Chapter 32

In the wild high mountains of April, the trees were lush and green. From a distance, the forests undulated with the terrain, forming a vast sea of trees. The afternoon sun shone directly on the earth, and the rippling stream emitted a faint mist, forming wisps of vapor in the sky above the forest.

At the foot of the mountain, there was a large expanse of flat land with dozens of mud-and-wood houses. A black hawk perched under the eaves of the largest house, its head tucked in, dozing off.

"Ah!" Suddenly, a scream came from inside the house, startling the hawk, which took off with a flutter of its wings.

"Songmeizi, can you be a bit gentler?" Inside the mud-and-wood house, Masahiro, lying on his back on the tatami with his back exposed, said with a pained expression.

"Ah, I'm... I'm sorry, my lord," Songmeizi replied in a voice softer than a mosquito's.

Masahiro felt as if he were in a world of ice and fire. After rushing back to his residence and taking a bath, he was still in a headache trying to find something to treat his wounds when Songmeizi entered with some crushed herbs. In fact, Songmeizi was also very anxious when she heard that the lord was injured. Since the lord arrived, he had been very kind to her and her family, an orphaned mother and child. Recently, he had even taken her in as a maid (in the Sengoku period, the maids chosen by the powerful families were usually unmarried women), which had greatly improved their living conditions. So Songmeizi had always been very grateful to Masahiro. When she heard that Masahiro was injured, she quickly went to the nearby mountains to gather some herbs, processed them carefully, and brought them to Masahiro's residence to help him apply them.

Masahiro looked at the crushed herbs and hesitated, but when Songmeizi mentioned that her late husband had used these herbs for injuries in the fields and they had been very effective, he agreed. After all, having a beautiful maid apply medicine was a pleasant experience, though it was only for his back; he would handle his thighs and buttocks himself.

When Masahiro lay down with hope, exposing his back for Songmeizi to apply the medicine, tragedy struck. The juice of the herbs was highly irritating, and as soon as it touched his wounds, a burning pain shot through him. He had almost decided to give up, but then he thought that the more potent the medicine, the better the effect, and he couldn't let her good intentions go to waste, so he gritted his teeth and endured it. However, it seemed that Songmeizi, who had never seen another man's bare body except her husband's, was very nervous. Her small hands trembled as she applied the medicine, and she accidentally applied too much force, causing Masahiro's wound to be hit again, and he couldn't help but cry out in pain.

This painful yet enjoyable treatment lasted for about an hour. Finally, Masahiro's back was fully treated, and he let out a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his forehead. The treatment by a beautiful maid was not as easy as he had thought. In the end, Songmeizi found a long piece of old cloth to wrap his wounds. Looking at his bandaged upper body, Masahiro felt like a half-finished mummy.

"Um, Songmeizi, I feel much better now. Thank you. Leave the medicine and go out," Masahiro said, looking at Songmeizi, who was blushing and looking down.

"Yes, my lord," Songmeizi knew that Masahiro would treat his thighs and other areas next, and her ears turned even redder. She bowed low and walked out like a wronged young wife, taking small, quick steps.

Watching Songmeizi's shy and fleeing figure, Masahiro smiled and shook his head. Then he began to treat the other injured parts of his body.

"Ah!" "Ah!" Just as Masahiro was about to roll up his clothes to treat his thighs, he heard two consecutive screams from the doorway, followed by silence. After a while, Saboro's voice came from outside, "My lord."

"Yes, Saboro? Come in," Masahiro replied.

The small wooden door creaked open, and Saboro, drenched in sweat, walked in. The sweat was probably from standing in the sun for a while. Songmeizi had probably been startled to see Saboro standing outside when she walked out, and Saboro had been startled by her scream.

"My lord, we caught a bandit," Saboro bowed and said excitedly.

"What? A bandit? What happened?" Masahiro was surprised.

"This is what happened. We were patrolling and found a suspicious man looking around the village. We didn't recognize him, so we caught him. He said he was the leader of the bandits on the mountain and asked us to let him go," Saboro was still excited.

"Hmm? Why didn't you come in earlier to report? Come, take me to see him," Masahiro, ignoring his wounds, picked up his sword and stood up, walking out.

"Yes, my lord," Saboro bowed and thought to himself, "How could I come in earlier? Who knows what you were doing inside?" Seeing Masahiro at the door, he quickly followed.

"My lord, my lord," Saboro said softly as he followed Masahiro closely.

"Hmm?" Masahiro turned and looked at Saboro with a puzzled expression.

"My lord, although he says he's a bandit, we don't think he looks like one," Saboro cautiously expressed his opinion.

"Why?" Masahiro was confused. Maybe they had caught a wandering peasant by mistake.

"Because he doesn't look like a bandit at all," Saboro said firmly.

Masahiro was speechless. What kind of reason was that? Well, let's go and see. He quickened his pace towards the center of the village.

...

"Ha ha ha. Release me now, or my men will flatten your village tonight!" Before Masahiro reached the central open area of the village, he heard a boastful voice shouting. Who dares to be so arrogant on my territory? Masahiro felt a surge of anger. He had just been tortured by the medicine and was looking for someone to vent his frustration on. Today, you're out of luck. Thinking this, he quickened his pace. Turning a corner, Masahiro finally saw the situation. A man was tied to a wooden post in the open area, facing away from him, and was loudly threatening the people around him. About ten young men were holding short bamboo spears, glaring at the man. The others in the domain were probably still distributing pork at the training ground, so only these young men responsible for patrolling and guarding were here.

Masahiro walked over quickly.

"My lord," the young men saw their lord and quickly gave a standard military salute. After half a month of training, they had gradually adapted to this strange etiquette. Of course, only Masahiro was qualified to receive this salute. Masahiro returned the salute and walked up to the man who was still shouting.

"Ha ha ha, you will regret this, ha..." The voice suddenly stopped as if it had been cut off.

"Hmm?" Masahiro felt that the man in front of him looked familiar. He frowned and tried to remember. Yes, wasn't this one of the two bandits who tried to rob him on the way here more than half a month ago? It's an old acquaintance. Recalling this, he looked at the man in front of him and smiled. The man was the same as before; he had been shouting at first, but after Masahiro had nailed two wooden spikes into his fingers, he had cooperated.

"Ha ha, you must be Kousuke, right? We meet again," Masahiro said with a smile.

"Uh... uh..." The man in front of him clearly recognized Masahiro but seemed very nervous, his eyes wide and his throat moving, but he couldn't make a sound.

"Ah!" The throat, which had been silent due to extreme panic, finally made a sound. "It's you? No, devil, you're a devil, don't come closer, don't come closer, ah, please," Kousuke screamed, kicking his legs to try to move away from the man who had haunted his nightmares.

Masahiro found it amusing. It seemed that the torture last time had a significant impact on him. "Kousuke, you should know why I'm here, right? Be honest. If I'm not satisfied, I don't mind making you taste it again," Masahiro said with a smile, glancing at Kousuke's bound hands with ill intent.

Feeling Masahiro's gaze and that familiar devilish smile, Kousuke's body began to tremble violently. "Devil! No, my lord, my lord, please spare me, I'll tell you everything, whatever you want to know, I'll tell you," Kousuke wisely chose to comply in the face of the harsh reality. The young patrol members were amazed by the stark difference in the man's behavior, and their eyes were filled with fervent admiration for their lord.