The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 547 The True Meaning of Swordsmanship

"Has the little deer ever heard the story of the monkey's journey to the West?"

"Ok?"

Lu Wushuang tilted her head.

"What do you mean?"

Li Miao waved his hand.

"Heh, it's nothing... It seems Da Shuo doesn't have Wu Cheng'en."

He tucked his hands into his sleeves, pulled his cloak up to cover half his body, and walked slowly forward, talking as he went.

"In short, it's the story of a monkey who takes three animal friends and a pretty boy on a journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures. Along the way, they pass by a temple, where the sun shines brightly and auspicious clouds abound."

"The young man went in and saw that there were Bodhisattvas everywhere and Arhats all over the place. He thought it was a Buddhist temple, so he changed into a monk's robe and was about to dismount and kowtow. But then the monkey went up and hit him with his stick, which brought out a bunch of monsters."

"What Buddha or Bodhisattva? They were all demons in disguise. They set up a magnificent temple just to lure people in and eat them."

Although Lu Wushuang didn't know why Li Miao suddenly wanted to tell such a story, she understood what he meant. She looked around and nodded with a smile.

"Indeed... shallow ponds are teeming with turtles."

She used a "hidden word method" here, only saying the second half of the sentence, but actually referring to the first half that was not spoken, which is—"a small temple with a strong demonic wind."

Li Miao rubbed his nose and nodded.

He's not in the right state right now, but his five senses have inexplicably become stronger, even more acute than when he was in a good state. But it's precisely because of this that he's becoming increasingly agitated.

It smells bad.

The aroma of burning incense ash, sandalwood, and paper money, mixed with the stench of rotting corpses, wafted straight into his nose.

Few pedestrians were seen on either side of the street; only piles of incense ash lay on the ground, and a string of Buddhist prayer beads hung on each door, polished to a shine, without a single fingerprint.

The sound of chanting scriptures came from all around, but even Nanako could sense that the fear in those voices far outweighed the piety, and she could even faintly hear suppressed sobs.

As for the reason for this fear and crying... Nanako saw a swaying black object at the edge of her vision. After realizing what it was, she suddenly lowered her head, holding the reins of the oxcart in one hand, and subconsciously took a few steps forward to grab the hem of Li Miaoxuan's black cloak.

Lu Wushuang glanced at her with disdain, pursed her lips, turned to look at the black corpse swaying on the pole, and smiled at Li Miao.

"Your skills aren't good enough."

Li Miao nodded in agreement.

"really."

"If you're going to hang a corpse, you can't burn it. After burning, the whole body will be covered in grease, and no matter how tightly you tie it, it will easily slip off. You also can't hang it around the neck, because the neck is the easiest to rot. Once it rots, half of the cavity will fall off, and it will be difficult to clean. After you clean it up, the ground will smell terrible."

"The best way is to thread a rope under the shoulder blades and drive a wooden stake into the top of the head to connect the head and shoulder blades. This way, the head can be hung for a long time."

"It would be best to lay down an oiled paper underneath to catch the corpse oil, otherwise it will be like this now—no matter how much incense you burn, you can't suppress the stench."

Lu Wushuang nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, the work was done very sloppily."

Akutagawa Mountain Castle.

After traveling for several hours, the group finally arrived at the castle closest to Enryaku-ji, the center of Japanese Buddhism. However, they encountered no soldiers guarding the castle; the castle gates were wide open, and there were no travelers in sight.

When the group entered the city, they were met with this bizarre situation—Buddhist symbols were everywhere, and the sound of chanting filled the air, yet every few steps they could see a charred corpse hanging on a pole, and apart from that, there was not a single person in sight on the streets.

Surprising.

If they hadn't anticipated encountering those murderous monks, even Li Miao and Lu Wushuang would have been taken aback.

As the two were talking, a sobbing sound suddenly came from behind them.

"Ugh...it stinks."

Ryota Miyoshi, clutching his chest and rubbing his eyes, straightened up from the oxcart, momentarily stunned and preoccupied with rubbing his eyes. Once he was a little more awake, he sniffed, opened his eyes, and looked around, only to suddenly gape in astonishment.

"Akutagawa... Yamashiro!?"

"How did I get here!"

Lu Wushuang turned his head and smiled. "Yo, young man."

"wake up?"

Ryota Miyoshi turned his head stiffly to look at her.

Lu Wushuang smiled and pointed at Miyoshi Ryota.

"Oh dear, you suddenly fainted earlier, so we had no choice but to bring you along. Being young is great, but you still need to take care of yourself and get some rest."

"If you happen to run into a malicious person who takes advantage of you while you're asleep, strips off your clothes, and leaves you on the street, wouldn't that be dangerous?"

"When you're out and about, you should always be more careful."

Ryota Miyoshi was taken aback at first.

"Ah, thank you—"

Then suddenly his veins bulged.

"Thank me my ass! You're the one who knocked me out!"

He jumped off the oxcart and ran quickly in front of Lu Wushuang and Li Miao, reaching out to stop them and saying urgently.

Do you even know where you are?!

Lu Wushuang said with a smile.

"Akutagawa Castle."

Ryota Miyoshi shook his head violently.

"This place wasn't called Akutagawa Yamashiro six months ago!"

"This place is now called Akutagawa Castle!"

"Hurry, hurry! You killed a monk, and soon warrior monks will catch up with you. I know you are highly skilled in martial arts, but in this city, even if you are a Sword Saint, you won't escape!"

He strode to the side of the street, took down several strings of Buddhist prayer beads, handed one to Nanako first, put one on his own wrist, and then handed the remaining two strings to Li Miao and Lu Wushuang.

"Put it on quickly!"

"Did you see those corpses by the roadside? Those are people who refused to convert to Buddhism, and they're all dead! Let's get out of the city before the pursuers arrive. As long as we're out of Enryaku-ji's territory, we still have a chance!"

"By the way, how long was I unconscious?"

Lu Wushuang replied.

"A little over two hours?"

Upon hearing this, Ryota Miyoshi turned pale.

"It's over."

"It's too late...it's too late."

He suddenly lost all strength and sat down heavily on the ground. The adult demeanor he had managed to maintain vanished once more, and tears welled up in his eyes again.

"Master... I can't go on, I can't fulfill your last wish, I'm going to die... I... I... Waaah..."

Lu Wushuang curled her lip in disdain.

She figured it out: this Japanese boy was a spoiled child. He had a good upbringing, but he was naive and had never seen the world. Even at fourteen or fifteen, he was still like a child and couldn't handle anything. He was only slightly better than Nanako.

If this were in Da Shuo, she wouldn't even bother to glance at a man like that. But right now, he's the only source of information she has, and she has no other choice.

So she stepped forward and slapped Miyoshi Ryota on the back, channeling a wisp of true energy into him to calm him down, and then asked him what he knew.

But as soon as the true energy entered, Miyoshi Ryota's eyes widened suddenly. He looked up at Lu Wushuang and stammered, "What do you mean?"

"you you……"

"You are also a successor of the True Original Sword Way!?"

(End of this chapter)