Swallow Return

Seeing this, Hachisuka Masakatsu nodded and said, "In that case, playing cards for fun is no problem."

The samurai all breathed a sigh of relief.

Especially the round-faced man with the small mustache, who is the head of the household here.

He forced a couple of awkward laughs, trying to say something to get closer to the other person.

But Hachisuka Masakatsu immediately added, "Actually, it's not me today, but this Lord Sasaki Ryūun who has something to discuss with you."

The round-faced man with the mustache was immediately puzzled. He quickly turned around with a fawning smile and faced Liu Yun.

Liu Yun pointed to the two soldiers and the little girl in shackles, and asked directly, "Are you their superior officer? What is your name?"

The man with the round face and small mustache said humbly, "I am Mizuno Tadahiro, the magistrate of the town of Yokoyama Castle, responsible for arresting thieves and maintaining the stability of the town."

Liu Yun said, "I see. So this little girl was indeed the one you arrested yesterday?"

Mizuno Tadahiro, with his round face and small mustache, glanced at it, pondered for a moment, and carefully replied, "Yes. This female thief stole a silver coin worth about two kan, which is quite a lot, so I personally arrested her."

Liu Yun then asked, "So, do you have any evidence that she stole anything?"

Mizuno Tadahiro, with his round face and small mustache, paused for a moment, seemingly realizing the situation was dire, and cautiously said, "It's like this... Yesterday, I saw this raggedly dressed man, who seemed to be starving, suddenly pull out a large silver coin to buy something in the rice shop in the castle town, so I assumed it was stolen. I arrested this female thief... I interrogated her, but she refused to confess, instead saying that the large silver coin was a donation from a kind person... This explanation sounded very suspicious, so..."

Liu Yun said expressionlessly, "This silver coin was given to her yesterday."

Mizuno Tadahiro, with his round face and small mustache, was probably already mentally prepared, so he wasn't too surprised at the moment. Instead, he immediately knelt down and apologized: "I'm so sorry! I was confused for a moment and acted too hastily! I made a serious mistake!"

Hachisuka Masakatsu immediately frowned and cursed, "Idiot! How can you be so careless as the governor of a castle town! If it weren't for Lord Sasaki Ryūun here today, you would have made a terrible mistake!"

Mizuno Tadahiro, maintaining his dogeza (bowing) posture, hurriedly replied, "Yes! I will certainly reflect on my actions!"

Liu Yun frowned.

Since merging with the red magatama that could manipulate people's minds, he had developed a keen intuitive perception of other people's thoughts. He immediately felt that this Mizuno Tadahiro was not a good person, but most likely a cunning and treacherous one.

However, one should not convict someone solely based on one's own intuitive feelings.

So Liu Yun didn't investigate further, but simply pointed at the little girl and said, "Without evidence, you beat someone until they were covered in blood and gore?"

Tadahiro Mizuno stammered and hesitated, unable to respond.

Hachisuka Masakatsu struck an angry pose and shouted, "Is all you know how to do is torture and extract confessions? Aren't you afraid of being forced to confess? You must improve! Otherwise, I won't let you off the hook!"

Look at what you're saying...

This must be improved in the future, or we will not be spared.

Does that mean we'll forgive them this time?

Clearly, Hachisuka Masakatsu was just putting on a show for Ryuun; he didn't really take the little girl's plight seriously.

Liu Yun was a little annoyed.

If we don't intervene today, this little girl will most likely die unjustly in prison.

How can you treat a life so lightly?

If you can't see it, then so be it; but if you can see it, you can't ignore it.

But it would be unwise to argue about it face to face at this moment.

That round-faced man with a small mustache, Mizuno Tadahiro, seemed like an experienced and cunning fellow, not someone who could be easily dealt with with words. If he insisted it was just a work mistake, then no matter what you said, it would be a waste of breath.

If it were truly just an occasional work mistake, at most it could be said that the torture was too cruel, but by the standards of this era, it wouldn't be considered a heinous crime.

Although Liu Yun is a time traveler, he is relatively tolerant by nature and does not intend to judge the ancients by the moral standards of the later era.

Therefore, after thinking for a moment, he decided not to make too much of a fuss for the time being. He said nothing, but pointed at the little girl and said, "Since she is innocent, please remove the shackles and let me take her away."

Hachisuka Masakatsu nodded and said, "That's right, that's right, let's hurry up!"

Tadahiro Mizuno quickly got up, went into the room to get the key, and hurriedly unlocked the shackles.

Liu Yun reached out and put his arm around the little girl's waist, said "Farewell," and turned to leave.

Tadahiro Mizuno, with his round face and small mustache, lay on the ground breathing heavily, while Masakatsu Hachisuka, with his burly waist and broad shoulders, seemed lost in thought.

Chapter Sixty-Two: Anger in My Heart

Logically, besides getting the person out of trouble, they should also get back the two taels of silver that were confiscated as stolen money.

But Liu Yun was too lazy to bother.

It's only two taels of silver anyway.

He put his arm around the little girl and walked out of the city while using his "healing power" to try to heal her injuries.

Instantly, the girl's wounds began to heal rapidly, and the bruises and swelling gradually subsided.

But he remained unconscious.

Liu Yun was a little anxious, but he didn't understand medicine and was confused.

Until he descended the mountain and left the city, he encountered Jinghe Asagi, who was hiding in the shadows by the gate, and briefly explained the whole story to her.

Igawa Asagi, who knew medicine, examined her briefly and exclaimed in surprise, "How strange! This girl has clearly been brutally beaten and abused, but her pulse and breathing are very steady, not at all like someone who has been injured. Could she be born with supernatural abilities?"

Liu Yun asked, "Then why did you faint and remain unconscious?"

Igawa Asahi hesitated and said, "The reason for fainting doesn't seem to be that I was abused, but... but that I was too hungry?"

Liu Yun found it hard to believe, but chose to believe her.

The two took the little girl back to the longhouse in the abandoned street, had someone prepare a bowl of brown rice porridge, and had Igawa Asagi help feed her.

A moment later, the little girl did indeed wake up and exclaimed, "I didn't steal the money! It was given to me by a kind person!"

Then he opened his eyes, feeling as if he had been in another world. He stared blankly for a while before realizing that he was no longer in shackles.

After a moment of stunned silence, his eyes darted around, and he recognized Liu Yun. He quickly stood up and thanked him in a hesitant tone, "Kind sir, you helped me again? Did you rescue me? I really don't know how to repay you..."

Liu Yun nodded silently.

Seeing that the little girl was so thin and pale, with bloodstains still on her body, yet so generous and sensible, Jinghe Asagi felt a surge of maternal instinct and asked softly, "Little girl, what's your name?"

The young girl bowed and politely replied, "Hello, Madam, my name is Yazumi. You can just call me Yuzuri."

Igawa Asagi immediately waved her hand and said, "No, no, I am not anyone's wife..."

Little Purple Girl suddenly realized and said, "I'm sorry, I understand. I can't call you Madam yet."

Upon hearing this, Ikawa Asagi blushed slightly, but quickly recovered and changed the subject: "Little Purple, are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Little Purple Girl shook her head: "Thank you for your concern, I seem to be much better. It's just... I wonder how my brother is doing at home? I haven't been back all day..."

Thinking of this, she suddenly panicked: "I want to go back and see my brother!"

Liu Yun frowned and said, "Lead the way! Let's go take a look."

Little Purple Girl hurriedly set off.

She was indeed mostly unharmed and moved with remarkable agility. Perhaps, as Ikawa Asagi said, she possessed some extraordinary talent.

Little Purple Girl ran a long way to the outermost edge of the castle town and found the so-called "old house".

It was a fairly spacious, but rather dilapidated, mansion.

At least half of the surrounding houses are abandoned, and the other half exude a musty smell. Large amounts of weeds and trees have taken over the area that originally belonged to human habitation.

Logically speaking, this place may have been a middle-class community before, but it fell into disrepair due to external factors that caused the town center to shift.

"Brother! Brother, are you there?"

Little Purple Girl called out as she frantically searched.

Liu Yun and Jinghe Asagi also looked around.

In a moment, Liu Yun noticed something and pointed into the distance: "Could it be him?"

There was a young man over there, clutching his cane, who collapsed onto a large rock, motionless and unconscious, but his eyes were still open.

Little Purple Girl ran towards the sound and was horrified. She reached out to pull him, but there was no response. Tears immediately streamed down her face: "Brother! Brother! Wake up!"

Liu Yun and Jinghe Ashaji approached each other.

Little Purple Girl fought back her tears and knelt on the ground, pleading, "Kind sir and madam, please, save my brother..."

Igawa Asagi reached out and grasped the young man's wrist, then shook her head sadly, her face showing deep sorrow: "He's completely lifeless... His whole body is stiff and cold. He's been dead for at least four or five hours. Even if the Venerable Jianzhen were to be resurrected, he probably couldn't be saved. It was probably last night. I think... He had been starving for a long time, and his body was already very weak. He forced himself to come out with his cane to look for his sister, and he accidentally fell here, hitting his head on the rocks. Then he never woke up again."

Upon hearing this, Little Purple Girl trembled violently, her eyes widened, and though she opened her mouth, she couldn't utter a single word. Suddenly, her head lolled to the side, and she collapsed to the ground.

Jinghe Asagi quickly hugged the little purple girl in her arms.

Liu Yun sighed and looked at it carefully.

Little Purple's brother was a very clean and handsome young man. Although he lived in poverty and had a leg injury, his hair was always very clean, and his worn clothes were still neat. He seemed to come from a good family. However, there were many calluses on his palms, indicating that he must have been doing manual labor frequently lately.

Liu Yun reached out and closed the deceased's eyes.

He felt extremely sad at that moment.

I got up and looked into the distance.

He walked back and forth a couple more steps.

But the frustration did not subside; instead, it deepened.

Suddenly, a nameless rage surged within him. He slammed his fist heavily onto the large rock, shaking his head angrily as he said, "It was my own fault for not thinking things through! A child carrying gold in the middle of the city is bound to be in danger. If I had given him dozens of copper coins instead of a single silver coin, perhaps this wouldn't have happened!"

With that powerful punch, a small layer of the large rock was chipped off, and many fragments flew everywhere.

But Liuyun's hand must be in a much worse state than Shitou's.

Although he was highly skilled in martial arts, he ultimately did not have the ability to have a head of bronze and arms of iron. He was still a mortal, and his hands were instantly covered in blood, with the skin torn open.

Igawa Asahi shook her head and said, "It's all the fault of the governor of that castle town. How can we blame you?" Then she quickly took out the gauze and medicine she carried with her.

In fact, Liu Yun possesses healing power, and this minor injury will heal immediately.

But Igawa Asagi was unaware of this and focused only on applying medicine and bandaging.

Liu Yun had no time to explain.

He took a deep breath and slowly said, "Right now, I just want to figure out whether the governor of that castle town was negligent in his duties by accident or did something intentional."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

It seems like they're preparing to settle scores with someone.