Lann followed his band of rangers across the wooden bridge and saw a ninja slumped against the tree roots on a slope opposite them.
He wore a short cape seemingly woven from the feathers of a large bird of prey, and his face was covered by a strange Japanese-style mask.
His attire was bizarre, and he wore no armor.
As Lann approached, he could clearly feel the individual’s breathing pattern, a hallmark of ninja training.
Lann had only encountered three ninjas so far: two old men and the wolf. He had never seen someone dressed .
This person was severely injured; even with a body honed through special training, he probably wouldn’t last more than ten minutes.
"Are you... that foreign warrior?"
He gasped and coughed up blood foam while trying hard to lift his head to look at the person before him.
"I was ambushed ahead of time... quickly, go save Lord Yuzi... quickly..."
Even in his final moments, this person only cared about his master, yet Lann did not hurry to act on his urging.
"As a ninja yet ambushed beforehand, you must know this is unusual, right? Who has been arranging the security at Hirata Manor recently?"
Quickly discerning friend from foe was Lann’s top priority.
A traitor’s harm was far worse than most enemies.
The ninja on the ground widened his eyes at first, then calmed down beneath the mask.
Ninjas grew up in cruelty, and this dying ninja quickly accepted the fact he’d been betrayed.
"The only ones who could set my operational route were... Lady Butterfly and... Owl, sir."
After uttering these final words, the ninja lowered his head onto his stomach and stopped breathing altogether.
Lann’s lips twitched slightly.
Well, the traitor is one of those two old ninjas who seem difficult to deal with, or... perhaps both?
Things have indeed deteriorated to a troubling extent.
Without further delay, Lann decisively turned around and headed towards Hirata Manor.
At least they’ve narrowed the target range to two people; that’s a gain.
"Hirata Manor hasn’t completely fallen yet. Later, with me as the spearhead, we’ll break into the manor!"
In fact, if all Lann encountered were these bandit-level ruffians, he could easily cut through them by himself.
However, he didn’t know what other measures the enemy might have; preparing a team to support him was more secure. Moreover, having one more ally who dared to wield a blade only increased lethality.
"Everyone." Lann’s cat-like eyes swept over all his gathered subordinates, his tone calm yet rational.
"We are all rangers who have struggled within Iwami Country and are well-known. Once the Inner Mansion comes, they will surely purge us. If you still hold illusions, you’d better commit suicide on the spot. If you want to live long, saving the Hirate family is our only option!"
Before a hard battle, a unified ideology was necessary, even if his subordinates were just a few rangers.
Lann’s knowledge and memories told him: the fewer people you have, the more effort you should make on this point.
After rational analysis, in emotion and reason, the rangers had to regard the task of ’keeping the Hirate family alive’ as safeguarding their own lives.
After saying this, the rangers’ eyes no longer flickered, but rather held a resolute and fierce look.
Most rangers had the tenacity for this; anyone who didn’t want them to earn or survive, they would fight fiercely against.
While Kotaro and those Ashigaru inserted by the Hirate family didn’t need encouragement for their fighting spirit to stay firm.
They depended on the Hirate family to survive in this chaotic age, their families also living below the castle town of Hirata Manor, and were already desperate to act.
The subordinates, already arranged in battle formation, nodded toward Lann, taking deep breaths at the tightly shut manor gates, ready and awaiting commands.
Lann, meanwhile, slightly rotated his ankles and knees, then charged towards the wall beside the gate!
The gates of Hirata Manor were a typical Eastern-style entrance, with broad eaves covering the main gate.
The surrounding wall was much simpler, merely a four-meter-high stone barrier.
Though Lann hadn’t practiced the Light Body Skill yet, a sprint and push-off from the wall, combined with his extraordinary arm strength, allowed him to flip smoothly over a wall that many would need a ladder to cross.
As he landed, he saw the castle town still had many people gathered, wielding various weapons or farm tools, confronting and maneuvering against the bandits.
’They haven’t even cleared the gates... is the main force heading directly towards the inner residence?’
The thought flashed for a moment, and Lann immediately pulled off the massive gate bar the width of an average human waist nearby.
He tugged on the broad and solid gate, pulling it open to both sides.
Outside, the Ranger Group, already well-prepared, began shouting for courage as the gap widened.
Following Lann’s orders, they charged straight in! They began slaughtering the scattered bandits!
These bandits, in Lann’s eyes, posed no issue beyond their numbers.
They lacked discipline and would never cluster around Hirata Manor’s treasures, as that would be too inefficient for looting.
Dispersed bandits encountering organized rangers, the conclusion was inevitable.
With a "bang," Lann kicked a samurai sword from beside a dead body at his feet.
It flew over more than ten meters, piercing through the chest of a bandit clutching a heap of silk, pinning him to the wall with the guard of the sword hilt lodged in his chest.
When the Demon Hunter reached the scene, within the small hut from which the bandit had stolen the silk, lay the piled corpses of a young farmwife and an elderly couple. Blood oozed outward.
These bandits weren’t just here to loot; they were also here to kill.
The Ranger Group organized by Lann was invincible against scattered enemies.
In cold weapon combat, as long as there wasn’t a vast difference in combat strength, forming a battle formation was always superior to going solo!
The rangers’ efficiency in clearing enemies was swift, and by the time Kotaro led the group in one more sweep back to Lann’s side, there were still a few large chicken feathers stuck on his head.
It seemed even the chickens confined previously had come out to join the chaos, scared off.
But it appeared they were all cut down by the battle formation.
Lann noted Kotaro’s expression; his eyes were bloodshot, and blood, sweat, and snot streamed down in a mix.
"Have you found your mother?"
Lann suddenly inquired.
He recalled Kotaro mentioning that his mother lived within the town below the castle.
But the small, scruffy-faced man merely gritted his teeth and trembled in response.
"Sir, where do we strike back next?"
His mother was gone, spoken in just four words. Immediately, he shifted back to planning the next course of action.
Yet Lann could sense it wasn’t because he wasn’t grieving. On the contrary, when he spoke of his mother’s teachings at Longquan River’s water source, his proud demeanor wasn’t feigned.
In recounting the "Star Oblation Ceremony" his mother prayed for him at, that cared-for feeling wasn’t an act.
Though he looked unimpressive, his mother loved him.
But those who survived harsh conditions often bore a sort of realism.
To survive, even when the closest ones died before their eyes, they had to keep thinking about those immediate worries of daily necessities because life wouldn’t allow the time to stop and mourn.
One didn’t work for an hour wouldn’t eat for an hour; one didn’t work in a day wouldn’t eat in a day.
Thus, giving an illusion that they weren’t sad at all.
And now, Kotaro’s immediate ’daily necessities’ were clearing the bandits.
Lann glanced down at his palm.
Just hours ago, these very hands of his broke a Mibu Balloon crafted from a corpse here at Longquan River, letting its water splash upon him, dispelling illness and receiving fortune.
"We’ll fight back to the stronghold, where our patrol is unused yet, most likely holding the group’s fighting force intact."
Lann instructed, and Kotaro immediately set off to execute as though delaying a second would tangle him with troubling thoughts.
The young Demon Hunter pursed his lips, watching the short man’s back.
He couldn’t console Kotaro directly; all he could do was help Kotaro deal with his immediate ’daily necessities,’ which meant—