Yu Jin advanced along a cliff. He looked down into the gorge, seeing a dense elemental force of electro element permeating the entire cliff. This was one of the Raiden Shogun's divine miracles—Musoujin Gorge.
Legend has it that this was a single strike from the Raiden Shogun during her battle against the great serpent Orobashi. As for its power, the gorge cutting through Yashiori Island and the still-standing remains of the great serpent in the distance were proof enough.
Of course, Yu Jin had heard this from Kujou Sara and Gorou; he wasn't sure of the specifics.
However, considering the suppressed God's resentment lurking in the shadows of Yashiori Island, what they said was probably true.
But whether it was Musoujin Gorge or Orobashi, these were events from centuries ago and had nothing to do with Yu Jin.
At this moment, he was leaping along Musoujin Gorge because, according to Gorou, if he kept going along the left side of the cliff, he would see a village—Higi Village.
Sure enough, after a big leap, Yu Jin vaguely saw a small village in the distance, with quite a few people outside it.
Seeing his destination approaching, Yu Jin also quickened his pace. Soon, Yu Jin quickly arrived near the village along a small path.
However, what surprised him was that there were many makeshift wooden shelters around the village, looking as if they had been recently built.
Moreover, much of the land around the village had been cultivated, and many people were working on it.
The people in the fields, seeing someone approaching from outside the village, all looked wary, especially after seeing Yu Jin fully armored. Many had already started running back towards the village.
"Are they ordinary people in wartime?" Yu Jin knew that proceeding rashly would cause a greater misunderstanding, so he simply sat down on the ground.
During this time, he could also observe the kind of people he had never seen before—ordinary people in a state of war.
Although Yu Jin had always been fighting, he had never experienced a specific war. Because when he woke up, the world was already on the verge of collapse.
The world of Dark Souls left him with an impression of dead silence; a thousand-mile desert had become a literal description.
Everywhere he looked were ruins of civilization, and the only things wandering were hollows with no reactions beyond their instincts.
The world of elden ring was relatively better, because people hadn't died, they had just gone mad; only powerful individuals could retain their sanity.
Therefore, before coming to this world, Yu Jin had seen very few ordinary people, because they were either all dead or all mad.
Just as Yu Jin was lost in thought, the somewhat quiet village became noisy. Then Yu Jin saw a group of sallow and emaciated people surrounding a fully armed, tall man approaching.
The man wore Eastern Country samurai armor, and the ferocious hannya mask on his face, combined with his tall stature, gave off an invisible pressure.
Yu Jin could tell that this man was no mere showman. His gait as he advanced and his grip on his sword clearly indicated he was a warrior.
"Who are you?" Washizu looked at Yu Jin, who was sitting on the ground, with some questions in his mind. As a person who practiced and loved martial arts, Washizu naturally recognized that Yu Jin was wearing old Mondstadt knight armor.
But why would such a person come to Higi Village? Not to mention whether his peculiar attire could even pass through Ritou, even if it did, there was no reason to come to this remote little village of Higi Village, was there?
"Yu Jin, from the Adventurers' Guild." Yu Jin stood up, brushed off the dirt, and then said, "Who is the village chief among you?"
Washizu was still deep in self-doubt. Aren't Adventurers all dressed in green? Why would he come in armor? Had he been in seclusion for too long and lost touch?
However, upon hearing Yu Jin's call, he quickly reacted and said, "I am. What is it?"
"Here, this is Ryota's letter for you." Yu Jin pulled a letter from his chest and handed it to Washizu.
Washizu opened and read it, soon bursting into laughter, "Hahaha, that brat I couldn't find actually made a name for himself! Good, good!"
Then he put away the letter, took off his hannya mask, and said, "Disperse, disperse, he's a friend."
Yu Jin looked at his face, a weathered middle-aged man.
"Yu Jin, would you like to come and sit with us?" Washizu invited.
"Sure, I'm just idling anyway." Yu Jin nodded. The commission was complete; what's wrong with staying for a while to have some fun?
With that, Yu Jin followed Washizu into the village.
Along the way, he saw everyone in the village greeting Washizu, and Washizu returned each greeting.
Arriving at Washizu's home, it was neither too big nor too small, but it was clean and tidy.
"Please sit wherever you like. I've sold all my belongings, so I have nothing to entertain you with. I apologize."
Washizu took off his samurai helmet and said to Yu Jin somewhat apologetically.
Yu Jin saw that he possessed good martial arts skills but wasn't involved with any faction, so he curiously asked, "Why haven't you joined the army?"
Washizu seemed not to have expected Yu Jin to ask that. He thought for a moment and then said:
"I'm a person with no influence or background. Although I have good martial arts, my heart is stubborn and I can't stand many things."
"But not being able to stand it is useless, so I applied to be a village chief here, and those guys from the Tenryou Commission were happy to let me."
"So, after all that, I left the village and returned to the village."
Saying that, he sighed, and then continued, "As for why I haven't joined the army? Hmm..., let me put it this way."
"I don't join the resistance because I'm a village chief sent by the Tenryou Commission, I'm a Shogunate person."
"I don't join the Shogunate because I know the reasons for the resistance's rebellion; they are also Inazuma's citizens, and now they have no food and are on the verge of starvation."
"Moreover, I don't agree with the Raiden Shogun's Sakoku Decree. The Sakoku Decree has caused many things to become more expensive, making life harder."
"As for the Vision Hunt Decree, our village has no one with a Vision, so it hasn't affected us yet; we don't feel it."
Finally, he smiled and said, "So, I take in refugees here. Whether they are from the Shogunate or the resistance, I take them all."
"What if they cause trouble?" Yu Jin found a blind spot.
"They can't beat me." Washizu proudly lifted his head.
Yu Jin nodded. He was right. Causing trouble meant seeing if one could withstand an iron fist.
This applied to both the refugees and Watatsumi Island.
Yu Jin thought about the scene he had witnessed outside. He asked, "It seems like you have many difficulties here?"
Washizu's face immediately turned sorrowful upon hearing this. He tugged at his already thinning hair and sighed:
"Indeed, life was already hard, and with the war, it's even harder."
"Since the war began, more and more refugees have arrived, all from one area. I can't just ignore them. And I am officially registered as a local official by the Tenryou Commission, so I certainly can't ignore them."
"But it's still manageable. With more people, the amount of crystallized marrow extracted has also increased, which can barely sustain us."
Towards the end, Washizu couldn't help but feel a hint of relief. Fortunately, Higi Village produced crystallized marrow, a rare commodity; otherwise, he truly wouldn't know what to do.
"But there's a price for that, isn't there?" Yu Jin looked at Washizu's somewhat deformed wrist. If this continued, his hand might be ruined.
This crystallized marrow was probably very dangerous.
"Hehe." Washizu chuckled a few times, then slapped the table boldly and said, "They're all women and children; a warrior must step up at times like this!"
Yu Jin smiled and said, "Is this what you Eastern Country people often call the Way of the Samurai?"
"This is my first time seeing such a, erm..., uplifting Way of the Samurai."
Yu Jin thought about the Eastern Country samurai he had seen in The Lands Between, and compared them to Washizu in front of him; the difference was significant.
"Uh, what did you say? What is Eastern Country? And I don't even have the leisure to think about things like Bushido; I just do what I feel like doing." Washizu was a bit confused by Yu Jin's words.
"Haha, nothing. I mean I'll help you all."