Nara——
In a seemingly ordinary little house——
"Genichi, it's fine that you're not dead, but I didn't expect you to be so energetic."
The slightly harsh words reached the ears of Lin and Genichi.
Hearing these harsh words, Genichi was not angry at all. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and said with a smile :
"Mrs. Bee, aren't you not only alive, but also very energetic? If I remember correctly, you seem to be about the same age as me?"
Lin and her great-uncle sat side by side.
Compared to Yuanshi Yi who sat cross-legged in a very casual manner, Lin was undoubtedly more polite and well-behaved. She knelt respectfully with her hands on her legs.
Opposite the two of them sat an old woman wearing a black and red kimono.
She was probably between 60 and 70 years old. Under the ruthless erosion of time, her skin was as waxy and wrinkled as dried orange peel.
Although she is old and ugly, one can still vaguely tell from her facial features that when she was young, she was a beauty who fascinated countless men.
Even though she is old now, one can still feel her charming charm from her eyes and eyebrows.
"Ha." The old lady whom Yuan Yi called "Mrs. Bee" sneered, "What age do you mean? I am much younger than you. I am only 60 years old this year."
After saying that, Mrs. Bee moved her gaze away from Genichi and onto Lin, who was sitting next to Genichi.
When her gaze turned to Lin, Mrs. Bee's eyes instantly softened.
"Lin, long time no see. You have become more heroic after not seeing you for such a long time."
Lin leaned down and bowed respectfully to Madam Feng: "Madam Feng, it's been a long time since we last met. Please forgive me for not greeting you."
"The last time I saw you...I remember it was three years ago when you destroyed and burned down the Honzoji Temple in Nara."
As Mrs. Bee spoke, she glanced at the pitch-black sword, Yanma, placed on the tatami to Lin's right.
"I can still vividly remember the scene when you and your companion named Mamiya came to me covered in blood, holding the sword you stole from Honzo-ji Temple and asking me to let you rest for a while and treat your injuries..."
"Haha." Lin smiled carefreely at this time, and then stroked Yan Mo who was placed on the tatami on the right with her right hand, "Time flies so fast... I didn't even realize that the attack on Honzoji Temple... was already three years ago..."
After Lin exchanged pleasantries with Genichi and Mrs. Bee for a while, they gradually got to the point.
"Mrs. Feng." Lin changed her tone to a serious one. "My uncle and I came here specially because we have something important to ask you for help. I would like you to help me take in a girl temporarily."
"Take in a girl?" Mrs. Bee looked puzzled. "Is it the girl who was hiding behind you just now and is now playing outside with your subordinates?"
"Yes. Her name is Ah Zhu. She is stranded outside for some reasons, and I am unable to send her home for the time being due to some reasons."
"I would like to ask you to help me take her in for a while. After I finish my business here, I will take her away."
"…Can't you tell me why we can't send her home right away?"
"I'm sorry..." Lin shook her head, "If possible, I would like to conceal the details as much as possible."
"…She shouldn't be a difficult girl or one that's hard to take care of."
"Please rest assured about this." Lin nodded. "I have been with Ah Zhu for a while. She is a very good and obedient child. She will never cause any trouble for you."
“……”Mrs. Bee fell silent.
Lin stared into Mrs. Bee's eyes quietly, waiting for her answer.
"...I understand." Mrs. Bee sighed softly, "If it's just a little girl...I can reluctantly take her in."
"Thank you very much." Lin leaned down and bowed deeply to Mrs. Bee.
"No need to thank me." Mrs. Feng waved her hand, "I am just repaying the favor I owe to Yuan Yi."
"If I didn't owe Yuan Yi a lot of favors, I wouldn't take on such a troublesome matter."
Hearing what Mrs. Bee said, Genichi smiled and said, "I really made the right decision to come to Nara and ask for help from someone like you who will repay a favor and avenge a grudge."
After Lin and Genichi chatted with Mrs. Bee for a while, they both stood up.
"Then - Mrs. Bee, I'll leave the girl to you. We still have things to do, so we won't bother you any more."
"You guys are leaving..." Mrs. Bee stood up slowly, "In that case——"
laugh--!
The sound of a sharp weapon piercing the air exploded.
I saw a "meteor" that was like a rainbow piercing the sun, smashing towards Yuan Yi hard.
Facing this sudden "meteor", Genichi remained calm - he quickly drew out his wakizashi: Flame Ryo, and slashed at the "meteor"!
clang!
The attack of "Meteor" was blocked.
Ordinary people with poor eyesight can finally see the true face of this "meteor" - a steel needle as long as half an adult's forearm.
The thickest part of this steel needle is as wide as two fingers of a well-proportioned adult male.
In the sunlight shining through the window, the well-maintained steel needle emits a black, shiny light.
The person holding the steel needle was none other than Mrs. Bee.
The tip of the steel needle touched the sharp edge of Yan Rong's sword.
Whenever Mrs. Bee exerted some strength, Yuan Yi would counteract her.
The weapons of the two men were thus in a delicate balance, fighting in mid-air.
"'Bee Sting'..." Yuan Yi glanced at the large steel needle that was wrestling with his flame, shrugged and smiled, "It's really a nostalgic weapon."
"…Should I say 'As expected of you'?" Yuan Yichao showed Mrs. Bee a helpless expression, "You really haven't changed at all."
"When you and I were young, you would always fight me if you met me."
"Now you and I are both quite old, and it's still the same."
"I thought that as you got older, your belligerent nature would be somewhat restrained."
"Stop talking nonsense." Mrs. Bee licked her lips. "You are older than me, but you don't seem to have stopped drinking."
After saying that, Mrs. Bee took the initiative to withdraw from the wrestling with Genichi, and with a backward leap, she increased the distance between herself and Genichi.
A person of such old age is performing such agile movements - this picture seems incongruous no matter how you look at it.
"Since it's so rare for me to meet you again, how can I not compete with you?"
Mrs. Bee licked her lips again, then stretched out her left hand and touched her lower back, and took out another thick and long steel needle.
She held a steel needle in each hand. It was obvious that she just held one more needle, but one could feel that her aura was different.
"Come on, Genichi!"
Mrs. Bee suddenly pulled the collar of her kimono and took it off, revealing her upper body with only a chest cloth left.
Yuan Yi let out a helpless sigh, then lowered his center of gravity slightly, held Yan Rong in his right hand, and assumed a mid-range stance towards Mrs. Bee opposite him.
"Xiaolin, please go out first."
Source theory.
"I want to... have a long-lost 'emotional exchange' with this 'poison bee'."
From the moment Mrs. Bee took out the bee stinger to attack Genichi, to the moment Genichi asked her to leave temporarily - Lin looked calm and composed from beginning to end, as if she was used to it.
"I see." Lin nodded gently, "Then I'll wait for you outside."
Lin left the room without hesitation.
As soon as I closed the paper sliding door of the room, I heard the sound of swords clashing behind the door.
Lin walked straight to a small courtyard attached to Mrs. Bee's house.
After arriving at the yard, Lin saw Azhu and Shimada who was spending time with Azhu in the yard.
When they saw Lin coming, Shimada and Azhu both went to greet her.
"Azhu." Lin, who was not good at making facial expressions, forced a smile and said, "You can stay here for a while."
“Although the grandmother here looks scary, she is actually a very kind person.”
"Once we have helped you investigate the person who caused you to become like this and have found a way to restore you back to normal, we will come back to pick you up and send you home."
After hearing Lin's words, a hint of loneliness appeared on Ah Zhu's face.
But these traces of loneliness only lasted for a moment before disappearing.
"Okay, I understand." Azhu forced a smile towards Lin.
From Edo to Nara, Atake saw and remembered everything that the people in Huluya did for her.
She now has great trust in the people in Huluwu.
Looking at the strong and sensible child in front of her, Lin couldn't help but smile from the bottom of her heart and raised her hand to stroke her hair.
Before this, Lin was a little worried that the child might not understand her intention of not letting him go home early and would cry and make a fuss.
From the current perspective, Lin is really worrying too much.
This child, who has experienced so many storms, is much stronger and more sensible than she imagined.
"I'll pick you up as soon as possible and take you home." Lin said in a firm tone.
"Xiao Lin!"
At this time, Genichi's voice came.
I saw Yuanyi and Mrs. Bee walking towards Lin and the others one after another.
The two old ladies didn't look like they had just experienced a fierce battle. Neither of them had a single wound on their bodies. Only Mrs. Bee's breathing was a little rapid and there was a little sweat on her forehead.
"Your name is Azhu, right?"
Mrs. Bee walked quickly to Azhu, then half-knelt on the ground so that her line of sight was lower than Azhu's.
"My name is Feng Hua, you can just call me Mrs. Feng."
"Please take good care of me in the next period of time."
Mrs. Bee showed a kind smile, which was completely different from her belligerent look just now, "licking her lips and asking Genichi to come over as soon as possible."
"Hmm..." Azhu, who was a little shy, nodded and smiled shyly.
…
…
Lin, Genichi, and Shimada walked in a "品" shape, striding away from Mrs. Bee's house.
"By the way... Lord, I'm a little worried." Shimada asked Lin in front of him hesitantly.
"What are you worried about?" Lin asked.
"I'm worried that Azhu might miss home so much that she might run away without permission and go back to Osaka to find her family..."
"You don't have to worry about this." Lin said calmly, "Let's not talk about whether Ah Zhu wants to run home alone. Even if she does, she can't run away."
"If he were to stay in someone else's house, there might be a chance that he could sneak out."
"But since he is staying in Mrs. Bee's house, unless he grows a pair of wings, he will never be able to escape from Nara."
Hearing Lin say this, Shimada couldn't help but look surprised.
"Who is that Mrs. Bee? How could she be so powerful?"
"I told you, didn't I? She is an old friend of Uncle Gong."
"You only said that she was an old friend of Genichi..." Shimada said helplessly, "Apart from knowing that she was an old friend of Genichi, I don't know anything else..."
"She is living in seclusion now." Huan Yuanyi said at this time, "So it is not convenient to tell outsiders too much about her."
"I can only tell you that she is an expert at tracking and anti-tracking." Genichi shrugged, "and she is absolutely trustworthy. It is most appropriate to entrust Azhu to her care."
Hearing what Genichi said, Shimada couldn't help but swallow his saliva in surprise.
Then he whispered in a voice that only he could hear: "As expected, those who can be friends with Master Yuan are not normal people."
"...It's almost noon now." Lin, who was walking in front, suddenly raised her head to look at the sun that was almost hanging high in the sky, and then slowly said, "What do you want to eat for lunch?"
"I don't mind." Yuan Yi said.
Shimada: “I don’t mind.”
"Then let's just eat something that doesn't take up too much time." Lin looked around, and finally her eyes fixed on a teahouse not far away.
"Katsurokuro, go to that teahouse and buy some snacks that are not too hot." Lin took out her wallet and threw it to Shimada. "You don't need to buy too much. We will leave for Osaka this afternoon to meet up with Jiulang and the others."
"If we eat too much, it will affect our journey."
"Okay!" After receiving the order, Shimada took the wallet thrown by Lin and ran quickly towards the teahouse not far away.
After Shimada went to buy food, Lin and Genichi walked to the street and waited quietly for Shimada to return.
While waiting for Shimada to return, Lin crossed her arms across her chest unconsciously, then turned her head and looked towards the southeast.
Like looking at something.
Yuan Yi noticed Lin's strange behavior and asked Lin:
"Xiaolin, what are you looking at?"
"I'm looking at Benxiang Temple." she replied.
"Honzoji Temple?" Genichi looked towards the southeast, "Hasn't Honzoji Temple been burned to ashes a long time ago?"
"Uncle, I've been thinking recently..." Lin lowered her arms that were folded around her chest and gently stroked the Yama hanging on her right waist with her right hand.
"I wonder if this 'Kansai missing persons incident' is related to the gang of bastards at Honzoji Temple three years ago..."
…
…
Osaka, Osaka Castle——
The relationship between Osaka Castle and Osaka is similar to the relationship between the Forbidden City and Beijing.
Osaka Castle stands in the center of Osaka and is one of the restricted areas that is absolutely off-limits to outsiders.
More than two hundred years ago, the rising Toyotomi Hideyoshi designated Osaka as the ruling center of their Toyotomi clan and built the magnificent Osaka Castle that was as strong as a solid wall.
According to historical records, the Osaka Castle built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi amazed Westerners at the time. They praised it highly and said that no other city in the West could compare with it.
Unfortunately, this luxurious castle was only a flash in the pan.
After Toyotomi Hideyoshi died and Tokugawa Ieyasu usurped power from the Toyotomi clan, the Tokugawa clan launched two battles of Osaka and conquered the Toyotomi clan. The Osaka Castle, which had once been a headache for the Tokugawa clan, was also burned down in flames with the demise of the Toyotomi clan.
After destroying the Toyotomi clan, the Edo shogunate rebuilt Osaka Castle on the ashes.
The current Osaka Castle is the rebuilt "Tokugawa Osaka Castle" without any trace of the Toyotomi clan's mark.
On weekdays, the person who lived and managed Osaka Castle was the Osaka Castle Lord, who was responsible for staying in Osaka and supervising the daimyo of the western country.
At this moment, the current Osaka Castle Lord, Masahiro Horita, was dressed in formal attire, and was kneeling respectfully to a dusty middle-aged man in front of him.
"My Lord, I am very honored to have you here."
This middle-aged man, who looked exhausted from the journey, was Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had just arrived in Osaka after traveling southwards after leaving Kyoto.
Matsudaira Sadanobu waved his hand, indicating that Horida didn't need to be so polite.
"Okay, let's stop talking nonsense."
Matsudaira Sadanobu carried out his decisive personality to the end and did not waste too much time on small talk.
"Let's get straight to the point. Tell me about Mount Koya."
"Yes!" After responding loudly, Horita took out a stack of papers covered with dense handwriting that he had prepared long ago from his arms and handed it to Matsudaira Sadanobu with both hands.
"More than a month ago, I found a merchant ship at Osaka Port that was disguised as a ship carrying fruits and vegetables, but was actually carrying armor. I immediately organized a team to control all the crew members on the merchant ship and began interrogating and investigating them."
"Master Lao Zhong, these are the testimonies obtained from the interrogations of the crew members of the ship involved, as well as the subsequent investigation results. Please take a look."
"After sending you the urgent letter, I found out a lot of things."
"Based on the current intelligence, the final destination of this batch of armor has been confirmed to be Mount Koya!"
When he heard the word "Koyasan", Matsudaira Sadanobu's face changed, and then he quickly took the stack of papers and began to check them quickly.
After reading the last word on the last piece of paper in the stack, Matsudaira Sadanobu put down the stack of papers and said in a deep voice:
"What are these bald donkeys trying to do..."
As the world's first commercial capital, Osaka's port has the highest throughput in Japan. Countless ships enter and leave the port of Osaka every day.
As the busiest port in the country, Osaka Port also has the strictest inspections of all kinds.
The inspectors usually just checked whether there was any strange stuff being smuggled, but just a month ago, they found a bunch of things on a merchant ship that made the inspectors at the time break out in cold sweats.
It was a merchant ship that appeared to be carrying vegetables and fruits.
However, among the boxes of vegetables and fruits, pieces of armor were found.
After turning the merchant ship upside down, they found more than 200 pieces of armor.
Armor - this is a serious contraband item.
The government is not afraid of you hiding swords or bows and arrows.
The only thing I’m afraid of is that you’re hiding the armor.
In ancient society, armor was a powerful weapon that allowed one soldier to easily defeat ten enemies at once.
Whether in ancient China or ancient Japan, the government was extremely averse to the smuggling or collection of armor.
After learning that a ship was smuggling such a large amount of armor, Horida quickly realized that the matter was serious, so he personally supervised the investigation into the "armor smuggling" incident.
It would have been fine if he didn't investigate, but once he did, Horida was so frightened that his clothes were soaked with cold sweat.
Although they could not find out who was the mastermind behind the incident, they did find out where the armor was most likely to be transported to - Koyasan.
Although there is no conclusive evidence yet, Horida is still in shock.
This matter involves the Buddhist forces of Koyasan - it is beyond the scope of what Horida can handle.
So he hurriedly sent an urgent letter to Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was in Kyoto at the time to apologize to the Emperor, informing him of the incident.
The Edo Shogunate has always been wary of Buddhist influence.
In terms of vigilance against Buddhist forces, they might even be more vigilant than against the emperor and the Kyoto court.
Realizing that this matter was of great importance and that Horida was no longer able to intervene in an incident of this magnitude, Matsudaira Sadanobu quickly rushed from Kyoto to Osaka, ready to personally inquire about and handle the matter.
After putting down the stack of papers and saying in a deep voice, "What are these bald donkeys trying to do...", Matsudaira Sadanobu frowned and fell silent.
In the current environment, Horida did not dare to say anything. He waited quietly and let time pass by bit by bit.
Until half an hour later——
"...Horita. How many troops can be mobilized around Osaka without alerting everyone, including civilians? How many cannons and artillery can be mobilized?"
"Probably..." Horita's mind raced, "We can probably mobilize about 1,000 people... We can probably mobilize 50 cavalry. As for the cannons and artillery..."
Horida hesitated for a long time and couldn't give a specific number.
"Asshole!" Matsudaira Sadanobu shouted impatiently, "As the mayor of Osaka, don't you even know how many cannons and artillery can be mobilized in Osaka and the surrounding areas?!"
Horida was so frightened that his face turned pale. He immediately fell to the ground and apologized to Matsudaira Sadanobu repeatedly.
Matsudaira Sadanobu rubbed his brows vigorously and let out a long sigh.
“…Alright.”
"You make the arrangements now—start mobilizing the troops immediately."
"Remember, everything must be done in secret, and no one should notice."
"Then immediately find out for me the number of cannons and artillery that can be mobilized now."
" If your success in deploying troops satisfies me, I won't mind your dereliction of duty this time."
Hearing what Matsudaira Sadanobu said, Horida Masatsugu showed ecstasy and shouted "Yes" and "I will definitely save your life."
Matsudaira Sadanobu no longer paid attention to Horida, stood up silently, walked to the window, and looked towards the southeast. Starting from Osaka, walking about 13 miles (about 50 kilometers in modern times) to the southeast, you will reach Koyasan, a holy place in the hearts of countless Buddhists.
"Don't force me to use the same methods that Oda Nobunaga used to deal with Mount Hiei..." Matsudaira Sadanobu murmured.