Chapter 92: Edo Castle Teeming With Demons
After slaying the Wandering Samurai, Shangshan Che did not browse the prompt directly on the spot, but instead rewrapped himself in the hooded coat and quickly left the area.
This samurai was cleaved into two by his single sword strike, and even though Kaga Kiyomitsu’s blade burned the flesh and blood on the contact surface black, it could not prevent the escape of the bloody smell.
Although the rain curtain provided cover, no one could say for sure what abnormal presence the blood smell drifting far away might attract.
It was better to leave first.
Less than two minutes after Shangshan Che left.
Beneath the muddy water, a wriggling mass of darkness stealthily approached near the samurai’s corpse, and after confirming no second active demon was around, the darkness quickly enveloped the corpse.
Then, a spine-chilling chewing sound rang out.
……
Standing under the eaves of a commonplace Gassho-zukuri house, Shangshan Che took a moment to check the previous prompt—
【You killed the One-and-a-Half Star demon “Wandering Samurai” and obtained 142 Soul Ash!】
【You used Kaga Kiyomitsu Replica to slay the “Wandering Samurai”; Kaga Kiyomitsu Replica’s quality has slightly improved.】
【Your skill, Corona Breathing Technique proficiency +31!】
【Your skill, Natural Reason School proficiency +13!】
【You obtained Wandering Samurai’s Decayed Large Sleeve!】
The amount of dropped Soul Ash was decent, but the rest of the gains were rather lackluster.
This was normal, though; the Wandering Samurai was just one of the most common wandering minibosses in Edo Castle, and he had killed him with only two strikes.
If even roadside minibosses could repeatedly drop excellent or even Rare Grade items, then Shangshan Che would start suspecting how many days of life he had left.
“Decayed Large Sleeve, huh…”
Shangshan Che vaguely remembered that the “large sleeve” in Japanese armor seemed to be the shoulder armor part, one of the most important components of such armor.
Though it was quite heavy, samurai often used it to block swings and thrusts from swords, compensating for the lack of a shield in defense.
Taking out the large sleeve dropped by the Wandering Samurai, Shangshan Che let out an indescribable uh.
【Wandering Samurai’s Decayed Large Sleeve】
【Quality: Normal】
【Effect: Can block swings from normal sharp weapons, but has a chance to shatter directly upon being hit.】
【—Heavy and rotten.】
The large sleeve in his hand, piled full of solid dust, weighed at least several pounds; held in hand, it was like a medium shield. The large sleeve was overall straight and flat, but most parts were missing chunks, and the most important armor plates had vanished without a trace.
Judging by the style, it was probably a product from the Heian to Kamakura era.
But Edo Castle’s construction dated to the early Edo Period—which meant that around Edo Castle, there were cities or battlefields from other eras.
This Wandering Samurai might not have been from the Edo Period originally, or he might have casually picked up armor not from his own era.
“But wearing this thing won’t really get me screwed over…”
Shangshan Che suspected that large sleeves of this quality could be grabbed by the handful from the Sengoku Graveyard he had passed earlier.
Even the dead wore better than this!
For pure trash like this, Shangshan Che had no desire to try it out.
He put the large sleeve into the Storage Bag, then took out the broken token again and continued on his way.
And it seemed the combined one-and-a-half Walker tokens were taking effect; before Shangshan Che had walked half a minute, he felt a surging heat coming from ahead.
He immediately held his breath and ducked into a Gassho-zukuri house, then peered outside through the gaps between the wooden boards.
—In the intersection of one of Edo Castle’s main roads, over a dozen Restless Ones holding wooden sticks, daggers, or sharpened farming tools gathered together, surrounding their opponent.
And their opponent was three masses of flames floating in midair, scorching hot.
If looked at closely, one could even glimpse human heads burning in agony within the crimson flames, constantly making agonized expressions.
Shangshan Che stared for a moment and saw familiar names above the three masses of fire—
【Cong Yuan Huo（Two-and-a-Half Star）】
“All three are Two-and-a-Half Star; is Edo Castle even a place for humans, I ask?”
Shangshan Che clicked his tongue, but after seeing the number of Restless Ones still increasing, he showed a subtle expression.
—Could he observe the battle from the shadows and see if he could reap the benefits?
“That’s the plan.”
Shangshan Che tensed his body, ready to rush out at any moment for a finishing strike on the low-health target.
But soon, something beyond his expectations happened.
The twenty-odd Restless Ones muttered something in their mouths, then all charged together toward the Cong Yuan Huo in the center of the intersection, which ignored them.
And then in mere seconds, most of the Restless Ones turned to flying ash in the terrifying heat, while the remaining few were roasted beyond recognition, writhing in pain in the mud.
Shangshan Che silently withdrew his gaze and dispelled the thought.
—This Cong Yuan Huo seemed to multiply in strength geometrically when gathered together, because a normal Two-and-a-Half Star demon wouldn’t have this kind of power.
Take himself, for example; he could barely qualify as bottom-tier Two-and-a-Half Star, but Shangshan Che figured that slaying this group of Restless Ones would at least leave him seriously injured, and he might not even win.
But with such an obvious strength gap, over twenty Restless Ones didn’t notice a single thing?
“Just like rabid dogs that lost their minds, biting at anyone they see.” Shangshan Che cut through the wooden boards behind the Gassho-zukuri and stepped out, choosing to take a detour.
Though those three masses of Cong Yuan Huo didn’t seem like they would attack proactively, Shangshan Che felt no need to test the limits of unknown demons.
Adjusting several times according to the faint glow on the token, it was only after a full half hour that Shangshan Che confirmed he had reached near the mission destination.
Because no matter how he turned, the faint glow on the token no longer disappeared.
“Hm?”
Only now did Shangshan Che suddenly realize he hadn’t encountered any wandering minibosses for quite a while.
He released the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball, observing several surrounding streets, but surprisingly didn’t see even a single moving shadow.
Could this mission destination have some passive effect that repels demons?
Scanning a circle with the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball, Shangshan Che roughly determined where exactly he needed to go.
—Because amid hundreds of identical-looking Gassho-zukuri houses, there was only one massive courtyard estate.
“Nameless Swordsman, huh.”
Generally, such mission targets were reclusive figures like Sword Masters or Sword Saints, and the absence of demons around further increased the likelihood of this guess.
Arriving at the entrance of this large courtyard, Shangshan Che glanced at the small cat stone sculptures standing on both sides and found it a bit strange.
Normally, wouldn’t proper people place Koma-inu or Fox Statues here… at worst, monkeys or snakes or something?
What did placing two cats mean?
Not quite understanding, Shangshan Che passed the two stone sculptures and saw the wooden plaque hanging at the doorway.
He could vaguely make out three lines of text on the plaque; it originally seemed to be written with waka poetry, but now the characters were too faded to read.
Shangshan Che took a deep breath, straightened his posture, then gently shook the door knocker on the gate,
“Hello, I am here to deliver the token, Hannya.”
