Echoes of Great Fortune

"Could you summon him?" Tobirama asked Izuna.

"Why?"

"Aren't you worried about him being out there all alone? If he causes any trouble, at least you can control him immediately."

"I'm not worried," Izuna replied without hesitation.

The Butterfly had already taken flight from his fingertips, fluttering its wings among the flowers, its blue light flashing. "He's not a prisoner, why does he have to keep someone chained to his side?"

Tobirama was momentarily speechless.

The other two also looked over.

Although Hashirama didn't speak, his expression clearly said: You should at least restrain yourself a little.

Ban was even more direct. "If you just let him out like that, do you think he'll behave himself out there?"

Izuna, being stared at by all three at once, sighed somewhat helplessly, "He and I have Contract; I can sense what he's doing."

"So what is he doing now?" Ban asked.

Izuna closed his eyes, sensed things carefully for a while, and then opened them somewhat subtly.

"Um... anyway, it's not something heinous..."

On the other side, inside the gambling den.

Mokushō sneezed suddenly, rubbed his nose, carefully folded the newly exchanged Banknotes, and stuffed them into his sleeve.

Several Chips were piled up in front of him, and the Dice were still spinning in the bowl.

Mokushō didn't linger. He stood up lightly and swaggered out the door under the dealer's gloomy gaze.

He certainly enjoyed winning money, but winning all the time got a bit boring. However, there was nothing he could do; Izuna's next project might require a large sum of money.

As Shikigami, if he doesn't save up some points for him, it will be embarrassing if he can't use them when he needs them in the future.

He thought this with a straight face, and pressed the Banknotes in his sleeve again.

Just as he was about to change his appearance and head to the next gambling den, he suddenly caught a glimpse of two familiar figures across the street.

One was the Uzumaki- faced young man Izuna had struck up a conversation with, another was the black guy he had helped yesterday, and the third was the little girl he had met yesterday, who was holding a tiny swaddled baby in her arms.

He paused, narrowing his eyes.

Oh? It's them? He stroked his chin, wondering what they were doing here.

I'm so curious, let's go follow and see.

So he disappeared from their sight, and the dogs began to follow them respectfully.

Then Mokushō watched as the three of them safely crossed three streets.

It's truly "peaceful and safe" to an absurd degree.

First, a horse-drawn carriage loaded with barrels of wine suddenly veered off course at a corner, causing the carriage to tilt violently, and people all over the street screamed and backed away.

But at that very same second, Zhen was drawn to a string of Seashell Wind Chimes hanging on a roadside stall. She stopped and looked up at them. Luotai and Enma also stopped and pointed at them.

The carriage rumbled past them, brushing against Enma's clothes before crashing into a stone pillar by the roadside. Wine barrels rolled all over the ground, but none of them were touched.

Mokushō stood at the edge of the collapsed carriage and blinked.

Um?

Next, in the middle of the Commercial Street, the group stopped in front of a pastry shop.

Because Zhen suddenly said, "These Dango look so delicious."

As soon as they stopped, an old woman carrying a flower basket greeted them with a smile, saying that the shop was having a promotion today and that the 99th customer to pass by on this street would receive a gift.

She counted and happened to reach Enma. Without saying a word, she stuffed an Oiled Paper into his hand.

Before Enma could react, two steaming skewers of Dango and a small packet of Konpeitō appeared in his arms.

Mokushō stroking his chin from behind.

What a coincidence!

The most absurd thing was when crossing the bridge.

A drunken wandering Samurai was harassing a vegetable-selling girl at the bridgehead. When she refused to comply, he drew his sword.

The pedestrians on the bridge scattered in fright, and the drunkard staggered a couple of steps, raising his knife to slash forward.

Unexpectedly, he stepped on a wooden plank covered in fish scales, spun around on the spot, and like a bird with broken wings, flipped over the railing and plunged headfirst into the river.

The splash was huge, like fireworks.

Upon seeing this, a fisherman in the river shouted, "Tamaya!"

This unexpected turn of events caused passersby to burst into laughter, making the girl forget her tears and join the others in craning their necks to look into the river.

As Enma and Zhen walked across the bridge, they saw the drunk man floundering in the river. Zhen even glanced curiously down from the bridge and asked, "What's that guy doing? Swimming in the river on such a cold day?"

"Maybe he's had too much to drink," Luotai frowned. "Really, in broad daylight."

Mokushō: "..."

I could almost hear the echo of good fortune.

This child has the potential to become an Onmyōji!

No way! I have to go and see what's going on. What if I can take on an apprentice here?

Luotai led Zhen and Enma through two alleys and turned into a path lined with Camellias.

At the end of the path stood a two-story wooden building with a small facade. A sign that read "Hanakiri" hung at the entrance, its edges wrapped in copper, worn smooth and shiny by the passage of time.

Several boxes of face powder and gilded wooden combs were displayed in the shop window, exuding a faint fragrance of cosmetics mixed with the bitter scent of Camellias.

Zhen stood at the door, looking up at the signboard with sparkling eyes. "Wow, it's so beautiful."

Enma, somewhat flustered, tugged at his collar. "How do you know about a place like this?"

As Luotai opened the door for them, he lowered his voice and said, "I already told you, my mother used to be Courtesan. But even though she was Courtesan, she only took a few clients. Most of the time, she came out to help out or mind the shop. This is one of the places she used to come to help out."

"The Tavern Keeper here is very kind. She doesn't mind that I have dark skin and lets me help organize the boxes in the backyard. My mother also often comes here to help, and she's been doing it for many years. The Courtesan in this Pleasure Quarter all love to come here to buy cosmetics and hair oil, so the Tavern Keeper might know whose child this is."

The curtain was lifted, and a tall, slender figure strolled out from the inner room. Before he was even seen, his voice rang out, "Welcome... Oh! Isn't this Luotai!"

The voice was hoarse with a slightly languid tone. Enma looked up and saw that the person was wearing a dark purple kimono with small patterns, the collar of which was snow-white. His hair was neatly styled in a bun, with several Tortoiseshell Hairpins casually inserted. Although his age was evident in his face, he still possessed a certain dashing and debonair charm. However, his eyebrows, his broad shoulders, and his Adam's apple—

Enma's eyes widened slowly. "He... he's not an old man--"

Before he could finish speaking, Luotai had already covered his mouth tightly from behind.

"Shut up!" Luotai whispered menacingly in his ear, "The Tavern Keeper hates it when people call him an old man! If he hears that, we're all in trouble!"

Enma was covered up, with only his terrified eyes showing, and he nodded frantically.

"Oh dear, there's also a young gentleman and a young lady." The Tavern Keeper seemed not to have heard them, smiling as she waved a Gunbai.

Her gaze swept over Enma and Zhen, then settled on the swaddled baby in Zhen's arms. The Gunbai suddenly stopped. "Come, come in quickly. What kind of behavior is this, standing at the door? The wind still smells of the sea; don't let the baby catch a chill."

It was a two-story building with no partitions between the floors.

Magnificent kimonos hung in layers from the ceiling, their sleeves drooping down like butterfly wings, resembling wisteria branches.

The four walls were covered with hairpins, combs, hair ornaments, and silk hair accessories, and various gemstones glittered in the light filtering in from the small windows high up.

From the moment he entered, he was tilting his head back, his eyes dazzled by the sights.

She had never seen anything like this in her clan. Ninjas were pragmatic, usually dressed in black with armor; they wouldn't have such elaborate decorations.

"Tavern Keeper, have any newborns been born recently, or have any pregnant women been taken to have abortions in Pleasure Quarter Village?" Luotai asked as soon as he entered.

"Well, no rush, let me see this young beauty first." The Tavern Keeper, fanning herself with Gunbai, Earth Flow to Zhen with a smile, looked her up and down, then reached out and touched her chin, turning her head from side to side. "Hmm, you have a very good foundation, but why does your complexion look so bad? Your hair isn't combed, and your clothes are dirty. A young lady like you doesn't take good care of herself."

Luotai wanted to say something more, "Um, Tavern Keeper, we actually came to ask—"

"Come on, help me put the clothes down, the first one on the left... oh no, no, it's the third one in the second row."

The Tavern Keeper completely ignored him and pointed with her Gunbai to a row of clothes racks hanging from the ceiling.

"Which one is it..." Luotai muttered to himself, but still obediently walked to the wall, grabbed the dangling wooden handle, and shook down the rack full of kimonos one shelf at a time.

The wooden wheel whirred and turned, and the fabric shook out a faint fragrance in the air.

The Tavern Keeper spent a long time browsing in front of the shelves, finally pulling out a Sakura Pink -colored kimono adorned with delicate White Plum blossom patterns. She then rummaged through a jewelry box on the wall and found a few silver beaded flowers and a light pink sash.

She beckoned to Zhen: "Come here, let me comb your hair again."

Standing there, I felt a little lost and helpless.

She wanted to say that she was there to find her child's relatives, not to dress up, but the Tavern Keeper had already placed her hand on her shoulder and gently pressed her down onto a round stool.

Enma immediately took the child from her arms and held it in her own.

The Tavern Keeper gently combed through her tangled hair, her movements surprisingly light, the strands of hair warm as they brushed against her fingertips.

She used a delicate hairpin to pin up the stray hairs at her temples, and then adorned her long, pale golden hair with a few small silk flowers.

Finally, Luotai pulled up the screen and helped her change into the Sakura Pink kimono.

When the screen was pulled back, Luotai was leaning against a row of wardrobes, picking something out, while Enma was teasing the child with a glittering gold and jeweled hairpin. The two of them looked up at the same time and stopped in their tracks.

The girl before me was nowhere near the same as the one with disheveled hair and mud-caked skirt from just moments before.

Her long, light golden hair was styled into a cute Dango, with a few wisps of hair falling beside her cheeks, making her small face appear as white as jade.

Sakura Pink -colored kimono gently enveloped her, its hem resembling morning clouds. A pale pink silk flower adorned her forehead, echoing the White Plum on the kimono. She looked like a newly blossomed peach tree, freshly washed by the morning dew.

"Wow..." Luotai stroked his chin, "The Tavern Keeper's skills are excellent, she hasn't gotten any worse."

The Tavern Keeper raised her head smugly, "Of course."

Enma stared intently at Shin for a long while, then commented with great sincerity, "Beautiful, like Cherry Blossoms."

She blushed with embarrassment at the praise.

The Tavern Keeper couldn't help but laugh out loud, "What an honest boy."

She turned and pulled the girl in front of her, spinning her around before nodding in satisfaction. "That's more like it. How could such a pretty young girl be ruined by those drab clothes? Alright, pay the bill, sit down and we'll talk."

Luotai naturally took out his money and bought the jewelry he had chosen as well. Then the four of them found seats to sit down.

"What did you just ask? A pregnant woman having an abortion?" The Tavern Keeper walked to the Gunbai and sat down, fanning herself. Her expression turned serious. "Hmm... if that's it, I have heard about it. But are you sure you want this information? Sending the child back might cost her her job, and she might even resent you. After all, that establishment doesn't allow Courtesan to bring children."

Enma raised an eyebrow. "Then why don't we just go openly and honestly?"

The Tavern Keeper raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What do you mean?"

Luotai didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "Enma Ninja."

The Tavern Keeper stopped fanning herself abruptly, her eyes widening as she scrutinized Enma from head to toe once more.

"Ninja?"

Enma, holding the child, bowed slightly to her and said frankly, "Hello, I am Uzumaki Enma, a Ninja."

Shinya bowed slightly. "I am Tsuchigumo Makoto, and I am also Ninja. I may not be good at other things, but I am quite skilled at stealth."

The Tavern Keeper was even more astonished. She covered her mouth and exclaimed, "My goodness! Are all Ninjas this beautiful? I thought you were like those manual laborers, with dark and rough skin from being exposed to the sun and wind. How come you're all so fair-skinned!"

Enma looked down at himself, thought about it seriously for a moment, and said, "Maybe it's because I do more of the work of a merchant."

Upon hearing this, Zhen pondered seriously, "Hmm, Ninjas don't need to stay in the sun for long when carrying out missions, so we often have to hide ourselves. That might really be the reason."

The Tavern Keeper waved her Gunbai twice. "Well, I guess I was too narrow-minded. But you're so sure about revealing your identities? I've heard that Ninjas shouldn't easily reveal their surnames. This place is full of all sorts of people, aren't you afraid of attracting the attention of your enemies?"

Enma chuckled, "My hair is too conspicuous; there's no point in hiding it."

Shin then added, "The Tsuchigumo Clan has no enemies here."

"That's not necessarily true." The Tavern Keeper gently rested her Gunbai on her fan, her tone tinged with worry. "The less guarded you are, the easier it is for someone to target you. In short, don't easily expose yourself to others. Even if you're not afraid, you have to think about your family."

Enma and Zhen exchanged a glance, fell silent, and obediently nodded.

Seeing that the time was right, Luotai changed the subject again. "Tavern Keeper, don't keep us in suspense any longer. We just want to find the child's mother as soon as possible."

After a moment's thought, the Tavern Keeper said, "It's Rōchōya, owned by Master Masato. Luotai, you've worked for him before, you should know his rules. Courtesan gets pregnant, she either has to secretly abort the child or give it away immediately after birth. It's not a place where a baby can cry. Are you sure you want to send the child back? Sending it back is like throwing a lamb to the slaughter."

Luotai didn't rush to answer, only saying calmly, "Tavern Keeper, your information isn't very accurate. Masato has already been captured by the Hiroyama Family."

The Tavern Keeper was taken aback. "What?! What happened?"

Luotai didn't elaborate, only shaking his head. "You should ask someone else about this. I have other matters to attend to right now, so I'll take them away first. I'll visit and thank you about the child another day."

"Alright, be careful in everything. Remember to give my regards to your mother."

Luotai had already reached the door. Hearing this, he waved his hand and said, "I know, I'll bring it."

After saying that, he lifted the curtain and went out with Enma and Zhen.