The Hand That Caresses the Night (Season 2, Episode 4)

The Hand That Caresses the Night is the fourth episode of the second season of the anime series, Mushishi Zoku Shou.

Synopsis
A young man has the power to lure animals to him using a scent issuing from his hand. He inherited this power from his father, and it makes hunting easier. But it makes the meat from his prey taste foul. More serious is the risk of losing his mind to the power and confusing family with prey. There's a cure, but will the boy be willing to give up his power?

Plot
Ginko is traveling alone at night when a mysterious presence forces him to stop moving. It releases him eventually upon realizing that he is a human. Ginko travels on to the next town, and finds that none of the villagers sell meat, being scarce. The only place that sells meat is a boy whose stock always smells bad. Ginko follows him home to get fresh meat, but realizes that the boy's brother is killing the meat using a mushi in his hand, which causes the bad smell. Ginko explains the origin of the mushi, and offers to supply a cure. The brothers remember the story of their father, who had the mushi and eventually became transparent and disappeared. The younger brother takes the cure, but the older brother disregards the warning. He goes out hunting at night and is shot by hunters who mistake him for a bear. Eventually, Ginko finds him, but the blood covers the mushi mark. The mark, in the shape of an eye, scared prey, keeping them paralyzed, but without it the sweet smell attracts crows, who devour the right arm of the brother. The story ends with the younger brother promising to take care of his older brother and hunt in his place, naturally.