He changed Tiwat

"Bastard!"

The "straggler" was furious, but as soon as he opened his mouth, it was blocked by a slipper.

“Sigh… Your lack of manners is also Aying’s fault. Since she didn’t educate you properly, I have to take over.”

The slippers in the priestess's hand were like whips, striking the faces of the "scattered soldiers" again and again, filling the Japanese-style room with a series of cracking sounds.

Her attack wasn't actually a real "slap." Ultimately, they were all in spirit form, and what she did was simply a form of soul impact, similar to the concept of the "scattered soldiers" punching Han Fulai before—essentially a clash between souls.

The skirmishers did not suffer much damage.

In terms of sheer attack power, the force with which the divine child slapped him was about the same as a tickle.

It may not cause much harm, but it is extremely insulting.

But the "scattered soldier" actually took all of the God Child's blows head-on, like a child being disciplined by an elder's iron fist, not daring to even put up a fight...

—It's not that he didn't try to resist, it's that he really couldn't resist.

Admittedly, he is currently severely injured, but no matter how badly injured he is, this place is still his "spiritual platform and purple palace," his "manas consciousness." He is the master of this place. Even if his soul power is not as strong as the other party's, he can at least keep the other party out—that is, establish a mental barrier.

The exterior wall of this "borrowed scenery pavilion" is actually his mental barrier, his "wall of the heart".

The "wall of the heart," in the doctor's words, is called the "absolute error field," which can separate one's own consciousness from the consciousness of others. It is a psychological defense mechanism that humans are born with.

The "Doctor's" "slicing" technique is actually based on the principle of the "wall of the heart," dividing individual self-consciousness into segments, then wrapping them up again with the "wall of the heart," creating independent entities. As long as the power of the soul is strong enough, "slicing," like human political ideologies, can be almost infinitely divided.

General Lei Dian's "Pure Land of One Mind" is also a space of consciousness, a manifestation of the "wall of the heart".

The "wall of the heart" at the "Seven Rulers of the Mortal Realm" level is indeed not easily broken. Although his "wall of the heart" may not be as powerful as that of the "Doctor" or the Thunder General, it is not something that can be easily passed through.

In theory, without his permission, it is impossible for outsiders to break through the "wall of the heart" and enter his heart.

However, it seemed that neither Han Fulai nor the Divine Child could penetrate his mental barrier and intrude into his self-awareness without any hindrance... and they didn't break down the wall, but walked in like invited guests...

What shocked the "scattered soldiers" even more was that, in front of the divine child, he couldn't even muster the slightest strength to resist!

In terms of soul power alone, the Divine Child's soul is far less powerful than Han Fulai's, at least not enough to make the "scattered soldiers" feel afraid.

To use an analogy, the gap between him and Han Fulai is roughly equivalent to the gap between a praying mantis and a human. While a praying mantis, even with its mighty arms, cannot defeat a human, it at least has a slight chance of causing harm. Furthermore, even if it cannot win, a praying mantis possesses self-awareness and can choose to flee.

The difference between him and the divine child is like that between a child and a doll—a child's strength is not great, but even the weakest child can easily manipulate a doll because the doll has no independent consciousness and cannot resist.

The "scattered soldiers" felt like they had turned back into puppets.

This feeling is very strange, similar to what humans call "sleep paralysis"—being conscious but unable to move the body.

Aside from impotent rage, they can do nothing.

Perhaps feeling he had taught them a lesson enough, or perhaps having grown tired of playing, the divine child stopped and leisurely said, "'Telepathy' allows one to know the thoughts and intentions of all beings in the Three Realms. Your mental barriers are completely ineffective before me. Put away your pointless anger and pride, and listen to what I have to say."

The legend of the Inazuma people says that fox spirits can see through people's hearts, which is actually a manifestation of "telepathy".

However, generally speaking, "telepathy" can only see through those whose soul power is far weaker than one's own. Even that Lord of the Fox Palace could only see through the thoughts of mortals. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for a divine child to pass through the mental barrier of a "scattered soldier" so easily.

That's why the divine child transported him back to the base of the sacred cherry tree.

Within the area influenced by the Divine Cherry Tree, the Divine Child can unleash power comparable to the "Seven Rulers of the Mortal World".

The "scattered soldiers" also knew that resistance was futile, so they simply remained silent.

But the priest's next words made him gasp in surprise—

"The country has collapsed, foolish child, you hate the wrong person—the one who caused that tragedy four hundred years ago is your colleague among the fools, 'The Doctor'."

"……what?"

"Scattered Soldier" instinctively wanted to retort, but the Divine Child did not give him a chance to speak. With a flick of her finger, a small ball of light flew out from her fingertip and entered "Scattered Soldier's" body.

“This is the memory of the earth’s veins, and also the truth from four hundred years ago,” the divine child said.

The stragglers saw the familiar scene again.

The Tabao Sand Factory, which existed more than 400 years ago.

However, unlike before, this time he was not seeing things from his own perspective, but from the perspective of others. In this memory, the past him, the "Kabuki," was merely an object of observation in the eyes of others.

In this memory, he was outside the factory chatting and laughing with Niwa and Katsuragi, looking very happy.

The bystander appears to be a worker at the tamarind factory.

Someone patted the bystander on the shoulder: "A-Fu, are you watching that 'Kabuto' again?"

The worker named Afu shook his head and pointed in one direction: "No... Awang, have you noticed someone staring at the 'Kabuki'?"

"Huh? Who is it?" A-Wang looked in the direction A-Fu was pointing and then noticed a person standing on the hillside in the distance.

Because of the distance, the person's appearance was not clear, but one could see that he had gray hair and a well-tailored suit, which looked like the attire of the people from Fontainebleau.

"Are you a traveler from elsewhere? Lost your way?" Awang scratched his head.

“I don’t know… but I think I’ve seen this person before. He seems to always be around the factory.” Afu thought for a moment and then said, “It’s almost lunch break, let’s go ask him? Let’s call Kinjiro along.”

Several workers walked together toward the foreigner. Tabusa was located along the coast, easily accessible by boat, so the presence of foreigners wasn't unusual. At this time, the outlying islands weren't as prosperous as they would later become, and Tabusa actually received more foreigners than the main island of Narukami.

As the workers approached, the foreigner greeted them with a broad smile, speaking in somewhat broken Inatsumi language: "Nice to meet you. My name is Escher, and I am a mechanic from Fontainebleau."

Through their conversation, Afu and the others learned that Mr. Escher had come to Inazuma by boat specifically to exchange steel forging techniques with Inazuma. However, there were samurai guarding the factory of the Armory, and he was afraid to approach, so he could only watch from a distance.

Upon hearing this, Awang immediately took the Fontaine mechanic on a grand-scale journey to find Lord Mutsuke...

The "scattered soldier" stared blankly at the memories before him.

He had long forgotten the names of these workers; they weren't even familiar faces. But he recognized Escher... Even though he had put on makeup and changed his appearance, the "scatterers" could still recognize his voiceprint.

"'PhD'……?"

But why...?

He clearly didn't meet the "Doctor" until the winter solstice.

If he had heard the "Doctor's" voice before, he should have been able to recognize the "Doctor" as "Escher" when they met at the Winter Solstice.

Why doesn't he remember?

He didn't even remember that there was such a "Fontaine Mechanic" in Tasha.

Escher, a mechanic from Fontainebleau, has been working as an exchange scholar at Takarassa for several days and has become acquainted with most of the people in the factory.

The mechanic seemed quite interested in the furnace technology. He would often run to the furnace and stare blankly at the fire. He ignored people who tried to persuade him to leave and just muttered some terms that the workers couldn't understand.

Over time, people got used to it.

One night, a bonfire was lit in the open space of the Tabusha factory.

All the workers gathered around the campfire to drink and celebrate—celebrating that Master Mufu had forged an unparalleled sword.

The Imperial Carriage Minister named it "Great Carriage Minister".

By the campfire, Kijiki Katsura took the treasured sword from the head of the family and spontaneously performed a sword dance.

Despite his large size and clumsy appearance, Katsuragi's swordsmanship is remarkably graceful—part of his swordsmanship was inherited from Mikoto Nagamasa, whose swordsmanship was truly mastered by the master Mikoto Chiyo.

The swordsmanship of the Oni clan is mostly a battlefield combat technique, emphasizing large, sweeping movements. However, Mikoto Chiyo is a beautiful Oni woman, and her sword is as beautiful as she is.

Gui Mu's sword dance drew loud cheers from the workers.

The mechanic, Escher, sat around the campfire with the workers, but he didn't cheer excitedly like the others.

Afu noticed that Escher wasn't looking at Katsuragi at all; his eyes were fixed on someone else—the one who was cheering the loudest, the "Kabuki-zhe" with a face full of filial piety.

After finishing his dance, Katsura stopped, reached out and pulled up the "Kyouki-zhe" on the sidelines, and handed him the "Ota-ta-ba-cho-sei".

The "Qingqi Zhe" looked at Katsuragi with some bewilderment.

Katsura laughed loudly, "You've been learning swordsmanship from me for so long, you should show off your skills. Come on, dance with me!"

The workers on the sidelines cheered again, and Nagamasa, Niwa, Miyazaki and others applauded enthusiastically.

The "Kabuki-zhe" picked up his katana somewhat embarrassedly and danced along with Katsuragi's movements.

At first, his movements seemed a bit clumsy, but under Katsuragi's guidance, his sword dance gradually became smoother and his movements became more and more graceful—in the end, he was even no less skilled than Katsuragi.

Afu watched the "Kyouki-zhe" dancing with swords under the moon.

The "Kabuki" had a beaming smile on his face, as if he were the happiest person in the world.

He couldn't help but smile too.

Awang, who was beside him, took out paper and pen and sketched the beautiful sword dance under the moon.

The "scattered soldier" silently watched himself wielding the sword.

...He learned for the first time that he had studied swordsmanship with Katsuragi.

Moreover, they learned very well.

But why did he completely forget the swordsmanship that Katsuragi had taught him after joining the Fools?

why?

Why doesn't he remember this sword dance under the moon?

Why doesn't he remember the happiness he felt at that moment?

The "scattered soldiers'" gaze fell on Escher's face.

Escher's eyes gleamed with a strange light as he kept a close eye on the "Kabuki"'s movements. His face was also beaming with a smile, but that smile sent a chill down one's spine for no apparent reason.

— Just like the way the researchers at the Evil Eye Factory look at their "experimental subjects".

Chapter 150 Dotole? Dotole! [4k5]

The perspective of memory shifts once again.

The "straggler" found himself standing on a small fishing boat, with the vast ocean as far as the eye could see.

This is the memory of a fisherman from Narukami Island.

It was sunset, and the sky should have been ablaze with color, but instead, there was no light in the sky. Instead, thunderclouds rolled in, indicating that a storm was imminent.

Such weather… “Sanbing” remembers this day: the tatami furnace was about to explode, Niwa Nagahide fled in fear of punishment, and he sailed alone to Narukami Island for help, almost dying in the storm…

Seeing that a storm was approaching, the fisherman quickly turned his boat around and returned to the island, hoping to reach a safe harbor before the storm hit.

As darkness fell and the wind picked up, the lanterns at the bow of the boat swayed incessantly.

Clearly, this will be a very powerful storm.

Fortunately, the fisherman was experienced and made accurate judgments about the celestial phenomena, so he turned back to port in time... Now Narukami Island is in sight.

Within his line of sight, he could also see a large ship, bearing the banner of the Tassasa Shipbuilding Company, which also seemed to be heading towards Narukami Island.

"I managed to get back before the downpour started..." The fisherman breathed a sigh of relief.

The presence of an official ship nearby is undoubtedly good news.

The storm might capsize his small boat, but it might not be able to derail the official's large ship. Even if he unfortunately failed to return to Narukami Island before the storm arrived, he could still seek help from the official and have more support. So the fisherman rowed his boat closer to the official ship.

Just then, a thin mist suddenly enveloped the fishing boat.

The ship's lanterns glowed like candlelight in the fog, barely illuminating the way ahead.

The fisherman exclaimed in surprise, "What's with this fog? I can't see anything! Hey, can anyone hear me? Is there anyone who can guide us?"

No one responded.

His shouts seemed unable to penetrate the thin layer of mist.

Just then, he saw a cloud.

Black clouds.

The cloud hovered above his head like a living creature, resembling a monster that would devour anyone it encountered.

The fisherman was terrified, gripping the oars tightly with both hands and not daring to move.

Then the dark cloud suddenly shot up and disappeared beneath the ship.

The fisherman immediately lost control of the fishing boat.

He felt like he was flying—as if countless waves were surging beneath his boat, tossing it high into the air like a temari ball…

The fisherman gripped the oar with all his might, afraid that he would be thrown off if he let go... All he could do now was close his eyes and pray to Lord Narukami.

With a loud thud, a huge impact came from the soles of my feet.

The fishing boat hit something.