Yang Tao looked at Keitarō's furry palm and said very seriously, "Besides your hand, where else do you have it?"
Keitarō shook his head and said, "Nowhere, but this thing keeps growing..."
"For the sake of the Combat Tower, I'll try. I'm not sure if it will work or not, and you shouldn't hold out too much hope."
Yang Tao took out a bucket of milk and handed it to Keitarō. He was also curious if this magical curse could be removed by milk.
"Drink it."
Looking at the bucket that was bigger than his head, Keitarō had a 'black man asking questions' expression.
"All...all of it?"
"All of it."
To remove the curse, Keitarō went all out. He took a deep breath, held the bottom of the milk bucket, and poured it into his mouth.
He had grown accustomed to the curse on his body, but the fact that Hozuki Eiko also suffered the same curse because of him was the biggest reason for his self-isolation.
Gulp, gulp...
'milk?'
After a few gulps, Keitarō suddenly realized something was wrong; the full bucket of milk had strangely disappeared.
Yang Tao took the empty Iron Skin, threw it into his backpack, and then continued to look at Keitarō's hand, which was covered in white nerves.
There was no change.
"It doesn't seem to work..."
Hozuki Yayoi, however, said directly, "No, the curse has been lifted, but the nerves that grew out are not solely due to the curse."
Yang Tao stroked his chin, nodding slightly, agreeing with Yayoi's words. It was like a poisoning debuff being removed; the lost health wouldn't automatically recover just because the status disappeared.
"Your name is Keitarō, right?"
"Mm-hmm, Keitarō Keitarō."
Keitarō became a little excited when he heard that his curse had been lifted, but before he could get too excited, he heard Yang Tao continue:
"Now you have two choices: one is for me to cut off your hand and let you regrow a new one, and two is for you to figure out how to deal with these nerves yourself."
"Both methods have their drawbacks; it depends on your own choice."
Keitarō suspected he had misheard and asked in astonishment, "Regrow it?"
"That's right, regrow it, but you must firmly believe in your heart that your hand is in its normal state, not this exposed nerve state..."
Keitarō was very conflicted...
"Then...is it fast? How long will it take?"
Hearing Keitarō's question, Yang Tao knew his inner choice and smiled meaningfully, saying, "Extremely fast...faster than you can imagine."
"Then...then I want to try the first option."
"Good, commendable courage!"
Yang Tao chuckled and handed Keitarō a golden apple, saying, "Here, eat it."
Hozuki Yayoi tilted her head and looked at Yang Tao, asking, "Uncle, why are your methods always about drinking or eating something?"
"Food therapy. You're still young; you can learn more."
Watching Keitarō eat the golden apple, Yang Tao smiled and said, "Keitarō, raise your hand."
"Yes, just hold it out flat..."
Whoosh! Before anyone could react, the Yamato had already sliced along Keitarō's wrist, its sharp blade cutting through Keitarō's hand without any resistance.
Bang...
Two bottles of Instant Healing II splash potions hit Keitarō's head.
'A bit wasteful, one bottle would have been enough...'
"Ah~"
Keitarō screamed.
Big brother, do you cut kidneys without anesthesia?
Keitarō's face was pale and bloodless, but neither Hozuki Eiko nor Hozuki Yayoi, the sisters, paid him any mind. Instead, they stared intently at the severed hand covered in nerves on the ground.
"Alright, stop screaming. The pain is just your phantom pain. Just open your eyes."
As he spoke, Yang Tao glanced at the glove Hozuki Eiko was wearing, paused slightly, then took out a new bucket of milk and handed it to Hozuki Eiko: "I think you must be cursed too. Hurry and drink the milk. I still have some things to do and need to leave quickly."
Hozuki Eiko took a step back: "I don't want to cut my hand..."
"That's your choice. This thing can only remove the curse. I'll leave once you finish drinking it."
"Oh..."
Keitarō, hearing Yang Tao's words, suddenly realized that the heart-wrenching pain from earlier had disappeared, as if it had been an illusion.
He opened his eyes and saw his hand perfectly intact on his wrist, and the white nerves had also disappeared.
"An...an illusion?"
But a slight glance down revealed the hand covered in nerves thrown on the ground like trash.
This feeling was very subtle.
"Is this my hand? Was it not an illusion just now?"
Hozuki Yayoi said, "It wasn't an illusion. Your hand was indeed cut off and then regrew."
Keitarō: "..."
Yang Tao took the empty bucket from Hozuki Eiko's hand and then smiled, saying, "I'm leaving now. You can call me if anything comes up."
With that, Yang Tao walked directly towards the staircase.
The three of them saw Yang Tao out.
Hozuki Eiko said with great emotion, "Who exactly is he?"
Hozuki Yayoi's skull-pupil eyes flickered with a faint red light, and her voice was calm as she said, "I don't know, but he's very strong, extremely strong."
"The neighboring city? We can go check it out when we have time..."
Only Keitarō wasn't thinking about Yang Tao. Instead, he weakly raised his hand and said, "Um...can we figure out how to deal with my severed hand first? If we just throw it away, it'll be considered a dismemberment case."
...
Afternoon.
"Elisa, I'll trouble you with this matter."
Elisa, sitting in the passenger seat with several dolls she received from Hozuki Yayoi in her arms, looked calmly at the scenery outside the car window. Hearing Yang Tao's words, she turned to him and said, "You're welcome. This isn't a troublesome matter for me."
Miko and Yurikawa Hana were sitting in the back seat, snuggled together and sound asleep.
Yesterday's camping plus a day of shopping today had left them both utterly exhausted.
Yang Tao drove with one hand and took out a golden Totem of Undying from his backpack, handing it to Elisa and saying, "This is a gift for you. Make sure to keep it close to you."
"It can block one fatal blow for you when you encounter danger. I think with your current strength, no one in this world should be able to stop you from opening the wooden door and returning to the Overworld."
Elisa looked at the palm-sized golden totem in Yang Tao's hand and smiled, saying, "This is the first time you've given me a gift."
With that, she reached out and took the Totem of Undying, complaining, "But why are the statues those strange-looking creatures with big noses?"
"I don't know either. Maybe Villagers are considered the natives of the Overworld."