CHAPTER 244: CHAPTER 176: IT SEEMS LIKE A HOPE TO RETURN TO THE MODERN ERA

After Izumi Hichiji became a consultant, his first task was to help Harano find a doctor. He was actually quite enthusiastic about the job. Despite not being fully recovered from his injuries, he immediately gathered Asa, Ayu, and a large sum of money to set off and try to hire someone.

The elderly monk he recommended, skilled in medicine, lived on Mount Hiei, the Buddhist holy land of Japan. It wasn’t very far away—barely neighboring Owari. Mount Hiei straddles Yamashiro and Omi, and getting from Owari to Omi is convenient; you just have to pass through a gap in the middle of the Ise Mountain Range the whole way.

Harano personally led people to escort Meng Ziqi to Old Wanjin, so that the old monk could come for consultation more easily. That monk had an odd quirk too; rumor was that when he went to Ming Country years ago, he was shipwrecked, and hadn’t set foot on a boat since. Going to New Wanjin wasn’t convenient, so Meng Ziqi had to be transported over instead.

Harano had nothing urgent for a while, so he settled down to wait in Old Wanjin, even preparing for the possibility that Izumi Hichiji might not be able to get anyone and planning to bring Meng Ziqi to Mount Hiei himself for treatment. But before Izumi Hichiji sent back any news, Harano, who checked Meng Ziqi’s pulse daily, started to faintly notice something unusual—Meng Ziqi’s body seemed to be recovering again, or at least had stopped deteriorating.

He was very surprised at first, but after patiently observing for a few more days, he realized it wasn’t an illusion. Meng Ziqi’s condition had stabilized again, and even slightly improved; at least his pulse had gotten a bit stronger.

For a while Harano gazed thoughtfully toward the west. The only difference between Old Wanjin and New Wanjin for Meng Ziqi was the distance to the Ise Mountains. Could their original crossing still be affecting them? Was it only when they stayed close enough to the crossing site that they could maintain that miraculous recovery ability?

It’s not scientific, but then again, nobody truly dares claim science can explain everything. Their unfortunate time-travel, at least, is something modern science can’t account for at all.

Harano could barely contain the urge to haul Meng Ziqi over to Ise Mountain to observe a while longer, but considering they had already booked a doctor and Meng Ziqi’s health had only just stabilized and hadn’t improved much yet, he calmed down and waited patiently for another month. At last the old monk finally arrived.

The old monk was indeed quite skilled, especially in acupuncture. But after giving Meng Ziqi several treatments, Meng Ziqi still showed little response. In fact, the old monk became more interested in the various prescriptions Harano had been using long-term on Meng Ziqi, probing in all sorts of roundabout ways to figure them out. In the end, Harano lost patience and sent him away directly.

Izumi Hichiji was a bit disappointed—this was already the most skilled doctor he could think of. But Harano remained gentle as always. He took Izumi Hichiji’s hand, earnestly thanked him for his trouble, and then sent people with gifts to accompany him to Koka to gather other villagers from his hometown.

Once Izumi Hichiji had been sent off, Harano immediately took Meng Ziqi to Hibi Village, returning to his first stop after crossing over—Jiulang’s home.

He had been away from Hibi Village for nearly three years now, transforming from a fake Wandering Samurai from the Western Country into a pint-sized small Daimyo. But Hibi Village itself hadn’t changed much—still poor as dirt. If anything, Bald Jūbē was balder, and Jiulang and Ah Ping had aged a fair bit.

They were very surprised to see Harano suddenly return, and Harano didn’t put on any airs. He chatted kindly with them, handed out gifts, and thanked them again for their help and hospitality back then—all prepared by Yayoi. The people who came back with him this time were the most loyal and senior: either those who’d served him since the Takeshige Manor days, or the first batch of old Wanjin he had bought back himself.

So he stayed in Hibi Village again for a while. Other than fending off Maeda Toshimasa, who was puzzled about his return, he didn’t do much else—just tended to Meng Ziqi every day, checking his condition eight times a day. A month later, he confirmed it: Meng Ziqi’s recovery was indeed faster here. Even though he still couldn’t wake up, his condition was slowly improving—he’d even gained a little weight, and seemed to have a better appetite.

No wonder Meng Ziqi was fine lying around for over two years, but after moving to New Wanjin, he wasted away to skin and bones within a year and almost died. So it was because he was too far from the crossing point?

Is there something there still affecting them?

Could that be the cause behind their crossing?

Could that also be their hope of going home to modern times?

Harano didn’t hesitate. He immediately ordered Ah Man and Ah Qing to carefully select a group of absolutely trustworthy people from the Inner Guard, equip them fully, pack dry food and water, and the next day personally led the team into the Ise mountain range to find their original crossing site—the place where the heavy mountain fog had suddenly appeared.

Twenty-some days later, he came out in a mess. Aside from killing three wolves, eleven wild boars and a bear along the way, there was nothing else gained...

Not that there was entirely nothing—they had found their original entrance into the mountains, which, in this era, was still deep and wild. He retraced their journey from memory again and again, beating back brush and beasts, and roughly confirmed where they’d gotten lost in the fog. But repeated searching and digging in that area turned up nothing odd at all—no strange objects, and no thick fog was triggered again.

Harano was confused once more, unable to figure out what exactly was affecting them. There was an effect, but why couldn’t they find anything...

Ah Man was just as baffled, and for the hundredth time asked him, "What are you even looking for? What are we doing, wandering back and forth in these mountains?"

Ordinarily, Harano would be the only one she’d spare. Anyone else, and she’d have slapped them by now. Running around digging blindly in the mountains like headless chickens—was this some way of amusing the great Ah Man?

Ah Qing also looked over, not understanding why Harano kept circling the mountains. In twenty-some days, they’d had seven or eight injured with falls or snakebites—one almost died. The losses were practically pointless.

Harano didn’t answer at first, just stood on the ridge staring at the endless mountains. After a long while, he muttered in confusion, "I don’t even know what I’m looking for, but there ought to be something here..."

Ah Man and Ah Qing exchanged glances. Ah Man tapped her temple, signaling to Ah Qing that maybe Harano had been kicked in the head by a donkey again and was having his usual episode, while Ah Qing shook her head, indicating that the family’s old donkey hadn’t come along—so this was Harano’s own self-inflicted madness.

Neither of them could figure out why Harano was suddenly losing his mind again, but now that he was, they could only tag along. Ah Man simply asked, "So... what now? Should we call in more people? But if we pull in even more, we’d have to have a real conversation with Maeda Toshimasa. After all, this is his territory, and it’s already awkward for us to camp out here with so many people; he might get the wrong idea."

Harano stood there in a daze a while longer, then sighed. "Not for now. Let’s go back and rest up before deciding."

There was definitely something wrong here, but he truly couldn’t figure out what. He could only plan for the long term.

So Harano returned to Hibi Village with his bewildered men, checked on Meng Ziqi immediately, and found that he was indeed getting better—completely out of danger. Aside from still being very thin, there was no longer any sign that he might die suddenly.

That was probably the only good news from this whole ordeal. At least, under some mysterious influence, he didn’t have to worry about Meng Ziqi dropping dead—took a huge worry off his shoulders.

As for other gains...

No idea if this counted as seeing a hope of returning to modern times. Even if he didn’t know what exactly that hope was, at least it could count as hope, right?

Harano stayed with Meng Ziqi for a while, feeling his resolve firm up again—he had to keep searching. He immediately went to Hosokawa Castle to negotiate a deal with Maeda Toshimasa, so that Meng Ziqi could recover long-term in Hibi Village, and Harano could garrison a small elite team there for extended exploration in the Ise Mountains—maybe he’d just come at the wrong time, since crossing over was closely tied to timing; perhaps some things only appeared or worked at specific times.

Of course, the reason he gave Maeda Toshimasa was made up. He just said he wanted to set up a hunting ground near Hibi Village, someplace he could take Princess Dog to hunt and relax at leisure—a sort of small villa, like a vacation home.

Maeda Toshimasa naturally found it odd, but since Harano was willing to provide long-term low-price supplies of saltpeter and many novel new goods, he quickly agreed. He wasn’t worried about Harano seizing Hibi Village either—after all, Harano was now Oda Nobunaga’s foster child; if Harano dared grab land in Owari’s heartland, Oda Nobunaga would be the first to step in for him.

Once all that was settled, Harano started to select members of the search team, setting up shifts and rotations. As long as he was alive, he’d keep searching the Ise Mountains. He also ordered New Wanjin to rush over building materials to Hibi Village, planning to build a big house there so his "foolish son" could live more comfortably, and at the same time, still unwilling to give up, he prepared to lead another team into the mountains—maybe, just maybe, he’d get lucky and find something this time.

But just as he was working on all this, racking his brains on how to get home, Ah Man came to him looking very serious, bringing bad news.

Oda Nobunaga’s actual uncle—the Guardian of the Upper Four Provinces of Owari, Lord of Iwakura Castle, Oda Nobuyasu—had met with disaster. His son Oda Nobuhide (Saemon-no-jō) had rebelled successfully, thrown him out of Iwakura Castle, and by now Nobuyasu had fled dismally to Qingzhou City with his second son Oda Nobuyasu. Rumor was he’d been so enraged he kept vomiting blood, his life hanging by a thread.

The reason this unfilial Oda Nobuhide was able to pull off his rebellion was that Saito Yoshitada had lent massive support. Most of his forces were borrowed from Saito. Now Iwakura Castle had swung entirely to Saito Yoshitada’s side. It was no longer the ally of the Lower Four Provinces of Owari; instead, it had become Saito Yoshitada’s spearhead for dealing with Oda Nobunaga.

In short, the natural barrier between Owari and Minoh—that is, the "Kawamata" region around the Kisogawa and Changliang Rivers—had just fallen into Saito Yoshitada’s hands without a single soldier lost.

Harano read the intelligence and was completely at a loss for words, feeling certain Saito Yoshitada was a real scourge. While he was busy here, this guy was stirring up trouble again, just making everything messier!