I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"Here we are." Mu Cun pouted towards an ordinary-looking hotel in front of him, "This is where we live now."

Ogata glanced at the inn in front of him. On the door plaque of the inn were written the three big Chinese characters "门田屋". Then he scanned the environment around the circle—although this place is not far from Shinmachi, it is quite desolate and the flow of people is low.

In a nutshell - this place is in a rather unremarkable area of ​​Osaka.

"Has everyone in your gourd house come to Osaka?" Ogata asked.

Mucun shook his head: "No. At present, only me, Mamiya, and Asai are coming to Osaka. The rest will come later, and I will tell you the details later."

There are only 2 floors in this door farm house. Mucun led Ogata and Atachi up to the 2nd floor in one breath, and then stopped in front of a room in the farthest corner.

Just standing in front of the paper sliding door of this room, Xu Yi heard a very familiar voice and a very familiar sentence pattern from behind the door...

"Jian Gong, you can still repair this kind of Nanman pocket watch..."

"Well, I used to learn how to repair this kind of clock in Nagasaki. I told you that cheap is not good. Nanban's pocket watch only sells for 500 coins? This kind of watch will definitely break after a few days. You see— — Sure enough? Well, it’s barely repaired, but if it breaks again, there’s probably nothing I can do.”

"When I worked hard to negotiate with Yukimura, the two of you were so relaxed..." Mucun twitched the corner of his mouth, and opened the door unceremoniously.

"Oh, Mucun, come back... eh?" Mamiya's eyes widened, staring blankly at Ogata and Atachi standing behind Mucun, "Ogata-kun...Miss Acho..."

Asai, who was sitting across from Mamiya with a silver pocket watch in his hand, was also dumbfounded at this time.

"Long time no see. Mamiya, Asai." Ogata smiled at the two who hadn't seen each other since we left in Edo at the end of last year, "We and you... really have a wonderful fate."

...

...

The door field house where Jian Gong and the others lived was an ordinary hotel with no special features. In such an ordinary hotel, the rooms in it were also ordinary. The room of the three of them couldn't find any compliments other than "big". In such a large room, there was basically no furniture, only a few cushions.

Ogata, Ogata, Mamiya, Mucun, and Asai sat in a circle, and Mucun took the lead in telling the whole story of his encounter with Ogata and Omachi.

"...That's how I met Brother Ogata and Miss Atachi." Mucun said slowly, "After that, I brought them here."

After listening to the whole story of "Ogata and Atachi Encounter" explained by Makimura, Mamiya was the first to express his thoughts——

"...Ogata-kun, it's really as you said just now—we really have a wonderful fate with you..."

Mamiya let out a long breath, showing a look of disbelief.

"I didn't expect that when we went to Osaka, we could meet you by such a coincidence."

"I thought you were still in Ezo..."

"Some time ago, when we had just left Edo and were about to come to Kansai, we had already heard about your feat of defeating the 10,000-strong Shogunate in Ezo."

"When we heard the news, we couldn't believe our ears. We really couldn't imagine that this is a feat that a warrior can achieve."

"Looking at all the swordsmen in ancient and modern times, not to mention Miyamoto Musashi and his ilk, even Nobuzuna Kamiizumi and Buden Tsukahara may not be as good as you."

Having said that, Mamiya raised his hand with a smile, and patted the shoulder of Ogata who was sitting next to him.

"I'm really... more and more curious about how people in future generations will evaluate you..."

Ogata just smiled when Mamiya didn't have any strange emotions, only the most simple appreciation.

"As long as the Edo shogunate is still there, the official evaluation of me will probably not be much better." Ogata said in a joking tone,

"Now...those who are loyal to the shogunate probably want to chop me into pieces for causing them to be defeated in Ezo."

"Let's talk about my business first, and now let's talk about your business."

Ogata moved his gaze, letting his gaze pass over the faces of Mamiya, Makimura, and Asai one by one.

"Why are you three here?"

"Well..." Mamiya looked at him with eyes that seemed to see through Ogata's body, "...we came here to track down the 'immortal'."

"After parting with you, we got new clues related to 'immortality' in Edo."

"We followed this clue and came to Osaka."

Hearing Mamiya's words, Ogata's eyes uncontrollably showed surprise.

At this time, Mamiya continued:

"Ogata-kun, you and Machi-san went north to Ezo to look for the masters and apprentices of Xuanzheng and Xuanzhi. What did you gain?"

"..." Ogata thought for a moment, and said, "...The harvest is quite fruitful, and it is a big step forward to cure my body with the 'immortal poison' hidden in it."

"That's it..." Jian Gong murmured softly, "In this way, both of us have important information related to 'immortality'..."

"...Ogata-kun, let's exchange information."

"I will tell you the information we know so far, and then you will tell us your information. We exchange information for mutual benefit."

As soon as Mamiya's words fell, Asai on the side said anxiously:

"Hey! Mamiya! How are you doing? You're going to exchange information with Ogata without even saying hello to the lord."

"I still have this autonomy." Mamiya smiled at Asai, "Ogata-kun is no stranger to us."

"Exchanging information with him is a matter of great benefit to them and to us."

"If my lord were here, I would definitely choose to exchange information with Ogata-kun and the others without hesitation."

After finishing speaking, Mamiya turned his gaze back to Ogata.

"Ogata-kun, what do you think?"

"...Okay." Ogata nodded without thinking for long, "Then let's exchange information. I'm also curious—what new information do you have in Edo?"

As Mamiya said just now, there are many benefits to exchanging information with Calabash House. Ogata couldn't think of any reason to reject Mamiya's proposal.

Maybe Mamiya and the others really hold information that he and A-cho do not know.

"Then—let's talk first." Mamiya cleared his throat and began to talk.

After they experienced the great battle with Shiranui, they recuperated silently in Edo, all the way talking about how they rescued the poor girl who was imprisoned in the Yamada Asemon family not long ago: Azhu.

Ogata and A-Machi, who had been listening quietly, changed their expressions several times as Mamiya narrated.

There were two sudden changes in Ogata's expression.

The first sudden change was when he learned that Mamiya was a descendant of the famous Yamada Asemon family.

The second sudden change was when I learned that the girl named Azhu actually possessed a strong resilience that could repair her organs even if her organs were taken.

With such a strong resilience, Ogata almost subconsciously recalled those monsters on Butterfly Island...

"Ogata-kun, Miss Atachi." Mamiya suddenly asked the two of them, "Do you know about the recent frequent disappearances in Kansai?"

The two shook their heads at the same time in a tacit understanding—due to their busy schedule, they rarely went to izakayas, tea houses and other places to listen to the "implementation news".

"Before in Edo, we simply heard about this matter." Mamiya said slowly, "Recently, there have been frequent disappearances in Kansai. Regardless of men, women, children, warriors and ordinary people, people have disappeared. We will report this The disappearance incident is simply referred to as the 'Kansai missing persons incident'."

"When we heard the rumor, we didn't pay much attention to it."

"It wasn't until Azhu was rescued. We discovered that the 'Kansai missing persons incident' didn't seem to be simple."

"As a native of Osaka, Azhu was kidnapped on the streets of Osaka—it's hard not to link Azhu's abduction with the 'Kansai missing persons incident'."

"We suspect that the instigator of the 'Kansai missing persons incident' is the group of people who are researching 'immortality'."

"They tied people up for experiments. Ah Zhu was the victim of this experiment."

"So we followed this clue to Osaka. We are going to investigate with Osaka as the center."

At this time, Mucun interjected:

"Brother Ogata, that Yukimura you saw just now is an old friend of our Gourd House."

"The lord was kind to him. The reason why Yukimura was able to achieve such a remarkable achievement in such a short period of time was largely due to the help of the lord."

"You can understand that Yukimura as half of our gourd house."

"I went to him just now to ask Yukimura to mobilize his forces to help investigate the 'Kansai missing persons incident'."

The speaker switches to Gamiya again:

"It would be too dangerous to bring Azhu to Osaka."

"After all, Azhu was kidnapped in Osaka. There may still be a lot of eyes and ears hidden in Osaka. If they find Azhu, it will be troublesome."

"Before figuring out the true face and strength of the 'Research Undead Group', we must try our best to avoid confrontation with them."

"And if you don't try to restore A Zhu's body to its original state first, then it will be really dangerous to let her go home and reunite with her relatives."

"If her relatives find out about the abnormality of her body in the future, she might be treated as a monster and handed over to the government, or even worse."

"So, to sum up the above-my lord, she decided to send me, Mucun, and Asai to Osaka first, to make preliminary preparations for the investigation of the 'Kansai missing persons incident'."

"And she took Azhu to Nara together with Genda-sama and Shimada. She was going to entrust Azhu to a trustworthy old friend of Genda-sama to take care of him. After giving Azhutuo, come to Osaka to join us confluence."

"My lord, they are probably almost arriving in Nara now, and they will arrive in Osaka in a few days."

Nara, one of the famous ancient capitals of Japan, is located on the Kinki Plain in the central part of Japan, like Kyoto and Osaka.

Nara is located just east of Osaka, and the straight-line distance between the two cities is only less than 30 kilometers.

The story of the gourd house group after parting from Ogata has already been told.

After Ogata and A-Ming heard about their encounters in the past few months-the mood could not be calm for a long time.

"A girl who can repair herself even if her internal organs are taken away..." Ogata murmured, "It seems...that group that is researching 'immortality'...has a way to transform a person's body to resemble a person's. It's like a monster..."

Having said that, Ogata took several deep breaths.

After calming down, Ogata first said to Gamiya in a relaxed tone:

"Mamiya, I didn't expect your real name to be Yamada Asemon Yoshitsune... Yoshitsune... What a majestic name, is that sword Vairocana?"

Ogata looked at the black and purple sword with a handle and scabbard on the tatami on the right side of Mamiya.

Gamiya showed a smile containing complex emotions, and raised his hand to caress the scabbard of the knife beside him.

"...these are all things in the past."

"In the past, my father always told me: Every time I swing a knife, I can make the world a better place."

"So whether it's to test the knife or execute the death row prisoner, I have no hesitation."

"It wasn't until 5 years ago that my father asked me to chop off the heads of hundreds of innocent people, and the reason was only to use their courage to save the middle palace (that is, the queen) in Kyoto, I was shocked-every time I Wielding a sword does not make the world better, it just allows the Edo shogunate to rule the world better."

"Since then, I have never had the mood and awareness to stay in the Yamada Asemon family..."

"Instead of continuing to work for the shogunate, it is better to work for a businesswoman, which will make people feel more happy."

"Ah, sorry. It seems to be a bit far-fetched."

Mamiya removed the hand that was caressing Vairocana's scabbard.

"Ogata-kun, the above is the information about 'immortality' that our Calabash House has collected in the past few months."

"What about you? Have you managed to find Xuanzheng, Xuanzhi's master and apprentice in Ezo, or find any other useful information?"

Ogata was not in a hurry to respond to Gamiya immediately.

Instead, after a moment of contemplation, he quietly said:

"After listening to your information just now... Koyasan is really getting more and more suspicious..."

Mamiya: "Mt. Koya?"

After suddenly hearing the word "Koyasan" from Ogata's mouth, which seemed to have nothing to do with their topic just now, no matter Mamiya, Mucun, and Asai all showed surprise.

"A-Machi and I managed to find Gennao in Ezo." Ogata sighed softly, "When we both found him, he was already crazy..."

The stories of Ogata and Atachi are undoubtedly much longer than those of Mamiya and the others. Valley

Ogata first briefly talked about how he cooperated with the Ainu people in the Red Moon Fortress to fight against the 10,000-strong army of the shogunate, and then focused on the information they asked from Xuanzhi after they found Xuanzhi.

A young man who calls himself "Taige", a master of Xianyuan from Mount Koya, a medicine that can restrain the "power of immortality", a person who changes...

Ogata's narration lasted for less than half an hour.

After half an hour, the expressions of Mamiya, Mucun, and Asai all became brighter.

When Ogata mentioned the young man who called himself "Taiko", Mamiya's expression became weird.

However, this strange expression only lasted for a while before returning to normal, and continued to listen to Ogata's narration carefully - because the strange expression of Mamiya was fleeting, so no one noticed the strangeness of Gamiya just now.

"...The above is the information that A-Machi and I know so far."

"Koyasan is also located in Kansai, just 12 miles southeast of Osaka (about 50 kilometers in modern times)."

"Based on the information you have found... I have a bold guess——" Ogata's expression on his face was beyond serious, "Is it possible that the Buddhist forces in Mount Koya are helping to abduct the population used for the 'immortality' experiment? ..."

No one questioned Ogata's bold guess just now.

Everyone looked solemn and thoughtful.

"Mt. Koya..." Asai swallowed, moistening his parched throat, "It's really involving a...a huge monster..."

"It's indeed a huge monster..." Jiangong also scratched his hair with a wry smile at this time, "I never thought that even Buddhist forces would be involved..."

In the past, Japanese Buddhists were arrogant.

Japanese Buddhists have always been a huge force that cannot be ignored, and can even influence the world situation.

For various reasons, the former Japanese Buddhists not only had their own land, but also supported their own army, that is, the famous monk soldiers. Because of the blessing of faith, the monk soldiers are a force known for their bravery.

In the Warring States period more than 200 years ago, these Buddhists in Japan were even more incredible. There were many believers, strong political influence, huge real estate and an army. Buddhists could marry wives and have children, eat meat and drink alcohol. , Doing everything but not chanting scriptures, basically no different from warlords.

How exaggerated was the strength of the Buddhist forces at that time?

For example - at the end of the 16th century more than two hundred years ago, the comprehensive strength at that time was regarded as one of the best in the world: the Oda clan led by Oda Nobunaga, to deal with one of the Buddhist forces: Ishiyama Hongan Temple, It took a full 10 years before and after to finally conquer Ishiyama Honganji Temple.

In order to retaliate against the Buddhist forces who often come to trip him up, and to suppress the huge influence of Buddhists, Oda Nobunaga burned one of the Buddhist holy places, Mount Hiei, in 1571 AD. And slaughtered all creatures on the mountain, regardless of men, women, old and young.

There are quite a few sects of Buddhism in Japan.

Koyasan is the main mountain of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Mount Hiei is the home of the Tendai sect of Buddhism.

Mount Koya and Mount Hiei are holy places in the hearts of Japanese Buddhists.

Oda Nobunaga's act of burning the holy land of Mount Hiei made Buddhists very angry, so Oda Nobunaga added an additional title-"Sixth Heaven Demon King", which means "Buddha's enemy".

Although people in later generations have various comments on Oda Nobunaga's series of actions to suppress Buddhist forces, it cannot be denied that he successfully suppressed the arrogance of the Buddhists who were so arrogant at that time .

After Ieyasu Tokugawa ended the troubled times of the Warring States Period and established the Edo Shogunate, he stepped on the shoulders of giants, absorbed all the experience and lessons of the previous generation, and carried out a drastic transformation of the Buddhist forces.

The current Buddhist forces can no longer possess exaggerated real estate and cultivate and form monks and soldiers like before.

They are now like a tiger with its teeth and claws pulled out.

But even with its claws removed, a tiger remains a tiger.

Although they have no military force or financial resources, they have great political influence-especially Koyasan.

If you make a mistake on the sacred Mount Koya, I am afraid that Buddhists all over the country will regard you as an enemy.

Absorbing too much shocking news in one breath, it will be difficult for the three of Mamiya and the others to recover for a while.

After Mamiya raised his hand and patted his forehead a few times, he asked Ogata:

"...Ogata-kun, what arrangements do you have for the future actions?"

"I'm going to fix my Da Shitian and Da Zizai first." Ogata replied almost without thinking, raised his hand and touched the sheet with Yu Er written on it quietly lying in his arms The letter paper at the location of the residence, "After the knife is repaired, try to go to Koyasan to investigate."

"What about you? Are you planning to investigate the 'Kansai missing persons incident' in Osaka first?"

"...Our current plan is like this." Mamiya said, "But the new information I learned from you is too important."

"The three of us are now waiting for the lord, Master Yuan and the others to come and join us."

"After converging, let's think about how to go next."

Having said that, a thoughtful look slowly appeared on Mamiya's face, and his mouth was also tightly closed.

After being quiet for a long time, he raised his eyes again, looked at Ogata beside him, and said solemnly:

"...Ogata-kun. Are you interested in forming an alliance with our gourd house like we did against Shiranui before?"

"We are all in Osaka now, and we have the same purpose—both to investigate 'Undead'."

"We form an alliance, no matter what we do, we will definitely get twice the result with half the effort."

"My lord, she must be very happy to form an alliance with you again for the sake of 'investigating immortality'."

Mamiya threw an olive branch - Ogata was completely expected.

After all, this is not the first time I have received an alliance invitation from Calabash House. They had formed an alliance once before and worked together to deal with Shiranui.

No matter how you look at it, the advantages of forming an alliance with the gourd house outweigh the disadvantages.

However, Ogata just didn't immediately respond to Gamiya's invitation.

Instead, he looked straight at Gamiya with calm eyes.

It wasn't until a while later that he quietly asked Jiangong a question that had nothing to do with his invitation just now:

"... Mamiya, when will Miss Lin, Gen-sama, Shimada and the others arrive in Edo?"

"Huh? I'm not sure about this, maybe three or four days later." Although he didn't know why Ogata asked this, Mamiya answered honestly.

"Then--when Miss Lin and the others come, can you come and let me know? I have two questions that have been lingering in my mind for a long time and I want to ask Miss Lin."

"Question?" Gamiya raised an eyebrow.

Gamiya's eyes flashed... a trace of guard.

"Don't worry." Ogata smiled, "It's not a question that will offend you very much. You and I are old acquaintances. Don't you still know what kind of person I am?"

"I am very happy to form an alliance with you again-but before forming an alliance, I have to ask Miss Lin those two questions clearly."

"If you don't ask clearly. Please forgive me for not being able to fight side by side with you again."

"...I see." Jiangong nodded after being silent for a while, "We will notify you as soon as the lord and the others arrive."

"Don't ask any weird questions."

Mamiya then switched to a joking tone.

"If you ask her why she looks like a 13 or 14 year old when she's 20, she might cry."

"Hey, Jiangong, don't speak ill of the lord while the lord is not around." Mu Cun said helplessly.

"I'm not talking bad things." Mamiya smiled and shook his head, "I'm just telling the truth."

While Mamiya and the others were bickering and laughing, A-Machi, who was sitting on Ogata's right, secretly put his red lips close to Ogata's ear, and said softly:

"What question do you want to ask Miss Lin?"

"Well...I'll tell you later." Ogata responded softly with a smile, "I just... want to confirm two things with Ms. Lin."

...

...

The next morning, the morning—

In Osaka, on a deserted street——

"Excuse me." Ogata stopped an aunt who looked very idle, "Do you know where No. 17 Mugeng Street is?"

"No. 17 Mugeng Street..." The aunt looked up, thinking, and then pointed behind herself, "Go straight in this direction, turn right for 2 blocks and you will reach Mugeng Street. As for No. 17 at Well, I don't know."

"Go straight in this direction and then turn two turns... Thank you." Ogata bowed politely to the aunt.

After bidding farewell to this aunt, and returning to A-Ming and A-Zhu who were waiting for him not far away, A-Zhu impatiently asked Ogata:

"How? Did you find out the location of Mugeng Street?"

Ogata nodded: "It's not far from here, it's almost here. Let's go."

There is always a matter of priority, and it is senseless to go to Koyasan to investigate without repairing your own weapon first.

Ogata, who had already planned to "repair the knife first, then investigate", after getting Yu Er's address last night, decided to visit the knife maker today.

The sun had just risen above the horizon today, and Ogata had washed up and was ready to go.

A-Machi and A-Zhu naturally acted together with Ogata.

And Feng Mo, who had already helped Ogata find Yu Er's residence, continued to his old subordinate's "you and me".

Although there is already a specific address for Yuji, Osaka is a big city with a population of nearly one million after all, and it took Ogata and the others a lot of effort to finally find Yuji's residence.

The three of Ogata followed the instructions of the aunt just now and came to Mugeng Street smoothly.

The scene of Mugeng Street... To put it mildly, it is very suitable for seclusion.

This place is located in the outskirts of Osaka, and there is so little traffic that the three of Ogata and the others have seen no more than the number of people in their hands since they entered Kisara Street.

The houses on both sides of the street are also low and dilapidated huts.

It's hard to find words to praise this place. The best compliment I can think of is probably only "housing prices here should be cheap".

After entering Mugen Street, Ogata continued to ask about the location of "No. 17 Mugen Street".

Finally—they found their destination.

An unremarkable little dilapidated house on the corner of the street.

"...Is that really the place where Yoji lived?" A-cho couldn't help asking Ogata beside him.

"According to what the uncle said just now... that small dilapidated house is indeed 'No. 17 Mugeng Street'..." Ogata also looked at the house that looked more like a haunted house with a complicated expression at this time, "In short—— Let's go and have a look first."

Ogata and the others walked quickly towards the "haunted house".

"Excuse me—is anyone home?"

Standing in front of the door of the "haunted house", Ogata shouted loudly towards the house.

They were also worried that there would be no one in the house to respond.

Unexpectedly—as soon as Ogata's words fell, there were "dong dong dong" footsteps in the house.

Crack...crack...crack...

The wooden door, which had been in disrepair for a long time, was pulled open with difficulty.

Behind the opened wooden door was... a face that all three of Ogata and the others had seen before.

The Ogata three looked at the person pulling the door in astonishment.

And the person pulling the door also looked at Ogata and the others with astonished eyes.

The person who opened the door of this "haunted house" was the old man who persuaded Ogata to come and close the curtain together: Isshiki Naoshu.

*****

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This chapter is nearly 8,000 words, and there is a lot of content. The author has nothing to ask for, just ask for a monthly ticket! QQ

I recommend a good book to everyone: "Life on the Blade". For the plot of "Ogata Repairing the Sword", the author Jun has read this book once. This book is really good. If you want to know more about this book, you can read the "Writer's Words" below↓↓↓