Very Sad Story
A group of people was walking carefully after their guide, a tiny man in traditional robes. He was leading then down a narrow path between small pools and ponds, making sure to stop every time they were next to an interesting one.
The whole valley was full of various bodies of water, different in shape and size, it looked like cheese with holes.
"What's this one?" asked a teenage boy, pointing to a pond partially hidden behind bushes, one near the edge of the valley. The guide looked at it and hummed, remembering. Then he nodded.
"Ah, this one, young master. That is a very unfortunate one. There is a very sad story. You see, roughly five centuries ago there was a youkai tormenting a nearby village. A group of youkai exterminators was passing by and was hired to deal with the youkai," the guide said in his monotone voice, the group gathering around him to listen to the tale.
"They fought the youkai up the hillside," the guide pointed to the forest-covered hill towering over the valley. "But there was no bamboo forest growing there at that tine. It was very unfortunate, because when they killed the youkai it exploded and it's entrails covered the hillside."
"Eww!" exclaimed the gathering. The guide nodded.
"Indeed, it was pretty gross. And so, the group of exterminators slipped on the ground and tumbled all the way down," he pointed to the pond. "The first one to fell to the pond was the hanyou, followed by the miko, the monk and the youkai exterminator. It was very, very unfortunate that they killed the youkai in the valley, since the magic here was activated."
"Oh!" some of the listeners covered their mouth.
"Yes. The magic was awake, so when the exterminators emerged from the water they were all turned hanyou," the guide nodded sagely. "It's a very sad story of four hanyou. And so the pond is know as the Pond of the Hanyou. Whoever falls in the water shall be turned into a hanyou, so you must be very careful not to trip and share this sad, sad fate."
The group moved on and only the teenager remained back, smirking as he looked at the pond.
"And that explains why sis had ears the last time she came back home," Souta murmured and went after the group.