I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

[When you see Maki Village and Shunliu preparing to start a fight, I suggest you open NetEase Cloud Music or QQ Music, and play "Two Dragons" by "Shuang Shi Yingde" (the author on QQ Music is "Japanese Various Artists"). Watch, you will get another dimension of viewing experience]

*******

Although it has been two years away, Shunliu's face has not changed much.

"Aba, I knew you would come here." Shunliu smiled gently.

"...Because I remember the habits of the two of us all the time." Makimura whispered, "This place is our'secret stronghold'. We used to practice swords and drink together here... Knowing that you are also in Kyoto. Later, I knew-Shunliu, you will definitely be here too."

"Time is so fast..." Shunliuyong said to Mucun in a relaxed tone like homely, "The great fire...and the separation of the two of us are two years ago."

"Yeah..." Mucun pursed his lips, "The scenes that happened on the day when we parted ways...I still have fresh memories..."

...

...

Two years ago-more than a month after the Tianming fire broke out.

Tianming 8 years (AD 1788), April 29.

"Mu Cun... Guo Zhi... I'm coming... to see you."

It is the voice of the mountain.

Mucun, who was closing his eyes and taking care of himself, slowly opened his eyes and looked forward after hearing the sound of Shenshan.

Shenshan was standing behind the wooden fence, looking at him and Shunliu with complicated eyes.

Both Mucun and Shunliu were detained in the cages of Chengbei Prison at this time.

Because they were both special criminals, they were given special attention: the whole cell only took them in, and didn't let other people into their cell, and gave them both of them as companions.

"Me too... it took a lot of effort to get the two of you who committed the'crime of disobedience' to be pardoned..." Shenshan whispered, "After 7 days, you will be able to come out."

The reason for Mu Cun He Shunliu's imprisonment was naturally the "crime of disobedience."

When Tadahiro Toda, the director of Kyoto, ordered the protection of Nijo Castle, they were the only ones who disobeyed the order and ran to evacuate the civilians.

After the fire finally receded because there was nothing left to burn, the two of them were sent to prison without surprise.

"Let's cheer up."

Shenshan looked at Mucun, who was leaning against the corner of the wall, and then at Shunliu, who was lying on the ground with his back facing away.

Although he couldn't see Shunliu's face, Shenshan could tell-Shunliu was not sleeping, he was awake.

Shenshan tried his best to speak to the two in a relaxed and calm tone.

"The way you are now, you can't do anything after you get out of prison."

Mucun, Shunliu: "..."

It's a pity...no one responded to Shenshan's remarks.

Seeing that the two were still unmoved by what he just said, Shenshan sighed again.

"...Shunliu." Shenshan cast a complicated look at Shunliu, "The Adian thing...I'm sorry..."

Ah Dian, Shunliu's wife who had just married six months ago, died in the fire of dawn a month ago.

Not burned to death by fire.

It's not smoked to death.

It was trampled to death by the fleeing crowd...

In the Tianming fire a month ago, most people were not burned to death or smoked to death.

But in a chaotic environment, he was trampled to death by people around him.

After hearing the words of Shenshan, Shunliu finally had a little reaction-the whole body shook.

"...Master Shenshan." At this moment, Mucun, who had been silent since just now, said to Shenshan in a calm and terrifying tone, "When Shunliu and I were imprisoned, we had already decided-we The two won’t do Kyoto’s strength anymore."

"What?!" Shenshan screamed unexpectedly to Mucun's words, "Why?!"

"...Kamiyama-sama. I... used to think that'Samurai' symbolized'Glory.'"

Mucun said slowly.

"In my mind,'Samurai' is synonymous with'hoe the strong and help the weak'."

"Because of this, I have always dreamed of becoming a samurai."

"But...until I became a samurai, I realized that the real samurai is so far from the samurai in my mind..."

"The real samurai... turns out to be so unbearable..."

"After doing so many years in Kyoto, I learned that Abe Riri was right about what he said to us before!"

"The vocation of the samurai... is really just to protect the nobles, to be the dogs of the nobles...!"

Cry began to appear in her tone.

"The various things that happened in front of me have disappointed me in'Samurai' time and time again..."

"The fire at dawn a month ago finally made me feel desperate."

"Compared to the lives of ordinary people, the protection of the so-called shogunate authority is given priority."

"Nijo Castle is protected, but are there hundreds of people dead!"

"If all the officials who were used to protect Nijo Castle were transferred to help the people evacuate, I don't know how many people would survive!"

"Master Shenshan..."

Clear tears gushed from the eyes of the pastoral village.

"I'm now... I'm really disappointed with the'Samurai'!"

"I already... don't want to be a samurai anymore, and I don't want to be a Kyoto power anymore...!"

"As long as I and Shunliu are still in Kyoto, sooner or later, I will encounter this kind of rotten task that must give priority to protecting the powerful!"

"We... don't want to be the dogs of the powerful!"

Mucun's tone was sonorous and powerful.

Revealing firmness like a rock.

"...I understand." After a long silence, Kamiyama sighed heavily, "I...will cancel the establishment of the two of you in our Kyoto Prefecture..."

Mucun wiped the tears from his face.

"Master Shenshan, let's go our separate ways."

Mucun continued.

"To be honest, I don't want to see you, Lord Shenshan for the rest of my life."

"I will not return to Kyoto as much as possible."

"Seeing you... will make my painful period in Kyoto pass. If you meet me somewhere in the future, please treat me as if you didn't see me."

"I see..." Shenshan smiled bitterly, "I can understand...I assure you-if I meet you two somewhere in the future, I will pretend not to see..."

After Shenshan left, Mucun rubbed his face vigorously, and said to Shunliu who was beside him with a strong beating spirit:

"Shunliu, when you get out of prison and leave Kyoto, do you have any plans?"

"I plan to blow up Kyoto."

As soon as Mucun's voice fell, he said this way without thinking.

"The first place I want to explode is the "white ground" where we used to practice swordsmanship."

Shunliu's words made Mucun stunned.

"Shun Liu..." Mu Cun was surprised and a little panic, "What are you...what are you talking about?"

Shunliu did not immediately respond to this question from Mucun.

But after being silent for a while, he suddenly turned his head and said to the pastoral village with a smile on his face:

"I just made a joke just now."

After that, he turned his head back by the way.

"Okay, I'm going to bed, don't talk to me anymore."

...

...

The second year of Kuanzheng (1790).

Kyoto, on an unnamed vacant lot.

"Shunliu..." Looking at Shunliu, who had been away for 2 years, the emotions in Mucun's eyes were extremely complicated. "What have you been doing in the past 2 years...?"

Two years ago, after the two came out of prison, they suddenly disappeared by the way.

He didn't even say hello to Mucun, so he disappeared suddenly.

The two met again, it is now two years later.

Shunliu, who was aliased to Ryunosuke, did not answer this question from Mucun, but chuckled slightly:

"Aba, you really made me wait. I've been waiting for you in this'white ground' for nearly half an hour. I even started to wonder if you didn't recognize'Ryunosuke' just now. It's me, or I forgot this "white ground"."

"The moment'Wakasa Ka' was found next to the bodies of the innocent people who were killed by you, I remembered you." Makimura said solemnly, "Because...your former wife Adian likes Wakasa the most Incense, only Ayodo in Kyoto frequently visits Iguchiya to buy and use Wakasa incense."

"I even helped Ah Dian go to Iguchiya to buy Wakasa."

"After the explosive bomb was found in the building on Third Prince Street, I was sure that you were the master behind the scenes."

"Then... when you opened the window and threw a bomb at me and my companions, I saw your face..."

"Haha..." Shunliu touched his face, "You saw my face at that time... It's no wonder that I could see your face at the time, and you have no reason not to see mine." ."

"When the guy Ichisaburo told me that a 7-foot-tall man was hunting him down, I was thinking—have you returned to Kyoto?"

"Until I opened the window, ready to throw explosive bombs in, and saw your face, I was finally convinced that you are really back to Kyoto, Ah Ba."

"Thinking about it now, I'm scared. After hearing Ichisaburo's voice downstairs, I wanted to use explosive bombs to kill all those who dared to attack my stronghold."

"I didn't see your face until I threw all the explosive bombs out."

"After seeing your face, my soul is almost frightened."

"Fortunately, that explosive bomb was thrown back by you, and it didn't blow you up."

"If I blow up the only remaining relatives in the world, I will be upset for the rest of my life."

"Shun Liu..." Mucun gritted his teeth, "Where have you been in the past two years?"

"I have been recruiting troops and purchasing weapons for the past two years, and I am always ready to destroy Kyoto."

"Shunliu!" Mu Cun could no longer control his emotions, and shouted Chao Shunliu, "Do you know what you are doing? Do you know how many innocent civilians will die if your crazy plan is successful? ?!"

"I know." Junliu said to Makimura in a calm tone, "My purpose is to destroy Kyoto and humiliate the shogunate. Of course I know that when my plan is successful, many people will die."

"Kyoto is one of the three major capitals of the Edo Shogunate. Kyoto was destroyed by a group of people-there is nothing more humiliating than this for the Shogunate, right?"

"Shunliu...you...are you going to defeat the shogunate...?!"

"That's right!" Shunliu's face appeared a little mad at this time, "I want to defeat the shogunate! I want to fall! Destroying Kyoto, slapping the shogunate with two loud slaps, is my first step !"

"Shun Liu..." The face of the young man in front of him is so familiar, but Mucun now only feels quite strange, "Are you... crazy...?!"

"I'm not crazy, I'm calm."

"Ba, do you know what I was thinking when I was holding the corpse of Ah Dian who was trampled to death after the fire was over?"

"I was thinking-the shogunate really sucks."

"The world built by the Tokugawa family is a world of'you oppress me, I oppress you'."

"The generals and daimyo oppressed the samurai."

"The samurai oppresses the civilians."

"No matter how much civilians oppress, it will be more filthy."

"The two of us samurai who have been longing for before are just the eagle dogs of the powerful, the objects oppressed by the powerful!"

"What these dignitaries ask us to do, we must do what we have. There is no right to resist."

"What **** Bushido! It's just a set of tools that restrain the samurai and require them to be the eagle dogs of the powerful and powerful!"

"In the world built by the shogunate, the faces of the nobles are more important than the lives of the samurai and the common people!"

"In order to protect one's own face, the lives of civilians, for the shogunate, are gone if they are gone!"

"The Great Fire that happened 2 years ago was a tragedy that gods and Buddhas couldn't open their eyes. It cannot be avoided."

"But such a heavy casualty is an artificial tragedy!"

"The Tianming fire two years ago, if it were not for the ridiculous order to protect Nijo Castle, I don't know how many people would have survived due to the orderly evacuation of officials!"

"After the disaster, the shogunate even boasted that there were only 150 casualties?"

"Don't be kidding! When everyone is a fool! Hundreds of thousands of people in Kyoto, how can it be possible that only 150 people were killed or injured in a fire that destroyed more than 80% of the buildings in Kyoto!"

"The corpses that are cleaned up are all measured in thousands, and the shogunate lied about the total number of deaths and injuries in order to protect its own face!"

"While holding Naeko's body, I swear to my heart-I will uproot this rotten shogunate by the roots!"

"...So..." Makimura said solemnly, "2 years ago, when you told me in prison,'You are going to blow up Kyoto,' isn't it a joke?"

"That's right! I was thinking about how to close the curtain at that time!"

"After coming out of prison and parting ways with you, I ran around, preparing for the curtain down, and accumulating the force for the curtain down!"

"I hadn't noticed it before. I didn't realize until after I was determined to fall and run around the world-there are so many people who hate the shogunate!"

"There are ronin who was framed by Shangguan and had to leave the domain."

"There is a samurai whose salary has not been improved, and the family is on the verge of starvation."

"There are farmers who cannot afford high taxes."

"There are so many people who hate the shogunate! So I can easily win a lot of combat power!"

"After discovering that there were so many people who hated the shogunate, I was even more convinced-the Edo shogunate of the Tokugawa family is already rotten!"

"I brought all these people who hated the shogunate together, and named our downfalling force "Gravedigger"."

"We will be the gravediggers of the Edo shogunate!"

Speaking of this, Shunliu raised his head and roared up to the sky:

"I want the dignitaries of the Edo shogunate to learn about the power of these people they usually look down on!"

"I want these dignitaries to see how weak their Edo shogunate is! A group of small forces composed of samurai, ronin, farmers, etc., can destroy Kyoto!"

"When Kyoto is destroyed, my next goal is Edo!"

"Then why do you want your subordinates to join the Six Great Sword Hall, disguised as disciples of the Six Great Sword Hall, set fire to the Six Great Sword Hall?" Mu Cun asked.

"Mucun, have you forgotten? When we were 14 years old, we planned to join the Qing Academy to learn swords."

"But because we had no money, we were turned away."

Shunliu sneered.

"It wasn't until I was self-taught that I discovered that the masters of the Six Great Swords Hall were of the same level!"

"I dare to teach people how to practice swords at this level! With such a high tuition fee, what is the use of keeping such a rotten sword hall?"

"So... you came up with this kind of plan to make the Six Great Sword Hall never stand up?" Mucun said solemnly.

"Yes! It's a pity, because of the old guy Hexian, my plan has become a mess, but it doesn't matter!"

After a roar, Shunliu took a few breaths, mixing his breathing evenly.

After his breathing calmed down again, Shun Liu smiled and said to Mucun:

"Aba, come here and fight side by side with me."

"It's like we used to seek a living together on Three Princes Street, and work hard to serve the public together."

"You are disappointed with the samurai and the shogunate too, aren't you?"

"Two years ago, what you said to Shenshan in jail, I still have it in my ears."

"You said you were disappointed with the samurai."

"Because I still remember your words, I have been waiting for you in this ‘blank ground’, wanting to bring you brother into the group."

"Hachi, you shouldn't forget how disgusting the Edo shogunate is?"

"In the five years of Touri, we really watched too much of the disgusting activities of the Edo Shogunate."

"As for this disgusting shogunate, what do you need to support and protect, Ah Ba?"

"So—brother! Come and help me!"

"We brothers will destroy this rotten shogunate together!"

After all, she stretched out his right hand in Shun Liu Chao Mu Cun.

Mucun has been quietly listening to Shunliu's roars after a while.

Looking at Shunliu's hand reaching him, Mucun tightened his lips.

Afterwards... Slowly raised his hand and stretched it out towards Shunliu.

Looking at Mucun's hand stretched towards him, Shun showed joy on his six faces, and then walked towards Mucun.

However-he just took a step forward, and Mu Cun suddenly said:

"Shunliu, just now... I saw Master Kinle."

Shunliu raised his eyebrows: "You still saw Jinle..."

"When I saw Master Jinle, Master Jinle asked me a question that was very similar to the question you just had."

"Master Jinle asked me: I am obviously no longer the power of Kyoto, and I no longer have the responsibility to protect Kyoto. Why do I have to sacrifice my life so far."

"I didn't answer the question of Lord Kinraku."

"Because I didn't know the answer to this question at that time."

"But now... after seeing you in Shunliu, I suddenly understand."

"Understood... What drives me, who is already white, is still running for the protection of Kyoto like this."

"Shunliu, as you said just now, I personally said to Lord Kamiyama two years ago: I am extremely disappointed with the samurai."

"And this idea of ​​mine has not changed until now."

"I am still quite disappointed with the samurai."

"It's just..."

An inexplicable smile appeared on Mucun's face.

"Even though I still know very well that a real samurai is unbearable and very disappointing."

Mucun slowly put down the hand that had originally been raised and extended to Shunliu.

"But I still look forward to the kind of samurai who is a knight who is righteous and who can help the weak."

"Even this kind of samurai only exists in the mouths of storytellers."

"It only exists in my heart."

"I aspire to be the kind of warrior who is a knight who is righteous, and who cares for the strong and supports the weak. I resolutely accepted Kamiyama's invitation from being a civilian to becoming a samurai and becoming a powerful person in Kyoto.

"As long as my heart is still there, it doesn't matter whether I have the title or not."

"So-Shunliu, come back!"

"Call back your subordinates who plan to burn Kyoto!"

After hearing Makimura's words, "I still look forward to the kind of warriors who are heroic and righteous, **** the strong and help the weak," he was taken aback.

After a while, Shunliu gave a wry smile, and then slowly lowered the hand that had been extended towards Mucun.

"...Mu Cun, do you know why I told you 2 years ago-the first place I wanted to bomb was "Bai Di"?"

Shunliu looked at the desolate clearing under his feet, which had nothing but weeds.

"Because this place is where our brothers dream started."

"We who don't have money to study in a sword hall can only learn by ourselves."

"Back then, our brothers practiced swords with branches in a clearing."

"Because there is nothing here, and no one is passing by here, our brothers named this open space'Baidi'."

"If we hadn't practiced our own original swordsmanship on this'white ground', we would not be able to become famous in the area of ​​Third Prince Street, nor would we be able to gain the appreciation of the mountain, and there would be no series of stories after us. ."

"So I'm going to ruin this place!"

Shunliu's tone gradually became serious.

"This will be an important ceremony for me."

"A...a ceremony to bid farewell to the past me."

"Now it seems...it's really ironic."

"I will not only say goodbye here and where my dreams started, but also say goodbye to people who used to be like brothers."

Hearing Shunliu's words, Mucun's eyes narrowed slightly, and the naturally drooping fists slowly raised.

"Ah. Nine years ago, in order to survive, we had to choose to do Yakuza for life."

"That year, we found Jinle to tattoo us."

"Jinle's tattoo rule is to tattoo different animals on different guests. Customers do not have the right to freely choose the tattoo they want."

"Jinle, who has such rules, each tattooed us with a dragon."

"Both of us were so happy at the time. To be able to be pierced with dragon patterns by the famous Jinle, we both thought that we would definitely become some big people in the future."

"After possessing the dragon pattern, we often competed in this ‘white ground’ on the grounds of ‘whether the red dragon or the black dragon is stronger than Bibi’s."

"Tonight... let's fight the last fight!"

Shunliu slowly raised his right hand, and tightly grasped the clothes on his left shoulder.

"In all our previous competitions, we are all on the top, and we have never gambled on our lives before!"

"In this last competition tonight~www.wuxiahere.com~, let us bet on our lives to compare whether the black dragon is stronger, or the red dragon is better!"

Shunliu tore the clothes on his upper body in a handful, and then tossed the clothes on the upper body casually to one side.

Shunliu, who showed his strong upper body, also showed his tattoo on his back.

A black dragon.

The black dragon flared its teeth and danced its claws, bowed its head, and stared fiercely at the ground with fierce eyes, as if it was about to fly out of Shunliu's back at any time, swooping into the world, choosing someone to eat!

"Jinle once told us-Kyoto is too small to accommodate two dragons."

"It seems that Jinle's words are indeed correct."

Shunliu slowly withdrew the knife from his waist, his eyes full of energy.

"Kyoto is too small, so the dragon...just one is enough!"

"The title of'Dragon' or something, to me, it doesn't matter at all." Mucun also slowly withdrew his Odachi, "But since Junliu you want to fight... Then I'll stay with you!"

Mucun raised his left hand and grabbed the clothes on his right abdomen, and then tore the clothes on his upper body.

As the clothes covering the upper body shattered, the red dragon on the back of the pastoral village appeared.

The red dragon lay and hovered, the dragon head raised high, his eyes shining with indomitable light staring at the sky, as if he was about to fly out of the back of the pastoral village at any time, rushing into the sky, and fighting against the gods and Buddhas!

"Aha! Since you said just now that you still look forward to the kind of samurai who **** the strong and help the weak, then-let's use samurai etiquette to fight this final fight!"

Ah Ba raised the knife in his hand.

"I'm good at swordsmanship! Guo Zhijun six!"

Mucun swept the big sword in his hand.

"I'm a swordsman! Makimura Mihachi!"

Then the two shouted in unison:

"Participate!!!"