Chapter 636

"How far is it from here to Iwami Province?" Pan Yun asked.

Ichijo Jianren bowed deeply and said, "If the journey goes smoothly, three more checkpoints and five days' travel will get us there."

Farther than she'd imagined.

Over the past two days, Pan Yun had been searching the Spirit Realm for information on the Iwami silver mine.

The Spirit Realm itself held no such data, but when it was placed in the research institute, they had injected it with vast amounts of information—humanities, history, and the like.

This Great Ming is not that Great Ming; the timelines differ, and events may vary, but geographical features generally remain unchanged.

So Pan Yun decided to rely on the information she found in the Spirit Realm.

Yet historical changes had altered some place names, making it somewhat difficult.

"Hurry and secure the checkpoint pass. Whatever you need, ask Wang Cong directly." Pan Yun said generously, "Time is paramount."

Ichijo Jianren swallowed hard and agreed, but his feet remained rooted to the ground.

Seeing he didn't move, Pan Yun glanced at him and said, "Go. As long as you serve me faithfully, I will keep my promise to your father—you will return home safely. As for the others, their lives and deaths are their own. I have eyes and ears—I won't implicate you."

Ichijo Jianren's mouth opened wide: "You—you know?"

Pan Yun sneered.

Ichijo Jianren no longer hesitated; he bowed and withdrew.

He had barely taken a few steps when he saw Benshan and Chōsokabe huddled together; the moment they spotted him, they broke apart and watched him in silence.

The three exchanged silent glances, then each looked away, refusing to meet the others' eyes again.

Benshan's face was grim; he stepped forward, watching Ichijo Jianren leave: "Will he sense our plan and go to betray us?"

"He's as spineless as his father—he might really do it," Chōsokabe said grimly. "We can't wait any longer. We strike tonight!"

With their conspiracy concluded, the two turned and left.

Once they were far away, a cat's head poked out from the tree branch where they had stood; it meowed, then leapt down nimbly, trotting around the entire encampment before racing off to find Pan Yun.

"You're still sitting there? Those two are trying to run!" Pan Xiaohei said. "They're planning to betray you and block your passage through the checkpoint."

Pan Yun sighed: "What a pity—I'm a compassionate soul. People all have the will to survive; if they'd just fled alone, I might have turned a blind eye. But now they want to betray us? That's unacceptable."

Pan Xiaohei: "What are you going to do?"

Pan Yun: "Kill one to warn a hundred. Do I have another choice?"

Pan Xiaohei lowered his voice: "I heard from them—the monks in Ichibutsu Temple are powerful too. Not only do the monks possess spiritual abilities, but there are also Shinto practitioners there. They say their Shinto can commune with mountain gods and demon gods. Aren't you afraid?"

Pan Xiaohei's tone was hard to read—was it worry or glee? "After all, this is their land. Don't forget—you bear the mark of the Mount Sanqing mountain god. The mountain gods of foreign lands may not look kindly on you."

After sharing merit and karmic debt with the Mount Sanqing mountain god, Pan Yun had been marked by it.

While traveling through Great Ming, this mark was a boon—whether in mountains or rivers, when cornered, she could draw upon the divine power of land and water through the Mount Sanqing mountain god.

Even if only a trace.

But the mountains and rivers of Wa may not harbor such goodwill toward Pan Yun.

After all, they belong to different nations; if the mountain gods are hostile to each other, Pan Yun's mark will not aid her—it will become a shackle.

Pan Yun waved dismissively: "When the mountain blocks the road, a path will appear. We'll worry about it then."

Pan Yun tiptoed, stretching her neck to peer through the trees at Ichibutsu Temple.

But perhaps the trees were too dense, or perhaps she was too far away—she could only make out a faint gray eave, its color visible only because of the surrounding green.

Pan Yun rubbed her chin: "Pan Xiaohei, that temple doesn't look too far. Why don't you…"

Pan Xiaohei let out a shrill "Meow!" and shouted, "Can't you be nicer to me? I already told you the monks inside are powerful—aren't you worried I'll be captured and turned into a pill?"

Pan Yun lowered her eyes, coldly observing it: "After all that, you're not worried about me—you're worried about yourself…"

"What's the difference between you and me? Aren't we one?"

Pan Yun clicked her tongue, picked it up, and walked off: "Enough. Don't argue. If you don't want to go, I won't force you. Once Ichijo Jianren gets the checkpoint pass, have him gather information."

Pan Xiaohei finally fell silent, calmed down.

They stayed out in the wild until nightfall. Wang Cong and Zhang Weiyi, along with others, had spent the entire day running errands with Ichijo Jianren, delivering two bolts of silk and a sack of silver, and finally returned with a stack of checkpoint passes.

Everyone in the group crowded around curiously to examine the Wa checkpoint passes.

By the firelight, Pan Yun opened one and read aloud: "Height five chi, oval face, fair skin… This is me?"

Ichijo Jianren wiped sweat from his brow and hurried to explain: "Your Excellency, you have no official customs documents, so you must purchase someone else's pass. This is the closest match we could find."

Miaohe opened her own and exclaimed happily: "This one looks like me—four chi five, round face, fair skin, and a nice name: Yuzu. I like yuzu fruit too."

Pan Yun nodded: "That suits you well."

Pan Yun had everyone take their passes and memorize the identity details.

"So… we're now turning into Wa… Japanese?"

Ichijo Taro pretended not to notice her stumble and nodded: "Yes. Had we time, even without customs documents, we could have forged our own passes through careful planning. But you demanded speed…"

So they had to buy ready-made documents.

Pan Yun was familiar with this—when she fled Jingcheng, her third master and fourth sister had taken her to a pawnshop to buy a false identity.

So do her third master and fourth sister now have other identities in Wa?

The thought flashed through her mind; Pan Yun smiled, accepted the method, and nodded: "Rest now. We'll cross the checkpoint at first light."

Everyone responded in unison and took their passes, dispersing.

Pan Yun turned to the sixty-nine captives sitting around the distant fire and asked: "What about theirs?"

Ichijo Jianren said: "They're slaves. They don't need passes."

He pulled out another sheet of paper and offered it with a bow: "Just mark them here."

Pan Yun took it and saw it was blank except for a red seal at the bottom: "What's this?"

"It's a goods manifest. Slaves can be listed under goods."

Pan Yun: … This truly doesn't treat people as people.

Pan Yun handed him the paper: "You're familiar with it—you write it."

Pan Yun called Wang Cong and had him assist him.

Wang Cong was curious about these matters and agreed. (End of chapter)