I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

Edo, the Shimada family's mansion, in a certain room——

"Master, I just informed the master about your return. He said that he wanted to come to see you before Yamada Senemon started to test the sword." Hachibei said respectfully, "Please wait a moment. Wait a moment, master, he should be here soon."

"Yes." Shimada nodded, "Hachibei, thank you for your hard work."

"Shimada." Makimura, who was sitting right behind Shimada, gave a smirk, "Are you nervous now?"

"There's nothing to be nervous about." Shimada glanced at Mucun helplessly, "It's just to see my father whom I haven't seen for a long time, and it's not a blind date."

Wow.

As soon as Shimada finished speaking, the sound of the door being pulled open suddenly sounded from the side door of the room - a middle-aged man with an expressionless face entered the room through the opened side door.

As soon as the middle-aged man entered, Hachibei, who was kneeling behind Shimada, immediately put his forehead on the tatami and saluted the middle-aged man respectfully.

After the middle-aged man entered, Shimada immediately straightened his waist and adjusted his sitting posture to a very standard, like a conditioned reflex.

The middle-aged man sat down directly opposite Mucun and the others at a moderate speed. As soon as his buttocks touched the tatami, he said in a tone without sadness:

"...Long time no see, Katsurokuro. It seems that you are doing well outside."

"I've heard everything from Hachibei. Are you a friend of Inuko's?"

The middle-aged man turned his attention to Mucun.

"Soichiro Shimota." The middle-aged man said, "Welcome to our house as a guest. It has been a long time since I have had such a young guest."

——Is this Shimada's father: Shimada Soichiro?

While Mucun said this in his heart, he saluted Soichiro in a neither humble nor overbearing way:

"It's the first time we meet. This is Shimada-kun's friend—Makimura Yahachi."

Mucun used to be the capital of Kyoto, and he has long been familiar with "what kind of gift to what kind of person and what kind of gift to give".

"Since it's a dog's friend,

Then you don't need to be too polite, just raise your head. "

After Mucun raised his head, he silently looked at a middle-aged man sitting opposite him.

Black and white hair and beard, no chin beard, but there is a short beard on the lips that is not very popular in this era, big and energetic eyes, his old posture does not match his energetic appearance .

If Mucun were to evaluate Soichiro's appearance, he would be a person who "looks like a capable official".

Looking at Mucun, who was neither humble nor overbearing, Soichiro's eyes flashed a hint of appreciation.

"Katsurokuro, it seems that you have a good friend."

"... I have gained a group of trustworthy friends - this is the biggest gain since I left home." Shimada finally said the first words since Soichiro entered the room.

Soichiro looked Shimada up and down several times with sharp eyes that seemed to see through Shimada's entire body.

"I still have a lot of things to ask you. But let's save all the questions for later."

"I've already made an appointment with the Yamada Asemon family to test the knife at this time. We can't make people wait too long."

"After the trial knife is over, let's have a good talk."

"Katsurokuro, Makimura-kun, are you going to wait for me in this room, or go to the courtyard with me to see how the famous Yamada Asemon tries his sword?"

Mucun and Shimada raised their eyebrows at the same time in a very tacit understanding, then looked at each other, and began to discuss in a low voice...

...

...

The Shimada House, garden——

"Shimada." Mumura lowered his volume, and whispered to Shimada next to him with a volume that only he and Shimada could hear clearly, "You are a native of Edo, and you have seen Yamada Asemon test before. knife?"

"I haven't seen it." Shimada replied, "My family rarely invites Asemon Yamada to test knives. I have never taken the initiative to learn about this 'executioner family'."

The daimyo of Asemon Yamada, Makimura and Shimada have all heard about it for a long time, but they have never seen how they try a knife.

So the two of them made up their minds just now—rather than waiting for Soichiro to return in that room, they might as well try something new and see how the long-heard "sword tester of the shogunate" tried his sword.

After being brought to the courtyard, Mucun found that there were quite a lot of people in the courtyard. These people were probably the retainers of the Shimada family and accompanied Soichiro to watch the knife test. They sat in various places in the courtyard according to their status. .

Mucun looked around the courtyard and found that he couldn't tell who was Yamada Asemon, so he chose to surrender and asked Hachibei behind him for help: "Mr. Yamada Asemon, who is Yamada Asemon?" ?”

Hachibei was sent by Soichiro to accompany Mucun and Shimada, so he is kneeling behind Mucun and Shimada now.

Hachibei is also a master of small talk, he whispered in a voice that would not be heard by the third person except Makimura and Shimada:

"Yamada Asemon hasn't come yet, and is still preparing."

"The one who came to test the knife this time is not the current Patriarch of Yamada Asemon, but the son of the current Patriarch."

"Because Yamada Asemon has been beheading people and testing knives for generations. This is their family business. Therefore, their descendants will be trained as executioners since birth, and each of them will be a master of swordsmanship."

"Because there are so many people who come to ask for a sword test, the Yamada Asemon family often asks the younger descendants of their family to do it for them."

"The Yamada Asemon family has now reached the seventh generation. The current seventh generation Yamada Asemon is named 'Yamada Asemon Fumaki'."

"Wen Xian has two sons. He often asks his two sons to test knives for others on his behalf."

"But it's a pity—one of Wen Xian's two sons disappeared a few years ago."

"It is said that Wen Xian's missing son has outstanding personal abilities. Since his disappearance, their family has been completely overwhelmed by the shortage of manpower."

"Now I want to invite Asemon Yamada to come to test the knife, and I often have to wait for a long time because they are too busy."

"We have invited Yamada Senemon to try out knives many days ago. But they were finally free until today."

"One of the sons is missing?" Mucun frowned, "How did he disappear? Was he killed by some enemy?"

"This... I don't know." Hachibingwei laughed a few times in embarrassment, "Wen Xian seems to keep secret about the reason of his son's disappearance. He rarely tells outsiders how and why his son disappeared. Ah, young master, Makimura-sama, look over there, that young man over there is the one who came to test the sword today——Yamada Asemon Yoshitomo."

Mucun followed the direction where Hachibei's chin was pushing: he saw a young man with an expressionless face, as petite as Shimada, walking from the corner of the courtyard to the center of the courtyard at an unhurried speed. .

Behind him were several people dressed as attendants, who were pushing a trolley on which was placed a large unidentified object wrapped in a straw mat.

"This young man is the current Yamada Asemon: Bunken's son, Yoshitomo." Hachibei then introduced to Mucun and the others, "He will be in charge of testing our knives for us today."

"Since one of Wen Xian's sons disappeared, Yi Chao became Wen Xian's only son."

"As long as there are no accidents, Yoshitomo will be the next Patriarch of the Yamada Asemon Clan, who will be succeeded by Yamada Asemon the Eighth Generation."

While listening carefully to Hachibei's introduction, Shimada nodded from time to time.

After Hachibei's voice fell, Shimada asked:

"Hachibei, what's in the cart pushed by the waiters behind Yoshitomo? It looks very heavy."

"On the trolley, those things wrapped in straw mats are corpses." Hachibingwei said lightly.

He ignored the surprised Shimada, and continued:

"The Yamada Asemon family is not only the imperial sword tester, but also the executioner."

"Cut off the heads of death-row prisoners who were sentenced to 'beheading' on the execution ground, and make mistakes for the samurai who were ordered to cut seppuku... These tasks have always been taken care of by the Yamada Asemon family."

"The bodies of the people killed by them are basically handed over to them."

"The still usable gall from these corpses will be taken out to make the famous 'human gall pills'."

"The corpses after the guts have been taken away will be placed by Haosheng. After someone invites them to test the knife, they will take their corpses in stock to test the knife for others."

"Of course—"Yamada Asemon brings test knife materials to the door", only in Edo."

"If people from outside Edo came to invite Yamada Asemon to test the sword, of course they would not be able to take the corpse to a distant place."

"That's why people from outside Edo invite Yamada Asemon to test their knives, and they must bring their own corpses and other materials for the test - this is also an unwritten rule."

"...I've heard it before—the house of the Yamada Asemon family is full of corpses." Shimada twitched his lips, "So is this true?"

"The Yamada Asaemon family has stored a lot of corpses—it's true, but they probably wouldn't put the corpses at home." Hachibei laughed a few times, "I don't know exactly what they put Where are the dead bodies, but I guess they have a special place for storing dead bodies, and they don't put all the dead bodies at home."

While they were listening to Hachibei's various introductions in Mucun, Yoshitomo was already in the middle of the courtyard, ready to test the knife with his attendants.

They first used soil and other utensils to prepare the "earth altar" for placing the corpses. Then he untied the straw mat that was covering the trolley, revealing the scene under the straw mat—a total of 7 corpses.

I didn't look at it carefully just now, but after looking at Yi Chao carefully now, Mu Cun found out that this person is really young.

It seems that he is not even 20 years old, but at such a young age, he is very proficient in the process of testing the knife, making preparations for the knife test, completing the necessary ritual work, and then taking the knife handed by the attendant next to him— —This is probably the treasured sword that Soichiro wanted Yamada Asemon to test its performance.

After Yoshitomo took over the treasured sword, two attendants laid a dead body on the freshly built earthen altar with extremely skillful movements.

Seeing that the knife test was about to begin, Mucun opened his eyes wide and began to look intently.

There is a set of complex procedures for using human body to test the knife. In order to fully grasp the performance of the knife, the corpse will be placed in various poses, and then various parts will be cut.

Yi Chao first made a vertical slash, cutting the first body in half from the chest.

The blood of this body was probably drained in advance, and not a drop of blood flowed out after being cut in half.

After Yoshitomo made the first slash, the waiter beside him immediately stepped forward to put on a new body. The new body was placed in a sitting and standing position for Yoshitomo to slash his shoulders.

They just keep repeating these steps.

The waiter adjusted the position of the body, and Yoshitomo was in charge of chopping.

Soon, it came to the last step - the waiters stacked the 7 flesh bodies brought together, and Yoshitomo raised the treasured sword in his palm and pointed it at the stacked "mountain of meat" Chop down heavily.

The knife chopped off three flesh in one breath, and stopped when the blade penetrated into the fourth flesh.

"Three trunks." Yoshitomo said softly, "Not bad knife."

Yoshitomo wiped the blade clean, put the sword back into its sheath, then bowed to Soichiro and the others, announcing the end of the sword trial to everyone with his gestures.

After Yoshitomo saluted Soichiro, the surrounding Shimada family retainers who came to watch the sword trial gave out their admiration, praising Yoshitomo's exquisite swordsmanship.

Mucun is also a swordsman, so he naturally understands the way of trying the sword.

In the eyes of people who don't understand swordsmanship, they probably only feel that Yoshitomo just slashed a few times at random.

But in the eyes of knowledgeable people like Mucun and the others, Yichao's series of knife-testing moves just now were of an extremely high standard.

Anyone who has ever swung a real knife knows how accurate a real knife is, and how difficult it is to swing such a heavy real knife to accurately chop objects.

But Yoshitomo held such a heavy knife, and there was no tremor in the sword path when he swung it. He could cut wherever he wanted to. The chest, which was very difficult to cut because of the many bones, was cut in two by his knife, like cutting tofu. .

Just judging from his incomparably precise swing of the knife and the way he can easily break bones, it is enough to see that this young man is not someone to be taken lightly.

Mucun recognized Yoshitomo's last knife-testing action—this is a very classic knife-testing method to test the sharpness of a knife.

"Sanguan" means that it can cut off the flesh of three human beings.

It is said that the highest record so far is the "Seven Body Cut" created by Nakanishi Jurobei in the 9th year of Yanbao (1681 AD).

"Master Shimada!" Yoshitomo said loudly.

Perhaps because of his young age, Yoshitomo's voice still had a little childishness.

"It's worthy of 'Mataju Fujishima, California'! It's been a long time since I cut off three human bodies so easily. It's worthy of the name of 'treasure sword'."

"Yamada-kun, thank you for your hard work." Soichiro also stood up with a smile at this time, "As expected of the Yamada Asemon family, it is admirable to have such superb swordsmanship at such a young age."

Soichiro stepped forward and greeted Yoshitomo for a while. Soichiro hoped that Yoshitomo would stay at their house for a while, so that they could continue to fulfill their friendship as landlords, but Yoshitomo politely declined.

Seeing that Yoshitomo had no intention of staying in their house for a long time, Soichiro didn't try to force him to stay, which was embarrassing.

Yichao said that he would prepare the appraisal certificate as soon as possible, and after sending someone to your mansion, he asked his attendants to load the body of the knife-tested body into a car and prepare to go home.

Yamada Asemon also has a "label" in Edo, that is, the service is very good.

Not only will they bring their own corpses and other knife test materials to the door, but they will also bring these materials back after the knife test.

After Yamada Asaemon has tried each knife, he will write an appraisal letter for this knife, which year, month and day will be used to appraise the knife, and the specific performance of this knife.

With this testimonial, the owner of the sword can prove to outsiders that this sword has been tested by the "shogunate sword tester", and it is an undoubted treasure sword.

...

...

Makimura and Shimada returned to the room where they met Soichiro for the first time.

After Soichiro personally sent Yoshitomo out of their Shimada family's mansion, he led Makimura and Shimada back to this room.

In the room, there were only 3 people, Soichiro, Shimada, and Makimura.

"Okay, Katsurokuro. Let's have a good chat first." Soichiro's tone was very calm, as if there was no emotion hidden, "You have been away... for nearly two years."

"Two years ago, you told me: You don't want to rely on the strength of your family, but rely on your own strength to make a name for yourself."

"It's been two years now, have you managed to make a name for yourself?"

"...haven't made any great achievements yet." Shimada said lightly.

"Then can you tell me what you have been doing outside for the past two years?"

After a moment of silence, Shimada shook his head: "...Sorry, please allow me to keep this a secret. The only thing I can tell you is that I have never let go of my self-improvement."

"Don't you want to tell me...forget it."

Soichiro took a serious look at Shimada's eyes: "It doesn't look like you're talking big. Your eyes have become a little sharper than before."

"What are you looking for me this time?"

"It's just to see my father whom I haven't seen for a long time." Shimada replied, "To be honest: If someone persuaded me to come back, I actually didn't plan to come back."

"That's it..." Soichiro smiled a few times, "Then what are your plans for the future?"

"Afterwards, I will continue to walk my own path." Shimada's tone was forceful, "'Not relying on the power of the family, but only relying on my personal struggle to make great achievements'——My original intention , never changed."

"I see..." Soichiro nodded lightly, "Then you should work hard."

After saying that, Soichiro turned his head and looked out the window.

Then he asked a question that had nothing to do with the topic just now:

"It's almost noon now, do you want to stay for lunch?"

Shimada didn't expect Soichiro to ask such a question, and after a while, he replied, "No. I don't intend to stay for lunch."

"Are you going to leave before noon?"

"Well. That's what I planned."

"..." Soichiro nodded after being silent for a while, "Alright then. Since you want to leave, I won't keep you either."

"Katsurokuro, I don't care about what you are doing outside. As long as you don't do anything outrageous."

"Then..." Having said this, Soichiro paused, and after hesitating for a while, he continued, "If you are tired from wandering outside... come back."

Shimada looked at his father in front of him with surprise and astonishment.

After a while, he came back to his senses.

"Well... I will."

...

...

Shimada and Makimura walked out of the Shimada mansion side by side.

As soon as he stepped out of the mansion, Mucun couldn't wait to say to Shimada:

"I always thought that the relationship between you and your father was very bad, that's why you resisted going home."

"But now, it doesn't seem to be the case. I always feel that your father didn't treat you too badly."

"To be honest... I was also taken aback." Shimada turned his head to look at the Shimada mansion behind him, "My father 2 years ago was not so easy to talk to..."

"Two years ago, I had a big fight with my father."

"When I told my father that I wanted to go out and start a career without relying on the power of the family, my father scolded me a lot."

"Say it is impossible for me to succeed at all, let me stay at home honestly and prepare for inheriting the Shimada family business in the future."

"At that time, my father and I had such a quarrel that we were about to use a knife... I finally escaped from the house in a way that was almost forced..."

"Do you want to make a name for yourself with your own strength..." Mucun grinned, "Although you have always known that you have such a goal when you first joined us, but you have never asked why you want to do this Well. Have you ever been stimulated by something, so you decided to break away from the protection and support of your family?"

"There is no particularly complicated reason..." Shimada raised his hand and scratched his hair, "Many people have had this kind of thought - they want to rely on their own strength instead of relying on the power of the family to make great achievements .”

"And I am not only a part of this kind of people, but I also happen to have a special ability to act. When others only dared to 'think', I had already let go. Then 2 years ago, I clarified with my father After realizing my ambition, I had a big fight with my father, and then I ignored my father’s dissuasion, left home, and started my own journey.”

"You are also a person with a lot of personal experience." Mucun shrugged, "Do you want to rely on your own strength to make a name for yourself... Haha, this should be a trouble that only rich kids like you have."

"Don't call me a kid from a rich family." Shimada said angrily, "You should know, I don't like that name."

"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Mucun laughed, "But do you really want to leave like this? At least you should stay and have lunch with your father after a long absence."

Shimada shook his head: "2 years ago, after I left home, I swore to myself: If I don't make a name for myself and let my father who asserts that I can't succeed take a good look at it, I will never go home, and I will never use the one meter and one meter at home. money."

"If the lord hadn't persuaded me to go home, I wouldn't have planned to come back today."

"Why did you make such a troublesome oath..." Mu Cun said in a helpless tone.

Shimada turned his head again, and glanced at the Shimada family mansion that had almost disappeared from behind.

"Actually, now that I think about it carefully... when I decided to leave home two years ago, I was too reckless..." Shimada smiled wryly, "In order to show my determination not to rely on the family, I left home I didn’t bring any money with me.”

"After recklessly leaving Edo, he quickly encountered the dilemma of having no money to eat."

"I was also lucky—when I was so hungry that I was going to pick up garbage to eat, I ran into the lord who happened to be coming to Edo to do business."

"My lord did not give me money or food directly."

"Instead, I asked me to help her with her luggage. As long as I help her transport her luggage to Edo, I will be paid 100 Wen."

"I remember very clearly that I ended up using the 100 Wen to buy 2 red bean paste buns—the most delicious red bean paste buns I've ever eaten in my life."

"That's it - I got to know the master who almost saved my life, and before I knew it, I became a member of the gourd house."

"Your process of joining the Gourd House is very similar to mine." Mucun smiled, "After I gave up my official position and left Kyoto, I was almost reduced to picking up trash because I ran out of money. Difficulty eating."

"Fortunately, I met the lord in time, and as you just said, the lord gave me a job with money to do, so that I finally had a full meal after a long absence."

"Then unconsciously, I became a part of the gourd house."

"That's it... I didn't expect that the process of you joining the Calabash House, Senior Mucun, is very similar to mine." After finding the same kind, Shimada smiled brightly, "Speaking of which... I have never known how all the seniors joined. What about the gourd house?"

"Why did senior Asai join the gourd house? Was he also saved by the lord?"

"The process for him to join the gourd house was relatively ordinary." Mucun shrugged, "He was originally a low-level samurai of the Satsuma domain. Because his salary was so low that he couldn't live on, he left the domain and became a ronin, intending to go out and fight for a while."

"Not long after leaving Satsuma, I met the lord. Because the lord's salary is very high, he joined the gourd house."

"The process of his joining the Calabash House was really ordinary..." Shimada said, "Where is that senior?"

"Jamiya..." Mu Cun twitched the corner of his mouth, "I don't know."

Shimada: "Huh?"

"It's not like you don't know—that guy in the palace has always been very mysterious." Mucun shrugged, "He never talked about his past, and he kept secret about how he joined the gourd house."

"The only thing I can be sure of is that he was the first to follow the lord, and then he was very trusted by the lord."

"Senior Mamiya must have been engaged in some shady job before?" Shimada said in a half-joking tone, "That's why he has been like this all the time, and he doesn't want to mention anything about him before."

"Who knows." Mu Cun shrugged again, "In short—he doesn't want to talk about his past, and we don't want to ask too much."

"Whenever Jiangong plans to tell his past, he will naturally say it."

"Okay, let's go quickly, I'm starving to death. Hurry up and go back to eat the lunch made by the lord."

...

...

Ezo, somewhere in the north——

"Look! There are lights ahead!" Lin Ziping, who was sitting behind Ogata, pointed forward.

Because of the low temperature, every breath Lin Ziping exhaled turned into white mist.

"Tuohe Village is ahead!" Lin Ziping then shouted loudly.

"Is it finally here..." Ogata murmured in a low voice, and then silently increased the speed of the horse.

It was evening now, the sky had turned a dull dark blue, and the Ainu settlements in the distance were all lit up.

Since the heavy snowstorm 2 days ago, Ogata and the others have not encountered any accidents, and arrived at this Tuohe village smoothly all the way.

According to Lin Ziping, after arriving at Tuohe Village, he was very close to Kanto Village where the strange and doctor lived.

After Ogata and his party rushed to Tuohe Village in the distance, the villagers of Tuohe Village also quickly discovered the uninvited guest. Ogata caught a glimpse of many men holding various weapons, pouring out of the village .

"It's me! Lin Ziping! (Ainu language)" Lin Ziping shouted loudly to the men rushing out of the village with weapons.

Afterwards, the villagers who rushed out of the village made a small commotion, and then slowly put away their weapons.

In order to show politeness, Ogata and the others got off their horses and walked on foot after marching to a distance of more than ten steps from the village.

When they led the horses and approached the villagers blocking between them and the village, a very old man walked out from among the villagers and walked towards Ogata and the others slowly.

Lin Ziping: "Orowa! Long time no see! (Ainu language)"

"Lin Ziping, it's been a long time." The old man whom Lin Ziping called Orowa nodded with a smile.

...

...

Ezodi, Toha Village, the home of the village chief (Orowa)——

The old man Lin Ziping called Oulova was the head of this Tuohe village.

After Lin Ziping's relationship was confirmed to be harmless, Ogata and others were taken to Ou Luowa's home.

"The method of making fire... This is definitely the greatest discovery in the history of mankind..." A-Ming, who was trembling slightly from the cold, put his hands close to the flame that was boiling the thick soup, and murmured as if in a daze with.

I don’t know if it’s because they’re going all the way north, so the weather is getting colder or colder, or because there’s been another cold wave recently, in short——since the heavy snowstorm 2 days ago, the temperature has been so low that people can’t wait The extent of holding flames in your arms.

While A-Machi was getting close to the flames to keep warm, Ogata and Hayashi Zihei were negotiating with Orova.

"Well... I understand the specific reasons." Orowa nodded, "You want us to take you to Kanto Village... (Ainu language)"

"That's right." Lin Ziping nodded, "Because it's been too long, I can't remember the exact location of Kanto Village, so I have to trouble you to send someone to take us. (Ainu language)."

"...I can draw a map for you. But I can't send someone to take you. (Ainu language)" Orowa shook his head.

"Huh? Why? (Ainu language)" Lin Ziping was puzzled.

"Because it's not very peaceful here recently." Orova said slowly, "Pirates have appeared here recently. (Ainu language)"

"Huh? Pirates? Here?! (Ainu language)" Lin Ziping exclaimed.

"Mr. Lin, what did Mr. Orowa say just now?" Ogata asked.

"Olowa said that there have been pirates here recently."

"Huh? Pirates? Here?!" Ogata exclaimed exactly the same as Lin Ziping just now.

*****

*****

Today's chapter is a long-lost chapter of more than 8,000 words.

Not only the word count is very conscientious, but the content is also very conscientious. I have written a lot of important details in this chapter that you will miss if you don't read carefully.

So I recommend that you read this chapter carefully and don't swallow it whole.

For the sake of the author's conscience, please vote for me more (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)

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