Chapter 106: Does Anyone in This Era Still Remember My Uncle?

The Omikado family.

Not long after Director Takahashi and the others arrived, Professor Beishan also arrived.

"Abe no Michimaro?!"

Upon learning the name of the sword-taker, Professor Beishan's aged face was moved.

Seeing this, everyone confirmed that Professor Zhongtian was right; Professor Beishan knew the Abe surname.

"Professor Beishan, the Abe surname..."

Swish.

A Japanese sliding wooden door opened, interrupting Director Takahashi's inquiry.

"Guji, a man claiming to be Abe no Michimaro has arrived; he is right at the entrance," the Omikado family servant hurriedly ran over.

Without time to think of anything else, Omikado Kenji, Omikado Xia Mei, Director Takahashi, and others quickly rushed out of the house, running toward the courtyard gate.

It was a middle-aged man wearing an ancient Yin-Yang Dao robe, yet he wore it without the rigor and solemnity of a Yin-Yang Master; his attire was very casual, like someone wearing a suit without a tie, the collar wide open, making a formal suit look casual.

A sense of a cheerful, approachable uncle next door.

At first glance at the middle-aged man, they were stunned for a moment.

A Yin-Yang Master?

Looking again, they were dazed.

The middle-aged Yin-Yang Master not only wore his Yin-Yang robe casually, but also lacked the solemnity and majesty of a Yin-Yang Master; he stroked the stubble on his chin, his eyes curious, looking around, glancing over there for a while, then over here for a while.

Sometimes he would stare at cars passing on the road in front of the distant street, emitting exclamations.

"That iron sheet is quite interesting."

Hearing the exclamation echoing in their ears, Director Takahashi and the others were stunned, thinking they had mistaken the person, but seeing that only that middle-aged man stood at the courtyard gate with no one else around.

"Guji, that person is the one claiming to be Abe no Michimaro."

The servant hurried up, pointing at the middle-aged Yin-Yang Master at the courtyard gate.

Only then did everyone confirm they had not mistaken him; that was indeed Abe no Michimaro. Instantly, everyone was dumbfounded; how did it feel like Abe no Michimaro was a lunatic, not even recognizing a car.

Wait!

Not even recognizing a car? Could it be...

They concluded the middle-aged man was either a fake, or someone who had lived in seclusion for a long time, or perhaps simply not from this world, having spent a long time in the Supernatural world or other worlds, an ancient transcendent unaware of the changes of the current era.

They leaned more toward the latter.

Setting aside other things, the mere fact that the middle-aged man claimed to be Abe no Michimaro was enough to prove his identity; one must know that Master Konghai borrowing the Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi was a secret, known only to the Omikado family and a few high-level government officials; outsiders knew nothing.

The middle-aged man noticed people coming out from inside the courtyard gate, withdrew his curious gaze, and looked at the crowd.

"Hello, I am Abe no Michimaro, sent by order to retrieve the Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi."

As soon as the words fell, before anyone could ask for proof, the middle-aged man touched the Yin-Yang rope bracelet on his wrist; symbols glowed with soft light, and a Buddhist bead flew out from thin air into the small Yin-Yang plaque on the bracelet.

Director Takahashi and the others saw clearly: from within the small plaque hanging on the bracelet, a Buddhist bead flew out from thin air, as if that flat, tiny plaque contained a different dimension capable of holding things much larger than the plaque itself, such as the Buddhist bead.

With this move, half of the crowd believed the middle-aged man was Abe no Michimaro; at the very least, it proved he was a transcendent.

Only a transcendent possesses such extraordinary means.

The Buddhist bead was simple, flowing with treasure light; rays of brilliance wove together, condensing into a Buddha image, as if a divine Buddha sat upon the Buddhist bead, illuminating all beings.

Another Buddhist bead appeared.

This Buddhist bead flew out from Omikado Xia Mei's pocket; it was a token given to Omikado Xia Mei by Master Konghai back then.

The two Buddhist beads flew up, suspended in the air, and fused together.

In an instant.

Treasure light flowed, chanting with Buddhist sounds.

"Amitabha."

This was the voice of Master Konghai.

Hearing this, Director Takahashi and the others were certain the middle-aged man was Abe no Michimaro, because Master Konghai had given Omikado Xia Mei a Buddhist bead and told her that the sword-taker's name was Abe no Michimaro; he would hold a Buddhist bead, and if the beads responded to each other, the other person was Abe no Michimaro.

Omikado family, main hall.

"Such a nostalgic architectural style."

Abe no Michimaro scanned the Omikado family's interior decoration, his gaze falling on the courtyard scenery outside the main hall door.

As a family of shrine priests, the main Omikado family's architectural style still retains the ancient Japanese courtyard style.

The houses were surrounded by a courtyard; the main house door faced the courtyard gate directly, connected by a path paved with bluestone; on both sides, the courtyards were spacious, with rockeries and flowers and plants, and a small pond raising carp.

The main hall's door was a Japanese door, sliding open to the left and right, allowing one to see the courtyard scenery directly.

The rockery's flowing water fell into a water channel made of connected bamboo; when the bamboo tube filled with water, it would tip over, striking a stone and emitting a ding-dong sound, extremely preserving the ancient Japanese style.

Listening to the water flowing through the green bamboo with its ding-dong sounds, tasting tea, it offered a unique tranquility.

"Master Abe, may I, may I presumptuously ask one question: what is your relationship with Abe no Nakamaro?"

Professor Beishan summoned his courage and suddenly asked.

Initially, when Abe no Michimaro arrived, everyone was terrified and respectful; even Director Takahashi and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ouchi Masaki were somewhat constrained, feeling more nervous than hosting high-level foreign dignitaries.

The other party was a transcendent; a mere gesture could destroy heaven and earth; if they were negligent, they truly feared he would wipe them out with a single hand.

However, slowly, everyone's constraint vanished, replaced by relaxation.

Abe no Michimaro was much easier to get along with than imagined; he was not difficult to deal with, even friendly, and very talkative.

He walked along the bluestone path, occasionally asking this and that: what was a car, what was the thing called a mobile phone they held in their hands, and what function it served.

His nature was very easygoing, with not a shred of arrogance.

Everyone held this impression of Abe no Michimaro; it was also because of Abe no Michimaro's easygoing and talkative nature that Professor Beishan finally summoned the courage to ask the one question he had always wanted to ask.

The words were spoken.

Professor Beishan's heart pounded. The tension he had just relaxed tightened once more, and he was a little afraid that asking this might anger the other party.

However…

"Oh? Someone in this era still remembers my uncle?" Abe no Mitarashi-maro was slightly surprised. "It seems that after the severance of Heaven and Earth, later generations did not forget the brilliance brought by those who came before."

The severance of Heaven and Earth?

Everyone froze. What did that mean?

Although curious, they did not have Professor Beishan's courage to ask. After all, Professor Beishan was old — taking advantage of his eighty years with nearly half a foot already in the grave, the worst that could happen was dying after asking, and he had lived long enough anyway. The others were different; they were still young, still had plenty of time to enjoy life, and did not dare ask.

Not daring to ask Abe no Mitarashi-maro, they could still ask Professor Beishan.

At this moment, Professor Beishan's dim old eyes went wide, looking agitated:

"So it's not the same name! Master Abe, you are that Abe no Mitarashi-maro — the nephew of that Abe no Nakamaro who left a brilliant reputation in both Hua and Japan!"

"Yes, that's right."

Abe no Mitarashi-maro smiled, very affable, and answered directly.

Hearing this, Professor Zhongtian beside Professor Beishan could not help his curiosity: "Professor Beishan, who is Abe no Nakamaro?"

Everyone else also looked toward Professor Beishan.

……