Chapter 39

In the early morning, the distant deep blue sea gradually revealed a thread of light, and the sun slowly rose from beneath the horizon. The entire Mount Yagata gradually bathed in a brilliant rosy glow.

In a wooden house on the hillside of Mount Yagata, a bearded giant was hugging a young woman and snoring loudly, his thick eyebrows twitching continuously, as if he had entered a wonderful dream.

"Sir, Sir, something's wrong..." Suddenly, there was a hurried knocking at the door.

The bearded giant's eyes suddenly opened. After listening to the voice in a daze, he immediately burst into a rage, "Damn you, Skinny, do you want to die? Making such a racket so early in the morning? Didn't I tell you not to disturb me at this time?"

"Sir, something's wrong, the young master is in trouble," the skinny man outside shouted.

"What?" The bearded giant was startled, his mind gradually clearing.

"It's Matsuzo who went down the mountain with the young master yesterday. He came back injured, saying the young master was captured," the skinny man continued to shout from outside.

"Ah? Tarou!" The bearded giant pushed away the young woman he was hugging, put on his clothes, and rushed out.

"You, what did you say? What happened to Tarou? Speak quickly!" As soon as he stepped out of the wooden house, the bearded giant grabbed the skinny man by the collar and roared.

"Cough, cough, Sir, the young master was captured by the villagers at the foot of the mountain. You should ask Matsuzo for more details," the skinny man, with his neck squeezed, gasped for breath.

"Hmph, where is Matsuzo?" The bearded giant threw the skinny man to the ground and shouted.

"He's in the council hall. He's also injured and rushed back to the mountain to report," the skinny man got up and quickly said. After all, Matsuzo was his nephew, so he had to say a good word to avoid being punished by Daisuke Yagata.

"Hmph," the bearded giant grunted and rushed to the council hall, with the skinny man running behind him.

"Sir, Sir, save the young master!" As soon as Daisuke Yagata, with a furious expression, entered the council hall, Matsuzo, who was lying on the ground, immediately rolled over and crawled to Daisuke Yagata's feet, hugging one of his legs and crying loudly.

"Speak, what happened?" Daisuke Yagata glared at Matsuzo at his feet.

"Sir, as you instructed, we followed the young master down the mountain to investigate the situation in Tatsuko. When we reached the foot of the mountain, the young master changed his mind and decided to ambush Tatsuko at night. In the woods next to Tatsuko, we fell into the villagers' trap. Many were injured, and I escaped by falling into a stream. The others were captured. Please save the young master, wail, wail, wail..." Matsuzo cried.

"What?" Daisuke Yagata was struck as if by a bolt of lightning, standing there in a daze. Then he quickly remembered something, kicked Matsuzo several meters away, and shouted, "You damn fool, why didn't you stop Tarou?"

Seeing this, the people who had rushed over to the scene secretly despised him, "You should look at your son's character. If he could be persuaded, he wouldn't be your son." Matsuzo rolled on the ground, hit a wooden pillar, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fainted. Daisuke Yagata, still unsatisfied, was about to kick him again, but the skinny man quickly held him back and shouted, "Sir, saving the young master is more important!"

Hearing this, Daisuke Yagata stopped abruptly and shouted, "Yes, save Tarou! Quickly, gather everyone, today we will flatten Tatsuko at the foot of the mountain." The people around him immediately scattered to gather the men from the mountain village.

Seeing Daisuke Yagata finally stop, the skinny man breathed a sigh of relief and secretly looked at his injured nephew, who was just hurt. To avoid Daisuke Yagata's attention, the skinny man quickly approached and whispered, "Sir, should we leave some people to guard here? We only have 24 people in total."

"Hmm? Hmph, no, everyone will go. I will kill all those villagers," Daisuke Yagata was determined to send the villagers at the foot of the mountain to hell. That was his only son. Although he had taken many beautiful concubines, he had only one son. If anything happened to him, he would... Thinking of this, his anger flared up.

"Sir, Banseki Sazaburo still has 7 or 8 people. If we leave, they might take advantage of the situation," the skinny man, though afraid of Daisuke Yagata's anger, swallowed and continued to persuade him in a low voice.

"Will they dare? When I return, I will kill them all," Daisuke Yagata was furious.

"Sir, if they close the gate of the mountain village, even if we can eventually capture it, we will suffer significant losses. The people from Mount Chokozan have always been eyeing us. If our strength is weakened, they will take advantage of the situation. After all, our territory is quite profitable," the skinny man said.

"Hmm," Daisuke Yagata was clearly moved by the skinny man's last words. He had also fought with the people from Mount Chokozan several times, and they were indeed difficult to deal with. "Alright, you stay with 6 people, and the remaining 17 will go with me. I will kill everything that is alive there," Daisuke Yagata finally agreed to the skinny man's suggestion.

Soon, all the bandits gathered. Daisuke Yagata promised that after capturing the village, everything would belong to the bandits, and there would be rewards upon returning to the mountain village. Then he selected 17 bandits and set off down the mountain with a fierce expression. The skinny man, on the other hand, led 6 disappointed bandits who were not selected to guard the base.

In the center of the bandit village on Mount Yagata, in the highest wooden house, a bandit with a topknot was staring blankly at a middle-aged bandit lying on the tatami. The middle-aged bandit's eyes were tightly closed, and if it weren't for his breathing, everyone would have thought he was dead. This was the scar-faced bandit leader Banseki Daisuke, who had been unconscious since being injured by Roshii Masahiro. The one with the topknot was his son, Banseki Sazaburo.

"Prince, Prince," Banseki Sazaburo, who was in a daze, suddenly heard someone calling him softly from behind. He slowly turned his head. It was the last elite bandit left by his father, named Yoroku.

Banseki Sazaburo stood up and walked to the door, looking at Yoroku and asked, "Yoroku, what is it?" He had been suppressed by Daisuke Yagata for days, and there had been bad news every day. This time, it probably wouldn't be good news either.

"Good news, Prince," Yoroku said excitedly, "I just saw Daisuke Yagata leading more than ten people down the mountain. It seems that Daisuke Tarou was captured by the villagers at the foot of the mountain."

"Oh!" Banseki Sazaburo responded indifferently. How could this be good news? If his father could wake up, that would be good news. Even if Daisuke Tarou was captured, as long as Daisuke Yagata was fine, his current predicament couldn't be solved.

"Prince, there are only 6 or 7 people left in the Daisuke family. We..." Yoroku hesitated.

"What then? What can we do?" Banseki Sazaburo replied indifferently.

"Prince, we should immediately gather our people and take the opportunity to kill those who are left behind!" Yoroku, seeing that the young master still didn't understand, suggested directly.

"What? This... This isn't right, they have 6 or 7 people, and we only have 8. What about the silent Tadajiro and the others?" Banseki Sazaburo was startled and exclaimed.

"Prince, Tadajiro and the others are not a concern. As long as we don't touch the people in the village outside the mountain, they won't make a sound. This is our best chance. Once Daisuke Yagata eliminates the village at the foot of the mountain, his power will increase, and he will be able to sit on the position of leader. Tadajiro and the others will join him, and then it will be our end," Yoroku said anxiously.

"This... This..." Banseki Sazaburo was hesitant.

"Prince, Tsuru has been captured for four days. If we don't act soon, it will be too late," Yoroku decided to push harder when he saw Banseki Sazaburo still hesitating.

"Hmph!" Indeed, Banseki Sazaburo's face turned red with anger. Tsuru was Kousuke's daughter, the most beautiful woman in the mountain village, and Banseki Sazaburo's betrothed. She was forcibly taken by Daisuke Yagata's men four days ago. Kousuke had sought help from Banseki Sazaburo, but to avoid a major conflict, Banseki Sazaburo had chosen to endure it. But every time he thought about it, he was filled with rage. It was a blatant slap in the face. His intended woman was taken, and he didn't even rescue her. Was he still a man? So, the rumor "Banseki Sazaburo is not a man" had spread throughout the mountain village. Even worse, some of his subordinates thought he was heartless and joined Daisuke Yagata's camp.

"Yoroku, secretly gather everyone. We will catch them off guard," Banseki Sazaburo punched the doorpost and said with a grim face.

"Yes, Prince," Yoroku bowed.

At the same time, in a small grass hut in the village outside the mountain, 9 bandits were crowded together.

"Chunjiro, what should we do?" an older bandit asked.

"Hmm, don't underestimate the village at the foot of the mountain. I think what those who carried Banseki Daisuke back said might be true. Even if Daisuke Tarou is a fool, he wouldn't be the only one to escape. So, Daisuke Yagata's trip down the mountain might have met a tough opponent," a bald man said in a rough voice.

"Now the mountain village is empty. Although Banseki Sazaburo is weak, Yoroku won't be idle. Hahaha, we will have a good show," the bald man continued.

"Do you mean there will be a fight in the mountain village?" someone asked.

"Hahaha, if Yoroku doesn't want to be killed by Daisuke Yagata when he returns, he will take this chance. This is their last opportunity," the bald man answered confidently.

"But, didn't you say Daisuke Yagata would meet a tough opponent at the foot of the mountain? Will he still cause trouble for Banseki Sazaburo when he returns?" someone questioned.

"A wounded wild boar is still a wild boar, and the more wounded it is, the more ferocious it becomes. Although he will meet resistance at the foot of the mountain, he is still the strongest among us when he returns. They will eventually have to settle their differences. If Banseki Daisuke wakes up suddenly, it will be troublesome. So, Daisuke Yagata will definitely take action against Banseki Sazaburo to boost morale," the bald man rubbed his bald head and said.

"Speaking of which, Kousuke hasn't returned yet?" someone said.

"Yes, that guy is really pitiful," someone quickly agreed.

"Have you found where Kousuke's wife and daughter are being held?" the bald man suddenly asked.

"They are probably in the Daisuke family's dungeon," a thin bandit said.

"Ah! We are the only ones left from the old leader's time. We became bandits because we couldn't survive. In the old leader's time, we only robbed the rich, but now we always rob the farmers," the older bandit sighed.

The small hut fell into silence for a moment.

"Now we can only wait and see the result of their fight. If they are both weakened before Daisuke Yagata returns, we can sneak into the Daisuke family's dungeon and rescue Kousuke's wife and daughter. It will be a way to repay Kousuke's secret help over the years," the bald man finally spoke. Everyone nodded silently.

Thus, as Daisuke Yagata led the bandits down the mountain, the various factions in the bandit village immediately began to move.