Chapter 177: I Will End This Warring Age! Eight Sufferings Reappears?! Lightning Magic Stuns The Crowd
“Today’s harvest is indeed quite good! Let’s go again after lunch!”
Carrying fish catches about the length of his forearm, Tanaka Rō bid farewell to another old fisherman in the village with a beaming smile, then entered his home.
Thus, he saw A-dao standing barefoot at the doorway, holding a large cloth bag, with a very conspicuous wakizashi at her waist.
Tanaka Rō was stunned for a moment, but upon seeing the silver light emerging from the cloth bag and the Imagawa Clan crest on the wakizashi, he immediately realized what had happened.
Plop.
Tanaka Rō didn’t care that the big fish still thrashing its tail on his hand had fallen to the ground.
He hurriedly rushed out of the house in two strides instead of three, chasing in the direction A-dao was looking.
At the same time, he tore at his throat and shouted,
“—Che Adult! Che Adult!”
He ran wildly along the muddy paths of Aratomi Village until finally, at the edge of his sight, Tanaka Rō caught sight of that back figure draped in a priest’s robe.
—Clearly walking very slowly, yet each step crossed more than ten meters in an instant.
After following and running breathlessly for a while, upon discovering the distance was only growing farther, Tanaka Rō had no choice but to stop, watching helplessly as Shangshan Che’s back disappeared from his view.
He thought in shock in his heart.
Onmyoji Che is truly a divine person.
……
“I didn’t expect Tetsu-kun to be such a gentle person.”
On the floating board that had slowly risen to a height of hundreds of meters, Imagawa Yoshimoto rested her chin on her hand, somewhat surprised as she withdrew her gaze.
Shangshan Che, who had sat back down on the floating board, replied,
“I just felt it was the last time seeing them. A-dao is also a good girl.
I hope after this, she can live a better life.”
At this point, Shangshan Che blinked: “Lord Yoshimoto can see so clearly from this far away.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had already adapted to the floating board at extreme speed, leaned against the translucent “railing,” lightly humming,
“If even my eyesight can’t surpass ordinary people, how could I be called Tokaido’s Number One Archer?”
She pointed to her dark, deep pupils, smiling: “Even a fallen leaf a kilometer away, I can see its veins clearly.”
Seeing Shangshan Che seemingly stunned by her words, Imagawa Yoshimoto turned her head to look at Sunpu Castle, which had shrunk in the distance.
She gestured with her hand, unable to hold back her thought,
“Flying into the sky, Sunpu Castle looks so small.”
Shangshan Che shook his head: “Lord Yoshimoto, from this height, few things can be called ‘big.’
Even an army formation of tens of thousands is just a square block.”
Under Two-Foot Adult’s control, the floating board slowly headed toward Mikawa. Imagawa Yoshimoto stared at the increasingly smaller Sunpu Castle and suddenly said softly,
“Che.”
She called Shangshan Che’s “full name” directly for the first time, without adding any qualifiers or suffixes.
The twenty-year-old girl extended her palm into the air, gripping emptily as if to grasp something,
“After becoming the ruler under heaven, I want to turn Sunpu Castle into a true city under heaven. Even at this height, even higher, its full appearance can’t be seen clearly.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto looked toward the direction of the march to Kyoto, shaking her head without hesitation,
“Kyoto doesn’t deserve it.”
“You will achieve it.”
Shangshan Che met her sideways gaze and expectantly extended his palm: “Please let me witness it all, Lord Yoshimoto.”
“Then Tetsu-kun, you have to watch carefully! Don’t miss a thing!”
Imagawa Yoshimoto raised her hand and gripped his palm tightly.
The youngest overlord among the sixty-six provinces stood up on the floating board, one hand on her hip, the other pointing toward the yet-unified under heaven.
She arrogantly raised the corner of her lips, declaring to under heaven,
“I will—succeed in the march to Kyoto!
Then become the ruler under heaven! Become the shogun!
Finally, unify this chaotic under heaven and end the long age of strife!”
Clap clap clap clap.
Behind her, the only two who heard this acted as the cheering section, applauding for Imagawa Yoshimoto.
After speaking, Imagawa Yoshimoto said no more, instead sitting cross-legged directly and looking down at the unobstructed view below.
After a long while, seemingly bored, she rubbed her eyes and said to Shangshan Che, who kept exhaling tiny lightning bolts,
“How about telling some of my stories.”
“Sure, sure.”
Shangshan Che readily agreed.
Being able to learn more about her exploits directly from her, he was thrilled.
Thus, Imagawa Yoshimoto slowly began,
“At fourteen, I left the temple and seized the position of clan head.
That same year, I unified Suruga, To-ōmi Province, Mikawa Province, and formed alliance treaties with the Takeda and Hojo clans…”
Imagawa Yoshimoto recounted everything in detail.
Even in flat tones, it brimmed with youthful vigor,
Shangshan Che listened silently, comparing these exploits to the records in history books.
Then, he discovered that every version of the history books greatly underestimated the girl now sitting beside him.
If according to her own account… from leaving the temple until now, only six years had passed.
In just six short years, she had developed the Imagawa Clan to this extent.
Simply terrifying.
If not for Oda Nobunaga, that “Sixth Heavenly Demon King,” and that rainy night in history, she surely could have become the ruler under heaven marching to Kyoto.
The floating board was fast, so in just one or two hours, it left Suruga Province’s borders and reached To-ōmi Province territory.
Shangshan Che then noticed that after leaving Suruga Province, the roads gradually became rugged and difficult.
Presumably, it wasn’t that To-ōmi Province’s roads were bad, but that Suruga Province’s roads, at least the main road, had been well-maintained under Imagawa Yoshimoto’s orders.
He recalled Sunpu Castle’s infrastructure and streets, which were indeed flat, clean, without much odor or garbage piles.
So, what Imagawa Yoshimoto said earlier about the city under heaven wasn’t empty talk.
She wanted to do it.
She would put in the effort for it.
Shangshan Che stared at Imagawa Yoshimoto, who kept her head down, blinking only once a minute, estimating she was imprinting the passing mountains and terrain in her mind.
Thus, he didn’t disturb her.
Another half hour or so passed, when they had reached central To-ōmi Province.
Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly spoke,
“Stop.”
In mere seconds, the extremely fast floating board came to an abrupt, unreasonable halt in midair.
Imagawa Yoshimoto’s pupils contracted slightly, capturing the familiar pattern on the clothes,
“It’s【Toda Clan】’s crest.”
Toda Clan?
Shangshan Che thought for two seconds, recalling this was a local powerful family in Mikawa Province, subordinates of the Matsudaira Clan.
But this was To-ōmi Province…
Shangshan Che also looked down, seriously observing the rugged main road.
Moments later, he raised an eyebrow: “Mountain bandits?”
How could Toda Clan samurai fall to being mountain bandits?
Even samurai honor wouldn’t allow it.
And if expelled from the Toda Clan for crimes, how could they still wear these clothes in To-ōmi Province?
Imagawa Yoshimoto lightly tapped her knee with her finger: “Tetsu-kun, can you go down first to observe the situation? Don’t alert them.”
“Sure.”
Shangshan Che agreed and silently leaped into the dense forest.
Not long after, suppressing his heartbeat and converging all his qi to the extreme, Shangshan Che quietly pressed against a thick tree trunk, peering out.
In the center of the road, the burly samurai in a plain robe bearing the Toda Clan crest stood with arms crossed, like a silent boulder.
Instead, the two youths in coarse hemp clothes, with battered daitos at their waists, were shouting at the man sitting upfront on the donkey cart,
“The boss said, hand over half your money and food, and we’ll let you pass!”
The youth, whose cheekbones protruded from hunger, swung his daito twice, chuckling: “We won’t touch the goods; that’s been the rule these past few days!”
This small merchant family traveling far didn’t even bring guards?
Shangshan Che shifted his gaze and spotted two fresh, steaming headless corpses by the roadside.
No other wounds on the bodies; the neck cuts were clean and neat—likely the victims felt no pain in death.
Case solved.
Turns out the two guards were beheaded by that samurai in one stroke.
“N-no no… We can’t…”
On the donkey cart, commonly called a donkey cart, the weathered middle-aged man was scared stiff but still stammered,
“If we hand over half here, it won’t be enough at all by Mikawa.”
He hurriedly got off the cart, knelt down, and pleaded in a voice almost crying,
“Good sirs… One-third! One-third is okay! Please…”
“One-third is fine,” the youth named A-shi sneered twice, his gaze shifting to behind the goods, “But leave your wife and daughter behind.”
The middle-aged man jerked his head up, staring deathly at A-shi, scaring him into instinctively stepping back.
Then he was steadied by the samurai’s arm, thick as a small tree stump.
“You all want to go to Mikawa?”
The samurai looked down, meeting the trembling middle-aged man’s eyes, suddenly grinning.
He thumped his chest, roaring,
“I barely escaped that hell! And you want to go there?! Think your life is too long?!”
Having heard every word, Shangshan Che frowned deeply.
This powerful samurai, nearly completing qi circulation, called Mikawa Province “hell”?
This wasn’t good news.
He stayed silent, continuing to listen.
The samurai waved impatiently: “For taking half your money, food, and you being decent, I’ll tell you—go back where you came from!”
“Otherwise, you won’t know when your whole family ends up as roadside corpses!”
Mikawa Province had gone wrong.
From this Toda Clan samurai’s words, Mikawa Province wasn’t some minor issue like “great demon bewitchment” or “clan unrest” affecting only the upper and middle classes.
It was a massive upheaval engulfing the entire Mikawa Province!
He needed details.
Shangshan Che’s eyes shifted, and he strode out from behind the tree trunk, right under the eyes of the bandits and the merchant family.
Perfectly blocking between the middle-aged man and the bandits.
The man feeling the shadow looked up, staring at the unfamiliar robe, unsure what to say.
The bandit A-shi, just steadied by the samurai, clicked his tongue in heavy local accent,
“Hey?! What are you here for…”
Before finishing, his gaze had scanned Shangshan Che’s entire body.
Then, bandit A-shi’s eyes lit up!
These neat clothes, eye-catching scabbard, stylish boots—clearly expensive!
And this boy was fair and tender, obviously some noble’s young master!
In a city, or even a remote small village, A-shi wouldn’t dare have irreverent thoughts.
This level of big shot could decide his life ten times over with a word!
But in this deserted mountain forest road, without samurai guards—why couldn’t he fantasize?
A-shi excitedly turned: “Boss! Can we take this one!”
Sakata remained silent.
—Somehow, this boy’s outfit looked familiar.
But this face was completely unfamiliar.
Truly strange.
Moreover, he felt this poised young master was no ordinary person.
But this outfit was valuable; selling it could feed him and his men for months!
Seeing Sakata silent, A-shi assumed approval.
With backing, A-shi’s confidence surged.
He twirled an ugly sword flower, accidentally dropped the daito and picked it up, then strutted up to Shangshan Che, chin up, sneering,
“Hey, kid, do you know your situation?”
Shangshan Che ignored him, not even glancing.
This small fry wasn’t worth a retort.
Unless brainless enough to attack directly, treat as air.
Moreover, these bandit underlings seemed unaware of Mikawa Province’s situation.
The key was the boss.
Shangshan Che raised his gaze, calmly looking past A-shi at Sakata.
In an instant, Sakata felt his slowly circulating internal qi stagnate.
Illusion!?
Or something else?
He too said nothing, instinctively placing his hand warily on the hilt.
“G-good sirs!”
The middle-aged man kneeling on the ground mustered courage: “You can have all the money, food, goods, but please don’t kill this boy!”
The woman on the donkey cart, tightly holding the girl to stifle her cries, was horrified, her eyes brimming with despair.
Facing bandits who beheaded two guards without a word, her husband said this.
How dare he!
But the man saw opportunity!
This boy from the woods was unusually dressed, and he hadn’t hoped much for his family’s escape anyway…
Desperate gamble!
Only bet this boy wasn’t ordinary!
Their only way out!
“Wah wah wah…”
From the donkey cart, the girl’s muffled cries seeped through the woman’s hand.
Shangshan Che remained unmoved.
Whether small-fry bandits or the noisy merchant family behind.
He just stared at the samurai named Sakata.
Now, more precisely, at the slightly changed expression on the samurai’s face—behind him.
Silently raised a finger.
Suddenly.
Without warning, pale lightning synced with calm breath, surging from his fingertip.
Surging out.
Boom!
Bolt from the blue!
Straight as a line, the lightning flashed past A-shi’s gaunt face in an instant, striking right behind Sakata.
Zap!
After the thunder, like a bubble phantom, a shrill, hoarse roar rose, then rapidly dissipated with the lightning between heaven and earth.
Along with the hair at A-shi’s temple, turning to stardust charred bits, scattering traceless in the breeze.
Shangshan Che indifferently eyed the pop-up kill prompt, narrowing his eyes to slits.
This… was far from good news.
And A-shi, standing before him, who had brushed past lightning at point-blank range, went weak-kneed, collapsing uncontrollably, feeling his soul flee his body.
Sakata first looked back, checked behind him, then realized, praising,
“Fine lightning magic! One strike kills a demonic ghost I completely missed—not unworthy of Great Onmyoji Che Your Excellency, renowned along Tokaido!”
The samurai bowed, tone earnest and sincere,
“Meeting you today, Sakata is truly fortunate beyond three lifetimes!”
Great Onmyoji… Che?
At these words, not only the bandits including A-shi and his brother cast awed gazes, but the merchant family was stunned, intimidated by the name.
These days, this name had swept through cities and alleys like a level-15 hurricane, sparing no small village.
Anywhere with outside contact, merchants or rōnin inevitably mentioned “Great Onmyoji Che,” followed by envious looks.
Sakata took a deep breath, standing: “Lord Che, talking here…”
“I don’t have time for your nonsense.”
Shangshan Che’s gaze was icy, cutting him off mercilessly.
His body surged with glaring lightning, enunciating,
“Now, immediately, tell everything you know about Mikawa Province, not a word omitted!”
Sakata faltered, momentarily speechless.
He offered goodwill, yet was humiliated before his men… how to lead now?
But Sakata was clear-headed.
—This Great Onmyoji Che was a big shot he couldn’t afford to provoke.
At this moment, the floating board descended.
The plainly dressed Imagawa Yoshimoto lightly stepped onto the ground, scanning around before coldly asking: “What happened?”
Shangshan Che rubbed his nose bridge, sighing deeply,
“Lord Yoshimoto, things seem to have gone bad… It’s no longer minor local clan unrest.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto was slightly stunned.
She asked again, expression turning serious: “What happened?”
No one answered.
Everyone present held their breath at Shangshan Che’s address to the landed girl, lowering heads and gazes.
For this girl before them might be the sole ruler of Suruga, To-ōmi Province, Mikawa Province!
The Imagawa Clan’s most wise and great head of the clan to date!
Especially Sakata.
He had once accompanied the Toda Clan’s head to Sunpu Castle for a celebration, glimpsing that noble adult from afar.
Even if unclear then, memory faded.
But this unique aura was inimitable.
Unquestionably, it was her.
Thus, his earlier dilemma resolved!
Sakata ignored the stares, knelt with a thud on the rough dirt road, bowing,
“This lowly one Sakata greets Imagawa head of the clan.”
The surrounding bandit underlings exchanged glances, still dazed and rooted.
“Extraordinary times, no need for formalities.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto quickly raised her hand, glancing at the unprecedentedly grave Shangshan Che: “Whatever Tetsu-sensei told you earlier, do it quickly.”
Shangshan Che added coldly: “Lord Yoshimoto and I came precisely to resolve the Mikawa issue—an army of over ten thousand is already en route!”
“So.”
His fingertip flickered with qi barrier and lightning: “Tell us everything you know about Mikawa Province.
If you withhold…”
Boom!
Shangshan Che raised his hand, turning a nearby thick tree to charcoal in an instant: “That’s your fate.”
Ten thousand army.
“This lowly one understands.”
Sakata tensed, grasping the Imagawa head’s emphasis,
So he quickly recalled everything about the incident, sorting chronology and phrasing.
About twenty seconds later, the mentally tough Sakata spoke clearly, starting from the signs twenty days prior.
The two listened intently.
According to “Toda Clan’s instructor” Sakata, it indeed began with local clans stirring unrest.
But valuing his life and uninterested in climbing, he avoided by fleeing to a small city.
“Though several local clans allied again to scheme, temple monks mixed in, seeking profits from chaos, gains from all sides.”
Sakata recounted,
“People did die aplenty half a month ago—but I’m used to it; the past two years were the same.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded, acknowledging.
A province-wide clan unrest required purging internal opposition first.
Bloodshed inevitable.
“Then… then…”
But here, even Sakata, nearly thirty with countless battles and near-deaths, paused long, face stiffening.
He closed his eyes, struggling to speak, voice hoarse and dry,
“But from a week ago, things changed.”
Timeline and character experiences in this book differ from history
Please don’t take seriously
