The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 585 Family
"So, Kurama Heihachi was Miyoshi Ryota's master. He killed the successor of the Niten Ichijutsu and wanted to carry on the Niten Ichijutsu for him, so he trained such a disciple."

“After making a deal with Kurama Heihachi, you brought Miyoshi Ryota to me.”

Silence finally returned to the surroundings.

Li Miao looked at the fallen Kurama Heihachi, and while diligently maintaining the illusion of Sassho to conceal his form, he said in a low voice.

Ji Tianrui nodded with a smile.

"That's right, there has to be some bait to lure Lord Li here. But Master Jianzhen's awakening was an accident, which almost completely overturned my plan. In the rush, I was unable to prepare any more methods to lure you."

"Therefore, I have no choice but to show myself. I ask you to refrain from taking action for now and come with me, taking advantage of the fact that you saved Zhu Yijing when you fought with An Qisheng."

Li Miao nodded.

"I was already wondering about the strangeness of Ryota Miyoshi's appearance, and it turns out it was all part of the cult leader's scheme."

"So how about now?"

"You invited me here, not just to watch a show, right? Kurama Heihachi has already exhausted all his strength. When are you going to make your move?"

Ji Tianrui covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

"Lord Li, why not wait a little longer? Once Kurama Heihachi stands up and swings his sword at the woman at the end of the passage, you can make your move."

"However, I still suggest you make your move as late as possible... otherwise, you might miss a good show."

Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"What you've said, Master Ji, has really piqued my interest... If there's no good show to watch, how about I punch you?"

Ji Tianrui covered her mouth and chuckled softly, then remained silent.

Ahead, Kurama Heihachi lay sprawled on the corpse of the Hachimangu swordsman. After a long while, he suddenly shuddered, as if a drowning person were gasping for breath and coughing violently.

His injuries were enough to be fatal.

No one knew what kind of spirit resided within this old man that had sustained him until now. But in any case, he leaned on the knife, propped himself up, and looked ahead.

Less than ten feet ahead, at the end of the passageway, the woman dressed in the robes of a priest showed no emotion whatsoever. Even as she watched her subordinates being slaughtered one by one by Kurama Heihachi, she showed no intention of intervening.

Her fingers slowly tapped on the crimson hilt of the sword. Through the veil covering her face, Kurama Heihachi felt her gaze fall on his face.

"Ah."

He stubbornly straightened up again.

There's no one in front of you anymore.

A gentle breeze lifted a corner of the woman's veil, revealing half of her still slightly chubby face and delicate, rosy lips.

"So what?"

His voice was as childlike as his half-face.

"Can you still draw your knife?"

"Since you've come to attack Hachiman Shrine, you should know that as long as the divine painting bestowed by Amaterasu Omikami remains, and as long as Hachiman Shrine still stands in Kamakura, there will be as many divine swordsmen as you want."

"After you die, the path to the top will be unguarded. In just one or two years, swordsmen who have heard the news will fill the empty spot today—your desperate attempt was meaningless."

"The destruction of the Kurama style is also meaningless."

Kurama Heihachi suddenly smiled.

As if he had finally received an answer, as if his life-risking today was all for the sake of hearing these words, he smiled with relief and a sense of weight lifted from his shoulders.

"Speak of it."

He suddenly changed the subject.

"Do you know what I was doing before I turned forty?" He asked himself before the woman could speak.

"Back then, I was a wanderer."

"Despite being far stronger than my peers, I was unable to gain fame because I practiced the Kurama-ryu style, and I had to evade the suppression and even pursuit of the Shinto Church. Dissatisfied with my father's teachings, I escaped alone and traveled the world as a Kyo-hachi-ryu swordsman."

“When I was twenty-five, I wandered to Izumo Province. There I met a woman who said she was about to be sent to Izumo Taisha Shrine to become a shrine maiden.”

"She said her name was Ju."

Seemingly realizing something, the priestess's gaze suddenly turned cold, and her fingers stopped tapping the hilt of her sword.

Kurama Heihachi laughed.

“You don’t need to be nervous. I have no romantic relationship with her. At that time, I just thought of myself as a chivalrous knight, so a timid young girl begged me to deliver a letter home for her, and I accepted.”

"So at the end of that year, I came to Kyoto, but I couldn't find the address or family she had given me."

"So I took the letter and returned to Izumo Taisha, and found the girl named Tachibana—you should know what happened next."

Kurama Heihachi raised his hand and slashed his own neck.

"She doesn't recognize me."

"In just one year, she was like a completely different person. She was no longer the naive girl she was when we first met, and her swordsmanship had improved to a level that I could not even dream of."

"She recognized me as a successor of the Kurama school and wanted to kill me."

"But fortunately, I am strong. Although I am not strong enough to defeat her, I am strong enough to withstand a few moves and take out the letter she gave me and unfold it."

Then, she 'woke up'.

"For only a brief moment, she demonstrated a sword move to me, and then she transformed back into the Izumo Taisha Shrine priestess who was yelling at me to fight and kill."

"Then, I ran away."

The woman in priest's robes said coldly.

"What do you want to say?"

Kurama Heihachi grinned.

"The story is not over yet."

"Because she has memorized my face, I can no longer get close to Izumo Taisha no matter what. But I am also very curious and afraid, what could have changed the appearance of a naive and fearful girl in just one year?"

"So I returned to Kyoto again, trying to find Tachibana's family. I searched for a year, but I found no clues whatsoever, as if Tachibana had never existed."

So I prepared to leave.

"On the day before I left, I don't know if it was the blessing of the gods or what, but I suddenly heard some news - the Emperor was going to Ise Grand Shrine to pay homage."

"Because of my status, I cannot leave the city at will, so I stayed behind and wanted to see what the Emperor looks like."

“That day, all the people of Kyoto knelt on both sides of the street, and I was one of them. But unlike them, I dared to secretly look up.”

"The Emperor's carriage came up in front of me. A breeze blew by, lifting a curtain, and in that very brief moment, I caught a glimpse of the Emperor's profile."

Killing intent.

As Kurama Heihachi recounted his story, a thin, pure, and incredibly concentrated killing intent locked onto him.

But he laughed even more wildly, and slowly uttered his last words.

"That face, though it was old and frail, full of wrinkles and beard, I recognized it at a glance after searching for a year in Kyoto."

"That's the family that Ju is looking for."

(End of this chapter)