I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"You want to meet my father sooner?" Aisuma blinked her eyes a few times in doubt. "What's the matter? Is there something urgent to tell my father?"

"...That's right. But as for what it is, let me keep it a secret. I think it's better not to announce what I'm going to tell your father."

"As for how Ah-cho was injured... Sorry, please allow me to keep it a secret for now, and I will tell you when the time comes."

Hearing Ogata's words, Asuma looked puzzled.

But she didn't ask Ogata aloud why he didn't tell him anything.

Asuma is a delicate person.

Seeing the serious expression on Ogata's face, a voice sounded in Asuma's mind: It's better not to ask more questions now...

Asuma chose to obey the voice in her head obediently. Don't ask why Ogata didn't tell her anything, and didn't ask other questions.

At this time, Kunoya on the side suddenly let out a long breath, and then took off the cloth used as a mask on her face.

"Okay, the wound has been re-sutured."

"Little girl, you are so powerful that you didn't even hum during the whole process."

"I think you are only 20 years old, right? At your age, you are the strongest girl I have ever seen."

A-Machi's wound, which was originally stitched up by Ogata with rough techniques, has now been stitched beautifully by Kunoya with silk thread.

Just now, when Kunoah re-stitched her wound, A-Ming didn't even hum from the beginning to the end.

If she hadn't bitten the cloth in her mouth tightly, the bite muscles on both sides of her cheeks would have bulged, and the pain made her whole body sweat, otherwise it would be easy to make people mistakenly think that Ah-Ming didn't feel pain.

After Kunoya announced that the stitching was over, Ah-Ming immediately let go of the cloth that had been bitten into two rows of neat tooth marks, panting softly while muttering:

"I'm not 20 years old...I'm only 19 this year..."

"What's the difference between 19 years old and 20 years old?" After responding to Ah Ding in a half-joking tone, Kunoya put down the tools for suturing the wound in her hand, got up and walked towards the huge Chinese medicine cabinet next to her.

And Ogata also took out a clean cloth at this time,

Gently wiped the sweat off Ah-Ming's body.

"Just to remind you - I'm going to start tormenting the medicine used to apply to the wound now, the smell may be a bit strong."

As soon as she finished speaking, Kunoya lit the special pot for decocting medicine and began to decoct the herbs.

Then, a... a smell that could neither be considered smelly nor fragrant began to spread around.

After a while, Kunoya took a piece of fried medicine and knelt back to sit next to Ah Ding.

Kunoya applied the plaster to A-Ming's wound, then took out the sackcloth, and wrapped A-Ming's wound with skillful movements. "How? Does it feel too tight or too loose?"

"No... just right..."

"That's good." Kunoya walked back to the huge Chinese medicine cabinet again, "I'm going to start frying the medicine for drinking now. This will take a lot of time. It will take about 2 hours to cook."

"Little girl, you should sleep for a while now. I think you are tired too. Take advantage of the time when I cook the medicine and sleep for a while. When the medicine is cooked, I will wake you up and drink the medicine."

A-cho, who was injured, was already very weak.

And after enduring the severe pain and re-suturing the wound just now, the feeling of fatigue continued to pour out from the depths of his mind and from all over his body.

Ah Ding is physically and mentally exhausted, and now the upper and lower eyelids have started to fight...

"Eh...? Is it okay? I won't cause trouble if I sleep at your house...?" A-cho asked.

"No, no." Kunoya shrugged, "This is not my home. This is just my clinic, and my home is next to it."

"He Yezhe's total population is only a thousand people, so they don't come to see me every day."

"You can rest assured to sleep. When the medicine is cooked, I will wake you up and drink the medicine."

As soon as Kunoya's words fell, Ogata, who had just wiped off the sweat of A-Machi, was also arranging A-Machi's hair, and whispered to A-Machi whose eyes were almost closed:

"Machi, you should go to sleep now."

A-Ming was already extremely sleepy now, and after hearing what Ogata said, she finally seemed to be unable to hold on, and slowly closed her eyes. After a while, her breathing became even and steady.

"Here. Give it to your wife to cover."

Kunoya, who was decocting medicine, brought a quilt that seemed to be made of bear skin from nowhere.

Seeing that the quilt was clean, Ogata gently covered A-Machi with the quilt.

After covering Ah-Ming with the quilt, Ogata took a deep breath. Then, he turned his head and said to Aisuma seriously:

"Aisuma, your father shouldn't be in bed yet, right?"

Asuma shook her head.

"Then please take me to meet your father now. I plan to finish what I want to say to your father right now."

"Then you come with me. But... let me remind you again, my father may be busy at this time, so I may not be able to see him now."

"It's okay. Ashley, can I trouble you to take care of Machi while I'm away? I'll be back soon."

Asuma helped Ogata translate very consciously.

Ashley nodded vigorously.

Ogata carried his own knife and left Kunoya's clinic one after the other with Aisuma.

As soon as I left the clinic, I saw Aizan and Autongpuyi who had been guarding outside the clinic just now.

After briefing the two of you about the treatment of A-Ding and what he plans to do now, Aizan, who was relieved to know that A-Ding's treatment went well, said that he plans to go back to the place where the villagers of China Village live. Go to the place and say goodbye to him and Ahili's people.

On the other hand, Otunpuyi said that he would take Ogata to meet their father with Aisuma.

As soon as the three of them left the clinic, Otunpuyi seemed unable to hold back, and turned to Ogata who was walking behind and asked:

"Mashima-san, now you can tell us how Machi-san was injured..."

Before Otunpuyi finished speaking, his sleeve was suddenly pulled by Asuma.

When he turned his head to look at his sister, he saw her winking at him, and said to him with her eyes: don't ask too much.

Although he didn't understand why his sister stopped him from asking this question, Otongpuyi always obeyed his sister's words, so even though he didn't understand, he chose to obey his sister's words obediently.

After Aisuma stopped her younger brother from asking how Ah Ding got his injury, the three of them remained silent all the way.

In the silent atmosphere, Asuma's home slowly appeared within Ogata's field of vision.

"Mr. Mashima, come in with me."

After saying that, Aisuma quickened her pace a little, and strode towards the gate of her own house.

But suddenly——as if Asuma remembered something, her expression froze for a moment, then she turned her head and said to Ogata:

"Ah, Mashima-san, I've been forgetting to tell you. Our house now has an extra guest."

"Guest?" Ogata asked back.

"On the day the surviving Takta villager fled to us, a very old man suddenly came to Heyezhe."

"That old man and the fleeing Takta villager arrived at us at the same time."

"As soon as he arrived, the surviving villagers of Takta Village followed closely."

"That man and my father seem to be old acquaintances. After coming here, they lived in our house and have been living there until now."

"Old Heren?" Ogata frowned slightly, "What's that man's name?"

"I don't know the full name, I only know that his surname seems to be Tang Shen."

"Tang God?" The light in Ogata's pupils shook slightly due to emotional fluctuations.

"Yeah. That person is quite kind." Aisuma nodded, "That person should be at our home now."

"In the past few days, I have been asking my father when he had such a Heren friend, but my father has always refused to say, and I don't know why my father keeps the identity of that old Heren so secret..."

After softly complaining, Aisuma walked quickly to the door of the house, opened the curtain, and stepped into the house.

Ogata, who followed closely, entered Aisuma's house and saw Chanup who hadn't seen him for a while and was sitting cross-legged on the ground smoking a cigarette.

And... also an old man whom I haven't seen for a while - this old man is sitting cross-legged beside Chanup.

After seeing Ogata, the old man immediately widened his eyes as if he saw some strange creature with 9 heads.

Isuma: "Father, you are not busy right now, that's fine. (Ainu language)"

"Aisuma, what's wrong?" (Ainu language)" Chanup put down the bong in his hand.

Ai Suma briefly explained the reason why Ogata brought him here.

Chanup raised his eyebrows after learning that it was Ogata who asked to come to see him.

"...I see." Chanup nodded lightly, "Then——Aisuma, Otunpuyi, you two go out first, and leave some space for me and Mashima-san. (Ayi Nu language)"

Chanup turned his head to look at Tang Shen beside him, and continued in Japanese: .

"God Tang, you should go out first."

"No need." As soon as Chanup finished speaking, Xu Fang said immediately, "Let Mr. Tang Shen stay here."

"Oh?" Chanup's eyes showed surprise, he looked at Tangshen, and then at Ogata, "...Then Tangshen, you can stay."

Aisuma and Otunpuyi obeyed Chanup's order and left the room quickly.

After the siblings left, Xu Bian took his big Shitian, walked quickly to Qianup and Tang Shen, and then knelt down on the ground.

When he was standing at the door, he couldn't see clearly because of the angle and light. Now after getting closer, Ogata realized that Chanup seemed to be very tired now.

His half-open eyes were slightly tired.

But before and after Ogata sat beside him, Chanup immediately suppressed the tired look in the depths of his pupils, and smiled:

"Mr. Mashima, you are in a hurry to find me, do you want to tell me something specifically?"

"It is true that there is something urgent to tell you, but before that—"

Ogata turned his head to look at the old man sitting beside Chanup.

"Mr. Tang Shen, I never thought we would meet again..."

"Yeah..." Lao Heren...or Tang God, who was sitting next to Chanup, smiled awkwardly, "Mr. Mashima, you... why are you here?"

"Did the two of you know each other?" Chanup took a few puffs from the bong, "This is really beyond my expectation..."

"Yes." Ogata nodded, "Under various chances and coincidences, I have met Mr. Tang Shen several times."

"I didn't expect it...Mr. Tangshen, the old acquaintance you said before to remind him to 'be careful with the army' is Mr. Chanup..."

Speaking of this, Ogata let out a long breath.

"Since you are here, Mr. Tang Shen, it means...you have already told Chanup the news of the shogunate's launch of the army, right?"

Tang Shen didn't make a sound. After pursing his lips, he nodded slightly.

"...Then I've saved some energy." Ogata said softly, "I don't need to bother to explain to Mr. Chanup the danger you Heyezhe is facing now."

"Mr. Mashima, are you coming to see me now, is it because you want to tell me that the shogunate launched a large army to attack us Heyezhe?" Chanup asked.

"Yeah." Ogata nodded. "However... the information I know may not be as much as Mr. Tang Shen."

The reason why Ogata asked Aisuma to meet Chanup as soon as possible just now was to quickly inform Chanup of the news that "the shogunate army is coming"-it was for this purpose that he returned to Hongyue Fortress.

Ogata cleared his throat, and then told Chanup one by one all the information he knew so far.

Chanup listened carefully to every word, every sentence of Ogata.

Soon—Xu Convenience said everything he knew.

And after quietly listening to everything Ogata said, Chanup first showed a pensive expression.

After a while, he let out a long sigh, and then squeezed out a smile:

"Mr. Mashima, did you rush back to us just to tell me this information?"

"The villagers of Qina Village are now part of your Heyezhe." Xu Fang said slowly, "The villagers of Qina Village have a lot of friendship with me, and you have also had a lot of love for me. Help, so I can't just sit idly by you."

"That's it... Then, from this point of view, it was a very wise choice for me to take in the village of Qina and allow you to join me, Heyezhe." After saying this in a half-joking tone, Chanup Sit up straight, and then Asaokata bowed solemnly, "Mr. Mashima, thank you very much for coming back to inform me of the 'shogunate army's attack'."

"You're welcome." Ogata returned a salute, "Mr. Chanup, I think almost everyone, including Aisuma and Otunpuyi, seems to be unaware that the shogunate's army is coming. You Haven't you told everyone about this yet?"

"Well." Chanup nodded, "Before we come up with a specific response plan, telling everyone this bad news will only increase everyone's uneasiness and panic, and there may be various accidents at that time. .”

"Mr. Mashima, when you returned to our Heyezhe, you didn't tell the others that Kazuto's army was coming, did you?"

"Don't worry. I'm not an idiot." Ogata replied, "Before I met you, I didn't mention this to anyone. It's your job to tell the clansmen that there are foreign enemies coming, and I won't do it for you."

"But I suggest you tell your clansmen the bad news as soon as possible."

"This matter cannot be concealed at all. When the army of the shogunate comes to the city, you will no longer be able to hide it."

"I understand what you said." Chanup smiled self-deprecatingly. "At present, I only tell this bad news to a very small number of people. These days, I have been discussing with these people what to do."

"However...it has been discussed for several days. As a result, no result has been discussed until now."

"Some people say you have to run for your life, some people advocate a fight to the death, and some people say...surrender directly..."

Speaking of this, Chanup shook his shoulders, and the self-deprecating expression on his face became more intense.

"Kazuto's army. It came so suddenly... We were completely unprepared... We didn't even know why Kazuto sent troops against us..."

"The reason I heard that the shogunate sent troops to you was that you incited the naturalized Ainu people in Matsumae Castle, and let those naturalized Ainu people start riots." Ogata said.

Chanup laughed softly a few times as if he heard some funny joke.

"Mr. Mashima, do you believe this?"

"Honestly—I don't believe it." Ogata replied without thinking.

The Ainu people in the Red Moon Fortress incited the naturalized people in Songmae City-this kind of words can probably only deceive those who have never been to the Red Moon Fortress and have no understanding of the Red Moon Fortress.

At the beginning, when Ogata learned from Matsudaira Sadanobu that the shogunate sent troops for such a reason, Ogata had strong doubts about Matsudaira Sadanobu's words.

He has been to the Red Moon Fortress, and he has seen with his own eyes that most of the people in the Red Moon Fortress are not hostile to Heren. The Red Moon Fortress has no motive to incite the naturalized people in Songqian City at all.

After hearing Ogata's answer without thinking, Chanup's face showed a bit of relief:

"Of course we haven't incited the naturalized people in Matsumae Castle, so what good does it do us?"

"The reason I can think of for the shogunate to send troops to us...probably because they don't like us..."

"Our city is located in an excellent location."

"Since a few years ago, after the shogunate discovered this land, it sent people to contact us every now and then, wanting to recruit us and let us give up this new home that we had finally found."

"Of course we will not pay attention to such unreasonable requests, so every time the shogunate sends someone to persuade them to surrender, we refuse once."

"Occupying a place with a good geographical location, and repeatedly refusing Kazuto's surrender, annoyed the shogunate... This is probably the real reason for the shogunate to send troops to us..."

Chanup took a deep breath.

"Forget it... No matter what the real reason for the shogunate to send troops to us is, it doesn't matter anymore..."

Chanup stretched out his fingers and squeezed the space between his brows.

Ogata: "You look tired."

"Well... because I have been worrying about what to do these days..." Chanup smiled bitterly, "I can't even sleep well... To be honest, before you came, I had been taking a nap just now When you came, I just woke up."

Having said that, Chanup took a deep breath. He rearranged his face and turned his wry smile into a smile.

"Mr. Mashima, thank you for coming back to remind me."

Chanup said "thank you" again

then--

"Now...you take your wife and get out of here."

Chanup spoke slowly.

"You and your wife don't need to stay here to accompany us to take risks. Before the army of the shogunate is coming, Mr. Mashima, run away!"

*****

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PS: A few days ago, I told everyone that my favorite animal was a bear. As a result, many book friends asked me if I was making metaphors. I didn’t like bears, but Naiko’s one...

The author is here to explain, the author is not making any metaphors, my favorite animal is indeed the bear, KUMA~~

Since I was a child, I have always felt that fat bears with round ears are very cute, and I have the urge to hug them.

But——for the other one, the author also likes it very much~~