Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1487 1159. The confusing clues are always in the temple

The banquet ended early.

Lan En and Wu Ming wanted to go back to their room to rest. Hanbei said that he would check the household registration information all night and give the results directly to Lan En early tomorrow morning.

The fluffy ball and the Kirin also received high-level hospitality from Morinari Ando.

The two of them also had rooms in the castle tower, and the attendant who was responsible for leading them looked stunning when he came in from outside the room.

Just like Ando Morimasa, although this world has guardian spirits, which are as powerful as the incarnation of gods and Buddhas, under normal circumstances, ordinary people cannot see or hear them.

On the contrary, it is the monsters and evil spirits that directly invade the human world. These vicious creatures don’t care whether you ordinary people can see them or not. They will kill and eat you when they meet you.

Therefore, ordinary people have a much greater chance of seeing monsters and evil spirits than seeing genuine "gods and Buddhas".

Creatures like flannel balls and unicorns look mysterious and extraordinary, but their temperaments are either cute or noble. It can be said that ordinary people have little chance to see them in their lifetime.

Basically, they are listened to as myths and legends.

This attitude also made Lan En feel a little relieved.

It seems that this world is at least not the kind of place where if you encounter something you have never seen before, you will just treat it as a monster and be unable to communicate or explain it.

In this way, it seemed that he would only need to talk a little bit when taking the fluff ball and the Qilin out, and the rest would not be a problem.

It's just that Mentos seems to have lost its job, so it's quite happy.

Although Hanbei also possesses super memory and quick analysis capabilities due to Bai Ze’s guardian spirit, can he provide real-time analysis and research assistance in battles alongside Lan?

Not at all! So Mentos was relaxed and had no sense of crisis at all.

Right after this banquet, after Wuming stared at them for a long time with a strange look as if to say, "Are you really some big shot who's been exiled overseas?", they still managed to have the self-control of excellent warriors and slept well at night.

As the two of them gradually got their bodies ready for battle, they slept until dawn.

When the sky outside the castle tower began to brighten, Lan En opened his eyes at the right time.

"You finally woke up." Wu Ming's calm voice came to my ears. "You are really not alert enough."

"No, isn't it better to relax a little when there's no danger?" Lan En propped himself up and smiled at the side. "Besides, we are acquaintances, right? And we are also in the same industry. There's no need to give me such a businesslike expression."

In the dim Japanese-style room, Wuming was already dressed and sitting cross-legged, organizing his weapons.

His originally cold face suddenly froze, and then he subconsciously turned his head away, not looking at the demon hunter who had just gotten up and was stretching his shoulders.

Whether it is a demon hunter or a monster hunter, they seem to have the professional habit of putting a cold face on customers in order to avoid trouble.

So Wuming's expression usually seems quite cold.

But after getting to know her for a long time, or even not too long at all, you will know that this is a simple and kind girl.

She is a very understandable person.

"Don't, don't talk about such nonsense!" Wuming said disdainfully. "Think about how to deal with those [filth] first! That's a matter of life and death!"

"Fully endorses."

Lan said as he stood up and began to put on his coat and armor.

Amid the clanking of Smaug's armor, there was a polite knock on the sliding door of the Japanese-style room.

"Come in." Lan En greeted without raising his head while fastening the buckle of his armor.

The sliding door opened with a friction sound, and Takenaka Hanbei was already kneeling at the door to greet him.

"I wonder if you were satisfied with last night's reception. My father and I have been worried about whether the guests had a good rest."

It seemed that last night's seriousness and fierceness was just a brief illusion. When Takenaka Hanbei appeared in front of Lan En again, he had become the gentle and polite young warrior again.

"Forget the polite words. We are not precious bodies. We can withstand any hardship."

The demon hunter spoke in a decisive tone amid the sound of his armor buckles being tightened.

"It looks like you've been working hard all night. Thank you for your trouble. Is there any result?"

Takenaka Hanbei's gentle expression made him smile bitterly: "I was indeed very busy last night, and I am indeed sorry for the trouble."

"According to what you two said, I started to track events with a longer time span and more twists and turns."

"This makes the workload far beyond my expectations. But at the same time, I have to say that I also understand more clearly the horror of this special kind of [filth]!"

Wuming placed the well-maintained naginata sickle against the wall, while Lan En was still wearing his armor alone. Although the two of them moved differently, they both frowned as they listened to Takenaka Hanbei's investigation results last night. Hanbei's face darkened, and his tone was also: "If my shorthand and analysis are correct, then this [filth] has spread more and farther in Iwamura Castle than what you two have investigated."

"Back when the three great thieves of Dao took over the country."

It was true that Saito Dosan had seized Mino Province by overthrowing his superiors. However, as a samurai loyal to his lord, Takenaka Hanbei's loyalty made him unable to say anything, but at the same time he could not ignore it.

Samurai must be loyal to their masters, but the object of their loyalty may have come to power by violating the samurai spirit.

This can be said to be a contradiction that the Mino samurai could never get rid of mentally, nor could they justify themselves.

Hanbei was slightly stumped by this contradiction, but he was able to continue speaking fluently in the end.

"The number of remnants that were purged was not large. Monks and priests were invited to perform a large-scale purification ceremony."

“But then.”

"A businessman bought the remnants' original land at a low price and built a hotel on it. One night, the businessman suddenly went crazy and burned his guests and his entire family to death."

"The child of a distant relative of the merchant suddenly went mad three years after the hotel burned down, was thrown into a cell, and committed suicide in the cell."

"One of the jailers in that cell was transferred to Inabayama Castle five months ago, and he slipped and fell off a cliff on a rainy night."

After Hanbei finished speaking calmly and rationally, the room fell silent.

Wuming's mouth opened uncontrollably.

Even the sound of Lan En putting on his armor stopped for a moment before echoing in the Japanese-style room again.

"This is just the one I have traced in the chain of spread of this [filth], and it is not the deepest one."

"'Don't ask around, don't get involved, even if you just try to get to the bottom of it there will be retribution.' This piece of advice has been circulating privately without most of us noticing."

"To be honest, when the investigation got to this point, even my father-in-law was already scared."

Hanbei raised his head. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked as if he was completely exhausted.

It can be imagined that even with Bai Ze's guardian spirit, it gave him a mental advantage.

However, the intricate and inconspicuous clues and connections in the files, as well as the extremely long time line spanning more than ten years, have made the difficulty of organizing the information suddenly increase!
For example, the line that Hanbei mentioned may take eighteen turns in the file and it may not be possible to match the relationships between the characters.

"But since you're here, it means you should have completed your investigation, or at least have a rough idea, right?"

Lan En raised his eyes to look at the half-soldiers kneeling at the door.

The young warrior's lips trembled at this moment, and he seemed a little hesitant.

"It is a permanent temple."

"Changzai Temple?" Lan En immediately recalled the information he had received from Wuming's client's family.

When their family suffered a miscarriage, they invited the wandering monks who often stayed in the temple to perform a ritual to purify the body.

"Among the powerful families that were purged in Iwamura Castle at that time, the largest family offered a scroll of a woman's painting to the Changzai Temple in the name of worshipping Buddha and praying for rebirth before being executed. This was recorded in the records."

"For the other families, after the execution, things or people in their families had conflicts with Changzai Temple. This is the earliest and most unified clue I have found."

"But I think this temple in Meinong should not be simple?" Lan En had already resumed the speed of putting on his armor, and the not-so-fast but very steady "click" sound continued to ring out.

"Otherwise you shouldn't be so hesitant, Hanbei."

"Suck~" The young warrior took a deep breath subconsciously, and then said heavily, "Just as you thought."

"Mr. Lan En, the Changzai Temple is the temple where the Taoist priest was ordained as a monk!"

"Huh?!" Even Wuming, who had a cold expression, couldn't help but let out a sound of surprise.

Saito Dosan, the Viper of Mino.

In this turbulent time that began with the Onin War, he was the first to seize a country by means of the means of overthrowing his superiors and becoming the ruler of the country.

His cruelty and scheming frightened daimyo everywhere, even outside Mino Province.

Not to mention Mino, which was completely under his control.

Ever since defeating the former lord and the counterattack by the coalition forces of the Toki clan and the Owari Oda clan, his control has been absolute.

(End of this chapter)