28 Chapter 28: Publicly Killing in the Street.
When Zhou Ming regained consciousness, he found himself standing on a street.
This was his second experience of world-crossing teleportation, but unlike the first time, there was no process of falling asleep and waking up, nor the same kind of barrier that separated him from the world.
He simply appeared in this world, and the whole process was extremely smooth.
Zhou Ming looked around.
It was a road paved with bluestone slabs, wide enough to accommodate two carriages side by side, with shops, canteens, teahouses, bathhouses, and passing girls in kimonos, geishas with their hair pinned up high, samurais with swords at their waists, and vendors carrying goods...
Amidst the bustling crowds, Zhou Ming, who was dressed differently from his surroundings, stood quietly by the roadside, but did not attract any strange looks from the people around him.
While Zhou Ming was surveying his surroundings, the main god had already stuffed information into his brain.
[Tosho Island Country, Moonlight Age. The monarch of the country, Nohara Momonosuke, who has ruled the world for twenty years, feels that his time is coming to an end. He therefore summons all the daimyos in the country and announces that he will pass down the throne.]
[However, his requirement for passing on the throne was not an heir, not a vassal,nor how much wealth or how many samurais a certain daimyo had]
[He wants to see the skilled warriors with exceptional martial arts from all over the world fighting and bleeding each other.]
[He aims to have the daimyos who aspire to rule the world bring their self-proclaimed number one samurai and have them kill each other as agents of the daimyos.]
[The final, strongest samurai of the world, the daimyo he represents will be the heir to the world.]
[This is a game of a monarch, a tyrant, and a demon king before his death.]
[Mission Mode: Single Player Survival]
[Mission 1: Participate in the "Number One Samurai Tournament". Within 10 days, join any daimyo's faction and obtain a spot to participate in the "Number One Samurai Tournament". Reward points: 1000. If the mission fails, 3000 reward points will be deducted.]
[Mission 2: Eliminate daimyos. For every daimyo you make lose their qualification to compete for the throne, you will receive 100 reward points.]
[Mission 3: Obtain the title of "Number One Samurai" in the world. Reward points: 3000.]
[When the "Number One Samurai Tournament" ends, the mission ends, and you will return to the main god space.]
[Newbie Special Buff: Cold Weapons Level 2, limited to this mission only.]
[Newbie Special Reward: Every time you defeat a samurai in a martial arts contest, you will obtain a portion of their martial arts experience.]
[There is no identity information in this world, so the appearance of the reincarnated will be disguised to a certain extent! Mission starts now!]
After carefully considering the contents of the task for a while, Zhou Ming finally came back to his senses.
He was already familiar with the world's background, so there was nothing to be surprised about. He was more concerned about the three tasks, where only task 1 had a penalty for failure, but it was not severe, and the other two tasks had rewards.
In other words, even if Zhou Ming didn't do any of the three tasks, he would only lose 3000 reward points at most, and would not be directly eliminated by the main god, unless his reward points became negative.
Although he knew that the main god had very lenient requirements for reincarnators in the first three novice tasks, it was still somewhat unexpected for Zhou Ming to be this lenient.
"However, even though it's not mandatory, as a reincarnator, I will definitely try my best to complete the tasks for more reward points."
The tasks arranged by the main god would become more and more difficult, and skipping class would only make the reincarnator lack the reinforcement of reward points, making it more difficult as they progress until they die in one of the tasks.
"Well, although I will definitely participate in the main task, it's such a lenient condition that not taking advantage of it is simply a waste!"
Zhou Ming rubbed his chin and laughed.
"Hey! Kid, what are you laughing at! Haven't you heard this Lord calling you!"
A rough voice exploded in his ear, interrupting Zhou Ming's thoughts. He couldn't help but look with some disgust at the owner of the voice.
"Asshole! What kind of look is that! Damn brat, do you look down on me?"
A samurai with a comical headpiece and wooden clogs, with a flushed face and a drunken appearance, shouted at Zhou Ming excitedly.
Not wanting to stir up trouble, Zhou Ming tried to remain calm and said, "Get lost."
"You asshole!"
The samurai's blood boiled, and in a fit of rage and fueled by alcohol, he immediately drew his sword and pointed it at Zhou Ming.
"How dare you treat a samurai like this! Which dojo do you belong to, who is your teacher? Hurry up and say it!"
Zhou Ming sighed, why were these samurai so temperamental? Why couldn't they just talk peacefully? Was it reasonable to draw their swords at the slightest provocation?
Although Zhou Ming wasn't the most patient person, seeing the other person look so excited as if he were going to attack at any moment, he could only suppress his emotions and carefully choose his words to greet him, "You're making too much noise. Can't you just move aside?"
"Ah! Die!" The samurai's eyes turned red, and he raised his sword high to strike Zhou Ming's head.
Ding!
There was a crisp sound.
The movement of the samurai's raised arms came to a halt in midair, and he was trapped in a daze.
The samurai sword he held in his hand was now only half its original length, with the other half spinning in the air, drawing an arc before landing on the ground with a crisp clanging sound.
He stared blankly at the long sword in Zhou Ming's hand, which was definitely not a samurai sword style. Just now, this sword effortlessly cut through his own samurai sword.
"What kind of sword is that you're wielding?" The samurai asked somewhat unwillingly.
As a samurai, being cut down by someone else's sword was a great shame. His only hope now was that he had lost because of inferior weapons, not inferior skills.
Zhou Ming raised an eyebrow and said, "What's the matter? I've been compromising every step of the way, and yet you still won't let me go. Now you even want to take my knife? You're going too far!"
With a casual flick of his wrist, the samurai couldn't even see the sword's blade as it was already piercing his neck.
"This knife would be a waste to use on you, but, hmph, as expected, sometimes you have to kill a mosquito to enjoy peace and quiet."
With a gentle tug, there was not a drop of blood on the blade made of the Adamantine alloy.
He sheathed his sword.
Bits of martial arts experience suddenly appeared in his mind, and Zhou Ming gradually absorbed and digested them.
"Is 'Takeuchi Danshui-Ryū' his school of martial arts?"
Zhou Ming carefully appreciated the martial arts experience that this samurai kindly provided, even though he didn't know the name of the school.
Unlike the previous fight, the assassins' combat experience was extremely rich and not limited to firearms. There were explosives, assassinations, poison, and a variety of other skills, and combat experience contained a great deal of knowledge.
On the other hand, the samurai's martial arts experience was mainly focused on swordsmanship. Although each martial arts school had its own unique characteristics, they all fell into the category of cold weapons, and were specialized and refined.
"Murder!"
As the samurai fell, the surrounding merchants and laborers erupted in screams. Those who had been too afraid to approach because of the drawn swords now panicked and fled further away.
However, a few men dressed similarly as samurai pushed their way through the crowd, their faces contorted in anger as they shouted.
"Kotaro!"
"You bastard, where do you come from, samurai? How dare you kill in public!"
"Damn bastard, do you think you can bully us just because there's no one from the Takeuchi Danshui-Ryū here? Draw your sword!"
"Draw your sword!"
The samurai had not even approached yet, but they had already drawn their swords and clearly did not want to give Zhou Ming a chance to react, intending to simply hack him to death.
"In broad daylight, killing in public, is the world so chaotic?"
"Alas, in troubled times, one is not as good as a dog in a peaceful era. In such a dangerous situation, even I can only protect myself wisely!"
Zhou Ming's face showed a faint sense of sadness. A pistol slipped into his hand from his sleeve, and he raised his hand and fired three bullets into the foreheads of the three rushing men.
If necessary, he could even squeeze out a few tears to set the mood and add a touch of beauty to his sorrowful expression.
A swordsman who appeared cold and stern on the outside but was full of infinite tenderness on the inside, shedding tears while killing... imagining that scene would be quite beautiful.
Unfortunately, no one was there to appreciate it.
Amidst the deafening gunfire, the three men fell back, their bodies slumping onto the cobblestone ground. In the dust that rose, their blood splattered on the ground, like a blooming red lotus, seductive and charming.
Only the last man remained. He had originally fallen behind, and by the time he drew his sword, he saw the people in front of him falling one after another. He was frightened and sobered up immediately.
"It's good news that guns can be used in this world. With firearms, my chances of survival have greatly increased."
"I did not gain any martial arts experience. Using guns for self-defense is feasible, but the benefits are not great."
"Hmm, you get what you pay for; it's a fair exchange. I wonder if I can use gu worms?"
Zhou Ming put away the gun and nodded, having completed a simple experiment and reached some conclusions, but there were still some questions that needed to be answered.
What is the technological level of this world? Are there firearms in use? Is there extraordinary strength? Are there spirits or gods? These questions, which are crucial to his survival, must be answered.
"Hey, where are you going?"
At this moment, the samurai who had narrowly escaped death was trembling and preparing to run away. But when Zhou Ming suddenly yelled at him, he fell to his knees, his legs giving out from under him.
"My lord, please don't kill me! I absolutely did not intend to offend you just now. Spare my life! Spare me, I have an 80-year-old mother at home..."
The samurai wailed and kowtowed repeatedly to Zhou Ming.
"I think you're not even thirty years old. Your mother is 80 years old?
Zhou Ming kicked the samurai to the ground, shouting, "You samurai place so much importance on honor, but why are you all so cowardly?"
"Stand up!"
"Lord, please don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"
The warrior didn't seem to know if he was scared or naturally timid. Zhou Ming asked him to stand up, but he didn't dare to. He continued to kowtow to Zhou Ming on the ground, begging for mercy.
"What a nuisance!" Zhou Ming impatiently stepped on the warrior's back and pointed at him with his hand, activating a rank 2 soul-manipulating Gu.
This was one of the rank 2 Gu worms in Zhou Ming's set of soul-manipulating Gu, which could confuse others' minds like being hypnotized, making them obedient like a puppet.
Soon, the warrior's eyes became blurry, and he began to laugh foolishly while his movements gradually stopped. His body swayed as if he were sleepwalking.
