Yashiro the Blind

"At your age, you're still so awkward..."

The tea was steaming hot, with white mist rising from it. Yashiro blew on it, thought for a moment, then shook her head and laughed. She then called out to the two brothers in the room, "Zuo, You, come here for a moment, I need to discuss something with you."

……

Hearing that his facial paralysis might be cured, even if not completely, Zaemon was overjoyed and thanked Yashiro and Mankisai profusely. As for food and lodging during his treatment, the two brothers assured Yashiro not to worry, they would find a way to take care of it themselves.

"Master, you can go in peace!"

Over the past few days, Zaemon learned from Yashiro that she had several acquaintances in Tōtōmi and was planning to visit them. As a qualified retainer, he would not let his personal matters affect his lord's arrangements. So the two brothers discussed it and decided to stay in Suruga for now and go to Tōtōmi to meet Yashiro once he was almost fully recovered.

The intention is good, but these words don't sound like nice things.

Fortunately, with the dragon prince's pearl as an example, Yashiro was already used to this "straightforward" way of speaking. He didn't even raise an eyebrow, and his calm and composed demeanor was quite like that of a general: "Then I will set off first. You can come later and just go to Ryutai Temple to ask."

"Ryutaiji Temple... Alright, I understand! Master, may you have a safe journey!"

"May you have a safe journey!"

"..."

Yashiro tried to hold back, but couldn't resist and gave each of them a cane.

She forgot about the wailing of the two lovable brothers, put on a bamboo hat, put on leggings, carried a pipa, and leisurely set off... leisurely embarking on her journey to Yuanjiang.

Having grown accustomed to the constant chatter of Zuo Weimen, she found the solitary journey of traveling alone somewhat lonely, yet also filled with a long-lost feeling. She savored the tranquility, walking and stopping with her cane. On the evening of the second day, she casually found a cheap inn to stay at.

As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. This applies to inns and guesthouses as well. On the one hand, it's the quality of the food and rooms, and on the other hand, it's the different groups of guests. Most of the guests at expensive inns are rich and powerful, while the guests at budget hotels are more from all walks of life, a mixed bag.

But in a sense, precisely because everyone is making a living on this path, they are more aware of the rules among themselves. When they saw a thin, blind woman carrying a pipa and leaning on a cane enter, most of the guests who were eating and chatting in the lobby only glanced at her, and only dared to glance at her, before quickly looking away.

For a moment, even his voice became much lower.

The elderly, women, children, and the disabled are all vulnerable groups. A vulnerable person who can travel alone must have something to rely on. If you underestimate them because of their appearance, the outcome will generally not be pleasant.

Not to mention that Yashiro alone carries two labels, and because of her slightly childish appearance and figure, she might sometimes be mistaken for a child, making her even less likely to be provoked. Apart from some young, naive individuals who don't understand the "market" and might have ulterior motives, anyone with a bit of knowledge and discernment will generally try to stay away from this type of person.

To avoid getting blood splattered on ourselves in a fight.

Noticing that the curious gazes only glanced at her briefly before moving away, Yashiro couldn't help but chuckle softly—it seemed she could finally get a good night's sleep tonight.

But at that moment, she felt a gaze that never left her face.

"what……"

A surprised voice came from up the stairs, followed by a series of thuds as the person who made the voice ran away quickly.

Yashiro tilted her head, seemingly lost in thought, but didn't say or do anything special. She simply asked the shop owner for a room, and then, led by a waitress, went up to the second floor, entered the room, placed her cane and straw hat by the window, and began to squat down to untie her leg bindings.

"If you have no other instructions, I'll head out now..." The waitress lowered her head and spoke in a low voice, as if she was deliberately keeping her voice down.

As soon as she finished speaking, she couldn't wait to turn around and leave, but she was stopped by Yashiro as soon as she took a step:

"and many more."

"Is there anything else?"

With her back to Yashiro, her heartbeat noticeably quickened.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to ask you a question."

"……what is the problem?"

The other person hesitated for a moment before murmuring a soft reply. One could hear her heart pounding faster and faster; anyone who didn't know better would think she'd been struck by the Fujiwara Four Demons' Heart-Sealing Technique and was about to explode and die.

"If I remember correctly, you should be Hatsume's 'older brother,' Tenji Takeru, right? Why are you here?"

As Yashiro lowered her head to untie the straps of her leg bindings, she asked curiously, "Oh, but now that you've changed back into women's clothes, shouldn't I call you Hatsume's older sister?"

……

Chapter Ninety-One: Flies Flying and Flying

Rain after a long drought, or meeting an old friend in a foreign land—these are all joyous occasions in life worth celebrating. But Tian Zhiwu Liu clearly doesn't think so.

After Yashiro called out her identity, she froze on the spot, her eyes darting around, full of evasiveness, while still stubbornly saying, "Guest, guest, guest, guest, what are you saying? Have you mistaken me for someone else?"

This kind of reaction is basically an admission of guilt.

But since she didn't want to admit it, she must have her reasons. Yashiro immediately shook his head: "I see. It seems I mistook you for someone else. I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's okay, I don't mind..."

The waitress had just breathed a sigh of relief when Yashiro continued, "It's truly amazing that there are two people in this world with such similar voices... When I get to Tōtōmi in a few days, I must share this with Hatsume and the others. Oh, Hatsume is..."

Just as she was about to kindly explain, the "waitress" approached with an astonishing aura, her teeth clenched, her eyes wide with rage, and her breath almost hitting Hachiro's nose: "Killing someone is just a matter of beheading them, aren't you going a bit too far!"

"Huh, didn't I mistake someone for someone else?" Yashiro asked, looking puzzled.

"...!"

Hearing the grinding of teeth and the inhalation of the other person so close to him, Yashiro felt that if he continued to tease her, this woman might get so angry that she would bite him. For the sake of his nose, Yashiro knew when to stop and quietly moved his body back to create some distance.

At the same time, he quickly changed the subject: "So, Chuya's sister... brother, why are you here?"

"Dance costume..."

"Hey?"

"Just call me Wuyi here! Wuliu doesn't sound like a woman's name, and it might attract unnecessary attention."

Realizing she couldn't get away with it this time, Tenjibu-ryu Mai stopped trying to hide it. She casually closed the door behind her, then sat down casually, slumped her shoulders, and looked at the blind girl with annoyance: "Tenfu Hachishiro... I didn't expect to run into you here."

When she wasn't deliberately lowering her voice, it still sounded somewhat deep and androgynous, yet possessed a uniquely feminine clarity and high pitch, making it very pleasant to listen to. Unfortunately, the obvious disdain in her voice at this moment significantly diminished that feeling.

"Wow."

What are you yelling about?

"It's nothing, it's just that people rarely call me by my full name like this, and it suddenly occurred to me... I actually do have a surname."

"..." Mai seemed a little dumbfounded, and after a long while, she sighed deeply, "You... I really don't know what Hatsune saw in you. You keep talking about Hachima-neechan all the time, it's really annoying—anyway, let's get back to the point. You just asked me why I was here?"

"That's right. After all, shouldn't the 'Dragon Palace Child' be stationed in the distant river, focusing on solving problems for everyone? Why would he have the leisure to come to the manor's inn to work... Or is this also a wish made by someone using the Dragon Palace Treasure Slip?"

"What do you think?" Mai rolled her eyes. "The Dragon Palace Fortune Stick isn't the kind of thing you can just pick up on the street. Why would anyone use it to make such a pointless wish..."

"But I have ten of them."

“You are you! How can an ordinary person be compared to a little monster like you who defeated Mishima Doppo in his teens?”

"Is Miss Mai praising me?" Yashiro tilted her head.

"Hmph." Too lazy to answer such a boring question, Mai snorted lightly, then thought of what had happened before, and couldn't help but sigh, "In short, I didn't want to stay here to serve tea and water to people... It's a long story."

Starting with that sentence, she went on and on, probably harboring resentment for a long time. Once she found someone to confide in, she couldn't stop talking. Yashiro listened halfway through, filtering out the many complaints and summarizing the events in a simple way:

The incident began some time ago when a group of samurai being pursued by Owari wandered to the vicinity of Ii-dani in Tōtōmi Province. This group was ruthless and acted without restraint, killing wherever they went. However, they were also very vigilant, and every time the local lord hurriedly dispatched troops, they had already disappeared without a trace.

This cat-and-mouse game lasted for almost half a month. Tenji Mai naturally received the news and was both shocked and furious. After a search, she finally caught them near a recently burned-down inn.

"...Those beasts! They were just passing through, yet they slaughtered the innkeeper, his staff, and the guests—more than twenty people in total—and burned the inn down. Only one infant survived by sheer luck..."

Thinking back to that time, she couldn't help but grit her teeth. "Although I wanted to kill these beasts who didn't deserve to be human on the spot, unfortunately they outnumbered me and were not weaklings. I only managed to kill two of them with all my might. Daizo and Hikogoro were also seriously injured. I was distracted for a moment and let the others escape... Thinking that I couldn't let the tiger return to the mountain, I chased after them alone."

To make it easier to pass through the checkpoints along the way and to lower the guard of the samurai, Mai changed back into women's clothing and chased after them. During the chase, she found an opportunity to kill a few more people, making the other side even more terrified, like stray dogs.

However, the constant tension and exposure to the elements in the wild had left not only the fugitives but also the pursuer, Mai, exhausted. Coincidentally, they happened to pass by this inn and, thinking that sharpening their tools before chopping wood was essential, decided to rest for the night, eat and drink their fill, and recharge before continuing their pursuit…

"Unfortunately, I hadn't considered this at all. When I woke up this morning, ready to set off again to chase after those beasts, I suddenly realized... my purse was nowhere to be found." Wu Yi's face turned bitter as she said this.

"And then?" Yashiro asked.

"And then that was it. I couldn't just renege on my debt and not pay, so I had to talk to the owner and stay to work as a helper to pay off the debt... Honestly, now is definitely not the time to do this kind of thing!" she said angrily.

"Um..."

So, to sum it up, this woman only realized she'd lost her wallet after finishing her meal and taking a nap. Feeling embarrassed to dine and dash, she obediently washed dishes to pay for the meal... What a long story!

Thinking back to the samurai she chased all the way, they were probably the same people she met with Tsukahara Takehira before, who almost tricked her into taking a ship to Shikoku to hunt down the Dragon Prince. They actually escaped all the way from Owari to the easternmost part of Japan. Their stamina is amazing. It's a real shame they didn't participate in the Olympics...

Yashiro suddenly became curious. What would they think if they learned that the "Dragon Palace Boy" who had been chasing them all along was actually detained as soon as he left Tōtōmi Province, and that his escape across most of the Eastern Country was in vain and he was just outsmarting thin air?

But since they're all dead, let's respect the dead and not cause them any more distress.

"Wait a minute..." Just as Yashiro was about to tell Mai the good news to put her mind at ease, she suddenly realized something else. "So, you stayed at the shop to work because you didn't have money to pay your bills?"

"Correct."

"But how much can a night's accommodation cost? After so many days, you should have paid it off by now..." she asked, puzzled.

After all, the group of samurai that the dancers were chasing had already run all the way to Hitachi Province, which meant that more than a day or two had passed. Even if the maids' wages were low, they shouldn't be this low.

"The accommodation costs have long been covered."

"That……"

"But the debt for the drinks hasn't been paid off yet."

"The money for the drinks?"

"It's the cost of the wine... If I had known that the wine was so expensive, I would never have been so greedy as to drink too much. Sigh!" Wu Yi sighed.

"Um, may I ask, Miss Wuyi, you said the wine is expensive, how expensive is it?"

After she asked the question, Mai was silent for a while before struggling to give a number. A vague guess in her heart was immediately confirmed. Yashiro pondered for a moment—mainly thinking about how to explain it without affecting the other person's self-esteem—but in the end, she couldn't come to any conclusion. She could only smile bitterly and say, "Miss Mai, if I'm not mistaken, you've probably been... deceived."

"Really!" Mai didn't seem surprised at all, but her eyes widened as if she had expected it. "I knew there must be something fishy going on. How could such a tiny bit of wine be so expensive... and it doesn't even taste good!"

"Since you knew it was a trap, why didn't you just expose it?"

"After all, this is my first time in the manor, and I don't know anything about the local situation... What if it's true?" Mai was a little embarrassed this time. "After all, you see, this place is known as 'Little Kyoto,' so I was thinking that even if there really were such expensive wines, it wouldn't be surprising... or something."

"Don't even mention Little Kyoto, even the real Kyoto wouldn't be this outrageous." Yashiro shook his head with a wry smile.

If we look at it from over a hundred years ago, Kyoto was indeed one of the most prosperous and wealthy places in all of Japan. Unfortunately, decades of war have led to every daimyo with any standing wanting to march on Kyoto with their armies. From Hosokawa to Miyoshi, one after another, they took turns on the stage. The long-term political turmoil has resulted in poor public security, soaring prices, and the city being ravaged by new hegemons every now and then. In a sense, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Kyoto is now the least suitable city for ordinary people to live in all of Japan.

Don't you see, even His Majesty the Emperor in the palace sometimes goes hungry and sometimes has a full meal? If some fool were to donate some money and food, this theoretically great king of Japan and his court officials would probably be laughing so hard they'd snot bubbles.

If even the nominal emperor is like this, one can only imagine how ordinary people are treated.

In contrast, Suruga Province, which has been managed by the Imagawa family for generations, can truly be described as well-organized. Rather than saying that Suruga is a mini Kyoto, it would be more accurate to say that modern Kyoto is a mini Suruga—perhaps even that assessment is a bit too high.

Perhaps only a "country bumpkin" like Mai, who is unfamiliar with the situation in the Kinki region, would have unrealistic expectations and longings for Kyoto.

"Damn it!" While Yashiro was lost in thought, Mai stood up angrily, clenching her fists. "That boss looks honest and kind, but he actually dared to cheat me. He's so hateful!"

"Miss Dancer, what are you doing?"

"What else can we do but go find the owner and demand an explanation!"

"Wait a minute." Yashiro stretched out his cane, blocking Mai from rushing out the door.

The other person turned around and said with displeasure, "Why are you stopping me!"

“Miss Wuyi, please calm down. If you rush over to argue with them now, without any evidence, you may not be able to win. If you act impulsively, it could very well escalate to the point of drawing swords... And if that were to happen, the owner of this inn does have connections to get good wine. If you rush over rashly, wouldn't you be wronging an innocent person?”

Her words of persuasion calmed Mai down a little, though she still looked angry: "What do you think we should do about Feng Baxun that day?"

Whether it was due to her personality or simply because she treated Yashiro this way, she always addressed her by her full name, a stark contrast to the previous Tenchi Takeru who addressed her with "this humble one" and "Miss." However, compared to their brief conversation at Ryutaiji Temple, Yashiro found this current attitude much more to her liking.

Perhaps because its most embarrassing side has already been seen, it simply stops hiding and goes all out, feeling a bit like a cat with its fur standing on end, making you want to pet it—but if you don't know how to read it properly, you might get scratched, so you still have to restrain yourself.

"Miss Mai, don't worry. Leave this to me. I'll ask the boss tomorrow and we'll know if it's true or not." Imagining a huffy cat in his mind, Yashiro's mood improved considerably, and he comforted her with a smile.

"Can you ask for me... how should I ask?"

"Well, hehe, I have a brilliant plan."

"Hmph, what are you trying to impress me with? You're just being mysterious." Wuyi looked at her suspiciously, clearly not quite believing her, but for a moment she couldn't think of a better way, so she could only nod in agreement, "Then... I'll leave it to you."

"Hoohoo."

Yashiro chuckled softly. A moment later, someone outside called Mai to come and help. No matter what tomorrow brings, at least for now, she is still a maid at this inn. Although she was very unwilling, Mai still dutifully showed a professional smile and hurried over.

"It must have been really tough..." Yashiro was left alone in the room. She shook her head, sighed leisurely, stretched, took her bundle and put it behind her head, hugged her cane, cleared her mind, and fell asleep in no time.

Silent all night.

The next day, Mai started pacing outside the room from morning, but Yashiro slept until late morning before finally waking up. After washing up, she asked the innkeeper to bring lunch to her room and specifically reminded him that it must include alcohol.

"The food doesn't matter as long as it's palatable. The key is the wine... I drink every morning and evening; I can't be happy without it. A little wine gives me a little strength, and a lot of wine gives me a lot of strength... Playing the pipa is also very tiring! Anyway, just remember to bring the wine up."

Having finished explaining everything, and completely ignoring the strange looks from the others, Yashiro slowly returned to her room, leaning on her cane. A moment later, another waitress brought up lunch. The food and drinks were cheap and only meant to satisfy hunger and thirst.

Yashiro casually picked up two pieces of wine with her chopsticks, poured herself a small glass of sake, sniffed it, and drank it all in one gulp. Suddenly, she frowned and called out towards the door, "Hey, hey!" Someone poked their head in; it was Mai: "You—"

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean'? This wine is of such poor quality, I can't drink it at all. You should have better wine here, bring me some better wine!"