After Kotaro’s Renqi Balloon prayer, everyone’s hearts found some peace.
Faith indeed has the power to support humanity through difficult times.
After offering their respects at the water-drawing site of Longquan River, the group set out on patrol once more, and the ronin’s attitude towards Kotaro had changed significantly.
They no longer regarded this foot soldier sent by the Hirata Family as a spy or Lann’s lackey, but as someone striving alongside them to seek tomorrow amidst the urgency of war.
The patrol duties were not yet complete, and on the road, Lann chatted casually with Kotaro.
"I noticed others seem to know about the Renqi Balloon, but none of them seemed prepared."
"Well..." The short man scratched his chin and smiled awkwardly.
"The making of the Renqi Balloon involves particular methods. My mother is a devotee of the Immortal Peak Temple on Vajra Mountain and learned the production technique during her pilgrimage. Otherwise, these balloons are not cheap even in Iwami Castle."
"Immortal Peak Temple?" Lann nodded repeatedly. "That sounds like a prestigious temple indeed."
"It certainly is!" Kotaro, hearing Lann’s praise, became as excited as if he had been personally complimented.
His mother being a temple devotee, it seemed Kotaro’s beliefs were also influenced by her.
"Immortal Peak Temple has a long history, renowned not only in Iwami but throughout East Japan as a grand Esoteric Buddhist temple!"
"Once this war is over, my mother has even arranged for a Life Star Ritual at the temple. By then, please join us! The maple leaves on Vajra Mountain turn red at that time; the sight of fallen leaves in the valley is truly unparalleled!"
"Life Star Ritual?" Kotaro, are you referring to the Life Star Ritual at Immortal Peak Temple? Wow! You’re going to have a stroke of luck!"
Some ronin behind seemed to have heard of it as well and immediately looked envious.
"Exactly!" Kotaro nodded vigorously with a smile.
Lann blinked, a bit curious.
The description of the maple leaf-red valleys sounded nice indeed, but Lann was more intrigued by the ’Life Star Ritual.’
...It sounds like something out of a magic duel in Journey to the West.
"Sir," one of the ronin, who seemed knowledgeable or rather longingly informed about this ritual, spoke up.
"The Life Star Ritual involves the Master of Buddhist Teachings at Immortal Peak Temple calculating one’s Life Star based on their birth date and time, followed by offering and blessings to the Bodhisattva of the Life Star. Once successful, the supplicant’s life will definitely be smooth sailing!"
The ronin spoke with a certainty that seemed even more resolute than Kotaro himself.
"Oh!" Lann nodded repeatedly, feeling enlightened.
"Ordinarily, common folk wouldn’t even dream of booking a spot for this ritual. Kotaro, you’re really lucky!"
"Not really, hehe," Kotaro laughed awkwardly. "It’s just that the masters at Immortal Peak Temple seem to be holding a series of Life Star Rituals lately, so I was fortunate enough to get a spot."
The locals, one after another, praised the ritual as a once-in-a-lifetime event, and the vibrant atmosphere eased Lann’s earlier doubts about the Hirata family’s defense system.
He decided that if nothing major happened after this war, a trip to Immortal Peak Temple wouldn’t be a bad idea.
A legitimate ancient temple, and without this celestial convergence event, he wouldn’t have had the chance to see it with his own eyes.
The group walked along chatting and laughing, even their vigilant observations felt effortlessly light.
But as Lann, at the forefront, continued walking a few more steps along the Longquan River, his expression suddenly turned serious.
He halted his steps, raising his right hand into a fist.
The ronin behind him, trained almost to reflex, immediately ceased their laughter and tightened their grip on their weapons the moment the fist was raised.
Lann’s nostrils flared slightly.
"The scent of blood?... And it’s human blood!"
The Demon Hunter’s extraordinary senses had gathered the information.
Lann didn’t explain to the ronin behind him and directly advanced towards the source of the smell alone.
Although the ronin had only been under his leadership for seven or eight days, they had already learned some discipline, so they followed voluntarily.
They veered away from the river route of Longquan River, and after just about ten minutes walking through the undulating forest,
Lann stopped with a frown near the roots of a large tree.
The ronin behind him arrived half a minute later, panting from the rugged path.
It’s thanks to their Iwami local constitution, otherwise, Lann would have left them at least a minute behind.
The forest was silent and empty, causing the humans to unconsciously lower their voices.
Gasping, Kotaro edged close to Lann.
"Sir, what did you discover..."
Before finishing his sentence, his gaze followed Lann’s line of sight downwards,
and suddenly, his voice stuck in his throat. After a good while, he sighed.
"It’s the second son of Ah Chai’s family..."
A small child with a wood-carrier on his back now had an arrow piercing his neck, eyes wide open, staring at the towering tree canopy and the sky through the gaps in the leaves.
The ground beneath his limbs was chaotic, showing signs of prolonged struggle.
Now, a few insects attracted by the flesh were crawling on his eyeballs.
"Their family is part of the Hirate family’s tenant farmers; he often goes out to chop wood to help support his family."
Kotaro’s voice carried a note of numbness typical of those living through chaotic times.
A familiar death was worth grieving over, yet at the same time, too common to mourn deeply.
Just like in Russian novels, where peasant women, after losing a child, still sip the salted broth one spoonful at a time.
Not because they aren’t grieving, but because they cannot abandon the salt in the soup.
’Grief’ doesn’t take its cue to appear at just the right moment in life.
Lann, with a cold expression, knelt down and sniffed near the arrow on the child’s neck.
"A lingering scent... Bandits? In any case, it’s not too far off."
His sharp cat-like eyes scanned behind him, and all the ronin instantly perked up, even their breathing steadied.
Aside from the authority Lann had established over these days, their patrol duties also included the responsibility of expelling bandits.
It’s just that the Hirate family never regarded this group of ragtag mountain bandits highly, and the bandits dared not appear near Hirata Manor, so this duty had always had a low presence.
But this time, the tenant’s child was killed by the Longquan River, and that was too close.
Both emotionally and rationally, it could not be ignored.
Lann’s extraordinary senses easily followed the stench on the bandits.
In less than ten minutes, his ears began to catch the raucous laughter.
The bandits were boisterously noisy, as if finally cutting loose after being suppressed for a long time.
Occasionally, two words mentioned the arrow that pierced through the child’s neck.
They unanimously deemed the skill of that shot worthy of an extra drink tonight.
In their eyes, the tenant’s child passing by to chop wood was not a person, just like a game bird shot during a hunt, a reason to drink.
Lann stood firm in the mountain forest a little over ten meters behind the bandits.
His hand had already drawn Aron Dite from his back.