Birth from death. A pile of death. The truth of a mononoke was never an easy one to witness, and this pile of bodies was certainly very difficult to look at. Most of the bodies had been undisturbed, but there were fresh marks indicating at least one had been dragged off the pile recently and taken downstream, likely to be consumed.
Kayo clung to the medicine seller's sleeve. She was horrified as much as she was afraid of what that abandoned person had become. They had stumbled upon a truth, but there was still a form out there somewhere.
"To think this was why they shuttered everything," Genyosai frowned. He bowed his head, offering prayers for the poor souls who had suffered so much to the end. Hopefully they would be able to pass on, not becoming a mononoke as well. But to be abandoned in such a way, it was hard to not carry some manner of grudge. "Though I doubt they will start talking. They hardly would say a word to even me!"
"Did you let them get a word in?" Kayo frowned at him.
"I don't really think that's the problem at hand right now," Genyosai evaded the question.
The medicine seller had only partially paid attention to their banter. He focused on the dragging markings along the dirt. They were fresh, likely related to the severed heads they had recently found. They traveled downstream towards the town but on the opposite side of the river, they returned back upstream past the pile of discarded bodies.
"Miss Kayo, the light." He held out his hand.
She handed him the light, peering around him in the direction he was looking. "You… you see something, don't you?"
He held the light out far enough that it shone across the wide river. "Do you see the tracks on the other side of the river?"
Kayo studied the other side of the river. "It looks like something got dragged. You don't think they're dragging bodies here?!"
The medicine seller shook his head, shifting the lantern so it illuminated the similar drag marks beneath their feet. "The paths appear to be dragging, but going in both directions, up and downstream."
"Upstream and down," Genyosai observed.
"But why drag something in both directions?" Kayo stared at the markings. She cautiously peered at the pile of bodies, burying her face in her sleeve to try to mask the horrible smell.
"Not dragging," the medicine seller corrected her. "Slithering."
Genyosai peered at the markings. "But how? The markings are as wide as a body!"
Kayo frowned. It was like encountering that oomukade in the mountains. Giant things that shouldn't ever be giant and now held a vicious grudge against people.
"Mononoke can be quite large," the medicine seller said. "This one seems to be abducting people from the town to consume. This pile of bodies is undisturbed."
"Because of the truth?" Genyosai guessed.
"Perhaps," the medicine seller replied. Something had driven this mononoke's behavior, the best link was the town that wouldn't speak and the pile of abused and discarded bodies laying before them. He had his thoughts about the mononoke's reason, but perhaps his companions would need some help before they continued. They looked a bit sickly.
He set the chest down on the ground, removing the mortar and pestle along with a few other ingredients. He set to work quickly blending a mixture before dropping it into two separate small satchels. He handed Genyosai and Kayo each one. "Put the string around your necks and let the bag rest on your chest."
Kayo slipped the string over her head, careful not to catch it on her hair ornaments, sniffing the contents of the small satchel. "It smells… good."
The medicine seller dropped more phosphorus into the lantern before slinging the chest back over his shoulders. "It will distract your senses from the piles of rotting flesh and severed heads in the riverbanks."
Kayo shuddered. "Did you have to say it that way?!"
He grinned just slightly, amused. "Perhaps next I'll blend something that makes severed heads appear to be flowers."
"Stop mocking me!" Kayo fussed.
He grinned some more. "Alright, alright." He turned, something supernatural ensnaring his attention. Lantern in hand, he moved to light the pathway before him. Something was nearby, something which didn't want them here. He heard a crunching sound followed by a sharp crack.
Lantern in one hand, taima sword in the other, he carefully stepped forward past the pile of bodies. Genyosai and Kayo kept close behind him, the former nearly retching into the river as he spotted the source of the noise. Before them on the riverbank was a half-woman half-snake with long black hair wet from the river, sticking to her body and face. In one hand was the partial remains of a villager, it's arm ripped off and hanging from her teeth.
The mononoke slurped the arm up, turning to glare at the intruders.
"A protection prayer would be good right now, Mr. Genyosai." The medicine seller dropped the chest by their feet, quickly setting the lantern on top of it before leaping forward and blocking the mononoke's attack with the taima sword.
Kayo yelped, crouching behind the medicine chest as Genyosai began furiously chanting protection prayers.
The mononoke reared back, lashing out again and again at the medicine seller. "You're not from the village but are you like them?!"
"I can help you quell your rage!" He blocked the attacks with the taima sword.
"My rage can never be quelled!" the mononoke seethed. "They will never stop! They never will! I won't stop until they're all dead!"
"The reason for your rage," the medicine seller blocked another attack, pulling a wall of ofuda out before him to slow the onslaught. The mononoke quickly broke through it, as he honestly expected. "These people aren't just dead. They are brought in here from other regions against their control! Your rage stems from them."
The taima sword didn't respond. It wasn't the full reason. There was more to this tale.
The mononoke struck the sword, pushing the medicine seller back nearly into the chest.
"It's like Lady Tamaki, isn't it?" Kayo sobbed, still having nightmares about witnessing that truth and reason.
The medicine seller glanced back at the bodies. It was like Lady Tamaki. "These people are abducted. This is a trafficking ring. Your regret is that you tried to stop the trafficking but couldn't, dying right alongside those you sought to protect!"
The sword chattered in confirmation.
The medicine seller pushed her backwards with more force, holding the sword above his head. "Come, I shall put you to rest, nure-onna!"
The sword chattered to confirm the form. "Release! Release!"
The other self leapt forward, the outer self handing off the taima sword as he moved. Grasping the hilt, he withdrew the sword from its sheath.
"There will never be rest for these people!" the nure-onna hissed.
He knew that of course. As long as this behavior continued, more and more mononoke would be born into this town. It was a dilemma he'd consider after the battle. The nure-onna attempted to lash out at him, scratching his arm and trying to ensnare him. She yanked him forward, her jaws wide open to consume this strange man. He moved quickly, drawing the sword up her arm, stopping just short before her body for just a moment. "It is time your suffering ended."
"Please protect them," the nure-onna begged him.
He didn't often protect the living, but for the sake of the mononoke which would be born from this, perhaps he could make an exception. The strange lucidity had caught his attention. It was so rare a mononoke would beg him like this one. "Tell me the details."
She leaned forward, whispering information into his ear before he drew the sword through her, releasing her from this world.
For a moment, Genyosai was certain the medicine seller had looked different.
…
Kayo crouched on the edge of the river near the town, her head buried in her knees. She thought she was able to handle more gruesome details of these cases, but this one had hit far too close to home. She still had nightmares about Tamaki's truth and reason sometimes, though they had begun to dwindle the more and more she helped mononoke find relief.
The medicine seller and Genyosai sat on the bank next to her, the former busying himself with tending to the wounds on his arm. The mononoke had been faster than he'd expected, managing to catch him before he had a chance to react. But when he did, the resulting wound was hardly as deep as he'd experienced before. He wrinkled his nose as he applied ointment to it.
"The mononoke told you all this?" Genyosai waved his fan, watching the early dawn light streak across the sky.
"She did," the medicine seller pulled a bandage wrap from the chest, carefully winding it around his arm. "Every detail. But we cannot simply go to the local lord and detail this. They tend to like to throw me in jail." He waved a dismissive hand.
"Well that is terribly rude!" Genyosai huffed.
"Such is the life of a merchant," he shrugged, tucking the tails of the gauze into the wrap. "Who would believe an ordinary medicine seller and his apprentice anyway?"
"You're hardly ordinary!" Genyosai pointed out.
The medicine seller snorted.
"But," Genyosai went back to waving his fan. He doubted he could get anything out of the medicine seller aside from the mononoke's message. He was as mysterious as he was evasive. The ascetic still wasn't certain what he had seen in the dim light of the lantern when the medicine seller slew the nure-onna. "I see your point. A wandering ascetic such as myself would be able to relay the truth without suspicion!"
The medicine seller grinned slightly. "And if the local lord acts, you can prevent more mononoke from being created here."
Genyosai wanted that. That nure-onna was nothing short of terrifying and unsettling.
"That takes care of one thing. But the other." He peered around the medicine seller at Kayo, who hadn't moved much since they sat down. "Will Miss Kayo be alright?"
Kayo sucked in a breath, finally uncrumpling herself and rubbing at her face. "I just needed a moment, that's all. Let's go now. I don't want to stay in this creepy town anymore."
The medicine seller stood up, patting the grass off the back of his kimono. "Then let us be on our way."
....
Author's musings
I wouldn't want to get ahead of myself and say this is one of the more bizarre stories I've written. But it was. This story had no named characters aside from the party of three and involved one of the more gruesome mononoke I've had the pleasure of happening across.
A nure-onna is pretty gruesome, much like the case tells. She is a snake-woman who eats flesh and is often seen on the water's shore bathing herself. She has large teeth, eternally wet hair, and anywhere from just a woman's head to a full torso mounted on a giant snake's body.
When I was researching yokai for this story, I came across a number of different kinds of snake-human hybrid yokai that were vampiric or ate people. I chose the nure-onna because this yokai may have had a leg up on the rest for this case.
Okay, I'll stop now.