandishing the axe at the ravine. "If he had just stayed dead, this never would've happened!"

"You're awful!" Masa screamed at him. "He must've died regretting every kind thing he ever did for this town! Every backbreaking hour he committed to helping pay for things you all couldn't afford! He must hate everyone now!"

The taima sword chattered once again. "Release!" Its voice was barely heard over the rumbling that barreled up from within the ravine.

Before the medicine seller could dash forward to confront the oomukade, the creature reached over the ravine's edge, swallowing Seijiro whole before he had a chance to fight back. It withdrew back into the ravine, falling silent once again.

The medicine seller leapt forward, holding the taima sword in his hand as he ran. This mononoke wouldn't stop with just Seijiro, given everything Masa had just said. It likely held a grudge against everyone Tokubei had helped, but the killing wouldn't stop with just them. It could threaten everything within the village and the nearby ones as well. Anger was difficult to handle as a mononoke. It was time to rest.

Kayo reached forward as the medicine seller pushed off the edge and leapt into the ravine. Sure, he probably wasn't human but even he'd fallen into ravines before like at the hot springs. "Mr. Medicine Seeeellleeeerrr!" Gravity still applied to him.

But only partially. He withdrew the sword as his other self took over. The markings from his arms shifted, acting as floating steps as he descended into the ravines. The oomukade clung to the ravine's wall, a massive creature the size of a small city with a temper the size of the whole country. It lashed outward, attempting to swipe at him with its legs.

He leapt backwards, using the shifting markings as stepping stones across the ravine like rocks in a river. His long white hair flowed around his shoulders, pushed around by the shifting winds of the deep canyon. The anger the mononoke must have felt. It was time to end the suffering. He drew his sword, blocking the next attack from the Oomukade.

He pushed back against the mononoke, splitting the arms and legs. With the runes to support him, he ran along the wall, dragging his sword through the entire length of the body. The oomukade slammed against the wall, rattling the ravine and the remains of the bridge above until the mononoke finally was slain.

"Mr. Medicine Seller!" Kayo yelled out as she stumbled towards the ravine. The noise had subsided but the medicine seller still hadn't emerged. "Mr. Medicine Seller, where are you!" Hesitantly she approached the edge. Inching forward, she neared the edge of the ravine as a hand suddenly reached up and grasped the edge of the ravine. Kayo yelped in surprise, stumbling backwards in shock.

He pulled himself back up to the cliffside, frowning that he'd managed to lose a geta during the battle. He peered back at the ravine now silent below him. The mononoke was no longer suffering. Tokubei could finally rest.

…..

"I'm glad that Tokubei's geta fit you, Mr. Medicine Seller." Masa offered him a smile. "I can't thank you enough for what you have done to help this town."

"Simply putting the mononoke to rest so it no longer suffers," he said.

Masa laughed. "I think it's much more than that, Mr. Medicine Seller."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He turned, seeing the remnant of a farmer standing on the edge of the farm. Tokubei, he reasoned. Part of him wondered if the mononoke was aware of this land being theirs. It had been protected by the cliffside, but the mononoke could've trampled it at any point. But with each earthquake and the recent assault on the town, the farm was never touched.

Perhaps something to ponder. Mononoke did not always follow human standards of reasoning.

Kayo shook her head. He so rarely took any credit for the work he did. "What do you plan on doing now, Miss Masa?"

The farmer shook her head. "I'm not sure. Likely continue the farm here. Much of the village is planning to relocate but I don't think I can leave this place behind. Not yet, at least."

Kayo peered back at the village. There really wasn't much of it left after the mudslides and then the idea of remaining felt strange, especially after everything that happened, but Masa seemed pretty set on remaining here. At least Masa had her farm even if Tokubei wasn't around anymore.

"Besides, someone should rebuild the shrine to the mountain god," Masa added. "Tokubei was set on honoring him. I feel I should do the same."

Kayo smiled. "Sounds like you have a good plan. Take care of yourself, okay? Starting over after something like this can be really hard."

"I like to think I can manage," Masa reassured her. She offered the pair a bow.

"Your hospitality and geta are appreciated," the medicine seller bowed in return. As they left, he paused to peer at the partially reconstructed bridge before continuing downward towards the valley.

...

Author's musings

This case was largely inspired by one of the origin tales of an oomukade and Mushi-shi.

There are several versions of origin tales and all of them involve a bridge. Here's the one I referenced:

A brave warrior comes to a town and crushes a frightening serpent on the bridge that had been scaring the village. A dragon princess comes to find the warrior, begging for his help to slay the oomukade that has been tormenting the dragon people. So the warrior goes up the mountain and slays the oomukade, like a warrior would do but not without great difficulty. He was handsomely rewarded for his efforts with items and things but also information to take out his most bitter of enemies.

How could I not include a giant centipede mononoke?! It's perfect

And I was watching Mushi-shi for the first time. It has a lot of qualities that mononoke would have but ultimately more mellow and chill. Ultimate chill. The particular episodes which went into this were the bamboo forest, the tale of the mountain god and the god-killer (who coiled up like an oomukade at the end of the episode), and the one-night bridge. One day, I will figure out how to write a crossover between these two series.

So as always, name meanings! Everyone here is named something virtuous as everyone believes they are actually right.

Tokubei - toku = virtue

Seijiro - sei = noble

Masa possibly means righteousness