Chapter 37: Chapter 37: The Dying King
The noon hour has passed, and the sun gradually sets in the western sky.
Zhou Ming and Oda Hirakura walked inside the palace with the guidance of a palace maid.
From time to time, they encountered palace maids passing by, each of them moving quietly without saying a word. In such a vast palace, the only sound that could be heard was the footsteps of the two, making it feel empty and tranquil.
Entering one palace after another, the two finally arrived at the entrance of a bedroom under the guidance of the palace maid.
Standing in front of the door was a warrior nearly thirty years old. As soon as the two approached, the warrior's eyes swept back and forth over them like a sharp sieve, scanning both of them inside and out.
Then the warrior pushed the door open with a cold expression and walked in without saying a word.
Following him was the palace maid, who led Zhou Ming and Oda Hirakura here, and then Zhou Ming and Oda Hirakura.
"That warrior is quite skilled," Zhou Ming said thoughtfully in a low voice.
"That is the personal guard of the emperor, Hirakawa Taisho. He is the most trusted person of the Emperor. Compared to him, Horiuchi Soh is nothing!" Oda Hirakura explained in a low voice beside him.
"He is protecting the emperor, Nohara Momonosuke. No wonder he is so powerful," Zhou Ming nodded in agreement.
Two people walked into the palace and saw a large bed draped with curtains. Palace maids came in and out from behind the curtains.
Behind the heavy layers of curtains, a figure could be vaguely seen lying down.
"Your Majesty, Lord Oda, has arrived, and the warrior named Zhou Ming has also arrived," said Hirakawa Taisho, bowing his head in front of the bed.
"Oh? They're here? Good, help me up to take a look," replied the figure behind the curtains.
The curtains were pulled open layer by layer, and the figure behind became clearer and clearer. Finally, the figure stood fully in front of Zhou Ming.
He was an old man, thin and small like a monkey, with hair so sparse on his head that only a few strands remained in the middle. His whole body exuded an unmistakable aura of death.
He looked no different from an ordinary old man who was about to die. If one had only heard the legend of Nohara Momonosuke, they would be greatly disappointed to see him in this state. It was hard to believe that the king, who had fought in the north and south, had become like this.
"My liege!" Oda Hirakura fell to his knees with a thud, tears streaming down his face. "It's only been a few months, how did you become like this? Oda has been worried about you all the time!"
"Alas, Oda wishes he could bear your pain and use his own life to exchange for your health, my liege!"
Zhou Ming: "..."
Wow, Oda Hirakura, I didn't expect you to be a flatterer too, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes! [1]
"How dare you not kneel in front of His Majesty!" One of the palace maids with raised eyebrows shouted in a harsh tone.
Zhou Ming glanced at her calmly and then turned his gaze to Hirakawa Taisho.
This silent and indifferent samurai is the one he has been paying attention to all along.
He is a powerful samurai, and no one in the room poses as much of a threat as he does.
As Zhou Ming's gaze locked onto him, Hirakawa Taisho felt an incredibly dangerous sensation rise in his heart. He instantly gripped the hilt of his sword with his right hand, his nerves taut, almost unable to resist drawing his sword.
"Alright," the elderly voice of Nohara Momonosuke rang out.
"Hirakawa-kun, don't be nervous. Zhou-kun is not a wicked person."
Even though the sense of danger emanating from Zhou Ming did not diminish in the slightest, Hirakawa Taisho still did not hesitate to release his grip on his sword and take two steps back, bowing his head slightly.
"Very obedient," Zhou Ming thought to himself with a hint of disappointment, withdrawing his gaze from Hirakawa Taisho.
"Zhou Ming, the warrior who killed Horiuchi Soh... come over here and let me have a good look at you," Nohara Momonosuke said weakly, gesturing towards Zhou Ming with his hand.
Zhou Ming hesitated for a moment, but did not refuse. He took a few steps forward and walked to the bedside.
The distance between the two of them was less than five steps.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Zhou Ming's mind: why not just take out Nohara Momonosuke right here? At this short distance, Zhou Ming was confident that no one could stop him from killing Nohara Momonosuke.
No, it's not the right time yet...
Zhou Ming suppressed this idea and looked at Nohara Momotaro.
The old man in front of him was so weak that he needed a palace maid to support his back in order to sit. His eyes were dull and had no light, as if he was about to breathe his last breath at any moment. However, at this moment, he tried to open his drooping eyelids, widened his eyes, and carefully looked up and down at Zhou Ming.
"Good, hehe, good."
While looking at Zhou Ming, Nohara Momonosuke smiled satisfactorily, his old face full of wrinkles, shrinking like blooming chrysanthemums, which would probably scare ordinary people at first glance.
"Oda-kun, you have accepted a very good warrior."
Nohara Momotaro turned his gaze to Oda Hirakura, and Oda Hirakura quickly bowed respectfully, without any trace of the dignity of a daimyo.
"Hehe, good." Nohara Momonosuke kept talking, and his gaze returned to Zhou Ming.
"Your swordsmanship has not yet reached its bottleneck, and you are still in a rising period. Before the tournament begins, you still have greater room for improvement."
"During this time, let Hirakawa accompany you to practice. There is no one stronger than him among my warriors."
Hirakawa Taisho trembled slightly, but he did not raise his head. He said in a deep voice, "Yes, sir!"
"Well, I'm tired now." Nohara Momonosuke slowly lay down, his voice filled with fatigue.
"Let's stop here today. After a few more days, when all the daimyos are here, I will hold a banquet in the palace as the opening ceremony of the first warrior tournament in the world."
"Zhou-kun, you can fight for your honor at that time and contribute the most wonderful performance for me..."
...
It started with a bang but ended with a whimper. The inexplicable summons was resolved in such a calm manner.
At the entrance of the palace, Hirakawa Taisho said coldly, "Zhou-kun, I will come to find you tomorrow morning at eight o'clock."
"I won't be able to wake up at eight o'clock. How about you come find me at three o'clock in the afternoon?" Zhou Ming replied casually, without any concern.
Hirakawa Taisho fell silent for a moment and then said coldly, "Zhou-kun, I have been ordered by His Majesty to practice with you. Do you want to disobey His Majesty's orders?"
Zhou Ming snorted and said indifferently, "Nohara Momonosuke just asked you to practice with me, but he didn't specify the time. I'll practice whenever I feel like it. You can go back and wait for a message!"
"Hey!" Hirakawa Taisho's anger surged and he drew his sword on Zhou Ming.
"How dare you call His Majesty by name? Are you trying to rebel?"
"That makes things simple," Zhou Ming sneered and took out the Adamantite alloy sword from his bag of flowers.
"It's better to practice now than later. I'll just kill you now and call it practice."
"Wait, hold on!" Seeing the tense atmosphere and the two about to start fighting, Oda Hirakura quickly intervened.
He didn't dare stand between the two, afraid they would ignore him and kill him in a frenzy.
He took a few steps back and was ten steps away from them. He shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Both of you are powerful warriors and should be sparring and exchanging skills as friends. Why must you fight to the death like this?"
"Besides, we're at the entrance of the palace, not a good place for a duel!"
"How about I host and we find a place to have a drink together?"
Due to Zhou Ming's lawless personality, Oda Hirakura understood that he could not subdue him for his own use, so he no longer tried to do so and quickly became submissive. His attitude toward Zhou Ming changed a lot from the beginning.
He had accepted his fate and decided to flatter Zhou Ming, knowing that he couldn't afford to show off his status to him. After all, what was the point of putting on a show of grandeur and prestige? What if he angered this ominous star, Zhou Ming, and got himself killed with a single blow?
In addition, Hirakawa Taisho was a close bodyguard of Nohara Momonosuke, and although he didn't hold an official position, he had a lot of power.
In the face of these two characters, Oda Hirakura knew that he couldn't use his own status to exert pressure on them. All he could do was speak softly and kindly and persuade them with gentle words.
"No need!" Hirakawa Taisho sheathed his sword and looked at Zhou Ming coldly.
"I'll come find you tomorrow for a fight."
With that, he turned and left.
"Then you'll live one more day." Zhou Ming replied with a sneer. "Go cry to your mother tonight. You won't have this chance again tomorrow."
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[1]-Wow, Oda Hirakura, I didn't expect you to be a flatterer too, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes!- The sentence is a sarcastic remark. It means that even though Oda Hirakura appeared to be honest and sincere with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, he is actually a person who uses flattery or insincere praise to gain favor or advantage with the emperor. The comment is meant to be critical of Oda Hirakura's behavior.
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