Yashiro the Blind

She wasn't interested in the topic itself; she just couldn't stand seeing others hesitate to speak.

……

Memory is like a vast, boundless river. I travel upstream, tracing back the various scenes that have been left deep in my mind, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

The starting point of the river is the end point of the previous life. A sudden accident, an unexpected and intense pain, and consciousness gradually sinks into a deep drowsiness. When you wake up again, you are in a foreign land, a completely different world.

No matter how wide I opened my eyes, all I saw was a pitch-black night. For some reason, my body couldn't move freely; my limbs seemed much shorter. The cries I uttered in panic were as pale and weak as a baby's.

Much later, he realized that he had most likely traveled through time.

She transmigrated into the body of an infant. People around her were talking from time to time. Some held her in their arms and rocked her gently. Some put some sweet liquid in her mouth and she drank it down. After regaining her senses and calming down, she found that she couldn't understand what the people around her were saying. It sounded a bit like Japanese, but it was completely different from the animated movies and TV series in her previous life.

More people walked around, the sound of footsteps echoing, the distant roar of horses, shouts, and screams...

My ears hurt so much...

It felt like something warm was flowing out of my ears, and my ears were buzzing. The originally clear sound was as if covered by a thin veil, hazy and indistinct.

Then came another period of hazy, confused state. Because I couldn't see anything, I had little sense of reality about my surroundings. Ever since my ear ached, my hearing had diminished considerably. I spent my days constantly sleeping and waking, often feeling like it was all a bizarre, endless dream, a surreal, recurring scene before my death. My real self is currently in the hospital receiving emergency treatment. Once the doctors save my life, my vision will clear…

A year has passed, two years have passed, and this dream is still not over.

Not only that, as the boundary between dream and "reality" continued to collapse, he gradually realized that even if this really was a dream, as long as he hadn't woken up for a moment, he could only emulate Zhuangzi and happily be a drunken butterfly. So he became her, transforming from a young man approaching thirty on a 21st-century coastline into a little blind girl in the countryside of Iga.

In the third year, he was taken to a large courtyard where there were many children of similar age, both boys and girls. In his previous life, they would have been in elementary school or kindergarten, but now they were intently learning how to kill.

With impaired hearing and eyesight, a frail body, and slow reactions, she not only couldn't keep up with the course progress, but was also ostracized and ridiculed by others. Almost every day she was covered in bruises and full of frustration. Only by treating everything as a dream could she grit her teeth and persevere.

Six years have passed in the blink of an eye.

As she grew older, her height and weight didn't improve much; she remained thin and small. Her older sister felt sorry for her and would bring her some food every few days when she returned to her parents' home from Tateoka: "Come on, little one, eat more... With your physique, you probably won't even be able to have children in the future."

“I…don’t have children.” She shook her head.

"You're talking nonsense again. You'll have to have children sooner or later after you marry someone else."

"She won't get married either..."

"Not getting married?"

"I won't marry..."

"That's a headache." Her older sister rested her chin on her hand and looked at her with a smile. "It's okay that you don't eat much now, but I won't be able to support you by myself when you grow up."

"Then... I'll take care of you..."

"Silly girl, I don't need you to support me. Just take care of yourself."

As she said this, her older sister reached out and flicked her forehead with a smile, then wiped the rice grains stuck to her lips. She sounded quite happy and even brought her face closer so that she could touch it, and found that the corners of her mouth were also turned up.

Unfortunately, my sister isn't always home.

People in this era generally did not live long, so boys were considered adults at the age of fourteen or fifteen. Children of samurai families often went to the battlefield with their parents at the age of twelve or thirteen. Women also married early. Her sister was sixteen years old this year and already had two children. Although they did not marry because of love, their marriage could be described as happy and fulfilling.

Life is so hard, and we need someone to support us and help us move forward. So her sister would try to persuade her from time to time, but she stubbornly refused to listen. Deep down, she probably wanted to rebel against this unreasonable world in this way—but it seemed like there was nothing else she could do.

Two months later, the father, who had been away from home for a long time, returned wounded. The mother was in a panic and hurriedly called her older sister back from her husband's home in Tateoka. The three siblings stayed by their father's side. The man was always taciturn in front of his children, and he was still like that on his deathbed. After whispering a few words to his wife, he called his three children to his side, raised his hand tremblingly, and patted the back of each of their hands a few times.

Then he stopped breathing.

The death was sudden, yet she sensed an impending storm brewing. Instead of seeking help with funeral rites, her mother immediately rushed back to her room to pack her belongings, then pulled her along, intending to seek refuge with her sister's husband. She didn't know exactly who they were hiding from—whether it was Tenka Goro's former enemy, or whether the couple had already seen through the intentions of the clan's villains…

She didn't ask, nor did she have time to. In any case, children have no say in such situations. After being pulled along and stumbled a few steps by her mother, she was then placed in her sister's arms. Perhaps thinking she would be sad and scared, her sister held her tightly, patting her back and repeatedly saying, "Don't be afraid, little one, don't be afraid, everything will be alright..."

But tears dripped down her shoulder, down her neck, and finally into her patched old clothes.

It itched, but she endured it without moving. Her sister was clearly more heartbroken than she was… Yes, their father had just died right in front of them; she must be crying—but why wasn’t she crying? She touched the corner of her eye; it wasn’t wet at all.

Is it because your eyes are damaged that you can't shed tears?

Thinking this, I felt a little lost. Through the thin veil, I heard my mother instruct my older brother to go out and check the situation. If everything was alright, we should set off after dark. My older brother agreed, then came over, patted my sister on the shoulder, and said nothing.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly turned back and squatted down in front of her.

After a moment, the young man said in a complicated tone, "Your father is dead, yet you didn't shed a single tear. You really are a strange person."

"What nonsense are you spouting! Get out of here, get out!"

She wasn't angry yet, but her older sister flew into a rage first, revealing a side of herself that she would never normally show in front of her. She cursed and kicked him, but her older brother chuckled, dodged the attack, and strode away.

"Don't listen to that guy's nonsense!" The older sister was still angry and kept nagging her, "It's not like only wailing makes a child filial. I know you must be very sad too, little one... He just has a really foul mouth. If he talks to you like that again, just kick him, okay?"

"Oh……"

She nodded blankly, without saying anything.

"Honestly, you're still the same dull-witted girl. If you keep this up, you won't be able to get married in a few years, and nobody will want you..." The older sister smiled as always, but there was still a slight sob in her voice. She pinched her cheek, and after a while, she tilted her head to the side.

"I'm not getting married..." she said softly.

"If you don't want to get married, how about you come live with me when you grow up? I'll talk to Daoshun about giving you one of my sons... Or does our little one prefer a daughter?"

"I……"

She opened her mouth hesitantly, as if she wanted to say something, but her mind seemed to be fogged up. After a moment of thought, she finally just whispered "Okay."

"I asked you two questions, and one 'yes' isn't enough to answer them all. Would it be better to move in with your sister in a few years, or to have a daughter adopted by you?" your sister pressed. She paused for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"All is well..."

Her older sister must have been a bit dumbfounded by her reaction. After a moment of surprise, she smiled and sighed, "What a silly girl... Well, it's settled then. With Mother along, the three of us will help each other out and live happily ever after. As for that foul-mouthed fellow, let whoever wants to bother with him, I'm not going to pay him any attention—"

The words have not yet fallen.

Something was suddenly thrown in from outside.

It looked like a round ball, which rolled a short distance after landing and came to rest right at her feet. With a touch of curiosity, she reached out to touch it, but her sister abruptly pulled her away. She could clearly feel the hand gripping her trembling, and her sister's breathing quickened…

Then a strong smell of blood came through.

She froze, her mind blank. She only heard her sister shouting for their mother to come out, but there was no reply. After a while, the noise grew louder and louder, and then came into the house. There were several unfamiliar footsteps, and the smell of blood on their bodies had not yet dissipated.

"Mother—" her older sister called out from the side, rushing forward, only to be slapped away and rolled on the ground. She staggered over, but was tripped by someone and fell hard. Amid the pain and confusion, her older sister's presence drew near again, shielding her behind her.

"What...what exactly do you want to do?!"

"We'll find out what we're up to once we see. Luckily we set up an ambush beforehand, or you guys would have gotten away." Someone replied with a laugh. The voice sounded strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

The man loudly proclaimed, "My brother Wulang has 'borrowed' so many treasures from all over the world, making him incredibly wealthy, yet he's so stingy that he won't share a single one with us, even though we're relatives! But we're broad-minded and won't hold it against him. Now that we've heard he's unfortunately passed away, we've rushed here to help with his wife's funeral arrangements, which shows the utmost kindness and righteousness. Of course, we're all poor, so the money for the funeral and coffin will have to come from Wulang himself... Anyway, he's not short of money."

More laughter erupted from all directions, and the older sister gritted her teeth and cursed, "Shameless!"

"Sigh, the adults are like this, and the younger generation has no manners at all. It really proves the saying that if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked too. A brat like you needs to be properly taught a lesson—I already have these, see who is interested and take these two girls back."

He waved his hand, and then heard a soft groan, like that of his mother. Judging from the situation, she had been knocked unconscious.

"Wait a minute, the younger one is one thing, but I remember the older one married into Tateoka Michijun's family. It's not really appropriate to target her, is it?" someone asked hesitantly.

The first man to speak chuckled and said, "What's there to be afraid of? If we clean up the mess, even if Tateoka really wants to cause trouble, he won't be able to find us. If the sky falls, there's always someone taller to hold it up. So, if none of you are interested, I'll reluctantly take all three of them."

"Hmph, you wish! The bigger one is mine, none of you are going to fight me for it."

"Then I want the smaller one."

"He's blind, and you still want him?"

"What do you know? It's only interesting when the person is blind...hehe."

Amidst the alternating vulgarities, the people reeking of blood gradually surrounded her. Her sister knelt down, picked her up, and whispered in her ear, "Little one... hold your breath."

"……kindness."

She nodded blankly. Then, her sister hugged her with one arm and threw something to the ground with the other. A pungent smell spread out, followed by a series of coughs. Her sister turned and ran away. She curled up into a ball, seemingly floating on clouds, lost in thought.

Every now and then, there were sounds, some far away, some near. Shouts came from afar, while sounds of fighting came from close by. The older sister drew her short knife with one hand and ran away. As she swung it, hot, wet liquid kept splashing onto her body. Gradually, there was also the sound of flesh being cut open... It was so close that it sent chills down one's spine.

The older sister's speed slowed down, from running to walking, from walking to crawling, and finally her feet went light, and the two of them rolled down the hillside together.

It was very quiet around her, so quiet that it frightened her. She stammered, "Sister?"

"...Sister is here. Where are you...I can't see you anymore, come here..." She reached out, pulled her over, and gently hugged her. "It's so dark, so cold. So this is what it feels like to be blind...No wonder your personality is so awkward, haha..."

"Sister..."

"Don't be afraid, your older sister is here. Your older sister is with you. You're not cold anymore... you're not cold anymore..."

She nestled in that warm embrace, her sister's weak but incredibly gentle voice in her ears. After a while, she softly hummed a lullaby from Iga, the song growing softer and softer until she finally fell asleep completely...

She remained motionless, feeling the embrace slowly grow colder, and the wind echoing through the mountains growing even colder. There were flames burning, crackling and popping—it was a torch. Someone was walking over, carrying a torch, one in front of the other, two footsteps.

"Found her...she's dead!" The familiar voice was the one who had just said she was going to take her sister away from home.

"My sister's here too, but she's dead. Tsk, I thought I could have a few days of fun." Another person clicked their tongue.

"What should we do now?"

"What to do... Let's just cut off his head first and take it back to report."

"Too."

Amidst the seemingly oblivious conversation, someone swiftly drew a knife, took two steps forward, grabbed the older sister's shoulder, pulled her away, and then with a swift motion, the knife fell to the ground with a thud.

The blood-dripping knife waved in the air before walking towards her again.

She lay there, motionless.

My ears were ringing and my head was throbbing. The footsteps approached and then stopped abruptly. I could hear the person's voice sounding puzzled: "What's going on? Look, this little one's ear is suddenly bleeding... Wait, she doesn't seem to be dead yet."

"He's not dead! That's great!"

"Tsk, you're lucky, otherwise you'd be playing with me in a couple of days—" The voice abruptly stopped. It was that same pain she had felt before; her ear hurt terribly, and blood was gushing out. She instinctively raised her hand to cover it, but felt a stinging pain in her palm.

It felt like being pricked by a needle.

She suddenly pulled her hand back, and with a "clang," a needle did indeed fall to the ground.

It wasn't my imagination... I was a step too slow, and a needle fell out of my other ear, bleeding profusely. But more than the pain, I felt a kind of indescribable pleasure.

As if the mist and veil that had separated her from the world were gradually disappearing with the blood, the vast and boundless world slowly opened its doors to her:

That day was her ninth birthday in this world.

……

"……Then what?"

Memories surged like a tide, then receded just as quickly. When she came to her senses, the warm sunlight was still overhead, and her head was still resting on soft thighs. Yashiro spoke in a soft tone. At this point, Ryuko was silent for a moment before asking.

"Since you're still alive, it means those evil people didn't succeed... Did someone save you?"

It was a reasonable guess, but Yashiro didn't answer immediately. Instead, she raised her left hand, spread her fingers, and then clenched them into a fist one by one: "It wasn't a person who saved me, but this hand. It was this hand that I used to tear open that man's throat."

"Huh?" Even the carefree Dragon Prince was startled by these words. "Tear...tear it open?"

"Actually, it's not difficult. As long as you know the techniques and seize the opportunity, even a frail woman can be killed in one blow if she gets really angry... That's how ninjas fight." She said softly, as if she was still immersed in that night, her expression somewhat dazed.

"Caught off guard, I jumped up, blood splattering all over my head and face... The other person was probably terrified; despite having a knife, he chose to run away. If he had attacked then, I might be dead... But he escaped, so I picked up the dagger on the ground and chased after him..."

"You didn't run away, but chased after them?"

"Yes, looking back, I also find it strange. I don't know what I was thinking at the time. I guess I wasn't thinking anything. I was probably crazy back then..." The girl suddenly chuckled softly. It was a soft and gentle voice, but the laughter made Longzi shiver.

But curiosity ultimately prevailed over this inexplicable fear. She swallowed hard and pressed on, "And then? Did you catch up with him?"

"It's less about catching up and more about... bumping into them. I stumbled and chased them all the way, when suddenly I heard a lot of voices, the aroma of various dishes, people laughing, singing, and maybe even dancing... They were all my uncle's family members. There were old and young, including the women and servants, there should have been twenty-seven people... Of those twenty-seven, I killed one, my sister killed five, leaving twenty-one. Guess what my uncle was doing among those twenty-one?"

Yashiro grinned. "They're all gathered together, having a celebratory banquet... Yes, they really should celebrate. After all, Tenfu Goro and his eldest son are dead. If nothing unexpected happens, the position of head of the family will most likely fall into my uncle's hands. Not to mention, if they can get their hands on Tenfu Goro's hidden treasures, they can not only live a life of ease, but if they're a little ambitious, they can use them as capital to go further, recruit soldiers, and maybe even become a powerful force in Iga..."

"And then what?" Longzi asked for the third time, unwilling to hear her speak in that tone.

"And then...they all died."

Under the bright sunlight, the girl loosened her grip on her fist slightly, then opened it again. In a daze, she seemed to smell that lingering metallic scent on her hands again. Drip, pat—it sounded like blood dripping from her fingers onto her face.

That was actually a patch of bright red cherry blossoms.

“There were a few strong and capable men among them, but most of them were old, weak, women and children, as well as servants who did odd jobs. In total, there were twenty-one people, and I killed them all.”

She paused, then curled the corners of her lips into a somewhat dazed smile that she couldn't quite describe. "That was the first time I killed someone, but unfortunately... it wasn't the last."

……

Chapter Fifty-One: As If Life

Blood, blood, blood.

Blood was everywhere, as black as ink, and the smell of rust filled all her senses. Her whole body ached, ached, was numb, and tingled. She didn't know if she had been cut by a knife. In any case, every step she took felt like she was floating on cotton...