Following the sunlight, Rei looked at his sword, then rubbed his eyes in disbelief. The entire hilt was red, no longer the same as his Asauchi. Its changed appearance showed that this was his Zanpakuto.
"Hahahaha! I really am a genius. I condensed my Zanpakuto so quickly..."
Rei's smile was one of genuine delight, and the more he looked at the hilt of his Zanpakuto, the more he liked it. It gave him an overbearing feeling.
Not only had his Zanpakuto appeared, but the minor injuries Rei had suffered fighting Genji yesterday had healed as well.
But his smile lasted only a moment before his face fell again. He remembered the dream he had just had, and the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt.
The guy with the indistinct face in his dream had told him to call his name. That should have been the name of his Zanpakuto, right? But why couldn't he hear it clearly? What had he said his name was...?
After washing up, Rei went to find Yamabi for something to eat, his head bowed in thought the whole way. He felt as though he was about to remember, yet couldn't quite manage it, and the feeling tormented him.
It was like cleaning the wax out of an itchy ear, only for it to keep itching when there was nothing left to dig out; or like having a bit of vegetable stuck between his teeth that he couldn't pick out no matter what...
"Good morning, Lord Nangong!"
"Lord Nangong..."
"General, did you change swords?"
Quite a few people greeted Rei along the way, but he kept frowning in deep thought and paid them no attention.
Back when the Fallen Silver Group had first moved in and taken control, Genji had already named Rei the group's strongest general. Yesterday's battle had only confirmed it.
In terms of rank, Genji was now the only person in the group who could call Rei by name. Everyone else had to address him as at least "Lord" or "General."
Casually calling Rei by his surname, as Yamabi did, was against the rules. Rei simply didn't care.
After all, Yamabi was one of Genji's trusted subordinates and had been with them from the beginning, when they didn't even have enough people. Having survived the last battle, he was definitely lucky too...
"Did Lord Nangong change swords?"
"You idiot, General Nangong didn't change swords. His Asauchi clearly evolved into a Zanpakuto."
"That's right, that must be it. Lord Nangong has grown stronger again."
More and more people gathered in the courtyard. None of them had eaten breakfast yet, so they all sat around shooting the breeze. They had been discussing their romantic escapades from the night before, but as soon as Rei arrived, all eyes and conversation turned to him.
Only when he reached the place where breakfast was handed out did Rei come back to his senses. He found that the meal still hadn't been served, and everyone was hanging around the courtyard bragging.
"Hey, why isn't breakfast ready yet? I'm hungry! Yamabi, you bastard, what are you doing?"
Rei roared toward the large kitchen. Its doors and windows were still shut tight, and only the chimney on the roof was smoking.
"Nangong, you're a pain in the ass! I'm in charge of the food and the kitchen, so we'll eat whenever I say!"
"Yamabi, you should get along with people..."
Yamabi's impatient voice came from inside. A vein bulged on Rei's forehead, and he was about to chop his way through the door when a gentle woman's voice came from inside, admonishing Yamabi.
Curious, Rei and a few others nearby who had been hoping to watch the show pressed against the window and gently pushed it open a crack to peer inside...
They might have been better off not looking. Yamabi and a shapely woman were cooking something, and that old lecher Yamabi was actually listening to her scolding. He said outright that he would go out at once to apologize to Rei and explain the situation.
Creak. The wooden door opened!
Yamabi, his hair in a sakayaki style, came out and bowed solemnly. "Nangong, I'm sorry. I lost my temper."
The crowd had already returned to their places. Rei, standing at the door, said seriously, "It's fine. I was in the wrong first!"
Since Yamabi had taken the initiative to apologize, Rei could at least give him that much face. Inside, the beautiful woman smiled when she saw the two forgive each other.
Some of the guys nearby kept drooling over what was in the kitchen. Perhaps they were just too hungry...
Some people weren't surprised by the woman's presence. They had learned last night that Yamabi had brought back a wife, and that she would help cook for the group's layabouts.
In Rukongai, souls forming new families was as common as could be.
Yamabi had wanted to explain why breakfast wasn't ready, but he was startled by the Zanpakuto Rei carried. Nangong Rei really was a genius.
How long has it been since he started asking Genji how to condense a Zanpakuto? And he's already succeeded? Big Brother Genji was right after all. Sooner or later, he'll surpass Big Brother himself...
Yamabi kept turning it over in amazement until Rei interrupted his wandering thoughts.
"By the way, what are you two doing? Are we eating something different?"
Rei was asking on behalf of the guys beside him, who were nearly starving to death. As for the woman, he didn't need to ask to know she was Yamabi's wife. His surname wasn't Cao, so he didn't have that many thoughts, and he was still young...
"My wife Reiko said she'll be responsible for making sure everyone gets a hot meal from now on, so we won't have to eat cold food so often. After all, we souls can get sick and die too..."
The moment he mentioned his wife, Yamabi couldn't hide his smugness in front of Rei. At least in some respects, he was ahead of Rei.
Half an hour later, the food was ready. No one knew where Yamabi and his wife had found the rice and chicken, but they had cooked two huge pots of chicken congee. The layabouts ate with tears streaming down their faces, crying out that it reminded them of the taste of their mamas...
Hearing that gave Rei the creeps. They said a pot of chicken congee tasted like their mamas—did that mean they had eaten them? At that thought, the congee immediately lost its appeal...
After eating and drinking his fill, Rei approached a tall, skinny fellow with dirty, messy hair and a pockmarked face. "Zhuye, did you get a clear picture of the surrounding villages and towns I told you to investigate?"
Zhuye, who was still eating his congee, immediately stood at attention and lowered his head. "Reporting to you, sir, I found three villages and towns within twenty kilometers. Marino Town to the southwest is the largest, with about a thousand residents. A group of thirteen is the strongest there..."
"That's enough. Eat quickly so you can lead the way. We're going there to have some fun today..."
"Yes, sir!"
Picking his teeth with his pinky nail, Rei decided what he would do for fun that day. Zhuye simply nodded and assented.
There was no one left in the largest settlement in the West Fallen Silver District who could beat Rei. He felt that if he wanted to grow stronger, he needed to keep fighting experts. Neither he nor Genji could go all out against the other, so he might as well check out the surrounding villages and towns.
He made a point of informing their leader, Genji, who told him to take more people. Rei, however, didn't think it necessary and took only Zhuye and two guys who knew Zhuye fairly well.
The town was about fifteen kilometers from the Fallen Silver Group's base in West Fallen Silver Town. They only had to cross two mountains to get there.
The four of them took their time crossing the mountains and reached the outskirts of the town in an hour, without encountering any trouble along the way...
They entered the town, which was as lifeless as ever. Life really was dull for the residents of these outer areas of Rukongai.
Zhuye led Rei through all three of the town's little streets, but they still hadn't found the thirteen men he had mentioned. Rei grew increasingly impatient.
"Sorry, Lord Nangong. They really are here," Zhuye explained, noticing Rei's impatience.
"Can't you ask someone?" Rei looked at him as though he were an idiot. Then he walked over to a middle-aged man, put on a friendly expression, and asked, "Sir, I heard there's a very powerful group here. Where are they?"
"Huh? Young man, are you here to challenge them? I advise you not to. Their boss, Demon Scythe, is very powerful. You'll be killed."
The middle-aged man was a kindly soul. He urged Rei not to fight those bastards, believing that Rei couldn't win.
Mainly, it was because Rei had struck him as handsome at first glance. Although his clothes were torn, they were clean, unlike those desperadoes who went more than ten days without bathing and reeked of all sorts of things.
"It's all right. You just need to tell me where they are..."
Rei spoke politely, and the middle-aged man went on at length about how ruthless those people were and how vile and wicked they were.
"All right... The house in the middle of the street, the one with the big courtyard, is theirs..."
At last, Rei's persistence made the middle-aged man stop trying to dissuade him. There was no need for him to insist on saving a stranger like Rei; he thought Rei was determined to get himself killed.
Rei thanked the man, then turned and led the other three toward the house with the courtyard in the middle of the street. They arrived in two minutes.
The sun was already high in the sky, yet the place still hadn't opened its doors. Sure enough, sleeping was the best way to conserve food.
"Which one of you is Demon Scythe? Come out and die!"
Bamboo Pole shouted at the top of his lungs. The residents of the nearby streets realized there was a show to watch and hurried to hide and observe in secret.
However, they waited several minutes without anyone opening the door and coming out. The four standing at the entrance felt a little awkward.
"Kick the door in!"
"Yes, sir!"
At Rei's command, Zhuye and the other two put all their strength into ramming the gate open. Only then did four or five disheveled men come out, while women's screams sounded from inside.
"Which one of you is Demon Scythe? Come out and fight me!"
Rei stepped forward with a smile on his face, showing no fear of the men opposite him.
"Here to challenge us? You're asking for death! There's no need for Lord Demon Scythe to act. I can skewer you myself! Die!"
The man in front was dark-skinned and bald, with thick, sausage-like lips and a big mouth. He held a spear about two meters long, and after deciding that Rei was the strongest, he charged straight at him.
Rei didn't dodge at all. He waited until the spear was close before swinging his sword, so fast that Sausage Lips couldn't see it. By the time the spear thrust reached Rei's chest, its tip was gone...
"Is that all you've got? How boring..."
His Zanpakuto flashed again, and Sausage Lips fell into a pool of blood.
"Damn it, Karoyi went down in one slash?"
"This guy's strong!"
"Don't panic! Get him together!"
The remaining four roared and charged at Rei. Rei stopped Zhuye and the other two from helping and went to meet them alone...
In less than a minute, four more corpses lay by the gate. Even the man who had given them directions sucked in a sharp breath. This unimpressive-looking young fellow was actually so ruthless.
Rei crossed the threshold into the courtyard, where the eight remaining men had finally finished preparing and looked as though they were facing a formidable enemy.
One of them held a huge, pitch-black scythe. Without asking, Rei knew this was the man known as Demon Scythe.
"Who are you, sir? A Soul Reaper? Isn't it rather improper to kill my men as soon as you arrive?"
Seeing Rei holding a Zanpakuto and dressed in something resembling a shihakusho, Demon Scythe thought he was a Soul Reaper, or perhaps a Soul Reaper who had escaped Seireitei's control...