Chapter 80 Chapter 22 The Lost Goose

From Dongshan to near the foot of Dawenshan Mountain, both of them went in the wrong direction, but then they took a wrong turn and even missed the direction to Yicheng Temple Village. Ashanpo couldn't keep up with the son in front, and became more and more lethargic and impatient, and shouted out of breath from behind: "Really, why are you walking so fast! Another eight! Another eight! Wait for me!" You Ba was speechless, and said loudly on purpose: "It doesn't make sense! Think about how you scolded me in the hotel!" Youba couldn't wait for her, so he had to stop and go, but he would always nag a few words to his mother who caught up later.

"How can you treat me with this attitude? Who speaks to your biological mother like you?" She wiped the sweat from her wrinkled face and was about to take a rest when she started to walk forward again. "Wait a minute! Let's take a rest before leaving!" "It will be dawn after rest." "What are you talking about? It's still some time before dawn! Usually these mountain roads don't bother me. It's just that I just caught a cold in the past two or three days, and my whole body is weak. When I walk, I feel breathless." "Are you still not admitting defeat? You woke up the owner of the hotel on the way, and he kindly let us go into the shop to rest. At that time, you didn't want to drink, so you said: 'If you drink any more, it will be too late, go out quickly!' I'm on my way before I can drink. Who has such difficult parents as you?"

"Haha! So you're angry that I didn't let you drink?" "Stop talking!" "You have to be self-willed. We are going to do a big thing now!" "Anyway, we mother and son don't need to participate in their duel at all. We just need to beg the Yoshioka family to let us stab Musashi's dead body to vent our hatred after they decide the winner, and then take some hair from him. Take it back to your hometown, isn't that all right? It's not a big deal at all." "Forget it! I don't want to argue with you here." You Ba still said to himself:

"Oh! What a disgrace! We actually have to take evidence from the dead body and go back to our hometown to explain. Anyway, the people in my hometown live in the mountains, like frogs at the bottom of a well, and they will definitely believe it... Sigh! When I think about living in the mountains, I feel like Boring, really boring!" Youba is still obsessed with urban life, such as beach wine, urban girls, etc., which make him reluctant to part.What's more, he still has some attachments to this city.He hopes to take a different path from Musashi in order to get a chance to stand out.He also wants to use this to satisfy his long-standing material desires in order to experience the meaning of life-he will never give up this hope.

"Ah! Just these things, I feel that this city is nostalgic." Not long after he left, he left Ashanpo behind again.Before leaving the hotel, she kept complaining that she was lazy, maybe she was really uncomfortable somewhere.finally yielded: "Youba, carry me on your back! You are a young man, carry me for a while!" He frowned again. He puffed up his face and didn't answer, just stood there and waited for her.At this time, Asugi and Matahachi suddenly listened - Jotaro was startled just now, and Atong also heard the woman's sharp cry, and the mother and child heard it too.

The voice came from nowhere, if you call it again, you can guess the source of the voice.Youba and Ashanpo seemed to be waiting for the next scream, standing still with dazed and puzzled faces. "what?" Ashanpo suddenly called out.It wasn't that she heard the suspicious scream again, but that she saw Youba suddenly grabbing the corner of the cliff by surprise, and going down to the bottom of the valley step by step. She reproachfully: "You, where are you going?" "Go down to the swamp." Youba went to the bottom of the cliff and said: "Mother, wait a moment, wait for me where I am. I'll go and have a look and come."

"Fool!" Ashanpo couldn't help blurting out this mantra again. "What are you looking for? What are you looking for..." "What are you looking for? It's the woman's screams I heard just now!" "Hey! Idiot, I told you not to go! Don't go!" You Ba turned a deaf ear to Grandma's yelling and scolding.I followed the roots of the tree down to the deep valley. "Fool! Stupid!" From the deep valley, through the treetops, looking at the old mother who cursed at the moon on the cliff: "Wait for me there!" Although Youba shouted loudly, it didn't reach Ashanpo's ears at all.Because he has gone down a very deep cliff.

"strangeness?" You Ba felt a little regretful, the screams just now should have come from near the swamp, if not, then all the hard work was wasted. The swamp can't even be illuminated by moonlight, but if you look closely, there is a path.It's just a few hills around here, and there are shortcuts from Kyoto to Sakamoto or Otsu in Shiga.Therefore, no matter where you go down to the bottom of the valley, you can see the footprints of people. Youba walked along the gurgling waterfall and flowing water.He found a road cutting across the water to the mountainside. Just by that stream, there is a hut that can only accommodate one person. Maybe this is a fishing hut for fishermen to rest?He saw a person squatting behind the hut, showing a snow-white face and hands.

"A woman?" Youba hurriedly hid behind the rock.The scream just now was a female voice, which made him curious to find out.If it was a man's voice, he probably wouldn't have come down to the swamp!Now, there is indeed a woman in front of me, and she seems to be very young. what is she doing At first he was so skeptical, but after seeing it clearly, his doubts were resolved.The woman crawled to the water's edge and was drinking water with her hand! The woman's senses were acute.She immediately felt Matahachi's footsteps, like insects crawling on her body.She hastily stood up.

"what?" Another eight called out. The woman was startled: "what?" "So it's Zhu Shi!" "Ah! Ah!" The water he drank just now is only now down, Zhu Shi took a deep breath. Matachi grabbed her trembling shoulders. "Zhu Shi, what's wrong with you?" Youba sized her up from head to toe, and asked: "You're also dressed in traveling clothes! But why are you here at this hour—why are you here?" "Mynah, where's your mother?" "My mother! My mother is waiting on the cliff." "She must be very angry?"

"Ah! Is it a business?" "I was in a hurry to get on the road, but I didn't pay the hotel money, and I didn't make any money. Although I knew it was wrong to do so, I still quietly took my grandma's wallet away on the spur of the moment... Mynah, please forgive me! Let me go ! I will definitely pay back in the future.” Zhu Shi apologized and cried, but You Ba showed a careless face and said: "You misunderstood my mother and me. We didn't come here to catch you." "I stole other people's money on impulse. If I was caught, I would be regarded as a thief." "That's what my mother said. If you are really in such a difficult situation, I still want to give you the money! I really think so, so don't worry too much, don't worry. Why are you in such a hurry to go? And why did you come here?" "Because after I left the hotel, I hid behind a tree and overheard your conversation with your mother." "Hmm! Are you referring to the martial arts contest between Musashi and Yoshiokamon today?" "yes!" "So, you are in a hurry to go to Ichijoji Village?" "..." Zhu Shi didn't answer. The two had lived under the same roof, so Youba knew very well what Zhu Shi was thinking.He didn't want to ask too much, so he suddenly changed the subject: "correct!" "Just now I heard someone screaming near here, was it you?" That's what he came down to the swamp for. Zhu Shi nodded. Then, as if seeing the nightmare again, she looked at the black mountains in front of her from the low-lying swamp. She told Matahachi that things went like this: Just now-- When she crossed the stream and walked to the mountainside in front of her, she saw a very scary monster sitting there looking at the bright moon. You Ba didn't listen very carefully, but Zhu Shi said seriously: "From a distance, the monster looked like a dwarf but had an adult face, and it was a woman. She had a white face, her mouth stretched to her ears, and she looked at me with a smile. I was startled and screamed, almost Passed out. When I regained consciousness, I fell on the edge of the swamp." Zhu Shi had lingering fears, and although Youba suppressed a smile, he finally laughed out: "Ha! Ha! Ha! I thought something happened!" Next, he teased: "You grew up in Ibuki Mountain, so those monsters should be afraid of you! Don't you also often go to the battlefield with ghostly fire to exploit the sword or armor on the dead body?" "At that time, I was just a child, and I didn't know how to be afraid at all!" "It's not exactly a child! Looking back now, some things are still unforgettable!" "That was the first time I knew what love is... But, I have given up on that person." "Then why did you go to Ichijoji Village?" "I don't understand it myself. I was just thinking that maybe I could see Musashi." "It's hopeless!" Youba said with all his might. He said that Musashi had no hope of victory, and also described the enemy's situation. From Seijuro to Kojiro—Zhu Shi has experienced several men.When she is no longer a girl, when she thinks of Musashi, she can no longer weave a dream for the future like a girl.She is no longer perfect, she can only look at herself with cold eyes, once struggling on the edge of life and death, now she is like a lost goose, looking for another sky. She heard Youpachi describe what happened when Musashi was on the verge of death, but she wasn't sad at all.That being the case, why do I still come here?Still reluctant to part with Musashi?She felt conflicted, unable to follow her own train of thought. "..." Zhu Shi's eyes were loose, and he listened to Youba's words as if in a dream.Youba quietly looked at her profile.He found that her wandering was so similar to his own. "This woman is looking for a companion." He observed this from the snow-white profile. Youba suddenly hugged Zhu Shi's shoulders, put his face close to her, and said softly: "Zhu Shi, don't you want to escape to Edo?" Zhu Shi was startled and swallowed a breath. She stared suspiciously into Matahachi's eyes. "Ah! To Edo?" She came back to her senses, and after thinking about the real situation, she asked another question. Youba put his hand on her shoulder, and slowly exerted force. "It is not necessary to go to Edo, but I heard that Edo in the Kanto will become the capital of Japan, and today's Osaka or Kyoto will become the ancient capital. And around the new shogunate Edo Castle, new streets are being built rapidly, so , go there earlier, you should be able to find a good job! The two of us are like geese who have lost their way... Do you want to go? Do you want to take a look?... Hey! Zhu Shi!" She was not very interested at first, but now she is listening more and more enthusiastically.Then, Matahachi egged her on about the size of the world and how young they were. "We should live a happy life and do what we want to do, otherwise life will be too meaningless. We should have great ambitions and do a great job. If we do things carelessly or too much Honesty and kindness will be teased and ridiculed by fate, and the result will only make people cry, unable to open up a bright road... Hey! Zhu Shi! Isn't your fate the same? You are just the bait of Ajia and Seijuro They will be devoured by them. So if you can’t be a strong devourer, you won’t be able to survive in this world.” "..." Zhu Shi was moved.Since leaving the wormwood house and stepping into the society, he has always been abused and bullied by the world.Now that I can meet Youba, I finally have something to rely on.He is more ambitious than before, and he is sure to rise to the top. However, there is still an inseparable phantom in her mind, that is Musashi.It's like wanting to go back and look at the ashes even if the homeland burns down - just so stupid and stubborn. "Do you not like it?" "..." Zhu Shi silently shook his head. "Then let's go! If you don't mind—" "But, Mynah, what about your mother?" "Ah! my mother?" Youba looked up at the other side: "My mother will go back to her hometown after getting Musashi's relics. If she knows now that I'm going to leave her in this wilderness, like throwing her in Mushe Mountain, she will definitely be furious. But in the future, when I become famous, You can make up for this crime. Now that you have decided, let's go!" He walked ahead enthusiastically, but Zhu Shi still hesitated. "Mynah again, let's go another way, don't go this way!" "why?" "Because this road will lead to that mountainside!" "Haha! Are you afraid of running into grinning dwarves again? You don't have to be afraid if I'm here... Ah! It's bad! The old woman called me from above! My mother is scarier than dwarf monsters! Zhu Shi, if you are caught by her It will be troublesome if you find out. Come here quickly!" After the two shadows disappeared on the rocky mountainside, Ashanpo, who had been waiting impatiently, shouted from the cliff: "Son... another eight..." She walked up and down empty and hesitantly.