Chapter 213 212. Senboji Bandit
After praying for Kotaro’s Renqi Ball, everyone felt somewhat at peace.
Faith can indeed support human beings to continue living in difficult days.
After everyone paid homage at the place where the Longquan River draws water, they went on patrol again. The attitude of the ronin towards Kotaro has changed a lot.
They no longer regard the ashigaru sent by the Hirata family as a monitor, or Lan En's follower or lackey. Rather, he is a person who is struggling to find a tomorrow with them at this critical juncture of the war.
The patrol mission was not over yet, so Lan En chatted with Kotaro on the way.
"I see that although other people know about the Renqi Ball, they don't seem to be prepared."
"This" the short man scratched his chin and smiled sheepishly
< br>"The making of Renqi balloons is very particular. My mother is a shogun of Senhoji Temple on Mount Kumgang. She was taught how to make them when she went up the mountain to worship. Otherwise, such balloons would not be sold cheaply in Ashina Castle."< br>
"Xianfeng Temple?" Lan En kept nodding. "It sounds like a temple with a lot of history."
"It's true!" When Kotaro heard Lan En's praise, he was as excited as if he had been praised.
His mother was an orthodox believer in the temple, and it seems that his own beliefs were also influenced by her.
"Senhoji Temple has a long history. It is a famous esoteric temple not only in Ashina, but also in the whole of Japan!"
"When this war is over, my mother will still be there for me in Senho Temple. Bong Temple has asked for a Star Offering Ceremony. Please join us when the time comes! The maple leaves on Mount Kumgang turn red at this time, and the scene of fallen leaves in the valley is also unique!”
“Star Offering Ceremony! Yes? Kotaro, are you talking about the Star Offering Ceremony in Xianfeng Temple? Oops! You are about to change your life!"
Some of the ronin behind him seemed to have heard of it, and envy suddenly appeared on their faces.
“Yes!” Kotaro smiled and nodded heavily.
Lan En blinked, a little curious.
The scene described in the description of the valley being dyed red with maple leaves does sound very good, but what interests Lan En more is the ‘Star Offering Ceremony’.
It sounds like a battle of wits in Journey to the West.
"Sir." A ronin seemed to understand this ceremony very well, or he admired it so much that he understood it very well.
“The Star Offering Ceremony is a ceremony in which the Buddhist masters from Xianfeng Temple are asked to calculate the natal star based on the person’s birth date, and then make offerings and pray to the natal star Bodhisattva. After success, the prayers will be blessed in the future. Life will definitely be smooth sailing!"
Ronin said this, the determination on his face seemed to be more firm than that of Kotaro himself.
“Oh!” Lan En nodded repeatedly, feeling that he had learned a lot.
"Normally, it is impossible for ordinary people to be ranked in this ceremony. Kotaro, you are really lucky!"
"No, no, hehe." Kotaro smiled sheepishly. "It's the masters from Xianfeng Temple. They seem to be holding star offerings ceremony in a big way recently, so I'm lucky enough to be in the queue."
This group of local people talked to each other and made this ceremony a success. It was so loud that there was nothing in the sky or on the ground. The warm atmosphere made Lan En's doubts about the Hirata family's defense system much easier.
He decided that if nothing big happened after this war, it would be good to go to Xianfeng Temple for a visit.
As for the famous ancient temple, if there was no such thing as the intersection of the celestial sphere, he would not have the chance to see it with his own eyes.
A group of people walked around talking and laughing, feeling that even the laborious vigilance and observation became a little easier.
But Lan En, who was walking at the front, suddenly straightened his face after continuing to walk a few steps along the Longquan River.
He stopped and raised his right hand into a fist.
The rogues behind him had almost developed conditioned reflexes under his training. The moment they raised their fists, the group all stopped talking and laughing and clenched their weapons.
Lan En’s nose twitched slightly.
“The smell of blood?. Or human blood!”
The witcher's extraordinary senses gathered information.
Lan En did not explain to the wanderers behind him, but headed directly towards the source of the smell.
Although the ronin had only been under his leadership for seven or eight days, they had already learned a little discipline, so they consciously followed suit.
Departing from the route along the Longquan River, we walked through the undulating mountains and forests for only about ten minutes.
Lan En stopped beside the roots of a big tree, frowning.
The rondos behind me arrived half a minute later, panting from the rugged route. In other words, Ashina natives have good physiques, otherwise they would have to be left behind by Lan En for at least a minute.
The woods were so silent that humans could not help but lower their voices subconsciously.
Kotaro gasped and approached Lan En.
"My lord, what did you find."
Before he finished speaking, his eyes followed Lan En's line of sight downwards.
Immediately, the sound got stuck, and after a long time, a sigh came out.
"It's the second son of the Achai family."
A woodcutter kid with a firewood rack on his back had an arrow stuck across his neck, looking up with wide eyes. The towering tree crowns and the sky between the branches and leaves.
The ground under his hands and feet was in a mess, and it was obvious that he had been struggling for a long time.
Now, several bugs attracted to flesh and blood were sitting on his eyeballs.
"Do you know him?"
"Their family is a tenant of the Hirata family. He often comes out to cut firewood to supplement the family income."
The voice of Kotaro revealed that A sense of numbness in a war-torn world.
It is sad to see someone you know die, but at the same time, it is too common.
Just like what is described in Russian novels, the peasant woman still has to drink up the salted soup after the death of her child.
It's not because she's not sad, but because she can't give up the salt in the soup.
‘Sadness’ does not choose the right time to appear in life.
Lan En had a cold face as he squatted down and sniffed at the arrow on the child's neck.
“Is there any residual bandit smell? Anyway, it’s not that far away.”
The pair of cold cat eyes glanced back, and all the wanderers suddenly became energetic, and even their breathing calmed down.
“Follow up!”
“Yes!”*N
No one has any objections.
In addition to the authority Lan En has established in the past few days, their patrol team's own duties also include driving away bandits.
It's just that the Hirata family has never looked down upon these thieves who were struggling in the mountains, and the bandits didn't dare to appear near Hirata Manor, so the existence of this responsibility was not obvious.
But this time, the tenant's son was killed on the edge of Longquan River, which was too close.
Emotions and reasons cannot be ignored.
Lan En's extraordinary senses can easily follow the stench of the bandits.
In less than ten minutes, his ears could hear the roar of laughter.
The bandits were making noises happily, and they felt like they were finally going to make a big fuss after suppressing it for a long time.
Occasionally, two sentences mentioned the arrow that pierced the child's neck just now.
They all agreed that for the level of that arrow, they should have one more drink tonight.
The children of tenant farmers passing by to chop wood are not human beings in their eyes, just like the pheasants shot during hunting, they are a reason to drink.
Lan En stood still in the forest more than ten meters behind their group of bandits.
His hand had already pulled out Arondette from behind.
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(End of this chapter)