Chapter 390: Samurai Town of Matsumoto Castle

Chapter 390: Samurai Town, Matsumoto Castle

At midnight, in the eastern district of Matsumoto Castle, a black off-road vehicle was parked on the street. Li Jun leaned against the driver’s seat, his left hand resting outside the window, holding a lit cigarette between his fingers, its smoke curling into the night.

“The whole story goes like this: we received advance notice, set an ambush, and killed Peacock. Then Chen Qisheng left Yatsuyama Castle without delay, heading straight for Himeji Castle to pursue Ming Zhi Changye.”

The No-Death Book ring on Li Jun’s right middle finger emitted a hazy light, intertwining in the passenger seat to form a slightly illusory, graceful figure.

“So the strongest general of the Japanese District’s Weiwei, who was said to be the most powerful, died so easily?”

Yuan Mingfei smiled faintly. “You also said it was just a reputation. If she were truly that powerful, she wouldn’t have been just a general.”

“Moreover…”

Yuan Mingfei blinked. “Do you think too little of me?”

“That’s not the case.”

Li Jun’s face remained expressionless, his peripheral vision subtly scanning the gold-threaded leg.

“If you were still in Chongqing Prefecture, you would probably not have escaped Sang Yan Temple’s pursuit. By the way, did the news about Peacock infiltrating Yatsuyama Castle to kill you really come from Edo Castle?”

“I was also surprised by this, but the truth is indeed so.”

Yuan Mingfei shook her head. “I originally just guessed, but when Xie Bishan compiled a false message that Peacock died at the hands of a rogue warrior and sent it back to the Edo Castle Hundred Households, the other side calmly asked Yatsuyama Castle to help send the body back. That’s when I confirmed that the Ming King deliberately sent her to her death!”

Yuan Mingfei’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint color of excitement appeared on her face.

In the major cities of the Japanese District, the Weiwei households only set up hundred households and two generals, with no more than three minor flags under the general.

It can be seen how valuable a general of a local household is.

But such a general, who had been by his side for many years, was his confidant and right-hand man, was betrayed by the Ming King so decisively.

The Ming King’s coldness and cruelty were shocking.

Li Jun retracted his left arm, which had been extended out the window, and rubbed his temples. “Why did he do this?”

“Who knows.”

Yuan Mingfei smiled softly. “Maybe he wanted to curry favor with you? After all, who in the Japanese District Weiwei doesn’t know that Thousand Households Su Ce treats you specially?”

“The Ming King is not the kind of person who would kowtow and give up easily.”

Li Jun smiled, remembering the Ming King’s tough attitude at the new dawn deliberation meeting.

A person who dares to form a small faction under Su Ce’s nose and test his bottom line would not choose to defect because of a “special treatment.”

“But apart from that, I really can’t understand why he would betray his own subordinate general.”

Yuan Mingfei emphasized. “And this was done while risking offending Sang Yan Temple. After all, his hundred households position in Edo Castle was bought with real money by Hanan and Sang Yan from Su Ce. If Sang Yan Temple discovers the truth, those nuns won’t give up easily.”

Li Jun raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. “Then…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Yuan Mingfei guessed his thoughts and shook her head. “The ‘meat letter’ that delivered the message self-destructed, leaving nothing behind. Even if we throw dirty water, it won’t have much effect.”

“Alright.”

Li Jun scratched his head and smiled awkwardly, and the car fell into a brief silence.

“How have you been thinking about what I said before?”

Yuan Mingfei pondered for a moment, then suddenly said seriously. “Now that Peacock is dead in Yatsuyama Castle, Sang Yan Temple will definitely continue to take action. If you don’t want to, I’ll leave early.”

Li Jun remained silent for a moment, then turned his head and smiled faintly. “Do you really want to join the Weiwei?”

“Women always need to find a place to shelter themselves.”

“The Japanese District is stormy, and my shelter is not wide enough to guarantee you won’t get wet.”

“I’ve been through many days of wind and rain. I’m also good at adding bricks and mortar.”

Yuan Mingfei’s tone was gentle, but Li Jun still saw a hint of hidden tension in her trembling eyes.

Li Jun smiled and said, “Yatsuyama Castle Weiwei’s second minor flag, Yuan Mingfei—that’s a title that’s harder to bear than a hired minister.”

“Is it hard to bear?”

Yuan Mingfei smiled. “I think it’s beautiful.”

Click.

The sound of a car door being pulled open suddenly rang out.

The light emitted by the No-Death Book ring suddenly faded, and Yuan Mingfei’s figure disappeared in an instant.

The passenger door was pulled open, and a middle-aged man with cold features sat in, wrapped in the cold wind.

Matsumoto Castle Hundred Households, Bao Wei.

The person Li Jun was waiting for here today was him.

The distant lights streamed into the dimly lit car, casting two equally cold faces on the windshield.

“I didn’t expect to meet Yan Jun here.”

Bao Wei stared straight ahead and smiled. “Since you’ve come to Matsumoto Castle, why didn’t you come to the household to sit down, instead of coming to a place like this?”

“I wanted to, but unfortunately, the Thousand Households gave me little time, so I had to deal with the matter at hand first. Bao Wei Hundred Households, you won’t mind, right?”

“Of course not.”

Bao Wei laughed. “Yan Jun, you are now the Thousand Households’ favorite, so his arrangements are naturally the most important. I understand.”

“No, no red or favorite—I’m more like a sinner. The source of this trouble is me, so I must take responsibility for it.”

Li Jun smiled bitterly, raised his right hand, and handed a white box of Weiwei special supplies to Bao Wei.

His wrist shook, and a cigarette jumped out of the box.

“So this time, I hope Bao Wei Hundred Households can help me more.”

“Heh, this is a rare item specially supplied by the Imperial Ministry of Industry to the Thousand Households. I didn’t expect Yan Jun to smoke it.”

Bao Wei sourly pulled out the cigarette, but didn’t put it in his mouth, instead holding it between his fingers.

“We’re all colleagues, so helping is only natural. But there’s something I need to ask first: where did Yan Jun get the news from? Isn’t it a bit too outrageous?”

“The Weiwei has rules, and I can’t tell you the source of the news. Bao Wei, please bear with me on this.”

Sizzle!

A cluster of firelight lit up the dim carriage, and the orange flames cast a patchy shadow on Bao Wei’s face.

Li Jun’s actions fell into Bao Wei’s eyes, making him feel relieved.

This Yan Jun, who now holds a superordinate position in the Japanese District Weiwei, seems to understand the rule that a strong dragon does not suppress a local snake.

But despite the enjoyment, Bao Wei had no intention of putting the cigarette butt in his mouth.

He simply blocked the cigarette that was being handed over with his hand, and his facial expression sank back into the shadows.

“You must guarantee the safety of the informant, and I understand that.”

Bao Wei pleaded. “But if your information is inaccurate, Chu Ke, one of the three leaders under Kamakura King, is not hiding on my territory. If we, as brothers, go through all this trouble, won’t we become a laughingstock within the Weiwei?”

“Then what do you mean?”

Bao Wei smiled faintly. "What I mean is, could you perhaps let me send my own people in first to investigate? Once the news is verified, then we strike."

Li Jun’s brow furrowed slightly. "The Honghu collective has always been cautious, especially after the 'Edo Rebellion,' when they went entirely underground. If we delay any further, I fear unforeseen complications will arise. If Chu Ke catches wind of this and flees, who will bear the responsibility?"

"That is no concern of yours, Lord of the Underworld. This is Matsumoto Castle. If Chu Ke truly lacks the sense of survival to hide here, he will not escape."

Bao Wei’s tone hardened. "But without confirming the accuracy of the report, I will absolutely not allow my brothers to rush into this blindly. In this matter, I must ask for your forbearance, Lord of the Underworld."

Li Jun saw through the hidden motives in Bao Wei's heart at a glance.

A Honghu leader who had participated in the Edo Rebellion, hiding right here in Matsumoto Castle, and Bao Wei, as the Centurion of Matsumoto Castle, was entirely oblivious.

If the Thousand-Household Office caught wind of this, it would be enough to convict him of negligence and incompetence. With Su Ce’s temperament, even if he didn’t strip him of his rank on the spot, any hope of future promotion would likely be dead.

Thus, Bao Wei would rather risk startling the snake in the grass just to personally verify the accuracy of the information once more.

By then, whether Li Jun’s news was true or false, and whether Chu Ke was in Matsumoto Castle, would be entirely up to his own word.

The flame flickered, moving away from Bao Wei's face.

Li Jun lowered his head, shielding the edge of the flame with one hand. The orange-red tongue of fire flared briefly before his eyes, then slowly went out.

"I have said it before, you need not doubt the accuracy of the report. Chu Ke is hiding in the district just ahead."

Hearing this, Bao Wei’s expression instantly turned grim, and he said coldly, "Lord of the Underworld, my support for the Wisdom King during the New Dawn Council was strictly business. If you think you can use the pretext of purging Honghu to cause trouble for me, just as you did with Jiao Mu Jiao, then I advise you to extinguish that thought right now."

"If you cannot produce evidence, then do not flaunt a borrowed authority here!"

A sharp hiss cut through the air.

"Pressing a warm face against a cold backside—doing this kind of thing really is vexing."

Li Jun mocked himself with a laugh. With a flick of his finger, the cigarette butt between his digits traced an arc and struck the curb, bursting into a small shower of fine sparks.

He stretched lazily, turning his head to look at Bao Wei. "Today, I am flaunting a borrowed authority. Do you have an objection?"

His face betrayed a bandit’s air, arrogant and overbearing.

A sudden, formless, bone-chilling cold swept through the narrow carriage, wrapping around Bao Wei’s heart.

In an instant, the hairs all over Bao Wei's body stood on end. In his terror, he actually felt a heavy weight of oppression emanating from Li Jun.

It was exactly like facing Su Ce in the Thousand-Household Office.

He had killed the Centurion Zhen Jun in Osaka Castle.

Realizing this late, Bao Wei suddenly recalled a rumor that had circulated within the Jinyiwei after the 'Edo Rebellion.'

But so what?

That Zhen Jun had brought death upon himself by conspiring with Honghu first, which was why the Thousand-Household Master had ordered the Lord of the Underworld to kill him.

He himself stood straight and acted upright; would the man truly dare to raise a hand against him?!

The thoughts raced through Bao Wei’s mind. Biting his teeth hard, he craned his neck. "I—"

The moment the single word left his mouth, it was instantly cut short by a howling gust of a fist.

Bao Wei’s breastbone collapsed inward to an exaggerated degree. The sound of shattering bones echoed with terrible clarity within the cramped space, and the seat beneath him tore and collapsed amidst a harsh, ripping screech.

Thud!

The black carriage shook violently, all four tires blowing out simultaneously as it slumped heavily onto the roadside.

"Pfft!"

Bao Wei vomited a large mouthful of fresh blood, falling flat on his back amidst the cold mechanical wreckage. His eyes were vacant, slipping into a brief trance.

When he came to, he felt only a trace of coldness pressed against his ear.

Before he could discern what was beside his ear, Bao Wei opened his eyes wide with fury, staring up at the face above him, whose expression was obscured by the shadows.

"Lord of the Underworld, you dare to strike a fellow officer? Do you know this is a capital offense within the Jinyiwei—"

Bao Wei’s face was a mixture of blood-red and iron-gray, crimson water spurting from his mouth as he spoke.

Yet the only response he received was the crisp click of a firearm’s hammer being drawn back.

"What are you trying to do?!"

Bao Wei’s pupils trembled. At this moment, he finally understood what the coldness against his ear derived from.

The blue veins on his arms bulged as he struggled desperately. Unfortunately, with his strength at the Sixth Sequence of Agriculture, he was utterly incapable of breaking free from the foot trampling his chest.

"In today's Jinyiwei, how is there still a Centurion as simple-minded as you? Hmm?"

The barrel of the Wei Wu Soldier firearm in Li Jun’s hand pressed against Bao Wei’s ear, and he pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bao Wei’s body ceased its struggling. The splattering shards of stone tore his cheek into a bloody mess, and a stream of scarlet blood welled from his left ear, dyeing half his shoulder a deep crimson.

"Call your men and surround this district tight for me. If a single Honghu escapes, I will begin to suspect you of conspiring with the enemy. When that time comes, you won't be any different from Zhen Jun of Osaka Castle."

Li Jun tossed away the empty Wei Wu Soldier in his hand, casually dusting off both his sleeves. He raised his eyes to look toward the brightly lit, bustling district in the distance.

Where his gaze fell, beneath the shroud of lights, were countless crooked shanties and low buildings pieced together.

Imperial-style shop banners crowded alongside the carp streamers unique to the Yamato Sector. Wooden row houses nudged against green bricks and blue tiles of rigid-ridge roofs.

At the entrance of the district stood a gateway welded from steel pipes, wrapped in a dense web of glowing neon tubes, a nauseating wave of colors surging back and forth continuously. Two rusted iron chains suspended a plaque, upon which three large characters were written in the Ming language: Samurai Town.

Crude, dilapidated, congested, yet it exuded a vibrant breath of daily life that felt familiar to Li Jun.

This district called Samurai Town was remarkably similar to the Chicken and Goose District of Chengdu County.

Following the bustling flow of people, Li Jun passed through countless casinos, brothels, and Yellow Millet Dreamscape parlors. With a slight shift of his steps, he turned into a small alley beside the main thoroughfare.

In a scene identical to the Chicken and Goose District, the alleyway, barely two Zhangs wide, was swarming with people and crowded with vendors.

Mechanical prosthetics, brain-computer spiritual apertures, and artificial organs produced by agricultural corporations. Artificial Dao Foundations and Wisdom Roots with heavy signs of use, salvaged from unknown sources. There were even pitch-black masses where flesh and machinery fused to coexist—mechanical hearts.

These items were displayed openly on the ground, left for passing pedestrians to choose from.

However, only the stalls selling prosthetics, mechanical hearts, and artificial organs had people stopping by, while those Dao Foundations and Wisdom Roots were entirely neglected.

This was not difficult to understand. After all, this was the Yamato Sector, and the Empire's Yellow Millet Dreamscape was not open to this place at all.

Even if one implanted a Dao Foundation or a Wisdom Root and stepped into the Daoist or Buddhist Sequences, there was virtually no possibility of advancement.

Strolling through the crowd, a faint smile touched the corners of Li Jun's mouth, reminiscing about the old days on Jiulong Street in Chengdu Prefecture.

Passing through this alleyway, the path he turned into became even narrower. Both sides were lined with temporary shacks built of sheet iron, connected into a dark, sprawling mass, the gaps between the roofs piled high with debris and garbage.

Li Jun came to a halt before a completely nondescript shack. Looking up at a red-eyed crow perched on the eaves, he tilted his chin.

After a moment, the shack door swung open, and a massive gun barrel, as thick as three fingers, extended outward, pressing directly against the center of Li Jun's brow.

"Who the hell are you, standing in front of my house for?"

The one wielding the gun was a youth with a cropped haircut. His bare upper torso was covered in clumsy modification scars, and on the shoulder of his right arm was tattooed the portrait of a man wearing a crown that reached the sky.

Li Jun raised an eyebrow; he actually recognized this tattoo—it was none other than the Chongzhen Emperor, Zhu Youjian.

"I am looking for you."

"Looking for me? Then you are looking for death."

A cold sneer appeared on the youth's face, and his index finger on the trigger was about to press down.

Xiaobai’s informant is quite fierce!

Li Jun suddenly reached out, and in the young man’s shocked gaze, he grabbed the gun barrel, bent it upward, and twisted the unrecognizable firearm into a pile of scrap metal.

“I came from Quan Mountain. Your cousin asked me to find you.”

“I don’t know which cousin you’re referring to, but with this level of strength, you could be my biological father.”

The young man’s expression was odd—his eyes remained calm, yet his face vividly conveyed fear and surprise.

“If you don’t believe me, take a look at this.”

Li Jun tossed him his Jinyiwei badge. “It contains dynamic keys linking to the Imperial ‘Xingjing’ and the Northern Patrol Office. But I’d advise you not to test it here.”

In truth, Li Jun didn’t need to say anything else, for the young man with the flat head had already been frozen in place the moment he received the Jinyiwei badge, his eyes fixed on it, muttering to himself continuously.

“Damn it, a real father has arrived.”