Chapter 61 Chapter 03 Night Road

"The second generation of Yoshioka is disgraced! What a delight! Drink! Drink! Cheers!" There is a tavern on Yangniu Street in the suburbs. There is smoke from firewood in the dirt floor, and the smell of food wafts in the air. The inside of the tavern has gradually darkened, but outside, the street is illuminated red by the sunset, as if on fire.Every time the curtain is lifted, you can see the Toji Pagoda in the distance from the house like a crow of black charcoal. "Drink!" There were three or four businessmen sitting around the benches, and there were also six departments who ate quietly alone, and a group of workers threw copper coins, punched and drank, and these people squeezed the narrow muddy space tightly.

Someone said: "It's so dark! Boss, we'll pour wine up our noses!" "Understood, I'll burn the firewood right away." The innkeeper put more firewood in the stove in the corner of the house, and the fire burned hotter, and the darker the outside, the redder the inside. "When I think about it, I get angry. Since the year before last, Yoshioka has been owed charcoal money and fish money. In fact, these amounts are insignificant to the martial arts hall. On New Year's Eve, we went to the martial arts hall to collect the bill, but they kicked us out! "

"Don't be angry! The Liantai Temple incident is karma, didn't it vent our anger and avenge us?" "So now I am not only not angry, but very happy." "Yoshioka Seijuro is too useless to lose so badly!" "It's not that Seijuro is useless, it's that Musashi is too strong." "As soon as the opponent made a move, Seijuro broke one hand. I don't know whether it was the right hand or the left hand. And it was cut by the wooden sword. Look, Musashi is powerful enough!" "Did you see it with your own eyes?" "Although I didn't witness it with my own eyes, everyone who saw it said so. Seijuro was carried back with a door panel. Although he saved his life temporarily, he was disabled for the rest of his life!"

"and then?" "Yoshioka's disciples threatened to kill Musashi, otherwise they would not be able to restore the reputation of the Yoshioka faction in the Jianghu. However, even Seijuro is not Musashi's opponent. Who else can defeat Musashi? His younger brother Denshichiro is probably the only one who can compete with Musashi and decide the outcome. I heard that they are looking for Denshichiro everywhere now!" "Is Denshichiro Seijuro's younger brother?" "This guy is more capable than his elder brother, but he is a hard-to-discipline second young master. As long as he has money around him, he will never go back to the martial arts gym. He also often uses his father's boxing relationship and reputation to bluff around. It seems that he is a rascal , eating, drinking and having fun everywhere, it’s hard to cope.”

"It's really a difficult brother. Such a great boxing master would give birth to such a son." "That's why I say it's not necessarily that the dragon begets the dragon, or the phoenix begets the phoenix!" The fire went dark again.Beside the fire, a man had been dozing against the wall since just now.The man probably drank a lot and fell asleep soundly.Although the innkeeper added the firewood lightly, when the firewood was thrown into the furnace, sparks burst and flew towards the man's hair and knees. "Guest officer, the fire will reach the hem of your clothes, please step back."

The man slowly opened his bloodshot eyes from wine and fire, and said vaguely: "Well! Well! Got it. Add the firewood lightly." But the man still folded his hands on his chest and did not move his feet.He was already drunk, but his expression was depressed. Judging from the quality of his wine and the blue veins on his face, this person is none other than Da Matahachi. What happened that day in Rentai Terano was spread everywhere besides this place. The more famous Musashi became, the more miserable Matahachi felt.He didn't want to hear about Musashi again until he became famous.However, as long as people gather, even if they cover their ears, they still hear similar topics.Therefore, not even wine can relieve his worries.

"Boss, pour me another glass. What? Cold wine is fine, use that big wine glass." "Guest officer, are you okay? Your face has turned pale." "What nonsense! I am pale from nature." I don't know how many cups I drank again, even the boss can't remember clearly, I saw him pouring down cup after cup. After drinking, he folded his hands on his chest again and leaned against the wall silently.Although he drank so much wine and the fire was burning so brightly at his feet, his face was bloodless.He thought to himself: "What! I'll show you! To be successful, people don't have to rely on swordsmanship. It doesn't matter whether they are rich, powerful or hooligans. The Lord is fine! Musashi and I are only twenty-two years old. As the saying goes, it is a great misfortune for young people to achieve success, because these people think they are geniuses and are arrogant. This is what happens to people like them."

Hearing Musashi's heroic deeds in his ears, his heart was filled with disgust.As soon as he heard the rumor in the suburbs of Osaka, he rushed to Kyoto immediately.He didn't have any particular purpose, but because he cared too much about Musashi, so he looked at the situation afterwards, and he thought to himself: "Now, when Musashi is complacent, someone will fix him! What kind of person is Yoshioka, there are ten swordsmen, and his brother Denshichiro..." In his heart, he has been waiting for the day when Musashi will be defeated, and then see if he can get away with it.

"Ah! I'm so thirsty!" Suddenly, he stood up, and the other guests looked back at him.Youba walked to the big water tank in the corner, lowered his head, and scooped water with a spoon to drink.Then he dropped the spoon, raised the door curtain, and staggered out. The tavern owner was quite surprised by Youhachi's move. Seeing Youhachi's figure still behind the door, he quickly chased him out: "Hello! Guest officer!" "You haven't paid yet!" The other guests also put their heads out of the door curtain to see what happened.Youba's swaying body managed to stand still.

"What's up?" "Guest officer! Have you forgotten?" "Did I forget something?" "Drinker... Hey! Hey... You haven't paid for the drink yet!" "Ah! Check out!" "That's right!" "Money!" "Ok!" "The matter of money is really troublesome! I spent it all a few days ago." "So, you knew you were penniless from the very beginning, but you wanted to drink Bawang wine?" "Shut up, shut up!" Youba stretched out his hand to touch back and forth in his bosom, finally found a printed box, and threw it at the face of the tavern owner:

"I'm also an upright samurai, so I won't degenerate into drinking for nothing! ——This thing is too much to pay, so take it! If you have too much, you don't need to look for it!" The tavern owner was hit on the cheek by it before he could see what was thrown over him, and he covered his face with his hands in pain.The guests peeking behind the curtain were very angry at Mataka's behavior, and rushed outside together, cursing angrily: "What courage!" "How dare you drink Overlord Wine!" "Dare to do it!" These people smell like alcohol, and after drinking yellow soup, they are particularly angry at people who are immoral or violate the rules.The crowd will be surrounded again: "What a bad habit! Brat, pay the money before leaving." "Guys like you drink up countless hotels a year. If you don't have money, let's each hit the head once." Youba saw that everyone was so angry and threatened to beat him, so he kept holding the handle of the knife just in case: "What? Want to hit me? Interesting, hit me! Who do you think I am?" "Think of you as a trash vagrant who is less ambitious than a beggar and more shameless than a thief! How about it?" "It's kind! Dare to say that." You Ba's face turned pale, he frowned, glared at his surroundings and shouted: "After hearing my name, don't be scared." "Who would be scared?" "I'm Sasaki Kojiro, Ito Itōsai's younger brother, and also a master of Kaneki-ryu. Haven't you heard of me, Kojiro?" Someone in the crowd stretched out his hand and said angrily: "Ridiculous, pompous fellow! Whoever you are, bring out the drink money." After hearing this, Youba said: "If you don't have enough printed boxes, you can use this one to pay for it." Suddenly, Youba drew out his knife and cut off the man's wrist.The man let out a scream, and because the cry was too exaggerated, everyone mistakenly thought that he was injured and bleeding, panicked, huddled together, and shouted in panic: "He drew his knife!" Everyone scrambled to escape. You Ba held up his white blade, staring coldly at the crowd. "What did you just say? I want you ants to see how powerful Kojiro Sasaki is. Stop! Leave your head behind." In the twilight, Matachi brandished the white blade alone, and kept saying, "I am Kojiro Sasaki." However, the people around him had already run away.The night gradually shrouded, and there was silence all around, not even the cry of crows. "..." You Ba raised his face and grinned wildly, grinning wildly as if being tickled.However, there was a lonely expression on his face that wanted to cry but had no tears.Trembling, he put the knife back into its sheath, stumbled...staggeringly. The small seal box that hit the tavern owner on the cheek, because the owner fled in a panic, fell to the side of the road, shining in the light of the stars. The printing box was made of ebony, inlaid with blue shells.Although it can't be seen that it is an expensive box, but it is thrown by the roadside at night, and the blue shells on the box are shining.Looking from a distance, it seems that a group of fireflies are parked there, shining brightly. "what?" Then, the walking monk who came out of the tavern picked up the small seal box.Just now, the walking monk seemed to be in a hurry, so he hurried on the road.However, when he picked up the printing box, he turned back to the hotel roof and carefully observed the patterns and marks on the box through the light from the crack of the door. "Ah! This is the owner's small seal box! It's something he brought with him when he went to Fushimi Castle... The bottom of this box is engraved with the word 'Heavenly Ghost', yes, that's exactly what it looks like. .” The man must not be let go, and the monk hurried to catch up with Matahachi. "Mr. Sasaki! Mr. Sasaki!" Although he heard someone calling behind him, because it wasn't his name, he was so drunk that he turned a deaf ear to it. Matahachi walked from Kujo to Horikawa. The traveling monk quickened his pace to catch up, grabbed the scabbard behind Youpachi and said: "Mr. Kojiro! Please stay." Youba let out an "oh" like a hiccup, then turned around and asked: "Call me?" The traveling monk gave a cold look. "Aren't you Mr. Sasaki Kojiro?" Youba seems to be sober: "Am I Kojiro... If I were Kojiro, what would you do?" "I want to ask you for advice." "What... what's the matter?" "Where did you get this little seal?" "Oh? Small printing box?" His drunkenness gradually wore off.The samurai who was tortured to death at the construction site of Fushimi Castle appeared before his eyes again. The monk asked again: "I want to ask where did you get this thing? Mr. Kojiro, why did this small seal box fall into your hands?" The man was about twenty-six or seven years old. Putting on his face again, he tentatively asked the other party: "who are you?" "Whoever I am, please tell me where the little seal box came from." "I have been carrying it with me all the time, so I can't talk about the source at all." "Don't talk nonsense!" Suddenly, the monk changed his tone and shouted: "Please tell the truth! Otherwise, sometimes there will be unexpected big misunderstandings." "That's the truth." "So you won't tell the truth?" Youba deliberately bluffed and asked: "I don't know what you're talking about?" "You fake Jiro!" As soon as the words fell, the four-foot-two-three oak stick in the walking monk's hand came to Youba with a whistling sound like a gust of wind.Although Youba was still a little drunk, his instinctive reaction made him take several steps back. Youba staggered back two or three steps, fell to the ground, but stood up abruptly, and hurried away.He was so fast that even the foot monk was caught off guard. This is the consequence of thinking that a man who is intoxicated cannot be agile.The monk shouted in panic: "You bastard!" He chased after him, and taking advantage of the wind, he threw the stick at Youba again. Shrinking his neck again, the wooden stick flew past him with a whistling sound.You Ba could hardly resist, so he jumped and fled. The traveling monk picked up the wooden stick that missed Youba, and ran after him as if flying.Then, calculating the timing, he threw the stick into the darkness again. With great difficulty, You Ba managed to escape the two attacks of the wooden staff at the critical moment.The smell of alcohol all over the body disappeared from the capillary pores without a trace. Youba's throat seemed to be scorched, and he was extremely thirsty. No matter where he fled, he always felt the footsteps of the footsteps chasing him behind him.It's already close to Liujie or Wujie, so it should be safe!Youba felt that he was out of danger, so he relaxed and stroked his chest: "Oh! What a tragedy... I probably won't be chasing you again!" Next, he looked around the small alleys of the street.He was not thinking of an escape route, but of a well. He seemed to have discovered a well, and walked to the back of the small alley.There is a public well in this poor street. Youba tapped well water with a bucket and poured it into his mouth.Finally, he finally put down the bucket and washed the sweat off his face with a splash. "Where is that traveling monk?" The situation just now left him with lingering fears. The leather belt bag containing the money, the Nakajou catalog, and the small seal box just now. These three things were taken from a chinless samurai after he was beaten to death by everyone at the Fushimi Castle construction site last summer. .During this period, Youba had run out of money, and all that was left was the Chutiao-ryu's secret biography catalog and the small seal box. The guy in the sixth part said: The printed box is my master's item.So that guy must be a follower of the dead samurai. The world is so small, to meet a walking monk.Youba always felt that someone was chasing him, which made him feel disgraceful and ashamed.Even when he went to a dark place, he always felt that there were ghosts everywhere, as if someone was chasing him everywhere. "His beating thing, I don't know whether it's a wooden stick or a stick, it may come whistling like a gust of wind at any time, if it hits you, you will die. I can't take it lightly!" Running out of the dead man's money has always disturbed Yatachi's conscience, and he feels that he has done something bad.On that scorching summer day, the scenes of warriors being massacred to death often appeared in front of his eyes. After I work hard and save money, I must pay off the money first.When I become famous, I must set up a stone monument to enshrine him.Youba kept apologizing to the deceased in his heart. He reached into his bosom, touched the secret biography catalog in the middle and thought about it: "By the way, if you keep this thing on your body all the time, you will definitely be suspected of being the murderer. It's better to throw it away." The edge of the scroll in my arms has been stabbed very uncomfortable, and it is troublesome to carry this thing around. However, Matachi immediately thought that it would be a pity to lose it. After all, he was penniless, and this scroll was his own property.In any case, if you use this thing as a stepping stone, even if you can't lead to the door to success, you can always find a buyer!Just because he had such a lucky heart, even though he was deceived by Chibi Bashima, he still didn't realize it. It is very popular to use the name of Kojiro Sasaki written in the secret biography.To an unknown small martial arts school or a passer-by who likes swordsmanship, after reporting Kojiro's name, not only can he gain great respect from the other party, but needless to say, the other party will give priority to handling the matter of one night and one meal. For the past half month since the new year, he has been relying on this scroll for food and living. "Don't throw it away. I seem to be getting less and less ambitious, which may hinder me from getting ahead. I should learn from Musashi's generosity and match the guy who has won the world." Although I have made a decision in my heart, the place to stay tonight has not yet been settled.The houses in the slums, although built of mud and thatch, are leaning and crumbling.However, as long as there is a roof and a door, Youba will be envious.