"When I was 14, my grandmother and mother passed away due to old age and illness respectively."
Lin spoke in a calm tone about something that should have been very heavy for her.
"After my grandmother and mother passed away, my uncle and I left our hometown to realize my own dream."
"Dream?" Ating asked back with his head tilted.
"I have no interest in the bullshit of reviving Toyotomi." Lin replied, "I have never thought that there is any possibility of reviving Toyotomi."
"I have only had one dream since I was little - to make a lot of money, to become a wealthy businessman who never has to worry about money, and to live a life where I can eat whatever I want."
"So, not long after leaving his hometown, he founded Huluwu, a rice merchant whose main business was selling rice at the beginning."
“Although I have no interest in reviving Toyotomi, I admire my ancestor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi.”
"My ancestor started from humble beginnings, a commoner who was not even a samurai. He relied on hard work and the grasp of opportunities to sit on the throne of the world."
"My background is also not good. Thanks to my bastard brother who took away all our family savings, I was almost so hungry that I had to pick up garbage to eat."
“So I aspired to learn from my ancestors.”
"Back then, our ancestor Toyotomi Hideyoshi used a gourd as his horse seal (an indicator tied to the side of a general to exaggerate the power of his own army and indicate the location of his general), and the gourd horse seal accompanied our ancestor in completing his ambition to unify the world."
"So I was determined to learn from my ancestors, so I named my chamber of commerce 'Gourd House' and made the gourd the symbol of my 'Gourd House'."
"After the establishment of Huluwu, after several hard struggles, I finally succeeded in making Huluwu run stably and bring me wealth steadily."
"After I had some money, I wanted to buy myself a good sword."
"After returning home, Master Bo accepted me as his disciple and taught me the Muga Nito-ryu."
“I’ve never had a knife that I could call a good one—I’ve always been bothered by that.”
"After all, I am also a swordsman. Without a good sword, I feel like a part of my body is missing."
"So I used my connections to look for good knives that I liked."
"Then——I found this Yama sword that was kept in Honzoji Temple."
Lin raised her hand again and touched Yan Mo on the right side of her body.
"After my detailed investigation, I found out that this sword has a deep connection with me - this Yanma was one of the swords hidden by my ancestor Toyotomi Hideyoshi."
"It is rumored that this sword is made of a special metal, so the blade is jet black."
"In terms of sharpness, it's not one of the best."
"But when it comes to toughness, no other sword can compete with it."
"Out of admiration for my ancestor Toyotomi Hideyoshi, I developed a strong interest in this sword that was once collected by my ancestor and wanted to keep it for myself."
"So I took Kuro, who was now under my command, and headed for Honzoji Temple in Nara."
"By the way, at that time, Jiulang's job was to use an abacus."
The corners of Lin's mouth curled up slightly at this time, revealing a faint smile.
"Jiulang was very good at calculating, so he was in charge of the finances of my Huluwu at that time."
"I once learned how to use an abacus and keep accounts in Edo," Mamiya added suddenly.
“Before arriving at Honzoji Temple in Nara, I knew this sword-buying trip would not go smoothly.”
"After all, this Yama sword is the treasure of the Honzo Temple. It is impossible to buy this sword with just a few words."
"It turns out that it is true."
"The abbot of Honzoji Temple, Yunhe, has an extremely tough attitude."
"I had already raised the price to almost all of my savings at the time: 1,000 taels of gold, but he remained unmoved and was unwilling to sell Yan Mo."
"I didn't want to give up the sword, so I stayed in Nara temporarily, appreciating the scenery of the ancient capital of Nara, which I had never visited before, while thinking about how to convince Yunhe to sell the sword."
"It was during my stay in Nara that a monk from Honzo-ji Temple named Misaku secretly found me."
"He told me a truth that made me break out in a cold sweat."
At this point, Lin's face slowly darkened.
The expression on Mamiya's face standing by also turned ugly.
"Mi Que told me that Yun He, the abbot of their Ben Xiang Temple, may look kind and gentle, but in reality he is a thief and a whore."
"He has been taking advantage of his position as the abbot of a large temple to deceive devout girls, secretly detain them in the temple, and abuse them."
"Most of the senior officials of Honzoji Temple were involved in Yunhe's evil deeds. Mique, who reported this to me, was also a member of Yunhe's group."
"According to Mi Que: After he was invited by Yun He to join their evil deeds, he initially enjoyed the feeling of being able to abuse girls at will."
"But gradually, after seeing the miserable conditions of the girls, Mi Que, who had not yet lost all humanity like Yun He and the others, began to feel pain, and eventually he could no longer endure the condemnation of his conscience and decided to expose this darkness."
"But Yunhe has very good relations with the officials of the Nara Town Magistrate. If he reports to the authorities, his report will most likely fall on deaf ears due to the collusion between the Nara Town Magistrate and Yunhe."
"So Mique continued to suppress the condemnation of his conscience and quietly waited for the opportunity to expose this darkness."
"And so he waited until Mamiya and I arrived."
"Mi Que said that he was almost driven crazy by the condemnation of his own conscience. If he didn't find a way to report Yun He and his gang of villains, he might really go crazy."
"So he decided to put his hopes on me and Jiulang, who he thought had very upright eyes. "
"Yasuzuru, who is unable to leave freely and does not have the ability to leave Nara, asked Kuro and I to go find the temple and shrine magistrate who is in charge of Buddhist temples and shrines and report this to him."
"I was skeptical of Mi Que's words at the time. After all, 'Yun He is a villain with a lot of thieves and prostitutes' was just Mi Que's one-sided statement."
"We cannot rule out the possibility that Mique reported Yunhe maliciously."
"So I planned to wait until dark, and sneak into Honzoji Temple with Jiulang to gather intelligence and see if what Misaki said was true or not."
"After confirming the truth of what Mique said, we will make the next plan."
"But who would have known... the night had just fallen and an accident happened."
"After reporting Yunhe's evil deeds to me, Mique hurried back to Honzoji Temple in order to prevent Yunhe from discovering his betrayal."
"As soon as it got dark, Mamiya and I saw Yaque, covered in blood, trying his best to escape to me."
"It turns out that Yun He had long suspected that Mi Que had the intention of betraying him, so every time Mi Que went out, he would secretly send a tracking expert to follow Mi Que."
"Today... Yunhe finally found evidence of Mique's betrayal."
"So after Mique returned to the temple, Yunhe planned to kill Mique, but unexpectedly, Mique managed to escape."
"But... even though he escaped... Mique's blood was almost drained out, and when he escaped to me, he was already on his last legs..."
Lin then slowly lowered her head and looked at her open left palm.
"The bloody Mique grabbed my hand with all her might and told me to hurry to the Honzoji Temple to save those poor girls."
"After Yun Que learned that Mi Que had really betrayed him, he hastily mobilized all his accomplices to kill the poor girls they had hidden in the temple, and destroyed the bodies and the evidence."
"After using up the last bit of his strength to save those poor girls, Mique breathed his last."
"Kuro and I rushed to Honzoji Temple as fast as we could, carrying our swords."
"However... it's still a step too late."
"After Jiulang and I rushed to Honzoji Temple and sneaked deep into the temple, we soon found a secret room with a strong smell of blood."
"At that time, there were two monks cleaning the secret room. After Mamiya and I interrogated the monks, we finally found out that what Mique said about Yunhe's evil deeds... were all true."
"Those girls have been killed and their bodies have been cleaned up. There is no evidence to prove that Yunhe and his men did those dirty things."
"Without this evidence, the government will have no way to deal with Yun He - but this matter doesn't matter anymore."
"Because I had already decided not to let Yunhe see tomorrow's sun again."
"This is... the truth behind my attack on Honzoji Temple."
"The burning of Honzoji Temple was purely an accident. Jiulang and I accidentally knocked over the candlestick when we were fighting with Yunhe."
"The overturned candlesticks ignited flammable materials such as screens and paper windows. That night happened to be a dry and windless night. The fire got out of control in an instant and engulfed the entire Benxiang Temple."
"My lord, you and Mamiya are fighting with that Yunhe?" Shimada's eyes widened. "Is that Yunhe so powerful? He can fight with my lord and Mamiya?"
Lin nodded: "This is what I want to focus on next."
"That Yunhe's skills are not outstanding. In terms of skills alone, he is naturally not as good as either me or Jian Gong."
"But—he's a very hard man to kill."
Ogata's brows twitched suddenly.
Then he held his breath and prepared to listen carefully to Lin's next words.
"His self-healing ability is extremely strong. After cutting him once, one can clearly see that the wound on his body heals at a speed visible to the naked eye."
"Even after being stabbed dozens of times, he was still able to fight with me and Mamiya as if nothing had happened."
"What's even more terrifying is that his physical fitness is far superior to that of ordinary people."
"Everyone present here is not ignorant of martial arts. You should all know what it means when someone's strength, agility, and reaction speed are much higher than yours."
“No matter how good your skills are, it’s hard to launch an effective attack against someone whose physical fitness far exceeds yours.”
"Of course - the reason why Yunhe was able to hold out for so long under the combined attack of me and Mamiya, besides because his body was different from that of an ordinary person, was also very important, because I wanted to capture him alive."
"I wonder how his body got to be like this."
“So when Jiulang and I drew our swords, we both held back a bit.”
"Although his self-healing ability is amazing, he is not truly immortal and can't be killed no matter how hard you try."
"After a certain amount of trauma was inflicted on him, his recovery speed became significantly slower."
"After slashing his body with hundreds of knives, the healing of his wounds finally stopped."
"But I didn't expect that Yun He is also a ruthless character."
"Seeing that there was no hope of survival, he immediately swallowed a poison, which completely thwarted my plan to capture him alive."
"But before he committed suicide, he said something that really concerned me."
"He said: 'If I had a real immortal body, I wouldn't be afraid of you'!"
"After shouting this, he committed suicide by taking poison."
"After he committed suicide, officials from the Naramachi Magistrate's Office also rushed to the outskirts of Honzo-ji Temple, which was about to burn down."
"I didn't want to clash with the officials, so I had to retreat with Jiulang temporarily."
"Before leaving Honzoji, I took Yama away."
"It is an insult to such a precious sword to let Yanma stay in such a filthy place as Honzoji."
"And taking away Yama is probably revenge. Although not all the monks in Honzo Temple participated in Yunhe's evil deeds, I still have no good feelings towards Honzo Temple anymore."
"But I didn't take it for nothing."
"When I took Yan Mo away, I left all the money I had with me at the time, a total of 300 taels, on the spot. But it was useless for me to do so. Later, I was still regarded as a thief who burned down the temple and stole treasures."
"But it doesn't matter. When I decided to make Yunhe never see the sun again, I was mentally prepared to be regarded as an enemy of Buddhism. I don't care if my reputation becomes even worse."
"After successfully leaving Nara, Yunhe's last words before his death have always bothered me."
"Based on Yunhe's cry before his death and my intuition, I have to suspect that there is a mysterious organization or a mysterious person who has the ability to transform a person's body into a monster-like body."
"And Yunhe's immortal body is probably not the most complete one, because before he died, he shouted, 'If only I had a real immortal body.'"
"There's a mysterious organization or a mysterious person who has the ability to turn people into monsters - this thing makes me uneasy."
"After all, if this ability falls into the hands of a madman or an ambitious person, the consequences will be disastrous."
"Judging from Yunhe's character, there is a high possibility that this ability that can make a person immortal could fall into the hands of someone with bad intentions."
"This is not what I want to see."
“It affected the realization of my dream.”
“Even people who know nothing about business should know that business can only be done in a stable and peaceful environment.”
"If the world is in chaos because of ambitious people, how can I make money?"
"And I don't want to see ambitious people who only think about their own selfish desires causing misery in the world."
"So I decided to investigate 'immortality' and find out who has this ability to turn people into monsters."
"To find out the truth about 'immortality', a fight is inevitable, so I recruited Yahachi, Shichirobei, and Katsurokuro, who are all very skilled, to my side. I also expanded the scale of my business to earn more funds."
"Then, at the beginning of last year, I finally collected some useful information - I heard rumors that 'immortals' appeared on Chou Island, so I sent Kuro and Yahachi to the island to check the situation."
"There's no need for me to elaborate on what happened next."
It’s not a long story, so here’s the end.
Ogata pursed his lips, silently digesting the story Lin had just told him.
At this time, Shimada touched his nose, smiled and said in an admiring tone:
"I see... So that's why you're doing all this hard research on 'immortality'."
"As expected of my lord... You are willing to wade into this muddy water in order to stop the ambitious people from wreaking havoc on the people of the world. If it were me, I would avoid this kind of muddy water as much as possible..."
"...Didn't you listen carefully to what I just said?" Lin tilted her head slightly so that Ogata and the others couldn't see her face. "I didn't go to great lengths to investigate 'immortality' for such a noble reason. I did it mainly to make my dream of making a lot of money and becoming a big businessman come true."
Seeing Lin's reaction and what she said, Genichi, Mamiya, Makimura, and Asai all smiled knowingly as if they had telepathic connection.
At this time, Shimada also discovered that Mamiya and others were not like him. They showed admiration after listening to Lin's story just now.
Shimada looked at Mamiya and the others with surprise and said, "Could it be that you, the seniors, have already known the reason why the lord is investigating 'immortality'?"
"I just told you all that." Mucun said, "As a newcomer, I naturally can't tell you too many secrets."
Lin had turned her head back by now and was looking directly at Ogata.
"I have also answered your second question."
"Is there anything you want to ask?"
“…No more.” Ogata shook his head.
"Since you don't have any other questions to ask." Lin sat up a little straighter, "Then it's my turn to ask you a serious question -"
Lin put on a serious expression.
"Ogata Ittosai, do you want to join forces with our Huluya and investigate 'immortality' together?"
Ogata hardly hesitated.
All the mysteries he wanted to know about the Calabash House were now clear.
Now he could no longer find any reason to reject this ready-made ally.
Not long after Lin finished speaking, Oufang smiled faintly:
"...Please take care of each other, just like you did last year when you teamed up to deal with Shiranui."
Hearing Ogata's words, a smile appeared on Lin's face.
"Please take care of me here as well."
…
…
At this moment——
Osaka, Isshiki Sword Hall, in a utility room——
At this time, Isshiki Ka had stuffed most of her body into the closet in this room full of clutter, leaving only her buttocks exposed, which would make men want to go up and slap her hard.
Isshiki Hana was fiddling with something in the closet, causing her exposed buttocks to sway slightly, making people want to slap them hard.
"Xiaohua." Zhi Zhou walked over slowly at this time, "How is the secret passage here? Is there anything that needs repairing?"
"There's nothing wrong with the secret passage." With her butt facing Naoki, Isshikika slowly pulled her body out of the closet.
"Well, that's good." Zhi Zhou nodded.
"Grandpa." Isshiki Hana cast a displeased look at Naoshu, "Why is it necessary to build and maintain this kind of secret passage? We are not some daimyo from the Warring States Period who is always disturbed by war and needs to build multiple secret passages to escape."
"Xiaohua, how many times do I have to tell you this?" Zhi Zhou said with a serious face, "Secret passages don't cost much to build or maintain."
"It only takes a little money to give yourself an extra means to deal with any emergency. Why not build such a good thing?"
Zhi Zhou kept chattering away.
In the face of Naoshige's nagging, Isshikika turned a deaf ear and let out a silent sigh.
——Grandpa is really crazy...
Isshika said in her heart.
About 5 years ago, perhaps because of his age, different way of thinking or some other reason, Zhi Zhou, who had never been interested in secret passages, listened to the advice and suggestions of one of his friends and spent a lot of money to build a number of secret passages leading to the outside in their home.
At first, Isshikika and her parents were very opposed to building such a useless thing, but Naoshu was very stubborn and refused to listen. He said confidently: My friend is right! A secret passage might come in handy at some point! It must be built!
Isshikika and others couldn't win the argument with Naoshige, so they could only helplessly accompany Naoshige in his willful behavior.