Original subtitles

"Mushi-shi"

Don't worry. I told you, the doctor is over examining my grandma right now.

See? I told you there's a lot of unusual stuff here.

Wow! Awesome!

Whoa! What the heck is this!?

Ah!

Wow! What a pretty inkstone!

"The White Which Dwells Within The Inkstone"

Doctor!

Doctor, I need you to come over!

Doctor! Doctor!

Huh?

My daughter...

When it became evening,

she suddenly started complaining about how cold she was.

The boys next door who were playing with her have the same symptoms.

What's going on? Her body temperature is really low.

Mommy, I'm cold.

I want another blanket.

Just a minute.

Even her breath is chilled.

Doctor...

Ice?

Doctor, I'm sorry...

We went into your storage shed today.

So you touched something in the shed?

I'm sorry. There was an inkstone...

An inkstone...

Hey! I'm here.

Oh, over here, Ginko.

Thanks for coming.

I was careless.

I was trying not to let the villagers see what was inside my storage shed, though.

How are the patients?

They're getting weaker.

I'm trying to keep their body temperatures up

by having them drink hot water, but...

This is it.

I bought it from a collector I know.

It looks beautiful but moreover,

I heard that it's made from some kind of fossilized mushi, so...

Fossilized mushi?

I don't know if there is such a thing.

Usually, mushi don't leave a body behind.

Don't buy things that have unsure backgrounds like this.

You're just looking for trouble.

Have you forgotten that the things you cherish are unusual?

Sorry... I was careless...

This isn't... a fossil.

The mushi seem to still be alive.

And what were the patients doing at the time?

What did you do with the inkstone?

We decided to rub an ink stick on it. (By doing so with a little water in it, ink is created)

Hm? Is something wrong?

What's that? It's just an ordinary inkstone.

No, I'm sure it's a special inkstone.

Hey, there's some water over there.

Let's try and rub an ink stick on it.

Don't! The doctor will be mad at us.

Just a little...

- Ah? - What? - Huh?

Did you guys feel something cold come out of it?

Yeah, I breathed it in.

The mushi come alive when the ink stick is rubbed on the inkstone

and enter people's bodies. And then, they chill the bodies from inside.

It's hard to identify the mushi only knowing these conditions.

I see.

Doesn't the previous owner know anything about it?

No. He knows nothing more than that.

The people who owned the inkstone before that all used it and...

died, I hear.

Then our last resort is the maker of the inkstone...

There's an inscription. If you look into it, I'm sure you can find the maker.

I'll go see.

I'm taking this with me.

- I'm counting on you. - Yeah.

I sure came a long ways up.

It should be around here somewhere.

Yeah, she lives over there.

But she no longer makes inkstones.

Why not?

I'm not sure.

She just quit all of a sudden...

She doesn't have any relatives left... but she was really skilled.

Who are you?

Are you the one who made this?

Indeed... this is my inscription.

But what about it?

There are children suffering right now because of this inkstone.

I'd like you to tell me what you know.

Thanks... for coming.

I was looking for it... this inkstone...

all this time...

As far as I know... there are three who used that inkstone.

I hear they all died within a month.

It all started soon after my father,

who was a notable inkstone craftsman, fell ill.

I had a fiancé.

He was my father's client who lived in a town one mountain's crossing away.

Both he and his parents were opposed to my succeeding my father's work.

Tagane, you want to do it no matter what?

You of all people should know...

My father and I are the only ones who can carve rocks around here!

I don't want to give it up!

You won't be able to continue alone!

In fact, the orders have been falling.

In time... I'll create an inkstone to rival my father's.

So!

I'll come again.

lf... I could create an inkstone that my fiancé would acknowledge,

he would surely...

Thereafter, I submerged myself in inkstone making.

But I had a hard time creating something I could be satisfied with.

Then, one day, I excavated that rock.

Somehow, it enchanted me and I began to carve it with fervor.

The finished inkstone was a masterpiece, the best I ever made.

This is exquisite.

Rub an ink stick on it to test it out.

What was that?

What's wrong?

A smoke-like puff came out of the inkstone.

Look! It's still there.

Where?

What?

The ink seems to come out fine as well.

I can rest assured now that you can succeed my work.

Several days have passed after I inhaled that smoke,

but it doesn't seem to have affected me,

and I was the only one who saw it.

I hope my fiancé and his parents will reconsider after seeing this inkstone.

All right.

Can I hold on to this inkstone?

I'm going to try and convince my parents.

Really?

Yeah. If they approve, I'll send you a letter.

But the letter that arrived one month later only informed me of my fiancé's death.

He started to complain of chills on the day I delivered the inkstone,

and he contracted a strange illness that continued to lower his temperature.

Saying that the inkstone was a bad omen, his parents sold it to an antiques store.

I went to the store, but it had already been sold,

and I lost track of its whereabouts.

But I heard rumors of it from a broker and the antiques dealer.

I heard another person died because of that inkstone!

After that, my father passed,

and I stopped carving inkstones.

I want to help you, but that's all I know.

Well, actually, I've now got a clue, thanks to you.

I'm grateful.

What do you mean?

Sorry, but I'm in a hurry, so...

Wait!

Would you let me buy back that inkstone?

I want to destroy it with my own hands.

Well, it's not mine...

If you like, you can come along with me.

Have you forgotten that the things that you cherish are unusual?

I thought I was aware of it, but...

Looks like it's struck home hard, huh?

You're back.

You'd better have found something if you're cracking jokes like... that...

Don't worry. We'll definitely be able to save the kids.

Charcoal, a stove... and what else?

A pot. And also, do you have a wooden-framed backpack?

Yeah.

The mushi inside that inkstone is called Kumohami. (kumo = cloud, hami = to eat)

They have the shape of a cumulonimbus cloud,

and, like their name, they eat clouds...

in other words, the water and ice in the atmosphere

and cause snow and hail to fall.

That's why you see hail fall at times even when there isn't a cloud visible.

But they can't move on their own; they're affected by other factors.

When there's a long period of time without any clouds,

they become condensed.

Then, they come down to earth and freeze into suspended animation.

After that, they must've turned into stone... after eons.

Then, they reappeared on the surface of the earth in the form of an inkstone,

and were able to come alive again whenever water was applied to them.

So what are we going to do now?

Tagane-san, you said you crossed a mountain

when you went to deliver the inkstone, right?

That's probably why you were okay even after you inhaled the smoke.

We'll take the patients to the highest mountain in these parts.

This is not good. Give her some hot water.

All right.

Oh, the water is getting cold...

I'll go on ahead and start boiling water.

Thank you.

Doctor, do we still have to climb further?

I'm having a hard time breathing.

And it seems difficult on the children, too.

Ginko?

Almost there.

Everyone! Hold your breath!

Oh! You got your color back!

I'm not cold anymore.

Her temperature is going back to normal.

So the mushi... made it out...

Thank goodness...

Just how... on earth...

It's because of the air pressure.

The mushi live within the same stratum of the atmosphere where the clouds are.

It follows that they have the same weight as that stratum.

So, they'll be drawn to it if they get closer to that altitude.

You live in a high altitude village,

so the smoke you inhaled probably escaped you little by little.

And I think when you crossed the mountain to deliver the inkstone,

the mushi completely left your body.

Thank goodness...

Thank goodness...

It's wrong to have an interest in dangerous objects like this in the first place.

I'll take responsibility and destroy it.

Like I said, we now know how to handle it if it happens again,

so it shouldn't be a problem anymore.

With that optimistic attitude of yours,

how can you know that everything else here is safe?

That's none of your business.

Hey, Ginko. You tell her, too.

Destroying the inkstone means killing the dormant mushi in there, too, right?

Uh... well, yes.

You see? The mushi are innocent.

Besides, that inkstone is too beautiful to destroy.

Don't you think of it as your own child?

But...

You can't forgive yourself for releasing an inkstone

that has dormant mushi in it, right?

Then, why don't you just release the mushi from the inkstone?

What?

Hey! That's my inkstone you're talking about.

Adashino, your oversight played a huge part in this incident.

Er...

Just think of it as a lesson learned and turn the other cheek.

Besides, it's a first-rate inkstone.

You can use it to your heart's content.

What the?

- Whoa! - Yay!

- Cool! - It's hail!

But there's not a cloud in the sky.

Where's it coming from?

Man, the repair cost of the roofs in the village is going to be huge.

You can bill me.

I'll repay it even if it takes me a lifetime.

And how are you going to do that?

You can start making inkstones again.

I'm sure you can reestablish yourself right away.

Well...

Can I put in an order for one, then?

If it's convenient for you, I don't mind if mine has mushi in it.

You just can't give it up, can you?

You're right...

...although I think it'll take a little time to deliver it...

In any case, when's this going to stop?

The mushi probably haven't eaten in ages, so...

"The White Which Dwells Within The Inkstone"

"The White Which Dwells Within The Inkstone" The Sleeping Mountain

"The Sleeping Mountain" The Sleeping Mountain

"The Sleeping Mountain"