I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

“My grandson, Jun.” Kanazawa Tadatsugu’s lips twitched slightly. “Weren’t you already asleep?”

“I had indeed gone to bed, but the noise you all made woke me up.” My grandson sighed. “Are you not tired enough from marching? It’s so late at night, and you’re still here having a martial arts contest.”

Upon hearing this, Jinze Zhongfu quickly spoke up to defend himself: "We..."

He had barely begun to speak when my grandson interrupted him:

"Whatever your reasons, engaging in such a wasteful act during a march is neither appropriate nor advisable. Tonight's duel is a one-time exception. Everyone, get back to your inns and get some sleep now."

My grandson spoke calmly, his tone was not loud, and he did not shout, but there was an invisible pressure, and the aura of a commander was fully displayed.

It was rare to encounter a martial arts master whose swordsmanship and combat experience were both remarkable. I was just getting warmed up and ready to concentrate and have a good fight when my grandson suddenly stopped the match with a few words.

This feeling of being completely stuck... it's indescribably uncomfortable.

Both Aoto and Kanazawa Tadatsugu wore frustrated expressions—especially Aoto.

Since the various squads of the Fire Thieves rarely interact on a regular basis, Aoto had planned to take advantage of this excellent opportunity tonight to further exploit the talents of the other squad members.

However, Qingdeng and the others had to admit: My grandson is right.

They will continue their march tomorrow, and upon reaching the front lines, they will immediately begin preparations for battle. The ensuing series of military operations will be a significant test of everyone's physical strength, so conserving their energy is always a good idea.

--never mind.

Qingdeng thought to himself.

Anyway, we've already gained something tonight.

After pondering this for a moment, Qingdeng voluntarily put down the bamboo sword in his hand.

Seeing that Qingdeng had taken the lead, Jinze Zhongfu and the others stopped struggling and followed suit, putting down their bamboo swords, bows and other items, and turning back to the inn to sleep.

……

……

The weather was perfect.

From the moment the expeditionary force set out from Edo, the weather was fine and sunny the entire way.

There was neither rainfall nor extreme weather events such as a sudden cold wave.

Kai truly deserves its nickname, "Mountain Country".

Since entering Kai territory, the surrounding scenery has changed dramatically.

Plains have decreased, while mountains have increased.

No matter which direction you look, all you see are endless mountains.

Mountains upon mountains, mountains embracing mountains...

As he gazed at the layers upon layers of the Kai Mountains, Aoto suddenly realized that this seemed to be the first time since he had traveled through time that he had been so far from Edo.

After four days and three nights, the expeditionary force finally arrived at the front line of the battle on a bright afternoon: a mountain village called "Daohe Village".

Looking up, the country road underfoot leads to a forest that stretches all the way to the ridge, where wisps of smoke rise from the back of the ridge—that's where Daohe Village is located.

After crossing the ridge, a pungent, acrid smell immediately assaulted Qingdeng's nostrils.

Before even officially entering the village, Qingdeng had already discovered one heartbreakingly tragic scene after another on the outskirts of the village.

Not far away, in the open area, what was once mostly rice paddies has now been trampled beyond recognition by countless feet.

The dense footprints resembled stamps, layered and crisscrossed, etched onto the muddy ground of the rice paddies.

Wilted rice ears, scattered rice seeds, broken farm tools, and all sorts of broken things whose original forms were no longer recognizable were scattered and sown everywhere.

There were also quite a few people moving back and forth in this "broken" rice field.

There were men and women, old and young—they must be the villagers of Daohe Village.

The villagers of Daohe Village were seen either using shovels, hoes and other tools to tidy up the messy land; or using dismantled wooden planks as stretchers to pick up and carry away all the garbage and debris scattered in the mud; or simply standing in a corner of the rice paddy, staring blankly at the rice paddy that was no longer as beautiful as before, speechless with emotion.

Gaa! Gaa! Gaa!

Just then, several crows suddenly flew over and circled above the rice paddy.

Their piercing cries added a heavy touch of desolation to this rice paddy that had already been ravaged beyond recognition.

Upon seeing this, Qing Deng couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.

As one of the highest-ranking officers in this battle, he naturally learned a great deal of intelligence about the village of Daohe well in advance.

Inawa, Inawa... Abundant rice ears, what a beautiful name—yet the villagers living in this village have always lived a miserable life worse than death.

The target of Qing Deng and his men's western expedition was a group of bandits entrenched on Xiangma Mountain.

Soma Mountain: Despite its name, it is actually just a small peak with an altitude of less than 150 meters. Although the living conditions are very harsh, its strategic location makes it a natural fortress that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The bandits who seized Xiangma Mountain as their base called themselves the "Xiangma Clique" and wielded considerable power.

According to conservative estimates, the number of bandits in the Soma clan is at least 200, including many samurai who had no choice but to become outlaws because they could not survive.

Inawa Village is located at the foot of Mount Soma, and is therefore often bullied by the Soma clan. It is precisely because Inawa Village is so close to the Soma clan that the thief Kai chose the village as the front line of this battle.

As Qingdeng knows, Soma would come down the mountain every few days to ask the villagers of Daohe Village for "tribute".

The items offered as tribute included, but were not limited to: food, alcohol, clothing, women, etc.

The Soma clan wields immense power; with a mere wave of their hand, they can render the entire village of Inawa physically obliterated.

In order to avoid the tragic fate of "the village being wiped out by death," the villagers of Daohe Village had no choice but to endure their misfortunes and humiliation.

If the harvest is plentiful and the situation is good, the villagers can still have a little bit of scraps left over after "paying tribute" to Xiangma.

But what if there is a poor harvest and the economy is bad...

This year happens to be a year of famine with unsatisfactory grain yields.

This year, due to various reasons, the harvest was severely poor, and numerous uprisings broke out across Japan.

For a time, people panic.

It took the shogunate and various feudal domains considerable effort to finally suppress all the uprisings.

Ikkyu: Literally meaning "united as one," in ancient Japan it came to mean a united uprising. In plain language, it means a popular rebellion or civil unrest.

In ancient Japan, all acts of rebellion against the rule of lords were called "Ikki".

I don't know who it was, but they made up some nonsense about "Ten things bandits shouldn't rob, seven things they shouldn't steal, and five things they shouldn't allow," such as not robbing wedding cars or funeral cars, not stealing girls or brides, and not robbing the poor... It's complete rubbish!

Throughout history, in any country or region, the crimes committed by bandits who ruled the mountains are too numerous to count.

Some idiots, whose brains seem to be twisted in a strange way, even fantasize that bandits are a group of heroic outlaws, and that they themselves would become their wives or something like that.

What utter nonsense about "ten things you shouldn't rob" and "seven things you shouldn't steal"! The weaker you are, the more the bandits will bully you!

To expect bandits to have a code of honor... that's just wishful thinking.

The actions of Xiangma Zhong profoundly illustrate why so many people throughout history have hated mountain bandits to the bone.

This year's circumstances are not good, and the villagers of Daohe Village are already struggling to make ends meet. However, the Soma clan still insists that the villagers "pay tribute" on time and in full, not a single grain of rice can be missing.

They even went so far as to threaten us: "Either give us money and food, or we'll give you your heads!"

The snow and frost that Xiangma had been pressing down on the villagers had long fueled a burning anger within them that they desperately needed to vent.

These despicable bandits have really gone too far this time! Their actions, which drive people to the brink of despair, have ignited the long-suppressed anger of the villagers!

The villagers picked up hoes, shovels, and anything else they could use as weapons and launched an angry counterattack against the Soma clan... and were immediately met with extremely severe retaliation.

The Soma clan, which had an absolute advantage in numbers, weapons, and combat power, easily defeated the makeshift armed force of the villagers.

A large number of people were killed.

More than half of the houses were burned to ashes.

The rice paddies were trampled into a muddy, rotten mess.

The bandits, with their relentless plundering, seized all the young women and the last remaining property in the village.

Millet hidden in the cellar; pickled radishes resting on the roof beam; an old ox that should be enjoying its twilight years...

The bandits of Xiangma, with the screaming women in their arms, returned home laden with spoils, laughing triumphantly.

This is the origin of the scene seen at Qingdeng Carving...

Upon seeing the arrival of the shogunate's army, the villagers who were tending to the rice paddies stopped what they were doing.

The expeditionary force had to cross the ridge between two rice paddies.

The paddy fields were on higher ground, so the villagers in the rice paddies had to stand up straight and raise their faces to see the soldiers' faces clearly.

Sensing that many people were looking at him, Qingdeng tilted his head to his left and happened to meet the eyes of a little girl who was probably not even 8 years old.

The little girl's body was covered in dirt; there was mud here and grime there. From head to toe, only her pair of bright, dark eyes were clear—but sadly, these beautiful eyes were now filled with a mixture of joy and worry.

Qingdeng scanned his surroundings and found that all the villagers in Daohe Village looked the same without exception—covered in filth, their clothes so dirty that their original color was no longer visible, their faces etched with wrinkles from years of wind and rain, their expressions blank, and their eyes, as they looked at Qingdeng and the others, revealed a complex mix of joy and sorrow.

Some people, upon making eye contact with Qingdeng, immediately changed their expressions, revealing a look of fear, and hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to look at Qingdeng even for a second.

In this closed era with underdeveloped information exchange, to the farmers in these small mountain villages, the samurai in the city... especially the samurai of Edo, were basically no different from aliens from another planet.

It's perfectly normal for the villagers to feel nervous and fearful about the arrival of "aliens."

After traversing the rugged, uneven field ridges, Qingdeng soon came to see a filthy road covered in dust and excrement, low thatched huts, and charred ruins destroyed by fire...

Looking around, all I could see was a gray, gloomy landscape...

It was as if a thick, dark cloud had covered the village.

A river runs through the center of the village, shimmering in the sunlight—this is the only bright spot in Daohe Village at this moment.

The river connects the rice paddies to the south with the mountains to the north, dividing Daohe Village into two neat halves, east and west, with the "east half" and "west half" connected only by a few simple wooden bridges.

The villagers hung their heads and shoulders, their faces deathly expressionless. They moved like zombies, exuding the same aura as the mud they trampled underfoot: damp, muddy, filthy, weak and vulnerable. The river water, too, seemed to be affected by their demeanor, appearing cold and chilling.

This place lacks the bustling streets and alleys that Qingdeng was familiar with.

This place lacks the bustling scene that Qingdeng was familiar with.

This place and Edo... are like two completely different worlds.

What I see now is the "truth"... Qingdeng thought to himself.

Poverty, filth, backwardness, and constant oppression by bandits, ronin, and other evil forces—this was the true face of Japan in that era.