Chapter 391: Welcome to Fantasy Japan, Motherfuckers!

Several days later, Damian’s group finally reached the first major landmark on the road toward the Sakura Empire.

Ahead of them stretched a long mountain route lined with crimson-leafed trees, stone lanterns, wooden bridges, and tiled buildings built along the slopes.

Cynthia glanced at the map in her hand. "We’ve arrived at Red Maple Pass."

A nearby merchant overheard her and casually corrected, "Locals usually call it Akamori Pass."

Damian stopped walking. "Akamori?"

The merchant nodded. "Yes. This entire region is controlled by several cultivation clans. The strongest nearby are the Takeda Clan, Mizuno Clan, and Akamori Clan."

Damian stared at him, slightly surprised by the names, before slowly looking around again.

Red maple trees, wooden buildings, stone lanterns, and unmistakably Japanese-style surnames...

Other than the cultivation-related parts, nearly everything about this place felt exactly like Japan.

Linsey noticed his expression. "Master, why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?"

Damian immediately recovered. "Nothing."

Cynthia narrowed her eyes slightly. "You recognized those names."

Damian coughed. "Good intuition."

Miona gave him a suspicious look. "How does intuition let you recognize someone’s surname?"

Damian only smiled. "Very good intuition."

Miona’s eye twitched.

Serina covered her mouth and laughed softly.

As they continued deeper into the pass, Damian suddenly noticed something else.

He stopped beside a roadside stall and stared at the colorful skewers on display. "Is that dango?"

The vendor smiled in surprise. "Oh? You know it? Yes, it’s freshly made."

Cynthia turned toward Damian. "Master, how did you know that before even reading the sign?"

Silence.

Cassandra looked between them and grinned. "Hehe... suspicious."

Damian immediately picked up three skewers, handed over the money, and shoved one toward Cynthia. "Like I said... excellent intuition. Now stop investigating me and eat."

Miona crossed her arms. "You’re terrible at lying."

Damian ignored her completely. But beneath all the jokes, one thought remained stuck in his mind.

If this region already resembled Japan this much... What the hell was the Sakura Empire itself going to look like?

---

Not long after entering Akamori Pass, Damian’s group encountered a merchant convoy stopped beside the road.

Several wagons had been overturned, and a young man carrying a long spear stood in front of them with a stern expression.

Beside him, a cheerful girl was kneeling near an injured merchant, carefully crushing herbs between her fingers.

The spear cultivator noticed Damian’s group and, seeing how unusual they looked, stepped forward cautiously. "Greetings. I’m Ren Takeda."

He gestured toward the girl beside him. "And that’s my younger sister, Aiko Takeda."

Aiko looked up from the injured merchant and smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you!"

Linsey immediately crouched beside her. "Oh? You’re treating the wound with herbs?"

Aiko nodded excitedly. "Yeah! This one reduces swelling, and this one helps stop bleeding."

Within minutes, the two were chatting like they had known each other for years.

Damian glanced toward Ren. "What happened here?"

Ren’s expression darkened. "Bandits."

Apparently, the same group had been extorting merchants for months, demanding increasingly ridiculous tolls from anyone passing through.

Cassandra’s eyes immediately lit up as a dangerous grin spread across her face. "Bandits? Perfect. Let’s kill them all."

Damian sighed. "Can you stop jumping straight to massacre?"

Cassandra looked genuinely offended. "Why?"

"Because we’re in a completely new region," Damian replied flatly. "We don’t know the local factions, laws, or who’s connected to who yet."

He pointed at her. "So for now, please keep the bloodthirsty ideas to yourself."

Cassandra clicked her tongue. "Fine."

Ren gave Damian a surprised glance.

The fact that he could so casually stop a woman whose presence alone made Ren feel uneasy told him Damian clearly wasn’t ordinary.

He nodded. "You’re right to be cautious. Those bandits do have someone backing them."

Aiko lowered her voice. "There’s a minor clan nearby that suddenly became much wealthier around the same time the attacks began."

Cassandra immediately cracked her fingers, her eyes lighting up again. "Perfect. Then we kill the bandits and wipe out the clan backing them. Two problems solved at once."

Damian closed his eyes and sighed.

Then he turned toward the Takeda siblings with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about my woman. She’s a little... deranged."

Cassandra glanced at him. "A little?"

Damian looked back at her. "Please don’t make me correct it to ’extremely.’"

Ren and Aiko exchanged a quick glance before Ren gave a small nod. "For now, let’s just keep moving through the pass."

Aiko smiled, though her expression was a little more cautious than before. "Yeah. We should stay alert until we’re out of this area."

Ren adjusted his grip on his spear. "The bandits don’t always attack in the same place, so don’t let your guard down."

Damian nodded. "Fair enough. Let’s keep moving."

---

A few hours later, Damian’s group finally encountered the bandits near a narrow canyon.

The fight ended almost embarrassingly quickly.

What surprised Damian more, however, was the way Ren fought, and especially the name of his martial art.

Ren thrust his spear forward and shouted, "[Koyo Senko Yari]"

His spear shot forward like a crimson flash, piercing through two bandits in a single strike.

Damian stared at him.

"Koyo Senko Yari? Damn... even the martial arts here have Japanese names."

The other cultivators from the Sakura Empire were the same, calling out techniques with similarly Japanese-sounding names.

Damian’s mouth twitched.

"Yeah... this place is definitely fantasy Japan."

After capturing several survivors, Damian quickly realized the bandits had no intention of talking.

One of them even spat at his feet. "Go to hell. No matter what you do, I won’t tell you anything."

Ren frowned. "Damn... these people don’t act like ordinary bandits."

Aiko nodded. "Bandits usually aren’t this loyal. Some of them even tried to kill themselves rather than be captured."

Damian only smiled. "If that’s the case, don’t worry. I’ve got an expert."

Behind him, Cynthia was already grinning as she took out a set of needles and looked toward the prisoners.

Damian glanced back at her. "How long do you need? Half an hour? An hour?"

Cynthia’s grin widened. "Give me two minutes, Master. I’ll make them sing like birds."

Damian immediately turned toward Ren and Aiko. "Alright. Let’s step away for a bit."

He gestured toward Cynthia. "Let the professional work."