The Man of Few Words / His Life Was Worth Only This Much

He seemed completely oblivious to the disdainful looks his teammates were giving him.

And so, they returned to the Gotei 13.

The first thing Seated Officer did was to go to Yamabuki Chidori's office to complain.

"Captain! I really can't stay with this guy any longer! He's lawless, disobeys orders, and even did that kind of thing in public... Captain, if he's not severely punished, I'll have to resign," Seated Officer Xi said with a serious expression.

Although the person in front of him was Yamabuki Chidori, the pinnacle of power in the entire Soul Society, this Seated Officer was not intimidated at all and directly confronted his superior.

It's either him or me; it's either me or him.

Yamabuki Chidori also felt a bit of a headache.

In just one day, I've caused such a huge mess. It's sometimes unavoidable to harm civilians when hunting Hollows. Yamabuki Chidori has taught these team members never to trade their own lives for civilians' lives. As long as you're alive, you can save more people.

But this can no longer be called Maru injury; it's intentional homicide.

Furthermore, the two Shinigami who were in his group went directly to Yamabuki Chidori to complain that when the Hollow was discovered, he chose to stand by and do nothing in order to claim all the credit. If he had intervened in time, the tragedy that followed could not have happened.

"Okay, I understand. I will punish him very severely." Yamabuki Chidori said, "Bring him here!"

Soon, the Maru came running over.

"Captain, you called me? Are you trying to reward me? I was incredibly brave today, killing a Hollow!" Maru was completely oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.

Yamabuki Chidori said calmly, "I know everything that happened today. Do you have anything to explain?"

Although Maru doesn't understand the rules, it doesn't mean he's stupid. He knew as soon as he heard those words that the Captain wasn't going to reward him, but rather punish him.

"Captain! I only accidentally injured a few civilians while hunting Hollows, it's not that serious, it's not that serious!" Maru said with a forced smile.

He also knew who he could afford to offend and who he couldn't.

Yamabuki Chidori quietly looked at the burly man in front of her.

Only in extremely special circumstances, such as when the Three Realms lose their balance, can the number of souls be controlled—whether to erase or increase them.

Only in this one situation is it permissible for Death to kill an ordinary person.

In addition, the killing of ordinary people's souls is not permitted.

"This tragedy was clearly caused by your arrogance and greed for credit. I'll lock you in the Water Prison for a month to teach you a lesson," said Yamabuki Chidori.

Upon hearing the punishment, the Seated Officer couldn't help but shudder.

This is an extremely cruel form of torture. The Water Prison is dark and damp. If one stays in Water Prison for a long time, their skin will ulcerate, their body will rot and become infested with maggots, and the hands and feet of the punished person will be the Chain, leaving them unable to live or die!

Just thinking about that terrible scene made the Seated Officer want to plead for mercy.

But then I thought, without such a severe punishment, who knows what kind of trouble the Maru might cause in the future.

Maru asked cautiously, "What exactly is Water Prison? Can you tell me about it so I can be mentally prepared?"

At Yamabuki Chidori's prompting, the Seated Officer gave a complete explanation of what Water Prison was.

Even though Maru was usually arrogant and domineering, he turned pale with fright in the face of this punishment.

"Wait, wait, I know I was wrong, I'll never hurt ordinary people again! Captain, please let me go. I did kill a Hollow, how about you let me make amends?" Maru hurriedly said, "Besides, it's all that woman's fault, she also bears some responsibility!"

Yamabuki Chidori didn't say a word, she just quietly looked at him.

Maru couldn't help but tremble all over. He knew that saying anything now was useless, so he might as well go all the way and run!

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Yamabuki Chidori saw through it and instantly pressed his head down to the ground. With a slight squeeze of her fingers, Maru could clearly hear his skull cracking as it was being pinched.

"Accept your punishment honestly, and you'll still be a member of the 11th Division when you come back. Otherwise, I'll crush your head right now! You choose!" Yamabuki Chidori said in a very cold tone.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I know I was wrong, I accept the punishment, I will never dare to do it again!" Maru cried out pitifully.

With a wave of her hand, Yamabuki Chidori bound his entire body with iron chains. These chains could suppress the Reiatsu of the Grim Reaper, rendering him useless no matter how strong he was.

Maru was filled with hatred, but he didn't dare to hate Yamabuki Chidori. Instead, he transferred all his hatred onto Seated Officer.

If it weren't for you, you bastard, betraying me, how could I have ended up in such a miserable state?

After I get out of the Water Prison... when I become the Captain of the 11th Division, just wait and see how I deal with you!

Now he can only suppress this hatred in his heart.

The Seated Officer also sensed the sinister aura emanating from the other party. After the escorting personnel had taken the Maru away, the Seated Officer whispered, "Captain, this person has the heart of a wolf. If we keep him around, he'll become a threat sooner or later!"

Yamabuki Chidori tapped the table lightly with her pipe in hand. "Don't worry about that, I have my own arrangements."

Seated Officer nodded slightly, relieved that the Captain had said so.

"Go ahead and do your thing! I'll call you if I need anything!" said Yamabuki Chidori.

Chapter 108: The Man Who Was Concise with Words

After the Seated Officer left, Yamabuki Chidori looked at the sky outside. Light snow was falling again, and Yamabuki Chidori seemed lost in thought.

I'm one step closer to the success of my plan.

This winter is unusually long; even though it's already the end of February, the snow is still falling non-stop.

During these freezing weather times, demons and monsters always seem to come out and cause trouble.

In the Southern 59th District Rukongai, the villagers are holding a grand festival, where they worship the mountain god every year and pray for peace and protection from the wind and rain.

The offering given to the mountain god was a young girl randomly selected from among the villagers.

Although this kind of sacrifice is very old-fashioned, the villagers here always believe that as long as they offer enough sacrifices to the mountain god, their lives will be peaceful and safe.

The girl, who looked only fourteen or fifteen years old, was dressed in very beautiful clothes and had light makeup on her face. Various delicious foods were placed in front of her. After she finished eating, she would be sent to the deep mountains.

After a series of pointless rituals, the witch ordered four men to take the girl to a distant mountaintop.

Actually, this is a mission that no one wants to take, because sometimes out of four people who go up, only two can come back; the other two will be left behind and eaten by the mountain god.

But if they didn't go, they would be burned alive on the fire, so the men had no choice but to grit their teeth and carry the girl to the mountaintop.

After the sedan chair was put down, the four men ran away as if they had seen a ghost.

The girl huddled inside the sedan chair, gazing curiously outside. Although it looked cold outside and she wasn't wearing many clothes, she didn't show any signs of feeling cold.

As darkness fell, the girl still hadn't seen the so-called mountain god. She even began to suspect that the mountain god was a fake, a trick by the village chief and the witch.

The girl took an orange from her bosom, peeled it, tore off a segment, and put it in her mouth.

It's sweet and sour, and that's her favorite flavor.

As the sun gradually set, the blizzard intensified.

Just as the girl was drifting off to sleep, a piercing laugh rang out from outside the sedan chair.

"This year's offerings are quite good! Your spiritual power is much higher than that of ordinary people; eating them will definitely increase your strength!"

The girl suddenly opened her eyes.

It was pitch black all around, with only faint starlight reflecting off the snow, creating a soft curtain of light.

By the dim light, the girl saw a long, black, slender object rushing toward her at an incredible speed. Judging from its outline, it was either a large snake or an enormous centipede.

The girl calmly tore off half of the orange and put it in her mouth.

"Huh? Aren't you scared? You're going to be eaten by me in a minute!" The thing lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and poked its head in.

Sure enough, it wasn't a mountain god at all, but a Hollow wearing a white Visored. It looked like a giant python, but strange tentacles and limbs extended from its body, making it extremely bizarre in appearance.

The girl quietly chewed on the orange. "I'm not afraid!"

The girl's answer seemed very strange to Xu: "Why aren't you afraid of me?"

The girl swallowed the orange and said, "Because you're going to die soon!"

"Huh???" Xu didn't understand what the girl meant.

"Bite!!!"

The sound of a sword being sheathed rang out.

Even on such a dark and windy night, the sound was exceptionally clear.

Xu turned his head stiffly and saw a man as cold as ice standing silently behind him.

"You..." Xu suddenly found it very difficult to speak. Only then did he realize that his head had been ripped open from the middle, and the white mask had split in two along with his head.

"Wow!!! You're so amazing!" The girl's eyes sparkled like stars.

The man in front of me is named Kamishirokawa.

He is said to be a very powerful bounty hunter.

The girl's parents couldn't bear to see their daughter eaten by a monster, so they paid this person to come.

The girl had initially thought it would be a fierce battle, but she never expected it to end in an instant.

Kamishirokawa swung his sword and severed the Hollow's head, using it as a reward.

"You're so amazing, how about we travel the world together, swords in hand? I may not know how to use a sword, but I can cook, I can do laundry, and I can even... I can even have children..."

Kamishirokawa's face remained expressionless. "Please don't. I'm just doing this for money, no need to thank me."

He needed to take the fake head back to report. Bounty hunters are different from assassins. Assassins get a deposit first, but bounty hunters simply do the work first and get paid later.

Without this clever mind, he wouldn't get the reward he deserved, and he'd also have to take this infatuated girl home.

On the way home, the girl kept talking, expressing her wish to travel the Kamishirokawa and roam freely with a sword.

Without saying a word, Kamishirokawa silently escorted her home, where an elderly couple lived. They were overjoyed to see their daughter return safely, but their faces turned to horror when they saw the hollow head.

"The mountain god is dead, money." Kamishirokawa was always sparing with words; even though his inner thoughts were very rich, he could express very little.

The elderly couple looked troubled.

This family mainly made a living by farming, and it was already difficult enough for them to fill their stomachs. They didn't have any extra money to hire this bounty hunter.

He was so eager to save his daughter that he made a boastful promise, and now it's too late to back out.

"This..." The husband could only go to the cellar, take out all the grain, and say in a slightly trembling voice, "This is all the grain we have left. You can have it all, no problem!"

His wife's body trembled slightly. If Kamishirokawa took all the food, their family probably wouldn't survive until spring.

Kamishirokawa glanced casually at the room's furnishings, already having a general idea of the elderly couple's financial situation. He reached out and, under the couple's anxious gaze, slipped his hand into the cloth bag containing the grain.

Then he grabbed a handful of rice from it.

That should be enough; it's not a difficult task anyway!

Kamishirokawa thought to himself.

In this freezing weather, what happiness it is to cook a pot of steaming hot rice porridge!

The elderly couple looked ashamed and dared not look up into Kamishirokawa's eyes.

"Why did you take so little? Take more! I still have frozen meat in my cellar! Take it all, you're so thin, you should eat more meat! I also have oranges here! If it's not enough, take me with you!" The girl seemed to be in a state of excitement, wishing that Kamishirokawa would empty his house before she would be willing.

Kamishirokawa rolled his eyes. "Wait till this girl gets married, those old folks will have a hard time!"

Chapter 109: His life is only worth this much.

When Kamishirokawa left, he only grabbed a handful of rice.

I braved the wind and snow to return to my lodgings.

It was freezing cold outside, but the temperature inside the room was about the same as outside. Kamishirokawa discovered that there was a little boy lying on his doorstep, breathing out white vapor, but his breathing was very rapid, and he seemed to be in a dangerous situation.

Kamishirokawa gently nudged the little boy with his toe, and the boy opened his eyes with great difficulty.

"If you want to sleep, come inside. If you fall asleep outside, you'll never wake up again," Kamishirokawa said.

The little boy moved his almost stiff limbs as he entered the room.

The room was completely undecorated except for a bed and a stove for cooking.

Kamishirokawa found some charcoal in the kitchen, so he lit a fire to cook porridge using the handful of rice he had just earned.

The little boy sat by the stove to warm himself, and a glimmer of color finally returned to his face.

Kamishirokawa handed him a bowl of hot porridge, but unfortunately there were only a few grains of rice in it.

But having a bowl of hot rice porridge is a rare treat in this freezing weather.