I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

The question-and-answer session brought Uesugi Tetsuya's last attempt at persuasion to an end.

He rubbed his temples, took out a handkerchief from his storage backpack, wiped the blood from Imagawa Yoshimoto's palm, and then dripped a drop of refreshing mist onto it.

Seeing the small wounds heal, Uesugi Tetsu sighed and knelt on one knee before the 1.4-meter-tall head of the Imagawa family.

"Then, Lord Yiyuan, please give me your orders."

Imagawa Yoshimoto was slightly taken aback, but then couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips, his joy evident in his expression.

She placed her hand on Uesugi Tetsuya's shoulder and said solemnly,

"Great Yin-Yang Master Che, I command you to accompany me to the Kingdom of Mikawa to exorcise the disease and evil spirits, stabilize the people's hearts, suppress the riots, and protect me from even the slightest harm."

"Che, I will obey Lord Yiyuan's command."

……

After getting up, looking at the fiery black-haired girl beside him, Uesugi Tetsu couldn't help but fall into deep thought again.

Although a consensus has been reached with Imagawa Yoshimoto, since the suffering of illness, one of the eight sufferings, has appeared in Mikawa Province, the previous plan needs to be greatly adjusted.

Because the situation is completely different now.

First of all, he could no longer return to the Imagawa residence in Suruga Province with Okabe Motonobu three days later to deal with those old codgers.

Those elders certainly had to die, and they would die sooner or later anyway.

But they are never as important as illness, and can even be said to be less than a fraction of the threat posed by illness.

Those old men are just a bunch of roadside dogs; you could kick them to death anytime you want.

However, the matter of the Kingdom of Sanhe should not be delayed any longer.

It would take a lot of time just to find the Heavenly Craftsman within the territory of Mikawa Province, and Uesugi Tetsu could not afford to waste any more time on such an unimportant matter.

"I need to tell Sister Yuanxin about this news and the changes in the plan."

Uesugi Tetsu pondered, and he estimated that relying solely on himself, or on the two-foot-tall official he sent over to talk, would most likely be useless.

Even if he doesn't go, Motonobu Okabe will go alone.

A letter had to be handwritten by Imagawa Yoshimoto and then delivered to her by the young master.

Only in this way can Okabe Motonobu understand the dire situation in Mikawa Province.

Uesugi Tetsu thought to himself, "Once we get the horse, let Lord Nisha talk to him on his own."

Otherwise, the movement speed without horses would be too slow.

He couldn't possibly carry Imagawa Yoshimoto all the way; that would not only be troublesome and a waste of energy, but it would also make it difficult to deal with unexpected situations.

For now, we still need to sit on the two-foot-tall floating board and get to a city first before we talk about anything else.

Before leaving, Uesugi Tetsu said to the middle-aged man who was preparing to go to Mikawa to do business, "Give Sakata and the others one-third of their money and food, and then return."

"After all, without them, your family would most likely perish in the Kingdom of Sanhe in a few days."

After saying that, Uesugi Tetsuya and Imagawa Yoshimoto boarded the hoverboard again and quickly took off amidst the gratitude of the bandits and the family in Sakata.

Once they disappeared from sight, no one paid any more attention to the two groups of people on the country road.

Uesugi Tetsu thought for a moment, then raised a finger towards Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was tapping his knees incessantly and seemed somewhat agitated.

"Lord Yiyuan, because of that illness, you must agree to three rules with me before entering the Kingdom of Sanhe."

Imagawa Yoshimoto paused, then exhaled, "Tetsu-kun, you speak."

"First, you must not leave my sight, because there may be demons that I have never seen before."

The girl nodded: "That's how it should be."

"Secondly, when dealing with any people or events within the territory of Sanhe, the methods of handling them must be entirely up to me."

Imagawa Yoshimoto pursed his lips and finally replied, "Yes, I won't interfere."

"The third and most important point."

Uesugi Tetsuya said seriously,

"If you are separated from me by chance, please do not trust anyone, and do not eat or drink anything given to you by anyone."

"I remember."

Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded seriously as well, and a few seconds later he repeated Uesugi Tetsuya's three rules word for word.

"I hope that Lord Yiyuan will keep his promise."

"I will certainly live up to your trust, Lord Che."

Uesugi Tetsu took out a small drum of life and death from his storage bag and handed it to her.

Imagawa Yoshimoto took the small drum, stared at the characters for "life" and "death" on it, and hesitated before saying, "Tetsu-kun, this is..."

"The Drum of Life and Death".

Uesugi Tetsu explained the different effects of the two sides to her in detail, and solemnly said, "Please, Lord Yoshimoto, do not make a mistake because you are in a hurry."

A small drum that can attract and drive away demons...

Imagawa Yoshimoto carefully tied it up and placed it inside the lining: "Thank you for your trouble, Tetsu-kun."

"It's just a small prop, nothing much," Uesugi Tetsu said softly. "I'll only be at ease if Lord Yoshimoto returns safely from this trip."

Then, a long silence fell over the floating platform.

Using the pen and paper given to him by Uesugi Tetsuya, Imagawa Yoshimoto wrote a temporary letter as requested and slipped it into the hands of the young master.

As for Okabe Motonobu disobeying her orders and wanting to kill the elders ahead of time, that's nothing now.

Chaos gradually increased along the route from Yuanjiang to Sanhe, but overall Yuanjiang Kingdom was not greatly affected and remained relatively stable.

The effects of the disease were limited to the territory of Mikawa.

The two bought two "tall horses" in Tōtōmi Province, with thick hooves and legs, and about the same height as Imagawa Yoshimoto.

—This was considered one of the best horses available for purchase in the market during the Warring States period.

So the young master left alone, taking the map and the letter, and headed back towards the army led by Okabe Motonobu.

Since they had already arrived at the city where the Sanhe River meets the Yuanjiang River, even though the road was bumpy and rugged, the two of them rode their horses and entered the somewhat desolate Sanhe region in just a few hours.

However, after riding his horse along the main road for only ten minutes, Uesugi Tetsuya sensed something was wrong.

It's not that the sound, the air, or the atmosphere is wrong.

Instead,

The entire Three Rivers Kingdom is in chaos.

Uesugi Tetsu glanced subtly at Imagawa Yoshimoto beside him, only to find that she remained oblivious.

"Anyway, let's find the survivors first and ask them about the current situation..."

Following the direction pointed out by Imagawa Yoshimoto, the two hurried toward the nearest village.

Several tens of minutes later, Imagawa Yoshimoto could see the small village in the distance, and could also vaguely see a few dark figures moving on the edge of the horizon.

With a hint of joy, she said, "Che-jun, that's the village!"

Chapter 179 The Mountain Whale Heavenly Craftsman of Mikawa Province is nearby! His retinues are everywhere? His souls are scattered everywhere!

"Lord Yiyuan, stop!"

On the somewhat desolate plain, Uesugi Tetsu immediately pulled on the reins and gave the order, causing his horse to neigh slightly and stop.

Because he could smell the stench of decay.

The stench, though faint and light from a great distance, is incredibly profound, exceptionally strong, and pungent.

It's the kind of scent that you can never forget once you've smelled it.

This isn't a physiological taste; it's more like a taste that comes from our genes, a taste that's simply unacceptable...

The stench of a corpse of the same kind would probably be exceptionally strong, far stronger than any other smell.

There is a very high probability that this mechanism will be triggered when a human is near a dead member of their species.

It's as if it's warning those around you to stay away from potential danger.

Uesugi Tetsuya's gaze was indifferent.

If he is not mistaken, everyone in the village should be dead, and have been dead for more than a day.

Otherwise, given the current weather, the smell wouldn't travel this far.

Moreover, it would be very difficult for ordinary people to survive in such a harsh environment.

Not to mention that the very people in the village who might be the culprits behind the mass deaths—the sick and suffering relatives.

Uesugi Tetsu looked down at the horses beneath him, which were otherwise useless except for being relatively strong—if there were sick relatives in the village spreading a plague, they might not be able to withstand it either.

And then there's Imagawa Yoshimoto. She hasn't established her internal energy circulation yet, so she might also be invaded by the virus. I'll have to teach her how to use her internal energy to "seal" herself off later.

Seeing this, Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was standing nearby, also quickly pulled on the reins and asked, "Tetsu-kun, what's wrong?"

Uesugi Tetsu dismounted and walked the horse towards a fairly thick old tree. He took out a rein almost as thick as his forearm from his storage backpack, tied it to the tree, and asked,

"Lord Yiyuan, what else did you see besides the village? Was anyone there?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't ask why, and after leading his horse over, he replied, "Yes, I just saw a few figures loitering around the village entrance."

In such dire circumstances, how many people are still wandering around the village entrance?

"Those figures are not human."

Uesugi Tetsuya took out the Bloodstained Crown again, controlled it to inject some spiritual power into it, and summoned six one-star puppets holding pitchforks and hoes, swaying precariously.

The reason why we did not summon the better-equipped and more well-trained one-and-a-half-star soldier puppets was...

It was because Uesugi Tetsu felt that the one-star puppets were enough to protect the horses and scout ahead for them.

There's no need to expend too much spiritual energy summoning minions—the Warring States period is not like the present world; it would take Uesugi Tetsuya several hours to recover just that little bit of spiritual energy.

Yoshimoto Imagawa's eyes widened slightly as he curiously examined the exquisite dolls that seemed to understand human speech, thinking how wonderful it would be if he could summon them to guard the gate in the future.

"You four, protect the horses from any harm."

Uesugi Tetsu gave instructions to the dolls.

"The remaining two will walk ahead of us later."

Bang, bang, bang.

Several puppets, some dressed in straw raincoats and others in tattered haori, nodded exaggeratedly at him and then proceeded to their respective groups according to his orders.

Having completed all this and thoroughly checked that the Qi circulation was working correctly, Uesugi Tetsuya looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto, who hadn't said a word, and asked,

"Lord Yiyuan, can you filter the air you inhale with your internal energy first?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto hesitated at first, then shook his head.

She was afraid that her learning would be incomplete or ineffective, which could lead to some unexpected problems.

Uesugi Tetsuya didn't waste any time and immediately transferred his internal energy to her body.

“I will establish a temporary Qi circulation. Yi Yuan Gong, you can simply attach your internal energy to it to maintain its operation.”

"it is good."

A few minutes later, Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had already begun to steadily circulate his internal energy in a temporary cycle, heard Uesugi Tetsu's voice again.

"If possible, Lord Yiyuan, you should also keep the smell out as well."

Uesugi Tetsuya, whose eyes were already twitching slightly, gave a warning, then took out her complete set of contemporary gear and had Imagawa Yoshimoto put it on.

After she finished putting on her armor, Uesugi Tetsuya also placed the Hannya mask, folding fan, and Five Thunder Pearl on his person.

After making thorough preparations, they slowly began to urge the puppets toward the village.

"Che-jun, you mean the people in that village are all..."

Imagawa Yoshimoto had already drawn the Soza Samonji from his waist, his hawk-like eyes scanning his surroundings, not missing a single detail.

Then the crooked roof beams, the dried and blackened bloodstains, and the dark face that became clearer as she got closer all came into view.

That's why she asked that question.