Chapter 35 Chapter 17

It was an empty moat thirty feet deep.Although it is an empty moat, there may be some rainwater accumulated on the dark moor bottom. So Musashi, who was sliding down the bushy cliff, stopped halfway, tried throwing a stone, and then jumped down. Like looking up at the sky from the bottom of a well, the stars appear farther away.With a bang, Musashi lay on his back among the weeds at the bottom of Haodi, and did not move for about a quarter of an hour. His ribs heaved violently. Gradually, the heart and lungs finally returned to normal. "A Tong...she can't be in Liusheng City, but..."

Even though the hot sweat has cooled down and breathing has been smooth, it is still not easy to calm down the messy emotions. "That must be an illusion." But he thought again: "No, the world is fickle, maybe Atong is really there." He painted Atung's face in the starry sky. No, there is no need to describe her frowns and smiles at all, they are often reflected in his heart unconsciously. Sweet fantasies suddenly surrounded him. She had said to him on the hilltop of the frontier— Apart from you, I won't like another man anymore!You are the real man, I can't live without you.

At the head of Huatian Bridge, she also said—— I have been waiting here for nine hundred days before you came. Then she also said— If you don't come, I will continue to wait on this bridge, ten or twenty years, even if my hair turns gray... Take me away!I can bear any amount of suffering. Musashi felt a dull pain in his heart. He had no choice but to let down her pure love, and took the opportunity to escape... How she hated herself somehow!She must be gnashing her teeth with hatred for this incomprehensible man! "forgive me!" Musashi unconsciously recited the words he had carved on the railing of Hanada Bridge with a knife at that time, and the two lines burst into tears.

Above the cliff, a human voice suddenly came: "Not here!" Musashi saw three or four torches waving in the woods for a few times before disappearing. Realizing that he was crying, he said bitterly: "What are women!" Hastily raised his hand to wipe away the tears. He kicked away the garden of fantasy, turned over and jumped up, and looked at the black shadow of the house in Little Yagyu City again. "Don't call me a coward and shameless. I, Musashi, never said I would surrender! Temporarily withdrawing troops is not fleeing, but using the art of war!"

He walked back and forth at the bottom of the empty hall, but no matter how he walked, he couldn't get out of the empty hall. "I haven't made a single move yet! The four master disciples are not my opponents, let's meet Liu Sheng and Shi Zhouzhai! We'll wait and see! The battle - it's just about to start now!" He picked up the dead wood on the ground, cracked it, and folded it into several knots with his knees.Then, insert it into the gap in the rock wall as a stepping stone, and climb straight up.Soon, his figure appeared outside Kong Hao. At this moment, the sound of the flute is no longer heard.

Where did Jotaro hide?However, none of this existed in Musashi's mind. Now there is only exuberance in his heart - so exuberant that even he can't control it - blood and fame.At this moment, he just wanted to find an outlet for such an astonishing desire to conquer, and all the light of life was burning in his eyes. "Master—" In the darkness in the distance, there seemed to be a voice calling, but when I listened carefully, I couldn't hear it again. Is it Jotaro? Musashi suddenly thought of him, but immediately changed his mind: He will be in no danger. Because although there was a torch in the belly of the cliff just now, after it disappeared, it was never seen again. It seems that the people in the city did not intend to kill them all.

"Take advantage of this time to find Shi Zhouzhai." He wandered around among the woods and valleys in the deep mountains, and sometimes wondered if he had escaped from the city.But seeing the stone walls and moats everywhere, as well as buildings like granaries, made him sure that he was still in the city, but he couldn't find the hermitage of Shizhouzhai. He once heard from the owner of the Mianwu Inn that Shi Zhouzhai did not live in this city or in the outer city, but lived in a thatched hut somewhere in Henei, where he would spend the rest of his life in peace.He decided that as long as he found that grass hut, he would knock on the door and enter, desperately wanting to see him.

He was so distracted that he almost cried out: "where?" In the end, I walked to the cliff of Mt. Kasagi and saw the railing of the back door before returning without success. come out!See if you are my opponent! Even if the monster changed, he really hoped that Shi Zhouzhai could appear in front of him now.The fighting spirit full of his limbs made him wander around like a ghost at night. "Ah... oh! It seems to be here!" He came to the bottom of a ramp that sloped to the southeast of the city.The nearby trees have been carefully pruned, and it should be a place where people live.

He sees a door! It was a Rikyu-style thatched door, and weeds grew to the door bolt. Inside the wall was a dense bamboo forest. "Oh! Here it is!" He peeped inside, and the scenery was like a Buddhist monastery. There was a path in the bamboo forest, climbing straight up along the ramp.Musashi is about to climb over the wall and enter. "No, wait!" The front of the door was cleaned completely, and the white gardenias falling in the wind showed the character of the owner.This scene soothed Musashi's heart, and he suddenly noticed his disheveled temple hair and clothes.

"There's no need to be in such a hurry." Especially when he was tired.He felt that before meeting Shi Zhouzhai, he had to take a rest. "Someone will definitely come to open the door tomorrow morning, just wait until then! If he still refuses to see the martial artist, then take countermeasures." Musashi sat down by the door, with his back against the pillar, and fell asleep immediately. The starry sky was silent.White gardenias sway in the evening breeze. A drop of cold dew fell on Musashi's neck, and when he opened his eyes, dawn had dawned before he knew it.After a full sleep, Musashi felt the coolness of the morning breeze and the countless songs of orioles flowing from his ears.All of a sudden, he was refreshed as if he had been completely reborn, and all the fatigue was gone.

He rubbed his eyes, looked up, and saw that the fiery red sun was slowly rising over the tops of Iga and Yamato Mountains. Musashi stood up abruptly, his fully rested body, once exposed to the sun, immediately ignited hope, full of fame and ambition. "Uh, uh—" He couldn't help stretching his waist, moving his hands and feet, urging his body full of strength. "It's today." He unconsciously muttered to himself. Then he felt a pang of hunger.I also thought of Jotaro. "I don't know what happened to him?" He was a little worried. It was a little cruel to Jotaro last night, but Musashi knew that doing so would help his practice.Musashi knew that no matter how big a mistake he made, Jotaro would not be in danger. The sound of gurgling water came over. A clear stream fell straight down from the high mountain inside the gate, quickly passed through the foot of the wall surrounding the bamboo forest, and then slid down to the city.Musashi washed his face, and then drank a few sips of water as if he had breakfast. "So sweet!" The delicious taste of water penetrates directly into the body. Shizhouzhai must have taken a fancy to this famous water, so he built the hermitage at the source of this water. Musashi didn't understand the tea ceremony, nor did he know the taste of tea, but simply felt: "So sweet!" He almost blurted out.It was the first time that Musashi felt that the mountain spring was so sweet. He took out a dirty handkerchief from his pocket, and after washing it in water, it became very clean immediately. He wiped his neck carefully with this handkerchief, and even washed his nails very clean.Then, he pulled out the knife-shaped hair fork and combed the messy hair with his hands. No matter what, what he wanted to meet this morning was the master of Liu Shengliu, who was also one of the few figures in the world who could represent modern culture.And an unknown person like Musashi, compared with him, is simply insignificant. He straightened his clothes and smoothed his messy hair, which is due etiquette. "it is good!" My heart is also ready.Musashi, who was sober, became a calm guest and knocked on the door. However, the thatched hut is built on the mountain, and no knocking on the door can be heard.He suddenly thought that there might be a doorbell, so he searched left and right in front of the door, only to see a pair of couplets hanging on the left and right doorposts, and the green mud painted on the carved words had faded.Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a poem. The right couplet reads: Leftist reads: The woods all over the mountain are shrouded in the sweet singing of orioles.Musashi stared at the lines, lost in thought. The couplets hanging on the door, of course, describe the state of mind of the owner of the villa. "Don't blame the officials for serving the king, so you can close the gate of the mountain; there is nothing long on this mountain, only the singing of Qingying..." Musashi recited the poem silently several times. This morning, Musashi, who looks clean and polite on the outside, but has a clear and peaceful heart, can comprehend this verse in no time. At the same time, his heart also reflects Shi Zhouzhai's state of mind, character and way of life. "I'm too frivolous!" Musashi lowered his head involuntarily. Shi Zhouzhai lived in seclusion behind closed doors, and it was definitely not just practitioners who refused to contact him.All fame and wealth, all selfish desires, are all abandoned by him outside the door. He also sympathized with those low-level officials and told the world not to blame them.Shi Zhouzhai's attitude of avoiding the world reminds him of the bright moon above the treetops. "It's far away! He is far behind me!" He could no longer muster up the courage to knock on the door.And yesterday he wanted to kick in the door, but now he feels terrible just thinking about it. No, it should be said that I am ashamed. The only ones who can enter this door are Huaniaofengyue.The current Shizhouzhai is not a famous swordsman who looks down on the world, nor is he a feudal lord of a country.It's just a hermit returning to Dayu and wandering in the nature. It would be foolish to harass such a secluded abode.What kind of fame and fortune can you gain by defeating a person who doesn't care about fame and fortune? "Ah! If I didn't have this couplet, I would have been ridiculed by Shi Zhouzhai long ago." The sun is rising high, and the oriole is no longer as loud as it was in the morning. At this moment, there was a sound of hurried footsteps from the ramp far away in Chaimen, and the little bird was frightened and flew around. "what?" When Musashi saw the man through the gap in the wall, his face changed drastically.Running down the ramp was a young woman. "It's Atong!" Musashi thought of the sound of the flute last night, and his heart was in a mess. see her?Still missing? He was at a loss. He wants to see her! I thought again, I can't see her now! There was a throbbing in Musashi's heart, and the waves were turbulent.He is just a pure young man, and he is not good at dealing with women's problems. "What, what should I do?" Still can't make up my mind.Just when he was hesitating, A Tong, who ran down the slope from the villa, was about to arrive. "strangeness?" She stopped suddenly and looked back. Atong this morning, his eyes were shining with joy, he kept looking around. "I thought he was coming! . . . " She didn't know who she was looking for, so she put her hands around her mouth and shouted to the mountain: "Jotaro! Jotaro!" Hearing her cry and seeing her figure close in front of him, Musashi blushed and quietly hid behind the shade of a tree. "Jotaro!" After a while, she called again, and this time there was an echo. "Oh--" Above the bamboo forest, came a vague answer. "Oh! I'm this way! You'll get lost from there. Yes! Yes! Come down." Jotaro managed to pass through Meng Zongzhu and ran to Atong's side. "What? So you are here?" "Look! I said to follow me, but you are not obedient." "I saw a pheasant, so I ran after it!" "What about catching pheasants? After dawn, don't we have to find that important person?" "Don't worry, my master won't be defeated easily." "But, what did you say when you came to see me last night? Didn't you say that now that Master's life is in danger, you want me to intercede with the lord to stop them from killing each other? At that time, Cheng Taro was so anxious that he almost cried !" "That's because I was scared!" "I was so shocked! When I heard that your master is Miyamoto Musashi, I couldn't even speak." "Sister Atong! How did you know my master before?" "We are fellow villagers." "that is it?" "right." "Strange! It's just a fellow villager, why did you cry so sadly last night?" "Did I really cry that much?" "You will remember other people's affairs, but you will forget everything about your own.... At that time, I thought the situation was not good. There were four people on the other side! It would be fine if there were four ordinary people. But they are all experts. If I Leave it alone, maybe Master will be slaughtered tonight... To help Master, I grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at those people. At that time, Sister Atong seemed to be playing the flute nearby, wasn't she?" "Yes! In front of Master Shi Zhouzhai." "As soon as I heard the sound of the flute, I suddenly thought: That's right! You can ask Sister Atong to apologize to the lord." "So, Brother Musashi heard my flute too. He must be able to feel my mood, because when I played the flute, I was thinking of Brother Musashi in my heart!" "It doesn't matter what you say about this kind of thing. The important thing is that I heard the sound of the flute, so I was able to find Sister Atong. I ran desperately towards the place where the flute sounded, and then yelled for a while." "You shouted 'Battle', Master Shi Zhouzhai seemed to be shocked too!" "That grandpa is so nice. He didn't get angry like the others when he heard I killed Taro's dog." As soon as he chatted with this young man, Atong completely forgot about time and important matters. "Oh! . . . Stop talking!" Atong interrupted Jotaro who was talking endlessly, and walked to the inside of Chamon. "Let's talk about it later! The most important thing is to find Brother Musashi this morning. Master Shi Shuzhai also said that he would make an exception to meet such a man, and now he is waiting!" There was the sound of the door being pulled open.The Rikyu-style chai gate opens to the left and right. Atong this morning looks extraordinarily beautiful and moving.Not only because I was looking forward to seeing Musashi in my heart, but also because the natural radiance of the young woman was completely revealed on the skin. The summer sun made her cheeks look like red apples.The breeze brought the fragrance of buds, and even the lungs seemed to be dyed green. Hiding in the shade of a tree, Musashi, whose back was already wet with morning dew, saw Atong's appearance, and immediately noticed—— what!She looks so healthy! In the corridor of Qibao Temple, Atong, who often showed lonely and empty eyes, definitely did not have the cheeks and eyes that are so charming now.At that time, she was completely a helpless orphan. At that time, Atong was not in love yet.Even if there is, it is also an ignorant feeling.It is a sentimental girl who just complains and looks back, why only she is an orphan. However, after getting to know Musashi and believing that he is the real man, she finds the meaning of her life in the boiling passion of women that she experienced for the first time.Especially after wandering all the way in pursuit of Musashi, both physically and mentally, he has been tempered enough to accept any test. Musashi hid, looking at her mature beauty after tempering, very surprised. She is so different! Musashi had an impulse in his heart, wanted to go with her to a place where no one was around, to show her his true intentions—to pour out his troubles—to explain the fragility of his strong exterior.And tell her that the ruthless words engraved on the railing of Huatian Bridge are not my true words! Then, as long as no one sees, even showing weakness to a woman is no big deal.He wants to express his enthusiasm to her in response to her admiration for him.I really want to hug her tightly, cuddle with her, and wipe away her tears. Musashi thought about it several times, but he could only think about it.What Atong said to him echoed around him at this moment.He couldn't help thinking that betraying her frank yearning was a very cruel sin for men. ——It is impossible not to suffer. Even so, Musashi now gritted his teeth and endured the pain.At this moment, Musashi has split into two personalities. He wants to call: A Tong! and blamed himself: fool! He can't tell which personality is innate and which is acquired?Musashi has been hiding behind a tree.Gradually, in his eyes and chaotic mind, he seemed to know how to choose. Atong knew nothing about all this.She walked about ten steps out of the gate, and when she turned her head she saw Jotaro lingering in the grass beside the gate, so she called him: "Jotaro! What are you picking up? Come out!" "Wait a minute, Sister Atong!" "Hey! Why are you picking up such a dirty handkerchief?" The handkerchief fell by the door and appeared to have just been wrung dry.Jotaro stepped on it, so he picked it up. "...This is Master's handkerchief!" Atong walked up to him. "Huh? You said it belonged to Brother Musashi?" Jotaro spread the handkerchief between his hands. "Yes, that's right. It was a gift from a widow in Nara. The leaves were dyed red, and the words '林' of Zongyin's steamed bun shop were printed on it." "So, Brother Musashi has been here?" Atong immediately looked around, and suddenly Jotaro yelled in her ear: "Master!" In the nearby forest, Kazuki's dewdrops suddenly flickered with light, and at the same time, the sound of wild deer and other animals jumping. Atong suddenly turned around. "what?" She left Jotaro behind and chased after him. Jotaro was out of breath after chasing after him. "Sister Atong! Sister Atong! Where are you going?" "Brother Musashi ran away!" "Oh? Really? Where?" "there!" "I can't see it!" "In that wood—" Musashi's figure flashed by, making her both happy and disappointed.With the strength of a woman's feet, if she wants to chase someone who has run far away, she must go all out, so she can't spend too much time talking. "No way! You have misread the wrong person." Although Jotaro ran after him, he still didn't believe it. "Master saw that we couldn't possibly run away, did he see the wrong person?" "But, look!" "Where are you looking?" "There--" Then she exclaimed frantically: "Brother Musashi..." She hit a tree by the road and fell, and Jotaro quickly helped her up. "Why don't you call him? Jotaro! Quick! Call him quickly." Jotaro was shocked, staring at Atong's face - how could it be so similar?Just barely grinning.Her bloodshot eyes, white eyebrows, wax-like nose and chin— It looks so good!Her face is exactly the same as the crazy girl mask given to Jotaro by the widow of the Kanshi family in Nara. Jotaro staggered and let go of his hand.Seeing that he was still in a daze, A Tong scolded: "If you don't hurry up, you won't be able to catch up. Brother Musashi won't come back. Call him quickly! Call him, and I will yell too." Jotaro disapproved in his heart, but seeing Atong's serious expression, he couldn't bear to pour cold water on her, so he yelled as hard as he could, and chased after Atong. Through the woods, came the gentle hills.Along the mountain is the path from Tsukase to Iga. "Ah? It's really him." Standing on the hill, Jotaro also saw Musashi clearly.But it was too far away to hear their cries.The figure ran further and further away without looking back. "Ah! Over there!" The two ran and shouted. Run desperately, shout desperately. The two of them ran down the hill and across the fields with their crying calls, echoing in the valleys, even the woods were moved by it. However, Musashi's figure became smaller and smaller, and disappeared when he ran into the valley. The white clouds are long, the stream is gurgling, and the echo is empty.Jotaro stomped his feet and burst into tears like a baby whose mother's milk had been robbed. "You bastard! Master is a big bastard! You actually left me...and left me in this wilderness...Hmph! Beast! Where did you escape to?" Atong was leaning against a big walnut tree alone, out of breath, sobbing and crying. I have devoted my whole life to him, but I still can't make him stop? !How distressing! What is his ambition?And why avoid yourself?The answers to these questions were clear to her when she was at Himeji Hanada Bridge, but what she has always been puzzled about is: Why would meeting me hinder his ambition? She thought again: Maybe that's just an excuse, but actually he hates me? However, Atong observed Musashi for several days under the thousand-year-old cedar in Qibao Temple, and he knew what kind of man he was.She believed that he would not lie to a woman, and if he hated himself, he would definitely say so.Such a person once said at Huatian Bridge: It's definitely not that I hate you—— When Ah Tong thought of this, his heart was filled with resentment. So, what should I do?Orphans have a habit of indifference, and it is not easy to trust others, but as soon as they trust someone, they will think that apart from him, there is no one to rely on, and there is no other meaning of life.What's more, she was once betrayed by Tian Matahachi, which made her have a deeper comparison with men.She knew that Musashi was a rare and sincere man in the world, so she decided to follow him for the rest of her life, no matter what the result was, she would not regret it. "...Why didn't you say a word to me?" She cried so that the walnut leaves trembled too.If the trees had spirits, they would weep for them too! "...This is too much!" The more she hates him, the more she loves him. This is her destiny, right?If she can't combine with this person anyway, her life will not be able to keep pace with the real life. This must be a pain that her fragile spirit cannot bear, and it is a pain that is more serious than the mutilation of the body. Jotaro, who was half mad with anger, murmured to the side: "...Oh! A monk is here!" Atong's face still did not leave the tree. Iga Bishan already has the breath of early summer.The sun was in the middle of the day, and the sky was a clear blue. ——The monk who traveled all over the world slowly walked down from the mountain, as if falling from the sky, without any secular ties. When he walked past the walnut tree, he suddenly turned around and looked at A Tong who was leaning against the tree. "what……" A Tong raised his head upon hearing the sound, his red and swollen eyes stared round. "Ah...Master Ze'an?" He came at the right time, and Zong Pengze'an was like a bright light in the dark night to her.Not only that, it was so accidental that Ze'an would pass by here, Atong even thought he was dreaming. Atong was surprised, but Zean had expected to meet her here.Afterwards, it was no coincidence or miracle that he took Jotaro and the three of them back to Yagyutani Ishishusai's residence. turn out to be-- Zongpeng Ze'an had long been friends with the Liusheng family.The chance of their acquaintance can be traced back to the time when the monk worked as a servant in the kitchen of Sanxuanyuan in Daitokuji Temple, working with miso and dishcloth every day. At that time, Sanxuanyuan belonged to the northern sect of Dade Temple, and there were often some special figures such as warriors who wanted to solve the problem of life and death, and martial arts masters who realized that while studying martial arts, they also had to study metaphysics, etc., came and went here.The warriors in the temple often surpassed the monks, so many people rumored at that time: Sanxuanyuan intends to rebel. Among these characters are Kamiizumi Isemori's younger brother Suzuki Yibo, Yagyu Goro Zaemon, the son of the Yagyu family, and his younger brother Munemo. At that time, Zongju had not yet become the butcher, and he had a deep friendship with Ze'an, and often invited him to Xiaoliusheng City. Therefore, Ze'an and Zongju's father, Shi Zhouzhai, were as close as father and son, and respected him very much, saying that he is: A father who can talk. And Shi Zhouzhai also praised Ze'an: This monk will become a great weapon in the future. During this cloud tour, Ze'an visited all over Kyushu.A while ago, I came to Nanzong Temple in Quanzhou to settle down, and wrote a letter to greet Liu Sheng and his son who had not been in touch for a long time.After reading it, Shi Zhouzhai wrote back a long letter carefully: I've had a pretty good time these days.Tajima Mamoru, who went to Edo to serve the public, is also safe and sound; grandson Hyogo has resigned from the post of Higo Kato's family. He is currently visiting various places and practicing martial arts. It seems that he will achieve something in the future.And beside me recently came a beautiful woman with beautiful features, good at playing the flute, accompanying and taking care of her day and night, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, waka, and talking with her about everything, which added a little warmth to the cold and forbidding hermitage.This woman grew up in Qibao Temple in Meizuo, which is very close to your hometown, so she should have a close relationship with you.Therefore, you are specially invited to come here, listen to the beautiful woman playing the flute, and drink a night of fine wine together. The fragrance of tea and the sweet singing of the oriole are unique.When you come here, be sure to spend the night with the old man. With such an invitation, Ze'an had to go.Besides, the pretty flute player mentioned in the letter is probably his old acquaintance, Atong, whom he misses all the time. That's why Ze'an came here leisurely, and he was not surprised to see Atong in the mountains near Liusheng Valley.But when he heard Atong say that Musashi had just fled in the direction of Iga, he couldn't help sighing: "What a pity! What a pity!"