The night life of the Japanese in this era was not rich. Ashina Castle entered a state of martial law early at night. Except for the ashigaru patrolling the streets of the castle town, no one could be seen coming and going before 9 o'clock.
After winding up the automatic mechanical watch, Lu Xiao determined the current time.
Turning on the aura blocker, Lu Xiao left the hut quietly, and the person standing outside the door did not notice his actions at all.
Although Mount Kumgang Senbōji Temple is a place of Buddhism, the local monks have long lost their humanity in their research on the power of immortality. They have no idea of compassion for monks. Instead, they took sides in the war between the Ashina Kingdom and the Inner Palace.
, quietly surrendered to the inner government.
In addition to the temple-protecting monks, Xianfeng Temple has also tamed a group of secret ninjas who guard the temple - Ranbo Zhong.
The Luanbo people are all very short and deformed people. Lu Xiao happened to meet one of the Luanbo people when he was heading to Mount Kumgang at night.
This dwarf-sized ninja was squatting under a room of unknown purpose, seemingly eavesdropping on the conversations of the people in the room.
Through the wooden floor of the ventilated room, you can see the bright light coming from the room. The Luanbo Zong is hiding just outside the range of the light. It is difficult for ordinary people to discover the whereabouts of this Luanbo Zong unless they get close to them.
Lu Xiao did not have these problems. As he headed north along the way, he would turn on his eagle eye vision to scan from time to time to eliminate dangers as much as possible.
In the process, he unexpectedly discovered a crimson target with deeper hostility near a large number of Ashina soldiers with light red markings.
From a certain perspective, the ninja, a unique profession in Japan, can also be regarded as a counterpart of the assassin, and the action patterns of the two sides are similar to a certain extent.
This was the first time Lu Xiao saw a real ninja. Out of curiosity, he squatted in a dense bush and turned on his eagle vision to quietly observe the movements of the random man.
B-level eagle vision can not only improve visual abilities. In the world of Assassin's Creed, Altaïr calls the evolved eagle vision the eagle sense.
When Lu Xiao concentrated, he could even hear the voice of Ashina Ashigaru talking in that house.
"Master Kuro is so pitiful. He can only study in the small stargazing tower under the moonlight. He is still just a child."
"Shh! Don't talk nonsense. This is Genichiro-sama's decision. There must be their intentions above. This is not something we can interfere with."
"That's what I say, but at least I should provide more candles to Lord Kuro. Thinking of what happened to the Hirata family, I just... ugh~"
Hearing this, Lu Xiao looked up in surprise and looked into the distance, 'Jiulang? Star Observation Tower?'
Under the bright moonlight, a dilapidated two-story tower was located at the far end of Lu Xiao's sight.
Only a very weak candlelight could be seen inside the tower, and there were many ashigaru patrolling around the open space in front of the building.
The Luanbo man seemed to have gotten the information he wanted. Taking advantage of his short stature, he nimbly slipped out from under the low roof platform.
The Luanbo crowd deliberately avoided the tightly guarded front of the Star Observation Tower and jumped along the steep irregular platform on the side of the mountain to approach the Star Observation Tower.
'Oh? So there is such a way.'
Since someone is responsible for "leading the way", Lu Xiao is happy to act with him behind him.
Despite his short stature, Ranbo was very agile as a ninja. He jumped several times under the cliff platform on the side of the Star Observation Building and approached the main structure of the two-story building.
However, Luanbo Zhong's height became the biggest obstacle that limited his ability to continue moving. He stepped on the wall and jumped several times. Luanbo Zhong, who was less than 1.2 meters tall, could not reach a high point for strength.
"Tsk! You brat, you're lucky."
The scolding Luanbo crowd could only give up the invasion of the Star Observation Tower for the time being, and turned around to return to the original route and find another way.
Before he could turn around, an inconspicuous metallic light suddenly flashed through the darkness.
Relying on the sense of danger that they have experienced all year round in danger, Luanbo's short stature rolled on the spot, trying to avoid the sudden attack from unknown people.
The hidden sword in his left hand was swung in the air. Although Lu Xiao was a little surprised by Luan Bo Zhong's sixth sense and body flexibility, he did not stop the movement of his hand.
The hidden sword in his right hand then popped out, and his feet suddenly kicked off the ground. Before Luanbo Zhong could stretch out his body from the rolling state, he caught up with his speed. The hidden sword was aimed at Luanbo Zhong's short neck and stabbed accurately.
"Ho!"
The trachea on his neck was pierced, and the people in Luanbo couldn't even scream. They soon lost their strength and fell to the ground, and their blood gradually spread on the cliff platform.
After confirming that Luan Bo was dead, Lu Xiao kicked his body deep into the valley and looked up at the side window of the Star Observation Building, which was not very high for him.
With a simple jump, Lu Xiao climbed onto the side of the platform. Lu Xiao easily turned over and entered the Star Observation Tower.
Just like what the two ashigaru said, there was only one poor-quality candle with weak light in the Star Observation Tower, which was almost entirely illuminated by the bright moonlight spreading through the open window.
A little boy with a delicate appearance and fair hair was reading a yellowed book in his hand under the moonlight. Judging from the color, it was obvious that the book had been read many times.
"Um?"
Jiuro didn't notice Lu Xiao who was hiding his aura at first, but when Lu Xiao stood up from the window, his tall figure compared to the Japanese during the Warring States Period blocked the moonlight outside the window. Jiuro finally looked out of the darkened book.
Look away.
"Who are you?"
Looking at Lu Xiao who was wearing a hood, Jiulang looked wary, but he didn't look too panicked.
"If you are also here to seek Long Yin's power, please give up as soon as possible. Without my voluntary permission, no one can obtain Long Yin's blessing...or curse."
"Ha~"
Lu Xiao chuckled indifferently: "Don't worry, I'm not interested in Long Yin's twisted power."
"Little brother, from your tone, it seems that you are very dissatisfied with your status as the imperial son of Long Yin?"
Kuro, who looked to be less than 12 years old, had a sad look on his face that was inconsistent with his youth: "What is the use of this power? Can it revive the Hirata family who kindly adopted me?"
"Other than attracting the covetousness of evil people and bringing disaster to Wei Ming, Long Yin's power can have no positive effect."
Jiulang sighed and said: "No matter what your purpose is, please come back. You can't kill me, and there is no point in kidnapping me. You should just let me stay here and wait."
"wait?"
Lu Xiao found a random bookshelf and jumped on it to sit on it: "What are you waiting for? What are you looking forward to? Tell me, maybe I can help you."
Kuro shook his head mockingly: "You can't help me. Genichiro won't let anyone help me. I'm just waiting for the final outcome. I don't know where Ashina will go under the leadership of Genichiro."
"That's not necessarily the case."
A gentle and soft female voice suddenly came from outside the main entrance of the Star Observation Tower. Jiulang was surprised. The kind-hearted little boy hurriedly winked and asked Lu Xiao to leave.
Lu Xiao smiled nonchalantly and still sat on the bookshelf unmoved.
He had long seen someone approaching the Star Observation Tower through his Eagle Vision. In his Eagle Vision, the person's appearance was non-threatening blue. Obviously, she had no ill intentions towards Kurang and himself.
"Crunch~"
As the door was pushed open, a kimono woman wearing a plain double-breasted coat slowly entered. In order to avoid being peeked by outsiders, she closed the door thoughtfully after entering the room.
"Yongzhen?"
Kuro breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the other person's appearance clearly: "Why are you here? Do you have any instructions from Isshin-sama?"
The classical beauty known as Yongzhen did not answer Jiulang's question. Her elegant and delicate face was facing Lu Xiao, with a hint of scrutiny and vigilance in her eyes.
"A traveler from the Ming Dynasty, why are you here? What are your intentions in getting close to Master Jiuro?"