Chapter 272: All The Attendants Are The Same Person! Ghost King Shuten Doji! Lili Zi, Advances To Elimination Tournament
Mikumo Gonnosuke, a famous Sword Master of the late Sengoku Period.
Although he was someone Shangshan Che would likely never have met even if he traveled back in time, he had still meticulously learned about this nominal “Katori Shinto-ryu Swordsman” while doing his research.
The reason it’s said to be nominal is that while Mikumo Gonnosuke started by training in Katori Shinto-ryu and obtained the “Mastery Certificate” qualification.
After that, the famous swordsman’s life no longer mentioned Katori Shinto-ryu in much detail.
Instead, he first followed the founder of Kashima Shinto-ryu, Matsumoto Bizen no Kami, and stole the Secret Technique of “Ichino Tsurugi” from the essence of Ura Kashima Shinto-ryu.
Then, after being defeated by the Sword Saint of that era, Miyamoto Musashi, he wanted to wholeheartedly study a method to defeat Miyamoto Musashi.
Thus, Mikumo Gonnosuke traveled the world, studying various schools of thought, taking their essence and discarding their dross.
Finally, he combined Spear Technique, Saber Technique, Sword Technique, and more, thereby creating the unique Jodo!
He then developed the Secret Technique, “Juji Kiri,” said to be able to defeat Miyamoto Musashi, whom he had once encountered, and established Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo!
Unfortunately, Mikumo Gonnosuke never encountered Miyamoto Musashi again afterward.
Therefore, the world would never know who would have won if they had fought again.
But at least, in Mikumo Gonnosuke’s heart, he had defeated the Miyamoto Musashi he encountered that day, who had defeated him without mercy, and he had also defeated his past self.
That was enough.
Later, Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo was greatly developed and even became a designated Jodo within the All Japan Kendo Federation in modern times.
However, since this path was created by Mikumo Gonnosuke specifically to counter human swordsmen, it was somewhat powerless against Supernatural Phenomena.
Therefore, few Supernatural beings who have truly fought demons have mastered this path.
Shangshan Che naturally was not one of them.
“What a shame…”
Although the Memory Orb of a Sword Master was good, neither Katori Shinto-ryu, Kashima Shinto-ryu, nor Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo had any connection to the Natural Reason School he practiced.
If he were to read this Memory Orb, he might gain quite a bit of experience in Kendo.
But that would be all.
It wouldn’t be as fruitful as when he studied Tokugawa Yugoro’s Life River Breathing Technique.
After all, different schools of swordsmanship are clearly distinct, and Shangshan Che did not have the extra energy to delve deeply into other schools and Secret Techniques.
Shangshan Che put away Mikumo Gonnosuke’s Memory Orb and had already decided its destination in his heart.
—The next time he saw Katsumi, he would sell this Orb to him.
Although Shangshan Che himself did not know any masters of Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo, Katsumi definitely did and had the channels to sell it.
This Memory Orb was incredibly valuable in the hands of the right people.
“My Lord, congratulations on winning the third round of the Number One Karuta Tournament Under Heaven.”
The Fox-faced Woman’s melodious and lively voice brought Shangshan Che back to his senses. She knelt and leaned close to Shangshan Che’s ear, congratulating him softly.
Shangshan Che raised an eyebrow: “Since when did my title change from ‘Customer’ to ‘My Lord’?”
“When you won the third round’s competition,” the Fox-faced Woman smiled, “Next, please follow me upstairs to continue the fourth round of the tournament.”
So, in this Hanafuda Market, the higher one’s card playing skill, the higher their status.
Shangshan Che chuckled. He remembered the time he repeatedly refused invitations to play cards outside the Hanafuda Market and then immediately blacked out.
Following the Fox-faced Woman, whose tone and movements had become even more lively, Shangshan Che bypassed the sounds of countless Waka singing and the battle arenas filled with the smell of gunpowder, stepping onto the stairs carpeted with soft red carpet.
The stairs were normal stairs, and even with a turn, there were only thirty to forty steps.
But as soon as he stepped onto the second floor, the noisy commotion from the hall below completely disappeared, as if it had never existed.
Shangshan Che looked up and saw numerous antique-style Private Rooms, marked with ancient script he did not recognize on Plagues.
“Please follow me, and do not wander off.”
The Fox-faced Woman lowered her voice and also lightened her steps.
After not walking far, she stopped in front of a Private Room whose decor clearly originated from the Heian Period.
“This is the venue for the fourth round of the competition,” the Fox-faced Woman bowed. “I can only accompany you this far. Please push the door open and enter yourself, My Lord.”
Shangshan Che glanced at the Fox-faced Woman, who was bowing at a ninety-degree angle. After calmly responding, he pushed open the creaking wooden door.
Inside the room was not the Heian Period residence he had expected, but trees, scattered stones, weeds, and wasteland… and…
A One-Horned Oni sitting cross-legged on a large rock, drinking wine from a bowl.
This One-Horned Oni was tall and muscular, with his entire upper body exposed, only a few scattered bandages wrapped around his heavy chest.
This was still the first female Shangshan Che had seen in the Hanafuda Market besides the attendants, whether human or demon.
Shangshan Che then looked to the side and saw the attendant standing beside the One-Horned Oni, wearing a remarkably exquisite Qing Se Fox Mask.
This mask looked much more superior than the one worn by the Fox-faced Woman who had guided him up.
“A pleasure to meet you, My Lord.”
The Fox-masked Attendant spoke, bowing slightly to him, causing Shangshan Che to let out a questioning hum in his mind.
Because he felt this was not his first meeting with this Fox-masked Attendant, but rather that he had seen him many times before.
What supported this was Shangshan Che’s previous feeling that all the attendants in the Hanafuda Market hall were like the same person, indistinguishable from the Fox-faced Woman.
Now, he was certain.
His intuition had repeatedly warned him that ignoring it would be foolish.
So he spoke, “Didn’t we just see each other outside the door?”
The Fox-masked Attendant paused slightly, then shook his head and denied, “Although we wear similar masks, my identity and that of the attendant are completely different.”
I beg to differ.
“Enough!”
With a crisp *snap*, the dry wine bowl shattered.
“So what if it was, and so what if it wasn’t?”
The One-Horned Oni casually wiped his mouth and gestured to Shangshan Che with his chin, “Never mind these trivial matters, Six-tailed Fox, aren’t you here to play cards.”
“Come on.”
The One-Horned Oni casually grabbed a stack of Karuta Cards and, using some unknown method, arranged them instantly and perfectly on the stone floor.
“I haven’t lost in so, so long…”
She let out an expectant cold laugh, revealing her sharp white fangs, “I hope you don’t lose too badly and get beaten back to your mommy.”
Hearing this, Shangshan Che no longer pursued the matter and sat down with a light smile.
“Don’t get too cocky,” he said.
The result fifteen minutes later was, naturally, Shangshan Che’s complete defeat.
The score was 4-46, a crushing loss.
This One-Horned Oni was unreasonably strong; not only was her skill superior to the mysterious Great Demon from the previous round, but her unrestrained strength also shocked Shangshan Che.
From the dispersed life aura and Spiritual Power alone, it was easy to determine that the One-Horned Oni stood at the pinnacle of Ghost Gods, at least.
It was not impossible for her to advance further.
In short, she was another Great Demon among Great Demons.
Shangshan Che’s mouth twitched as he looked at the mountain-like stack of Karuta Cards beside her.
I fear this Demon is doomed, so many Great Demons addicted to playing cards…
“Haha! Don’t get too cocky?”
The One-Horned Oni, who had thoroughly enjoyed trouncing him, couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Six-tailed Fox, how dare you say such a thing? Do you think having six tails gives you six chances?”
After speaking, she abruptly ceased her laughter and coldly looked at the stunned Fox-masked Attendant, “Didn’t you say you could find me a satisfactory opponent in the Hanafuda Market?”
The Fox-masked Attendant quickly bowed and apologized, “My Lord, please do not rush…”
“Fine,” the One-Horned Oni picked up a large jug of wine again and drank it down in gulps, “I’ll patiently see what else you can prepare for me.”
She paid no further attention to Shangshan Che, the loser.
The somewhat trembling Fox-masked Attendant walked to Shangshan Che’s side, lowered his head, and pulled open the Private Room door for him. “My Lord, I hope you can win the championship the next time you visit.”
“Okay,” Shangshan Che replied, then asked with confusion, “Don’t we need a bet?”
“Playing cards is fun in itself, why would we need extra bets?”
The One-Horned Oni glanced up and threw a bowl of wine over, “I see your fundamentals are barely passable. Practice for five hundred years and then come find me for a match.”
Receiving the wine bowl, Shangshan Che’s eyes widened slightly, and then he calmly replied,
“Then it’s a deal.”
Watching Shangshan Che leave the Private Room without any dejection despite his loss, the One-Horned Oni grinned,
“He is indeed an interesting fellow.”
…
【 Hoshikuma Doji’s Wine 】
【 Quality: Epic 】
【 Effect: Upon drinking, enters a “Drunk” state and temporarily enters the “Heaven and Earth Communion” state. 】
【 —A bowl of wine, for an interesting fellow. 】
That’s right, the One-Horned Oni who had just played with him and utterly defeated him was none other than the ruler of the legendary Mount Oe, one of the Four Heavenly Kings under Shuten Doji.
—Hoshikuma Doji!
On the bed, Shangshan Che examined the clear, slightly fragrant liquid in the wine. He thought it was no wonder he had lost without any suspense.
But in legends, weren’t Shuten Doji and the Four Heavenly Kings of Mount Oe all slain by Minamoto no Yorimitsu?
Wasn’t the actual famous sword, Dojigiri Yasutsuna, obtained this way?
Even if the Hanafuda Market was set in the Edo Period hundreds of years ago, Hoshikuma Doji shouldn’t have appeared…
Shangshan Che, unable to comprehend the reason, could only set it aside for now and throw the bowl of wine into his Storage Bag.
Although Hoshikuma Doji had said no bet was necessary, if he had truly defeated her in Karuta, the benefits would likely far exceed two or three Memory Orbs.
“But running into such an opponent in the fourth round is just too unlucky.”
Having been thoroughly beaten once, Shangshan Che now knew that defeating Hoshikuma Doji was not something that could be achieved with a mere dozen or so reloads.
Given such a vast skill gap, it would require at least a hundred attempts, which, in real-world time, would be about forty days.
But this was both slow and inefficient.
“I wonder if Sengoku Period Karuta is popular… I’ll have Imagawa Yoshimoto find me some Karuta Masters for training in rotation then.”
Faced with an extraordinary boss like Hoshikuma Doji, Shangshan Che had no choice but to put aside his thoughts of continuing the strategy for now.
He would first focus on the imminent Seed Battle.
Shangshan Che glanced at the date on his phone screen—Rili Zi still had to play the final round tomorrow.
If she won all her matches, she would enter the Elimination Tournament as the number one in Arakawa Ward.
However, before even reaching the crucial Elimination Tournament, Rili Zi had already displayed almost all of her skills.
That’s right, “displayed,” not “forced to use.”
Therefore, she would definitely be targeted by many competitors after they studied her in the Elimination Tournament.
Rili Zi knew that achieving a higher ranking in the Seed Battle would help her better deal with the Tokugawa family, and she also knew that everyone was currently holding back their full strength.
Only she was going all out.
Thus, countless gazes and attention, and an overwhelming pressure naturally converged upon her.
This was exactly what Rili Zi wanted.
Shangshan Che understood her too well.
The Rili Zi of today was undoubtedly enjoying the tempering that this unprecedented pressure brought her, wanting to squeeze out all her potential and force herself to advance a little further, and then a little further.
“Sigh…”
…
“Ogasawara-san, are we closing up for today?”
“Yes… it’s about to rain, and this location is quite remote with not many people coming.”
“It’s such a waste for so much fresh food to go bad, hmm… why not sell in a more central location?”
“I don’t have a license, so I can’t go there.”
“Oh…”
Okabe Motonobu nodded as if she understood, helping the old man with an apron pack up the Oden and other ingredients from the food cart.
Since being treated to a free meal by this old man named Ogasawara two days ago, Okabe Motonobu had been helping him out and learning a lot of Common Sense about this era.
She figured that if she hadn’t coincidentally met this old man, she would have been caught by modern people long ago for being too strange.
At this moment, a colorful broadcast van drove past in the middle of the road, catching Okabe Motonobu’s attention.
She blinked in confusion, “What is a Seed Battle?”
“That…”
The old man squinted, thinking, and after a long pause, slowly spoke,
“This event has recently become quite famous in Tokyo, attracting many people from surrounding areas to Tokyo, and I’ve heard that many formidable figures attend.”
Formidable figures?
Then the Great Onmyoji Che, who had been renowned throughout Gokishichido long ago, would certainly be among them.
If this guy wasn’t formidable, Okabe Motonobu couldn’t think of anyone formidable.
There was a considerable possibility that he would go to this “Seed Battle”!
And not a small one!
Because the “Tokyo” of today, formerly Edo, was the Capital, or rather, the center of this era.
Okabe Motonobu’s eyes lit up, and she thought to herself that her luck was good thanks to her Lord’s blessings.
Since she had no clear leads right now, she might as well go and see, even if it was just to join the fun and gather some information!
