I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

The stowaways, the cabins where the stowaways live—

"I'm ashamed to say it, but I'm not used to seeing your real face now." A-Ming said jokingly.

Ogata smiled wryly and touched his face: "Now that there is no cover of the human skin mask, it will be much more troublesome to go to places with many people, such as cities and towns..."

The stowaway boat that Ogata was on set sail again and headed straight for land.

Behind the stowaway is a pirate ship that has turned into a ghost ship... To be precise, it is a pirate ship that has turned into a ghost ship and is burning.

The ship as huge as a hill is now wrapped in layers of flames.

Smoke filled the air and sparks flew.

The crackling of burning logs was mixed with the roar of falling logs.

Such a mighty battleship, under the erosion of the flames, shrunk little by little, turning into pieces and falling on the sea.

The ship swallowed and destroyed by the flames exudes a strange beauty from the inside to the outside.

Before leaving, Ogata collected all the lamp oil on the pirate ship, used the lamp oil as fuel, lit a fire, and turned the pirate ship into a fire ship.

It is impossible for Ogata to take away such a large pirate ship, and there is nowhere to put it away.

If you ignore this pirate ship and let this pirate ship just float on the sea, it will easily cause trouble.

After all, although this three-masted sailing ship is an outdated ship in Europe, it is undoubtedly a big and strong ship in Japan.

If some people with bad intentions get this ship, maybe they will use this powerful ship to do bad things.

Therefore, after Ogata thought about it, he decided that it would be better to burn the ship once and for all.

And there is another advantage of burning the ship, that is, the corpses on the ship can be disposed of smoothly.

Ogata did not take anything from the pirate ship - including the 3,000 taels of gold in Yitong's room.

Ogata didn't know that the 3,000 taels of gold was a gift from Gongbu to Yitong under the order of his master.

For the large sum of money in the room of Yitong,

Ogata subconsciously believed that the 3,000 taels were money Antung had saved through human trafficking.

For the money obtained by trafficking people, Ogata has no desire to take them as his own or use them.

Ogata believes that the best destination for these dirty money is to let them sink to the bottom of the sea with that ship.

Ogata himself is not short of money. The savings he and A-Ming have are enough for the two of them not to worry about money for at least 10 years in the future, so when they decided to let the money sink into the bottom of the sea with Yitong's ship, , Ogata didn't feel distressed at all.

When Ogata decided to let the ship and everything on the ship sink to the bottom of the sea, no one on the stowaway boat dared to say anything.

After all, in terms of merit, these pirates were basically defeated by Ogata alone.

Be it Naoshu, Isshiki and Azuku, basically they didn't do much.

Therefore, in terms of the great achievements, Ogata has the right to deal with the spoils at will according to his own preferences.

Anyone with a little brain would not give pointers to a samurai who can destroy an entire pirate ship with his own strength.

What's more... this samurai is also the famous executioner Yidao Zhai.

"Ah, those people are looking at you again..." At this moment, A-Machi reminded Ogata in a soft voice.

Hearing the sound, Ogata turned his head to look around him.

Then...the scene that made Ogata couldn't help showing a helpless smile appeared-everywhere his gaze turned, the people there quickly lowered their heads.

Some courageous people, after lowering their heads, still couldn't help raising their eyes and looking at Ogata quietly, their eyes were full of emotions such as curiosity and surprise.

In this complex emotion, there is also a trace of...fear.

Ogata sighed silently.

After Ogata returned to the deck of the smuggling ship with his true face, the first person to exclaim was Isshiki.

Isshiki covered his mouth tightly with both hands at that time, and shouted in a broken voice: "Yi, Yi Dao Zhai?!"

Then, like a chain reaction, the rest of the deck reacted in all sorts of strange ways.

Some people who just thought that Ogata's face looked familiar felt like waking up from a dream.

Those who didn't know what Ogata Issai looked like, but had only heard of Ogata's name, looked at Ogata in shock.

At that time, Ogata paid special attention to the expressions of everyone on the deck—according to Ogata's observation, most of the people on the deck at that time, including Isshiki, Azuki, and Naoshu, should have recognized Ogata as who.

This made Ogata feel very complicated until now.

Because so many people immediately recognized who he was, it meant two things—

One: The name of Ogata has really spread throughout Japan now. His arrest warrants have probably been posted all over Japan.

Back in the day - when he first left the Hirose Domain, he didn't even need to cover his face. Walking on the avenue of the city town, very few people would recognize him immediately.

Two: Ogata's arrest warrant, he really looks like him...

This is where Ogata feels the most complicated...

Until now, Ogata has insisted that his arrest warrant made him look ugly.

Although he didn't think he was such a handsome person, at least he was considered handsome, so he had a lot of opinions on the portrait of his wanted warrant.

Ogata even thought about whether to ask the shogunate to report this matter, and ask the shogunate to change his portrait and paint him a portrait that is more like him.

Although Ogata has always insisted that the portrait of the wanted warrant is not like him, and made him ugly, the cruel fact has repeatedly slapped Ogata in the face—the wanted warrant did not make you ugly, It faithfully reproduces your appearance. You see, no matter who it is, they can recognize you the first time...

"Ah, Azuki, she is also secretly looking at you now." Acho whispered to Ogata again.

Ogata turned to look at Azuki who was sitting in the old place.

After realizing that Ogata was looking over, Azuki immediately lowered his head like the others, as if hiding his ears and stealing the bell.

Ogata originally thought——after he finished the pirates and returned to the stowaway, Azuki would definitely pester him and ask him a bunch of questions like "Why did you master luck so quickly".

But unexpectedly—Azhu was surprisingly quiet.

He didn't rush over to surround Ogata to ask questions, and after returning to the cabin, he sat quietly in his old seat and kept secretly looking at Ogata with strange eyes.

A Zhu didn't come to him to ask questions, and Ogata didn't bother to take the initiative to find her.

After all——Ogata has been feeling tired since getting off that pirate ship. Too tired to do anything other than take care of A-Ming.

Not physical exertion.

It's mental fatigue.

On that pirate ship, too much important information was received in a short period of time that Ogata could not digest in a short period of time.

Because too much important information drilled into Ogata's mind at the same time, Ogata felt tired.

This feeling of tiredness made Ogata unable to arouse the slightest urge to have an eager conversation with others.

...

...

After Ogata withdrew his gaze from looking at Azhu, Azu immediately raised his head again like a mole popping out of a hole in the ground, and looked at Ogata.

With complicated emotions on her face and eyes, she secretly said in her heart:

——I actually...found Ogata Yidaosai...

...

...

Most of the people on board were silently looking at Ogata—this also included Isshiki and Naoshu.

Like the others——Isshiki and Naosuke cast their eyes on Ogata, also full of complicated emotions.

"I really didn't expect..." Isshiki sighed lightly, "It's actually possible to meet Ogata Yidaosai in this kind of place..."

"No wonder there has been no news of Ogata Isaitosai since the Nijo Castle in Kyoto was breached... So it turns out that Istosai has been using a special method to change his face... But why is he showing his true face now...?"

Naosuke muttered in a puzzled tone.

He was very interested in the way Ogata changed his appearance.

He really wanted to get close to him and ask Ogata directly what method he used to change his face before, and at the same time why he suddenly showed his true face to others.

But considering that I don't know Ogata's character well, and I don't know whether my question will offend others, so I can't muster up the courage to ask.

Just when Zhizhou's doubtful murmur fell, a faint voice slowly came out from beside him:

"... Grandpa... I... still find it hard to accept..."

Zhi Zhou turned his head to look at Isshiki.

Isshiki who was sitting on the ground was holding his legs with both arms with his eyes blank.

"It turns out that Yidao Zhai, who is unparalleled in swordsmanship... has always thought that swordsmanship is a skill that should be eliminated..."

Isshiki's fists were slowly clenched.

There was an emotion in his eyes... that was hard to describe in words.

This emotion is a bit like grievance, but also a bit like resentment.

Looking at Isshiki who hugged his knees, making his whole body look a bit smaller, Naosuke sighed heavily.

Facing a situation like Isshiki's, Naoki didn't know what to say to comfort him.

Raising his hand and patting the back of the ridge several times, Naosuke raised his eyes again to look at Ogata in the distance.

"This is...a good opportunity..." Zhi Zhou murmured after being silent for a while.

...

...

After experiencing the accident of being robbed by pirates, the rest of the smuggling boat's journey can be described as smooth sailing.

The ship arrived at a place in northern Oshu without any problems.

After the ship docked and the cabin door was opened, the stowaways in the cabin rushed out of the cabin immediately and set foot on the land of Japan.

A considerable part of the reason why the smugglers left the smuggling boat so eagerly was because of Ogata.

Although Ogata's reputation in some places is not bad, in the eyes of the general public who don't care much about current affairs and national affairs, Ogata is a wanted criminal, and he is also a wanted criminal with a frighteningly high reward.

Sitting on the same boat with a wanted criminal with such a high bounty - this is a psychologically stressful thing for many ordinary people.

Therefore, as soon as the ship landed and the cabin was released, most of the stowaways immediately "fleeed" as if they were liberated.

A Zhu was not in a hurry to "escape".

After she walked out of the smuggling boat slowly, as if she had made up her mind, she stopped suddenly and turned to look at the smuggling boat behind her.

A thoughtful look appeared on his face.

A Zhu looked at the smuggling boat behind him for a while with a thoughtful face, then flung the black robe on his body and rushed into a dense bush not far away middle.

And after Azhu hid in the bushes, two people did exactly the same thing as her.

...

...

"Big, big, big, my lord...this is you, you, you, your horse..."

The crew members standing in front of Ogata stammered and brought carrots and grapes to Ogata and Atachi.

Not only was the crew member so nervous that he had a severe stutter, but he was also so nervous that his whole body was covered in cold sweat.

At this time, Ogata and Ah-Ming did not leave the stowaway boat immediately with the rest of the stowaways, because they still needed to go to the bottom of the stowaway boat to get their horses.

After taking the reins from the crew member in front of him, Ogata couldn't help but said to the crew member:

"I said...you don't have to be so nervous...I'm not a man-eating ghost..."

"Yes, yes, yes! I, I, I, I, I know!" The crew member nodded and bowed, and told Ogata with actions—your kind reminder just now was completely useless...

Because the crew member stuttered so badly, Ogata wondered if the crew member would accidentally bite his tongue.

If anyone had the most exaggerated reaction after Ogata's identity was revealed, it would undoubtedly be the crew of the stowaway ship.

This stowaway ship strictly forbids samurai aboard—but after Ogata and the others voluntarily exposed their identities as samurai in order to defeat the pirates, none of the crew members dared to say anything wrong with Ogata and the others.

Not to mention Ogata and the others, after the pirates were dealt with, the crew didn't even dare to enter the cabin again.

Even informing everyone that they were about to dock, they just stood outside the cabin door and yelled into the door.

Their attitude and behavior towards Ogata now seem to be different people.

Previously, although their actions could not be regarded as arrogant and domineering, they could also be regarded as completely ignoring stowaways like Ogata and the like.

Except for a very few people, the rest of the crew basically behaved rudely, without any manners at all.

But now——they faced Ogata, but they all became "models of men" one by one.

Everyone is very polite. When talking to Ogata, they use the highest level of respect, and they are respectful to Ogata... No, it is not accurate to describe it as "respectful", it should be said to be respectful You have to go too far.

Everyone was like Ogata's retainers, they almost fell to their knees and kowtowed to Ogata.

Ogata had no choice but to show a helpless look to the crew members who treated him with too much respect.

After the human skin mask was destroyed, Ogata was already mentally prepared for the kind of treatment he suffered.

Ogata and Ah Ding, each holding a carrot and a grape, got off the stowaway boat.

When getting off the boat, Ogata did not forget to put on his bamboo hat, and then pulled up his scarf to cover most of his face with the scarf.

Now, without a human skin mask, Ogata can only rely on bamboo hats, veils, scarves and other things to cover his face.

Fortunately, the current season is just beginning of spring, and the weather is still relatively cool. You can still wear a scarf and use it to cover your face.

At this time, the rest of the smuggling boats on board had basically disappeared. After Ogata and the others led the horses and walked to the shore, there was no one on the shore.

Ogata and A-Ming were the last two stowaways to disembark. After they disembarked, the crew of the stowaway immediately closed their cabins, drew anchor, and prepared to leave.

"It's been a long time..." Machi took a deep breath, "The atmosphere of Japan..."

Not long after solving Yitong and the others, the stowaway boat entered the relatively calm sea area, and Ah-ding felt much better because of this.

It is also because of this that after disembarking, A-Machi is still in good spirits and has not been too sluggish due to seasickness.

"A-cho, let's go." Ogata said, "Let's work harder and see if we can reach Honan-cho before dark."

When picking up the horse just now, Ogata asked the crew: where is the nearest city from here.

Compared to sleeping in the wild, Ogata naturally wanted to spend the night in the city town.

Especially in this situation where I have been drifting at sea for several days, I want to spend the night in a place with hot water for bathing and tatami mats for sleeping.

According to the crew, there happened to be a small town nearby - walk straight along the path in the southeast direction, walk two and a half miles (about 10 kilometers), and you will reach a small town called "Fengnan Town" .

Just when Ogata and A-Ming were about to sit on Carrot and Grape's horses, a loud shout suddenly reached their ears.

"Master Yi Dao Zhai!"

"Huh?" Ogata followed the prestige - two figures rushed out from the bushes in the distance.

These two are Isshiki Naoki and Isshiki Ryoma.

The shout just now was exactly what Isshiki Naoshu yelled.

Ogata, who narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at the two who had just hidden in the bushes: "It's you, what's the matter?"

As Ogata spoke, he secretly raised his vigilance, and was ready...to draw his sword at any time to deal with various emergencies.

"Master Yidao Zhai." Quickly running to Ogata's body, Isshiki said straight and straight, "My grandson and I have spoken rudely to you before, please forgive me and my grandson for being rude to you before!"

After all, Isshiki Naoshu bowed 90 degrees to Ogata very respectfully.

And Isshiki who was standing beside Naoshu, after hesitating for a while, finally slowly bowed 90 degrees to Ogata like his grandfather did—but when he bowed to Ogata, his face With a bit of reluctance.

Ogata turned sideways, not being greeted by Naoshu and the others.

The disrespectful words Naosuke received probably refer to the previous incident when Isshiki argued with him about "whether swordsmanship should be eliminated".

Isshiki was fine, but Naosuke was an old man with white beard and hair after all, and Ogata always felt a little weird for an old man of this age to give him such a big gift.

"You don't need to apologize to me. I don't care about such trivial things." Ogata said lightly, "You guys hid it specially, and waited for me to get off the boat. It shouldn't be just to apologize to me, right? Is there anything else you want to tell me? Please speak as soon as possible."

Seeing what Ogata said, Naosuke froze for a moment, and then a solemn look appeared on his face at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Since Ogata went straight to the point, he also cut to the chase.

"Master Yidao Zhai, I can't wait, I would like to invite you to come to Osaka, to our sword gym! Be the master of swordsmanship in our sword gym!"

*****

*****

Today's physical condition is not very good, so the number of words today is slightly less.

This final volume is really long. It’s been almost a month since the final volume was written, and my daily updates are not small, but until now, the plot of the final volume... can only be regarded as just unfolding...

So those who are used to waiting for me to finish writing a volume before starting to read it may have to wait for nearly half a year (leopard head laughs.jpg)