章 11: Chapter 5: Yamaguchi Village
The convoy hadn't gone far before encountering a group of Wa people coming to meet them.
They had seen the signal and rushed to provide reinforcements.
Seeing that there were only thirty people left in Tanabu's team, all emaciated and pale, their expressions changed dramatically.
They knew that it was over a hundred people who had gone out to greet the newcomers, and they didn't expect only thirty to return.
And everyone was thin as kindling, obviously in a state of prolonged organ overdrive.
"Tanabu, who did this?"
Tanabu shook his head, "I want to see Lord Mamushi."
Seeing that he didn't want to talk, the people who came to meet them turned to the frail young man, who explained the situation to them in a low voice.
Immediately, their mouths twitched—were they bested by a newcomer?
It's not that there weren't exceptionally strong newcomers, but there would usually be prior intelligence, adequate preparation, and plenty of strong individuals brought along.
This time, without any information, they really hit a run of bad luck.
They said nothing and continued on their way; after about four or five kilometers, they finally passed through the woods and saw an open area.
This place was also connected to a beach, much larger than the previous one, where one could look out over a large spread of salt fields with many people laboring within.
Their gazes were numb as they watched the convoy pass by, glancing at Gao Xin and the others before bowing their heads to continue their work.
After passing the salt fields, Gao Xin could see a vast array of buildings.
Those walking around, judging by their clothes, were mostly Wa people; it was like a gathering place for Wa people.
The most eye-catching was a silver tower-like building with a surface smooth as a mirror, at least two hundred meters tall, located in the center of the entire village.
Around it was a dense circle of mid-rise metallic buildings, with occasional glimmers of neon lights, reminiscent of the kind of entertainment streets found in remote backwaters.
There were also buildings with an ancient flair to them, adorned with various cloth flowers and decorated with carved dragons and painted beams. Their style was simple, but the materials were still various alloys.
The juxtaposition of such different architectural styles looked incredibly chaotic.
In the outskirts, there wasn't much to speak of, mostly a bunch of iron shacks; every few dozen meters was a ten-meter high lookout tower made of piled stones, manned with guards.
"Is that Lord Tanabu? What happened?"
The Wa people on the lookout saw the convoy and exclaimed in shock.
To this, Tanabu Rokurou remained silent, his face dark.
The people on the lookout did not dare to press further, allowing the convoy to enter.
There was a heavy silence all along the way, with passersby occasionally pointing and whispering at the emaciated Tanabu and his men.
Gao Xin was observing the whole time and even caught a glimpse of a boundary marker.
It was written in Common language: "Yamaguchi Village."
"Yamaguchi Village?" Gao Xin was taken aback. Wasn't it supposed to be the Yamato Territory?
Then he thought that the Yamato Territory probably referred to a larger area, with multiple villages inside, and this was just one of them.
He silently memorized all the paths and soon arrived at a training ground.
The ground of the training field was compacted yellow earth, surrounded by high walls, with several buildings that looked like ancient castles.
A large group of Wa people wearing only underpants were shouting angrily, fighting each other.
They were hitting each other with bare fists, bloodied and seeming to regard each other as mortal enemies.
Seeing the tragic return of the greeting team, they showed surprise.
Then, dozens of individuals dressed in black kimonos with swords stepped out of the buildings and came up in astonishment, "What is this... Who did this?"
That was when Tanabu spoke up, "Where is Lord Mamushi? I need to apologize to him."
A few people hurried to report, and soon a man with squinted eyes and a sinister look came over.
His skin was wrinkled like scales, and the exposed parts on his arms and chest were mottled with patterns of different colors, resembling a venomous snake.
"Rokurou, was your heart pierced?" Mamushi immediately recognized Tanabu's injury.
Tanabu knelt halfway down and said, "Tanabu has failed to meet your expectations, my lord. The Black Hand I led suffered heavy casualties. Please punish me, Lord Mamushi."
Mamushi was indeed very angry because the losses were too great, but he still inquired, "What exactly happened?"
Tanabu recounted everything in detail, and everyone around was astounded.
They thought they had been robbed by a neighboring force, not expecting that a newcomer was responsible.
"A special type of cyborg? To have been able to stand against a hundred of you Subwolf-level Black Hand... Even you, a True Wolf, couldn't withstand. A newcomer with absolutely no intelligence on them." Mamushi pondered.
Gao Xin, unsure of what it meant, thought to himself that Black Hand must mean a special enforcer. Subwolf and True Wolf, were they assessments of strength here?
The only frail, handsome youth in the welcoming party who hadn't fought knelt down and said, "Lord Mamushi, after all, he is an SR. It's not very hard to reach Wolf level in the outside world, and it's even possible to exceed that."
Mamushi said coldly, "Even if it's a Tiger Level newcomer, that's no excuse for losing more than half of the team!"
"Knowing the opponent is overwhelmingly strong, why force everyone to overdrive just to keep him?"
Tanabu bowed his head and said, "Bringing back all the newcomers was the task Lord Mamushi gave to me, I would never dare to defy."
"I have failed, the fault is mine. Tanabu is willing to accept punishment."
Mamushi nodded slightly, very satisfied inside with his loyalty, yet he still rebuked, "You lost so many people and brought nothing back, don't blame me for punishing you!"
The frail, handsome youth caught the implication and hurriedly said, "We did, we kept a hand!"
He brought out an item, which was Xia Heng's right hand.
After presenting it to Mamushi, the latter took it and inspected it. Then he handed it to someone nearby and said, "I see, Tanabu, you managed to keep the hand of a Tiger Level cyborg, not bad, you've shown some ability."
The surrounding Wa people relaxed their expressions, taking it as a sign to let the matter go.
"Okay, I will investigate this hand. You're too injured, go get treated first." Mamushi waved his hand.
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