Swallow Return

Hachisuka Masakatsu and Maeno Nagayasu immediately instructed their servants to serve food and hot water to help Ryūun welcome him. In truth, they didn't need to do this themselves; it was simply to express their stance.

Chapter Fifty-Two: Special Rewards and Their Handling

The Oda army is attacking Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei.

Liu Yun belongs to the eastern squad.

Kinoshita Tokichiro transformed into a white-furred ape. Although his body did not grow much larger, his strength seemed to have increased more than tenfold. He would let out terrifying roars and wield a wooden stick that was more than two zhang long and as thick as a bowl. With one sweep, he could knock away more than a dozen people.

Shigeharu Takenaka held an ancient wooden tray, muttering incantations. Suddenly, he waved his hand and summoned a billowing cloud of black smoke. Wherever it went, enemy soldiers immediately became weak and powerless, fainted, and were taken prisoner.

Hachisuka Masakatsu spurted water from his mouth, the force of which knocked the opposing general to the ground. Maeno Nagayasu's forearms flashed with dark gold as he deflected the oncoming spear tip with his fists.

There was also a new face I just met, named Kinoshita Koichiro, who is the younger brother of Kinoshita Tokichiro. He looks very plain and unassuming, but he has mastered a very important ability.

A monk on the mountain struck a conch shell, and wherever the sound reached, Oda's soldiers wavered and lost their will to fight. But as soon as Koichiro shouted "Snap out of it!", they would be restored to their former state.

In addition, there were other names that Liu Yun couldn't quite remember, such as Mitsuji Miyata, Tomonori Oto, Katsutaka Toda, and Masaharu Mikota. Some charged forward with swords drawn, some could shoot arrows from a hundred paces away, some could use magic to attack the opponent, and some could use supernatural abilities to buff their own side...

In conclusion, this formation looks impressive, with excellent teamwork and each member displaying their unique abilities.

However, this only applies to Kinoshita Tokichiro's direct subordinates.

Those ragtag troops of the Chinese were far inferior. Although they had some martial arts or magic skills, they were completely incomparable to those mentioned above.

As for the opposing monk soldiers, they were well-equipped with numerous magical treasures and had excellent material conditions, not to mention the barrier that, although weakened, still existed and provided assistance.

However, their fighting spirit and morale were so low that they would often collapse at the slightest loss of life, only caring about running away in panic, and the officers' orders could not be carried out smoothly at all.

Of course, the chaos in command is undeniable. Many high-ranking monks had medical magic weapons, but they could not accurately release them to the most dangerous areas on the front line. Instead, they would be so frightened by a stray arrow that they would use them repeatedly, wasting all the light.

Overall, it was less of a war and more of a one-sided massacre.

When Liu Yun first witnessed a war scene, he was initially curious and eager to try it out, but he quickly lost interest.

The monk soldiers were beaten so badly that, despite their usual bullying and oppressive behavior in the countryside, which was infuriating and disgusting, it was hard not to feel sympathy when they were hacked to pieces.

The corpses piled up like mountains, and the blood flowed like rivers. The other warriors were all eager to step forward and cut off heads as a reward for their battle achievements, but Liu Yun subconsciously wanted to avoid them.

In any case, Kinoshita Tokichiro's army was fighting quite smoothly and didn't need any help.

Besides, Liu Yun felt that he was not yet used to such a big scene and might not be able to help much.

While he could take down regular soldiers with a single strike, his efficiency couldn't compare to Kinoshita Tokichiro's transformed form, wielding a massive club and sweeping through the enemy ranks. As for beheading enemy officers, it seemed unnecessary, given the already chaotic state of the opposing monk soldiers.

……

So Liuyun spent the entire dungeon in a completely passive, AFK state, without doing any damage output.

It took a total of three hours to fight from the foot of the mountain to the top.

In Liu Yun's view, this was an extremely fast speed. Even without any obstacles, it would take an hour and a half to climb up on foot!

It turned out that they were attacked from multiple directions, and their side was the slowest.

The fastest was generally considered to be Akechi Mitsuhide. The public opinion was very mysterious, as if he used some kind of "land escape technique" or "five ghosts moving method". In any case, he bypassed the defense line and appeared directly on the mountainside, captured the leader of the monk soldiers, and won without fighting.

Next in line seems to be Shibata Katsuie. It is said that in order to make up for the shame of the failure of the treasure-hunting team, he personally took up two axes and charged ahead regardless of the risks. He killed a hundred and eighty monk soldiers by himself, and also chopped down two pagodas and a tree as thick as a water vat.

Then there was Takikawa Kazumasu, who, according to rumors, organized a hundred large-caliber cannons to launch a massive salvo. Using this high-tech weapon, he frightened the monks who only cared about making money and sending off their children, and who were oblivious to the world around them, so that they dared not resist at all.

There was also Niwa Nagahide, who didn't use any special methods. He also launched a frontal assault, but perhaps his soldiers were of better quality, his samurai were more skilled, and his troops were more well-trained... In any case, he reached the summit a quarter or two earlier.

Therefore, when Kinoshita Tokichiro returned from the meeting with Oda Nobunaga, he looked rather dejected and did not feel the joy of winning the battle.

I doubt they received any reward, and they might even have been criticized.

Liu Yun thought to himself that the three to five hundred men directly under Kinoshita Tokichiro's command were already quite elite. If anything, it was the group of local guerrillas recently recruited in northern Omi that were of limited combat strength and not very useful. More than three thousand of them were just there to make up the numbers.

Ultimately, it was because he came from a humble background and had a shallow foundation. He lacked reliable hereditary retainers and could not immediately assemble a large number of arquebusiers. It was already difficult enough to produce three to five hundred capable soldiers.

Returning late at night, while eating together in the military tent, Kinoshita Tokichiro privately lamented, "Lord Akechi is lucky; all the land in this area will belong to him from now on. Lord Shibata is also doing well, receiving a pile of gold and silver from the underground warehouse of the Nakamoto Hall, probably worth tens of thousands of kan. Lord Takikawa received Buddhist scriptures, relics, and tea utensils from the National Treasure Hall, worth several thousand kan. Lord Niwa at least has two hundred pieces of armor and a thousand koku of rations from Mudoji Temple. Only I was the slowest to get up the mountain, and I didn't catch up with any of them..."

Upon hearing this, Maeno Nagayasu was greatly disappointed and quickly asked, "Surely there won't be no reward?"

Kinoshita Tokichiro said with a bitter face, "Yes, there are, but I think it would be better if there weren't any. After we stormed the mountain, we captured more than 500 women and more than 300 children in Ruriin, the oldest of whom was only eight years old. All of them were given to me by Lord Danjo (Oda Nobunaga)!"

That's interesting.

Ruriin Temple, a branch of the prestigious Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei, has over five hundred women.

What happened to the promised rules and regulations?

The Tiantai sect is a traditional branch of Buddhism, which has always considered itself a prestigious and orthodox sect and has always looked down on those emerging sects that practice "meat-eating and wife-keeping".

The women were one thing, as they might be lay Buddhists practicing with their hair still intact. But over three hundred children no more than eight years old was simply unacceptable.

Only Liu Yun shook his head at this; everyone else thought it was normal.

Kinoshita Koichiro teased, "Did you get all the captured women as a reward? Shouldn't you be very happy, brother?"

Kinoshita Tokichiro glared at him irritably: "If it were five, I might be happy, but there are five hundred! Who can handle that?"

Kinoshita Koichiro exclaimed in surprise, "Big brother, aren't you afraid your wife will find out if you say it so directly?"

Kinoshita Tokichiro shook his head dismissively: "Nene is always thinking about the big picture, she wouldn't care about such trivial matters—alright, alright, let's stop talking nonsense and think about how to handle this!"

Maeno Nagayasu looked distressed: "If we captured men, we could use them for work. Women and children can't work; they're just freeloaders! This isn't a reward; it's a burden..."

Hachisuka Masakatsu pondered for a moment and said, "How about we ask someone to sell them? I know some people in the underworld who do this. A woman can fetch at least one or two kan, and a child can sell for three or five hundred sen. That would be quite a bit of money. But with so many people involved, it's hard to keep it a secret. It's too easy for the news to leak out, and it might not sound good for our reputation..."

Kinoshita Koichiro immediately shook his head repeatedly, saying, "It won't sell for much money, and it would just bring us a bad reputation for nothing. It's not worth it, not worth it at all!"

Upon hearing this, Takenaka Shigeharu seemed about to say something, but hesitated and looked away.

It just so happened to drift to Sasaki Ryuun's location.

Liu Yun, who had been invited, was also at the banquet, but he couldn't care less about anything else.

He was quite opposed to human trafficking. Moreover, after learning about the experiences of the tea master Zixuezhai a few days ago and understanding the methods traffickers used to torture abducted children, he felt even more disgusted.

So Liuyun suggested to Kinoshita Tokichiro: "The five hundred women can be married off to the old soldiers who are still single. This would be good for internal unity! If the children can live with us, that's fine. If it's inconvenient, we can take them to the city to raise. They will definitely be reliable personal guards in the future."

Upon seeing that it was Ryuun speaking, Kinoshita Tokichiro immediately adopted a serious expression.

Takenaka, Hachisuka, Maeno, and others were the same.

Kinoshita Koichiro, who was meeting him for the first time, was a little curious and secretly stared at Ryuyun, as if trying to figure out what was so special about this person.

After listening to what he said and finding it reasonable, Kinoshita Tokichiro thought about it for a moment and then nodded decisively: "That's right, let's do it that way!"

Liu Yun breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat comforted.

This arrangement is definitely better for women and children than for them to fall into the hands of human traffickers.

However, Kinoshita Tokichiro immediately added, "The problem is, we have a lot going on in Yokoyama Castle in the next few months. Everyone we can trust is already too busy to spare a moment... Lord Ryuun, if you don't have any other plans, how about I put this matter in your care? You can take these women and children back and look after them for now. Once we find suitable bachelor veterans, you can officiate their weddings... What do you think?"

Upon hearing that this troublesome matter was to be entrusted to him, Liu Yun naturally refused.

But after thinking it over, I really don't have any good reasons.

Out of compassion, I finally agreed.

Finding good homes for five hundred poor women is, in a way, doing good deeds and accumulating merit!

Chapter 53 The Best Uses of Healing Magic Items

The matter of burning Mount Hiei ended just like that.

What Liu Yun saw was nothing more than thousands of monks lying dead in the fields, dozens of temples and pagodas looted, and the local people who depended on Buddhism fleeing in droves.

As for the impact of this matter on the religious, cultural, and public opinion spheres...

Since Liu Yun did not know any influential figures in the religious, cultural, or public opinion fields, he was completely unaware of this.

For him, it was simply a slightly challenging infiltration mission. He stole a priceless treasure (which, even if it became part of his body, could be considered theft), and received extra rewards—why not?

However, being inexplicably burdened with the new task of resettling women and children is somewhat both laughable and lamentable.

Liu Yun made some inquiries, and out of the more than 500 women, about ten of the bolder ones came forward to reply.

According to preliminary information, they were all mistresses secretly kept by monks of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei. It is possible that a few were lured into the situation willingly due to material conditions, but the vast majority appeared to have been deceived or even abducted, and were forced to accept reality only because they were powerless to resist.

Three hundred little brats are pitiful enough. Their lives began in a way that could be described as born of sin and tragedy, and the conflicting feelings they have towards their biological fathers may never be resolved.

Fortunately, the requirements of this era were very low. There were no concepts such as respect for human rights and mental health. The elderly, women and children affected by the war were grateful to God for surviving.

It's not too difficult to do that.

Kinoshita Tokichiro is a very kind person—at least he is kind to Ryuun.

They first gave fifty large silver coins, each weighing about three taels, as an appearance fee for this infiltration operation. They also allocated two hundred shi of coarse rice as temporary rations for these women and children, and arranged personnel and venues—of course, all the resources were in Hengshan City, and they needed to collect them themselves.

Thinking about it this way, Liuyun began to understand.

The reason why Kinoshita Tokichiro agreed so quickly was not just to go with the flow and save face, but to take this opportunity to completely tie the name Sasaki Ryuun to Yokoyama Castle as a whole.

Like now, he only has connections with a few high-ranking figures, making him seem like a mere outsider or a guest.

After all, in the process of settling these hundreds of women and children, it was inevitable to come into contact with people from all walks of life in the local area, rather than just dealing with Kinoshita and Takenaka.

Since you said you're planning to provide marriage opportunities for single veterans, you definitely need to pay attention to the specific candidates, such as their family background, income, character, and temperament.

Liu Yun didn't seem to have much of a problem with this.

He mainly felt a great sense of responsibility.

Having lived two lives, he had never had any experience as a manager. Although he had recently become a minor lord, his widowed sister-in-law was in charge of the household, so he only needed to govern by doing nothing. This awkward task, strictly speaking, was the first time he had to shoulder the fate of hundreds of people.

It is both a power and a burden, making people feel both excited and worried.

If I can handle this matter well, even if I don't gain anything substantial, at least I'll feel more at ease.

In this chaotic Warring States period, bringing peace to the people was no easy task.

……

However, we can discuss these things in a few days.

Liu Yun's only thought right now is to go home and rest for a few days.

"Going home" is a long-lost emotion for him.

After inexplicably being transported to this bizarre and fantastical Japanese Sengoku period world, he lost all sense of "home".

My master is a good person. Although he is taciturn and has many worries, he is very gentle. My uncle is honest, kind, and hardworking. He always expresses his care through actions rather than words. My junior brother is smart, lively, and kind-hearted. He is the kind of child who doesn't need to be worried about.

But the temple didn't look like a home at all.