"It's all right, you... you can leave, no need to worry..."

Just as the two maidens were on the verge of tears, ready to burst through the door, or planning to shout for help and call over the patrolling guards nearby, a voice finally echoed from inside the room.

The tone was somewhat weak, sounding a bit tired, but carried a hint of laziness and confusion...

As if just awakened from a dream, momentarily unable to understand the situation.

Upon hearing such a tone, the maidens instinctively let out a sigh of relief, initially thinking of a possible explanation, but they still asked cautiously a few more times.

However, as they had suspected, Miss Ah Shi inside the room said she had just had a nightmare, waking up startled from the dream, feeling a bit disoriented for the moment, which was why she did not immediately respond to their earlier inquiries.

After exchanging a few more words through the room, they finally relaxed, only to realize, as the night wind blew past, that they were covered in cold sweat.

After all, Miss Ah Shi was Lord Nobunaga's most beloved sister, and in Owari was a highly regarded noblewoman. If anything were to happen to her, many would be punished, and even Miss Ah Shi pleading for leniency might be futile... Now that nothing happened, and everything was well, it was naturally the best outcome.

After saying a few more sentences, the young maidens finally eased, and following Miss Ah Shi's instructions, slowly withdrew.

And the two young maidens were unaware that—

"..."

"..."

A profound silence.

In the dimly lit room, Miss Ah Shi, whom they had been worried about earlier, sat helplessly on the bed, biting her lower lip, watching the silhouette in the dark surroundings. Over time, her pupils adjusted to the darkness and she could vaguely see the outline of that figure.

Seemingly a graceful woman.

Just as she initially sensed the faint fragrance, which somewhat steadied her anxious heart... after all, it wasn't a man breaking into her chamber with malicious intent, which was somewhat more comforting...

Of course, it was only slightly more comforting, as this uninvited guest in the middle of the night was clearly up to no good.

This elegant young lady bit her lip, instinctively glancing outside, although unable to see the corridor and courtyard beyond the door and window, she could hear the footsteps of her maidens gradually retreating.

This made her heart sink even more...

Initially, Oda Chi was very decisive, but it was meaningless. After the initial cry, none of her subsequent sounds were heard by those outside, and she was horrified to see those bright, beautiful eyes in the darkness, staring at her playfully.

Then—

The woman in the darkness finally made a move, seemingly grasping her voice characteristic, casually mimicking the sound of just waking up, easily dismissing the maidens outside.

Calmly, even somewhat dominantly, taking charge.

Honestly, this was truly terrifying for her, from start to finish.

Waking up in the middle of the night to find someone suddenly in her room, her cries completely unheard of, even with just a door separating them, the maidens outside seemed utterly unaware, while she had to watch as someone in the dark room used her voice to speak to those outside...

Although her brother was the renowned Daimyo of Owari Country, Oda Chi was ultimately just a maiden kept within the household and didn't have a strong psychological resilience.

While she was extremely nervous, heart pounding, and subconsciously imagining what would happen to her next, the woman opposite finally spoke again:

"Relax, I mean no harm to you... but only if you aren't my enemy. Can you tell me who you are, Miss Ah Shi?"

The voice no longer mimicked Oda Chi, its soft tone carried a pleasant sound, as if hearing the voice alone sketched an elegant, ambiguous silhouette in one's mind.

Though unclear, she was undoubtedly a true beauty!

Just a feeling, Oda Chi had not encountered such a situation before; she had been beautiful since childhood, a budding beauty, and as she matured in recent years, she grew even more captivating, even starting to be praised as the foremost beauty of the Warring States era.

Though she did not take it seriously, she was somewhat pleased internally. At such an innocent age, how could she dislike compliments?

But until now—

For the first time, she met a woman whose mere voice made her feel self-conscious and inferior... She paused for quite a while, then murmured: "I, I am Oda Chi, the... the of Owari Country..." She seemed to not know how to introduce herself, also feeling quite bewildered.

At such a moment, shouldn't the nocturnal intruder come for her?

Why did it seem that she didn't know who she was yet made her say it herself, yet called her Miss Ah Shi... Such contradictory behavior, what exactly is going on?

"Oda Chi, so it's this era..." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The woman's tone in the darkness showed a hint of surprise; upon hearing the maidens call this name earlier, she hadn't connected it, unexpectedly it was truly Oda Chi? Nodding thoughtfully, she inquired again: "What is your relationship with Master?"

"Wh-what Master?"

Oda Chi grew increasingly anxious, feeling this woman might have some mental issue, what was the purpose of her visit? The conversation felt out of order.

"That person..."

Miss Tamamo no Mae thought the girl didn't understand her terminology, explained quickly, described a person, while squinting her eyes, cautiously observing the girl's reaction to confirm raising an alarm only to find the maiden's face was completely bewildered.

"Don't know... Never heard of such a person..." Oda Chi said weakly.

"Huh?"

Miss Fox Spirit was a bit surprised now, finding herself appearing here as soon as she came, and at the same time feeling a faint, subtle connection with this girl... She initially thought it was another girl whom Master had gotten involved with, feeling both hostility and annoyance in her heart.

But now it seems...

It really isn't that kind of situation, and the other party doesn't even know Master.

This is strange, so why is there this kind of peculiar connection? Isn't it because Master got involved, creating a line of causality, and because of Master's relation, she was also subtly connected... Carefully observing the girl in front of her, Miss Tamamo no Mae seemed quite confused.

What she didn't know was that the Spirit Base she was using was originally the Guardian Spirit Nine-tailed of this world.

And based on the original fate trajectory, the true host whom the Nine-tailed would choose to protect was actually this girl in front of her... It was just that, before the set fate was about to unfold, it was drawn away by someone.

"..."

"..."

"Uh, um..." Unable to endure the silence, Oda Chi spoke softly, attempting to break the quiet.

"From now on, you need to listen to me..." Miss Tamamo no Mae looked at her and said.

After all, it's an identity that can be utilized. Deploying the power of the entire Owari Country at her command was an easy task, just right for using this power to find out where Master was, and she could also plant a pawn, even if it might not be very useful.

But she did it on a whim anyway...

Miss Fox Spirit was extremely agile in her thinking; though she didn't know Gu Mo's deepest secrets, she did know many hidden matters. Similar to that strange "history" described by the people of Chaldea, she also felt a bit odd and puzzled about it.

And now, realizing this world is a kind of mirrored space-time, with the timeline coincidentally at a similar historical stage, Miss Tamamo no Mae nearly instantly and keenly perceived the key point; perhaps all of this should come to pass here.

Since it might be what Master needs, then she would help him level all the countries.

The narrowed eyes of the Fox Spirit seemed to flash with a sly glint, but Oda Chi, across from her, bit her lips in reluctance, knowing this person's ill intentions, now wanting to control her, with the ultimate aim surely directed at Owari Country, at the Oda Family...

She had to do something!

......

...

Gu Mo hadn't noticed anything that was happening yet.

Currently, he had just finished pushing through the scene of Tabei Mountain, sweeping from the village's lower perimeter gate up to the grand forging grounds built around the mountain lake.

At the mountain's foot, there were only those human bandits driven by greed, but upon reaching the mountain, all kinds of Demon Ghosts began to gather. Of course, it was of no great significance; they were much stronger than humans, ordinary Demon Ghosts having the terrifying strength to tear apart tigers and leopards, their bodies covered in tough leather-like crimson skin and bulging muscles incredibly sturdy...

Yet before the three non-human entities, they were still like paper, falling as if a sickle had swept over a field of rice.

They eventually easily pushed into the bellows room within the forging grounds, where the Lord of Constant Darkness, a smoke-based yokai known as a Yanyan Luo, was entrenched. A yokai or elf residing in smoke — the smoke, like fine silk, drifts with the wind, its form ever-changing, hence the name "Yanyan Luo."

In its physical state, it appeared as a giant humanoid about a zhang tall, with an extremely bulky figure that could manipulate flames and smoke phenomena—

It was also capable of transforming into smoke at any time, becoming immune to physical damage while moving swiftly.

Overall, it was already a very powerful high-level Demon Ghost, no wonder the armed resistance of the whole village failed so easily, with everything burned to ash. Such a being possessing the "Elementalization" skill would be trouble even in the modern world, let alone in this era.

Ordinary people, relying on swords and spears, opposing such a Monster, the outcome was predictable.

Of course, the result was equally despairing for the Yanyan Luo wanting to fight their trio; the second lady easily extracted the Soul Core, its massive body collapsed with a thud, turning into smoke and dispersing. Gu Mo initially considered capturing it alive to study its special existential form, but after some thought, decided against it.

There would be future opportunities, and since this Demon Ghost had destroyed the village, the second lady and Ah Xiu had no intention of sparing it, so they straightforwardly killed it.

Thus, this scene was completed.

He hadn't received any extra rewards, unsure if the system functions still didn't take effect on his incarnation, or if his Level had somewhat exceeded the standards, making it too easy to clear such low-level instances, even forming a three-person team, so much so that even the system couldn't bear to look...

Therefore, there was no experience bonus, nor any key rewards.

Likewise—

No new character storyline was triggered, "Wuming" was not in the Blacksmith's Village, and never appeared, not even encountering the Swordsmith Girl he was supposed to meet.

This made him a bit distressed, but also helpless, speculating it was an impact of his butterfly effect.

After all, being a day early or a day late might not align with the original story.

Since it was already night, with the thick darkness enveloping the land, the trio decided not to travel overnight; instead, they returned to the village at the mountain's foot, lit a campfire, and prepared to pass the night there.

"Huh?"

Feeling the faint vibration in his sleeve, Gu Mo instinctively pulled out his phone for a look, his expression momentarily stunned.

Just now... was there a signal?