"Yabaibi...Kuni?" Lin stared blankly at the head of a woman with a peaceful face in the brocade box in front of her.
"You should have heard of the story of the Eight Hundred Nuns, right?" Toyotomi Nobuhide turned the brocade box in his hand and looked at the head in the box carefully with an intoxicated look on his face, as if he was looking at some precious work of art.
"In order to obtain the eight hundred bhikkhunis... I also spent a lot of effort..."
…
…
Ogata, Amachi, Genichi, and Gensho rode in the carriage driven by Asai.
Mamiya, Makimura, Azuki, Hatsumitsu, and Shibata rode in the carriage driven by Shimada.
Driving a horse-drawn carriage is not an easy task.
Regardless of the difficulty of controlling the horse, the road conditions alone require the driver to pay close attention.
There are no smooth highways in this era, mostly bumpy dirt roads.
If you are not careful, the wheels will get stuck in a huge pothole that is difficult to drive out of.
For this reason, Asai, who was responsible for playing as the forward, had to concentrate on the road ahead to prevent the car from driving into a difficult-to-drive area.
Just as Asai was concentrating on driving the carriage, an old voice that was very unfamiliar to Asai suddenly came from behind him:
"That's right. Just go straight along this road, and when you reach the end, turn right."
The owner of this old male voice was Xuan Zheng.
Hearing Xuanzheng's instructions, Asai couldn't help but frown slightly.
——Who is this old guy?
This question has been lingering in Asai's mind since a while ago.
Earlier, when he just started the carriage, it was this old guy who suddenly jumped out and instructed him to turn into the narrow path ahead.
After that, the old man continued to give him various travel instructions as he had just done, instructing him which direction to turn and where to go.
Because he needed to concentrate on driving, Asai didn't have the energy to ask about the old man's identity. He could only drive according to the old man's instructions.
Following the old man's instructions, I walked along the path all the way to the end, and indeed I saw a fork in the road.
After turning right, you will enter a wide and flat road.
This road is much easier to walk on than the previous path. Not only is the road wide, but there are also few potholes. You can move forward confidently.
There was no need to concentrate on observing the road carefully - Asai now finally had the time to sort out the questions in his mind one by one.
"…Can anyone explain who this old man who has been giving me directions just now is?" Asai asked loudly towards the carriage behind him without turning his head.
As soon as he finished asking the question, he heard Xuan Zheng laugh.
"My name is Xuanzheng."
"For now... I will just be considered as someone who helps you."
"I have already discussed this with Mr. Genichi Toyotomi and his team."
Xuanzheng raised his eyes and glanced at Yuanyi who was sitting directly across from him.
"I know the location of the dock where the Hikari Maru and the Gourd Maru are parked."
"I'll show you the way and help you get to the dock."
"Just follow my instructions. I've walked from Koyasan to the warship dock countless times. I know the route by heart."
Asai was already full of questions, and after hearing what Xuanzheng said, Asai only felt that he had more questions in his mind...
Ogata and his group were no strangers to Hikarimaru and Hulumaru.
Last night, when they were traveling together by carriage to Koyasan overnight, Hatsumitsu told everyone everything she knew about the Toyotomi clan.
Including the two sailing battleships, Hikari Maru and Kuramaru, each with 70 guns, which the Toyotomi clan purchased from England.
Asai also knew who Xuanzheng was.
"...Master Genichi, what on earth is going on?" Asai controlled his temper and asked Genichi in the car behind him.
Naturally, there is no need to hide anything from his subordinates.
Genichi specifically spoke out loud about the series of events that had occurred to them in Koyasan so that Shimada, who was driving another car behind them, could hear clearly.
When they were still on Mount Koya and had just decided to pursue Toyotomi, Gensho made a startling statement:
"Since you have made up your mind to pursue Nobuhide... then let me help you. I will show you the way. I know the exact location of the dock where the Hikari Maru and the Calabash Maru are parked."
Hearing Xuan Zheng's initiative, Yuan Yi frowned and asked him on the spot: Why did he want to help them like this and what reward did he want.
Xuanzheng's answer was concise and powerful: I don't need any reward. I am willing to help you for free. I just want to help you find trouble with the Toyotomi clan.
Time is running out and there is no room for hesitation.
Anyway, this attack on Koyasan was a gambling operation, and Lin and Isseki's family were all in Koyasan.
They didn't mind taking another gamble - after a very brief discussion, Ogata, Genichi and others decided to trust Genzheng and let him show them the way to the dock.
After listening to Genichi's explanation of the whole process, Asai immediately frowned, turned his head, and stared at Xuanzheng behind him:
"...You...are willing to help us for free...Do you have any grudge against the Toyotomi clan?"
"That's right." Xuanzheng answered very straightforwardly, "I have a huge hatred with the Toyotomi clan... no, I should say: I have a huge hatred with Toyotomi Nobuhide."
"I even wanted to...see Toyotomi Nobuhide die in front of me."
"As long as I can see Toyotomi Nobuhide die in front of me, I will be able to die immediately and rest in peace."
"As long as it can cause the Toyotomi family to suffer, I am willing to help for free."
"You plan to chase the Toyotomi clan and intercept them at the dock. How can I not help you if this will cause great trouble to the Toyotomi clan?"
After saying this, Xuan Zheng let out a sinister "hehe" laugh.
At this moment, Ogata, who was sitting opposite Xuanzheng, stared at Xuanzheng and said slowly:
"...From what I know, you have been helping Toyotomi Nobuhide with his research on the 'Power of Immortality'."
"Even though your disciple Xuanzhi abandoned you, you still stayed with Toyotomi Nobuhide..."
"You should have been Toyotomi Nobuhide's right-hand man... Why were you imprisoned in the underground prison? And why were you so hostile to Toyotomi Nobuhide that you even helped those who were against Toyotomi Nobuhide?"
"...You know a lot of things." Xuanzheng raised his eyebrows, raised his eyes and glanced at Ogata, "Even Xuanzhi knows..."
Ogata: "Not only do I know Gennao, I also met him in Ezo several months ago."
"You... have you met Xuan Zhi?"
Ever since Ogata first met Genzheng, Genzheng always had a smile on his face that made people feel extremely uncomfortable.
It was not until this moment... that Ogata finally saw another expression on Xuanzheng's face besides the "disgusting smile".
"...Xuanzhi...is he doing well now?" Xuanzheng's eyes flickered, as if he felt uneasy. He kept twisting his neck and rubbing his hands.
"Honestly - not well."
Ogata briefly informed Xuanzheng of Xuanzheng's current split personality.
"I see..." After Ogata finished speaking, Xuanzheng lowered his head slightly, "Xuanzhi has become like this now..."
"Hehe... Whatever... As long as he's still alive."
After taking a deep breath, Xuan Zheng's face once again showed that extremely uncomfortable smile.
"Mr. Ogata Ittosai, you just asked me: Why am I, who should have been Nobuhide's right-hand man, now hostile to Nobuhide?"
“Hehehe… Since you know the existence of the ‘power of immortality’, do you know where it came from?”
Ogata and the others shook their heads without hiding anything.
"You don't know... Then... let's start from this place."
…
…
"Whether in the past or now, I have never forgotten the great cause of 'overthrowing the Edo shogunate and reviving Toyotomi'."
Toyotomi Nobuhide spoke to Lin in a righteous tone.
"You can't defeat the Edo Shogunate if you stay in your hometown."
"So, ten...several years ago? Anyway, it was about ten years ago that I decided to leave home and Xiaolin and the others, to venture out into the world, hone myself, and accumulate and cultivate my own power in order to defeat the Edo Shogunate in the future."
"However, after only half a year, after seeing the world outside my hometown with my own eyes, I gradually realized that even though the Edo Shogunate is now corrupt, it is still a giant that is difficult to shake."
"If I continue to accumulate wealth and recruit troops, I'm afraid I won't see the day when I successfully overthrow the Edo Shogunate until I die."
"So - I decided to find another way to defeat the Edo Shogunate."
"And it just so happened that I met Master Xianyuan at that time."
…
…
"Master Xianyuan is also an incredible madman..."
Xuan Zheng shook his shoulders and sneered.
Although he was old, his voice was very loud. Even with the noise of the moving carriage, his words could still be clearly heard by everyone in the "Shimada Car" behind.
"On the surface, Master Xianyuan is an old monk with a kind face and profound Buddhist knowledge."
"But in essence - he is a person who is devout at best and a radical zealot at worst."
"His lifelong ideal was to spread Buddhism widely, and he wanted everyone to believe in Buddhism."
"However - as long as the Edo Shogunate exists, his ideal will never be realized."
"After all, the Edo Shogunate has always been suppressive towards Buddhism. How could it possibly allow your Buddhism to grow?"
"So, Master Xianyuan has always been extremely dissatisfied with the Edo Shogunate's suppression of Buddhism."
"And it was for this reason that he was able to quickly form an alliance with Nobuhide, who was determined to overthrow the Edo shogunate."
"As a sacred place with a thousand-year history, Mount Koya has never suffered devastating damage like Mount Hiei. Therefore, Mount Koya has collected countless cultural relics and ancient books over the past thousand years."
“There are so many cultural relics and ancient books that even the monks in Koyasan can’t read them all.”
"Nobuhide, who was determined to use evil methods to deal with the Edo Shogunate, decided to go to Koyasan with the help of Master Sengen and read the ancient books accumulated in Koyasan for thousands of years, looking for evil methods that could defeat the Edo Shogunate."
"Nobuhide is also very patient."
"The collection of ancient books at Koyasan is so vast that just looking at it makes one feel dizzy."
"But Nobuhide was able to patiently read these ancient books one by one, and stayed in Koyasan, reading books for a full six months."
"And the six months he spent on Mount Koya were not in vain."
"He found an ancient book without a cover and in a badly damaged state in an inconspicuous corner of the library in Koyasan."
"There is no record of anything else in this ancient book."
"It only records the stories of... eight hundred bhikkhunis."
Having said this, Xuan Zheng suddenly changed the subject -
"Do you know the Eight Hundred Bhikkhunis?"
"I know..." Ating, who always loved listening to storytelling, was the first to answer, "It's the folk legend... the nun who became immortal after eating mermaid meat and eventually lived to be 800 years old."
[Note: In Japan, nuns are called bhikkhunis, which is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word]
"That's right." Xuan Zheng nodded, "It's the Eight Hundred Bhikkhunis."
" There are countless folk tales related to the Eight Hundred Bhikkhunis ."
“But the content of each legend is more or less the same.”
"It is said that a woman in Wakasa Province accidentally ate the flesh of a fish with a human face. Her body became immortal and remained forever young no matter how many years passed."
[Note: Wakasa Province is located in the north of Kyoto, and its territory is roughly the Lingnan area of ​​present-day Fukui Prefecture]
"After living for a long time and seeing the fickleness of the world, she became tired of the world and became a nun."
"Finally, after living for 800 years, he died in a cave in Wakasa Province."
"However, the ancient book that Nobuhide found contained a story that was different from every folk rumor about the Eight Hundred Bhikkhunis."
"There was a woman in Wakasa Province who accidentally ate the flesh of a mermaid. The content of this part is exactly the same as that of the folk legend."
“But later on, the content is completely different.”
"According to that ancient book, the eight hundred bhikkhunis did not live for eight hundred years."
"After eating the mermaid's flesh, she gained more than just immortality. While her body became immortal , her physical fitness was also greatly enhanced."
“Even if you have never learned martial arts, you can easily defeat a hundred people alone.”
"At the same time, he also possesses an extremely terrifying recovery ability. No matter what kind of injury he suffers, he can recover quickly."
"The body became like a monster, which frightened the eight hundred nuns very much."
"But no matter what she did , she couldn't get her body back to normal."
"In despair, only Buddhism, which she had believed in very deeply, could bring her peace."
"So she shaved her head and became a nun, converting to Buddhism."
"More than a hundred years later, by chance, the eight hundred nuns met a man named Qing."
"That ancient book didn't elaborate on how Qing and Yaobai Bhikkhuni met and became acquainted with each other. All that was just glossed over."
"It only says: After they met, they quickly became close friends."
"Out of trust in Qing, Yaobikuni told Qing her identity as the 'immortal'."
"Qing felt very sympathetic towards Yaobikuni's plight, so he made up his mind to help Yaobikuni return to normal."
"The two of them set out on a journey together to find a way to recover."
"The ancient book did not mention how long the two traveled together. It only said that after spending a long time, the two did not find a way to restore the eight hundred nuns to normal people, but they did find a way to suppress the 'power of immortality'."
"They got a prescription from a witch doctor from Tangtu."
"After swallowing the medicine made with this recipe, it can suppress the immortal power in the body, so that the eight hundred bhikkhunis will no longer be unable to die."
"The ancient books have a general description of the prescription. The herbs required are all herbs that can be found everywhere. It is hard to imagine that a medicine that can suppress the power of immortality can be made with just these common herbs."
"The eight hundred nuns, who had long been tired of living, decided to return to dust after receiving the prescription."
"Finally, she convinced Qing and used the recipe to make a medicine that could suppress the 'power of immortality'. She returned to her hometown of Wakasa Province, swallowed the medicine in a cave, and ended her long life by committing suicide."
"Before Yaobikuni committed suicide, she was afraid that her monstrous body might have a bad effect on the soil or air , so she asked Qing not to bury her or burn her body after her death, but to seal the cave directly, so that she could rest in peace alone in the cave forever."
"It is impossible to know who wrote this ancient book."
"But I guess this ancient book might have been written by Qing."
"In memory of this friend who had gone through a long journey with me and finally chose to commit suicide in a small cave somewhere, I left behind this book that records her life."
"If other people saw this ancient book, they would probably just think it was a story book written by an ancient person who was bored."
"However - Nobuhide doesn't think so."
"Nobuhide read this ancient book carefully several times and felt that it was written with true feelings and did not seem to be made up at all."
"So, he became extremely interested in the 'power of immortality' and decided to go to Wakasa Province and follow all the clues mentioned in this ancient book to find the place where Yaobikuni committed suicide."
"Nobuhide always has a lot of patience in some strange places."
"Guess how long he spent looking for the place where the eight hundred nuns committed suicide?"
“It took him three years.”
"He searched every piece of land in Wakasa Province according to the clues provided in the ancient books."
"Finally, he successfully discovered a cave buried by humans in a deep mountain."
"After digging out the entrance to the cave, Nobuhide found the body of a young woman who had committed suicide by slashing her throat while sitting cross-legged on the ground."
…
…
"Although there are many valuable clues recorded in that ancient book."
"But it took me three years to find the place where the eight hundred nuns committed suicide."
Toyotomi Nobuhide sighed.
“Those three years were so hard!”
“I have traveled every inch of Wakasa. I know Wakasa better than my hometown.”
"Fortunately - these three years of hard work have not been in vain..."
Toyotomi Nobuhide once again cast a gentle gaze at the head in the brocade box as if he was looking at a work of art.
"It took me three years to finally find you..."
"Perhaps it's because of the 'power of immortality'. Even though she's been dead for so long, the body of Yaobikuni hasn't decayed at all. If I hadn't seen the incredibly thick dust piled on her body, I would have thought she had just died."
"At that time, after reading that ancient book, I was thinking - the eight hundred nuns became immortal after eating mermaid meat."
"So……"
The smile on Toyotomi Nobuhide's face gradually became intriguing.
"What will happen after eating the flesh of eight hundred bhikkhunis?"
"So after finally finding the body of the Eight Hundred Bhikkhunis, I immediately couldn't wait to do the experiment."