Chapter 45 Chapter 09 The Old Testament

Amidst the sound of waves and pines, the night gradually enveloped the latticed door.Zhu Shi lay unconscious in the room and kept talking in his dreams. "..." Seijuro's face was paler than that of Zhu Shi lying on the pillow. He waited quietly, thinking of the flower being trampled by him, he felt pain and guilt in his heart, so he could only hang his head down in despondency.It seems that he still has a little conscience. He used violence, he took out like a beast on this girl, and now he was at the bedside, worrying about the life and death of this worn-out woman with no business.He has a solemn expression and a disturbed conscience. Yoshioka Seijuro is a person with a dual personality.

In just one day, he showed two completely different personalities, but Seijuro didn't think he was a weirdo, but there was an expression of shame and pain on his brow. "...Zhu Shi, take it easy, it's not just me, men all over the world are the same... In the future, you will understand my heart, maybe it's because my love is too intense that it scares you!" He kept repeating these words, not knowing whether he was telling Zhu Shi or comforting himself.In short, he stayed tenderly beside Zhu Shi's pillow. The room seemed to be covered with a layer of black veil and became dark. When Zhu Shi's white hands were exposed outside the quilt, Seijuro pulled the quilt for her, and she pushed it away in disgust.

"... What day is it today?" "what?" "In...a few days...it will be Chinese New Year..." "It's only the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month. Before the new year, you will definitely get better. I will take you back to Kyoto before the first day of the new year." Seijuro brought his face close to hers. "don't want--" With a sad face, Zhu Shi slapped Seijuro across the face. "Get the hell out of here!" She kept cursing. "Bastard! You are a beast in clothes!" "..." "Beast, you are a beast!"

"..." "I hate seeing you." "Zhu Shi, please forgive me." "Long-winded, long-winded, stop talking!" Zhu Shi desperately waved her white hands in the dark, Seijuro showed pain, and looked helplessly at Zhu Shi's almost crazy behavior. After calming down a little, Zhu Shi asked again: "...How many days is it today?" "..." "Isn't the Chinese New Year here yet?" "..." "I heard from Brother Musashi that from the morning of the first day of the new year to the seventh day of the new year, I would wait at Wujo Bridge every morning. Why hasn't the New Year arrived yet... Ah! I really want to go back to Kyoto earlier! Just go to Wujo Bridge Then you can see brother Musashi."

"...Ah! Musashi." "..." "When you say Musashi, do you mean Miyamoto Musashi?" Zhu Shi noticed Seijuro's surprised expression, so he stopped talking, closed his bruised eyelids, and fell into a drowsy sleep. Dry pine leaves slapped against the lattice door, and a horse neighed from somewhere. After a while, someone came from outside the lattice door with a lamp. It turned out that it was the maid of the inn leading a guest. "Little Master, are you in there?" "Oh! Who is it—I'm Seijuro, and I'm inside." Seijuro hastily closed the paper door in the next room, pretending to be nonchalant.

"I'm Ueda Ryohei!" The dusty man opened the door and sat on the floor by the door. "Ah! Is it Ueda?" Seijuro guessed his intentions in his mind.Ueda Ryohei, Gion Fujiji, Minamiho Yuichihei, Oike Jurozaemon, Kobashi Kuroto, Ota Kuroheisuke and others are all old disciples, one of the high disciples known as the "Ten Swords of Yoshioka" . Of course, there is no need for these high-ranking disciples to accompany this trip.Ryohei Ueda was originally staying behind at the Shijo Martial Arts School, but at the moment he was wearing a horse riding brigade, apparently in an emergency situation.When Seijuro is not at home, there may be a lot of chores that need to be handled, but Ryohei has traveled all the way to this place. It is by no means that the new year is approaching, and the creditors will come to press for debts!

"What happened? What happened?" "I must ask my little master to return home immediately, so I will report to you briefly." "Ok……" "Hey! Strange." Ueda Ryohei reached into his arms, looking for something. At this moment, came from the other side of the paper door: "Don't...you beast...get the hell out of here." Probably frightened by the nightmare during the day, Zhu Shi's yelling didn't sound like sleep talk, every word was very clear.Ryohei was taken aback: "What's that sound?" "It's nothing...Zhu Shi...he fell ill and had a high fever after coming here, and sometimes he talked in his sleep."

"Oh, so it's Zhu Shi!" "Don't mention this, tell me if you have something urgent." "This is it." He took out a letter from his belt and handed it to Seijuro. Ryohei put the candlestick brought by the maid in front of Seijuro, and Seijuro glanced at the envelope. "Ah... it was written by Musashi." Ryohei replied emphatically: "Exactly." "Has it been opened?" "Because it's an urgent document, the people staying at the martial arts hall have already seen it first." "What did he say in the letter?"

Seijuro didn't reach out to get the letter right away—although Miyamoto Musashi held a pivotal position in his mind, he thought it was impossible for this person to give him a second letter. He couldn't help feeling numb, which made him not want to open the letter for a moment. Ryohei gritted his teeth: "That man has finally come. Although he uttered wild words when he left the martial arts hall this spring, I don't think it is possible for him to come to Kyoto again. I didn't expect this arrogant guy to come to the appointment as scheduled. You see, in his letter It says: Your Excellency Yoshioka Seijuro and other disciples, but only Shinmen Miyamoto Musashi is signed. It seems that he is going to challenge us with one block and one hundred."

Musashi's foothold could not be seen from the envelope. However, no matter where he is, he has never forgotten to fulfill the agreement with Yoshioka's brother.It can be seen that he and the Yoshioka family have fallen into an invisible state of war. The so-called martial arts competition—a fight to the death—is a matter of life and death, the sword and face of a warrior, it is not just a contest of trivial skills, it is a matter of life and death. However, Yoshioka Seijuro was unaware, and to this day he is still wandering around, looking for fun. Among the few backbone disciples in Kyoto, some were very dissatisfied with Seijuro's behavior.

"The lessons are coming, it's just a matter of time." It was also very angry. "It would be great if the boxing teacher was still there." They were filled with righteous indignation, how dare a cultivator insult them like this, how could it not make them grit their teeth. Even so, everyone agreed that- In any case, let Yoshioka Seijuro be notified first, and bring him back to Kyoto immediately. This is the purpose of Ueda Ryohei driving the horse here.However, why did Seijuro throw this important letter from Musashi in front of his knees and just look at it without reading it? "In any case, please take a look first." Ryohei urged. "okay!" Seijuro finally picked up the letter. When he read the letter, his fingers trembled slightly—it wasn't that Musashi had any passion between the lines, but that Seijuro's heart had never been so fragile.Although he usually looks like a samurai, Zhu Shi, who was lying next door through the paper door, kept talking in his sleep, his will was completely melted and disintegrated like a mud boat sailing through water. Musashi's letter was brief and to the point, as follows: "Move immediately." Seijuro put the letter in his sleeve and got up immediately.He was so upset that he didn't want to stay here for a moment. He hurriedly called the innkeeper, and after paying the bill, he hoped that Zhu Shi could stay here temporarily.The innkeeper had a difficult look on his face, but he couldn't refuse, so he reluctantly agreed. On this disgusting night, Seijuro only wanted to escape from here. "I want to borrow a horse from you." Seijuro said to the innkeeper. After hastily making preparations, they jumped on the saddle, followed by Ryohei Ueda, and the two rode through the dim street trees of Sumiyoshi and headed straight for Kyoto.