Chapter 7: News of the Slug Sage
"Damn it! Am I really going to die here today? Damn that Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—how can there be such a terrifyingly powerful woman in this world!" Yokota Kiyomi gritted her teeth as she struggled to fend off the attacks from the surrounding samurai, yet she had no chance at all to launch a counterattack herself.
"Yokota Kiyomi, give up. The Yokota clan is finished. I don't know why you kept coming to this forest, but let me tell you this—the strongest member of the Yokota clan, Yokota Fuichirō, is already dead. Your clan has no future left." The samurai had wondered earlier why Yokota Kiyomi insisted on coming to this forest, but now he no longer cared.
Just as he had said, the strongest fighter of the Yokota clan was already dead. Even if she had outside help, it would only be like inviting a wolf into the house.
"That's impossible! My second uncle is in this forest. He must have already noticed something was wrong here. As long as I hold on a little longer, he'll come save me at once. When that happens, it'll be your turn to die!" Yokota Kiyomi refused to believe the samurai's words.
"So that's it—you thought that dead man was in this forest. Then I'm afraid I have bad news for you. Your second uncle really is dead. He died in the jaws of a giant beast. Heh… speaking of it, your second uncle really overestimated himself. He encountered such a massive beast, yet instead of running, he actually tried to subdue it." Once they understood what was going on, the samurai increased the intensity of their attacks. At first, they had been cautious, thinking Yokota Kiyomi had some kind of backup hidden in the forest. But it turned out she had only assumed her already-dead uncle was somewhere nearby.
"That's nonsense! What giant beast? Ugh…" Yokota Kiyomi cried out as a samurai's blade slashed her left arm. Enduring the pain, she continued blocking the enemy's attacks. "You're lying!"
"Hahaha! You know, your uncle suddenly stumbled into a strange place. It was filled with countless gigantic mushrooms. We followed him in while chasing him, and that's when we saw it—a giant slug as huge as a mountain!"
"And your uncle, that fool who didn't know his limits, actually drew his sword and charged at that beast! Then—hehe—well, there was no 'then.' It spat a mouthful of acid and dissolved him into sludge on the spot. It didn't even care about him in the slightest. Yet he still thought he could tame that giant beast and use it against us. Hahahahaha! I'm dying of laughter!" One of the samurai, who seemed to have taken part in the siege against Yokota Fuichirō, laughed loudly. The moment Yokota Kiyomi lost focus, she was cut twice more.
"A slug as big as a mountain?"
Just when Yokota Kiyomi thought she was about to die, a voice suddenly came from behind the group of samurai.
The dozen or so samurai were startled and hurriedly turned around in alarm—but there was no one there.
In an instant, all of them began trembling. They thought they had encountered a ghost or spirit.
"Look up."
Shen looked speechlessly at the trembling group on the ground and reminded them.
Everyone raised their heads and saw Ōtsutsuki Shen floating beneath the starry sky.
Whether driven by sheer survival instinct or not, Yokota Kiyomi immediately dropped to her knees and prostrated herself on the ground, shouting, "I, Yokota Kiyomi, eldest daughter of the Yokota clan, beg for the blessing of the divine lord! Please help my Yokota clan defeat our enemies! My Yokota clan will worship you for generations and build shrines in your honor!"
Prompted by Yokota Kiyomi's example, the samurai quickly followed suit, kneeling on the ground and begging for Shen's blessing and aid.
Looking at the crowd kneeling all over the place, Shen felt even more speechless.
He had only come over to investigate after hearing sounds of fighting. Then he heard what sounded like information related to the Great Slug Sage and wanted to ask about it. In order to avoid one of those annoying scenes where people had to fight first before answering questions, he had simply flown out directly. Apparently, coming out floating in midair at night had scared them badly…
"You there," Shen said, ignoring their prayers as he looked toward the samurai who had seen the slug before. "You just said you entered a strange place? And there was a slug there as big as a mountain?"
"R-replying to… to the divine one… y-yes. I… I have seen it," the samurai stammered in terror, trembling as he answered Shen's question.
"B-but that place is now under the control of the Yokota clan. B-but that's not a problem. A-as long as the divine lord helps us defeat the resisting Yokota clan, our Fūma clan will definitely tell you where that place is!"
"Hm? Are you threatening me? And if the location of that place is under the control of the Yokota clan, then doesn't that mean you're useless now?" Shen felt a burst of irritation at the samurai's words. He might not be strong right now, but he was hardly someone an ordinary person like this could threaten.
"N-no, no, no, divine lord, you misunderstand! It's just that I was chasing too urgently at the time and didn't remember the route clearly. B-but if I return there, I'll definitely remember the location! Please forgive me! Please forgive me! Please forgive me!" Terrified by Shen's displeased tone, the samurai hurriedly tried to explain and began kowtowing over and over, begging for forgiveness.
"Divine lord, as long as you help me, I can have the Yokota clan search for it for you. And since that place is under the control of my clan, that proves we understand it better. You only need to learn the general terrain from him, and my clan will be able to find the place for you immediately!" At that moment, Shen, who had still been a little undecided, heard Yokota Kiyomi's shout and his eyes lit up.
Indeed, compared to these samurai who had just been holding back and trying to play clever, this girl who was practically at the end of her strength seemed much more suitable to cooperate with. And just as she had said, compared to the Fūma clan, who would still need to search around blindly, the Yokota clan was clearly better suited to help him.
After making up his mind, Shen raised a hand and condensed chakra, then transformed it into lightning and struck at the armored samurai. Under everyone's horrified gaze, the lightning charred the samurai into blackened corpses. Looking at the dozen smoking bodies in front of her, Yokota Kiyomi trembled in fear, then stiffly raised her head to look at Shen, who was standing in the air with traces of lightning still flickering in his palm. Filled with reverence, she bowed and knocked her head on the ground three times.
Stepping over the dozen corpses, Shen descended directly in front of the kneeling Yokota Kiyomi. She slightly raised her head and looked at the pair of feet now so close before her, the awe in her eyes deepening even more.
"I'm not a god. There are no gods in this world. There are only stronger forms of life."
"My residence is not far ahead. You can come with me. Tomorrow, take me to your clan. Also, that samurai who spoke just now isn't dead yet. Bring him along too. Tomorrow I'll need to question him properly." Shen did not pay much attention to Yokota Kiyomi, who was still kneeling there. He simply turned and slowly walked back toward his house.
Hearing Shen's footsteps growing farther away, Yokota Kiyomi lifted her head and stared at the figure in white ahead of her, as if he were a god descended from heaven. She was briefly entranced. But after only a moment, she remembered the task Shen had given her. Walking over to the samurai who had spoken earlier, she found that he was indeed still alive—his body was merely twitching unconsciously inside the armor.
She reached out and touched the armor. There was no remaining trace of electricity on it. It seemed the lightning had already fully dissipated.
"Hurry up and follow."
At that moment, Shen, who had already gone some distance, reminded her without even turning his head.
Hearing that, Yokota Kiyomi immediately hoisted the samurai onto her back and followed behind Shen with difficulty. Sure enough, after walking less than two hundred meters, two wooden houses appeared in front of her. Seeing Shen heading toward one of them, Yokota Kiyomi followed as well.
"I only arrived in this forest yesterday, and this residence was just built. The one next to it is the house I finished today. For now, though, just make do here."
"You can throw him off to the side. He won't die after one night. There's spare bedding in the cabinet—just take it out and use it. But you need to wash yourself clean first before using it. I don't want to come back and have to wash the bedding again."
"Oh, this house hasn't been built with a bath area yet. If you want to wash, there's a waterfall not far behind here. You can clean yourself in the upstream section. There are some herbs there too. Use whichever ones you think might help. I traded for them from a nearby village. As for whether they still work, I don't know. I just kept them as spares anyway. I heard the one shaped like a hand can stop bleeding. Try using it."
After giving Yokota Kiyomi a few instructions, Shen sat down on his wooden bed and said no more.
"Then I shall excuse myself." After saying that, Yokota Kiyomi tossed the samurai into the corner by the door, then walked outside. Sure enough, she saw a river not far away, and at the end of it was a waterfall. There even seemed to be a small structure beneath the falls, but she did not dare investigate out of curiosity. Instead, she obediently went upstream and began washing herself and treating her wounds.
In this age of samurai clans, even women were part of a family's fighting force. So if Shen had been there to see it, he would have noticed that Kiyomi's alluring white skin was covered in quite a few injuries.
After washing herself, she took out her own medicine for wounds. She did not use Shen's herbs. As one of the Yokota clan's main combatants, fighting in the wild was a common occurrence for her, so it was perfectly normal for her to carry healing medicine. After applying the medicine and wrapping herself in bandages, she did her best to stop the bleeding. Who knew whether that boy, strong as a god yet insisting he wasn't one, had a cleanliness obsession? If she dirtied his bedding and got herself turned into charcoal in a single strike of lightning, that would be far too unjust.
Once everything had finally been taken care of, Yokota Kiyomi returned to the house and found that Ōtsutsuki Shen was already lying on the wooden bed asleep. Not daring to disturb his rest, she quietly took out the spare bedding from the cabinet, spread it on the wooden floor by the hearth, covered herself with the blanket, and went to sleep. She was simply too exhausted. Before long, she drifted into dreams, even letting out faint little snores.
Lying on the wooden bed, Shen turned over and looked at Yokota Kiyomi, who had made herself a bed on the floor near the fire pit. Hearing her tiny snoring sounds, he could only feel speechless. Still, he did not wake her. It was obvious she was already utterly exhausted, so Shen decided to continue sleeping. Besides, whenever he went back to his hometown during the holidays, hadn't he always fallen asleep listening to his grandparents snore? Compared to that, Yokota Kiyomi's cute snores were practically music.
Before long, Shen also fell fast asleep. As for the samurai thrown by the doorway, no one paid him any attention at all.
The night passed quickly.
When Shen woke in the morning and saw that Yokota Kiyomi was still asleep, he did not wake her. Instead, he began cultivating.
Sitting cross-legged, his hands folded together as he centered himself, his mind sank inward and he entered into training. At that moment, chakra began manifesting from the center of Shen's palms, burning there like flames.