Chapter 196

"Miss Yachong." Li Pu felt goosebumps all over his body and said, "Excuse me, is there something wrong with me? Do you have to look at me like that?"

"You can call me Sakura," Yae Sakura said.

"This..." Li Pu could certainly sense Yae Sakura's unspoken meaning. He didn't intend to pretend to be confused, but he still intended to say, "This is Miss Yae."

"If I remember correctly, in this culture, people address each other by their first names."

"That's a very impolite thing to do, unless you're very familiar with someone."

"Is that so?" Yae Sakura gently placed her hand on the hilt of her sword at her waist and said, "I have a new sword arriving soon, Test Cut hasn't been made yet."

"Hmm, you'd be willing to do it for me?"

"Uh..." Li Pu suddenly felt that the rice ball in his hand no longer tasted good.

What is Test Cut? A test Test Cut is a method of testing a knife. This practice was very popular in Area 11's history, and as history progressed, Test Cut were gradually made using straw, folded mats, and green bamboo. At one time Test Cut were performed using the corpses of prisoners. This practice was once extremely prevalent.

They were talking about corpses, but Li Pu felt they wouldn't mind using living people.

For them, there's a unique form of entertainment called "Tsujigiri). This involves randomly hacking and slashing people at intersections, killing civilians. The reasons are varied: venting frustration, robbing, or simply for fun. Of course, this includes 'testing their swords'.

This practice was not banned and punished by the Edo Shogunate until 1602.

As for whether Yae Sakura could be considered a samurai in this era, Li Pu didn't know.

But Yae Sakura wanted to use him to test her sword.

Li Pu felt that Yae Sakura might actually do it.

"Alright, Sakura." Li Pu put down the rice ball in his hand and said, "Let's stick to the facts."

Li Pu said, "You didn't send me rice balls just so you could use me as a test subject in the future, did you?"

"Of course not." Yae Sakura lowered her hand and said, "How should I put it? I feel that being too smart isn't always a good thing, right, Poussang?"

Are you very disappointed right now?

"What's disappointing?" Li Pu countered.

"As for the villagers of Yae Village?" Yae Sakura said, "These people are not kind or simple. They are cunning, selfish, and extremely greedy."

"Right? Pusan, you did so much, protecting them with all your might. You saved so many people."

"In the end, this is the only outcome he could have achieved."

"You must be disappointed too, right?"

"Everything has two sides," Li Pu shrugged. "I expected this to happen, so it doesn't really matter. As for whether you're disappointed or not?"

"What's there to be disappointed about?"

Li Pu was not disappointed at all; he really didn't think there was anything to be disappointed about.

"Then are you still going to protect the villagers here?" Yae Sakura asked, slightly annoyed that Li Pu didn't seem disappointed. "Protect those foolish ants?"

'Foolish ants?' Li Pu tilted his head and looked at Yae Sakura again.

It was as if I was getting to know her all over again.

"Hi-Fyūmaru." Li Pu said with a slight upturn of his lips, "It seems that the one speaking to me isn't Yae Sakura, but you, right?"

"The 12th Herrscher of the Previous Era, the Herrscher of Erosion. Hi-Fyūmaru!"

"You!" Yae Sakura's eyes widened suddenly, but she quickly regained her composure and said, "As expected, it seems that your background is extraordinary."

"You actually know my name? You're not just Kallen's reincarnation, are you?"

"You seem to know something too," Li Pu said, leaning against the wall. "Let me put it this way."

"Let's get down to business. You're planning to kill all the villagers and take Kallen for yourself, right?"

"Hi-Fyūmaru?"

"No, I want Yae Sakura, Yae Sakura wants Kallen." Hi-Fyūmaru, who was possessing Yae Sakura's body, said, "I only made a small deal with Yae Sakura."

"Very fair, extremely fair."

"I was still figuring out how to stop you," Hi-Fyūmaru said. "I didn't expect you to mess things up so badly."

"Squatting here doesn't feel comfortable at all, does it?"

"What?" Li Pu retorted, "Are you here to make a deal with me?"

"What makes you think I'd do this deal with you?"

"So you're still going to remain stubbornly ignorant?" Hi-Fyūmaru mocked. "Look at these ugly humans, what's so special about them that's worth protecting?"

"You stood up for them, but what did they do to you?"

"Is this what you're trying to protect? What exactly are you protecting?"

"Based on what these people have done," Hi-Fyūmaru said mockingly, "You can't protect anything."

"The wind and rain send spring away, and the flying snow welcomes spring. The cliff is already a hundred feet of ice, but there are still pretty flower branches. They are pretty but do not compete for spring, but only report the arrival of spring. When the mountain flowers are in full bloom, she smiles among them."

Li Pu did not answer Hi-Fyūmaru directly, but instead recited a poem that Hi-Fyūmaru could not understand.

"I'm not a great man, and I may not reach the heights he did." Li Pu said with a half-smile, yet with confidence and composure, "But for me, I still don't know what I'm supposed to protect."

"But at least I know what I need to save now."

"I didn't want to protect the villagers here," Li Pu said, looking at Yae Sakura. "I wanted to save them!"

"You who are trapped in the abyss."

Chapter 226 Take Me Away

The air was thick with the smell of alcohol.

The Sacrifice Ritual is not merely a religious activity; for the ordinary people here, it is also a grand feast. Delicious food, fine wine, and handsome men and beautiful women.

In reality, Sacrifice Ritual have never been the purely religious rituals that one might imagine.

It's not entirely about bloodshed, seriousness, and a sense of 'holiness'.

Due to reasons such as transportation and resources.

This rare Sacrifice Ritual also served as a platform for the exchange of patriotic sentiments and genes. It was, in essence, a unique celebration that transcended class, race, and gender.

Of course, Sacrifice Ritual offerings must be excluded.

Li Pu was naturally ineligible for this Sacrifice Ritual because of his previous failed attempt to disrupt it. Li Pu was still imprisoned in the dungeon and had no right to participate.

He could only squat in this cell without even a steamed bun, listening to the sounds outside.

"I wonder what the final consequences of today's Sacrifice Ritual will be," Li Pu said, shaking his head. "Things seem to be..."

This is even more troublesome.

"Lord Samurai!"

Just then, a soft, almost hesitant voice rang out in the dimly lit cell.

"Who?" Li Pu was a little startled.

"Why would they come here now? Who is it?" The voice sounded unfamiliar. But surely not? Li Pu was willing to believe that not everyone in the village was a follower, irrational person. There would always be some who might think independently, who might genuinely consider why someone with considerable fighting ability couldn't defeat a group of unarmed civilians.

But thinking, conclusions, and actions.

These three things are not absolutely related.

The conclusions drawn from thinking are not necessarily correct. Correct conclusions are the key factors that trigger action, but they will not absolutely prompt a person to do something.

Especially in such a frenzied atmosphere, where there is no time or place for calm reflection.

Li Pu had no idea that anyone other than Kallen, Otto, and Yae Sakura would come to see him.

It seems I misjudged the situation.

Someone actually came to see him.

"You... you're not that..." Li Pu said, using the dim light to make out the person approaching. "Aren't you... Ling?"

The girl who was used as a sacrifice.

A girl destined to die before she even grew up. She was dressed quite cleanly, unlike the elaborate costumes she wore when she was carried to the shrine.

Her plain white kimono made her look rather pitiful.

"Yes, Lord Samurai." The little girl was a little timid but still mustered her courage and said, "Thank you Lord Samurai."

The locals don't make strict or serious distinctions regarding those who are strong in combat and qualified to carry weapons. Anyone who has a surname, is capable in combat, and can wield a weapon is simply called Lord Samurai.

As for whether they are actually 'samurai' or not, what is the difference between them and the 'samurai' here?

That's outside their scope of concern.

In this respect, she is the same.

The difference is that...

"The Lord Samurai is a good person," the little girl said. "Thank you, Lord Samurai, for what happened that day."

"What's there to thank me for?" Li Pu said, leaning against the wall. "Besides, I didn't do anything that day. Nothing changed. Your thanks are nothing."

You don't need to thank me for anything.

"However," Li Pu asked, rather curiously about something else, "How did you get to this place?"

"This shouldn't be a place for you, right?"

Although they were sacrificial offerings, they weren't the kind to be trampled on at will. In fact, in some Sacrifice Ritual, live sacrifices were treated with a certain degree of respect.

They won't bully or insult you.

Of course, freedom is inevitably subject to restriction.

This is how it is; although she receives the highest honors at Yae Shrine, she is not allowed to leave. She needs someone to serve her in Yae Shrine she does.

In reality, it's just a matter of having someone specifically monitoring them.

It's astonishing that someone under surveillance could even visit Li Pu in prison.

This is quite an intriguing matter.

"Because everyone was drinking," Ling said, pulling a key from behind her back. "So nobody paid any attention to me today. I just sneaked out."

"This is the key to the cell door."

"The key to the cell door?" Li Pu looked at the bunch of keys in Ling's hand and said, "Don't tell me you stole this?"

"Yes," Bell said, tilting her head back. "I stole this."

"The person in charge of the keys was drunk," Ling said. "So I just stole the keys."

"Well... don't tell me you stole those two guns too." Li Pu said with a strange expression, "That blue gun."

"Yes... yes." Rin said with some surprise, "The Lord Samurai is really clever. I did take the 'gun' that the Lord Samurai used that day."

At that time, the concept of 'firearms' did not exist in Area 11.

Firearms were brought in by the Portuguese in 1543.

In that era, the concept of 'gun' should have corresponded to a long-handled weapon like 'spear'.

Ling didn't understand what this weapon, which looked like it should be called 'Handheld Thunder' or 'Handheld Fire' or something like 'Palm XXX', had to do with long, pointed weapons.

But that didn't stop her from calling the thing a 'gun', just like the Lord Samurai.

"The Lord Samurai's weapon," Rin said. "I see it's unguarded."

"I brought them along with the Lord Samurai."

There are two more rice balls here.

Rin quickly pulled out the things she had brought from her clothes and said, "These things are for the Lord Samurai."

The journey was smooth; almost no one stopped them or questioned them. Ling, who had been on tenterhooks the whole time, finally felt a little relieved.

She never considered why she could come and go as if she were in an empty place and easily obtain these important things.

Food, weapons, and keys that should be carefully preserved.

All she knew was that she had brought all these things with her.