The next morning, at dawn.
After a night of rest, Wu Ming set off with Wu Lang, who was waving goodbye with the whole Photon family.
“Master, Numata Castle is to the east. Perhaps we won’t arrive until afternoon, but Photon has already prepared rice balls, with pickled plums inside…”
Wu Lang carefully touched his chest, wearing an expression of happiness.
On his back was the black bear pelt, preliminarily processed overnight, now covered with coarse cloth.
“This is such a precious item. If we expose it, it will surely attract robbers and thieves!”
Thinking of the words of the Photon family last night, Wu Ming wore an expression of helplessness.
He glanced at the earthen hill opposite them, said nothing, and walked away with Wu Lang.
…
“Father! This is the ronin who defeated the Wind Demon Hall!”
On the earthen hill not far away, two figures were walking down—it was a father and son wearing patterned samurai uniforms, with daos hanging at their waists.
The young man spoke to the middle-aged samurai.
“Hmm… Indeed, he is a very capable warrior. Just now, he definitely noticed us…”
The middle-aged samurai said, slightly fearful.
As someone who had survived the battlefield, he possessed extraordinary perception and deeply understood the terror of powerful samurai and swordsmen: “Most ronin have hot tempers and easily cause trouble, so protecting the peace of the village is our family’s duty! Fortunately, he is not that kind of person…”
As the only samurai in the village, the middle-aged man had more or less automatically taken on the role of village headman.
Wu Ming’s actions the previous day naturally caused him some dissatisfaction.
Such wild samurai and ronin were often the source of disturbances.
But fortunately, the other party was quite disciplined, and now that he had already left, the middle-aged samurai had no intention of making enemies.
“Most importantly… if we had really fought, he would surely have slain us…”
Looking toward the distant road, the middle-aged samurai silently added in his heart as he watched the figure disappear.
…
Numata Castle was very small.
To be honest, Wu Ming felt a bit disappointed when he first saw it.
After all, the low walls and sparse population were far inferior to Yunping County in the Great Zhou.
“Still… building the castle on a mountaintop makes it easy to defend, which sufficiently indicates the chaotic situation…”
Entering the city with Wu Lang, Wu Ming sighed inwardly.
On the way here, he had encountered three or four groups of bandits. Some were even so wild that not even samurai uniforms and swords could scare them away—they were savages who wanted to hunt him, a samurai.
Although all had been easily dealt with, it had still wasted quite a bit of time.
The previous village, the highwaymen on the road, and now this Numata Castle built on a mountaintop, all made Wu Ming deeply realize that this Izumo Province was indeed in a terrifying time of chaos!
“Master! I know a retainer of a wealthy merchant family who can give us a good price for the bear pelt!”
Although Wu Ming found it extremely crude, Wu Lang was excitedly looking at the streets and shops on both sides of the city, speaking in an excited tone.
“This can wait… Let’s first eat something and have some sake!”
Wu Ming pointed toward the tavern ahead and smiled.
To him personally, selling the bear pelt was not particularly important. Rather, such a place was the best for gathering information, so it was necessary to visit.
Inside the tavern, there were not many people. Wu Ming sat down and ordered a pot of sake, a dish of pickled radish, and a dish of dried fish.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want more, but these were the only dishes that looked acceptable.
The sake was somewhat light, but still acceptable. Wu Ming slowly sipped it while carefully listening to the conversations around him.
“I recently heard that there’s been a conflict between the Sanada and Kurosawa families. They’ve already begun gathering samurai. Is it true?”
At a neighboring table, a ronin was saying.
“It’s true. They’ve issued a declaration of war. It’s said that the Sanada family invited an Onmyōji to divine the outcome, and they are certain to achieve a great victory!”
His companion lowered his voice: “And the Kurosawa family has connections with the Ittō-ryū dojo. It’s said they will borrow some swordsmen—those terrifying swordsmen who can rival several men!”
“If these two families recruit other ronin, perhaps we could achieve merit and be granted a stipend…”
At this, the two ronin sighed.
For such wild samurai, being employed, achieving merit, and obtaining stipend lands were the most appealing things.
Next came news about a certain mountain or a nobleman’s mansion being haunted, and the hiring of Onmyōji and Shinto priests to exorcise the spirits, which also caught Wu Ming’s attention.
He immediately realized that in this Japanese world, spirits, ghosts, humans, and deities coexisted. Not only was the area outside the city chaotic, but even inside the city walls, safety was not guaranteed.
The exorcism of ghosts and spirits by samurai, swordsmen, Onmyōji, and Shinto priests was quite common.
Within the city, there were dojos and shrines, where swordsmen and priests held high status. There were even examples of priests and swordsmen who gained fame by expelling great demons and were granted stipend lands and official recognition by the daimyō.
“Most samurai practice archery and horsemanship, but some also train in swordsmanship at dojos…”
“Swordsmen, Onmyōji, priests… and of course, perhaps even ninja…” Wu Ming thought, “Is this the power structure of this Japanese world?”
Wu Ming sipped his sake lightly. A flood of information gathered in his mind, gradually deepening his understanding of this world.
“Master!!!”
At this moment, Wu Lang, who had drunk too much, had a slightly flushed face and suddenly shouted loudly, startling everyone: “Please allow me to follow you!”
He said with the most solemn expression.
“Oh? You want to become my retainer? But I’m just a ronin myself… What benefits would following me bring you?”
Wu Ming twirled his sake cup, asking with a half-smile.
“Because I want to become a samurai! Please teach me martial arts and military strategy!”
Wu Lang loudly expressed the thoughts hidden deep in his heart.
“Haha… Did I hear correctly? A commoner wanting to become a samurai?”
The entire izakaya suddenly fell silent, then burst into laughter.
A drunken ronin approached, patting Wu Lang’s head: “Are you crazy? A farmer’s son should just go back to farming!”
He added, provocatively glancing at Wu Ming, especially eyeing his pale white samurai robe and the sword at his waist with a greedy look.
“The path of the samurai is inevitably accompanied by killing and death. Life is like a cherry blossom in the wind, ready to scatter at any moment. Are you prepared for this?”
Wu Ming drank his sake in one gulp, staring into Wu Lang’s eyes, suddenly exuding a cold aura.
“I… I…”
Wu Lang was stunned, sweat dripping from his forehead. He felt a great terror surging toward him, tightly gripping his heart, leaving him completely speechless.
Bang!
The drunken samurai provoking him, however, stumbled back several steps, fell awkwardly to the ground, and dared not look at Wu Ming again, fleeing in disgrace.
“This is a ronin with formidable sword skills and killing intent!”
In an instant, all the people in the izakaya had this thought, their eyes filled with fear and admiration as they looked at Wu Ming.
No matter where or when, those who can freely take the lives of others will inevitably be revered.
“It seems you haven’t yet gained this realization… Unfortunately!”
Wu Ming said in a calm voice, watching Wu Lang, who remained speechless.
“The life of a samurai is like a cherry blossom in the wind. Good! Very good!”
At this moment, a young samurai sitting alone at another table suddenly stood up, drank the wine in his cup in one gulp, and came to Wu Ming: “Samurai, draw your sword and tell me your name!”
“You want to duel me?”
Wu Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly.
This young samurai gave him a different feeling compared to the others in the izakaya. He seemed to carry an extremely sharp aura, clearly a swordsman who specialized in swordsmanship.
Looking at his aura now, it was pure white—clearly a level two expert.
For his age, he was truly a genius!
“Exactly. My name is Hasegawa Saemon. I study the Munen Ryu sword style, and I am currently undergoing ‘Tōgari’ training. Your killing intent is enough to make you my worthy opponent!”
The young swordsman loudly declared.
Hearing this, the previously scattered and cautious patrons were even more startled: “It’s actually a ‘Menkyo Kaiden’ swordsman! At his age, he will surely become a renowned swordsman in the entire province!”
Although there were many sword schools in this world, the ranking system was consistent.
Those who first entered a dojo were merely apprentices, called Kensei, equivalent to Wu Ming’s defined level one.
As for Menkyo Kaiden, it meant that one had mastered all the techniques of a particular school and gained the qualification to reveal their school’s name to others. Such swordsmen were called “Kenji,” capable of facing several or even dozens of samurai alone, or even single-handedly defeating demons. They were talents highly sought after by daimyōs. In Wu Ming’s classification, they were level two experts.
As for the next level, “Kensho” (sword saint)? That was equivalent to a grandmaster in martial arts, a level three expert! Sufficient to become famous throughout a province, earning respect from provincial lords.
Of course, Wu Ming was not yet clear about this classification, but the results of his Heavenly Eye, along with his own perception, clearly told him that Hasegawa Saemon’s sword cultivation had surpassed his own martial arts skills.
“This Japanese swordsmanship appears to have its strengths. This ‘Menkyo Kaiden’ swordsman is comparable to a Great Zhou martial artist at the ninth level of physical cultivation, having reached the peak transformation stage… That Wind Demon Hall bear spirit wouldn’t survive even a single strike from him!”
Wu Ming thought calmly, pushed Wu Lang aside, and drew his katana.
This was not a time of peace. Refusing a duel would not only ruin one’s reputation, but the opponent might disregard all rules and strike immediately.
Wu Ming keenly sensed the killing intent from the other party.
“Ronin… Tell me your name!”
Hasegawa Saemon held his sword with both hands, his stance as steady as a mountain, solemnly declaring.
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