Yashiro the Blind

Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly strange, Wu Ping gritted his teeth and suddenly roared, "I've watched my father practice swordsmanship a lot, so naturally I know what the ancient style should look like! As for you, you're my father's favorite, and you're always by his side, so it's not surprising that you secretly learned the ancient style's swordsmanship! That's right, it's not surprising at all!"

“If you can learn Grandpa’s swordsmanship by just staying by his side, then Uncle, you’ve been with Grandpa for almost forty years, you must have already learned his first sword technique, right?” Ryuko retorted sarcastically.

"You, you—" Wu Ping's face turned a deep purplish-red. Ignoring the blood streaming from his hand, he clenched his fist tightly, trembling with rage. "At such a young age, you have no respect for elders. How dare you speak to your elders in such a tone? It seems you have no regard for the rules of the Tsukahara family!"

"Sigh, Uncle, you're always like this. Every time, all you do at the end is spout nonsense about rules and etiquette. It's really boring. But oh well, Uncle, you're right this time. I really didn't take those rules and etiquette seriously..."

Ryuko pursed his lips, suddenly pulled his finger under his left eye, stuck out his tongue, made a face, and then jumped down the corridor in a few steps, running towards Yashiro.

When they reached the side, she grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her forward. Yashiro stumbled and was dragged along, staggering behind as she listened to Ryuko laugh, "This place is boring, let's not stay here, I'll take you outside to play!"

"wait wait wait……"

The strap of one of the straw sandals broke and fell to the ground. Yashiro ran a few steps barefoot, wanting to call for a stop and turn back to pick it up, but Ryuko showed no intention of stopping: "Don't wait!"

"You two! How dare you! Arrest them immediately!"

Wu Ping shouted angrily, but the people gathered in the courtyard looked at each other and exchanged glances. Instead of stopping the two as he had said, they made way for Long Zi to run past happily.

The falcon followed closely behind, letting out another long cry. As if sensing its master's mood, even its cry became exceptionally loud.

Witnessing the two men and the eagle vanish into the depths of the night in an instant, leaving only a broken straw sandal behind, Wu Ping gritted his teeth, his face turning purple and white in turns, his expression extremely ugly. He was about to vent his anger on the servants—how dare they disobey his orders—but the next moment, belatedly, he realized a stinging pain near his neck.

Reaching up to touch it, he discovered a shallow wound on his neck that had appeared out of nowhere. Although it wasn't very deep, blood was already seeping out. If the wound were an inch or even half an inch deeper... the thought sent a chill down Wu Ping's spine.

But no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't figure out who had left the wound, when, or why he had no recollection of it at all.

I racked my brains but to no avail.

Only endless fear filled my heart.

……

Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Son of Bu Chuan

Under the clear night sky, with the moon shining brightly, two beautiful figures rushed out of the shrine and came to the nearby fields. One of them held a bow in one hand and ran with long strides, while the other was grabbed by the wrist. Her straw sandals were nowhere to be seen, and she was following behind, stumbling and unsteady, carrying a cane.

"Dragon Prince, Dragon Prince..."

Although Yashiro kept shouting, it seemed that her voice was blown away by the wind and could not reach the ears of the person in front of her.

Until she uttered, "...Lord Dragon Prince!"

"Hey, what's wrong?" In the blink of an eye, Ryuko slammed on the brakes, stopped abruptly, and turned around to look at Yashiro with her bright, sparkling eyes—but the next second, she suddenly paused, "Huh, where are your shoes?"

"It just fell..."

"Did you drop it? Why didn't you go and pick it up?"

"Because you're pulling me..."

"Then why didn't you call me?"

"I! Shouted!" Yashiro finally lost her temper and swung her cane at him. But Ryuko didn't dodge or evade, remaining standing in the same spot. So Yashiro flicked her wrist, bringing the cane to a steady stop just above the tip of her nose.

"You won't hide?"

“Because there’s no need to hide, I’m sure you won’t shoot it down,” Longzi replied with a grin.

"Then you've been misled."

As soon as she finished speaking, with a "bang," the cane gently tapped her forehead.

Without any effort, Ryuko pouted and pounced on him, determined to retaliate. Yashiro had no choice but to let her clench her fingers and give her a solid flick on the head.

"hiss……"

I feel like I've been ripped off.

Having won back a point, the Dragon Prince stood with his hands on his hips, beaming with pride. However, he quickly frowned again. "So, should we go back and retrieve your shoes first?"

"No need, I feel like the strap is broken, there's no point in picking it up..." Yashiro shook his head. Besides, Ryuko's stone bullet, although it didn't hurt Uncle Takehira much, greatly embarrassed him. He's probably furious right now, wouldn't going back be like walking into a trap?

and……

She recalled what had just happened and was somewhat uncertain. Although she had initially intended to teach that guy a lesson, he had indiscriminately threatened to cut off both of her thumbs—a hand that is essentially useless without a thumb—and in Tsukahara Takehira's words, this was merely a simple "lesson."

Even though Yashiro considered herself gentle and kind, she still couldn't swallow her anger. She had originally thought that if he was just bluffing, she would let it go, but if he really attacked, although she wouldn't actually kill him on the spot, she would at least leave a wound on his body, make Wu Ping suffer a serious injury, and make him lie in bed for dozens of days to remember the lesson...

It should be so.

But as the cold blade slashed down, her body moved faster than her mind. Her left hand released its grip, her right hand swung, and the narrow sword in her staff seemed to suddenly merge into the misty moonlight, like a gentle, silent rain. Before Yashiro could even react, the sword had already been swung out—

If it weren't for the dragon prince's falcon swooping out at the last moment to save Wu Ping, this sword would have slit his throat on the spot.

The sword was drawn and then withdrawn like lightning. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, not a single person noticed that she had used this sword. Even the sharp-eyed and ruthless Dragon Prince did not notice it. Otherwise, given her personality of not being able to keep things to herself, she would never have remained completely silent from the moment she arrived.

As a family member knows best, Yashiro certainly felt that her iaido skills were not bad, but she was far from being able to strike with lightning speed. Otherwise, in her previous battle with Kanna, if she had just used iaido like this, her enemy would have been beheaded and died instantly, instead of ending up with all these injuries.

In fact, her right wrist is still in pain, and she doesn't know if she twisted it. This pain not only proves the existence of that dreamlike sword strike, but also reminds Yashiro of something: that sword strike exceeded her current physical endurance.

But before that, the most important question is... when did she learn this sword technique, and why did her body react before her consciousness could? Being mindful of one's actions sounds fashionable, but if even the person making the move can't control this reaction, it's undoubtedly a bit unsettling.

Thinking about the potential consequences if that sword strike had actually severed the leader's head, Yashiro couldn't help but feel a wave of fear. It wasn't that she was afraid of the Tsukahara family's revenge; murder is punishable by death, and debts must be repaid. Even if the Sword Saint herself took action, if she couldn't win, she would simply die, just like those who had fallen by her sword before—there was nothing more to say.

She was not particularly concerned about her own safety, but was more concerned about the future of the dragon prince.

The friend he brought back killed his uncle in public. How will Ryuko face the future? The other party clearly cares a lot about this family. If Ryuko is caused to have a rift with his family because of him, or even become enemies... this is definitely not what Yashiro wants.

So she was very fortunate that the sword strike she had launched at the opportune moment had not hit her... or rather, had not hit her completely. At least Tsukahara Takehira's head was still intact on his neck. As long as he was not dead, that was fine. As for whether he was injured or not, that was not something the girl needed to care about.

"It would be best if that guy died of pain," she thought to herself.

On the other side, Longzi nodded: "Oh, then I won't go back... Wait, you haven't taken your pipa yet!"

"This..." Thinking of this, Yashiro's expression became a little strange. Although according to Ryuko, the pipa was broken and old, and looked worthless, it was still her father's heirloom, and she couldn't just throw it away no matter how broken it was. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I'll find another opportunity to get it later."

"Alright." Longzi nodded. "Then... wait! You didn't bring your bundle either!"

"That's not urgent..."

"And that set of Nanban clothes I bought from Sakai-cho! That was very expensive!" Ryuko was still making a fuss, and this time he jumped up completely.

She usually wore that gorgeous foreign outfit when she was out—only once when she was holding the unconscious Yashiro and got stained with blood, did she take it off to change. But now that she was back home, she couldn't help but face her mother's endless nagging. Even though the Dragon Prince always did what she wanted, she couldn't resist the power of the "tightening spell" and had no choice but to change into a piece of her own country's casual clothes. The southern barbarian outfit was taken by A-Zhao to change and have it altered.

There's also a little funny story:

"Ah Zhao, Ah Zhao, you must be very careful with these clothes, and make sure you don't bump them or tear them!"

"Ah, I understand. Speaking of which... it's rare to see you value a dress so much, Miss, and its workmanship is so exquisite... it must be quite expensive, right?"

"Ah, well..." Ryuko's eyes darted around, and she was about to brush it off when a hand reached out from behind and placed on her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother's "smiling" expression.

"I'm quite interested in this topic too, Longzi. You've been traveling alone, so you must have remembered what your father and I taught you, and you haven't been spending money recklessly, have you?"

"This, this, this..."

Longzi stammered, and his mother's smile deepened. She maintained that perfect smile, raised her hand again, grabbed Longzi's ear, and dragged him away.

"Ah Zhao, help me!"

In the end, only a helpless, mournful cry remained.

Ah Zhao acted as if he hadn't heard, lowered his head, carefully folded the clothes, hummed a song, and turned to leave.

Because they weren't far apart, their conversation was overheard by Yashiro, who had persistently come out to steal... a drink. She paused for a moment and decided to keep Lord Ryuko's embarrassing incident to herself, lest he become enraged and do something "beastly" if she told him.

She was genuinely afraid of him.

"Never mind, I'll just have Akira bring it over later..." Just as Yashiro was lost in thought, Ryuko had already made a decision on his own. He was about to reach out to take her hand again when his gaze shifted and landed on her feet. "But it's hard for you to walk like this, isn't it? Do you want me to carry you?"

"No need, this... will do." Rather than putting on shoes on one side and not on the other, Yashiro decided to be even more carefree. She kicked off the other straw sandal, stepping barefoot onto the cold ground, and said with a smile, "This way I won't be afraid of those wearing shoes."

"Wow!" Longzi exclaimed, and before anyone knew what thoughts were going through his little head, he suddenly kicked hard, sending his straw sandals flying high into the air!

Although Yashiro couldn't see it, she could clearly hear the sound of the straw sandals rubbing against the air as they drew a high arc in the sky and plummeted into the distance...

Snapped.

A soft sound.

It landed in the palm of a hand.

Yashiro was startled. Before the voice came, she hadn't even noticed that there was another person over there!

Unlike the "invisibility technique" used by Shenwu, in retrospect, she clearly heard the other person's heartbeat and breathing, as well as other sounds like clothes being blown by the wind. However, even so, she completely ignored the fact that there was someone standing there.

It was as if it wasn't a living person, but something else she wouldn't normally pay special attention to, such as stones by the roadside, wild grass by the river, or drifting clouds in the sky. These things exist simply in the world, and it is precisely because they are ordinary that they don't attract attention.

The dragon princess beside her was also startled, and immediately raised the heavy vine bow in her hand. To facilitate movement, she did not carry a quiver, but instead had a small bag tied to her waist, which contained a bunch of appropriately sized stones to use as projectiles.

Just as he took out a pebble and held it between his fingers, before even placing it on the string, Longzi suddenly breathed a sigh of relief when he looked over: "I thought it was someone else... but it's Uncle."

Unlike her usual confrontational attitude towards Tsukahara Takeshi, when she addressed him by this title, her tone was full of warmth and affection, clearly indicating a close relationship between them. And the only person Ryuko could call "Uncle" was actually Tsukahara Fumihiko, the eldest son of Tsukahara Bokuden.

“Ryuko, and Yashiro-san…you really did come in this direction.”

Fumihiko Tsukahara was not good-looking, the complete opposite of his tall and mighty younger brother Takehira. He was short and, at only forty years old, his hair was already close to bald.

He wore a faded, narrow-sleeved haori, his face was covered in wrinkles, and he squinted his eyes, looking like an old farmer who had worked hard in the fields all his life, showing no trace of the air of a swordsman.

He held the straw sandal that the dragon prince had just kicked out in his right hand, and a wooden sword in his left, the tip of which hung naturally towards the ground. He walked towards them step by step.

Longzi, who had been all smiles and was about to greet him, slowly lost her smile as she approached the wooden sword: "Uncle, what are you doing..."

"I've heard about what happened in front of the Sacred Tree. My foolish brother insisted that you stole my Kashima Koryu swordsmanship—"

"Uncle, Yashiro..."

Longzi was about to defend her, but Wenyan only glanced at her, causing the girl to choke on her words, the rest of her sentence stuck in her throat. The middle-aged man continued, asking, "Miss Baxun, is this true or false?"

"……I have no idea."

Yashiro hesitated for a moment before replying.

"Well, if you don't know, then try it out."

Fumihiko Tsukahara spoke casually, lightly waving his wooden sword, and then tossed the straw sandal in front of Ryuko.

"You're injured, so I'll only use one move. Although it's executed with my left hand, being hit by the wooden sword could still cause injury, so please don't be careless and be careful... Pay attention!"

The last word of reminder had barely left his mouth when the middle-aged man swayed, and Yashiro felt a gust of wind rushing towards him!

In that instant, the fading dream scene seemed to suddenly reappear in her mind: the woman in the white robe raised her straight sword, and with one stroke, the sky seemed to collapse—as if there was only this one sword in the entire world!

Several countermeasures flashed through my mind in an instant, but each one seemed unable to deal with this simplest and most invincible move. Dodge... you can't avoid it. Parry... you can't withstand it. Even if you attack in response, you're already at the back of the game... it's hard to strike first!

However, as his consciousness sank into a state of confusion, the light sword in the staff flashed away like moonlight, drawn by the flow of energy!

With a soft sound, moonlight bathed the world, the wooden sword broke in two, Tsukahara Fumihiko let go of the sword, then clasped his hands together in front of him, his bare hands catching the white blade, trapping the tangible moonlight.

But even with their palms pressed together, a trickle of blood still flowed down.

At the same time, Yashiro let out a muffled groan. With that unintentional swing of her sword, the girl's entire right wrist was swollen and red; the force of her own swing had dislocated the joint, leaving it dangling lightly. A piercing pain shot through her, and she could no longer hold the sword, letting it fall into the hands of the middle-aged man before her—

"Give it back to you."

The next moment, Fumihiko Tsukahara casually handed the sword back into the cane in the girl's left hand. Then, he grabbed her dislocated right wrist, flipped it over, and snapped it back into place with a "click".

Yashiro gritted her teeth, large beads of sweat beading on her forehead. Ryuko finally caught up, supporting her, his eyes darting back and forth between the two of them: "Uncle, what... what's wrong with you...?"

"Hmm...it is indeed quite similar, yet it's not quite the same. It's not the ancient sword technique passed down through my Kashima lineage. It seems my foolish brother is truly ignorant and blind, wrongly accusing you...sigh."

Tsukahara Fumihiko paused, sighed, and then said solemnly, “Miss Yashiro, my foolish brother has already made a grave mistake and deserves to pay the price. If you want to kill him, I will not stop you, nor will I advise you to spare his life. But after all, we are brothers, and I have only one request... I hope you can leave him with a complete corpse, or at least let him die with some dignity—thank you in advance.”

After saying that, he actually bowed deeply to the girl, who was two decades younger than him, with genuine sincerity.

This reaction left Yashiro somewhat at a loss for words. With no one to rely on beside her, Ryuko stood there for a couple of seconds before she instinctively reached out to help, muttering something under her breath.

"No, no need for that... Oh dear!"

However, in his haste, he failed to judge the distance properly and crashed headfirst into it.

The man fell on his back and his horse fell over.

……

Chapter Eighty: Brotherly Love and Respect

At first, Yashiro thought that Fumihiko Tsukahara was playing the game of asking for an exorbitant price and then trying to bargain. He deliberately lowered his stance to make it difficult for Yashiro to continue pursuing the matter. After all, as the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face. Since the other party had shown such sincerity, how could Yashiro continue to be aggressive?

But after exchanging a few more words, she suddenly realized that this person seemed to be... serious.

"If you find it too troublesome, I can order someone to bring your foolish brother to you bound hand and foot, and you can do whatever you want with him. I will not say a word."

Fumihiko Tsukahara spoke very sincerely, and it didn't sound like he was joking at all. Besides, according to common sense, no one would joke about such a thing.

Yashiro had no doubt that if she just nodded slightly, he could really tie his younger brother up like a dumpling and throw him over in a few hours... This scene of brotherly affection and respect was really hard to describe, and the girl didn't even know how to respond to the topic itself.