Land of Rain

The woman froze, her eyes widening. Her lips moved twice as if she wanted to say "Don't," but Lin Chongshu had already bent down and scooped the child out of the cradle.

When he reached the courtyard, he saw Shan Tianzhu sitting up from the ground, his back against the stove. One hand clutched his stomach, and his face was smeared with sand and dried saliva.

The moment he saw Lin Chongshu holding his son, his eyes went wide, and he struggled to get up.

Lin Chongshu ignored him and continued toward the main room with the child in his arms. "You too. Get inside."

The woman stood in the courtyard, looking from Shan Tianzhu in the corner to the main room.

She reached up to tuck the loose hair by her ear back, her fingers lingering on her earlobe for a moment. In the end, she followed him inside.

After the inner room door closed, Lin Chongshu could still hear movement outside.

Shan Tianzhu dragged his feet to the door of the main room, paced back and forth outside a few times, then leaned against the wall and went still.

His breathing was heavy. He was afraid something might happen inside, yet he did not dare come in.

Lin Chongshu leaned against the headboard, placed the baby beside him, and used the blanket to make a ring around the child.

The woman huddled in the farthest corner of the room. She had her legs drawn up, her chin resting on her knees. Her collar was still slightly crooked, exposing a small stretch of collarbone.

The dim yellow lamplight fell across her face, casting the shadows of her lashes over her cheekbones as they trembled faintly.

Lin Chongshu glanced at her, then at the baby.

"You don't need to be afraid." He closed his eyes, sounding almost kind. "I'm not interested in old ladies."

The expression on the woman's face was too complicated to describe—anger, fear, and the absurdity of I was actually called an old lady by some little brat.

Lowering her head, she quietly asked, "You... what exactly did you come here for?"

"To find somewhere to bathe, eat a hot meal, and sleep."

He opened one eye. "Your man happened to want to rob and murder me, so I'll be staying at your place for two days."

"The wounds on your body..." the woman suddenly said.

"If you don't want to die, ask fewer questions." Lin Chongshu rolled over to face the wall, his voice muffled.

After a moment of silence, Lin Chongshu suddenly asked, "Who governs this village?"

The woman froze. She probably had not expected this boy, covered in wounds, to suddenly ask that.

She shrank farther into the corner before quietly answering, "Officially, it's Lord Hanzo's territory. But this place is too remote, just a little village on the border. No one governs it."

"Then this is the Land of Rain." Lin Chongshu repeated the words. "Is Salamander Hanzo still alive?"

The woman nodded, though she was not sure whether the person facing away from her could see it.

"He is. Lord Hanzo is the leader of the Land of Rain, but in recent years, he's become more and more suspicious. He's always afraid someone will assassinate him. He's pulled all his forces back to the central region, and these little border villages have long since been abandoned."

Her voice grew softer and softer. "The reason my husband can stay here and run a little eatery is because there's nowhere else for us to go."

"This place may be remote, but at least no one comes to collect taxes or drag men off for conscription."

She paused, her tone softening somewhat. "Still, it's also thanks to Lord Hanzo's reputation. During the Third Shinobi World War, the great nations fought each other, and so many small countries were crushed between them and turned into battlefields. Villages could vanish overnight."

"Our Land of Rain is caught between the three great nations of Fire, Wind, and Earth. It should have suffered the worst, but thanks to Lord Hanzo, the Land of Rain managed to remain mostly safe during the Third Shinobi World War."

Lin Chongshu opened one eye and looked at the cracks in the earthen wall illuminated by the oil lamp.

A small border village, an ungoverned zone, with no shinobi and no sentries. That was good news for him.

"What about Pain?"

"Pain?" The woman looked confused.

Lin Chongshu rephrased the question. "Other than Hanzo, are there any other powers in the Land of Rain?"

The woman paused, as though debating whether she should say it. Her hand unconsciously tugged at the hem of her clothes twice before she finally spoke.

"Yes. I heard a new force has emerged in recent years. They call themselves gods."

"I've heard passing caravans talk about them. They take bounty jobs and solve people's problems. Their methods are ruthless, but they pay fairly. No one knows how many people they have, and no one has ever seen what that so-called god looks like."

At that, Lin Chongshu opened his eyes in the darkness.

Pain, Nagato, the Rinnegan.

After Yahiko died, Nagato used Yahiko's body to create Deva Path Pain and began operating in the Land of Rain in the name of a god.

At this time, Hanzo was still alive, and their two factions were locked in a stalemate within the Land of Rain.

The war between them had not yet begun. The prelude to the Land of Rain's civil war still hung in the air.

He glanced back at the woman. She was curled up in the corner with her head buried in her knees.

Lin Chongshu said nothing more. The footsteps outside continued, unhurried and steady, crunching over the sandy ground.

The system notification sounded every so often.

[Detected that the host has bullied Shan Tianzhu. The target has developed intense anger and fear. Reward extraction complete.]

[Obtained: Agility +0.3]

[Detected that the host has bullied Shan Tianzhu. The target has developed intense humiliation and hatred. Reward extraction complete.]

[Obtained: Speed +0.1]

The numbers were still rising, but the increases were getting smaller and smaller. Many only rose by a few hundredths.

He could feel that Shan Tianzhu's potential had nearly been squeezed dry. His own attributes were also close to reaching the ceiling of an ordinary person's limits.

Lin Chongshu rolled over. "This place is about to become unstable. You and your husband should move away as soon as you can."

"Where could we move to?" the woman said with a bitter smile. "Is there even a safe place left in this world?"

Lin Chongshu did not try to persuade her further.

After a while, the woman raised her head and looked out the window.

The wind poured through the cracks in the walls, carrying the dry chill unique to desert nights.

She hunched her shoulders and rubbed the hem of her clothes between her hands twice. In the end, she could not hold back any longer.

"It's too cold outside. He's still wearing the thin clothes he had on during the day. Can I go tell him to return and rest first?"

Lin Chongshu did not turn around. His voice came calmly from the other side of the pillow. "He can only relax if he stays at the door and listens to what's happening inside. If you make him leave, he really won't sleep tonight."

The woman's lips moved, but she could not find a reply.

"Don't worry." Lin Chongshu rolled over as the system flashed another notification for 0.01 in his mind.

"Once I've collected my interest, I'll leave."