Bai Sui quickly heated water in a wooden tub at home using his fire-type ki, then climbed in and submerged himself.
"Gurgle, gurgle~" Bai Sui dipped his head underwater and blew bubbles, trying to dispel the strange feeling inside him.
Yes, it was strangeness, not fear.
Bai Sui thought he should be afraid. After all, this was the first time in either of his two lives that he had killed someone—and not just one person, but a whole seventeen. Especially the ones he had cut in half with his sword at close range.
Yet Bai Sui found that he wasn't afraid at all. But he thought he should be afraid! He shouldn't be this calm!
Especially in his previous life, Bai Sui had been very empathetic. He couldn't even bear seeing a corpse in person, let alone a bloody scene on a screen. He always put himself in the scene, and once, after watching a video of someone abusing an animal, he threw up.
Yet at this moment, Bai Sui was utterly confused. What had gone wrong? Before setting out, he had prepared himself to lose control of his emotions after killing, but now he felt no fear at all, and no sorrow over the loss of life.
Bai Sui felt as though he was no longer himself. He had become a stranger, someone he didn't even recognize.
But there was no fear. Even after replaying the scene in his mind over and over, he felt not the slightest stir.
He wasn't just calm; he was even reviewing the shortcomings of his performance in the battle.
"Ah!" Furious, Bai Sui punched the water, but there was nothing he could do.
Looking at his perfectly clean hands, without a trace of blood, Bai Sui could only sigh deeply.
Bai Sui didn't even get out of the large wooden tub. He simply fell asleep right there. This was the first time he had slept since he began using cultivation to replace sleep.
At dawn the next day, before the sky had even begun to lighten, Bai Sui woke up. He rose from the water and used his ki to dry himself, then changed into clean clothes.
Bai Sui realized that all his agonizing the previous night hadn't brought him any fear or guilt. Instead, it had improved his control over ki, and the pool of spiritual liquid in his dantian was beginning to take the shape of a lake.
He couldn't make sense of it, but he didn't force the issue. Besides, he had gained something unexpected, so what was there to be dissatisfied about?
After finishing his daily cultivation, Bai Sui left his room. He sensed that quite a few people were heading to the village chief's home, thought it over, and set off as well.
On the way, he ran into Shoya Suzuki, who had come to find him. After all, disciples were supposed to serve their masters, and Kubota Noriyuki had assigned his disciple the errand of fetching Bai Sui.
Everyone gathered at the village chief's home and sat in a circle on the tatami mats, recounting what had happened the day before.
The village chief did most of the talking, mainly repeating what Kubota Noriyuki had told them the previous day.
Once he saw that everyone understood what had happened, Bai Sui added, "There's no need to worry too much. Yesterday, I learned from those people that only the traveling merchant who showed them the way knew where the village was. He hadn't given the exact location to anyone else.
"Although that group was sent directly by the Feudal Lord, Kubota Noriyuki and I pinned the blame on a band of bandits from the Land of Iron. That should divert the Feudal Lord's attention.
"Besides, no one else in their hands knows the village's exact location. They only know the general direction, and the last village they passed is about fifty li from ours. We're also deep in the mountains, so they won't find us easily."
Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They had neither the courage nor the strength to resist, and could only accept their fate. Apart from running away, there was nothing they could do.
The village had been built through everyone's hard work, and these outcasts had nowhere else to go.
Seeing their expressions, Bai Sui changed tack. "But don't forget, that wasn't the only traveling merchant who had visited the village. Now that the Feudal Lord has taken notice of us, he might find another merchant to lead the way."
"What?" "That's right!" "Then what are we supposed to do?" Before Bai Sui could finish, the villagers felt as though the sky had fallen.
"Quiet!" The village chief was the first to regain his composure. He calmed everyone down, then turned to Bai Sui and Kubota Noriyuki.
Bai Sui nodded. "Although we can't stop the Feudal Lord from looking for a traveling merchant, it won't be easy. Everyone knows what traveling merchants do. They deal in illegal business, so they'll do everything they can to avoid getting mixed up in this.
"That means the chances of our village being found will drop considerably. But that still isn't enough!"
Bai Sui didn't suggest anything like attacking the Feudal Lord. That was simply impossible. It wasn't just that the villagers might lack the courage; Bai Sui himself didn't think the village had the strength to do it. After all, there were ninja in this world.
Bai Sui continued, "Our village has an outpost, which was a good idea because it lets us spot threats to the village early. But it's still not enough, because it's too close.
"We were lucky this time and discovered what was happening in advance. Imagine what might have happened if we hadn't.
"By the time the outpost spotted them, they had already blocked the village's only exit. Even if we'd wanted to run, it would have been too late!"
As they followed his reasoning, everyone realized that Bai Sui was right. If they were surrounded at the outpost, they would truly be trapped like turtles in a jar.
Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Bai Sui continued, "I suggest building an outpost at the edge of the forest. At the very least, if the Feudal Lord's troops surround us, it would give us an early warning and give the villagers a chance to escape. It could also stop any traveling merchants who come here in the future. All exchanges could take place at the foot of the mountain, at the forest's edge, so they wouldn't learn the village's exact location.
"That way, even if the army wanted to search the mountains, not knowing the village's exact location would force them to split up and waste a great deal of time and energy. The villagers would have a much better chance of escaping."
After saying this, Bai Sui fell silent and left it to the village to decide what to do.
After all, Bai Sui was a free agent. His relationship with the village was no more than mutually beneficial; he owed them nothing.
In fact, one could say that the village owed Bai Sui for his kindness. So if the village chose to do nothing, Bai Sui wouldn't insist.
After all, if they faced a danger they couldn't overcome, Bai Sui wouldn't fight to the death for the village. If he decided to leave, ordinary people really wouldn't be able to stop him.