Yashiro the Blind

There are certainly some clues.

Almost immediately, Yashiro thought of the white-haired, white-clad woman in her dream, as white as snow, and the astonishing sword that cleaved down from the sky. However, she didn't know where to begin, as if no words could adequately describe even a fraction of that sword strike. She opened her mouth, but before she could utter a sound, Tsukahara Bokuden had already smiled and sheathed the sword, returning it to her.

"There's no need to go into too much detail. This is your opportunity; just make the most of it. There are many sword masters in the world. As long as you can go far enough on this path and live long enough, you will eventually gain some understanding and have your own 'momentum.' But taking the next step and being hailed as a sword saint is extremely rare, with very few throughout the centuries. Apart from those self-aggrandizing clowns, only three can truly leave their mark on history: Kunima Masato of the Kashima School, Oniichi Hōgan of the Kyohachi School, and Nen Amien of the Nen School."

"As for me, this old man, although I am called the Sword Saint by the world, I only know my own situation. I am still far from being good enough. As for you, Yashiro—I am very much looking forward to seeing what kind of path you will take in the future, and what the 'First Sword' you comprehend will look like."

……

That conversation with Tsukahara Bokuden remains vividly in my memory.

During that year, the other party was incredibly generous, answering every question and patiently guiding her, teaching her all the insights he had gained over the decades. Although he didn't directly teach her the moves of the Shin-Dang style or other sword styles, this kindness was even more touching than that of an ordinary teacher.

Under his guidance, and after several years of refinement, she finally managed to grasp the basics of the sword strike in her dream—that lofty, boundless realm, which was probably what the old man referred to as "sword intent." Even a tiny bit of it benefited her greatly.

And at this moment, it feels like a cycle has come full circle.

Once Yashiro made up her mind, she pressed down on her cane and slowly pulled out a section of it. At the same time, a lofty and ethereal aura emanated from her body.

Like the heavens.

A sudden gust of wind swept through the woods.

The surrounding leaves did not rustle, because this was not a mountain breeze, nor a forest breeze, but... a knife wind!

The girl who was sitting on the ground suddenly raised her head. Her eyes were still closed, and her shallow breathing and snoring were still the same. She was still in a dream, but her body had already leaped up. The long knife wrapped in cloth was suddenly swung in the air. The white cloth was swung and blocked the sunlight above. In the suddenly darkened mountain forest, the blade flashed and shone brightly!

The slash came incredibly fast, almost in the blink of an eye, the blade was already in front of her—however, the blind girl didn't need to blink. This instant, which ordinary people couldn't react to, seemed incredibly long to her, as if time was infinitely stretched out at this moment, with only her thoughts racing like lightning.

Swish!

……

The next second, she opened her eyes.

Light shone in front of me.

This is a seemingly familiar but actually strange mountain forest, clearly not in Yuanjiang, but in another unfamiliar land, an unfamiliar shrine, an unfamiliar mountain, an old man with white hair and beard, wearing a wide robe and sleeves, holding a branch about five feet long in his hand, with tender leaves still on the branch, and a few drops of dew on the tips of the leaves.

Each drop of dew reflects a different scene.

This scene was like a replay of Kashima's dream, but Yashiro immediately realized the difference. The woman she had seen in her dream had a bright look in her eyes, while this old man was expressionless and had an empty gaze.

Without a word or a probe, the moment their eyes met, the old man suddenly made a move. With a flick of his branch, dozens or even hundreds of afterimages appeared in the air, sweeping across the sky!

Yashiro neither dodged nor evaded, but simply released her right hand and thrust out her sword. The blade struck the long tree branch mid-air, bending under the force. Countless afterimages around her vanished simultaneously. She released her grip, her body swaying, and caught the falling hilt with her other hand. Then, she struck again—

The tree branch was about five feet long, while her staff and sword were less than three feet long. With this step, she closed the distance and, before the old man could let go and retreat, a simple sword strike had already pierced his chest.

The old man's body suddenly stiffened, and the next moment, Yashiro saw him grin and show his teeth. His wrinkled face suddenly twisted and deformed, and within a few breaths, it had turned into a golden raven!

This crow actually had three legs, and its body was only the size of a palm. It was completely pierced through by the sword and remained suspended in mid-air.

But no blood flowed out.

Yashiro quietly watched the crow, which was also staring at her with its dark eyes. After a moment, it suddenly let out a cry, and golden flames suddenly burst into flames starting from its legs, instantly engulfing the entire crow and burning it to ashes.

……

Swish!

The blind girl moved with agility, dodging the oncoming longsword strike. She then drew her cane and sword, striking the girl squarely on the back of the neck with the back of the blade. The girl staggered, let out a muffled groan, and slumped forward.

Yashiro stopped, holding her longsword, her eyes closed, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

In that instant, she felt as if she were having a dream, in which she had killed... a three-legged crow?

"This is……"

For some reason, when Yashiro thought of what had just happened, his first reaction was—wouldn't this count as hunting a precious and endangered protected animal?

A three-legged golden crow, how many years would that get him in prison...?

……

Chapter 116 That's My Disciple

In different regions, crows often have different symbolic meanings.

The Vikings of Northern Europe regarded ravens as the embodiment of wisdom, the eyes and ears of the god Odin, and the ones who patrolled the world for the one-eyed god; the Keganians of North America believed that the world was originally created by a giant raven—similar raven creation myths are found all over the world, and equally popular are the legends of ravens and the sun.

For example, in Greek mythology, the raven was originally the messenger of the sun god Apollo, and in China, the saying "a three-legged crow in the sun" has been passed down for thousands of years. The myth of Hou Yi shooting down nine suns with his bow is also well known to everyone.

Perhaps influenced by the latter, or perhaps simply a tacit understanding among the ancients, Japanese mythology also contains anecdotes about a three-legged crow.

Its name is Yatagarasu, and it is said to be the incarnation of Kamo no Takekatsumi no Mikoto. During Emperor Jimmu's eastern expedition, he was trapped in a poisonous fog in the Kumano region and could not escape for a long time. Finally, Amaterasu Omikami commanded Kamo no Takekatsumi no Mikoto to transform into a crow, guiding Jimmu's army out of the fog, successfully defeating the enemy, and establishing the prototype of the Yamato court. Because of this achievement, after the founding of the country, Yatagarasu has always been worshipped as a sacred bird, especially in the Kumano Three Mountains, where statues and paintings of the three-legged crow can be seen everywhere…

After rambling on and on, all she wanted to say was, or rather, to avoid, one thing: if Yashiro wasn't mistaken, she probably just... casually chopped down Amaterasu's messenger.

Of course, at this moment, she had two distinct memories in her mind. One was the old man who had been transformed from Yatagarasu in that unfamiliar shrine, while the other was the scene in the forest in reality where she dodged Minjimaru's sword and then delivered a quick and skillful blow, knocking the girl unconscious.

No matter how you look at it, the latter is clearly what actually happened, while the former is just a dream, like the silver-haired woman I dreamed of at Kashima Shrine. No matter how deep the impression, it is ultimately not real. But if we treat it as just a phantom, it seems difficult to justify.

After all, the sword intent she gleaned from that sword strike, and Minjimaru's "murder in a dream," were both real and tangible.

This leads to another question: do gods, immortals, and ghosts really exist in this world?

This question had troubled Yashiro for a long time. In her previous life, she could confidently assert that the existence of ghosts and gods was purely fictional, but after experiencing this transmigration, she could no longer make such a statement. If there were no ghosts in the world, then what was she, now that she was here?

But what if there really are unscientific things like gods, ghosts, and demons in this world...?

Thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem so unbelievable.

Regardless of whether they exist or not, she can't usually come into contact with them anyway. Even if there really are immortals, they have never appeared in public in the past few hundred years. Who knows where they are hiding in the mountains and valleys? Is she going to abandon Xiaoling and all her friends and relatives from now on and travel all over the famous mountains and rivers, trying to find the secret to immortality at any cost?

In Yashiro's view, this is the real waste of time and life.

As for those experiences that seemed both real and illusory, and the wisp of sword intent she sensed in her dreams, since they were real and not fake, there was no need to deny them. If it exists, it exists; if it doesn't, it doesn't. That's the correct materialistic value system, right? Although, even though she no longer dwells on these issues, Yashiro occasionally can't help but mutter a few words to herself. Anyway, she has lived a peaceful and healthy life for twenty years, and if possible, she hopes that this world can be as scientific as possible.

Now that things have come to this, if another creator god who could destroy the world with a mere flick of his hand were to appear, or a green-skinned alien demon king who could spit out eggs from his mouth, then no matter how good her mentality was, she would definitely still curse...

Fortunately, no similar signs have been found so far.

"Hmm... I don't want to think about it anymore."

Realizing that her thoughts had once again become a runaway horse, wandering further and further away, Yashiro smiled and shook her head, pulling her consciousness back to reality. She slowly sheathed her sword, her cane resting against her palm; the rough texture of it had finally become warm and smooth after more than a decade of companionship.

Then he turned around, checked Minjimaru's breathing, and took his pulse. He was relieved to find that everything was normal.

"Just in case, let's try again."

Muttering to herself, she gripped the hilt of her sword, her brow furrowing slightly as she tried to release a wisp of killing intent, intending to test whether Minjimaru would react and attack again—but the girl lay there, unresponsive, her breathing even and deep, not like she had been knocked unconscious, but rather like she was fast asleep.

On the contrary, the two little birds in the nearby tree were startled and flapped their wings vigorously, flying away as if fleeing.

"Whoosh..."

Yashiro paused for a moment, then smiled apologetically.

Although he wanted to bring the girl inside to rest, he tried and found that he couldn't just pick her up. He also couldn't drag her away by dragging her with one leg or one arm. After thinking it over, he simply left her there, went back inside to get another piece of clothing, and came out to put it on Minji Maru.

"The birds in the trees are singing their melodious songs, and the loquat fruits are swaying incessantly... Sleep, sleep, my dear child, though you may be alone in your dreams, the sound of the wind from Yueshan Mountain will still accompany you..."

Humming the lullaby she had just sung, Yashiro, without the accompaniment of the pipa, sounded more relaxed. Leaning on her cane, she walked around the woods, picked up a piece of wood of just the right size, sat under a tree, took out a small knife, and began to carve it carefully.

……

In a daze, Minjimaru suddenly remembered something.

Some things she had long forgotten—on that night when she fell asleep at the shrine, besides the white-haired old man in her dream, there was something else: a golden raven with a mirror hanging around its neck, unlike ordinary ravens, it had three legs.

"who are you?"

In her dream, she asked, bewildered.

But the old man did not answer. He simply pointed, and the golden raven let out a shriek and suddenly swooped down on her. Its speed was like a streak of light, leaving her no time to dodge. In a flash, the raven's shadow disappeared into her body.

Then she woke up.

Later, she often dreamed of that crow. Sometimes it would spread its wings and fly high in her dreams, sometimes it would caw and caw, and sometimes it would suddenly swoop down and peck at her head with its beak. While pecking, it would even speak in human language: "Get up! Get up! Get up and practice your sword, practice your sword!"

However, Minji Maru in the dream remained oblivious to the crow, continuing on his own until he woke up, having completely forgotten the dream and feeling refreshed.

"Someone's here! They're going to kill you! You're going to die! You idiot! You idiot!"

The crow pecked at her hard and tried to flap its wings at her head, but all its efforts were in vain. The girl in the dream was still happily eating roasted rice cakes.

"Idiot! Idiot!" the golden crow cried out and took flight. The next moment, the mirror hanging around its neck suddenly flashed with light, and the crow, which had been small, transformed into the old man. With a casual wave of his hand, he grabbed a branch from thin air and swung it away.

"It's done! It's done! You idiot! You idiot! I'm only helping you this once, get up and practice your sword! Practice your sword!"

"Grilled rice cakes are so delicious, hehehe...burp."

"You idiot!"

Later, the crow transformed into human form several more times, muttering and cursing, "These bastards don't look like good people! Kill them! Kill them!"

"Too ugly! He's definitely up to no good! Kill him! Kill him!"

"Where did this fat bastard come from! Kill him! Kill him!"

"Get up! You idiot! I'll help you one last time! I won't help you next time! I won't!"

"Where did this brat come from! Short and blind, yet he dares to brandish a sword! But he doesn't seem to have any killing intent! Should I kill him? Should I kill him? No! He actually dares to provoke me! Kill him, kill him... Wait! This one's powerful! And he even has the aura of Wu Wengchui! I can't beat him! I can't beat him! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

The crow's cries were sharp and shrill, and it spoke in a rapid, frantic cacophony that was enough to give anyone a headache. In its final, piercing scream, the once peaceful dream suddenly became a tempestuous storm.

Minjimaru was oblivious in his dream, but the girl outside the dream stared in disbelief at the dark clouds gathering in the sky. A moment later, a bolt of lightning struck the three-legged crow, scorching it to a crisp and leaving it barely alive!

"It hurts! It hurts! That bastard Wu Wengchui! Everyone made plans! But she's the only one who hasn't returned to Takamagahara! Unforgivable! Unforgivable! I'm going back to complain, I'm going back to complain... Wait! It's not what you think, Wu Wengchui, let me explain..."

"Do not listen."

The second bolt of lightning struck, shattering the crow to pieces. At the same time, countless bolts of lightning coalesced and gradually coalesced into a tall woman with snow-white hair. This woman wore only a loose cloth robe, was barefoot, and held a straight sword without a hilt in her hand.

The silver-haired woman's gaze swept casually across the dream, then she raised her head, as if looking through this long-overdue dream and meeting the eyes of Minji Maru outside the dream.

Eyes facing each other.

Minji Maru was taken aback.

"you……"

"Sorry, I ruined your chance. That stupid bird was just too noisy, and I accidentally made a move."

The silver-haired woman said calmly, though she was apologizing, her tone didn't sound apologetic at all, "But that stupid bird's swordsmanship wasn't anything special anyway. Instead of learning from her, you should learn from me."

"Study...you?"

Minji Maru was completely baffled and was about to ask questions from the beginning, such as who the other party was, when he saw the woman raise her sword, and dark clouds gathered in the sky again, with thousands of golden snakes flying around: "Watch out, watch the move, understand the move, receive it—huh?"

Before she could finish speaking, before the last word was uttered, the entire dream shattered. In the broken dream, the silver-haired woman remained in the position of raising her sword halfway, and finally, a hint of astonishment appeared on her usually cold face.

"He couldn't even withstand one of my sword strikes, no, half a strike... Have the mortals of Ashihara no Naka de become this weak? But that little guy seemed pretty tough last time..."

"Because the little brat you beat up last time was my apprentice." Another voice suddenly interrupted.

The silver-haired woman frowned, then suddenly turned around: "Is it you, Gui Yi?"

"Of course it's me."

There was no one in sight, only a lazy laugh coming from the horizon, "Eight hundred years have passed since the separation of heaven and earth. Those who were meant to die are dead, and those who were meant to go back have gone back. Only you and I, two old antiques, are still reluctant to leave this mortal world. Who else could it be but me? Oh, and I don't use that name anymore. From now on, call me Guoxin."

"Guoxin, it doesn't sound much better than your original name... So you came all this way just to tell me you changed your name?" The silver-haired woman curled her lip.

"Not only that."

"So you want to avenge your little apprentice?"

"No, it's just a friendly reminder out of consideration for our long-standing friendship."

"Reminder of what?"

"Stay away from that little brat. This is the age of mortals now; you shouldn't interfere so easily. More importantly—"

The languid voice paused slightly, then emphasized, "That's my apprentice, not yours."

……

Minji Maru slowly woke up, her mind still hazy. She seemed to have dreamt something, but when she tried to recall it, she couldn't remember anything.

She felt a throbbing pain in the back of her neck, but her consciousness remained focused on the nostalgic lullaby. When she groggily opened her eyes, she saw the figure carving wood in the warm red afterglow of the sunset.

This was perhaps the first time she had so quietly observed the other person. Last night was chaotic, not to mention that she had just finished practicing her sword this morning and was exhausted. She had no energy to look at anything else. Later, she was busy eating and drinking soup and had no time to pay attention to anything else. Even when listening to the pipa, her attention was mostly focused on the gentle singing.

"This……"

But Minji Maru was momentarily stunned when he took a look.