Chapter 41 Chapter 05

This is the downtown area of ​​the city, brightly lit and crowded. "Come here for me." Ashan grabbed Youba by the collar and pulled him from the main road to a remote corner. The onlookers ran away in fright when they saw Grandma losing her temper.Uncle Quan stood under the silent archway for a while, and finally couldn't help but walked over and said: "Grandma, don't punish him anymore, You Ba is no longer a child." Uncle Quan tried to pull their mother and son away. "what are you talking about!" Grandma knocked Uncle Quan away with her elbow, and said:

"I'll teach my son a lesson, so don't interrupt—what an unfilial son, you eight!" Originally, this kind of reunion should be a scene of tears of joy, but the grandmother angrily grabbed her son by the collar and dragged him to the ground. The feelings of the elderly are usually relatively simple and impulsive.At this moment, Ashanpo's depleted mind was suddenly overwhelmed with complicated emotions, which made her at a loss.I don't know if I should cry, be angry, or be ecstatic... "You ran away when you saw your mother. What is that? Are you born of rotten wood? Don't you recognize me as a mother? You...you beast."

The old lady slapped Youba's ass just like when Youba was a child. "At first we all thought you had died long ago, but we didn't expect you to be living well in Osaka City. It's really hateful! Damn! Why don't you go back to your hometown, you hateful guy? You don't come back to worship your ancestors, and you don't come back to visit. Old mother, everyone in the family is struggling to find you, let's see how you explain to everyone!" "Mother... Mother, please forgive me! Please forgive me!" Youba knelt down in front of his mother like a child and cried:

"I knew I was wrong, and it was because I knew I had done something wrong that I went home ashamed. When I saw you unexpectedly today, I was terrified. I didn't intend to escape, but I couldn't help avoiding... I really have no shame to see you, I'm ashamed to see my mother and Uncle Quan." He covered his face with his hands and began to cry. Grandma's nose was sore and she began to cry.However, the stubborn grandmother blamed herself for being weak in her heart and said: "Since you know that such misdemeanors will humiliate your ancestors, why don't you work hard and seek an official position?"

Uncle Quan couldn't stand it any longer, and said: "Okay, okay. Grandma, don't scold him anymore, he's already blamed himself enough." "You interrupted again. You are a man, but you acted more fragile than me. You Ba's father died young, and I, as a mother, must be a strict father, so I have to teach him a lesson now... the punishment just now It's not enough, you eight, you sit down for me." Grandma ordered Youba to sit down, and sat down herself. "yes!" With dirt on his shoulders, Yatachi got up and sat quietly. It's no small matter for this mother to lose her temper. Although sometimes she is the most kind mother in the world, now she has moved out of eight generations of her ancestors, and she can't hold her head up with scolding.

"If you hide anything, I won't listen to your explanation. Let me ask you, what have you done since the end of the Sekigahara War? Please explain clearly until I am satisfied." "...I said yes!" And eight to tell the truth. He said that since he went to the battlefield with his friend Musashi and was defeated, the two hid on Mount Ibuki. Later, they became infatuated with Ajia, an older woman than him, and lived with her for several years. They suffered a lot, and now they regret it.Telling the whole story in such a detailed manner, it was as if he had vomited out the rotten things in his stomach, and he was relieved.

"Ok……" Uncle Quan nodded understandingly. "My silly son." The old woman kept talking. "Then what are you doing now? Seeing how well you dress up, have you already obtained an official position and some income?" "yes." You Bayi was not paying attention, and said that he had slipped his tongue, and was afraid of showing the fox's tail, so he immediately changed his words and said: "No, I don't have an official job yet." "Then what do you do for a living?" "Sword—I make a living teaching swordsmanship."

"Oh?" Grandma smiled for the first time, and said happily: "You are teaching swordsmanship! So that's how it is. You are still able to study swordsmanship after all the twists and turns. You really deserve to be the son of our family... Right, Uncle Quan, he really deserves to be the son of an old woman like me!" Uncle Quan thought to himself, the old woman is happy now, so he nodded greatly and said: "This is because the blood of our ancestors is flowing on his body. Even if he fell down for a while, he still hasn't lost this spirit." "I said another eight!"

"yes." "Who do you learn swordsmanship from now?" "I learned swordsmanship from master Zhong Juan Zizhai." "Hmm...you follow that Master Zhongjuan!" Grandma seemed to be intoxicated, full of joy, and wanted to please her even more, so she took out the scroll of Yinke in his arms, and when he opened the scroll, he covered the last line with his hand - the part of His Royal Highness Sasaki Kojiro.said: "Look, this is it." He opened the scroll against the nightlight. "Which one? Which one?" Grandma wanted to show it, but she didn't show it to her, so she said:

"Mother, please rest assured!" "I see." Grandma nodded frequently and said: "Uncle Quan, have you seen it? This is really amazing! Since I was a child, I thought he was smarter and more accomplished than Musashi." Grandma was so satisfied that she couldn't close her mouth with a smile. When Youba was about to put away the scroll, he accidentally let go, and the scroll was fully unfolded, and Grandma saw the last line of writing. "Wait, it says Sasaki Kojiro here, who is this?" "Ah... well... this is my pseudonym." "A pseudonym? Why do you use a pseudonym? Isn't Matahachi a great name!?"

"However, looking back on the past, I feel very ashamed, so I used a pseudonym so as not to insult the name of my ancestors." "It turns out that you are indeed ambitious—a lot of things have happened since you left your hometown." In order to encourage her only son, Grandma described in detail what happened in Miyamoto Village after Youba left, and in order to maintain the reputation of the original farm family, she had to leave her hometown with Uncle Quan, and searched for Atong and Musashi all these years. Although she had no intention of exaggerating the facts, she still couldn't help crying. Youba bowed his head and listened to the old mother vent her accumulated anger.At this time, he was indeed a kind and considerate son. However, my mother single-mindedly only emphasized the reputation and face of the family, or the spirit of the samurai. None of these could move Youhachi's heart until she heard this sentence: "A Tong has changed his mind!" At first hearing, Youba was greatly shocked. "Mother, is this true?" Grandma saw his face change, and she was even more convinced that it was her earnestness that aroused his spirit of striving for progress. "If you doubt it, you can ask Uncle Quan, Atong didn't have you in his heart at all, she eloped with Musashi—no, Musashi knew that you would not go back, so he abducted Atong, right! Uncle Quan." "That's right. Originally, Musashi was tied to the thousand-year-old cedar in Qibao Temple by monk Ze'an. Unexpectedly, Atong let him go secretly. The two eloped together. They must have had a deep relationship." When Youba heard this, it was like a bolt from the blue sky, wishing that he would die early, but he was still alive, and his hatred for Musashi was even deeper, so Grandma added fuel to the fire: "Youba, do you understand everything now? Do you understand the difficulties of me, an old woman, and Uncle Quan leaving their hometown and wandering in various countries? Musashi who took away my daughter-in-law of the original Tian family, and Atong who ruined the reputation of the original Tian family, If the two of them are not dealt with, how can I, an old woman, face my ancestors, and I will have no face to face the elders of my hometown." "I get it... I totally get it." "You don't plan to go home?" "I won't go back, and I will never go back." "Then can you defeat these two enemies?" "Can." "You answered weakly, do you not have the confidence to defeat Musashi?" "That's not the case." Uncle Quan also cheered on, saying: "Youba, I will be with you." "My old lady will go with you too." "And eight, take the heads of Atong and Musashi as a gift for returning home, and then ask for a good wife, and pass on the incense of the original Tian family. In this way, not only will you save the samurai's face, but your The reputation will also spread to the nearby villages, at least, none of our original Tian family has ever disgraced Yoshino Township!" "Hey! Have you made up your mind yet?" "yes." "What a good son, Uncle Quan, you should praise him too! He vowed to bring back Musashi and Atong..." Grandma finally felt relieved.She has been sitting on the cold ground since just now, and now she wants to move her body. "Ah... it hurts so much!" "Grandma, what's the matter with you?" "Maybe it's too cold on the ground, and my stomach hurts so much that I can't even straighten my waist." "Are you sick again?" Youba turned around and said: "Master, I will carry you on my back." "What? You want to carry me...you want to carry me..." After finishing speaking, she hugged her son's shoulders and said: "Uncle Quan, Youba hasn't recited me for many years." She wept with joy. My mother's warm tears wet my skin, and I felt an inexplicable excitement in my heart, and asked: "Uncle Quan, is there an inn near here?" "I'm going to look for it, anywhere, let's look for it as we walk?" "That's exactly what I mean—" You Ba said with his mother behind his back: "Mother, you are so light! So light! Lighter than a stone!"