Building a City

Deep within the Zenin Estate, Shinji was engaged in a mysterious activity with Zenin Wu Yan.

"Lord Shinji, I can't take any more..."

"Wu Yan, hold on a little longer. I'm almost done!"

Jianxia brought Uraume to the room and hesitated over whether to open the door as a series of thumps and smacks came from inside.

He wasn't worried about spoiling Shinji's fun.

He was mostly afraid he might see something indecent.

After thinking it over for a long time, Jianxia took a step back and yielded the spot in front of the door to Uraume.

Then he looked at Uraume, his eyes full of expectation.

Uraume: "..."

Though somewhat speechless, Uraume obediently slid the door open.

Zenin Wu Yan lay shirtless on the floor, while Shinji Zenin knelt with one knee in the middle of his back, both hands pressing down on his shoulders.

Neither Shinji nor Wu Yan had expected the door to slide open so suddenly. Both raised their heads to look at Jianxia in the doorway.

"Lord Sukuna, what brings you here? I was just giving this kid a massage-the training methods over in Heian-kyo are too rough. They left him with hidden injuries."

Once he noticed Uraume standing beside Jianxia, Shinji reacted quickly and greeted him first.

Uraume looked at Shinji, then at Jianxia, who had lifted his hair, and finally at the stranger lying on the floor, immediately grasping the situation.

"Lord Sukuna has matters to discuss with the head of the Zenin Clan. Anyone uninvolved should leave."

Uraume's voice was icy, carrying a bone-chilling cold that made the shirtless Zenin Wu Yan shudder.

Those words were clearly meant for him.

"I see. Wu Yan, wait outside for now. I'll get back to your massage after I've had a few words with Lord Sukuna."

Shinji grabbed the clothes beside him and tossed them to Zenin Wu Yan. He watched Uraume lead him away before turning to Jianxia.

"What's wrong, Chief?"

With no need to keep up the act, Shinji naturally returned to his usual way of addressing Jianxia.

"Clan Head, I want to turn Hiraizumi into a major city that rivals Heian-kyo."

Jianxia glanced back and only spoke once he was sure Zenin Wu Yan was far enough away.

Shinji frowned and rubbed his chin, then asked, "How?"

Hiraizumi was already Zenin Clan territory. Though it couldn't compare to wealthier regions, the taxes from the surrounding villages were enough for the clan to live comfortably.

If they could truly build Hiraizumi into a major city like Heian-kyo, it would only benefit the Zenin Clan.

So he didn't question Jianxia's motives. He was simply curious whether Jianxia had any ideas or methods in mind.

"With the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit I subdued yesterday, I can keep producing houses suitable for people to live in. After that, we just need to attract displaced people to clear and farm the land, and we'll have the beginnings of a city."

Ancient cities were nowhere near as elaborate as modern ones. As long as enough people lived there and it had city walls, a settlement could be called a city.

In other words, Jianxia only needed to keep building houses with Clumsy House to provide enough space for displaced people. Over time, it would grow into a city.

Shinji nodded. He saw nothing wrong with Jianxia's proposal.

If they were going to carry out Tengen's plan, they would need sufficient strength to oppose the Fujiwara Clan.

Developing Hiraizumi was an excellent opportunity to expand their own power.

Following Jianxia's approach would allow them to draw in not only commoners, but perhaps some smaller clans as well.

After all, not every small clan had a clan head like him, proficient in Barrier Technique and capable of opening up a space.

"Then go ahead, Chief. I'll handle logistics and getting everyone settled."

With Shinji supporting his idea, Jianxia wasted no time getting to work.

He first left the Zenin Estate and went beyond the barrier, then summoned a host of cursed spirits to begin leveling the surrounding land and clearing the woods.

In truth, Banquet of Fated Remnants and the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit did most of the work. The other weak grade 3 and grade 4 cursed spirits mostly served as cheerleaders.

Even so, a grade 1 cursed spirit and a special grade cursed spirit working together were enough to achieve efficiency far beyond that of ordinary people.

In just an hour, Jianxia cleared almost an entire hill, with the timber piled up like a small mountain.

Next came the main event: constructing houses for people to live in.

The grade 3 and grade 4 cursed spirits worked together to carry the timber to the designated locations. Banquet of Fated Remnants then arranged it into a rough framework, and finally, the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit activated his cursed technique to turn the raw materials directly into houses.

This was the most energy-efficient method Jianxia could devise-as long as he wasn't creating things out of thin air, the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit's technique would consume as little cursed energy as possible.

Originally, creating a house from nothing required a tenth of his total cursed energy. But reshaping existing building materials required only one percent.

That was a tenfold increase in efficiency.

The timber began merging and changing shape, transforming within seconds into a small wooden house suitable for two or three people.

Jianxia opened the door and went inside to inspect it. All the basic furniture was there, including beds, tables, chairs, and cabinets. The beds even had straw mattresses and pillows.

"Not bad. Living here for free would be a blessing."

Jianxia nodded in satisfaction. The little house could hardly be called luxurious, but it was free!

For people in the Heian Era, having a few acres of poor farmland and a house where they could sleep at night already made for a very decent life.

Jianxia then ordered the cursed spirits to continue building at that pace, while he went to the outskirts of the planned city-the area he had reserved for farmland.

Farmers in the Heian Era mainly grew rice, though they occasionally planted other crops.

But whatever they planted, there was no question that they needed broad stretches of flat land.

Japan was mountainous, but fortunately, Hiraizumi lay in a river-valley basin-the kind of terrain particularly well suited to farming.

Gazing at the open land stretching to the distant horizon, Jianxia began to worry.

When he had discussed the plan with Shinji earlier, he had focused entirely on building houses and hadn't properly discussed what to do about the farmland.

The Long, Thin Cursed Spirit could build habitable houses, but he could do nothing about land that needed clearing and cultivation.

"Hey, Chief. What's on your mind?"

Just as Jianxia was scratching his head in frustration, Shinji's voice came from behind him.

Jianxia turned to look. Shinji was alone this time, without Zenin Wu Yan.

"Clan Head, I was wondering whether we can really attract people when we only have houses and no farmland."

Jianxia looked at Shinji, who merely answered with a confident smile.

"Don't worry-as I said, Chief, just focus on building the houses. I'll handle everything else!"

With that, he pointed behind him, where a group of displaced people stood in ragged clothes, their faces gaunt from hunger.

There were nearly twenty of them altogether, men and women, young and old. They looked somewhat ill at ease as they followed Shinji.

When Jianxia looked their way, they all lowered their heads in unison-in the Heian Era, commoners could be punished for looking directly at nobles.

An elderly man leading the group gathered his courage, approached Jianxia with small steps, and knelt on the ground.

"Lord Zenin said that as long as we're willing to farm, we'll have somewhere to live. Is that true, Lord Jianxia?"

His tone was cautious, even humble.

Jianxia helped the old man up and pointed toward the many houses already completed nearby.

"Sir, these houses were built for you-we'll keep building more, too. Sorry for the trouble, but I'll leave it to you to assign the ones we have now."

Displacement was a problem throughout the Heian Era. No matter how later generations portrayed the elegance of that period, they could not change that fact.

Tears filled the old man's eyes. He knelt again, repeating his thanks over and over.

The displaced people who had followed him also knelt, thanking Shinji and Jianxia profusely.

Jianxia helped them up one by one, an indescribable feeling stirring in his heart.

At last, Jianxia made up his mind and gave them his promise.

"Don't worry. As long as the head of the Zenin Clan and I are here, you'll always have somewhere to live!"