Calamity Approaches

However, those were merely rumors after all, and the specific details were beyond the knowledge of that servant.

This instead piqued the interest of the Land of Fields Daimyo, who was usually idle, so he arranged for people to go out and search for information regarding Bai Sui.

Eventually, they found a traveling merchant who had once visited the village and learned some intelligence about Bai Sui.

"My Lord Daimyo, everything I say is true! That man possesses skills akin to those of a deity. I saw it with my own eyes—a man had his arm slashed open this long, and yet, it was completely healed in less than three days..." The merchant, prostrate at the feet of the Land of Fields Daimyo, trembled as he recounted Bai Sui's miracles. Even if it didn't quite match what he had actually seen, he was desperate to escape and could only exaggerate as much as possible.

After all, only by doing so could he capture the attention of the man before him and prove his own utility. When the guards of the Daimyo Mansion had found him, they had simultaneously discovered him engaging in some illicit trade.

After all, if they didn't sell profitable goods, there would be no need for them to travel across mountains and rivers as merchants. Selling salt and iron to those refugees in the wilderness was a grave crime; the Daimyo naturally did not wish for the number of commoners under his rule to decrease, as that would lead to a significant drop in the taxes he could collect.

Especially in recent years, due to the war, the taxes he could collect had already dropped by thirty percent. If not for the joint demands of the Daimyos of the Five Great Nations, he would have had a mind to let the Land of Fields withdraw from the flames of war.

"Those damned lowly commoners!" The Land of Fields Daimyo extracted the information he wanted from the other's words immediately.

The Land of Fields Daimyo pointed at the prostrate merchant and said to the guards beside him, "Send men to follow him, find those lowly commoners hiding in the mountains, and capture them all as slaves. If that doctor is truly as he described, he might still be given a chance to serve me. Go, and return quickly."

With a flick of his sleeves and the support of his servants, the Land of Fields Daimyo headed toward his bedchamber, leaving only a few guards and the merchant, whose clothes were soaked through with sweat, at the scene.

"Hmph, get up already! To think you dared to sell goods to those lowly commoners in secret—it is only because Lord Daimyo is merciful that your entire family hasn't been turned into slaves!" One of the guards, dissatisfied at having to trek into the mountains, kicked the merchant.

The kick landed directly on the merchant's forearm. He was in agony but dared not show it. "Yes, yes, Lord Samurai, I am getting up, I am getting up right now."

Struggling to his feet, the merchant hurriedly bowed to the guards present. "My lords, that place is still about a day's journey from the capital. May I ask if we are departing today or..."

Before he could finish, the guard rudely interrupted him. "Get lost, you bastard! You want to delay Lord Daimyo's orders? You truly are a damned lowly commoner. Lead the way, now! We aren't complaining, so how dare you have an opinion?" Having said that, he delivered another kick to the merchant.

Thus, four guards shoved the merchant along as they set off on their journey. The miserable merchant wanted to send word to his family, but one glare from the guards beside him made him too terrified to even mention it.

Besides the five of them, a squad of foot soldiers followed behind. Their primary task was not combat—they did not believe a tiny mountain village would dare resist the Daimyo's will—but rather to prevent anyone from fleeing in the panic.

After all, every commoner knew full well what kind of fate awaited them if they were caught by the Daimyo after becoming outcasts.

While such a tragic end meant few dared to leave the jurisdiction to become outcasts, it also made those who had already left much more vigilant, as everyone knew the consequences of being caught.

As for why the villagers allowed the merchant to leave under such circumstances, it was a matter of necessity. A small village always lacked many essential goods, such as salt and iron, which had to be obtained through traveling merchants.

Because these merchants brought rare items to the various Daimyos and paid heavy taxes, they were not scrutinized too closely as long as they didn't overstep their bounds.

This disaster could be said to be entirely due to the merchant's inability to keep his mouth shut. After all, "If the ruler is not discreet, he loses his ministers; if the minister is not discreet, he loses his life; if the planning is not discreet, it leads to disaster."

To use something that happened while he was clearly conducting illegal business as a topic of conversation—even if he hadn't been caught this time, he would eventually have drawn the attention of the Daimyo and other nobles through some other incident.

Meanwhile, in the quiet little village, everyone was still unaware of what was about to happen.

"Hahaha, Shoya, you brat, your practice is coming along well! You have the flair I had back in my day. Not bad." Kubota Noriyuki loudly praised a young man who was training under him.

Over the years, as the village population gradually grew, Kubota Noriyuki had begun to popularize samurai training methods among the youth, and two of them had actually made decent progress.

To prevent the two from getting injured during their sparring, Kubota Noriyuki simply had them practice outside Bai Sui's courtyard.

Over time, this had become a form of entertainment in the village, and villagers with free time would come to watch.

With an audience, the two were determined to give it their all so as not to lose face in front of everyone.

Although they were sparring right outside his courtyard, Bai Sui didn't pay much attention. After all, no matter how interesting something is, you can't watch it forever; aesthetic fatigue sets in. Besides, Bai Sui didn't have only this one form of entertainment like the villagers.

Bai Sui hadn't made paper in the village over these years. Although he had the relevant knowledge from his past life, it was truly cumbersome. Plus, Bai Sui had very little use for it—he didn't need toilet paper to wipe his backside—so he used another method instead.

He used his Qi Sword to slice bamboo or wood into thin, translucent sheets as fine as cicada wings.

He would then stack a few sheets together to use as paper. Although the performance wasn't particularly great in every aspect, it served its purpose, and Bai Sui wasn't picky.

As Bai Sui was writing in his room, his sleeve accidentally knocked over his brush holder.

Watching the bamboo brush holder roll a few times on the floor, Bai Sui was a bit dazed. "This..."

Just as he was thinking about how he could be so careless as to make such a mistake, he suddenly felt his heart give a sharp tug, and a sense of palpitation welled up from within.

Knowing something was wrong, Bai Sui ignored the scattered brushes and the half-written paper on the desk.

He hurriedly sat in meditation on his cushion, immersing his entire consciousness into his Dantian.

As Bai Sui's consciousness turned inward, images gradually emerged within his inner vision.

Although he could not clearly see the appearances of the people involved, he still managed to glean quite a bit of intelligence from them.