"Matsui, come here." From inside the palanquin, Oda Heizo lifted the curtain and beckoned to the samurai who had just given orders to his subordinates.
The samurai quickly approached, only to be immediately grabbed by his collar and pulled in by Oda Heizo.
"Where are your subordinates, the Doshin! You knew that samurai was coming here, so why didn't you send a Doshin to follow him! Do you, a Bugyo, still want to keep your position?!"
Oda Heizo yelled at the samurai Matsui with his mouth wide open, spitting saliva all over Matsui's face, accompanied by a strong halitosis that made Matsui almost gag, yet he dared not show the slightest hint of it.
Oda Heizo hated nothing more than for someone to say he had bad breath.
Under his rule, if one made a mistake, they might still receive his forgiveness, but anyone who mentioned his bad breath or showed disgust towards it would surely die, without exception.
"M-my lord, your subordinate sent the Doshin to the Takeuchi Dojo to investigate the situation, and ordered them to rush back immediately after inspecting the scene. They should still be on their way now, yes, still on their way."
Matsui stammered his explanation, grumbling inwardly, 'Who knew that powerful samurai, who appeared out of nowhere, would be so ruthless?'
In half an hour, he had wiped out a Kamikaze-ryu dojo that was quite famous in Koriyama Castle. Matsui had never even heard of many powerful samurai with such strength.
And as for his subordinates, the Doshin, it made Matsui feel even more aggrieved to even mention them.
The Doshin were equivalent to the police officers of Zhou Ming's previous life, the grassroots of law enforcement, belonging to the Bugyo-sho, which was the police station of this era.
Above the Doshin were the Yoriki, who managed the operations of various departments within the Bugyo-sho, and above the Yoriki was the Bugyo, the head of the entire Bugyo-sho.
Matsui's role as a Bugyo was equivalent to a police chief, directly under Oda Heizo, and he was in charge of the public order of the entire Koriyama Castle.
It sounded very impressive, but in reality, under Oda Heizo's rule, the population exceeded one hundred thousand, yet there were only a mere three hundred Doshin! And less than fifty Yoriki!
A few hundred people scattered among a hundred thousand was like a drop of ink in a lake.
Matsui's small number of subordinates were already too busy with the many daily trivial matters in Koriyama Castle to spare any time; how could they be easily deployed wherever needed?
Looking at Oda Heizo's gaping maw so close, with waves of foul odor assaulting his heaven spirit, the frustration in Matsui's heart was simply inexpressible.
Before following Oda Heizo, Matsui was a skilled wandering samurai. Although his life was not wealthy, it was free enough.
If someone dared to dictate to him, he would just draw his sword for a duel. Whether he cut down the other person or was cut down himself, it was a magnificent battle, immensely satisfying.
However, later he fell in love with a woman and had children, making it impossible to continue being a wandering samurai as before.
Fortunately, with his considerable martial arts skills, he was noticed by Oda Heizo and became his bodyguard, and through step-by-step effort, he eventually rose to his current position.
But sometimes, waking up in the middle of the night, he would look at himself in the bronze mirror and feel a sense of unfamiliarity.
When did the person in the mirror become like this?
Bowing and scraping, fawning and servile—was this still him? Was this still the unruly wandering samurai he once was?
"Perhaps, the greatest growth for a person is learning to bow for the things they cherish…"
Matsui smiled bitterly in his heart, deciding to endure Oda Heizo's scolding as always.
However, at this moment, Oda Heizo suddenly faltered.
Matsui saw Oda Heizo just standing there with his mouth wide open, his eyes full of surprise as he looked behind Matsui.
Fortunately, at this moment, Oda Heizo's hand, which was gripping Matsui's collar, also loosened, allowing Matsui to turn and look behind him.
He saw a man.
A tall, imposing man who, by his appearance, shouldn't have been very old, yet possessed a free and easy demeanor, an extraordinary Aura.
"Are you looking for me?" The man asked as he drew closer.
Matsui's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately matched the man in front of him with the characteristics of the samurai he was looking for, confirming the man's identity.
This was the powerful samurai they were searching for!
At this moment, because of the samurai's proximity, the samurai guarding Oda Heizo reached out to stop him.
Matsui's heart tightened, and he quickly shouted, "Don't!"
Then, he only felt a blur before his eyes, and the mysterious samurai, like a ghostly shadow, in a flash, bypassed the many samurai in front and appeared within three steps of him!
"Ah!"
Matsui, startled, took a step back, then suddenly remembered that Oda Heizo was right behind him, so he quickly stopped, but his body had already lost balance and he involuntarily tilted backward.
At this moment, a hand suddenly reached out, grabbed his shoulder, and steadied him, preventing the tragic event of him falling onto Oda Heizo.
Then, that hand pushed him aside, and the owner of the hand, the mysterious samurai, thus went from facing Matsui to facing Oda Heizo.
"You are Oda Heizo? My name is Zhou Ming," the mysterious samurai said.
"Ah, ah." Even though Zhou Ming was just standing there calmly, there seemed to be a mysterious, powerful Aura that pressured Oda Heizo, a high-ranking Daimyo, to open his mouth but be unable to speak.
It took a great effort for Oda Heizo to extricate himself from this awkward situation.
"Samurai, a powerful samurai!" Oda Heizo exclaimed excitedly, "Why have you come?"
"The World's Greatest Swordsman Tournament," Zhou Ming said with a faint smile, "I heard that participating in this tournament requires a Daimyo's help with registration."
Oda Heizo had already prepared for what Zhou Ming might say—power, money, fame throughout the land—and he could offer conditions tempting enough to recruit the man into his service.
But he never expected Zhou Ming to make such a direct request.
For a moment, Oda Heizo didn't know how to respond. He gave an awkward laugh and, after some thought, asked, "Is that all? No other demands?"
"You help me register, and I'll help you win first place. It's that simple."
As Zhou Ming spoke, he subtly retreated a few steps, creating distance between himself and Oda Heizo.
For no other reason than Oda Heizo's breath was too foul!
"This isn't just a matter of not brushing his teeth; this is, damn it, even smellier than shit!"
Zhou Ming grumbled inwardly, again subtly retreating a few more steps to avoid Oda Heizo's breath.
He was naturally shy and not good with words. When faced with such uncivilized behavior, he didn't dare to speak up, so he could only actively back away and silently endure it.
But ironically, he wanted to avoid it, yet the flowing water was heartless, and the falling shit was, damn it, intentional!
"Good! Good! Good! With Zhou-kun's powerful martial arts, he should indeed display his skills, make a name for himself, and become famous throughout the land!"
Oda Heizo blurted out all the words he knew, opening his arms as if to embrace Zhou Ming.
He could also see that with the display Zhou Ming had just shown, that ghostly footwork, if he truly wanted to kill him, none of the samurai present could stop him.
Since that was the case, why should he be timid? It would be better to be more open and unleash his enthusiasm.
"Stop!" Seeing Oda Heizo about to pounce, Zhou Ming, startled, quickly extended his hand to stop him.
"This distance, yes, maintain this distance. Just say what you need to say; no need to be so enthusiastic. I'm really not familiar with you."
Oda Heizo's open arms froze in mid-air, and the smile on his face also stiffened, then slowly disappeared, turning gloomy.
Matsui's face, on the other hand, turned terrified, his hands uncontrollably shaking as if he had been electrocuted.
"You… are you saying I have bad breath?"
"Hey, hey, don't talk nonsense. I never maliciously slander others, no matter how great their flaws…"
"You… said my bad breath is very serious?"
"There! You all heard it, he's slandering me! He's slandering me!"
"You actually dare to say I have bad breath!"
Swish!
An adamantium alloy blade rested across Oda Heizo's shoulder. A few strands of hair, blown by the wind, immediately snapped upon touching the blade and drifted away.
"I said your head is big, and I want to trim your head," Zhou Ming said calmly.
"Heh, heh heh." Oda Heizo's mouth twitched a few times, and he gave a dry laugh, immediately returning to normal.
"I, I think my head is fine, no, no need to trim."
With a blade at his neck, even if he wanted to lose his temper, he had to think twice. Although it was their first encounter, Oda Heizo knew that the person in front of him was not someone who wouldn't dare to act.
Matsui, watching from the side, was terrified, his face changing wildly, his heart conflicted. He wanted to fulfill his duty as a guard, but he was also afraid that a shout from him might cause Oda Heizo to be decapitated. Not showing any reaction, however, would be a great dereliction of duty. He felt like even breathing while standing there was wrong.
"Not considering it? My blade is very fast."
"No, no, no, how can such a small matter trouble you, sir!" Matsui finally seized an opportunity and quickly stepped forward to mediate.
"Lord Oda's hair will be taken care of by a specialist; how could we use your precious blade? This is not, this is not…"
Matsui tried to find a word to describe it, but his cultural level was low, and he stammered for a long time without saying the word.
"A waste of natural resources," Zhou Ming kindly supplied.
"Yes, yes, yes! You are truly cultured, sir!" Matsui said with an exaggerated smile, "High culture, strong power, and even your blade is so beautiful! Sir, I declare that from now on, you are my only idol!"
"…" Zhou Ming: "What's your name?"
"I am Matsui Kyoshin!" Matsui bowed deeply, "Please guide me often from now on, sir!"
"You look like a comedian," Zhou Ming muttered, retracting his blade.
He felt that the entire atmosphere had become a bit abnormal due to the appearance of this Matsui Kyoshin.
"It's still the same as before: you help me register, and I'll help you win first place. Happy cooperation."
Zhou Ming extended his hand.
Oda Heizo's expression changed repeatedly, and finally, he grasped Zhou Ming's hand, a smile plastered on his face: "Zhou-kun, if you do not fail me, I will not fail you."
"…" Zhou Ming silently withdrew his hand.