Hmm, still a bit too green, perhaps you should learn well from the monkey in this regard.
"Hahaha, you really know how to talk, monkey..." Saito Dosan laughed again, he walked past the three of them without a care and sat down at the highest seat, holding a delicate jug of wine in his hand, "How’s it going? The task I gave you to collect Spirit Stones, since you’re here to see me, it means you..."
His words were abruptly cut off, the sight of the Overlord of Mino swept over the three, and instantly froze on Hidechika, his expression suddenly stunned.
"It’s like this, Lord Dao San, the task you gave me to collect Spirit Stones from all over the place..." the monkey, oblivious, continued to report with a smile on his face, still bowing and scraping respectfully.
"Stop talking! Shut up first!"
But he was only opening his mouth when Saito Dosan interrupted him with a low shout.
Fujikichiro was startled, his face slightly pale as he looked up, unsure where he went wrong, but noticed that the viper’s gaze at the head wasn’t on him at all, instead it was fixed on the black-haired girl beside him, full of disbelief and eager hope.
When Saito Dosan first saw this, he instinctively thought Yoshitaka had returned at some point and was waiting for him here as well, but quickly sensed something was off.
He remembered something, when his children were born, they were actually twins. He split a name he had once used and named them "Yixiu" and "Yoshitaka" respectively... but his wife for some reason later took Yixiu away, leaving only Yoshitaka with him.
So that means...
This man, known as the Fuma of Mino, ruthlessly cruel, rarely became a bit nervous, his voice trembling slightly with excitement: "You... what’s your name?"
"..."
"..."
The black-haired girl was also a bit taken aback, why was this person asking for her name right off the bat?
She instinctively wanted to reach for the short blade at her waist to introduce herself in the usual way, but found it missing, then remembered that carrying weapons was not allowed into the Heaven-Defending Tower, so she had left it before coming here.
"Sorry, Lord Dao San..." Gu Mo, at the side, lightly coughed and spoke up, "Ah Xiu, she can’t speak, she wasn’t intentionally ignoring your question..."
"...Ah Xiu?!"
A flash of sharp light burst from his eyes, Saito Dosan didn’t care about any of this, he seized the key at once, his gaze as sharp as ever fixed on him, his tone changing: "Are you saying, her name is ’Xiu’?"
Gu Mo quickly recalled, nodding assuredly: "Yes, she also has a knife left by her mother, with this character engraved on it."
Strictly speaking, the name Hidechika was later adopted, because it wasn’t feasible for people to call her Ah Xiu all the time, especially as she accumulated achievements and her fame and status grew, she naturally needed a formal name, so a formal name Hidechika was created based on her ’Xiu’ character.
So from beginning to end, only that character ’Xiu’ was certain.
"That knife, show it to me!"
Saito Dosan seemed almost certain now, he threw down the jug of wine, leaping up from the ground, and with a single stride, grabbed the black-haired girl’s shoulders, shaking her forcefully, his voice particularly excited.
Ping-pong!
"What’s going on!"
"Assassins!"
"Lord Dao San! Lord Dao San!"
"Wha-What... Lord Yoshitaka?!"
The delicate jug of wine shattered into pieces, and the crisp sound caused a commotion in the corridor outside, but in just a few breaths, a large group of armored and armed elite samurai broke through the weak wooden door, pouring in like a tidal wave!
"All of you, get out!!"
Saito Dosan turned his head, his face twisted as he roared at his subordinates.
The latter group exchanged glances, shrugged in resignation, and swiftly retreated the way they came, crowding in the corridor, the clanking of armor fading, leaving only the shattered sliding door.
"..."
"..."
Turning back, Saito Dosan’s face instantly changed to a most amiable expression, his voice especially gentle as he spoke to the somewhat dazed black-haired girl:
"Ah Xiu, I... you... I’m your father!"
In the midst of a stunning silence.
Fujikichiro’s jaw dropped almost to the floor, his mind echoed with these words, with one thought firmly occupying his mind, he instinctively looked at the young man—
If Miss Ah Xiu is Lord Dao San’s daughter, then with such a good relationship with her, wouldn’t he directly soar to great fame and fortune next?
Unaware that strictly speaking, the three of them only met on the same day, Fujikichiro instinctively believed in the lies Gu Mo had recently told him, and felt disheartened; but comparing oneself to others only brought harm, why was there such a gap between people?
Despite so many years of hard work, he was still accumulating capital, waiting for an opportunity to succeed... no matter how hard he tried, he could only manage to secure a chance!
While some people... weren’t they winning from the very beginning!
Unaware of Fujikichiro’s thoughts, Gu Mo just watched the reunion of father and daughter unfold, nodding contentedly, everything developing as he expected, with Ah Xiu meeting her biological father and receiving the recognition and treatment she deserved, and himself about to enjoy gaining a powerful ally.
This was a definite win-win!