Yashiro the Blind

"Hey, woman...woman, if you don't want to get hurt, I advise you to hurry up and hand over your money..."

For example, now.

Yashiro stopped tapping the ground with her cane to probe the way, tilted her head, and listened to two hurried footsteps rushing out from the bushes on both sides of the road, one on the left and one on the right. They were pointing at her with what looked like a short knife, and shouting threats.

Normally, this scene should have terrified a weak girl like her, who had no power to even kill a chicken, leaving her pale and trembling with fear. Unfortunately, the bandit who rushed out to rob her was either nervous or stuttering, and he couldn't finish a sentence for a long time. Like a cassette tape recorder, he just couldn't say the words after the word "take".

Finally, another person couldn't take it anymore. He shoved his companion aside, raised the long knife in his hand, and said coldly, "Woman, give me the money!"

He is concise and to the point, which immediately reveals his mastery of language.

"But I don't have any money..." Yashiro said softly, looking a little scared as she lowered her head.

"..."

The usually taciturn expert seemed to be choked by those words, remaining silent for a long time. Instead, his companion tugged at his sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Brother, she...she said she has no money, what...what do we do?"

Okay, looks like he must be a stutterer.

"We'll rob even if we don't have money! If everyone said they didn't have money, would we still be able to do this business?" the expert replied quietly.

"Then...then what should we rob her of? Are we going to rob her of her body? Ouch!" Before he could finish speaking, the stutterer was given a sharp rap on the head.

"What nonsense are you talking about! Didn't we agree to be ethical and principled thieves? We'll only rob money! We won't rob women! We won't rob the elderly, weak, or disabled!"

"But... brother, this woman seems to be... yes, she's blind."

"..."

The expert fell silent once again.

Yashiro stood there silently, listening to the two of them plotting loudly, until the expert seemed to have finally made up his mind. He suddenly turned around, and the sharp sword in his hand reflected the shimmering moonlight. An invisible aura gathered, which moved everyone present!

"The sword is drawn, the thief will not leave empty-handed!" he said in a deep voice. "Woman, I have already drawn my sword. Even if you are blind, I cannot return empty-handed."

"so?"

So... give me something, however little.

The expert's face was tense, his hand holding the knife trembled slightly, and his voice was as cold as ever, as if he would kill the whole family without hesitation at any moment, but his words were almost a plea.

"How much will you give me?"

Give me something, however little.

This was the first time Yashiro had encountered this type of bandit, and for a moment she didn't know how to respond. She casually asked a question, but the other party repeated it in a serious tone.

"Then... for you?"

She took out a coin from her pocket and pretended to toss it over.

The expert scrambled to catch it, nearly cutting himself in the process. His expression turned serious: "Could you give me another coin?"

"Another coin?"

"It's okay if you don't give it to me."

"……Give."

The second coin was tossed over, and the expert caught it again. He turned around, exchanged a glance with his companion, and a barely perceptible hint of joy appeared on his usually aloof face.

The two suddenly stood shoulder to shoulder and bowed to Yashiro in unison: "Thank you!"

"Thank you so much! So much... Thank you!"

"Um...you're welcome?"

Yashiro waved his hand blankly, listening as the two men turned and ran. As they ran, the expert shouted in his cold voice, "We got the money, little brother! We finally got the money today!"

"Great! Brother, we did it! We did it! We succeeded!"

"..."

The night wind howled by, blowing up a few leaves and also ruffling Yashiro's messy long hair.

She stood there, lost in thought for a long time, as if a thousand words were stuck in her throat, but in the end she could only sigh softly and lament:

"Ah... I've been robbed."

……

Chapter Eighty-Six: The Six Coins That Couldn't Be Given Away

The night wind swirls, and people flee.

In the bright moonlight, the two men's pace gradually slowed, until they were walking slowly one after the other, their shadows sometimes overlapping and sometimes separating. Suddenly, the young man behind them laughed again: "Brother, brother, we... we successfully robbed... robbed the money!"

"Ah."

The other young man nodded, his tone also carrying a hint of joy, but his facial expression remained unchanged, at most raising his eyebrows slightly—this was not because he was shrewd and inscrutable, but because he had suffered a serious illness in his childhood, and even though he had struggled to survive, he still suffered from many aftereffects:

For example, he has occasional hand tremors and severe facial paralysis, making it almost impossible for him to make any large movements or expressions. Even with all his might, he can only manage a crooked smile that looks worse than crying. When his younger brother was little, he was frightened and cried a few times, and afterwards, he rarely smiled anymore.

The two were close in age; he was twenty-five and his younger brother was twenty-three. After their parents passed away, they organized the family's money and raised enough dowry for their younger sister so that she could marry into a decent family. The two of them packed their bags, left their hometown, and planned to make a name for themselves in the surrounding areas, hoping to make something of themselves and bring honor to their ancestors.

Young people always have passion in their hearts, but after a few years of struggling in the harsh world, that once burning passion gradually cools down. At first, they might have thought of serving under a daimyo, making a name for themselves and fighting bravely against the enemy. But later, they only hope to become servants of some respectable samurai and earn a decent living... Unfortunately, for a stuttering coward and a trembling, expressionless man, this is also a luxury.

He had been carrying heavy loads on his shoulders and back for many years, and thought that his life would pass by in such hardship and mediocrity. But one day, he happened to find a wounded warrior in the wild. He was dressed in bright and beautiful clothes and looked very imposing, but he was seriously injured and had more than a dozen arrows stuck in his body. He was already on the verge of death.

He seemed to want to tell his two brothers something, but before he could speak, he opened his mouth and died sitting there. The two brothers discussed it and decided that, theoretically, the heads of warriors who had lost battles like this could be taken to the nearby lords for a bounty. However, neither of them had the courage to cut off a head. They took their samurai swords and gestured beside the corpse for a long time, but they never dared to do it.

Just as they were struggling with their decision, several peasants armed with guns and clubs suddenly appeared from the side. To be precise, these people should be called "fallen warrior hunters." Whenever a lord in the vicinity finished fighting, they would immediately take up their weapons and ambush him. If they encountered a defeated general, they would attack him in droves, plunder his money and valuables, and then take his head to the victor to claim the reward.

Faced with these professional "bounty hunters," the two brothers were naturally no match. Let alone a head-on confrontation, they were terrified just by seeing their fierce and menacing faces from afar. They hurriedly fled in panic, fearing that if they were a step too slow, they would be killed on the spot.

It wasn't until they had escaped quite a distance that the two realized the samurai was still holding his long and short swords, having forgotten to discard them. For a moment, they looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

"How about... we sell this knife?"

The younger brother hesitated before asking. The older brother lowered his head, looking at his reflection in the blade. He was in his twenties, but looked as if he were in his thirties or even forties. His messy hair was covered with dust, leaves, and seeds, his face was dark and red, and his eyes were dull and lifeless... He remembered that when he first left his hometown, his eyes were still very bright. When did they become like this?

"This knife... is very valuable."

"Yes, if we sell it, we can eat our fill for several days." The younger brother smiled happily.

When the topic of food came up, my stomach, which hadn't eaten a single grain of rice since yesterday, was indeed rumbling incessantly, but my brother still hesitated: "And then what?"

"And then...?"

"Sell these two knives, eat your fill for a few days, and then what? Go hungry again, be kicked around like a burden, cower under the eaves like a dog, shivering from hunger and cold?" He asked several times in a row, and the smile on his younger brother's face gradually disappeared. Perhaps thinking of his previous experiences, he bit his lip hard and remained silent.

After a long while, my younger brother finally asked, "Then... what else?"

if not?

The older brother stared blankly at the knife. It was sharp, without any nicks or bloodstains. He wondered if the samurai hadn't even had a chance to draw his sword before being shot into a porcupine... It was a good knife, a good knife, capable of killing.

"This knife...we're not selling it." He swallowed hard, and his hands began to tremble again.

“If we sell the knife, the money will only be enough for a few days of food and lodging in an inn. At most, we can scrape together a little to send back to our sister to help with household expenses... But as long as we have the knife, we can keep making money.”

Understanding his meaning, a hint of fear flashed in the younger brother's eyes: "Brother, brother, do you mean, are we going to... are we going to..." He stammered as he got nervous.

“That’s right.” The older brother nodded vigorously, as if making a firm decision for himself, and said in a deep voice, “Let’s become bandits—in this world, the kind are bullied and the good are ridden. From today onwards, we brothers will no longer be good people!”

His words were spoken with resounding force.

However, the bandits' career was not as smooth as they had imagined. The two men took the weapons of the dead samurai and went around in ambush, hoping to pull off a big heist and make a good start. But as the day went by, although many travelers passed by, they were either merchant caravans with large goods and bodyguards, which the two brothers certainly dared not rob.

They were either alone, carrying a sword and wearing tattered clothes, clearly martial artists from various countries; even if they were to fight two, cutting them down would be as easy as chopping vegetables. More importantly, the other party looked even poorer than the two of them; who knows who would rob whom once they got out there.

Or they were either subordinates of a daimyo riding by on horseback, carrying flags on their backs. For those, there was no need to even consider robbing them. Before they could even get up from their squatting positions in the roadside bushes, they were covered in dust. After spitting and spitting for a while, a couple who happened to be passing by asked them with concern, "Are you alright?"

"Here, drink some water."

The mother, carrying a swaddled baby on her back and holding the hand of another chubby-faced boy, stood not far away watching this scene. Her husband, meanwhile, held his bamboo tube and gave the two "robbers," who were coughing so hard they were about to vomit, a few sips of water.

After drinking the water, the two brothers felt as if they had finally come back to life. They thanked the couple profusely and offered to help them with their luggage, take care of the children, and escort the family of four to a nearby town. They waited until they were taken to a wood rental shop before reluctantly waving goodbye.

"Thank you, uncles," the boy said politely.

"Thank you, kind people." The couple bowed their heads in thanks as well, while the baby on their backs waved goodbye, as if to say farewell.

"No need to thank me, it's just a small favor."

Despite the brothers' repeated refusals, the couple insisted on keeping them there. They had a hot meal, and the couple then accepted two rice balls, one for each of them. They happily left the town, taking big bites of the rice balls.

"Brother, this rice ball is really, really... delicious!" the younger brother said happily.

"Yeah...you my foot! We're robbers, is this something robbers should do!" The older brother suddenly realized what he was doing, and in a fit of rage, he threw the rice ball to the ground—then he squatted down with a pained expression, gathered the rice back up, and stuffed it into his mouth along with the dirt.

"But...but we just can't get anyone..."

"It's okay, everything is difficult at the beginning. As long as we persevere, we will definitely be able to rob the money successfully! Come on, little brother, shout with me: Hey, hey, roar!"

"Heh, heh... Roar!"

The two men raised their arms high, their long and short swords clashing together. Their thin shouts echoed in the wind, as if foreshadowing the birth of two world-renowned thieves...

……

"Finally got the money..."

The moon was brighter than he remembered. The stern-faced young man raised a copper coin and stared at the moon through its eye.

Although it was just a mere copper coin, and a bad one at that, missing a corner and badly worn, and stolen from a blind woman, probably the hard-earned money she made playing the pipa, money is still money.

People like them who act as robbers should be ruthless enough to steal other people's hard-earned money.

Now that he has made a contribution, even if it's not much, he should be happy.

but……

"Brother...brother..." came his younger brother's voice, hesitant and unsure what to say. He didn't look away, still gazing absently at the moon, and only managed a soft reply: "What's wrong?"

"We finally managed to rob, rob, rob the money, shouldn't we be happy?"

"of course."

"Then why... do I feel... not happy at all?"

"This……"

The older brother wanted to speak, but then he didn't know what to say, so he remained silent.

Honestly, is he happy right now? Taking money from innocent people by force, even if it's just a few cheap copper coins... is that really something to be happy about? But what else can the two brothers do?

"Don't think too much about it. This is a good start. Next time, we won't just take one or two coins. We'll take everything they have... We'll take that pipa too."

"They're going to steal the pipa too?"

"Grab it! Grab everything! And that cane too, we want it!"

He gritted his teeth and said fiercely.

"Oh..." The younger brother sounded a little down, but he didn't refute anything—he was never used to arguing with others.

The two walked slowly, feeling the cold moonlight fall on them, like a bucket of ice water, freezing them from head to toe, leaving them speechless. After a moment, the older brother whispered, "Let's forget about the cane. It's not worth much, and besides, without it, the blind man can't walk..."

"kindness."

"And the pipa, that's their livelihood. We can't just take it without knowing how to play it, so there's no need for that."

"kindness……"

In the short time it took to say those few words, suddenly, a faint voice drifted over on the distant breeze.

"That's... a pipa?" The younger brother subconsciously turned around to look.

Being so far away, it was only natural that they couldn't see the pipa and the musician, but just hearing the sound made the two brothers feel as if they had suddenly seen the blind woman from before again.

The music started and stopped intermittently, and after a short while, a soft, melodious song drifted into the ears of the two brothers. It didn't seem to be in the language of this country, but even though they couldn't understand each other, the two brothers could still clearly feel the carefree spirit in the song.

Just like the bright moon hanging high in the sky, clear as water, like a mirror and like frost.

"elder brother……"

Without realizing it, the two of them stopped in their tracks, listening quietly to the pipa music in the still night. When they came to their senses, the expressionless young man noticed that his younger brother's face was covered in tears, and at the same time, he felt a wetness on his own face.

When I reached out to touch it, even more tears streamed down my face.

"I miss home... Father, Mother, and my sister..." the younger brother said, choking back tears. With a clatter, the short knife in his hand fell to the ground at his feet.

He didn't bend down to pick it up; instead, he raised his hand to wipe his face and burst into tears.

"We won't...we won't be robbers anymore, okay?"

……