Chapter 195

Slap!

The two of them fell heavily to the ground together.

Imagawa Yoshimoto hurriedly opened her arms to catch Uesugi Toru, but beyond that she did nothing more.

Because the situation had come too suddenly, she was afraid she might accidentally injure Uesugi Toru.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, pinned beneath, raised her head and looked at Uesugi Toru in her arms, his complexion pale, his breath weak to the point of near non-existence, and asked urgently,

"Tetsu-kun, what's wrong?"

Uesugi Toru, caught by the sturdy chest armor, moved his lips but could not speak.

Seeing this, Imagawa Yoshimoto's pupils shrank slightly.

She had never imagined before this that Uesugi Toru, who just minutes ago was using thunder to hunt down yokai throughout Yoshida Castle, would now actually be weakened to such an extent.

He couldn't even speak.

—Because this time, while in the "Anger" state, Uesugi Toru had exhausted all the Gang Qi and Spirit Power in his body, leaving not even a shred.

So although the all-attributes drop to "5" after the Anger state ends, for the current Uesugi Toru it makes no difference from when all-attributes are "1".

Even more so, he is even weaker.

Because the overdraft was too severe.

Imagawa Yoshimoto immediately reached out a finger to touch his face, discovering Uesugi Toru couldn't even maintain Gang Qi circulation.

Smart as she was, she instantly linked the situation before her with Uesugi Toru's urgent, somewhat strange behavior just now.

Tetsu-kun must have known that at this time point, he would become this weak.

The reason he sought a quiet room for solitude was to prevent outsiders or yokai from seeing him like this and harboring improper thoughts.

A thought flashed through her mind; Imagawa Yoshimoto raised her hand, dispersing Internal Qi to seal the quiet room's main gate, seeking an environment more isolated from the outside world.

—But starting tomorrow morning, she would have to guarantee continuous treatment for the residents of Yoshida Castle.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, recalling the words she had just spoken, froze for a moment.

She naturally did not possess that ability herself.

Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at Uesugi Toru, who lay limp and had not uttered a single word, and opened her mouth.

With Tetsu's current physical condition at its absolute worst, could he really recover in just a dozen or so hours?

After a brief silence, the Imagawa Clan Head sighed silently in her heart.

Never mind.

Even if the promise wasn't fulfilled, the residents would only turn their spearheads toward her.

This small matter, she can bear it.

—The completely immobilized Uesugi Toru saw this scene from the corner of his eye and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It seems Imagawa Yoshimoto has already understood the current situation.

But before he could think further, Imagawa Yoshimoto unfastened her Gusoku in a few quick moves, stacking them neatly to the side.

Then, Uesugi Toru saw the legs covered by plain white kosode slowly kneel and sit before him.

Then feeling himself carefully dragged, finally his face slapped down, sinking by gravity into a large expanse of soft white cloth.

A moment later, flipped over, darkness before Uesugi Toru's eyes transformed into light, and he saw Imagawa Yoshimoto's face.

Precisely speaking, he saw Imagawa Yoshimoto's pair of helpless, curved eyes.

Because the other half below her nose tip was firmly blocked by the cloth.

"I'll be right here."

He heard Imagawa Yoshimoto's gentle voice,

"So Tetsu-kun, if you want to rest, then rest."

Uesugi Toru didn't have time to respond with Qi before he felt two soft, boneless, scorching hot little hands grip his palm tightly.

The next moment, a very unfamiliar, yet calm and gentle Internal Qi probed bit by bit into Uesugi Toru's body.

Those Internal Qi wanted to make contact with the Gang Qi inside his body, then restart his Zhou Tian circulation.

But Uesugi Toru could clearly feel the rawness of this Internal Qi.

They not only failed to locate the specks of Gang Qi in his meridians in a short time, but instead caused pain throughout his arms.

Even though Imagawa Yoshimoto was already extremely careful, the sensation of Internal Qi "rampaging" through his meridians was absolutely unpleasant.

After nearly twenty minutes, Imagawa Yoshimoto finally managed to "touch" the first wisp of Gang Qi in his body.

Uesugi Toru also finally recovered a tiny bit of strength.

He looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto's relaxed expression, gathered strength for a good while, then spoke with difficulty,

"Lord Imagawa... this is still your first time doing this kind of thing, right...?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto, receiving immediate positive feedback, nodded her chin, and after linking two wisps of Gang Qi together, said,

"That's right."

"Until now I've never done this kind of thing for anyone else."

She gazed down at Uesugi Toru's half-open eyes generously, from above: "Tetsu-kun, it's my first time."

This kind of ambiguous remark really shouldn't be said...

Uesugi Toru thought even if he said so, the other party probably wouldn't listen at all.

So he opened his mouth again: "Thank you..."

Click.

An index finger descended, pressing against the center of Uesugi Toru's lips, cutting off his words indisputably.

Imagawa Yoshimoto shook her head gently: "The current me doesn't deserve this thanks."

"If not for Tetsu-kun exhausting yourself to slay those terrifying yokai, I absolutely could not be sitting here unharmed, and Yoshida Castle would certainly have become a land of death."

The girl lowered her eyes, meeting his gaze,

"I suppose ever since you, Tetsu-kun, became my retainer, it has always been me unilaterally receiving your kindness, while in return, I have only given back something insignificant.

Those things, even without you, Tetsu-kun, could have been done."

Imagawa Yoshimoto said seriously: "The one who should say thank you is me."

Saying this, she cupped Uesugi Toru's cheeks with both hands from either side, not allowing him to turn his gaze away,

"So, Tetsu-kun, is there anything you want—something that no matter what, no matter what you have to pay, you want to obtain?"

The lord of the Three Countries, likewise the youngest head of the Imagawa Clan since ancient times, made him a promise,

"After settling down in Mikawa Province, I will do my best to find it for you."

What could Imagawa Yoshimoto give herself?

After a long contemplation, Uesugi Toru squeezed out the words one by one from his mouth: "What I want is simple, nothing more than personally witnessing Lord Imagawa's ascent to Kyoto, the moment he stands at the top of Kyoto."

"I want to witness that moment, to use it to nurture my still immature Xin Zhi Chen."

Xin Zhi Chen... Motonobu seemed to have mentioned this term to me.

"I will."

Although Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't quite understand, she still made an affirmative answer without hesitation,

"By then, you, Tetsu-kun, must also be present."

"Besides that?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto displeasedly pinched his cheek, her movement pausing, inwardly startled by the feel of it: "If you only wish for a wish that would come true anyway, isn't your ambition too small?"

In other words, you don't even dare to dream big?

Only Imagawa Yoshimoto would say such a thing as a matter of course, right?

Uesugi Toru curled the corner of his mouth,

"Then, I want the name Imagawa Yoshimoto to spread throughout the Tenka, so that the moment everyone hears this name, they think of you, achieving true fame known by all."

——That way, five hundred years later, he could have a backer in Chang Shi, and many things would become simpler.

"Known by all..."

Imagawa Yoshimoto furrowed her brows, falling into deep thought.

Even if one could become a Tenka-bito, become a Shogun, unify the whole world, achieving such a thing is indeed difficult.

Imagawa Yoshimoto had not never visited villages in remote regions.

There, sometimes even many Village Chiefs did not know her name, let alone the villagers who heard nothing of the outside world.

"But why?" she suddenly became curious.

Both of Toru's wishes were to make her better, even with the reason of that Xin Zhi Chen... this still seemed too abnormal.

"Because the lifespan of a Great Onmyoji is very long, Lord Imagawa."

On the soft lap pillow, Uesugi Toru told a lie: "Very long, very long."

Seeing the girl in a daze, he knew Imagawa Yoshimoto had been bluffed by him in a domain she completely did not understand.

Thus Uesugi Toru continued softly,

"I just hope that long afterwards, I can still hear Lord Imagawa's name, so that I might remember this time of today."

Lifespan... very long?

So that's how it is.

If there is a lot of time, then indeed there wouldn't be too much pursuit of money, treasures, or fiefs and such.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, still young and vigorous, had too many ambitions unfulfilled, so she had no deep understanding of the concept of lifespan, nor time to bother with such trivial matters.

Without thinking too much, Imagawa Yoshimoto seriously replied,

"Since you think that way, Tetsu-kun, then I will show it to you."

She said word by word: "I will occupy a unique position in your long, long memories, Tetsu-kun."

——After Spirit Control Technique was raised to Expert Level, allowing Uesugi Toru's ability to sense "Qi" to significantly increase, Uesugi Toru could sense Imagawa Yoshimoto's emotions.

He knew that most of what Imagawa Yoshimoto said was to "capture him" at all times, binding him to her side.

But the other small half was indeed sincere.

And this sincerity was genuine.

"Now, rest first."

The girl placed her hand over Uesugi Toru's eyelids, which had been fighting for a long time, forcibly shutting him down: "Looking at you like this makes me sleepy too."

In the darkness, Imagawa Yoshimoto's flat voice came,

"Don't worry, I will always accompany you by your side."

After seeing nothing before his eyes, fatigue surged in like a tide.

Before sinking into a brief sleep, Uesugi Toru first pulled up the Panel in his consciousness, glancing at his current Soul Spirit Points—

【Soul Spirit Points: 3311】

And this number was constantly slowly increasing.

Uesugi Toru plucked the Heartstring twice, drowsily informing Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was happily hunting a Half-Star Evil Ghost,

"Xiao Jia, you play by yourself, be careful..."

Before he finished speaking, Uesugi Toru fell into a deep sleep.

Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was having a great time, simply pretended not to hear those words.

Chasing yokai with a single blade all by himself—how novel! He had to seize the chance to play more, who knows if there would be a chance later!

Seeing Uesugi Toru lying on her lap breathing steadily, Imagawa Yoshimoto also removed her breath and remained motionless.

She kept her head lowered, gazing at this face that would only become tranquil at this very moment, wondering what she was thinking.

Only the longer she gazed, the more emotions accumulated in Imagawa Yoshimoto's eyes.

Until they were about to spill over, they vanished without a trace when she closed her eyes.

Returned to the initial appearance.

Several hours later, the sky gradually darkened.

Uesugi Toru's awareness awakened within his exhausted body.

He did not open his eyes for the time being — after all, that also consumed no small amount of strength.

In his dark vision, Uesugi Toru opened the Card Pool Page, preparing to feed the hundreds of gray 【Sight-Robbing Insect Eyes】 he had harvested to Hundred-Eyed Demon.

And the moment he opened the Card Pool, Hundred-Eyed Demon Loli's immature small face popped up, pointing at him and scolding away, looking utterly furious.

No wonder.

Earlier Uesugi Toru setting the Prompt aside was equivalent to a master chef serving a delicious dinner before a diner, yet letting the diner right before his eyes only stare at it for several hours.

Saliva nearly drooled dry.

And Uesugi Toru naturally could not possibly get angry with a child who hasn't even grown all his hair, let alone a Card Pool Phantom.

With a thought, he threw all the 【Sight-Robbing Insect Eyes】 into the Card Pool in one go.

Countless insect eyes turned into animation falling hua-la-la, like rain, crackling as they smashed onto Hundred-Eyed Demon Loli's head, stunning her in one hit.

A moment later, Hundred-Eyed Demon reacted — this was rations arriving.

Her small face twitched, she patted the throne beneath her, letting countless tentacles peek out from under the throne and roll one insect eye after another into the "mouth".

Ten-odd seconds later, the throne's color deepened a degree, and several huge complex eyes that contrasted sharply with the other eyeballs appeared on top.

Leaning on it, comfortable enough that her toes curled, Hundred-Eyed Demon also revealed a satisfied expression.

Although the Epic quality did not change, a huge Progress Bar directly popped out atop her head.

【Hundred-Eyed Demon's Quality Upgrade Progress: 18%.】

Ate several hundred insect eyes, yet still short this much.

But Sickness Retainers are still very, very many; sooner or later the remaining progress can also be filled.

Uesugi Toru closed the Card Pool Page, slowly opened his eyes.

His gaze had just met Imagawa Yoshimoto's when a "dong dong" knocking sound came from the doorway.

Uesugi Toru plucked the Heartstring.

Kaga Kiyomitsu instantly broke through the thin Internal Qi's obstruction, whoosh flying in.

Naturally, also did not forget to close the door behind him.

Seeing the visitor was actually a sword, Imagawa Yoshimoto was taken aback, the words just about to leave her mouth also fell back down.

But Kaga Kiyomitsu who had just flown in trembled in shock, turned left, then turned right.

Hum!

— Owner, what are you two doing!

Hum hum!

— Even with me there's never been this intimate!

"Xiao Jia, stop fooling around." After sleeping several hours, Uesugi Toru had basically recovered the strength to speak, "Be good, I have no strength to deal with you right now."

Hum...

Able to tangibly feel how bad Uesugi Toru's condition was, Kaga Kiyomitsu spun a circle, honestly returned into the Sword Sheath.

But Uesugi Toru could clearly know through the Heartstring that even after returning to the Sword Sheath, Kaga Kiyomitsu was still dissatisfied.

It was still trembling with an amplitude only it could feel.

Simply put, it's jealousy needing comfort.

Uesugi Toru was speechless.

Before, the Two-Shaku Adult getting jealous was one thing, now even Xiao Jia actually gets jealous too — feelings are he's raising a whole bunch of vinegar jars.

Who the next jealous one will be, Uesugi Toru doesn't even dare imagine...

Regarding this, Uesugi Toru's adopted response was to let it be — let Xiao Jia make a fuss for a while and it'll be over, he has no extra energy to comfort this and that right now.

Compared to this, better to first check how many Soul Spirit Points there are.

Kaga Kiyomitsu's exclusive Panel popped up before Uesugi Toru.

【Soul Spirit Points: 3504】

Below followed a string of strengthening effects' price list.

After "Thrust Strengthening · Extreme" became "Thrust Specialization", the required strengthening points reached 1000 points.

Currently Uesugi Toru holds three thousand five hundred points; what he can do is far too much.

But the main direction is still two.

One is to continue accumulating Soul Spirit Points, wait until accumulating five thousand points then directly strengthen a Separation Sorrow Domain with Uniqueness.

This should bring him an unexpected surprise effect.

The other is to quickly exhaust the Soul Spirit Points in hand, convert them into current Combat Power, to cope with stronger enemies to be encountered in the near future.

Here there is a Flag Bearer Key Point affecting the decision.

That is whether to continue sweeping through the various cities and villages within Mikawa Province, to spread Imagawa Yoshimoto's fame.

Or depart from Yoshida Castle, directly strike and take Sickness's head.

— In the data Special Affairs Division gave him, there exists an art that can directly position Sickness by consuming large amounts of Spirit Power.

If this art were placed in Genjitsu, naturally it would no longer work on Sickness who has already reverse-analyzed it.

But in the Sengoku Period, it is without doubt capable of precise positioning.

And it was overwhelmingly likely they hadn't reached Ghost God Level Sickness and Suffering, and couldn't even feel they were being positioned.

If continuing to sweep, it was naturally best to temporarily act as a Hoarder.

But if going straight to Sickness and Suffering to exorcise it, one definitely had to improve one's own combat power as fast as possible.

——Facing an enemy of the rank of Eight Sufferings, even if the other side hadn't grown yet, one had to exhaust every means to guarantee absolute certainty.

What to do?

"Tetsu-kun, what are you thinking about?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto's family calls pulled Uesugi Toru back to reality.

He exhaled: "Mentally a bit tired, just spacing out."

Imagawa Yoshimoto then said nothing, afraid of disturbing him.

Uesugi Toru continued thinking as before——

The current situation was still unclear; at least he had to wait until his body fully recovered before gathering more information from all sides, so as to make a relatively correct decision.

But one thing could be affirmed.

That was, if not strengthening Separation Sorrow Domain, his strengthening package should be "Zangeki Kyoka·Goku," "Thrust Specialization," plus "Fukushima Blaze."

The "Spirit" closely related to Kaga Kiyomitsu's own spirituality and wisdom would not be considered for now.

Because Spirit was an effect with rich long-term returns, it wouldn't help much in the short term.

After all——1500 Soul Spirit Points, and a strengthening price exactly the same as Fukushima Blaze, were right there.

Finishing his thoughts on strengthening Kaga Kiyomitsu, Uesugi Toru drew the thin Gang Qi within his body, wanting to prop himself up with his hands to sit up, leaving that gentle land beneath him.

Imagawa Yoshimoto's words echoed in his ears,

"Tetsu-kun, you can lie down for as long as you want."

"No, resting that long is completely enough."

Imagawa Yoshimoto silently stared at Uesugi Toru, whose complexion was still pale, feeling this was not at all convincing.

But she still let Uesugi Toru leave her lap, watching him take out a small bottle and pour a drop of dew into his mouth.

After this, Uesugi Toru's aura visibly improved, no longer so unstable.

Sitting in place and catching his breath for a while, Uesugi Toru softly said: "Lord Imagawa, can someone get paper, cinnabar, and a large amount of water?"

"Right away."

Imagawa Yoshimoto asked nothing, immediately stood up and walked toward the door.

In less than ten minutes, she had those strong samurai place the cinnabar and paper at the doorway, and set one large water jar after another in the courtyard.

Taking this time to recall the talismans and related arts several times over, Uesugi Toru drew a smile: "Trouble you to hand me the things, Lord Imagawa."

She still said nothing, placing a stack of paper and the ground cinnabar basin before Uesugi Toru, then knelt beside him.

If outsiders saw this scene, they would think Imagawa Yoshimoto was a little servant, and Uesugi Toru was the lord.

"Thank you for your trouble."

Uesugi Toru dipped his index finger into the cinnabar, took a deep breath, and forced out the negligible spirit power within his body.

——The art on this Special Affairs Division "Toubyoufu" had only two components, requiring extremely little spirit power to construct.

Even now, Uesugi Toru, whose spirit power attribute was under 5 points, could slowly draw it with effort.

Because the original intent of creating this Toubyoufu was to let everyone have the ability to purify and fight the diseases brought by Sickness and Suffering.

Of course, what Uesugi Toru drew was only the first-generation Toubyoufu.

In Genjitsu, the Toubyoufu had already been updated through who knows how many versions, and the required spirit power quantity had greatly increased.

The sky darkened.

Imagawa Yoshimoto silently lit candles one by one beside him, placing them around.

Uesugi Toru held his breath and focused, and after drawing the final stroke, moved his finger away from the paper.

Swish.

A faint glow emanated from the paper……now it should be called the Toubyoufu.

"Finished."

Uesugi Toru only felt his vision swim.

He propped himself up with five fingers on the ground, barely supporting his body: "Lord Imagawa……throw this talisman into water, and it will continuously produce water that can cure diseases."

Imagawa Yoshimoto's eyes lit up: "Just this one talisman, can it solve the disease problem in the city?"

"Not enough." Uesugi Toru took another sheet of paper, placing his finger on it: "When the talisman stops glowing, that means the effect has run out."

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had just carefully lifted the talisman, looked at Uesugi Toru, whose complexion was like paper, and couldn't help but ask,

"How many sheets?"

"The more the better."

Imagawa Yoshimoto said nothing.

She silently watched, watching Uesugi Toru breathe with difficulty, raise his finger with difficulty again and again, squeeze out spirit power, drawing until he unconsciously fell to the side countless times, only for her to catch him.

The night grew late.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had watched for no less than ten full hours, reached out and grabbed Uesugi Toru's trembling wrist: "Tetsu-kun, stop."

"Stop, do what?"

Uesugi Toru, whose eyes could no longer see anything, only relying on instinct to keep drawing talismans, retorted.

"You can rest now." Imagawa Yoshimoto's tone was serious.

Uesugi Toru continued retorting: "Something that can be finished by holding on a bit longer, why rest?"

Creak.

He could vaguely hear Imagawa Yoshimoto gritting her teeth.

In the dead of night, the girl raised her voice: "Those ordinary people aren't worthy of making Tetsu-kun torture and squeeze yourself like this!"

Uesugi Toru paused, then said calmly: "Lord Imagawa, they are your subjects."

"So what?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto's tone turned cold: "Yes, I admit they are all my subjects, and I truly want to save them from the bottom of my heart!"

She forced the words out one by one from between her teeth,

"—But the fact is! Even if you bundled all of them together, they still wouldn't amount to half as important as you, Tetsu-kun!"

The Head of Family of the Imagawa Clan ordered for the first time in a long while: "Now, stop for me!"

Uesugi Toru said softly,

"Xiao Jia."

Clang!

Kaga Kiyomitsu whooshed out, floating in mid-air, confronting Imagawa Yoshimoto.

(End of Chapter)