Swallow Return

This was still not Hideyoshi Hashiba's true intention.

But at least it's much better than those perfunctory words from before.

And Madam Ningning was also mentioned.

Out of respect for her, Liu Yun's expression softened slightly, and he said calmly, "Don't worry, I didn't come here for revenge—and even if I did, I wouldn't bother with you. Back then, it was Oda Nobunaga who wanted to deal with me, so of course you could only stand by and watch. Besides, I wouldn't lay a hand on Lady Ningning's husband."

"Well……"

Hideyoshi Hashiba felt a little uncomfortable when he heard Ryuun address Nobunaga by his given name.

But he quickly composed himself, his face showing a mixture of nostalgia and shame, and said softly, "At first you said you only accepted me as your brother because of Ningning. Sigh..."

When Hideyoshi Hashiba used Nene as a pretext to build relationships, he didn't feel awkward at all, nor did he feel any psychological pressure, as if he didn't care about avoiding suspicion at all.

Liu Yun frowned, feeling a little sorry for Ning Ning, but it wasn't convenient for him to say anything. So he shook his head to indicate that he would stop the pleasantries and went straight to the point: "I recently heard that Oda Nobunaga sent an army of 100,000 to invade Iga Province and kill all the innocent people in the mountains. What are the causes and consequences of this? Is it related to something mysterious? Please enlighten me."

There was no threat intended; he was simply standing in the corridor of Himeji Castle's keep, as if asking a question as a friend.

Those unfamiliar with Liuyun might genuinely believe the atmosphere was normal.

But Hideyoshi Hashiba felt both bitter and uneasy.

He understands Liu Yun.

Although this guy rarely shouted things like "I'm determined" or "I'm ready to die" like other samurai, he was a man who was outwardly flexible but inwardly principled. Once he made up his mind, there was almost no room for him to change it.

Hideyoshi Hashiba forced a smile, his gaze darting around before he calmly tried to dissuade him, saying, "Brother Ryuun... although I don't know how you escaped from Lord Ufu (Nobunaga) back then, now that you're safe, why go back to a dangerous place? Even if you don't consider yourself, you should..."

"Don't worry."

Ryuun interrupted him in a gentle yet firm tone, slowly and deliberately saying, "I'm not a reckless fool. Since I've come here, I must have been confident. Why don't you guess how I got into this heavily guarded Himeji Castle, Brother Hideyoshi?"

"Well……"

Hideyoshi Hashiba was speechless.

He simply couldn't understand it.

If it were the Sasaki Ryūun I knew before, no matter how brave he was, he couldn't possibly have single-handedly stormed into Himeji Castle's keep. Even if he were in peak condition that day and had incredible luck, and managed to fight his way in, it would have taken a tremendous amount of effort and created a massive, landslide-like commotion.

How could it have happened so quietly?

It can only be said that the former "greatest warrior of the Oda clan" has become even stronger.

Within the realm of humanity, Hideyoshi Hashiba was already among the most knowledgeable, so he could barely imagine how strong a person must be to have achieved what he had today.

If one possessed martial prowess on par with Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, coupled with Onmyōdō techniques no less than Takenaka Shigeharu's, and with a precisely planned route, there might be a slight possibility of bypassing numerous checkpoints, avoiding detection by elite guards, and sneaking into Himeji Castle's keep.

Only this explanation makes sense.

—That's what Hideyoshi Hashiba thought.

However, as if suddenly remembering something, Liu Yun casually took out a bunch of yellow ribbons from his pocket, bent down and placed them on the floor, smiling as he said, "These things were borrowed from your retainers, brother. I forgot to return them earlier, so please do it for me."

Upon seeing this, Hideyoshi Hashiba could no longer control his expression. He lay on the ground staring at the pile of ribbons, his eyes wide as big as copper bells.

He recognized at a glance that these yellow ribbons were the insignia of the captains of the thirty elite guards of Himeji Castle.

It is infused with the unique power of the "Ape-Faced Venerable," making it impossible to fake.

I roughly counted them, and there seemed to be exactly thirty ribbons on the floor.

In other words, all 900 guards, in 30 groups, and all 30 group leaders have been captured?

Meanwhile, no one in the city has even heard a sound!

Hideyoshi Hashiba couldn't help but tremble all over.

These guards were personally selected by him; each one was quite capable, their composition was scientifically sound, and they were well-equipped and highly trained.

Hideyoshi Hashiba always felt that even if he went all out, he could only deal with two groups, while Lord Ufu could probably handle four or five groups. He believed that no one in the world could possibly contend with more than seven groups.

The allocation system of Himeji Castle's jurisdiction ensures that if any incident occurs in any location, at least seven groups of guards can arrive in time.

Initially, it was thought that the guards' arrangements were inadequate, and a loophole had been exploited, allowing the uninvited guest to appear on the top floor of the castle tower without warning. Therefore, Hideyoshi Hashiba felt that the current situation was one of mutual wariness: he feared that the other might rashly launch a devastating attack, while the other feared that he might gather his guards to overwhelm the enemy.

Now it seems that's not the case at all...

Hideyoshi Hashiba looked up at Ryuun Sasaki with trepidation, as if he no longer recognized him.

His eyes held an undisguised deep fear.

Liu Yun remained silent, asking in a calm tone, "I recently heard that Oda Nobunaga sent an army of 100,000 to invade Iga Province and kill all the innocent people in the mountains—what are the causes and consequences of this, and is it related to something mysterious? Please enlighten me."

It was just a repetition of the question.

But this time, Hideyoshi Hashiba dared not avoid the topic.

I won't tell you about Chapter 294.

"That's right, it's Iga. That place has always been unruly, but it's all mountains, making it difficult for large armies to traverse, so we didn't bother dealing with them. It wasn't until last year, after dealing with the bald monks of Ishiyama Honganji Temple, that we had no other enemies in the Kinai region, and our Oda clan was able to spare the trouble of sending envoys to demand their surrender. Unsurprisingly, those mountain people refused, so we mobilized 30,000 men from Ise to attack. However, the battle didn't go well; we suffered a night attack, with several thousand casualties and were forced to retreat. Lord Ufu (Nobunaga) was furious and ordered the mobilization of 120,000 troops, surrounding Iga from all sides. It took four or five months to finally capture it..."

Hideyoshi Hashiba's tone was low and bitter, and he looked dejected and gloomy, making his pointed and monkey-like face look even more repulsive.

You can't really blame him for that.

Who can be happy when they're being forced to answer questions?

Ryuun had already gathered a lot of information from Izumo Taisha and was not surprised by what Hashiba Hideyoshi said, but he was still curious about the specific numbers.

"120,000 men? As far as I know, the entire population of Iga Province, including men, women, and children, doesn't even number 120,000. With such a numerical advantage, it still took four or five months to conquer it. Are the people there really that powerful?"

“Who says otherwise…” Hashiba Hideyoshi nodded listlessly and said, “One in five people in Iga is a Shugensha, and the terrain is complicated, with many wild beasts and some monsters and other oddities. Even with an army of 120,000, it is still very troublesome. I remember that the number of troops lost there was much more than at Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple.”

Liu Yun nodded, then followed up with another question: "Is that why you retaliated so severely after the conquest, slaughtering 100,000 innocent civilians and razing Iga to the ground?"

He spoke lightly and calmly, as if he didn't mean to criticize.

But Hideyoshi Hashiba immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. His expression turned solemn, and he shook his head repeatedly, saying with feigned seriousness, "You can't say that! We did kill many people, but they weren't innocent civilians. You don't know, at that time, the entire Iga region, young and old, was fighting against the Oda clan's army. And it wasn't the kind of fighting where they just carried hoes and sickles to make up the numbers. Every child over ten years old knew how to use a sword. After several months of hard work, we finally won, but those who were captured still wouldn't surrender. They kept cursing and shouting even when locked in cages... In this situation, what other way was there but to kill these people and then set the mountain on fire? After being stuck in those mountains for several months, the retainers and soldiers were almost at their breaking point."

These words were clearly about murder and arson, yet Hideyoshi sighed repeatedly, his pointed, monkey-faced features filled with helplessness, as if he were the victim.

What's even more interesting is that such a reaction doesn't seem hypocritical on him.

Is it because of good acting skills?

Not necessarily. Perhaps Hideyoshi Hashiba genuinely felt that he was forced to kill.

In any case, Ryuun didn't bother with moral judgment, but quickly shifted the topic to the next stage: "Why are the people of Iga so brave? Isn't there a single one who is afraid of death?"

Hideyoshi Hashiba casually replied, "It's probably due to the differences in local customs..."

Liu Yun shook his head and interrupted: "Even ants will try to survive. I don't believe that 100,000 people in Iga Province would rather die than surrender. Besides the explanation of their fierce nature, is there no other reason? Did the Oda clan make some overly harsh conditions that made them feel that they would rather die?"

"Ah……"

Hideyoshi Hashiba paused briefly, blinked rapidly, glanced elsewhere, then quickly looked back, frowning as he explained, "Brother Ryuun's words make sense. I think it's like this..."

Apart from a moment of hesitation, he showed no other unusual behavior.

But it was this brief moment of hesitation that was noticed.

Ignoring Hideyoshi's words, Ryuun interrupted him, saying, "As expected, the Oda clan made excessively harsh conditions. Could it be related to religious beliefs or something similar?"

"..."

Having given himself away, Hideyoshi Hashiba shut his mouth.

But it didn't seem surprising.

He probably wasn't confident he could hide it from the start, but for some reason he put up a stubborn resistance.

Liu Yun was not in a hurry and patiently stood in place waiting.

However, this time Hideyoshi Hashiba seemed determined, sitting on the ground motionless, his head bowed in a daze as if he were playing dead.

After a long while, Liu Yun finally couldn't wait any longer and said calmly, "Brother Hideyoshi, you should know that I acquired the ability to bewitch minds a long time ago by chance. However, it only works on ordinary people with weak wills and has no effect on strong people with firm minds. But recently, due to another chance event, my power has greatly increased. If I use other tools—such as fragments of Lan Shedai—perhaps I can control you too. At least the thirty groups of guards you arranged are all under its influence and have fallen into a deep sleep. I broke in without harming them."

"Of course I know how powerful Brother Liuyun is, but I'm not exactly a pro either... wait a minute?"

Hideyoshi Hashiba tried to brush off the question with a joke.

But when he looked up and met Liu Yun's gaze, he was speechless.

Hideyoshi Hashiba instinctively sensed a dangerous signal.

Brother Liuyun can indeed do what he just said!

—Although there was no real reason behind it, Hideyoshi Hashiba couldn’t help but think that way.

He was instantly filled with terror, completely losing the will to resist. He only wanted to surrender, and secretly pinched his fingertips hard to bring himself to his senses.

This is enough to prove how terrifying the power to manipulate minds is.

However, Liu Yun sighed softly and smiled, "Actually, before I came to Himeji Castle today, I had already roughly guessed what had happened. The reason I still came to visit was not to seek the truth, but simply to confirm my inner speculation, and also to visit an old friend. If I can't get the answer from you, I won't force it. Besides, for Lady Ningning's sake, I absolutely cannot fight with you."

After saying that, he shook his head, turned around and walked away, as if he were really leaving.

Hideyoshi Hashiba subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, his whole body relaxed, and he unconsciously slumped to the floor. Then he sat down with his back against the wall, a very complicated expression on his face, as if he wanted to say something, but hesitated to speak.

"I'll also test my skills." Liu Yun said without turning his head, "Entering Himeji Castle is much easier than I expected, and I don't think entering Azuchi Castle will be too difficult either. Unless you tell Oda Nobunaga about today's situation and let him make more preparations, it might cause me some difficulties."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hideyoshi Hashiba's relaxed expression turned tense and uneasy again. Without thinking, he put on a businesslike smile and said in a relaxed tone, "How could that be... Since Brother Ryuun didn't lay a hand on me out of consideration for our past relationship, then I should naturally show some loyalty... Besides, given Lord Ufu's (Oda Nobunaga's) personality, if I went to report and remind him, I might just get a scolding!"

"Is that so?" Liu Yun stopped, turned around, gave her a meaningful look, nodded, and said meaningfully, "Since you've said that, then I'll take it seriously."

Hideyoshi Hashiba's expression gradually became solemn, and he solemnly said, "As a retainer of the Oda clan, I cannot reveal anything about Lord Ufu, but at the same time, I will not tell Lord Ufu about Brother Ryuun either. This is the choice that allows me to have a clear conscience!"

Thank you.

Leaving behind these words, Liuyun stepped over the railing of the corridor and leaped into the air.

Then, two white dove-like wings sprouted from his back, flapped powerfully a few times, and he took flight.

Then it sank into the sky and disappeared instantly.

Hideyoshi Hashiba stared blankly at the receding figure, which went from clear to blurry and then disappeared, for a long time, lost in thought. Finally, he slapped his thigh hard, let out a furious roar, and hurriedly went down the stairs.

He needed to quickly ascertain the status of the thirty elite guard units at Himeji Castle.

……

After walking a few hundred paces, Liu Yun stopped in mid-air, turned around, and muttered to himself, "Actually, I had already met Madam Ningning beforehand and heard more information from her... but at her request, I won't tell you that..."

Chapter 295 The news of Lady Guidie's death?

Azuchi Castle, located on the south bank of Lake Biwa, has been under construction for several years.