I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

After Ogata and his group passed through the gate of the inner city wall and formally entered the Red Moon Fortress, they separated from Aisuma and the others.

Ai Suma and others went to return.

But Ogata and the others were first led to an open space not far from the gate of the inner city wall.

Ogata and the others were not left alone for too long.

Soon, a group of young people came.

This group of people approached Chepke and said something enthusiastically to Chepke.

After the conversation, Chepke excitedly brought Aizan to find Ogata and Acho.

"Mashima Goro, Acho!" Chepke said, "Chanup came to me to discuss with me the detailed procedures and details of our stay in China Village. (Ainu language)"

Aizan translated word by word.

"In addition to me, Chanup also looked for you two, I hope you two can go with me, he wants to see you very much. (Ainu language)"

"Chanup?" Ogata raised his eyebrows, nodded after pondering for a while, "Well, I see."

...

...

Ogata, Atachi, Chepke, and several high-level officials from China Village, led by several young people wearing the iconic red costumes of the Red Moon Fortress, walked towards the depths of the Red Moon Fortress at an unhurried speed. walk around.

Along the way, Ogata kept looking around.

The scenery seen along the way is no different from what Ogata saw when he visited Kuma Village and other villages before.

The Ainu who are still in the tribal civilization naturally do not have the ability to build any majestic palaces or straight and spacious stone brick avenues.

Built on both sides of the road are huts full of Ainu style made of stone, wood, grass and other materials.

Under the feet is the dirt road that is constantly being trampled on, and gradually becomes firm under the accumulation of time. Probably to make it easier for people to walk, the snow on the road has been cleared away, revealing the original gray-brown appearance of the road.

When the weather is good, it is dusty.

When it rains, it turns into lumps of mud, like a swamp.

Sitting on such an advanced fortress, but still living a primitive Ainu-style tribal life-this gave Ogata an inexplicable strange feeling.

This feeling is like having a mansion with a thousand square meters, but setting up an extremely cheap camping tent in the hall of the mansion, and then eating, clothing and sleeping in this tent...

Naturally, many people watched on the road.

Perhaps it was because many people had already received news of the guests coming to the fortress, so there were quite a few villagers surrounding Ogata and the others, watching Ogata and the others.

These people who came to join in the fun mainly came to see Ogata and A-machi.

They looked at Ogata and Atachi as if they were looking at a rare animal in a zoo, and pointed at Ogata and the others in a low voice.

While observing the living environment of the residents of Red Moon Fortress, Ogata was also carefully observing the gazes of these onlookers.

The onlookers cast all kinds of eyes on them.

Curious.

Have doubts.

There is indifference.

Of course, there is nothing less - hostility.

Ogata noticed—most of the people who cast curious glances at him were young people.

And those who cast hostile glances at him are from all age groups.

The reminder that Chepke told Ogata earlier came to Ogata's mind at this moment: Red Moon Fortress just took in a group of homeless people who were defeated in the war with Kazuto.

...

...

Chanup's home is located in the center of the fortress, and because the Red Moon Fortress is not too big a super fortress, Ogata and the others arrived at their destination very quickly.

As the supreme authority of the Red Moon Fortress, Chanup lived in a house that was not much different from the houses in which the rest of the people lived.

The only difference, probably, is that Chanup's home is bigger.

After arriving at the destination, the young man who led Ogata and the others shouted something into the house.

Then, there was a thick echo in the room.

After the sound of the response fell, those who led the way for Ogata and the others stepped aside and gestured for Ogata and the others to enter.

Ogata untied the big Shitian from his waist, carried it with his right hand, and followed the others through the door.

After entering Chanup's house, Ogata saw a middle-aged man in his prime sitting cross-legged on the ground.

The middle-aged man had a dark blue turban tied on his head, long hair, and a beard so thick that only his mouth and two eyes were exposed.

Because of getting older, the middle-aged man's hair and beard are a little more white.

But his graying hair and beard did not match his vigorous appearance.

At this time, Chepke, who was walking in front of Ogata, whispered to Ogata and A-Machi behind him:

"This is Chanup."

As soon as Chepke's introduction fell, the middle-aged man...or Chanup put on a warm smile and said loudly:

"Chepke! You are finally here, your movements are much faster than what I imagined! Stop standing, come and sit down! (Ainu language)"

After saying something to Chepke in Ainu, he turned his head and said to Asaogata and Acho in Japanese:

"These two should be Goro Mashima and Machi. Come, come and sit down."

Although Chanup's Japanese is fluent, his pronunciation is not standard. Ogata can't understand some words, but generally he can understand what Chanup is saying.

"You speak Japanese really well." Ogata sat cross-legged beside Chanup, and placed Dashiten on the floor on the right.

Ogata is no stranger to the Ainu who can speak Japanese now.

Since entering the Ezo land and starting to contact the Ezo, Ogata found that he could always meet people who happened to be able to speak Japanese, and people who could translate Japanese for him.

So until now, Ogata has never worried about communication problems.

"Hahahaha." Chanup laughed heartily, "I... used to have a friend who was a friend, and I learned Japanese from that friend."

After all, Chanup, with a flash of memory in his eyes, picked up the bong and the cloth bag containing the tobacco leaves beside him.

As soon as he put the bong to his mouth, he immediately took the bong out of his mouth as if he remembered something.

"You don't mind the smell of smoke, do you?" Chanup asked Ogata and Atachi.

Ogata shook his head.

A-Machi also shook his head.

After asking Ogata and Atachi, Chanup turned to Ainu and asked the senior officials of China Village who came here with Chepke if they cared about the smell of smoke.

Chepke is an old acquaintance of Chanup, so Chanup knew that Chepke didn't mind the smell of cigarettes, so he didn't ask him.

After confirming that the surrounding people didn't care about the smell of smoke, Chanup put the bong to his mouth again, put the tobacco leaves on it, lit the cigarette, and then smoked heavily.

The Japanese and Ainu peoples have been in love with each other for thousands of years. During the thousands of years of fierce friction, the cultures of the two peoples are constantly exchanging and learning from each other.

Many items from the Ainu were passed on to the Wato society - such as dog sledding.

Many items of Heren have also been passed on to Ainu society - such as bongs and tobacco leaves.

Ogata had been sizing up Chanup carefully since just now.

He had heard Chanup's name for a long time.

Ogata had heard of Chanup's name long ago.

According to the rumors about Chanup heard by Ogata, before Ogata saw Chanup with his own eyes, he had a vague impression of Chanup—to use a word to describe Chanup, That is a heroic figure.

At the beginning, he was the one who led the people of several tribes to go south to find a new home, and finally succeeded in finding this fortress abandoned by the Lucians.

After everyone expected to become the supreme authority of this fortress, he worked hard to make this Red Moon Fortress gradually grow.

According to Chepke and the others, the total population of the Red Moon Fortress is now thousands of people. Looking at the entire Ezo, there should be no second Ainu village whose population exceeds that of the Red Moon Fortress.

Now, after seeing this hero with his own eyes, Ogata found that Chanup looked amiable, not at all like the supreme ruler of a settlement with thousands of people, more like an ordinary uncle next door.

After taking two puffs of cigarettes and exhaling two smoke rings, Chanup turned his head and smiled at Ogata:

"Mr. Mashima, welcome to Heyezhe."

"As for your deeds, I have heard in detail from Chepke before."

"Although I already knew that you are a very young person, after seeing your young face with my own eyes, I still feel very moved."

"It's really amazing and rare to have such a powerful skill at such a young age."

"Thank you for saving our compatriots."

Chanup put down the bong in his mouth and bowed his head to Ogata.

"Thank you for reaching out to our fellow citizens."

Ogata hurriedly bowed in return.

"I dare not take it seriously. I just did something within my ability."

"It should be me and my wife who should say thank you."

"Thank you for letting me and my wife into your place. It's been a great help to us."

"Hahahaha." Chanupura laughed a few times, "This little thing is nothing."

Having said that, Chanup picked up his bong again, brought it to his mouth and smoked it twice.

"You are looking for someone everywhere, I heard from Chepke before."

"I will do my best to assist you."

"But—it's a coincidence."

Chanup put down his bong and spit out two big eye sockets.

"Just the day before yesterday, we caught a weird Kazuto in the wild."

"We temporarily detained him because we suspected he was a spy."

"Katoto?" Ogata frowned slightly.

"Yeah." Chanup nodded, "He's a pretty old man, why don't you go and see that Kazuto now? That Kazuto might be the one you've been looking for."

"If you can let us go and have a look, then we would naturally wish for it." Ogata said immediately.

Kazuto caught in the wild - no matter what you think about it, it is full of necessity to go and see it.

Chanup nodded with a smile, and then yelled out an Ainu language that Ogata couldn't understand.

The young men who were responsible for bringing Ogata and Chepke to Chanup's residence just now are still staying outside Chanup's house.

After Chanup's shout fell, an ordinary-looking young man quickly entered the house.

"Mr. Mashima, Ms. Atachi, you should follow him to the prison where Kazuto is held." Chanup said, "I will also have a good talk with Chepke and the others while you are away temporarily. Let’s talk about their settlement in the village.”

Ogata nodded.

...

...

Ogata and A-machi were led through roads of different sizes one after another, and turned through intersections one after another.

Along the way, it is still inevitable to be watched and discussed by many people.

On the way to the place where the "spy" was held, Ogata also learned more about the living environment of the Red Moon Fortress.

Ogata had seen a river just now.

This river is about 2 meters wide, and the flow rate is relatively slow, and it has not frozen in such a cold weather.

Not only is it wide, but it also seems to be very long. When Ogata passed by the river, no matter whether he looked upstream or downstream, he could not see the head of the river.

The residents of Red Moon Fortress seem to get their water from this river. Ogata saw many women carrying bottles and cans to this river to fetch water.

Ogata guessed that this river should be a tributary of the "ji"-shaped river outside the fortress.

The Red Moon Fortress was built on this tributary to facilitate the residents of the fortress to fetch and use water.

The Red Moon Fortress is not a big fortress, so it took only a few minutes for Ogata and the others to arrive at their destination - a dilapidated hut.

Although the residents of Red Moon Fortress occupy this advanced fortress, their life is still a tribal life, so naturally there is no such facility as a prison. So they just kept the man in an uninhabited hut.

There are 2 young men with bows and arrows standing guard outside the hut.

The "guide boy" who was in charge of leading the way for Ogata and the others stepped forward and said something to the two guards, who nodded.

"Mr. Mashima, Ms. Machi." The "guiding boy" opened the curtain of the window of this private house, "Take a look to see if this person is the person you are looking for."

The gates and windows of the Ainu people are made of a special kind of grass and wood.

After the "guiding boy" opened the curtain of the window, Ogata and A-Machi immediately stepped forward, leaning their heads towards the window with the curtain drawn.

A damp and musty smell rushed towards Ogata.

After unconsciously holding his breath, Ogata narrowed his eyes a little, and looked into the dim hut.

This hut is a typical Ainu-style hut, converted into a modern area unit, it is about 10 square meters.

There was no furniture in it, and even without stepping into the house, Ogata could feel that the house was very damp, and the air was filled with an unpleasant, pungent musty smell.

In the empty room, a person sat cross-legged on the ground.

Is an old man.

He is about 50 years old, with black and white hair and beard.

He shaved his head, but because he hadn't taken care of it for a long time, a little hair had grown on the top of his head.

Yuedai head is so troublesome, the top of the head must be shaved every once in a while, otherwise hair will grow on the top of the head, which will make the already ugly hairstyle even uglier.

Except for the hair growing on the top of the head, the sideburns that don't need to be shaved and the bun on the top of the head are now messy, and Ogata can see a lot of dandruff on his hair from a long distance away.

He had a thick beard over his lips and chin, not so common in this day and age.

In the Edo period, beards were not very popular among the samurai class or the civilian class.

Therefore, the probability of meeting a samurai or civilian with a thick beard on the street is not very high. The most common ones are all kinds of "white-faced and beardless" samurai or civilians.

An old man with a bushy beard, which is rare in this era, is as messy as his hair.

Although the light in the room is rather dim, Ogata can still clearly see that the old man's complexion is darker, which means that he has been associated with the sun for a long time.

Moreover, Ogata also found that this person's body was unexpectedly strong.

Even wearing thick clothes, Ogata could feel that this person's body was strong, not that kind of frail figure.

At this time, he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, as if in a daze.

After the curtains were drawn, he noticed the movement for the first time, and then turned his head to look at the window.

After finding Ogata and Atachi who were looking into the house along the window, the old man was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly stood up, and then quickly rushed to the edge of the window, facing Ogata and the others.

"Kazuto?" The old man looked at Ogata and Atachi's Kazuto-style faces in surprise, "Are you also captured as spies? Ah, it seems not."

After taking a look at Ogata's untied hands and the lack of escorts around him, the old man asked himself this question.

"Who are you?" The old man asked a new question like a cannonball, "Why are you both looking at me outside the cell, but I can only look at you inside the cell? Hey ! It's so unfair!"

The second half of the old man's sentence was to the two guards who were in charge of guarding him.

The old man said this sentence in Japanese, so the two guards did not understand what the old man was saying.

But after the old man's voice fell, the two guards showed a wry smile, then turned their heads and said something to Ogata and A-cho next to them.

After the two guards finished speaking, the "guide boy" immediately translated for Ogata and the others:

"They said—this man is obviously very old, but he is very... lively."

The "guide leading the way" hesitated for a while, and then spit out the word "lively" with a troubled expression on his face.

"So the two of them were almost annoyed to death by this old man's quarrel, and they finally calmed down for a while just now."

——I feel like a person with a strong personality...

After complaining silently in his heart, Ogata turned his head and looked at the old man again.

"It's the first time we've met, Mashima Goro." Ogata said, "Because of some reasons, Zai and Ueko are now guests of this Red Moon Fortress."

"This is my wife—Mashima-cho."

"Gui'an." At this time, Ah Ding also saluted the old man, "Just call me Ah Ding."

"Guest?" A look of astonishment appeared in the old man's eyes.

After looking up and down at Ogata and Atachi several times with astonished eyes, he cleared his throat and said seriously:

"I'm meeting you for the first time. My name is Lin Ziping." The old man introduced himself, "I'm a scholar, although I prefer to be called 'Mr. Lin', but if you find it troublesome, just call me 'Lin' it is also fine."

"Scholar?" Ogata raised his eyebrows.

Lin Ziping...that is, the old man nodded heavily.

"Have you ever heard of my name? I remember that I seem to be honored by some people as 'The Foresight of the North Gate'."

Ogata and A-Machi shook their heads in tacit understanding at the same time.

Ogata never paid attention to the academia of this era.

Let alone A-Machi.

As a scumbag who doesn't even know a few Chinese characters, Ah Ding has no interest in academia.

"It's fine if you haven't heard of it, anyway, it's just some boring name."

Lin Ziping didn't seem to feel sad at all that Ogata and Ah-Ming didn't hear his name.

"In order to study academically, I came to Ezo for a new investigation."

"Just a few days ago, I arrived nearby to study the surrounding terrain and landforms."

"Then he was caught by the people from the Red Moon Fortress."

"They took me here forcibly on the grounds that they suspected that I was a spy, and kept me locked up like this."

At this time, the "guide boy" on the side added:

"When we found him, he was squatting on a hill, recording the surrounding terrain."

"After searching behind him, I found that he has a large number of hand-painted maps and records of the topography and landforms of various places."

"We strongly suspect that he is a spy sent to collect our intelligence, so we decided to bring him back and release him after confirming that he is indeed not a spy."

"There are a lot of hand-painted maps and records of the topography and landforms of various places..." Ogata turned his head and looked at Lin Ziping speechlessly, "You are regarded as a spy, it is quite reasonable..."

"This boss should feel lucky." The "guiding boy" had a cold light in his eyes, "He didn't have gold panning tools or gold dust on him at that time."

"If gold digging tools and gold dust were found on him, we wouldn't treat him so gently."

"I won't do such boring and time-wasting things as panning for gold." Lin Ziping immediately said angrily, "There are more important things waiting for me to do!"

After all, Lin Ziping turned his gaze back to Ogata and Ah Ding.

"Mr. Mashima! Ms. Machi! Since you are the guests of the Red Moon Fortress, can you help me talk to the high-level officials of the Red Moon Fortress? I am not a spy of the shogunate!"

"Look at my age."

Lin Ziping pointed to his black and white hair.

"Is it possible for the shogunate to send such an old man as a spy?"

"That's hard to say." The "guiding boy" said lightly.

After giving Lin Ziping a ruthless reply, the "guide boy" turned his head to Ogata and asked:

"Almost forgot the business...how, is this old man the one you are looking for?"

Ogata shook his head: "No, he's not the one I'm looking for."

"Huh?" At this moment, Lin Ziping raised his eyebrows suddenly.

He looked at Ogata, and then at Machi.

"Are you two looking for someone?"

"Yeah." Ogata nodded, "My wife and I are looking for two doctors now."

"Doctor...?" Lin Ziping suddenly frowned for some reason.

At this time, Ogata suddenly thought that before Lin Ziping was arrested, a large number of hand-painted maps of Ezodi were found on his body, which meant that Lin Ziping had traveled to many places in Ezodi.

He might have a clue.

"Mr. Lin." Ogata said to the old man full of personality in honorific terms, "Let me ask you, have you ever met these two people?"

Ogata informed Lin Ziping of the age and appearance of Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen.

After Ogata's voice fell, Lin Ziping lowered his head and remained silent, as if he was remembering something.

Oufang was puzzled, and when he was about to ask Lin Ziping what was wrong, Lin Ziping suddenly raised his head slowly, and said to the two of them:

"It's really a coincidence. Not long ago, I just met a strange doctor in an Ainu village."

"The doctor is the village doctor of that village, but he is a kind person."

Ogata's eyes widened slightly in surprise: "Can you tell us more about it?"

"I remember this should have been more than a month ago."

"I passed by an Ainu settlement."

"The villagers in that settlement don't hate Heren, so they treat me kindly."

"I found that doctor in that settlement."

"Because there are very few Kazutos who have lived in Ainu settlements for a long time, I have a deep impression on him."

"He is the only person in that village. His hair is pale, his face is vicissitudes of life, and his voice is very hoarse. He looks like he is in his 50s."

Ogata's brows were already furrowed at this moment.

His hair is pale, and he looks like he is in his 50s-these two characteristics, whether compared with Xuanzheng or Xuanzhen, do not match.

And Lin Ziping's narration is still going on at this time.

"That guy said his name was 'Zhongshan', and for some reason he drifted into this village and became a village doctor."

"He didn't tell me exactly why he was there."

"The villagers in that settlement seem to respect that man."

"That Zhongshan looked quite normal at first."

"When passing through this settlement, he even invited me to sit at his house for a while."

"I'm also very interested in this Kazuto who lives alone in the Ainu settlement, so I accepted his invitation to sit at his home for a while."

"Then, after arriving at Zhongshan's home, I found a cubicle in Zhongshan's home."

"You should also know that the vast majority of Ainu homes have no partitions. There is only one living room in a home. The food, clothing and housing of the whole family are settled in this living room."

"I was curious, so I asked Zhongshan if that cubicle was his bedroom for sleeping?"

"But who would have thought that just after I asked this question, Zhongshan, who was originally normal, suddenly became..."

Lin Ziping fell silent.

Like thinking about words.

After a while, he said slowly:

"Getting...hysterical."

"He growled and told me not to go near that cubicle."

"Just now he kindly invited me to his house for a sit down. After I asked that question, he drove me out of the house like crazy and told me to leave this village quickly."

"As I said just now, the villagers in that village respect that Zhongshan."

"So after Zhongshan drove me away, other villagers also changed their kind attitude and waved all kinds of weapons to drive me away."

"I was so scared that I ran away in a hurry."

Ogata and Ah Ding have been quietly listening to Lin Ziping's narration.

After Lin Ziping's voice fell, the expressions of both Ogata and Atachi became serious.

"Why does it sound like a ghost story?" Ah-Ming said, "Aren't you making it up?"

Although A-Ming likes to listen to stories, he has always been insensitive to horror stories and ghost stories.

"I'm not making up nonsense." Lin Ziping showed an angry look. , "Everything I said just now is true!"

"Then will you go to that village again?" At this time, Ogata asked.

"How could I go to that village again?" Lin Ziping said, "That Zhongshan looks crazy, how could I go there again!"

Ogata lowered his head at this moment, thinking deeply.

According to the appearance of Zhongshan mentioned by Lin Ziping just now, it seems that Zhongshan is neither Xuanzheng nor Xuanzhen.

But this Zhongshan is a doctor, and this feature is consistent with Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen.

And...that Zhongshan looks neurotic...this feature is consistent with Xuanzhen...

After thinking for a while, Ogata made up his mind.

"...Mr. Lin." Xu Fang looked up at Lin Ziping and said seriously, "Can you tell us where the village is?"

"Huh?" Lin Ziping raised his eyebrows, "What? Do you want to visit that Zhongshan?"

"Yes." Ogata nodded, "My intuition tells me that Zhongshan is worth visiting."

"So I wanted to meet him."

"So can you tell me where the village is?"

Lin Ziping looked at Ogata, and then at A-Ming.

Afterwards, he lowered his head, with a thoughtful look on his face, but he didn't know what he was thinking about.

After a while, he quietly raised his head.

"... How about we make a deal?" Lin Zi stared straight at Ogata, "You help me get out of this ghost place. Then I will take you to the village where the doctor is."

Ogata frowned immediately: "Help you get out of here?"

Lin Ziping nodded heavily:

"I still have a lot of important research to do."

Lin Ziping's expression was so serious that it was hard to add, so Ogata subconsciously looked at him with the same serious face.

"I can't keep wasting my time here. Please, Mashima-san, help me."

After finishing speaking, Lin Ziping lowered his head to Xu Fang.

After staring at Lin Ziping for a while, Ogata said in a deep voice:

"First of all——Although A-Ming and I are guests of this Red Moon Fortress, we don't have a good relationship with the higher-ups of the Red Moon Fortress to tell them, 'Please let me go', and they will obediently let you go degree."

"Secondly—how can we be sure that what you just said is true?"

"Finally—even if what you just said is true, how can we be sure that you will really obediently take us to that village?"

"I can swear to you!" Lin Ziping seemed to be a little anxious now, "I swear what I just said is true..."

Before Lin Ziping finished speaking, he was interrupted by Xu Fang:

"If swearing was useful, then there wouldn't be so many tragedies in this world." Ogata said lightly.

Lin Ziping pursed his lips and bowed his head in silence.

"...Now I can't give you any real guarantee." After a moment of silence, Lin Ziping said softly, "All I can do is hope that you believe me."

"Trust that I won't lie to you, and that I will keep my promise later."

Lin Ziping raised his head slowly, and looked at Ogata with serious eyes without any extra emotion.

*****

PS: Smoking is harmful to health, so please don’t smoke if you can.

If you must smoke, remember to ask the people around you if you don’t mind the smell of smoke before smoking like Chanup in this chapter, or go directly to the smoking area to smoke.

I personally hate the kind of people who smoke in public. Smoking in public does not make you look handsome. On the contrary—you go to the smoking area to smoke or ask people around you if you care about the smell of smoke before smoking. To make you look handsome.

Maybe there will be a girl who cares about the details of life, and will be moved by your thoughtful behavior of asking people around you if they care about the smell of smoke before smoking.

*****

Today I will share with you an article in "What should I do if I meet a bear?" "I learned very interesting cold knowledge.

There is a widely circulated saying on the Internet: After encountering a tiger/lion/bear, I don't need to run faster than these beasts, I just need to run faster than other people.

This statement does not apply to bears.

Because according to the introduction of this book-bears sometimes directly attack the fastest man.

The author of the book also cites a case that he has personally experienced: a group of people once encountered a bear in the wild. The one that runs the fastest.

In the end, only the fastest runner was killed by the bear.

And that book also introduced that there is still some truth in pretending to be dead in the face of a bear. Sometimes some bears will not attack a stationary target.

But no matter running away or playing dead, there are certain risks. The safest way is to stand still and look at the bear. It is best to chat with the bear, because chatting with the bear can comfort the bear.

()

Set a small goal first, such as 1 second to remember: Shukeju mobile version reading URL: