"White Dragon Horse, hooves pointing west; carrying Tang Sanzang, plus those three disciples; singing a grand song about seeking scriptures in the Western Heaven, and singing it for tens of thousands of miles..."
Humming a little tune whose melody and lyrics were both wrong, Duan Mu ambled through the moonlit wilderness, carrying several jars of fine wine he had just bought. He gave off an incredibly carefree air.
Of course, that was how Duan Mu saw himself.
If anyone else had seen him, they would have thought he was just some crazy drunk. In reality... Duan Mu had not taken a single sip after buying the wine. He had only smelled its fragrance.
The information he had unexpectedly obtained today made Duan Mu extremely glad that his little shop was located in District 38. Staying so far away from the Seireitei meant that even if the Seireitei were swept away by nuclear bombs tomorrow, his little shop should remain untouched.
"Ten years?"
Duan Mu murmured, but then shook his head.
In any case, it had nothing to do with him.
Rather than thinking about what would happen ten years from now, he might as well focus on his upcoming training.
"Next time I visit the Shiba Clan, I'll borrow the Great Kūkaku Training Hall from Big Sister Kūkaku again."
The stronger one became, the greater the commotion caused during training. After leaving the Great Kūkaku Training Hall, Duan Mu had not trained with abandon for a long time.
On one hand, he had no suitable place where he could freely display his strength. On the other, large-scale fluctuations in reishi would inevitably be discovered by the Seireitei.
The Great Kūkaku Training Hall was different. Under the Shiba Clan's unique spirit patterns, fluctuations in spiritual pressure inside were completely isolated. No matter how much Duan Mu wreaked havoc within, nothing could be sensed from outside.
He also did not need to worry about being monitored by the Onmitsukidō.
Unfortunately, he had far too little stored experience. If he borrowed the Great Kūkaku Training Hall from Big Sister Kūkaku for secluded training, it would probably be completely depleted before long.
"Sigh, women!"
Duan Mu realized that, at some point, he had begun thinking about women almost every day. Although the reason he thought about women was somewhat strange...
However, if he wanted to obtain a large amount of experience, he still needed to befriend the women of the Seireitei.
"Speaking of which, I haven't run into anyone from the Onmitsukidō for some time."
For some reason, after Duan Mu's Yorozuya had been changed into a tavern, the Onmitsukidō members who frequently interacted with him had suddenly disappeared, as if they were unwilling to have contact with Diao Ao and the others.
Although he had always been under the Onmitsukidō's supervision, Duan Mu did not dislike them. In fact, he rather liked them!
Because...
The Onmitsukidō was very good at catering to his preferences. The members sent to interact with Duan Mu had all been women, and they were also one of his sources of experience.
Their departure instead made Duan Mu feel somewhat regretful.
Suddenly, Duan Mu stopped and turned to look at the woods on his left. His body tensed instantly, and a trace of wariness flashed through his eyes.
Whoosh~~
Almost at the same moment, a slightly plump figure rushed out of the woods beside the road. When she saw Duan Mu standing in the middle of the road, she froze, then revealed a look of delight.
"Hm?"
When Duan Mu saw her, a hint of surprise flashed across his face. He was not unfamiliar with this person. She was none other than Habutae, who had once tried to subjugate Diao Ao and his group.
At present, she looked incredibly miserable. Her body was covered in blood, and her left arm had been severed at the shoulder, with blood streaming down like water. Her remaining right hand was holding a man, whose condition was unknown. That was why she appeared somewhat plump.
The man looked to be around thirty years old. His body was covered in slashes, especially the enormous cut running from his neck to his waist. It was particularly gruesome, and one could faintly see his organs writhing through the wound.
The Great Villain!
Those three words instantly surfaced in Duan Mu's mind. The person who had caused his body to react instinctively just now had not been Habutae, nor those chasing after her, but this man who had only one breath left and could die at any moment.
To be so severely wounded and still make Duan Mu feel threatened, he could only be the legendary Great Villain!!
"Help me!"
Habutae charged straight toward Duan Mu, then persuaded him with the simplest words: "The commission fee is one million rings."
Although he did not know what had happened and was still somewhat confused, the words "one million rings" still jolted Duan Mu's spirits. He instinctively released the wine jar in his hand.
Crack--!
The wine jar shattered. As the flying fragments scattered a rich wine fragrance, Duan Mu vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was already behind Habutae.
"Bakudo #39: Enzansen!"
He drew his index finger through the air before him, directly leaving behind a golden vertical line, as if splitting the night sky in two. Almost as soon as Duan Mu finished chanting, the golden line unfolded like a folding fan, instantly forming a golden circular shield that blocked Duan Mu and Habutae behind it.
Everything seemed complicated, but in reality, it had happened in an instant.
Bang--!
As soon as Enzansen formed, several blades carrying powerful spiritual pressure struck it simultaneously.
Behind the blades were faces filled with murderous intent. However, when they discovered that their blades had not made the golden shield tremble even slightly, their killing intent turned into wariness, and they borrowed the force of the impact to spring backward.
"Who are you!?"
A man who looked like the leader stared warily at Duan Mu. As he spoke, more than a dozen figures rushed out of the surrounding woods one after another. Every one of them possessed at least the spiritual pressure of a Low-ranking Officer, while the spiritual pressure of the leader was comparable to that of a High-ranking Officer!
"What are the specific terms of the commission?"
Duan Mu ignored him and asked Habutae behind him.
At his words, the unease on Habutae's face gradually faded. Although she had fled to District 38 specifically to seek Duan Mu's help, before meeting him, she had not known whether he would accept her commission.
Duan Mu's words instead allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Kill... Before the boss wakes up, protect the two of us!"
Habutae had originally wanted to tell him to kill these people, but at the last moment, she changed her mind. The most urgent matter was preserving the boss's life, not killing these weaklings.
As for the people pursuing them, if the boss and their leader had not both suffered heavy losses, this many people would not have been enough for the boss to cut down alone.
Duan Mu said nothing. He only glanced at the system interface.
Habutae's Favorability +4, obtained 160 experience points, current favorability: 9 Habutae's Favorability +10, obtained 800 experience points, current favorability: 19 Habutae's Favorability +10, obtained 1,600 experience points, current favorability: 29
A total of 2,560 experience points entered his account in one go, making Duan Mu, who had still been worrying about how to obtain experience, brighten his eyes.
"This commission..."
Duan Mu dispelled Enzansen, and the aura around him changed dramatically.
"I'll take it."
Habutae's Favorability +1, obtained 320 experience points, current favorability: 30
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