Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1492 1164. Crossing the Mountain
After everything was arranged, the Japanese guard sat down calmly, quietly looking at the Inabayama Castle in the distance outside the courtyard.

The artistic origins of Japanese gardens ultimately come from the Western continent.

Although some localized style modifications have been made, the concept of "landscape" has been inherited in the same vein.

"Landscaping" refers to the construction of courtyards or gardens, which should be appreciated from a certain angle, so that the scenery of distant mountains, rivers, lakes, etc. can be integrated with the courtyard itself through visual effects.

Just like Master Higo at this moment, he could frame a corner of Mt. Inaba and the Nagara River through the door frame opposite the courtyard, just like a living painting.

Saito Dosan, who was a nobody at the time and came into the eyes of the Nagai family only by building a relationship with him, watched this landscape with him.

Saito Dosan said at the time: "Inaba Mountain is solid and steep. It would be a waste to use it only for landscape construction instead of building a city. You nobles are so extravagant and decadent that you have become so decadent."

They had a very good relationship at the time, and he regarded Saito Dosan as a talented person who could be brought into the family and become a capable retainer.

So when I heard this opinion, I not only did not feel offended or angry, but I even admired him even more.

But thinking about it now, Master Rihu could only feel indignant in his heart. This was probably his obvious ambition!
The resentment that had been accumulating in his heart for a long time caused the plump and strong body of the [Dream-Eating Tapir] beside him to tremble.

As if he was rejoicing at this resentment.

But just as Master Rihu was immersed in the resentment that had lasted for more than a decade, he could vaguely hear a noise that was getting louder and louder coming from the foot of the mountain where Changzai Temple was located.

It's getting more and more annoying.

In the past, even during festivals when believers flocked to the mountain to kowtow and pray, it was never so noisy.

How do the people below manage things? It's not a festival and it's still such a mess, a bunch of rubbish!
Just when Master Rihu couldn't help but want to call someone to ask what was going on, he didn't need to call, a little monk was already standing outside the paper door shouting anxiously.

"Master! Master, something bad has happened!"

"Why are you panicking? Have all the meditation and chanting you've done been in vain?"

"Thieves are coming up the mountain!"

The shadow of the little monk outside the paper door stamped his feet anxiously, but he didn't even dare to knock on the door.

Master Rihu suddenly stood up, but turned to look at the guardian spirit beside him with even more surprise.

Almost in sync with Master Rihu, the Dream-Eating Tapir sucked in and transferred the resentment and filth with ease. The Dream-Eating Tapir, which had been squatting calmly, now looked as if it was facing a great enemy!
Before Master Rihu could make any move, it had already stood up completely, with the fangs and long nose in its mouth constantly poking towards the bottom of the courtyard.

The hostility in those eyes, which also emitted a dreamy golden light, was so strong that it could not be dissolved.
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"Go straight to the temple?" Wuming waved the naginata sickle in his hand, but his face was still confused. "Why would I do such a rebellious thing with you!"

"Didn't you follow me very straightforwardly before?"

Lan En asked curiously.

At the same time, "Squeak!"

Arondite pulled it out diagonally from the base of a monk's neck, and the blood spurting out of the wound spread as far as five meters away!

After the bald head in his hand was completely motionless within a second, Lan En's large palm finally released it from the other's bald head.

The held body fell to the ground with a heavy clang.

The iron material used for the armor of this monk soldier is so solid that it would be envied by the serious samurai under the daimyo.

But in front of a divine weapon like the Sword of the Lady of the Lake, ordinary armor is as good as non-existent.

The long knife that fit Lan En's body shape was inserted vertically and diagonally into the opponent's neck, and the tip of the knife kept poking out from the side of the thigh on the other side of the body.

"I thought we were just going to launch a surprise attack! Destroy that evil spell and then retreat!"

Wuming complained coldly.

"Do you understand surprise attack? Don't let anyone notice, don't let anyone see, quick and sudden! Retreat after you're done! Now we're heading straight for the mountain gate!"

"Ruined"

Wuming, who had killed a monk with a scythe, covered his head and sighed helplessly.

"After today, all the Nichiren sects in Japan will hunt us down, right? We've become enemies of the Buddha, enemies of the Buddha!"

"What kind of enemy of Buddhism?" Lan En seemed indifferent. "It's just the Nichiren sect. The Pure Land Sect, Shingon Sect and the like are not the same."

"Besides, wasn't this raid discovered? There is a magic circle set up on the mountain."

"Close your eyes! Look at my [Dancing Star] meow!"

Just as Lan En finished his complaints, the Flannel Ball's voice came through the guardian spirit, and Wuming could understand the meaning of it.

The demon hunter turned his back, and Wuming swung his sickle, lifted up a corner of the animal skin cloak on his shoulders, and buried his head in it.

After a loud bang and a burst of bright light, muffled groans and screams were heard one after another from places where no one could be seen originally.

The Jōzai-ji Temple next to Mt. Inaba is located on a mountain that does not seem very high.

But the terrain is just as sharp and rugged.

The violent geological movement has made this place, like Inabayama, have cliffs as sharp as if they were cut by knives or axes, as well as numerous gullies and bumps.

Among the dense vegetation, a few strong men squatting in these places would not be able to see any trace at all.

Lan En didn't care much about it. After all, with his extraordinary senses and Mentos, he would not miss any battlefield information until the battle became intense enough.

But it’s hard to say about Wuming and Rongbuqiu.

However, these monk soldiers who were waiting for sneak attacks and sudden raids were dazzled by the alchemical bomb of the flannel ball and all of them showed their heads.

"Breathe~blow~"

A long, rhythmic and skillful breathing sound came from under the evil ghost mask.

Wuming, who looked quite ordinary, was holding a heavy weapon, the naginata sickle, and suddenly he felt full of strength out of nowhere.

With a 'click' sound, she shrank the naginata sickle in her hand from a large sickle shape to a large closed folding knife style.

Now, the state of the naginata sickle is really similar to that of Yharnam's meat saw when it is closed. Wuming, relying on the weapon's center of gravity that is easier to change direction and control after shrinking, slashes forward at high speed!
According to Wuming, the naginata sickle is the unique weapon of their [Chuye Yazhong].

When the scythe is at its most powerful and its center of gravity rotates the slowest, weapon techniques are collectively called [Cut].

For example, during the previous raid on Lan En, if Wuming succeeded on the first strike, then his subsequent moves, when connected together, would be called [Judgement of All Beings].

The state of the long-handled naginata and the weapon technique are called [Sharp Edge].

After Wu Ming's blade was stuck by Lan En, his move after the weapon changed form was [Three Thousand Blades].

This closed folding knife-like state has the easiest center of gravity to control, but is also the least powerful. The weapon technique is called [Blade].

Just like now!

[Naginata Scythe·Wave Blade]!
After a flash of fluttering black animal-skin cloaks, the three monk soldiers closest to Qilin, who were hiding in the ditches on the side of the road, suddenly had several lines of blood spurting out of their bodies and fell down screaming.

The ancient dragon of the New World, who was so excited when he set out before, now seemed a little sluggish and weak even when he took two steps back to the side.

It exhaled a fierce breath of hot air under the rune cloth of the magic harness.

"Huchi~"

"Oh my." Bai Ze still had his hands behind his back and hunched over, looking like an old scholar, and looked at the Qilin beside him, "The barrier of Changzai Temple is really powerful."

"It should be a counter-attack barrier. Qilin, you led us to the mountainside in one breath and took all the counterattacks from the barrier. It must be very uncomfortable now, right?"

Originally, Lan En had the same plan as Wu Ming, to launch a surprise attack to destroy the evil magic, render those [remnants] harmless first, and then it would be easy to do anything else.

But just when they wanted to rely on Qilin's high mobility to break into the main hall of the temple on the mountain, Qilin had not even rushed halfway up the mountain before its physical strength, which was at the level of an ancient dragon from the New World, could no longer hold on!
The physical strength that was originally so full that I couldn't even feel it disappeared quickly like a flood.

According to Qilin's own description, it has no concept of physical strength when it normally exercises.

The ancient dragon's body was gifted by nature, and except when facing special circumstances, he had never felt the meaning of "tiredness".

But after rushing straight to Changzai Temple, it felt that the physical strength it recovered and consumed seemed to be completely disproportionate.

It recovers slowly, but is used very quickly.

In the end, Qilin stopped where he was, gasping for breath, with sticky saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth.

It felt like a big battle.

"Xilulu!"

Qilin shook his head in dissatisfaction, apparently wanting to butt against Bai Ze.

"Don't you know everything? Why didn't you notice there was something called a barrier on the mountain? Damn, I'm so tired!"

"I am an old man who is well versed in the knowledge of monsters and ghosts, and I also know a little about the underworld, but..."

Bai Ze dodged Qilin's headbutt gracefully and said while stroking his beard.

"Human magic, with its rituals and Buddhist teachings, changes every few decades. I've only possessed Hanbei for a few years, and I haven't been to the human world for a long time. I don't quite recognize the magic they've developed now."

"But it looks like"

Bai Ze pushed up his small round-frame glasses and looked Qilin from left to right.

"The thing you have on you now seems to be a combination of Yin and Yang? It suppresses the Yang power in your body. No, it not only suppresses it, it also directly dissolves it with Buddhist teachings! I think so!!"

"That's you, Qilin! Anyone in your situation would have collapsed to death hundreds of times!"

"Oh my, using Buddhism combined with Yin-Yang magic to cast a curse on someone and cause him to lose his yang is really unethical."

Bai Ze couldn't see anything just by looking at the barrier, but when he combined it with the traces of the effect caused by the barrier's counterattack on the Qilin, he could immediately see some clues.

"I, Jiulin Mountain [Eternal Buddha Light], will only suppress evil people who come to the mountain with hostility! How dare you slander us!"

A monk soldier with a monk's hat and turban on his head, leaving only his eyes exposed, shouted and jumped down from a big rock beside the mountain road with a big axe in his hand!

His eyes were still tearing up from the bright light just now.

The axe in his hand was as big as a palm-leaf fan, and it was thick, heavy and solid.

The martial arts in this world are very well developed, and those who practice martial arts can purify powers that do not belong to this world even by exerting their physical strength and breathing.

Therefore, a large axe that looks like it weighs at least dozens of pounds seems to have become normal.

But while he was jumping and slashing in the air, he suddenly felt a strong wind blowing on his face!
"Phew! Bang!"

"Ugh!"

Lan En's big hand made a sound as it directly grabbed the monk's iron armor, that is, the upper edge of the breastplate.

This strong and majestic monk almost felt like a minor in Lan En's hands.

This time, not only the force of Lan En's attack, but also the weight of his own jump and chop were all pressed on the area of ​​​​one palm.

He almost passed out immediately, and his collarbone was broken by the pressure.

If Lan En had grabbed his neck directly just now, his head would probably have been torn apart from his body.

"You don't smell of blood, but the smell of blood on your weapon is older than you used it. Tsk, stay away if you haven't done anything wrong!"

Although monks and temples in Japan's Warring States period generally had a bad reputation, Lan En did not think that there were no normal people among them.

Immediately, Lan En gently rolled the monk soldier, who had a broken collarbone and was still scolding him for "insulting Buddhism", down the mountain road.

He ignored the bloody smell on the mountain path and the scolding coming from below, which was getting farther and farther away.

Lan En's deep eyes briefly swept across the seemingly empty sky, and then looked in a certain direction in the mountains.

"Don't worry, I have an idea about the barrier."

(End of this chapter)