I am Jinshan Youxia

"No, there have been legends of immortals there for a long time. Someone was injured by bandits, but he recovered completely after drinking a sip of medicine."

"That's amazing? I really want to see it."

"Who can argue with that? If one has the protection of immortals, one can certainly escape the chaos of war."

"That's right, that's right. I only fled to Musashi because of the war, but I never expected..."

Chapter 159 Changing the Itinerary

"Wait, the plan has changed. Let's go kill that disgusting fat bastard first."

Zhang Chengyi swung his claw and unilaterally decided to abandon the traveling merchant heading towards Maple Village and go find the 'Immortal'.

Based on geographical location, the only immortal being described here should be Momoka from the Inuyasha manga.

However, we don't even know what timeline it is right now...

Anyway, it must have happened before the exorcist stronghold was destroyed.

Zhang Chengyi acted on a whim, carefully selecting a mount, and chose a bald middle-aged man leading a child.

Perhaps it's because the world of the comic book has come true, but the rate of baldness among people in Japan's Sengoku period is quite high, and they especially like to wear a small braid at the back of their heads.

The bald man's son was deathly pale and looked extremely weak. His reason for wanting to find a sage was quite simple.

Zhang Chengyi followed the father and son, who had just rested, and hurriedly set off from the village. They rode for several kilometers without getting on a mount, and he just followed behind.

Cui Zi was a little puzzled, but didn't ask.

They traveled until evening and finally arrived at a village. The villagers seemed to be very hostile to outsiders, blocking them outside the village with various farm tools. The bald man knelt down and begged for a while, finally getting the villagers to lower their guard and arrange for them to stay in an empty thatched hut on the edge of the village.

The bald man thanked him profusely, but did not ask for any food. He put down the son he was carrying, laid out some straw, and did not dare to light a fire. He ate some mixed flour cakes with the water he had collected from the river during the day.

Zhang Chengyi ate a full meal in the afternoon and was not hungry by evening, so he wandered around the village alone with the mouse.

In this era, it was normal not to travel at night. War had led to an overabundance of monsters outside, and people would die without even knowing how they died if they traveled at night.

"Lord Rat God, there's a strange smell," Midori suddenly said.

The smell of blood could come from mountain bandits, defeated samurai wandering the country, or some other random thing.

Zhang Chengyi strained his sense of smell, his little nose twitched, and he also smelled the blood. It wasn't the smell of fresh blood, but rather the smell of blood that had been flowing for a long time, mixed with other things.

"It's not just blood, it also smells terrible, like sweat." He patted his stomach and said, "Be careful, get ready for battle."

They must have been bandits, in this era...

“Lord Rat God, please pluck a single hair from your hair and drop it on the ground,” Midori said respectfully.

Zhang Chengyi reached out and plucked a hair, sensing a surge of spiritual energy flowing into the hair.

The mouse fur floated lightly to the ground, and the soil gathered around it, quickly forming a rough shape of a mouse. After a faint light, a field mouse that looked exactly like it appeared.

The newly emerged field mouse stood up straight and bowed respectfully, speaking in Midori's voice: "Lord Mouse God, please let me do it."

A puppet? An earthen puppet?

Zhang Chengyi showed an interested expression. He had almost forgotten that some of the witch's spells were quite valuable for development.

Puppets, shikigami, and the like can all be arranged; there's absolutely no need for him, as a fragile little field mouse, to personally take the field.

-----------------

"This is it."

"It's another poor place, but something is better than nothing."

The men, armed with weapons, spoke in hushed tones. The armored man at the head of the group was expressionless, and no one noticed the strange black spots appearing around the edges of his lifeless eyes.

"Kill, kill them all." He opened his mouth and said somewhat awkwardly.

The bandits, caught up in the excitement of their impending massacre and plunder, failed to notice their leader's strange behavior.

"So that's how it is. It's not just bandits, it's you too."

Standing on the treetop, the field mouse Midori stared at the bandit leader, her eyes gleaming strangely in the moonlight.

"Whoosh!"

Upon seeing the talking rat, the bandits showed no fear, but immediately shot out arrows, presumably having killed monsters before.

Don't assume that monsters are so powerful that ordinary humans can't resist them. Small monsters are just a little bigger, and they are still afraid of swords, spears, and fire. It's quite normal for bandits to gather together and kill a few ordinary small monsters.

With a leap, the field mouse Cui Zi dodged the arrows. The puppet's body was derived from Zhang Chengyi, so its agility was quite remarkable.

"Kill it." The bandit leader tilted his head, speaking with more practiced ease.

"Ouch!"

"Damn monster!"

The field mice darted through the crowd, using their weaknesses to take down the bandits one by one.

Her movements were concise, and she showed no mercy in attacking weaknesses. After all, she was a priestess who could fight monsters for seven days and seven nights while wearing armor, so she had some skills in combat.

Soon, the bandits either fled or fell.

The bandit leader stood there dumbfounded, showing no intention of helping his subordinate. Seeing the field mouse rushing over, he suddenly moved, his hand grabbing the field mouse with lightning speed, his voice like the scraping of iron: "Got you."

"No, it was me who caught you." Field Mouse Midori smiled slightly, her spiritual power dissipated, and her body turned into soil.

"what!!!"

"Hey!"

The bandit leader let out a wail as his face tore open, and a giant leech emerged, rolled once on the ground, and then lay motionless. His body was still alive, but his soul had been captured and purified by Cui Zi's ability.

This is the legendary power of the priestess; any monster that touches her will be instantly killed.

"it's over?"

Zhang Chengyi jumped over from a short distance away, looked at the bandits and cicada monsters lying all over the ground, and curiously picked up a stick to poke the giant cicada.

The bandit leader's torn face was completely hollow, having been gnawed away to reveal only the outer shell.

"Yes, it's been resolved." Cui Zi replied, "He was probably bitten by a leech monster while drinking water. It swallowed his soul, flesh, and internal organs, and was then driven by evil energy to kill people everywhere."

"I see." Zhang Chengyi nodded. He had thought he might get a Shikon Jewel fragment or something.

However, encountering ordinary monsters is the normal situation, right?

"I heard a strange noise!"

"They might be bandits or monsters!"

"come out faster!"

The torches flickered in the distance, and the sound grew closer; the villagers must have heard the noise and come over.

Zhang Chengyi turned and left, saying as he walked, "Cuizi, could you make a couple of shikigami?"

“Okay.” Midori replied, “If I encounter a suitable spirit, I will ask you if you want to subdue it as a shikigami.”

Zhang Chengyi continued excitedly, "Can you make more of that puppet? How long does it last?"

Pluck a single hair and you can split it into ten thousand mice—that sounds incredibly exciting!

Midori said somewhat awkwardly, "I'm sorry, sir, I can only use two puppets at most right now."

Making puppets isn't difficult, since spiritual power is unlimited. But using puppets is not so simple; she needs to control them with her own soul.

"Is there any way to create a puppet that looks like someone other than me...?"

Zhang Chengyi's questions kept popping up, and amidst the quiet conversation, they circled back to the village.

Chapter 160 Arriving a Step Too Late

The next day, in the morning, in a thatched hut on the edge of the village.

The village was in an uproar all night, with all sorts of noises. After all, a group of wounded bandits had been captured, and the dead leech monster had been discovered. The bald uncle was uneasy and couldn't sleep all night, holding his son. Even after his son fell asleep in the second half of the night, he still couldn't calm down and spent the night cautiously and vigilantly. As soon as it was light, he went out to inquire about the situation.

Zhang Chengyi yawned and slid down the wall, wondering where he could find something to eat.

The little boy, who had been mostly asleep since yesterday, suddenly woke up for some reason. He opened his eyes, his gaze fixed on the tiny field mouse, and asked:

Are you a monster?

"?"

Zhang Chengyi was a little puzzled. Although he hadn't deliberately concealed his presence, wasn't it a bit hysterical for a human boy to open his mouth and talk to a field mouse?

He didn't pay any attention and was about to continue walking when the boy continued, "You were following us yesterday, weren't you? But I don't think you'll hurt us."

Zhang Chengyi turned his head to look at him and asked, "Aren't you scared?"

"No." The boy shook his head. "You give me a very clean and warm feeling, cough cough cough."

"And I'm about to die."

"how old are you?"

"Seven years old."

"What a precocious brat."

Zhang Chengyi smiled. This was the first ordinary human he had met in the Inuyasha world who wasn't afraid of him. What an interesting little brat.

He stepped out of the thatched hut, and Cui Zi whispered, "This child is naturally weak and easily sees spirits. He has also been invaded by evil spirits and miasma. He must have encountered monsters or evil spirits but did not die. His body is almost failing now, which is why he is particularly sensitive to spirits."

So, is being clean and warm what Midori is all about?

Tsk.

Zhang Chengyi sneaked up to the windowsill and quietly peeked inside. The boy was patting his chest with a look of relief, clearly not that he wasn't scared, but just pretending.

Haha.

He suddenly laughed, perhaps because he had already seen a child who was too mature and calm, and that child was not happy.

Then Zhang Chengyi hummed a song and strolled around the village. He couldn't find anything good to eat. It was mostly wheat porridge, mixed grain soup, and pickled vegetables. There weren't even any fruits.

He would rather go hungry than eat bland grains and overly salty pickles.

Having found nothing, he returned to the thatched hut, while the bald uncle carried his son, who had fallen into a deep sleep again, on his way.