"They have existed since the dawn of time. Some live in the deep darkness behind your eyelids. Some eat silence. Some thoughtlessly kill. Some simply drive men mad. Shortly after life emerged from the primordial ooze, these deadly creatures, mushi, came into terrifying being. And they still exist and wreak havoc in the world today. Ginko, a young man with a sardonic smile, has the knowledge and skill to save those plagued by mushi ... perhaps"--P. [4] of cover.

They live on the shadowy border between the possible and the impossible--ancient life-forms known as mushi. Rare is the individual who can see them, but those with that special ability, the mushishi, can counter the creatures' deadly effects on humans. After a young boy is orphaned in the forest, he is saved by a reclusive female mushishi. But the lake near the mushishi's home holds a deadly secret, and the boy must find out what it is before his only friend is lost forever.

Mushi, a terrifying primitive life-form, take countless shapes--most of them deadly to the human race. Enter Ginko, a mushi expert, known as a mushishi. Though his laconic smile and soft-spoken manner don't seem imposing, he represents the human world's greatest defense. When a fellow mushishi disappears, Ginko must search for him on a mushi-infested mountain, putting his own life on the line!