The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 537 Found
"It failed...?"

Yukimori Yamanaka slowly pushed himself up from the ground. His right hand, which had been holding the knife, was broken and hung limply on his arm.

Fortunately, it was not fatal.

"Matsugami, Ono?"

He called out, but received no response.

Nikaido?

"Ugh, cough."

A cough came from not far away.

"Nikaido".

"Ahem... Call me the acting deity..."

Behind Yamanaka Yukimori, the swordsman who had transformed into the God of War wiped his face, removing the streaks of liquid that had fallen from his eyes along with the blood covering his face, before finally managing to stand up.

"Is that so... Just taking one hit head-on has already injured you to this extent..."

Yukimori Yamanaka looked at Li Miao not far away and murmured.

For those who have cultivated the Divine Sword Technique to such a level, it has become instinctive. They no longer need to force their image to align with the visualized deity like Kagome Yasunori does, in order to maintain their current state.

However, the swordsman had told Yamanaka Yukimori not to call him by his real name, but rather by the name of the deity he was visualizing. This meant that he could leave his current state at any time and needed to focus entirely on the visualization without being disturbed.

Add to that the two corpses not far away—just one move, just one hard-hit move, and most of the fighting force, excluding the statue, was gone.

They lost two and a half lives, but all they got was a small hole in the other person's chest that healed instantly.

"Is this... Buddha and Demon...?"

Yukimori Yamanaka breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can the acting deity still move?"

"He can move, but he can't see. It seems like something is embedded in his brain. He might die if he moves too violently."

"The swordsman named Nikaido answered."

"And my sword is broken."

"Three steps to the left front, there's a sword on Ono-kun's corpse."

"Yoshimori Yamanaka replied."

While the revered swordsman was fumbling for his sword, Yamanaka Yukimori looked at Li Miao, his gaze fixed on the tattered clothes on his chest.

"Ready?"

Li Miao said with a smile.

"Your Excellency, one of the conditions you just mentioned was that we were asked to provide information about whom? Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng or Bodhidharma?"

"The mountain is thriving," said Shan Zhongxing in Central Plains Mandarin.

"Are these their names?"

Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"What, you don't know?"

Yamanaka Yukimori raised his hand, grasped his severed right hand, and ripped it apart with a sudden, forceful tear, his face twitching. After a long pause, he tossed the severed arm to the ground, gripped his knife in his left hand, and panted for a few moments before replying hoarsely.

"I don't know, but I know I can't let you find him, not even—"

"Wait, you said, found it?"

Li Miao suddenly frowned and interrupted him.

Perhaps it was the mental confusion caused by his severe injuries, or perhaps it was the irresistible urge to reveal his true feelings as he faced death, but in his last words, Yamanaka Yukimori revealed a great deal of information that he shouldn't have. First of all, he said "he," not "they."

The two just mentioned Zhang Sanfeng and Bodhidharma. These are two people. Why did Yamanaka Yukimori use "he" instead of "they"? Who is the one he singled out from these two people, the one Li Miao absolutely cannot find?

Secondly, he said "found".

It wasn't "finding the inheritance," nor "finding the corpse"... Perhaps the wording was a bit far-fetched, but Li Miao, who had been a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for nearly thirty years, could clearly sense the hint of fear hidden in Yamanaka Yukimori's words.

It wasn't fear of him, but fear of the person "Li Miao absolutely must not find."

The most recent appearance of the Venerable Sanfeng, Bodhidharma, and Master Jianzhen in Japan was over two hundred years ago. If they had already died by then, their bodies would have long since decomposed into mud, and they shouldn't have caused Yamanaka Yukimori any fear.

unless--

“Master Sanfeng disappeared at the end of the previous dynasty, around the time of the founding of the Great Shuo Kingdom, which is not too long ago. Judging from the few words passed down from Wudang, he must have reached the realm of the unity of the six paths or even stronger.”

"So, Emperor Jianwen and Yin Ruihua were able to live from the founding of the Great Shuo Dynasty to the present day because they used sex to supplement their life force. Then the immortal Zhang Sanfeng, who had perfected both sex and life, might not have been unable to live to this day."

"Could it be... that Master Sanfeng is still alive?"

Li Miao paused in her fidgeting.

"Ji Tianrui did something at the Ise Grand Shrine that terrified the daimyo of Japan, forcing them to send troops to the Central Plains to search for the inheritance of witchcraft."

"According to Matsuura Takanobu, Buddhism was fighting against Shintoism in Japan. The Japanese man's conditions also included a clause that if I left China, he would allow me to go to Enryaku-ji, the headquarters of Buddhism in Japan. So the two sides were indeed enemies, not friends."

"Bodhidharma was the first to come to Japan and spread Buddhism. Then Master Jianzhen went to Japan and used Buddhism to severely damage Shintoism for the second time... But Master Zhang Sanfeng was a Taoist, so why is there no Taoist lineage in Japan? Instead, the time when Buddhism severely damaged Shintoism for the third time coincides with the time when Master Zhang Sanfeng disappeared?"

"If Master Sanfeng is really still alive, then where is he... in Kyoto, or at the Ise Grand Shrine? Has Master Ji already seen him?"

"Furthermore, the two founders and the old man from the river are clearly enemies, a point that coincides with the opinion of Master Ji. But why did Master Ji infiltrate Shintoism instead of joining Buddhism?"

Li Miao smiled.

"The affairs of Japan are truly perplexing."

"It makes it seem like this last line of sexual cultivation has become unimportant."

"However, judging from your expressions, you probably don't know much either. You're fighting to the death tonight to stop me from going to Izumo Taisha?"

"What is hidden within Izumo Taisha that you don't want me to know?"

Li Miao suddenly reached out his hand.

Bang!
The swordsman, who had just picked up his katana from the corpse, suddenly had his head explode off. The katana clattered to the ground along with the headless body.

Yukimori in the mountains suddenly trembled.

He suddenly realized that the man in front of him had changed his demeanor.

"Ah... Originally, I was thinking of digging out the last line of the sex cultivation inheritance little by little, then burning down Kyoto, killing the Emperor, and using the 'salary' from this to cultivate to the fifth level of the Celestial Realm, and then going to Ise Grand Shrine to take a look."

Li Miao casually lowered her hand and clenched her fist.

"But the news I learned tonight makes me think I should change my mind."

"I'm not playing with you guys anymore."

Swish!
Yamanaka Yukimori's pupils contracted sharply as Li Miao's figure vanished from his sight in an instant.

Boom—crash!
A loud bang suddenly came from behind him.

He turned his head and saw a fist protruding from the chest of the statue holding the divine weapon "Life-Slaying Sword" not far away.

"I'm going to Izumo Taisha tonight."

"I'd like to see what kind of thing is hidden inside this damn shrine... or what kind of person is hiding there."

(End of this chapter)