Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1536 1508. The Rarity of the Guardian Spirit
"Princess Hidechiyo, I have never met her before, so if you want to know more information from the side, I am afraid it will be more effective to ask Mr. Fujikichiro than to ask me."

"The only thing I know more about than you is probably about Lord Lan."

"You can tell me anything." Saito Dosan waved his hand, causing the candle on the candlestick between them to flicker. "Yoshihide seems to have a special relationship with him. We have been apart for so many years. I want to know everything about her and everyone around her."

Hanbei felt as if his 'former lord' had gnashed his teeth when he paused just now.

It must be an illusion, right?

In the shadows, Hanbei's mouth pursed in mourning for Lan's future situation.

Then, he immediately began to tell Saito Dosan everything he had seen and heard.

"I first appeared in Jusanzakura Village, and later, because I observed a special [filth], I went to my father-in-law's Iwamura Castle to investigate."

Hanbei has a quick and organized mind, which is due to his own talent and Bai Ze's acquired teaching, which complement each other.

Even Saito Dosan, who had not managed Mino for several years, could not help but look at this young samurai differently when he listened to Hanbei's report.

Being able to get acquainted with others in just a few words shows that you have high emotional intelligence.

Being able to make people feel your logic and wisdom in just a few words is true intelligence.

With just a few words, Saito Dosan was certain that the young samurai in front of him, who had a reputation for intelligence, was indeed no ordinary person.

Some people can get the fame they have today because this is the best fame they can get in their life.

But Hanbei only has this little fame now, simply because he is too young and has not had the opportunity to participate in many major events and make a name for himself.

But Saito Dosan has now retired and become a monk. Even if he admires Hanbei, at most he is thinking of recommending this young man to his daughter Yoshitatsu in the future.

Everyone thought that the power-hungry Mino Viper would never give up the country he had stolen. He might even eat his own children in his old age.

But in fact, Saito Dosan really didn't want to hold this power anymore.

Even the fact that he had stolen the country in the past still made him feel tired and against his nature.

Now, all he cares about is his daughter and the spirit stone.

His concern for and collection of spirit stones was not for any purpose of his own, but rather a promise.

Hidechiyo is a half-demon, and Saito Dosan, her biological father, is a pure human, so the race of her mother Fukayoshino is naturally self-evident.

Humans and monsters fell in love and formed a family.

And who could have thought that the legendary Mino Viper, who was willing to sacrifice everything for power, would steal the country just for a promise?
He made an appointment with his beloved woman and wanted to create a paradise where humans and monsters could live in harmony.

Therefore, it is necessary to control a country, and therefore it is necessary to control the spirit stones.

The spirit stone itself has nothing to do with good or evil, but this power is too easy to be exploited, turning humans into monsters and turning sober and peaceful monsters into violent ones. This is a problem in itself.

So even though he had unloaded the burden now, Saito Dosan still found a spirit stone merchant like Fujiyoshiro to collect spirit stones for him.

This is a pure consumption behavior, and he himself cannot get any return or benefit from it, but he still does it year after year, which shows his determination and persistence.

"You mean you can tell he has a special background just by meeting him a few times?" Saito Dosan muttered, stroking his thickly bearded chin. "That tall, strong pretty boy?"

"Master Dao San, if you could be a little less prejudiced towards Lord Lan En, just a little less." Hanbei raised one of his hands, which were originally placed neatly on his knees, and pointed his two fingers slightly apart.

"You will definitely be impressed at first sight. Even just one glance is enough and you will never forget this person in your life."

Faced with such words, no matter how unhappy Saito Dosan was with Lan En, he could only remain speechless and could not refute.

"I don't need to explain much about Lord Lan En's background. I'm sure you can feel it."

Hanbei looked at his old lord with a cautious and persuasive look.

"That must be an indescribable noble family. I was present at my father-in-law's banquet, and we all felt it at that time."

Let’s not talk about the innate temperament of being the Son of the Emperor.

Let’s just talk about Lan En himself.

Seventy percent of the reason why Saito Dosan held such a grand banquet was that he was really happy that his daughter could come back and be reunited with him, and at the same time he wanted to give all his good things to A Xiu.

The other 30% were just trying to test the waters.

Just like a widely circulated thief story -

Thieves have kidnapped many children. How can we tell which family has the money to redeem them and which family is simply too poor to afford the money?
They put a fish in front of a hungry child and then watched where the child would subconsciously eat first.

The fish tail has more bones than meat. Most of those who eat it first are poor people who have never seen good food.

The fish belly has fragrant fat, and the children who eat here have at least seen it and know that the food here is delicious.

The children who are the best eaters and who enjoy the most on weekdays will first eat the fish face meat, which has little meat but the best texture.

It's nothing new to judge someone by observing their reactions at the dinner table.

As for Lan En's reaction, according to Saito Dosan's observation, this guy really wants to eat!
He was not the kind of person who had never seen the world or eaten good food, so he ate with relish.

It's more like "These things are all similar, and I'm hungry, so I might as well eat them quickly."

In order to observe Lan En, Saito Dosan specially divided the dishes into several grades, with obvious differences in preciousness. But in Lan En's performance, these differences seemed so small that he could not detect them!

In his eyes, the most expensive ingredients and the cheapest ingredients are all food that can fill his stomach, and he does not make any other distinction.

What does this mean?
The food on the banquet tonight was something that Saito Dosan himself might not even be willing to eat once during festivals! In this kid's eyes, there was no difference at all? !

On the other hand, it is said that "putting aside the temperament of [Emperor's Son]". Who can really put this thing aside? !

It was clearly in his own castle, in his own castle tower, and he had hosted the banquet, but Saito Dosan felt that when Lan En sat down, he felt as if his humble home had been given an honor.
It seemed that when he sat there, the level of the entire banquet was raised by him alone!
"My humble home is honored" should have been a polite and humble expression used by the host, but this is the first time Saito Dosan has lived to this age that he has heard of a realistic adjective!

Where did this kid come from?
An ordinary Ming citizen, learning skills from the southern barbarians, and then returning to Japan?

If he believed this weird talk, then his Mino Viper's head would be less useful than a real snake!

really.

As Saito Dosan looked at Hanbei with a thoughtful and puzzled look, the young samurai continued speaking.

"But based on the few brief encounters between my father-in-law and me, I do not agree with what he said when he introduced himself."

"Oh?" Saito Dosan sat up straighter, smiling fiercely, "Do you think that boy deliberately deceived me to achieve some purpose?"

Hanbei calmly placed his hands on the ground and bowed, "No, I and my teacher can sense your sincerity. So I don't think it's a malicious deception. It's more likely that he just doesn't want to involve other people."

"I hope you won't think too much about it."

Saito Dosan's ferocious smile remained unchanged: "You have to explain it to me first so that I can stop thinking too much."

"That's exactly what I was saying." Hanbei still held his hands on the ground, but raised his head and looked at the old lord. "I think it is impossible that Lord Lan En came to Mino recently."

"Perhaps Your Excellency doesn't know yet, but at the banquet, that majestic horse and the cat that Princess Hidechiyo loved so much were both possessed by guardian spirits!"

"."

The ferocious smile was still on Saito Dosan's face, but this time, his expression was frozen.

Horse and cat?
Although those two guys do look mysterious, what does it mean to have a guardian spirit?!

"Not only that, sir." Hanbei's statement was not yet finished. "The Miss Wuming who arrived at Lushan Castle earlier and reported the news to you seems to have a close relationship with Lord Lan En, and she has been possessed by [Yabotamahime]."

"And if we count Princess Hidechiyo herself, and the [Sky Bird] that possessed the princess, there are already five guardian spirits gathered around Lord Lan En."

"We are all people who possess guardian spirits, and no one knows better than us how mysterious and precious this power is."

"Without extensive searching, discerning discovery, and careful cultivation, if any step goes wrong, there will be no way the owners of the four guardian spirits will gather around us!"

Saito Dosan is already numb.

Even he had never seen a scene where one person was in charge and four guardian spirits gathered together.

It’s not that I’ve never seen this number of guardian spirits before.

Their Saito family also had four guardian spirits before Xiu returned.

He himself has the [White Viper], his successor Yoshitatsu has the [True God] and [Shadow Crocodile], and his married daughter Saito Kicho has the [Thin Ice Butterfly].

But precisely because their Saito family has four guardian spirits, he knows how difficult this task is!

Saito Dosan was able to steal a country, so he was a hero.

He was also impressed by the character of his married daughter Guidie.

Not to mention Yoshitatsu who was seen as his successor.

With three outstanding people in one family, Saito Dosan himself even wondered if his family's feng shui was too good.

And these are just the three guardian spirits.

The reason why Yoshitatsu has two guardian spirits living in his body at the same time is because Dosan once discovered a dilapidated shrine hidden in the mountains when he was young. He then immediately re-enshrined it, renovated it, and prayed with all his heart.

Pray that the gods enshrined inside can bless your children.

That was when Shen Fangye had just taken Ah Xiu away. He was terrified of losing another child, and so he was particularly pious.

Then, the [true god] who was worshipped also possessed Yilong.

The Saito family finally gathered four guardian spirits.

However, excluding the blood relationship, the outstanding Yilong and Guidie both spontaneously attracted guardian spirits.

It's just a matter of exaggerated luck.

In fact, during all these years that Saito Dosan was in charge of Mino, he was the only guardian spirit, and then another guardian spirit was discovered at the Yamajian Shrine, making a total of only two!

This is the result of decades of efforts by the country of Meinong!
That pretty boy is alone!

Then one person attracted four guardian spirit owners to gather around him? !

Not a single ordinary person?!
You told me this was an 'accidental visit to Japan'?
If he or the forces behind him had not been operating in Japan for a few decades, Saito Dosan would be willing to take off his own head and kick it like a ball!
(End of this chapter)