Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 85 Gouki Shinshumaru

After meeting Ningning and satisfying his nostalgic heart, Yuanye did not do anything rude. He just praised Ningning and Ah Cheng with a few words and continued to chat with Asano Nagakatsu. Asano Nagakatsu was not interested in chatting. Instead, he was very concerned about his personal situation and future ambitions, and his words were full of tentativeness.

Yuanye didn't care. After a while of perfunctory treatment, he left early and even politely declined Asano Nagakatsu's invitation to stay for dinner - there was a long time to go, and it would be enough to make himself familiar to him on his first visit. He would come to harass Asano's house frequently in the future, so he could just take it step by step.

Asano Nagakatsu really wanted to keep him for dinner and get to know him better, but seeing that he was determined to leave, he didn't want to force him, so he politely saw him out the door. As the two of them were saying goodbye politely, they heard a troop of horses galloping towards them in the distance.

The common people and merchants on both sides of the road tried to avoid the horses, and those who couldn't avoid it knelt down on the roadside, staring at the ground without looking up. Of course, Hara and Asano Nagakatsu didn't have to do the same, but Hara was still slightly surprised to see the horse team. It seemed to be Oda Nobunaga's horse team, but there were no horse marks or other identification items, as if they were just going out for a daily trip.

Sure enough, after a small group of horses returned, Oda Nobunaga rode a majestic horse and led a large group of close retainers past the gate of Asano Nagakatsu's house. When he saw Harano standing on the side of the road, he was slightly startled, stopped his horse, and asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"Come to meet Asano-sama."

"Oh?" Oda Nobunaga turned his head and glanced at Asano Nagakatsu, his face showing doubt, and he actually asked directly, "What does he want from you?"

Asano Nagakatsu didn't know how to answer for a moment. He was also unsure what Harano was here for, so he immediately looked at Harano. Harano didn't expect Oda Nobunaga to be so nosy that he would even ask him about his friend's visit in detail. He could only take over the conversation and answer, "I just heard of Asano-sama's name for a long time, so I came to visit him specially. There is nothing else."

Oda Nobunaga looked at the two of them again, his puzzlement still lingering but he did not ask any further questions. He just said, "The soy sauce is good, send a few barrels over later," and continued to urge his horse forward. However, he whispered something to a strong man beside him while walking. The strong man who was dozing off on his horse rubbed his eyes, turned his head and took a closer look at Yuanye. When his eyes passed by Aman beside him, he was slightly stunned. He said something to Oda Nobunaga, then left the horse team, and went back a long way.

Yuanye didn't care. After saying goodbye to Asano Nagakatsu, he was about to take Aman and Aqing away. Unexpectedly, he called Aman, but Aman and Aqing didn't respond. He followed their gaze and saw the strong man riding back slowly. He couldn't help but wonder, "What's wrong?"

Ah Man's face was unusually serious, and he didn't look as jumpy as usual. He stretched out his hand and gently blocked him behind him: "That person... is not right! Stay away from him!"

Yuanye immediately became cautious, but did not retreat as Aman suggested. He put his hand into his arms and took a closer look at the sturdy man. He was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, six feet tall, with a sturdy and strong physique, and messy hair draped over his broad shoulders like a lion's mane. He was wearing a blue straight-collared suit that was washed to a pale color, and an old sword was slung diagonally across his waist. The rough hemp rope wrapped around the handle had turned slightly black due to sweat, and there was a shiny wine gourd hanging on it. This man seemed to have an innate heroism and unruliness, a temperament that was rarely seen in the island country of Japan.

As he was carefully sizing up the sturdy man, the sturdy man also rode over, dismounted from a distance, and walked straight towards them, smiling and looking very kind. Suddenly, Ah Qing stepped out from behind Yuan Ye, tilted his head slightly, and looked at the ground sideways, but his hand gently grasped the hilt of the knife, and said in a cold voice: "Stop."

At the same time, Ah Man also pushed Yuan Ye sideways, took a step sideways with the force, put his hand on the hilt of the knife, bent down slightly, and formed a pincer attack with Ah Qing. He lay prone with his eyebrows, staring at the sturdy man without blinking, as if ready to attack the sturdy man's left weak side rib at any time, and said in a deep voice: "Just stand there, we can hear you!"

The sturdy man looked at the two of them, then smiled shyly at Yuan Ye. He actually stopped walking, but ignored Ah Qing who was facing him. He just tilted his head and looked at Ah Man's eyebrows for a moment, then asked with a smile, "Are you Ah Man? The successor of Master Quan Pingci? Is he in good health?"

Ah Man didn't move, still looking ready to jump up at any time, but asked, "Have you seen me?"

"Of course, but that was... seven or eight years ago! Maybe even longer." The sturdy man seemed to be in a good mood at the moment, and he smiled and gestured with his hands, "You were only this small then, but your appearance hasn't changed much."

"Really? I don't remember you." Ah Man bent his waist a little more, tightened his grip on the knife handle, and asked in a deep voice, "You... know our old man?"

The sturdy man shook his head slightly, took a half step back, and smiled casually: "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, no need to be so nervous, I have no hatred with Master Izumi Heiji. On the contrary, I received a lot of favors from him in the past, and now I see his successor, so I come to say hello - how is Master Izumi Heiji? Is he also in Owari now?" Aman still had no intention of relaxing, but after a slight hesitation, he still answered, "He is in good health, but he has become lazy in recent years. Now he is farming in Koga Village!"

"Well, is that so? That's a pity. I had wanted to discuss something with him." The regret on the sturdy man's face didn't seem fake. After he said that, he smiled at Aman again, looked at Aqing with approval, and turned around to leave.

"Wait, what is this gentleman's name?" Yuanye could also see that he was not an ordinary person. After all, the fine hairs on the back of Aqing's neck stood up, as if it had exploded. He needed to quickly ask about her background - before on the battlefield, Aqing had always been calm and composed, without even a trace of mental fluctuation. This was the first time he saw her so nervous.

The sturdy man turned around, his expression still very friendly: "Master Lao Yeyuan asked, you can just call me Xin Jiuwan, there is no need to be so polite, after all... we will have a long time to deal with each other in the future!"

After saying this, he mounted his horse and chased after Oda Nobunaga.

Ah Qing then slowly relaxed, stood up, and quietly retreated behind Yuanye, with his head down, not knowing what he was thinking about, while Ah Man rubbed his left breast hard, then spat fiercely on the ground, cursing under his breath.

Yuanye pondered for a moment, not understanding the meaning of his last words, and couldn't help asking Aman: "Xin Jiuwan... who is he?"

Ah Man spat again, but her mouth was too dry, and the spit hung on the edge of her mouth. She wiped it off quickly, full of dissatisfaction: "He looks like this, with messy hair and a hemp rope sword. He should be the Gouki from Owari Kodan-go. But I don't know if he's called Shinshumaru. It may just be a new name. And I don't know much about his past. I only heard about some of his bad things in the past - he used to wander around Koga, Iga and Kyoto for a long time. He liked to duel with others and often killed people for no reason. Dozens of good fighters died in his hands. He was a very famous killer Gouki back then.

Anyway, this guy is not easy to deal with. He... I feel that he should be able to kill me and Ah Qing easily, just... two or three slashes! Ah Qing should be able to withstand two and a half slashes, and I... probably won't be able to escape either."

After she finished speaking, she cursed again, "What a hell, why is this guy here? I haven't heard of him since I grew up. Shouldn't he have died a long time ago?"

Just now she thought that her old man's enemy had come to visit her, and it was a legendary figure. She was not good at head-on confrontation at all. If A Qing couldn't beat her, killing her would be a piece of cake. She was almost scared to death.

Later she wanted to eat two chickens to replenish her energy. This was so exciting. I thought I was going to die today!
"So he's a swordsman?" Yuan Ye looked at Shinshumaru's receding back. He had never thought that there was such a person in the Japanese Warring States Period - perhaps someone like Tsukahara Bokuden? He participated in 37 battles in his life, duelled with famous swordsmen 19 times, and killed 212 people in total without any injury?

Ah Man hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said, "His swordsmanship should be very good, but he is definitely not a swordsman, and he can't even be considered a swordsman. He should be our colleague, and should be considered a member of the Koga clan. He can kill people in any way he wants... It's just that we don't usually kill people, but he doesn't mind killing, and he even likes to kill indiscriminately. He is an outlier among us!"

Yuanye nodded slowly, understanding in his heart. It seemed that this new Sakemaru was the "senior ninja leader" that Oda Nobunaga had just discovered. Oda Nobunaga had probably also begun to form his own "ninja" force. It seemed that he was under a lot of pressure and was trying every means to improve his strength.

Or maybe, after suffering a few losses, he began to pay attention to intelligence work and specifically looked for relevant talents, which shows that he has matured a lot.

Yuanye thought to himself and quickly waved to Aman and Aqing: "Let's go too!"

It's a bit dangerous outside, so he wants to go home and hold it in for a while to develop well.

(End of this chapter)