Chapter 1494 - 1156: Bai Ze, the Divine Beast

Lann and Wuming had gone on ahead and arrived first in the banquet room.

Four low tables were set to left and right, clearly distinguishing host from guest.

The room was not luxurious; in fact, the Tenshu of Iwamura Castle, which prioritized military use, basically had no very luxurious rooms at all.

Almost everything was plain paulownia-oiled wooden flooring; on the surrounding walls hung either scroll paintings, or decorative folding fans and weapons.

Even the folding screens were only painted with very unadorned landscape scenes.

On the small tables there were only some tea and fruit, and the table surfaces were not large.

It seemed the banquet would proceed in courses, dishes being brought in and removed one round after another.

"You’ve been sniffing the whole time." Lann casually sipped his tea and smiled at Wuming. "Is your nose very sharp?"

The teapot held ordinary steeped tea, not the sort of powdered tea that had to be carefully prepared in a tea room by some so?called "Tea Master."

The more and more complicated the steps, and the more famous the person handling them, the more ritualistic and artistic a thing would appear.

To be honest, if he forced himself to appreciate it, Lann could perceive the artistry of the tea ceremony, but if it came to what he liked, ordinary tea suited his taste more.

"But this smells really good."

Wuming was trying hard to imitate that way Lann had of sitting loosely yet leaving no flaw for anyone to pick at. Unfortunately, after many attempts, she realized she was totally unsuited to such things, and simply went back to sitting cross?legged in her own style.

"This is obviously the smell of roasting meat, isn’t it? Looks like the City Lord must have hunted something nice."

Lann, however, caught far more detail in the scent than she did.

Ando Shouji had prepared grilled bird; it should be some kind of waterfowl like an egret, a dish that in Japan seemed to be called "yakitori."

Apparently, because of the flourishing of Buddhism, Japan regarded the flesh of beasts as unclean and generally did not eat it.

Even if they did eat meat, it was usually poultry and seafood.

Of course, this was just a saying; if people were starving, they could even eat people, let alone "unclean" beast meat.

It had basically become a way for nobles to display their exalted status.

For high?intensity professions like Warriors and the like, they didn’t care about such things when it came to eating meat; after all, fighting, which decided life and death, was the most pragmatic activity of all.

The more you ate and the more you trained, the more likely you were to cut someone else down before you yourself were cut down. Simple and clear.

It was just that this time, probably because he was entertaining Lann, whose background he couldn’t quite grasp, Ando Shouji had arranged bird meat that conformed to propriety yet was not easy to obtain.

But strangely, although Ando Shouji clearly showed his regard in the choice of dishes, he still had not appeared together with his son?in?law.

Leaving guests waiting at the banquet table—this was nowhere considered proper etiquette.

"Perhaps tonight’s banquet will be rather interesting."

So Lann speculated inwardly with some amusement.

He wanted to quickly find and eradicate the source of that "Residual Filth" which was spreading like a plague according to his investigation.

But if he wanted to access the household registers, he had to make arrangements in the realm of human relations and social niceties.

That was to say, this belated welcoming banquet right now.

Socializing was a link that could never quite be skipped in the course of getting things done.

And they did not have to wait long: Ando Shouji, together with his son?in?law who had likewise changed clothes and washed off the dust of travel, came quickly through the side door of the room.

Wuming, hands braced on her crossed knees, looked a bit surprised.

Because compared to earlier, when he had merely "welcomed" them at the front of the Tenshu, the current City Lord of this entire fortress now looked almost somewhat "frightened and eager to please."

Simply put: in his own Tenshu, he was actually coming off a bit constrained.

"My deepest apologies! My deepest apologies!"

As soon as he entered, he walked in while repeatedly bowing to Lann and Wuming and apologizing, an earnest apologetic smile on his face.

Lann and Wuming started to stand up out of courtesy, but he immediately pressed his palms down in a staying gesture.

"No, no, no, it was I who was discourteous to begin with; please remain seated!"

Several candlesticks were arranged around the room; their light, reflected off the lantern covers, spilled into every corner.

Once everyone was seated, host and guests sat facing one another.

The small tables gradually began to be set with the dishes for tonight’s banquet.

The atmosphere at the banquet was bizarre.

Although Ando Shouji, as City Lord, seemed very eager to enliven things, Lann handled it all with ease, like a fish in water.

But precisely because of this appropriate and measured response, Ando Shouji himself seemed all the more cramped in his own Tenshu.

It almost made it look like he was the one being looked after.

As for Takeda Hanbei, that young Warrior who had still been chatting happily with Lann and Wuming on the road into the city just now, he was at this moment intently watching the Demon Hunter who was so adept at handling the social battlefield.

He had not touched even a cup of sake, only occasionally taking a sip of tea.

Wuming, on the other hand, was much simpler.

Although the strange atmosphere at this banquet left her a bit at a loss and thus irritated, once she slid a skewer of grilled bird into her mouth, her expression improved at once.

Thus this beautiful Demon Hunter’s expression kept swinging back and forth between "annoyed" and "this is delicious."

Her eyes darted lively back and forth among the other three men enmeshed in this strange mood.

"Lord Lann, I’ve heard... you are from the Ming Country and only recently entered Mino, after studying the arts among the Southern Barbarians?"

Just when Ando Shouji, for some unknown reason, already had sweat beading at his temples, Takeda Hanbei’s calm, gentle voice sounded at his side, letting him breathe a sigh of relief.

At the same time, this abrupt interjection was not very polite and directly pierced the last fig leaf covering the awkwardness of the banquet.

Letting that awkward atmosphere lay bare.

"Yeah." Lann was completely candid as he calmly set his chopsticks on the chopstick rest. "Hadn’t been here long before I ran into this kind of trouble."

"Really not long?" Takeda Hanbei pressed, the eyes that were gentle a moment ago now staring fixedly at the Demon Hunter. "But as things stand, you already have at least three Guardian Spirits at your side, don’t you, sir?"

On the small table beside Takeda Hanbei, Ando Shouji’s hand, which was holding a sake cup, suddenly jerked, and more than half the cup sloshed out.

He hurriedly lowered his head, as if anxious to wipe up the sake he’d spilled.

This was already him doing his best to appear composed.

At least just now in the tearoom, he had already heard that term "the man of the realm," which hit even harder, so mentally he’d had some buffer.

Even so, the masseter muscles on Ando Shouji’s face still bulged high from how hard he was clenching his jaw.

Three Guardian Spirits!

Three people blessed by gods and Buddhas!

The Ando Family had been a powerful house in Mino Country for generations! And Ando Shouji had been head of the Ando Family for decades!

If not for that Talisman back then that could temporarily open the [Yin-Yang Eyes], he wouldn’t even have been able to find this son-in-law, Habu Shigetoshi, in the first place!

This man from the Ming Country! He says he’s only been in Mino a few days! And he already has three at his side?!

Three?!!!

And you’re telling me you’ve got no background, no backing, you just arrived?!

Does the Shogunate of the Ashikaga family, with the General of Expedition and all, even have three Guardian Spirits?!!!

But since the conversation had already progressed to this point, Ando Shouji deemed himself no longer qualified to interject.

Thus the City Lord, head of the famed "Mino Three," was now just as in the tearoom earlier: sitting upright, eyes lowered.

"Just a coincidence." Lann shrugged. "Like Wuming here, we only just met too."

When he turned his head, Lann saw Wuming chewing on a skewer of grilled chicken, cheeks puffed out, eyes equally wide with surprise as she stared at him.

The Demon Hunter had only ever seen Rong Buqiu, and knew that Lann’s "Ninja Cat" had [Zenzha] attached to it. She was now just as shocked that this man actually had other Guardian Spirits.

The sharp-eyed, observant Takeda Hanbei took in the expressions of both of them.

"Please don’t hurt your companion’s feelings just to distance yourself, Lord Lann. As you see, Miss Wuming is just as astonished."

Wuming even stopped chewing now, her big, watery eyes staring blankly as she looked from Lann at her side to Hanbei opposite.

"All I hope," Takeda Hanbei continued sincerely, "is that we can have an open and honest conversation. If you wish, my teacher can also join the discussion."

"I imagine that even if I said this is all a misunderstanding, you wouldn’t believe it. Smart people believe in themselves, after all." Lann scratched his cheek with a slightly stiff expression. "But this teacher you mentioned is...?"

A dreamy radiance shimmered, and an old-scholar-looking long-bearded goat appeared in midair.

It froze for a moment, shook its head, then turned toward Lann, bringing out the fore-hoof it had clasped behind its back and giving a little wave.

"Oh, hello there."

Lann’s brow lifted, but he still nodded politely to the scholar-goat in midair. "Good evening."

"It talked?!" Wuming, on the other hand, was the one who sounded genuinely shocked. "Your Guardian Spirit can actually talk with people?"

Lann glanced at Wuming, then looked again at the scholar-goat floating in midair.

So this wasn’t normal, huh.

He’d only seen four Guardian Spirits so far—too small a sample size to draw any firm conclusions.

"This old fellow is a bit special, that’s all."

The goat, hands behind its back, gave Wuming a friendly nod as well.

"My teacher’s true form is [Bai Ze]." Takeda Hanbei introduced his Guardian Spirit with the respectful posture of presenting one’s mentor, addressing Lann and Wuming.

"A Divine Beast from legend, said to understand all things. It came from the western continent."

At this point, Hanbei gave Lann a deep, meaningful look.

"Able to understand human speech and dispel illness and demons, my teacher’s image—though varied due to its widespread diffusion—often appears on Protective Talismans, used from high officials and nobles all the way down to commoners and merchants, or is placed by their pillows."

"I see. That’s impressive." Lann politely praised Bai Ze in midair.

"A trifling thing, a trifling thing." The scholar-goat chuckled with a tremor in its voice. "Guardian Spirits aren’t just about boosting strength in such a superficial way—each has its own special traits. Take [Eight Hundred Waves], for example."

"Eh? My Guardian Spirit?"

"Yes, your Guardian Spirit. It can bless you with eternal youth and immortality, little girl! Just like the effect in those tales of eating mermaid flesh."

"So with that in mind, the fact that this old fellow can think and converse with Humans doesn’t really seem all that remarkable anymore, does it?"

Watching his teacher drift over in front of Wuming, Takeda Hanbei kept his gaze on Lann, who still looked like he’d "just learned something new."

"To be open and honest, one must first show sincerity. I believe my sincerity is now abundantly clear."

He placed his fists on his knees as he sat cross-legged, and bowed deeply to Lann.

"I must ask Lord Lann to show equal sincerity."

"With two Guardian Spirits lurking in the dark, regardless of whether they harbor ill intent, it’s impossible for anyone to feel at ease."

Lann scratched his head as he looked at Takeda Hanbei opposite him, the posture of "I’m not getting up unless you agree" written all over the man.

"It’s not that they’re staying outside the city because they mean harm or are planning something. I just... didn’t want them to scare you, that’s all."

"Be that as it may," Hanbei remained bowed, his voice all the more deep and resolute, "please."

"Since you put it that way... tch."

Lann curled his lip, his fingers already rubbing at the Magic Ring on his hand.

An instant later, lightning split the heavens above Iwamura Castle!