Yamabuki saw Shijima Chigiri lying motionless on the ground, covered in blood, and was startled. He thought he had killed him and quickly bent down to pat Shijima Chigiri's face.
But the moment he bent down, Shijima Chigiri suddenly opened his eyes and spat out a flying needle from his mouth. Yamabuki reached out and pinched the needle, then punched Shijima Chigiri, sending him flying.
This time, he was truly unconscious!
Even the fluctuations of his spiritual pressure became very faint.
Yamabuki examined Shijima Chigiri's body and found that many of his bones had been broken by his blow. Not only that, but there was extensive subcutaneous bleeding and internal organ bleeding. If not treated in time, he could ascend at any moment.
After providing some simple treatment, Yamabuki took Shijima Chigiri back to Seireitei.
"Everyone, I'm back! This is the assassin!" Yamabuki casually tossed Shijima Chigiri onto the ground like a broken sack, and Shijima Chigiri grunted from the fall.
Looks like he's still alive!
"How about we dismember this kind of person?" Saitō Furōfushi asked.
"Don't be in such a hurry to kill him. We still don't know who the mastermind is. After we save him, we must find the mastermind and hand them over to the Captain-Commander for handling." Yamabuki said.
This was the future Fourth Division Captain; how could he die so easily? And by his own hand, no less!
Yamabuki took Shijima Chigiri to Tenjirō Kirinji's house, only to find that Tenjirō Kirinji wasn't home, having gone to gather herbs in the wild with Hanako. It seemed he would have to do it himself.
Although Shijima Chigiri was seriously injured, he didn't need the White Bone Hell or the Blood Pool Hell. Yamabuki prepared a large wooden tub, filled it with medicinal liquid, put Shijima Chigiri in the tub to simmer over low heat, and then added various herbs, just like making soup.
Combined with Kaidō treatment, in less than two hours, all of Shijima Chigiri's injuries had healed. Shijima Chigiri also groggily opened his eyes, still unaware of what had happened to him.
"Am I in hell?" Shijima Chigiri asked with curiosity.
An assassin like him would surely go to hell after death.
At least, that's what he believed.
"Not yet, but it's close!" Yamabuki was facing away from Shijima Chigiri, continuously chopping something on a cutting board, then throwing the chopped ingredients into the wooden tub to boil, like simmering meat broth with spices.
Shijima Chigiri looked horrified. He had long heard that the people of the Gotei 13 were perverts, but he never imagined they actually ate people!
"If you want to eat people... I can help you catch a few meaty ones. I don't taste good, I'm all bones; you definitely won't be used to it!" Shijima Chigiri shivered while soaking in the warm water. He must have forgotten to divine before leaving home; why did he encounter so many perverts? He just wanted to earn a little money!
Yamabuki was stirring the wooden tub with a large ladle, looking as if he wanted to taste it.
"Nonsense, although I like to torture others with cruel punishments, I never eat people. No one in the Gotei 13 eats people, probably!"
What the hell is 'probably'?
Why is your tone so uncertain?
Dare you look me straight in the eyes?
Why do you avoid my gaze when you look at me?
You're clearly flustered, aren't you?
"If heaven gave me another chance to start over, I would choose to rot at home and never be an assassin again!" Shijima Chigiri muttered to himself.
"Don't say I didn't give you a chance; you still have a way out now." Yamabuki put the last handful of herbs into the wooden tub and continued to stir with the large ladle: "First, after your injuries are healed, you'll be dragged out and beheaded, after all, you killed someone in Seireitei, and an upper-class noble at that. If we don't give an explanation to the public, we'll lose face."
"I choose two." Shijima Chigiri said without hesitation.
"Young people are so impatient; why don't you let me finish? The second option is to join our Gotei 13. With your strength, becoming a provisional captain shouldn't be a problem. Also, you smashed my shop; shouldn't you compensate me with a large sum of money?" Yamabuki asked, "Actually, I rather hope you choose one, because then I could dig out your internal organs and sell them for money. You know, many nobles have special fetishes, like collecting human organs and such…"
"I choose two, didn't you hear me? I choose two!" Shijima Chigiri said hastily. Why were there such lunatics in this world?
Yamabuki showed a very gentle smile and extended his hand: "Welcome to our Gotei 13. From today onwards, we are all our own people. If you encounter any difficulties, you can tell me. While I may not necessarily be able to help you solve the difficulties, I can help you solve the people who cause the difficulties."
I knew your mind wasn't normal!
Seriously!
Shijima Chigiri never expected that by simply carrying out an ordinary assassination mission, he would end up losing himself.
"Since that's the case, can you tell me who deliberately committed the murder? Don't talk to me about an assassin's professional ethics; you're no longer an assassin." Yamabuki said.
Shijima Chigiri's face showed a thoughtful expression.
"I really don't know about that, because I never saw my employer from beginning to end. We always communicated by letter. He gave me a large sum of money and told me to kill two people, one after the other. He repeatedly emphasized that I must kill the man first, and then kill the young lady a few days later." Shijima Chigiri said.
"You said you received a large sum of money; can you let me see that money?" Yamabuki asked.
Shijima Chigiri was now like a fish in a net, a turtle in a jar; even if he wanted to struggle, it was too late. He pointed to his clothes pocket: "There's a wallet in there. I put all the money I received in it. Go look for yourself!"
When Yamabuki was taking off his clothes, he felt something heavy in his pocket. At the time, Yamabuki thought it was some kind of hidden weapon, but he never expected it to be money.
Yamabuki took the money bag and poured it onto the floor, and with a clatter, many gold coins spilled out.
Yamabuki's expression changed slightly, and he remained silent.
"I can tell from your expression that you've definitely thought of something." Shijima Chigiri said with a chuckle.
Yamabuki's expression remained very gloomy.
He hadn't expected his previous suspicions to actually come true.
He took a gold coin from his own pocket and compared it with the coins found in Shijima Chigiri's pocket, finding that the two coins had identical craftsmanship.
"Sigh! I've been played!" Yamabuki sighed.
....
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