Chapter 50 Special Investigation 2

Ranluo, as an A-rank Saniwa, also received this special investigation order from the Time Government. As a citadel inherited from her mother, the sword spirits are extremely skilled.

However, their citadel was only rated A-rank, simply because Ranlu's spiritual power could only support an A-rank citadel. But that was enough.

"When you go to the general store to investigate, invite her out," Han Zhou said after reading the information provided by Kitsunenosuke.

On the coffee table in front of them was a map of the entire Wanwu, with Qingye and Yuyuwu marking out any suspicious locations.

As the shopping center for all Saniwa (spirits/masters), the Oddity Store has a large number of shops and occupies a vast space. Yu Yuwu and Qingye completed their search of the entire Oddity Store within a few hours.

"Your abilities far exceed my expectations."

Han Zhou had initially thought it would take them at least a day to check all the houses. He hadn't expected Qing Ye and Yu Yuwu to be so efficient.

Yu Yuwu and Qing Ye exchanged a glance after being praised, their faces beaming with happy smiles.

"So, what are your plans next?" Yu Yuwu looked at the woman before her, whose long black hair was loose, the ends reaching the ground. Her light golden eyes were as calm as an autumn lake.

After hearing her words, he turned his gaze to himself.

"First, we need to destroy all the auction venues, and also," Han Zhou paused, glancing at the two beside him, "we need to clean up the disqualified Saniwa and the sinful humans."

"Lord Hanzhou, the disqualified Saniwa is hiding among the people. The coordinates of each Honmaru are different, you..." Yuyugiri was somewhat worried, but she did not doubt the other party's abilities as a god.

She simply didn't want the other person to waste too much of their energy on human matters.

This was indeed a massive undertaking. Han Zhou had noted the spiritual power of everyone else present at the previous two auctions. But those people represented only a small fraction of the problem.

Han Zhou could directly confirm anything through his spiritual power; once the other party engaged in any disqualifying behavior, his spiritual power would begin to become corrupted, until it turned from transparent to pure black. This process was extensive and numerous, far exceeding Han Zhou's capabilities, making it a very taxing task.

“Yu Yu Wu, Qing Ye”.

Han Zhou softly called out their code names.

"Remember your original aspirations, or you'll face utter ruin." Han Zhou looked at their stunned expressions and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"This can be considered... advice from the teacher."

——

"Wow, this isn't the Tosa I know anymore. The terrain is completely different." Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki looked around at the buildings, then looked up at the red crescent moon in the sky.

"Oh! What a coincidence! It's the very place where our lord and Ryoma first met."

Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki gazed at the moored boats not far away, his eyes filled with nostalgia. But as the captain leading the team, he was thankful not to dwell on past memories. The nostalgia in his eyes was replaced by calmness.

"Then I'll trouble you to go and scout around Harima-ya Bridge first. We'll meet up with you in a bit."

Xiaoye nodded, and her petite and agile figure disappeared into the vast night after a few leaps.

Let's scout out the situation along the way as we travel.

In the darkness, the wakizashi's fighting ability was clearly superior to that of the katana. Honebami Toushirou and Namazuo Toushirou's figures appeared and disappeared like ghosts. Only a fleeting flash of cold light could be seen in the darkness, followed by the muffled thud of the Time Retrograde Army falling to the ground.

"How strange... the Time Retrograde Army here didn't turn into smoke and disappear." Namazuo Toushirou looked at the wreckage in front of him, completely baffled.

After all, in normal battles, they would turn into smoke and disappear after dealing with the Time Travelers.

"In an abandoned world, nothing seems surprising," Kashuu Kiyomitsu said after quickly defeating the enemies and joining them here. As the initial sword, his combat experience was undoubtedly the most extensive in the citadel.

"Harima-ya Bridge is just ahead, let's go," said Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki, already heading towards their destination. The remaining three quickly followed.

Sayo Samonji, who had come ahead to scout, saw that they had arrived and emerged from the shadows. Even as their companions, they couldn't help but admire Sayo's exceptional reconnaissance and stealth abilities as she appeared so silently before them.

"Hey, Xiaoye. How's the investigation going?"

"There was some time spent traveling with the army, nothing unusual happened." Sayo said, turning to look at a tsukumogami whose face was obscured. "I encountered him."

"Are you the person in the video?"

"I am Tadahiro Hizen, and I have come here to investigate under orders from the government."

Tadahiro Hizen had a bandage wrapped around his neck, the long end of which hung down in front of him. His narrow eyes and dark red pupils made him seem unapproachable.

"Oh! It's Hizen Tadahiro! So you've manifested too!!!" Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki rushed over with a bright and cheerful smile upon seeing the familiar swords.

"You are... Mutsu no Kami?" Seeing the swords rushing towards him so enthusiastically, he instinctively wanted to back away, but Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki, who had already approached, affectionately put his arm around his shoulder.

"Oh, don't make that face. We're good friends!" Mutsu no Kami's Tosa accent, with its slightly convoluted ending, actually gave off a friendly vibe.

"Who says we're on good terms!" Hizen Tadahiro broke free from Mutsu Kami's arm around his shoulder and preemptively shouted before Mutsu Kami could speak, "Shut up!"

"You have such a bad temper..." Mutsu no Kami scratched his cheek. "So what's going on? This Tosa is so different from the one I know."

"We'll discuss the details after we meet up with the teacher. Follow me." Hizen Tadahiro sighed, a rare sign of weariness on his face.

"Teacher? Is that the sword I know?"

"Can you please stop asking me so many questions?!"

The other four looked at each other, puzzled, and then followed.

While following Hizen Tadahiro to find that "teacher," Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki kept asking about the situation from behind. Hizen Tadahiro led the way while also taking the opportunity to tease Mutsu no Kami.

After winding their way through the streets, they entered the courtyard of a house. In the courtyard, a spirit was holding a book, seemingly studying something.

"teacher!"

"Oh, it's Hizen."

Upon seeing the other person's appearance, Mutsu no Kami had already guessed their identity.

"I remember now, you're Master Wu's sword! Long time no see!"

"You're Sakamoto's... Nice to meet you. I never expected to meet you like this."

Kashuu Kiyomitsu, seeing that Mutsu no Kami was about to start a conversation with the unfamiliar tsukumogami, spoke up to remind him.

"Um...who is this?"

"Thank you all for coming to investigate. I am Nankai Taro Asahi. I am Hanpeita's sword from Shibu City, Tosa Province." The bespectacled tsukumogami introduced himself to them.

Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki was somewhat relieved; thankfully, his lord had given him two amulets just in case, otherwise it would have been difficult to distribute them.

"Oh, right! This is from our lord." Mutsu no Kami took out two amulets from his robes and handed them to them.

"This was improved by our lord; it can heal us instantly if we're injured. Hehe, you know our lord too!"

Nankai Taro Asahiko and Hizen Tadahiro exchanged a glance, both puzzled. Everyone they knew had perished with the passage of time; why would Mutsu no Kami say such a thing?

"It's Lord Hanzhou!"

"Han Zhou?!"

In the past, Kanshu and Sakamoto Ryoma knew each other and were good friends. So he had met Takechi Hanpeita and Okada Izo, and although their relationship wasn't as good as his with Sakamoto Ryoma, it wasn't bad either.

Even though their time together was short, they knew that Han Zhou was an exceptionally outstanding lord.

Just as Nankai Taro was about to ask a question, Kashuu Kiyomitsu interrupted him.

"What are your plans regarding this place?"

"We do have some things to say about this."

While Nankai was explaining things to them, Xiaoye Zuowenzi, who was originally standing to the side, suddenly glanced towards the door and only looked away after a while.

"What's wrong, Saya?" Namazuo looked out the door but didn't see anything.

"No... there's just a strange aura. Maybe it's just my imagination."

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Author's Note: Recently... I've encountered some unpleasant things. I need to adjust my state of mind, so I'll be taking a break... [Guomemina-san]