I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

6 days later——

Ezo, somewhere——

Today's weather is exceptionally good, clear sky, sunny and sunny.

On the branch without a leaf, it is full of silky sunlight. A little bird is stepping on the treetop, shaking its tail constantly, and its shadow is clearly reflected on the snow under the tree.

At this moment, the little bird seemed to hear something strange, and turned back to look at the skyline on the west side of the snow field.

Two strong horses slowly emerge from the western skyline.

There are two people sitting on the backs of these two horses.

4 people and 2 horses galloped on this snow field.

The bird on the tree was startled by the sudden appearance of 4 people and 2 horses, fluttered its wings, left the treetops, and flew towards the high sky.

These two horses are Ogata's radishes and A-machi's grapes.

Ogata and Aizan sat on the radish.

On the grapes sit A-Ding and Ashley.

Ogata and A-Machi, who were in charge of driving the horses, controlled the speed of the horses on their crotches to a level that was neither fast nor slow.

If the horse is kept galloping at the fastest speed, it will not take long for the horse to exhaust its energy, so the speed is just right now, allowing the horse to run for as long as possible, and the speed will not be too slow.

Ah-Ming's appearance on the horse now has a good appearance, compared with the previous appearance where he couldn't even let the horse go straight forward, he was a completely different person.

In the past, she couldn't even sit firmly on horseback.

But now she has been able to make Putao move forward steadily at this not too slow speed.

This is all thanks to riding horses all the way to the Red Moon Fortress with the villagers of Qina Village.

Because he has been riding a horse and practicing equestrian skills while on the road, Ah-cho's equestrian skills have improved rapidly.

"Ayzan." Ogata asked Ayzan who was sitting behind him, "Ask Ahili for me: How far is it to Huxi Village?"

Aizan, who was sitting behind Ogata, nodded vigorously, and then turned his head to look at Ahili who was sitting on the back of the grape, with his arms tightly wrapped around the slender waist of A-Machi who was driving the horse in front of him.

Aizan: "%￥*\u0026\u0026￥#*%*￥#@? (Ainu language)"

Ashley looked at the surrounding environment: "￥%\u0026*@#%￥*\u0026\u0026￥#*%*￥#@￥\u0026*! (Ainu language)"

Aizan turned his gaze back to Ogata in front of him: "Ahili said: According to the current speed, it will take another 1 or 2 days to reach Huxi Village."

"Will it take a day or two..." After hearing Aizan's translation, A-Ming twitched his lips, "Will it take such a long time..."

The reason why Ogata and his 4 people and 2 horses are now galloping in this snowy field where there is no village in front of them and no shop in the back is for no other reason than to go to that Huxi village.

Lin Ziping told Ogata that he suddenly thought of a way to prove that he was a scholar and not a spy: go to a village called Huxi Village, and ask the old village head of that village for the money he gave to the old village head four years ago. 3 books written by him himself - this is already 6 days ago.

After asking the village head Chepke of Qina Village, and knowing that Ashley and his family have a relative in Kuxi Village, who might know the exact location of Huxi Village, Xu then ran to find Ashley non-stop.

After consulting with Ashley, Ogata learned that what the village head Chepuk said was true. Ahili and his family did have a relative in Guxicunna.

Ashley has an aunt who lives in Huxi Village. She has been to Huxi Village several times with her family to visit her aunt, so Ashley is familiar with how to get to Huxi Village.

Ogata was naturally very happy to have found someone who could take him and A-Ming to Kushi Village.

Needless to say, what is Ogata's status in Kina Village now. Most of the villagers regard Ogata as a savior—Ahili is no exception.

It's not such a difficult commission for someone I respect so much,

Ahiri couldn't think of any reason to refuse.

After Ogata's simple request, Ahili nodded and agreed to Ogata's request to "help take them to Huxi Village".

It's just—although Ashley agreed to take Ogata and the others to Hushi Village, but a new problem appeared in front of Ogata and the others.

That is: their language does not understand.

Ashley doesn't speak Japanese.

And Ogata and A-Machi only know some simple Ainu vocabulary.

So in order to solve the language problem, Ogata found Aizan, who had been serving as his language translator with A-Ming during this period, and who was quite familiar with him.

In order to persuade Aizan to go with them, Ogata also spent a lot of effort.

After talking until his lips were almost worn out, Aizan finally nodded, expressing his willingness to go with Ogata and the others.

So - 4 people and 2 horses hit the road like this.

Because neither Ahili nor Aizan can ride a horse, Ahili and Aizan share a horse with Acho and Ogata respectively.

Radish and Grape are worthy of being carefully bred Don horses, with strong bones, and even with two people on their backs, they can walk without slowing down at all.

After these 6 days, Ogata and the others basically made detours, detours, and detours every day...

Because there is basically no infrastructure construction, there are not many roads that can be walked, so Ogata and the others often have to take a long detour to avoid places that cannot be walked.

In the past 6 days, most of the time was spent on the detour.

From Hongyue Fortress to Huxi Village, the straight-line distance is only 10 miles (about 40 kilometers in modern times), but because of the constant detours, they have not arrived until now.

"Ah!" Aizan, who had been sitting neatly behind Ogata, suddenly raised his hand over Ogata's shoulder, and pointed forward, "The land in front is very flat! How about we take a rest there?"

Ogata looked towards the direction Aizan pointed - it was indeed a flat place suitable for resting.

After looking at the place Aizan pointed out, Ogata looked down at the radish under his crotch.

Carrot is panting heavily now, and every time he takes a step, there will be a lot of sweat on the ground.

The condition of the grapes on Machi's crotch is similar to that of radishes.

After confirming the condition of the two horses, Ogata nodded.

"Okay, let's rest for a while now."

"Yeah." A-cho nodded beside him.

After the two rode their horses to the very flat open space ahead, they tied the radishes and grapes next to a big tree with many grass leaves near the root.

"Oh, take a closer look—there just happens to be a very nice fir tree nearby." After finishing speaking, Aizan pulled out his machete, "You three wait a moment."

After finishing speaking, Aizan took his machete and strode towards a fir tree not far away.

"Are you going to build a hunting lodge?" Ogata asked Aizan.

"That's right!" Aizan said, "If you want to rest, it's better to rest in the hunting lodge, it will be much warmer."

Regarding the hunting lodge, the first Ainu whom Ogata and the others met after they came to Ezo - Aiyaka, who had not seen it for some days and did not know if there would be a chance to meet again in the future, was with Ogata When Fang and the others hunted the man-eating giant bear together, they took Ogata and the others to live in the hunting lodge, and taught Ogata and the others what the hunting lodge was.

Hunting huts can also be regarded as one of the characteristic cultures of the Ainu people. From time to time, you can see hunting huts left by the Ainu people in the woods and wilderness of Ezo.

Going out to hunt on the same day, you can bring your prey back to the village on the same day-this kind of thing is actually rare in Ainu society.

In order to hunt a sufficient number of prey, or to hunt a sufficient amount of prey, it is normal for the Ainu to stay in the wild for a few days or even more than ten days.

So—in order to solve the problem of outdoor accommodation every night, the Ainu invented the "hunting lodge".

There are two types of "hunting lodges": hunting lodges where you live for a long time, and "temporary hunting lodges" where you only stay for a day or two.

When Ogata went to hunt the man-eating giant bear with Aiyaka, the hunting lodge where Aiyaka took Ogata and Acho lived belonged to the kind of more refined hunting that could live for a long time cabin.

And the kind of "temporary hunting lodge" that only lives for a day or two, because it is not intended for long-term living, so the production method is quite simple and crude.

The simple and rough Ainu people can even build a "temporary hunting lodge" in a few minutes.

And Aizan happens to be that kind of skilled Ainu.

Although Aizan is now a middle-aged man with a big belly, as an Ainu, he was also an excellent hunter with very good skills when he was young.

All kinds of hunting skills and survival skills in the wild are handy in Aizan.

With skilled skills, Aizan cut down the fir tree not far away with a machete.

This fir tree was not chosen randomly by Aizan, but after careful selection, Aizan selected the most suitable tree for building a "temporary hunting lodge".

When he felled the fir tree, Aizan specifically let the tree fall into a depression in the ground next to it.

After the fir tree fell to the ground, the fallen trunk just formed a space with the depression on the ground. Aizan slid into this space, trampled the snow under the tree, and then spread the leaves of the fir tree. .

After laying the leaves, Aizan let out a sigh of relief, then nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, it's finished!" (Ainu language)

Aizan turned his head to Ogata, Ading, and Ahili who had been standing not far away just now, waiting for him to build the hunting lodge, and shouted loudly:

"Mashima-san! Machi-san! Ahiri! The hunting lodge has been built! You all come in quickly."

Aizan built this "temporary hunting lodge" in only about 4 minutes.

The method he used just now is the most common method used by the Ainu to build temporary hunting lodges - cut down the fir tree, let the fir tree fall to the depression in the ground, and people sleep between the trunk and the ground In the space in between, the dense leaves can be used as a roof, which not only protects against snow, but also is very breathable, and sleeping inside is warmer than sleeping outside.

On the way to Huxi Village, Ayzan often made hunting lodges for everyone to rest and live in.

Ogata and A-Machi are no strangers to Aizan's extremely skilled house building techniques.

When they went to the Red Moon Fortress with the villagers of Qina Village, Ogata and the others saw that the villagers of Qina Village showed their special abilities and built various hunting camps in the wild through various methods. cabin.

Although Aizan's house building speed is fast, it is not particularly fast.

Ogata once witnessed a villager in China Village build a "temporary hunting lodge" that could accommodate several people in just over a minute.

Ogata, Ating, and Ahili got into the newly built hunting lodge in Aizan one by one. Although it was a bit narrow, it was more than enough for three people to sit cross-legged.

As soon as he sat down in this hunting lodge, A-Ming immediately stretched out his hands, and while gently massaging his inner thighs that were aching from the saddle, he looked at Aizan with an impatient look. said:

"Aizan, while you have time now, let's talk about heroic epics!"

Ogata is no stranger to the scene where A-Ming pesters Aizan and asks Aizan to tell about their heroic epics passed down from generation to generation by the Ainu people.

When he followed the villagers of Qina Village to the Red Moon Fortress together, Ah Ding would find Aizan whenever he had time and ask Aizan to tell the heroic epic of their Ainu people.

Now it’s like this again—during the 6 days to Huxi Village, Ah-ding, as always, asked Aizan to tell heroic epics whenever he had the opportunity.

And Aizan really has a lot of heroic epics in his belly. After talking for so many days, he still hasn't finished it.

"Miss A-Ming, you really like listening to stories." Aizan smiled while stroking the lush beard on his chin, "Okay! No problem! Let me think about what other stories I haven't told ..."

"If possible, I would like to listen to an epic with a very exciting plot." Added Atachi, "It's like a story like 'Sanada Yukimura assaulted the enemy's main line and took the head of Tokugawa Ieyasu'."

"Sanada Yukimura?" Aizan tilted his head, showing doubts.

Seeing that Aizan didn't know who Sanada Yukimura was, Azan cleared his throat and explained:

"Sanada Yukimura is a great figure among us and the people. He is a famous hero among us and the people. He once led people to attack tens of thousands of troops, directly attacked the enemy's main line, and defeated the enemy's 2 times in a row. It's a pity that in the end, due to bad luck and other reasons, he failed to take the head of the enemy's general, and his success was on the verge of defeat."

"So powerful...?" Aizan was dumbfounded.

"It's just that powerful." A-Machi put his hands on his hips, showing a somewhat smug expression, "He is one of the people I admire the most, and I love hearing the stories of Sanada Yukimura the most."

"This Sanada Yukimura is just like Mr. Mashima, he is also a very skilled person." Aizan looked at Ogata at the side.

"Sanada Yukimura is indeed very powerful." Ogata replied in a half-joking tone, "but now, people seem to pass him up like a god, and the real Sanada Yukimura in history is not that powerful."

"If compared with Sanada Yukimura in the historical facts, I think I should be able to compete."

"But if compared with the rumored Sanada Yukimura, then I should not be able to compare."

Sanada Yukimura, who was praised as "Japan's number one soldier", was active at the end of the Warring States Period two hundred years ago, and shined brilliantly in the decisive battle between the Toyotomi clan and the Tokugawa clan.

The first general of the Edo shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was originally a subject of the Toyotomi clan, succeeded in usurping power, took away the power of the country from the Toyotomi clan, and established the Edo Shogunate in Edo. The family launched a decisive battle to cut the weeds and eradicate the roots.

This decisive battle between the Toyotomi clan and the Tokugawa clan is the famous "Battle of Osaka".

Sanada Yukimura was one of Toyotomi's generals at that time.

Under the command of Sanada Yukimura, the Toyotomi Army once defeated the Tokugawa Army.

It's a pity that the head of the Toyotomi clan at that time, Toyotomi Hideyori, was a well-known incompetent.

At that time, in addition to Toyotomi Hideyori, his mother Amyohime was in power in the Toyotomi family-and this woman became famous in history in the name of "stupid", and she was a famous fool in Japanese history.

Under the various coquettish operations of these extremely stupid pig teammates, the originally good situation that might have been won was directly brought down.

Seeing that the general situation was fading away, Sanada Yukimura decided to take a gamble—to lead his troops straight to the main line of the Tokugawa Army and take Tokugawa Ieyasu's head.

Sanada Yukimura, with the cooperation of another strong general, Katsunaga Mori, successfully broke through the first and second formations of the Tokugawa army, and the soldiers pointed directly at the third formation where Tokugawa Ieyasu was located.

It's a pity that Tokugawa Ieyasu is a very chicken thief-seeing that Sanada Yukimura is about to kill him, he broke the commander's flag in a very embarrassed and embarrassing manner and then ran away.

An important reason why Tokugawa Ieyasu was able to succeed was that he could pull down his face to do things that were very embarrassing and unwilling to do in the eyes of others.

Because the commander-in-chief was broken, Sanada and the others could not find a target. This great charge that almost changed Japanese history finally failed.

Sanada, who was physically exhausted and bruised all over his body, led the remnant soldiers back to Anju Shrine to defend. In the end, the shrine was breached and Sanada Yukimura died in battle.

Sanada was killed in battle, the morale of Toyotomi's army collapsed, and in the end Toyotomi was defeated by the Tokugawa clan, and the world finally became the Tokugawa clan and the Edo shogunate.

The above history is true history.

Because of Sanada Yukimura's brave performance in the decisive battle between the Toyotomi clan and the Tokugawa clan, and his stories are full of drama, Sanada's stories have been favored by storytellers and writers for two hundred years.

Up to now, about the story of Sanada Yukimura, I don’t know how many magically modified versions there are.

It is said that Sanada killed seven in and seven out of the Tokugawa army like Chang Shan Zhao Zilong...

It is said that Tokugawa Ieyasu almost cut his belly out of despair, but was stopped by the little surname around him...

It is said that Sanada has already killed Tokugawa in front of him, and he intends to kill Tokugawa Ieyasu with a short gun, so that Tokugawa Ieyasu can experience what it means to be "my lord, times have changed". Understand……

Because people in this era understand these historical stories and historical figures basically rely on storytellers, the stories of Sanada who have been transformed by demons are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

"You really dare to say it." A-Machi imitated Ogata's half-joking tone just now, "How dare you say that you can compete with the 'No. In other words, you might be scolded by others for being shameless and ignorant of the heights of the heavens and the earth."

After talking and laughing with Ogata briefly, A-Machi turned his gaze back to Aizan: "Aizan, is there any heroic epic with a hero like this as the protagonist?"

After thinking for a moment, Aizan shook his head with a wry smile.

"In the heroic epics of our Ainu people, there are quite a few heroes who shined in war." Aizan said with a wry smile, "but those heroes did not really exist, unlike what you just said That Sanada Yukimura is also a real historical figure."

"Think about it now—it seems that we Ainu have not had a new epic based on real characters for a long time."

"As far as I know, if we don't include foreigners like Mashima-san, among us Ainu, the one whose deeds are most suitable to be adapted into an epic is Chanup of Heyezhe."

"Is that Chanup so powerful?" Ah Ding asked, "There is still a chance to be adapted into a heroic epic."

"It's very powerful." Aizan nodded, "If you can adapt the story of Chanup leading the people from all tribes to the south to find a new homeland, and finally established the new homeland 'Heyezhe' after all kinds of hardships. If it becomes a heroic epic, then this heroic epic should be an extremely rare masterpiece."

"When they went south, if it weren't for Chanup's efforts to turn the tide and wise leadership several times, the group of people who went south to find a new home would have all perished in a certain wilderness."

"Chanup is a real eccentric."

Aizan showed emotion on his face.

"Chanup has been a very different person since he was young."

"All the people around me who know Chanup have all praised Chanup."

"However—no one is perfect, and there are still some strange rumors about Chanup."

"Strange rumor?" Ah-cho asked, "What rumor?"

"I heard this a long time ago—Chanup had a friend when he was young."

"And his friend is a very powerful killer."

"Killer?" Ah-Ming suddenly raised his eyebrows.

At this time, Ogata was also aroused a little interest by this topic, turned his head and looked at Aizan.

"Well. I heard that the killer is very skilled. Chanup has a very good relationship with this friend of his."

"At that time, the relationship between Chanup's tribe and another tribe was very poor, and the two tribes had reached the point where they could not die."

"Chanup's father was unfortunately killed in a battle with that tribe."

"So for revenge, Chanup invited his friendly friend, and asked his friendly friend to help kill his father-killing enemy, as well as all the skilled fighters in that tribe."

"His friend agreed to Chanup's request, entered the tribe alone in the middle of the night, and took back the heads of Chanup's murderous enemy and all the skilled fighters in that tribe."

"Because most of the capable fighters in that tribe were killed by that friend of Chanup, the overall combat effectiveness of the tribe was greatly reduced, so the tribe of Chanup finally won the war and wiped out that tribe. Killed everyone in that tribe."

"Has that Chanup ever done something like this?" Ah-cho's eyes widened in surprise.

"These are just rumors. I don't know if it's true or not." Aizan said, "But even if it's true, I don't think it's a big deal."

"Since the two tribes have reached the point where they can't stop dying, it's natural to use whatever trick can cause huge damage to the enemy."

"Having someone to help you kill—it's a bit disgraceful, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

"Among the rumors you've heard, did you mention the name of Chanup's Kazuto friend?" Ogata, who had been listening silently with A-Ming, asked now.

Aizan shook his head: "No. So I personally think that these things should be made up by some people who are hostile to Chanup. Chanup doesn't have such a friend at all."

"#￥%\u0026*%￥#%%￥%! (Ainu)"

At this time, a yell suddenly broke into Ogata's conversation.

It was Ahili's voice.

Because Ashley didn't understand Japanese, she didn't intervene in the conversation between Ogata and the others. She just sat silently at the edge of the corner and watched the scenery outside to pass the time.

Just now, Yahili, who had been looking at the scenery outside, suddenly changed his face, then turned his head and shouted the words just now to Aizan with a serious face.

After hearing what Ahili said, Aizan's expression changed suddenly, and he turned his head to look outside.

"...Too bad." Aizan said in a deep voice after casting his eyes outside the hunting lodge, "Mr. Mashima, Ms. A-Ming, we have to find a cave that can avoid the snow now... Blizzard coming soon!"

Ogata and A-Machi quickly looked outside the hunting lodge—only to see a large thick cloud of extremely thick clouds appearing on the northern skyline.

The "dark cloud wall" composed of dark clouds invaded the sky above Ogata and the others with overwhelming momentum...

...

...

At this very moment—

A place not too far away from where Ogata and the others were—

A large team of nearly a hundred people is moving forward quickly on the vast snowfield.

Most of the people in this team are wearing armor and riding excellent horses.

These knights firmly guarded around a sedan chair. The four people who carried the sedan chair were strong in stature and steady in their steps. They lifted the sedan chair in an even and stable manner with little shaking, and their speed was quite fast.

This team is exactly Matsudaira Sadanobu's "expedition team".

The person sitting in the sedan chair was none other than Matsudaira Sadanobu.

They have successfully completed their inspection of the fjord yesterday.

The inspection process went smoothly, but the results of the inspection made Matsudaira Sadanobu very upset-the fjord made Matsudaira Sadanobu very disappointed.

It's not that the fjord is so unsuitable for a port.

On the contrary - that fjord is very suitable for a port.

But the terrain around this fjord is really bad, the terrain is rugged, there are many forests, and there are few roads suitable for people to walk.

What is the use of a seaport that cannot conveniently send manpower and materials into the inland?

Although it is possible to spend money to repair the terrain around the fjord and build a few good roads, the money it will cost is an astronomical figure, and the gain outweighs the loss.

So Matsudaira Sadanobu has given up on that fjord, planning to find another more suitable fjord.

At this moment, Matsudaira Jonobu and others, who had completed their inspection of the fjord, were walking quickly on the way to turn back and join the army.

"My lord! My lord!"

Tachibana's voice suddenly sounded outside the sedan chair.

After hearing Tachibana's voice, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting in the sedan chair and was resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes.

"What's the matter?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked.

"The weather outside has become so strange!" Tachibana's voice was a bit anxious, "There are large dark clouds in the north!"

Hearing Tachibana's words, Matsudaira Sadanobu frowned first, then quickly opened the window of the sedan chair and looked out.

After Matsudaira Sadanobu cast his eyes on the northern sky, he saw—a frighteningly dark "black line" appeared on the northern skyline.

What makes up this "black line" is extremely thick dark clouds.

This "black line" composed of thick dark clouds is encroaching on the sky from the north at a speed visible to the naked eye, approaching Matsudaira Sadanobu and the others.

Looking at the thick "black line", Matsudaira Sadanobu's face darkened slightly.

*****

*****

Note: The method of making the "temporary hunting lodge" used by Aizan in this chapter is not the author's nonsense, it is a reference from the book "What to do if you meet a bear?" "of.

As I have said before, there are two authors of this book, one is Anesaki who is in charge of dictation, and the other is Katayama Tatsuyoshi who is in charge of recording.

Nezaki, who was in charge of the dictation, is a mixed-race child of Wato and Ainu, and has lived in the Ainu tribe since childhood.

Mixed-race people are not only discriminated against among the people, but also among the Ainu people. Nezaki and others have been discriminated against since childhood, and they are often called "hybrids". The hunting skills passed down from generation to generation in the tribe will not be passed down. Give him such a half-breed.

Fortunately, Nezaki and others have been secretly learning the hunting skills of their tribe. In the end, they succeeded in learning and became a hardcore hunter who hunted 60 bears in his life, 40 of which were single kills. (Note: Anesaki and others passed away in 2013 at the age of 90)

Nezaki and others are of mixed race and lived in the Ainu tribe since childhood, and their own wife is also Ainu, so this book "What should I do if I meet a bear?" "There is also a lot of popular science knowledge related to the Ainu people.

That book has everything from popular science to hunting lodges.

Readers who are interested in the Ainu people can buy this book to have a look.