The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 590 One Book Per Person

The priestess's laughter lasted only a moment.

"you--"

Before she could finish speaking, Kurama Heihachi, who was already as weak as a candle in the wind, mustered up strength from somewhere and dragged his broken body to knock her to the ground, covering her mouth tightly.

"No no no!"

If she were in normal condition, Kurama Heihachi shouldn't have posed a threat to her. But now she has gradually lost control of her body and is unable to mobilize her inner energy, and is actually being suppressed.

He could only glare angrily at Kurama Heihachi.

Kurama Heihachi, however, gave a ferocious smile.

You can't leave anything behind!

"Including his last words!"

He desperately covered the woman in the priest's robes with his mouth, and she naturally struggled fiercely, pushing and shoving him against his chest with both hands, but suddenly there was a soft "pfft".

The priestess's hand pierced into the wound on his body.

The woman in the priest's robes was struggling haphazardly when she suddenly noticed that Kurama Heihachi's face had turned pale and the strength suppressing her had weakened considerably. Coupled with the wet and soft touch from his palm, she immediately understood what was happening.

He quickly reached out and started tugging wildly inside Kurama Heihachi's body.

At the same time, he desperately bit the hand covering his mouth and nose.

Flesh and blood kept sliding off the wound.

Kurama Heihachi was losing strength, but he still desperately covered the mouth of the woman in the priest's robes.

The shrine maidens who guard Shinto shrines are women from the Emperor's lineage who, after contemplating the divine image of Amaterasu, formed a false persona of absolute loyalty to Shintoism and Amaterasu.

Through their previous experiments with Ji Tianrui, they discovered that this was likely due to the sword techniques of Master Sanfeng, which were able to suppress this false personality.

Yes, suppression, not destruction.

She will be trapped in this body forever, observing and feeling everything, but unable to take any action.

Thus, Kurama Heihachi devised a plan for revenge.

For a fanatic, the most terrifying thing is not death, so he won't kill her. But he will make her watch the most terrifying thing happen.

Kurama Heihachi's body was hollowed out.

The woman in the priestess's robes looked increasingly confused.

At the last moment, Kurama Heihachi finally lost his strength and suddenly collapsed onto her, whispering in her ear just before losing consciousness completely.

"..."

"!!!"

It is unclear what Kurama Heihachi said, but the priestess's eyes, which had been drowsy, suddenly cleared for a moment, and a deep and surging anger and fear, like the sea, burst forth!

"You bastard! You—"

She angrily uttered half a sentence.

His expression suddenly changed, becoming blank and bewildered. He instinctively reached out with both hands to push Kurama Heihachi's body aside. After seeing the surrounding situation, he suddenly screamed.

"Ah ah!!"

He braced himself with his hands on the ground, stumbling backward. After a few steps, he slipped on the blood and fell, his head hitting the ground with a thud. His vision went white, and he immediately lost consciousness.

The surroundings finally quieted down.

In the middle of the passageway, the illusion suddenly dissipated, revealing Li Miao and Ji Tianrui, who had witnessed the entire spectacle.

Unlike before, Ji Tianrui's light laughter subsided, replaced by a hint of seriousness.

"Lord Li, I'm in trouble."

"The Yin River has been leaked."

She pointed forward, toward the unconscious woman in priest's robes.

"I received news that the lineage of the Yin-ryu school was located in Hachiman Shrine. I brought you here because, on the one hand, I wanted to see what secrets Hachiman Shrine held, and on the other hand, I wanted to find the last original sword technique."

"After we work together to deduce and reach the True Constant Realm, we will go to Kyoto and Ise Grand Shrine."

"But if what she said just now is true... then we're in trouble."

Ji Tianrui looked at Li Miao.

"The original sword techniques left behind by Master Jianzhen are just the key; none of them can be missing. Even you and I would find it difficult to deduce the complete manual without having collected all four sword techniques... Lord Li, did Master Jianzhen not tell you anything before he died?" Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"The cult leader's plan is surprisingly simple."

"But unfortunately, the Master Jianzhen I met was only a remnant of his spirit, and his memories were probably incomplete... or perhaps he was also wary of being discovered by the Shinto Church, so he did not retain any information about Zhenchang in his memory."

Li Miao shrugged.

"In short, he didn't say."

"I didn't ask."

Ji Tianrui shook her head.

"Sigh...sometimes I really wish I could be as carefree as Lord Li."

Li Miao frowned.

"Master Ji... are you saying that I am heartless and cold-blooded?"

Ji Tianrui quickly chuckled and waved her hand.

"Of course not, how could I dare?"

"If we were to truly deduce the secrets of the True Principles, it wouldn't be impossible for us to work backward from Japanese swordsmanship over several months or even a year... However, we might not have enough time."

She shook her head.

"We did a lot of work to investigate the Shintoism and Enryakuji Temple. Lord Li has also been very straightforward on his journey."

"Even if Amaterasu is in a bad state, even if Shintoism doesn't want to bother her, even if Sanfeng Zhenren tries to distract them, at this point, they should have to react. Destroying the Yinliu lineage is just one of the preparations they have made."

"The longer we drag this out, the less likely we are to find clues and a way to break the deadlock. It's even possible that we'll be cornered by the old man from the river."

"We don't have time."

Ji Tianrui's mind raced. She raised her hand, put her fingernail in her mouth, and started gnawing on it, lost in thought.

"At least six routes need to be combined into one."

"We must obtain the True Constant Technique within at least half a month."

"In my estimation, even if we both manage to build six routes, we might not be able to contend with the Old Man of the River. If we fail to build them... we can only seek stability and retreat to the Central Plains first, and then return after we have deduced the true nature of things..."

"But in that case, my arrangements in Kyoto and Ise Grand Shrine, the state of Master Sanfeng, and the clues about the other party will inevitably go in a direction that neither of us wants to see..."

After a long while, Ji Tianrui suddenly looked up at Li Miao.

"Lord Li, you don't seem to care?"

Li Miao put his hands in his sleeves and raised an eyebrow.

"What, does Sect Leader Ji have a problem with this?"

Ji Tianrui shook her head.

"No, it's not that... it's just that I've always thought that although Lord Li seems to care about nothing, he is not heartless at heart."

"You shouldn't be careless when facing the old man by the river."

"Since that's the case, the Yin flow has been passed down, and the true nature is difficult to deduce in a short time. You shouldn't be so careless... Including Master Jianzhen, he may have forgotten because of mental confusion, but you should still ask him a question."

"After all, for Lord Li, running errands and wasting time should be the most annoying things... but you didn't ask."

"Thinking back to Lord Li's life, the milestones in his martial arts development, and some of my previous questions, such as his great improvement in martial arts after killing Emperor Jianwen during the Battle of the Imperial Mausoleum..."

Li Miao suddenly smiled, patted Ji Tianrui on the shoulder, and turned around.

"Nothing can be hidden from Master Ji."

“That’s right, I’m not in a hurry, and I don’t place much importance on the four original sword techniques… As for the reason, it’s best if Sect Leader Ji doesn’t ask.”

"All I can say is..."

He suddenly smiled.

"As long as I follow the plan step by step, kill my way to Kyoto, and kill the Emperor with my own hands, I don't need any Yin-style sword techniques or the teachings of Master Jianzhen. Three sword techniques are enough."

"Isn't it just the True Nature Secret Manual?"

"When the time comes, I can produce three or four calculations. I'll tear one out and throw one away, one for each of us!"

(End of this chapter)