Chapter 120 Chapter 30

With a "plop", the sound of plums falling to the ground in the courtyard came from the darkness.Musashi sat facing a lamp.The bright light reflected his unkempt hair, which was hard, dry, and reddish.Look carefully at the root of his hair for an old scar from a sore he had suffered when he was a child. (Is there such a difficult child?) Mother often sighs like this, and his tenacious personality is like this scar that will never disappear. At this time, he suddenly remembered his mother in his heart, and felt that the Guanyin he was carving in his hand was like his mother. "..."

Kosuke, the owner of the store just now, stood outside the door on the second floor and said: "Are you still so serious about engraving? A man who called himself Sasaki Kojiro came to the store just now and said he wanted to see you. Do you want to see him? Or do you want me to tell him that you are asleep? ... Anyway, I respect what you mean." Kosuke spoke two or three times outside the door, but Musashi couldn't remember whether he answered Kosuke. Later, Kosuke heard that there seemed to be movement nearby. "what?" He seemed to hear a sound outside, and ran out suddenly, but Musashi was not distracted by this, and continued to carve with the knife, the table and the ground were covered with sawdust.

Musashi was going to carve a statue of Avalokitesvara in exchange for Kosuke's fine sword, and he had been working on it since yesterday morning. For this agreement, Kosuke has special expectations. That is-- Since I want to carve from Musashi, I use the high-quality wood that I have been hiding for many years to carve. After speaking, Kosuke respectfully took out the piece of wood.Sure enough, it was a high-quality pillow-shaped horn wood six or seven hundred years ago, about one foot in length. Musashi didn't understand why this piece of old wood was so precious.Kosuke explained to him: This is the wood used in the Tojo Iso Changling Temple in Ishikawa County, Hanoi, and it is an ancient wood from the Tianping era.Once, when repairing the imperial temple of Prince Shotoku, who had been in disrepair for a long time, careless monks and craftsmen threw the dismantled wood into the kitchen for firewood.When Geng Jie saw it, he felt sorry, so he brought a piece back.

The wood has a fine grain and a smooth feel to the knife.When Musashi thought that the wood was so precious, he wouldn't have to replace it if it failed--with this thought, the hand holding the knife became stiff and unnatural. At this moment, with a bang, the night wind blew open the firewood gate in the courtyard. "...?" Musashi raised his head, thinking: "Is Iori back?" He pricked up his ears to listen. It wasn't Iori who came back.The wooden door at the back didn't seem to be blown open by the wind. The master, Kosuke, shouted loudly: "Wife, hurry up! What are you in a daze for? Every second counts to save someone, maybe you can still be saved, you can lie down wherever you want, move to a quiet place quickly."

Besides Kosuke, there seemed to be other people helping to carry the wounded. "Is there any wine to wash the wound? If not, I'll go back and get it." Someone said so. "I'm going to call the doctor." It was also said so.After a while of fuss, calm was finally restored. "Everyone, thank you very much. Thanks to your help, he was able to escape from the gate of hell. Please rest assured and go back to sleep!" Hearing what Kosuke said, Musashi thought to himself, did some disaster happen to the family? Curious, Musashi patted the sawdust off his knees and stepped down the ladder.The room behind the corridor was lit, and Musashi went to check and saw Kosuke and his wife sitting next to a dying wounded man.

"Oh! You haven't slept yet?" Kosuke saw Musashi and offered a seat. Musashi also sat quietly beside the man's pillow. "Who is this person?" "I'm also surprised..." Kosuke answered Musashi with a surprised expression. "When I rescued him, I didn't know who he was. When I brought him back, I found out that he was a disciple of Mr. Xiao Banan, the military strategist of the Koshu Ryu whom I respect the most." "Really?" "That's right, his name is Hojo Shinzo, the son of Hojo Anboshou——in order to learn the art of war, he has been studying with Mr. Kobata for many years."

"Ok!" Musashi gently opened the white gauze around Shinzo's neck.The wound that had been washed with wine just now was sliced ​​into shells with a sharp knife. Under the light, the sunken wound clearly exposed the reddish artery. Close call -- that's how it's often described.And the life of this wounded man can be described by it.But, who made such a neat knife technique? Judging from the wound, this saber technique cuts from bottom to top, closing the saber like a dovetail, if it weren't for this, it would never be possible to cut this kind of wound. ——Swallow cutting knife technique.

Musashi suddenly remembered Sasaki Kojiro's proud sword skills, and remembered Kosuke telling himself outside the door just now that Sasaki Kojiro had visited. "Do you know the truth of the matter?" "No, I don't know anything." "Really? I know who did it. In any case, it's not too late to ask him after the wounded recovers. It seems that the other party is Sasaki Kojiro." Musashi nodded, full of confidence. When Musashi returned to his room, he lay down on the sawdust with his hands as pillows. Although there was a quilt, he didn't want to cover it.

Two nights have passed, and Iori still hasn't come back. If it was lost, it would have taken too long.Originally, Iori was going to deliver letters to Yagyu's house. Maybe Kimurasukekuro saw him as a child, so he might stay with him for a few days. Although Musashi was concerned about this matter, he was not worried, but he was exhausted physically and mentally from the carving of the Avalokitesvara since yesterday morning.Musashi is not a professional sculptor and does not understand the profound knife techniques and techniques. An image of Guanyin has been drawn in his heart, and he tries to keep his mind free of distracting thoughts and concentrate on carving.But when he was handling the knife, all kinds of distracting thoughts arose, which made his spirit slackened.

Seeing that Avalokitesvara was about to take shape, but because of distracting thoughts, Musashi had to cut it again, carve it and carve it again. After repeating this several times, the piece of wood was like a bonito. Inch, five inches... Finally, there are three inches left. He felt drowsy as if he heard the cuckoo call twice, and then fell asleep. About half an hour later, after waking up, his physical strength was restored and his mind became clearer. "This time, we must engrave it well." He went to the back well to wash his face. Although it was almost dawn, he still relit the lamp and picked up the carving knife.

After sleeping, the knife technique is really different.The newly carved wood grain of this piece of ancient wood is meticulous, showing the culture of thousands of years.If the engraving is broken again this time, there will only be a pile of wood layers left in the precious wood. Musashi is determined to succeed tonight. He held a small knife with bright eyes, like a sword held when facing an enemy, full of strength. He never straightened his back. Not a drop of water entered. The east is already pale.The birds began to sing, and the door of the house opened, but Musashi didn't notice it at all, because he had already entered a state of ecstasy. "Mr. Musashi." The owner, Gengjie, pushed the door open and came in.Only then did Musashi straighten his waist. "Ah! Still not working." Musashi dropped his sword and surrendered. Not to mention the original shape of that piece of wood, there was not even a piece of wood the size of a thumb left, only a large pile of sawdust fell on Musashi's lap and beside him like snow. Kosuke opened his eyes wide. "Ah! It's not carved!" "Hmm! No way." "The wood of the balance?" "It's all chipped off. I chipped and carved, but I can't carve out the Guanyin statue." Musashi sighed.He rested his hands on the back of his head, as if trying to get rid of the Guanyin statue and his troubles. "No, I have to sit in meditation now." Said and sat down. He closed his tired eyes and got rid of all kinds of distracting thoughts in his mind. Now he has reached the state of "emptiness". The early risers came out of the inn one after another.Most of the travelers are horse dealers.The four-five-day horse market ended yesterday, so there were fewer guests at the inn starting today. Yizhi returned to the inn this morning and was about to go upstairs. "Hi, kid." The proprietress hurriedly called him from the counter. Iori stood on the stairs. "What's up?" He looked back to see the forehead of the proprietress. "where are you going?" "me?" "That's right." "My master lives on the second floor, can't I go up to the second floor?" "what?" The proprietress froze for a moment and said: "When did you go out?" "This one!" Iori counted. "The day before the day before yesterday!" "Isn't that the day before yesterday?" "Yep." "You said you were going to deliver a letter to Yagyu's house, and you didn't come back until now?" "yes!" "But the residence of the Yagyu family is in Edo Castle!" "But the proprietress, you told me that it was on Muwan Street, so I made a big detour. The place you mentioned is a warehouse, and his home is in Riwa, Mabu Village." "That wouldn't take three days! Are you being tricked by a vixen?" "You know it very well! Ma'am, are you a relative of the fox?" Iori was about to climb upstairs while joking, but the proprietress immediately stopped her: "Your master doesn't live here anymore." "Liar!" Iori still ran up, and finally came downstairs in a daze. "Miss Boss, has Master changed to another room?" "I've already told you that he's gone, but you still don't believe it." "Really?" "If you don't believe me, you can look at the bill, he has already settled the bill." "Why, why did he leave before I came back?" "Because you came back too late!" "But……" Iori cried. "Miss Boss, do you know where my master has gone? Did you leave a message?" "Nothing, he must think that with a child like you, he will abandon you if he gets in the way." Yizhi's expression changed drastically, and he immediately ran to the road, looking left and right.The proprietress brushed the thinning hair on top of her head with a comb. "I lied to you, I lied to you. Your master has moved to the second floor of the knife sharpening shop opposite. He is there. Stop crying and go find him." Before he finished speaking, a straw sandal flew from the road to the counter. While Musashi was sleeping, Iori knelt down respectfully. "I am back." After Kosuke brought Iori, he tiptoed and hurried back to the ward of the main house. Iori also noticed the unpleasant atmosphere in the house today, and besides Musashi's sleeping side, there were sawdust scattered everywhere, the lamp had been extinguished, and the oil in the candlestick had burned out and had not been cleared away. "……I am back." He was worried about being scolded and dared not speak loudly. "……Who?" Musashi asked: He opened his eyes. "It's Iori." Musashi immediately got up when he heard that, and felt relieved when he saw Iori, who had returned safely, kneeling at his feet. "Iori?" After speaking, he stopped talking. "I'm late." Musashi remained silent, but Iori said again: "terribly sorry." Iori apologized, but Musashi ignored him and tightened his belt. "Open the windows and clean this place up." After explaining, he walked out of the room. "As ordered." Iori borrowed a broom from the master and cleaned the house, but he was still very worried. He didn't know what Musashi was doing, so he peeked into the garden. He saw Musashi washing himself by the well. Yizhi saw plums dropped all over the ground by the well again.It reminded him of the taste of eating plums dipped in salt.He also thought, if pickled plums can be eaten all year round, why don't people here do this? "Mr. Kosuke, how is the condition of the injured now?" While wiping his face, Musashi spoke into the room. "Recovered quickly." Kosuke replied. "You must be tired too. I'll take care of him for you later." After Musashi finished speaking, Kosuke replied that there was no need. "I just suffer from the fact that no one can notify Mr. Xiaoban Jingxian of Pinghe Tianshen instead of me." Musashi told Kosuke that he could go by himself or send Yizhi, and he agreed to it.Back on the second floor, I saw that the room had been cleaned. Musashi sat down. "Iori." "yes." "After you sent the letter, did you get a reply?" Iori, who was worried about being scolded by Musashi, finally smiled. "The letter has been delivered, and Mr. Sukuro Kimura of Yagyu's family also replied." After speaking, he took out a letter from his pocket. "let me see." Iori handed the letter to Musashi. Kimura Sukuro's reply letter reads: Although you sincerely hope, Yagyu-style can only be learned in the general's house, and no one is allowed to compete openly.As long as your Excellency is not here for a martial arts competition, Master Dan Ma Taishou is very willing to entertain you in the martial arts hall.If you want to learn more about the essence of Yagyu-ryu, it is best to contact Mr. Yagyu Hyogo.It's a pity that Mr. Hyogo rushed back to Yamato last night because Mr. Ishishusai of his family was critically ill.It is a pity that everyone in the family is worried about this matter. Please choose another day to visit Lord Tajima Mori. He added another sentence to the letter. I will make arrangements for you then. "..." Musashi put the letter away with a smile. Seeing his smile, Iori felt more at ease.Only then did he dare to straighten his numb kneeling feet. "Master, Yagyu-sama's residence is not in Muban Street, but in Hiwa, Azabu. The house is spacious and magnificent, and Mr. Sukuro Kimura treated me to a lot of food." Iori started talking non-stop. "Iori." Musashi's eyebrows showed a look of embarrassment.Iori saw it, and immediately retracted his feet. "yes." Even the tone of speech has changed. "You said you lost your way, but today is the third day, why did you come back so late?" "I was tricked by a fox on the mountain in Mabu." "fox?" "right." "How could a child who grew up in the wild be deceived by a fox?" "I don't know. But I was deceived by the fox for a day and a night. Looking back now, I don't know the roads I have traveled." "Hmm! How strange!" "It's really strange! I wasn't afraid of foxes at first, but later I learned that foxes in Edo are more deceptive than foxes in the countryside." "correct." Seeing his solemn appearance, Musashi didn't want to scold him. "Did you play a prank?" "No, because the fox followed me, so I paid special attention. Before I was deceived by it, I cut off its feet and tail, so that fox came to take revenge." "It's not like this." "Isn't it?" "It's not the physical fox that comes to take revenge, but your heart. Think carefully, think carefully before I come back, and then answer me." "Yes... Master, where are you going now?" "Near the Pinghe God in Ju Street." "I'll be back tonight!" "Hahaha! If I am also deceived by the fox, I am afraid it will take three days!" Today is cloudy.Musashi left Iori at home and went out by himself.