"What exactly did you see?"

"Demons, demons! So many demons! They just suddenly appeared, all over the mountain..."

"Was this all today? When exactly did they appear, and were there any signs beforehand?"

"It was demons! So many demons... and snakes! Really big snakes!"

"So you just fled down the mountain? What about the others on the mountain, what happened to them?"

"I-I don't know, there were so many demons, we couldn't handle it, the demons just appeared on the mountain suddenly..."

Looking at the soldier in front of him, who seemed scared out of his wits, face pale, speaking stutteringly, and body trembling, Gu Mo couldn't help but twitch his mouth, then waved his hand with a bit of a headache and ordered——

"Take him down to rest well, he's probably scared out of his mind."

This was the person who first escaped from the mountain and reported the news about the demon ghosts causing chaos in the Viper Divine Domain. Originally a soldier guarding Saito Dosan's residence, he now seemed so scared as if his soul had left his body. Gu Mo originally thought he could get some useful information.

After all, he didn't think those things would grow out of the ground. Even if they were attracted by the spirit stones, there should have been some signs beforehand, and there hadn't been any problems for a long time before. Saito Dosan hadn't just started collecting spirit stones now.

Since there hadn't been any issues previously, it showed that the confidentiality measures for that viper were done very well. Recently, however, this change suddenly appeared... Hmm, even attributing it to the butterfly effect he brought seems too general an explanation.

If tracing back to the specific reason, Gu Mo suspected more that there had been some other changes on the mountain recently, or like in those cliché movies, things were fine before, but recently someone committed a taboo.

However, the result of the questioning was what was seen.

Not sure if it's because he was really that scared or what, but this soldier kept repeating... In summary, yes, demon ghosts appeared, but he only knew that demon ghosts were causing trouble on the mountain, and as for what happened exactly, how many demon ghosts there were, how the others on the mountain were...

emmmm, he knew nothing about these.

The situation is just like that, and what exactly is the situation? We'll have to see based on the situation.

"Lord Gu Mo, what should we do now... should we immediately gather people and go up the mountain to take a look?" Fujikichiro, watching the soul-less soldier being taken away, asked anxiously in a low voice, seeking someone's opinion.

Although because of Gu Mo's insistence, Monkey also tried to cozy up and build a connection, climbing up the ranks smoothly, calling out very familiarly in ordinary times, it was all just verbal and when needed, etiquette and distance remained clear, especially in public where even the way of addressing would be corrected on his own.

Though he could build relationships usually, he couldn't overdo it. Otherwise, even if the other party truly didn't care, it couldn't withstand others' jealousy and slander… Fujikichiro had experience with this and had suffered such a setback before.

He wasn't born a spirit stone merchant. Until today, he had just started his public service, but long ago, he roamed places like Owari, Sanhe, and Junhe, acting as a wandering ronin seeking a samurai position, and later successfully entered the service of Matsushita Kahei of Enshu Country.

Because he was inherently clever, worked earnestly and proactively, he naturally caught the master's eye and received much attention, and Kahei really appreciated this clever Monkey and was willing to support him… But the master's favor couldn't withstand the jealousy of others——

Kahei, although he protected him repeatedly, had to abandon him when the slander against him among the retainers grew too much to bear.

When dismissed, the Monkey didn't even know what had happened until Kahei's kind but helpless explanation made him realize it back then when he just kept working tirelessly. He remains very grateful for Kahei's repeated protection and support back then and also learned a lesson from it, becoming more sophisticated and smooth in some respects.

"Well... there's no rush."

Gu Mo glanced up at the sky. Probably because most of the sunset had already sunk behind the western mountains, the sky was gradually dimming. It was the last moment of dusk, right before nightfall, and the sky would completely darken soon.

"It's already very late today. Traveling at night isn't very safe, let alone exploring the mountain. Let's set off tomorrow morning instead."

Fujikichiro opened his mouth, then nodded bitterly.

Although he was eager, the other person made a valid point. Demon ghosts wouldn't fear because there were many people; they would only get more excited due to more prey. Obviously, they weren't unwise beasts, but in some ways, they were even more terrifying than beasts that acted based on instinct and experience.

On the other hand, for humans, night battles aren't an advantageous stage; even in broad daylight, inexperienced soldiers may panic when facing demon ghosts, let alone in the night with limited visibility when the battleground would be the complex environment of deep mountains.

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