Chapter 5 Section five

In the pitch-black box, Xin Ding is engaged in an endless struggle with his own willpower. He endured the intense shock for a long time, while secretly hating his own weakness. (How can I just die without knowing it!) After a while, he came back to his senses and noticed a vent hole in the upper corner of his head.From there the smell of the sea breeze wafts in. (Seems to be going along the coast, and going fast.) A moment later, the side of the top of his head was lifted abruptly.Probably uphill.The person who carried the box was breathing heavily, and the sound was transmitted to Xinding's ears through the small hole.Then, the head was laid flat again, and then raised again... After tossing and turning a few times like this, the box was suddenly thrown to the ground hard.

Xin Ding's forehead hit the lid of the box suddenly, as if a big bag had bulged, but the inside of the box was so narrow that he couldn't touch it with his hands. After several men whispered, they suddenly opened the box. It was dark outside and nothing could be seen.Several men lifted the bottom of the box and turned the box over.The letter must roll out of the box like a stone.For a moment, he was very scared, afraid of being thrown directly into the sea from the slope. However, the ground beneath him was flat, and it seemed to be a plank floor.It seems to be inside the house. The man who carried the box left without saying a word.Although Xin Ding understood, he had no intention of getting up and chasing after him, but curled up in the darkness.

After the surroundings quieted down, Xinding felt that his whole body had no strength, he was extremely tired, his consciousness gradually became blurred, and finally he fell into a sound sleep... The violent sea breeze brushed against his cheeks, Xinding was choked awake by the sea breeze, and opened his eyes again. Suddenly the surroundings became brighter.Looking around, Xinding found himself lying on a mat in a room, it was a ten-fold room with a floor. Suddenly, Xin Ding noticed an old man and an old woman sitting beside him.Both of them are nearly seventy years old, with silver hair, copper-colored faces full of wrinkles, thin eyes, and curled bodies that seem to be weak, and there is no sense of hostility in their eyes.

"Where is this?" Xin Ding turned around slowly and asked. The two silently looked at the corners of Xinding's mouth and just smiled back. I'm afraid someone told them not to talk nonsense.Xinding gave up on asking, and observed for a while.Oddly enough, the old man and the old woman communicate through body language.Could it be that they are deaf and dumb? (If you are a deaf-mute, there is no way.) Xin Ding wanted to get up and look around, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart. (Thinking about it. I was punched and turned on my back...) Painful memories revived.Faith swayed, trying to stand up again.Not only did my heart hurt, but when I was stuffed in the box, my waist and legs seemed to be twisted, my lower body hurt everywhere, and my forehead hurt even more from being hit.

The old man seemed unable to bear it any longer, and helped him up.Although he is an old man, his strength is surprisingly strong.Xin Ding stood up with his strength, and staggered towards the direction of the sea breeze. There is a cliff fifty feet in front of you, and the waves more than ten feet high are approaching the cape. The white waves hit the rocks with a loud noise, and the waves are scattered.On the horizon opposite the cape, a long and low land spread far away in the morning glow. This seems to be the inner bay. "Where is this? The Noto Peninsula?" The Kaga region does not have such a deep bay.Knowing that it was a useless question, Xinding couldn't help but ask again.The old man shook his head and kept pointing to a corner of the house.At some point, a change of clothes and bedding were placed there.Xin Ding didn't realize that the clothes on his body smelled of sweat and yeast until now.

Faith turned around, intending to change clothes.At this time, the old woman waved to him.Looking in the direction she pointed, there was boiling water prepared in a mud room outside the house.Hot air wafted from the large wooden barrel. (It's so rare, can you really take a bath?) Xinding took off his dirty clothes and sat on the small table next to the big wooden barrel.The old woman came over, walked around behind him, and helped Xinding rinse.Compared with the treatment before last night, this is a world of difference. Putting on crisp linen clothes and returning to the room, Xinding saw the food set up in the middle of the room.To his surprise, in addition to bean and vegetable porridge, salted prunes and a small plate of pickles, there were two fish dishes on the food table, and they were sashimi that had never been seen in Antu City!

Seeing sashimi, Shin must have thought of one thing.In early May, Nobunaga was going to receive Tokugawa Ieyasu, and at first Akechi Mitsuhide was appointed to take charge of the specific matters.Mitsuhide tried his best to make sashimi with fish from Lake Biwa, but he was afraid of food poisoning, so he had to give up. Sashimi is not difficult to prepare, but it needs to be kept fresh.What's more, it's midsummer, even if it's the seaside, I'm sure I can't imagine that two old people who are not professional chefs will make this dish. Looking at the hesitant Xinding, the old man shredded the ginger and put it in a small plate, expressing his meaning with his body language—just eat sashimi with this shredded ginger.

Shinsou threw the sashimi into his mouth and began to chew lightly.Although I don't know what kind of fish it is, but it has a sweetness that melts in the mouth, and the spicyness of ginger is sandwiched. The indescribable deliciousness spreads to the whole tongue. "Delicious! No. 1 in the world!" For an instant, Shinsou forgot the rough treatment he received yesterday, and muttered to himself.Although this is just an ordinary sashimi dish, it doesn't necessarily lose to the Tsubouchi chef who cooks for the shogun! After eating, the old woman retreated into the water room and began to tidy up, while the old man was inseparable.However, Xinding couldn't talk to him, and couldn't help but feel very irritable.

When Xinding walked towards the door, the old man blocked the way first, not letting him go any further.Although this old man is not tall, his brute strength is not small. Xinding once again felt that he was under "house arrest".He returned to the mat, rubbed his painful waist, and lay down a little.Seeing this, the old man stepped forward to rub his waist.Whether this old man is an enemy or a friend is definitely unpredictable. Xin Ding let the old man rub his waist, closed his eyes, and thought about everything. The army encountered when they came to Ichijo Valley was undoubtedly Sakuma Yoyomasa's subordinates.But who is this old man listening to?

If this is the Noto area, the person who gave the order should be Maeda Toshiie from the conferred area... But how did Maeda know that I was detained by Shengzheng?Why did he save me?This person seemed kind, and he might have come for that wooden box. Rescuing Xin Ding from Sheng Zheng, who knows if that rough man (Li Jia) decided without authorization?Maybe it was actually an order from Shibata Katsuie, the head of the Toshi family. (It must be so. So, as expected, I will have the opportunity to meet General Singer sooner or later.) Xinding decided to think optimistically.Before seeing Singer, he should heal the pain in his chest and waist, eat and drink enough, recover his strength, and wait patiently.

After making up his mind, in the next few days, Xinding will only eat and sleep, sleep and eat.Seeing that Xin was determined to give up resistance, the old man became more friendly and took some kind of black ointment and stuck it on his chest and waist.Shinsada has long heard that Iga and Koga are places where secret medicines are manufactured, and the medicines in the Hokuriku area are very effective.As expected, Xinding felt the pain lessen with each passing day. In this way, the only thing that caused him pain was the long wait.In any case, Xin Ding has been living a very busy life in the fourteen years since Elder Confidence decided to "bring out martial arts", but now he has been quarantined for nearly twenty days.He felt that if he continued to do nothing like this, he would go crazy. Just one day when Xin Ding was about to collapse, something happened that he didn't expect. The old man opened the door rarely.Apart from the sea, Xinding saw the outside world for the first time since coming here.When I went outside, I found that the house was built in a cave facing the sea, and there was only one way up. There was a guard post under the entrance, and there were more than a dozen soldiers there.There are several wooden fences around the entrance, making it impossible to escape, and the outside of the wooden fence is covered by thick branches, so that people outside cannot see the house. At the entrance ramp, five or six samurai let their servants walk with heavy luggage.They did not carry the samurai banner, and all wore gray slacks and hakamas without insignia. It appeared to be a covert operation.They approached the house without speaking, just carrying things inside.Those were two large boxes wrapped in straw.After the warriors put their things into Xinding's house, they left silently. Faith peeped in through the straw, startled. "how is this possible?" Xinding felt that his heart was about to jump out, so he quickly picked up the straw. It was indeed the paulownia box he kept in the Xiguang Temple in Azuchi City! (Whose order is this?) Xinding couldn't help pushing the old man away with all his strength, and rushed out of the room.He wanted to catch those samurai who came down the mountain and ask who came up with the bad idea. However, the wooden fence was tightly closed, and only the backs of the warriors could be seen from a distance.His connection with the world under the mountain was cut off again. Xinding sadly returned to the house.The old man did not get angry and welcomed him in.Xin Ding checked the contents of the box, and it was obviously tampered with, but the books and diaries were all there, and even the tea set that was hastily stuffed in was not stolen. In the end, Shinsou stretched his hand into the compartment with trepidation, and the sketch of the "Tenshu Diagram" entrusted by Kimura Jirozaemon has not been touched. (Great!) But who the hell put me in this unwarranted confinement?Who came up with such a bad idea... All questions have no answers. It has been safe and sound since then.Time seemed to stop passing in this house. Xinding tried hard not to think about the outside world.His only salvation now is the hundred diaries from before. ——Look at it again eagerly. However, the season outside the house is relentlessly passing by.Summer and autumn in this area are very short, while winter is quite long and colder than heard.The windows I saw when I first arrived were blocked by ice and snow and could not be opened.Of course, that would block the cold wind outside the house by the way. The two old people are busy clearing the snow at the door every day.Just one day without sweeping, the house will be completely covered in snow.Xinding unknowingly started to help clear the snow, which helped to prevent laziness. After clearing the snow, the meal is very delicious.Although you can't eat fresh sashimi, the dry goods are also good.Also, the miso soup with kelp is very delicious. After eating every day, Xinding would read the diary under the light of the snow. After reading it many times and being able to memorize it silently, it feels boring to watch it again.Therefore, Xin decided to use the diary as the basis to write Nobunaga's deeds into a biography.Fortunately, in the wooden box was the inkstone box painted with gold and inlaid with tin, which he couldn't put it down, and the Mino paper he bought before.If Mino paper is not enough, there is still a lot of waste paper stuffed in the gaps of the wooden box, you can write on the blank space of the waste paper, and copy it again in the future. After making up his mind, Xin Ding put his heart and soul into it.Moderate snow-sweeping exercise, a pleasant diet, and his favorite writing... Faith must have forgotten the passage of time unconsciously. After a long winter, spring is coming at full speed.Through the window that can finally be opened, one can see that the white waves in the sea are no longer turbulent, as if they are playing with the spring water. One day, a horse neighed outside, and there seemed to be some commotion around. As soon as Xin Ding put down the pen in his hand, two warriors ran in. "I am Sui Mibu, a vassal of the Maeda Toshi family, and I am here to welcome you at the command of my lord. Please come with me." After several months, I finally heard someone talk, and this alone made Xinding very happy. "Where are you going?" Xinding felt that it took a lot of effort to ask a question. "Matsuto from Echizen. My lord is worried about the health of His Excellency Ota, who has been living in seclusion for a long time, and my lord is coming soon, so I hope you will leave as soon as possible. Well, let's go now..." (secluded?) Although Xin Ding had such complaints, he didn't say it immediately. The mention of "The Lord" means that Katsuya Shibata will come.In that case, Sakuma Shengzheng must follow. (What will he look like when he sees me?) Xinding thought it was worth a look. "I know, but what about my things?" Xinding turned his head to look behind him, the room was full of precious documents. "Use horses to carry everything, and let them catch up later, please rest assured." "These things are very precious. I want to pack them into paulownia boxes myself, and I will leave the packing work to you." Xin Ding hurriedly stuffed the documents into the paulownia box, and hurriedly stood up.He looked around for the two old men, intending to say goodbye, but they disappeared at some point. After not going downhill for a long time, Xinding almost fell. (At that time, I even laughed at Nobunaga's female relatives...) Xin Ding secretly laughed at himself, rode up the waiting horse, took a deep breath, and looked up at the sky. (In this way, everything will be resolved. Then, I will go back to Chengyuan Temple in my hometown, read it in the Patriarch Pagoda, and continue to write the biography of Changgong.) Just thinking about it like this made his heart surge.