Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 174 - 118: Unexpectedly, A Man Is So Awesome!_2

Chapter 174: Chapter 118: Unexpectedly, A Man Is So Awesome!_2

Ah Man immediately understood what was going on and cursed, "You two useless idiots, can’t even find two living people? Didn’t I leave a secret sign for you in the Castle Town at Nagano Castle?"

"Bullshit, there was nothing there at all!"

"You two must be blind, huh? Or you just didn’t bother to look, hoping we’d just die out there, right? You’ve been wishing for us to die for ages, haven’t you?" In truth, Ah Man had left a sign, sending Ah Qing running back and forth all day to draw it, but she only did it once. Afterwards, she was busy running around with Harano, hustling from one thing to the next, never getting a chance to update the mark. That’s why they’d lost touch, but she could never admit it was her fault—it had to be those two brats slacking off, two born-and-bred losers.

Loser Ah Qian wore a look of humiliation and said nothing more. Last year, the two of them had half-heartedly searched and then gone after their grandfather, quickly reporting that they’d looked everywhere and found nothing. It was a fact: Ah Man and Ah Qing really might’ve run into trouble and died. There was no denying it.

She sulked for a while and finally said, "Anyway, the old man told us to bring you back right away. Minoh’s not peaceful these days—he says Saito and his son are about to start fighting, there’s too much happening. He was very clear: we must bring you back!"

She paused, then scrutinized Ah Man and Ah Qing, suspicion filling her eyes. "You guys aren’t planning to stay here, are you? The old man won’t allow it! We’re Zong Village people, we’re Koka. Sure, we hire ourselves out, it’s how we survive—but we never become anyone’s dogs! That’s what the old man always says!"

"I’ve told you already, you’re the ones acting like dogs. Don’t you understand plain language?" Ah Man raised her leg and kicked her. "And only the old man is really from Koka’s Zong Village. You two are from Kyoto. Your dad was a broke shoemaker, lost at dominoes, couldn’t pay his debt, pawned you off on me. I didn’t even make you call me Master, or treat you like actual dogs—that’s only because the old man vouched for you. And now you dare preach to me?"

Ah Qian’s face twisted with humiliation again, glaring resentfully at Ah Man, but she didn’t argue. She just repeated, "This is the old man’s order. He told you to come back—telling me won’t change a thing."

She insisted, then turned her gaze to Ah Qing and asked, "Ah Qing, are you coming back or not?"

Ah Qing stared blankly, hesitation flickering in her eyes. She dropped her gaze and didn’t say anything right away. But Ah Qian didn’t give her a chance to think—she pressed on immediately, "You’re not going to listen to the old man either, are you?"

Ah Qing still didn’t answer. By rights, she ought to go back, but she was reluctant to leave this place. It wasn’t the comfortable meals she couldn’t part with—she was never afraid of hardship—but suddenly being told to leave, to go back to a life of wandering, made her strangely unwilling.

Ah Qian instantly understood: Ah Qing, just like Ah Man, had gotten soft, corrupted by the easy life. She couldn’t help but mock, "Looks like you’re enjoying yourself here. Don’t want to be Koka anymore, huh? Then stop calling yourself Ah Qing—just call yourself Ba from now on!"

Ba—also known as "Lady Tomoe," "Miss Ba"—was the maid of Mikata Yisho. She was famous for her beauty and her mastery of martial arts, especially the glaive. Legend says that in one battle, six Mounted Samurai ambushed Mikata Yisho’s main camp from behind. Ba stepped forward alone to meet them, using her sleeve armor to block arrows and never retreating a single step. She met the horsemen’s charge with her glaive, killing two on the spot, gravely wounding three others, until the last one broke and fled, leaving his arrows behind as he ran.

From that battle, she became a household name, arguably the most famous Female Samurai in Japanese folklore. The "Ba-type Glaive" is even named after her. Even Tokugawa Ieyasu’s pregnant concubine, who dared face the Takeda Akazuna on the battlefield, was a step behind her. Now Ah Qian was telling Ah Qing to change her name to Ba, mocking her for wanting to be a Female Samurai, chasing after a rich, comfortable life and forgetting her roots.

The sarcasm was biting. Ah Qing’s young face flushed red in an instant; she stood up sharply, gripping her sword hilt, not even looking at Ah Qian, head tilted, eyes to the ground, voice ice-cold: "Say that one more time."

Ah Qian froze, her face cycling through several expressions. In the end she swallowed hard, hesitated, and sat down, not daring to say another word. She hadn’t grown up with Ah Man and Ah Qing, but they’d lived together for almost two years now, and she’d picked up on some of Ah Qing’s habits. She knew: when Ah Qing had her head tilted and refused to look at you, she was truly angry—and if she said anything more, Ah Qing would probably cut her down on the spot.

The main thing was, out of the four of them, Ah Qing was the only one trained purely in martial arts, the strongest by far. Even together, the other two couldn’t beat her—they’d be asking for trouble. If it weren’t for Ah Qing keeping things in check, a few years ago the two of them would’ve ganged up on Ah Man, that shameless old bastard always shooting her mouth off, and pounded her into the dirt at least three times a day.

She was already tough to deal with before; now that Ah Qing had better gear and more killing intent, she was impossible. Ah Qian could only retreat in frustration, while Ah Man’s face started to darken. She was already on edge—Harano had literally fed her, been generous and respectful; the old man had also given her everything, raising her with his own hands. She didn’t know what to do, torn between the two, unable to let go of either. And now Ah Qian had the nerve to stir up trouble? With her temper, there’s no way she’d put up with it.

She slowly hauled herself to her feet and looked down at Ah Qian and Ah Yu, rolling up her sleeves and grumbling, "Well, well, didn’t expect this. Just a little over a year and you two little brats are already getting this bold—daring to sprout shit like that. Forgot how you used to get beaten up every day, huh?"

All this time, Ah Yu had kept quiet, but now she finally spoke. She knelt and nudged Ah Qian aside, giving a shy smile, careful and polite: "Big Sister Ah Man, Big Sister Ah Qing, Ah Qian didn’t mean it that way. You both know how she is—she can’t talk for—"

Ah Man didn’t let her finish, immediately turning on her instead. She slapped her across the head and spat, "Shut up. Out of the four of us—wait, no, between you two—you’re the worst. Ah Qian’s just a brainless fool who bounces around all day, but all her trouble comes from you egging her on. If anyone needs a beating, I ought to start with you!"

Ah Yu fell silent after the slap, an angry glimmer flashing across her face. She knew there was no reasoning with this old bastard, so she began shrinking behind Ah Qian.

After that swat, Ah Man didn’t bother kicking the two of them around any more. Kicking them wouldn’t solve anything anyway. She thought for a moment, stuck her head out the door and called someone over. Then she had Ah Qian and Ah Yu tied up again, dragged straight to the woodshed to be locked away, planning to starve them for a couple of days to teach them a lesson.

Ah Qing watched silently and didn’t object. Ah Qian and Ah Yu had been opposing them for ages. Back in the day, she’d beaten them up plenty of times under Ah Man’s orders. Locking them up meant nothing to her. She simply whispered to Ah Man, "Sister, what should we do now?"