I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

The weather today is very good, there is no snow.

There was no accident on the road.

So Ogata and the others arrived at the northern border of the Matsumae clan very smoothly in the afternoon.

After successfully delivering Ogata and Amachi to their destinations, Zhongyuan said goodbye to the two, and then returned to Matsumae Castle on a sledge.

After watching the Central Plains drive the sled back to the original place, Ah Ding turned his head and looked to the north, then let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, then... I can only walk."

"Fortunately, we are very used to walking." Ogata joked while taking out a map from his arms.

This map was given to them by Soichiro Nishino on the ship before.

This is a simple map of Ezo land.

But it's pretty simple.

Only the Matsumae clan and part of the area north of the Matsumae clan are drawn.

In this map, there are some red dots in the area north of the Matsumae clan—these red dots are the settlements of Ezo.

Ogata intends to lean on this map and find these "red dots" one by one, collecting clues.

Maybe there was an Ezo in the Ezo settlement that happened to ran into Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen.

And maybe—Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen are in the Ezo settlement now.

"We are going to enter Ezo's territory soon." Ogata put away the map in his hand, and then said to Amachi, who was beside him, "Be careful at all times."

Unnaturalized Ezos, Lucias, Gold Diggers... The Ezo land that everyone has at present is not very flat, so be careful-Ogata has heard similar reminders since he was still in Edo I don't know how many times.

"I'm a female ninja." Ah Ding smiled and said in a half-joking tone, "Life-saving is what we ninjas do best."

…

…

2 days later —

Today, Tang Shen sat behind his stall as always, waiting for customers to come.

Wooden cages containing various animals are neatly placed in front of Tang Shen and on the left and right sides.

Tang Shen embraced his half-bowl crutches, sat on the ground, bowed his head, closed his eyes and rested.

"Mr. Tang Shen, it's been a long time since I saw you. I haven't seen you for more than 3 months. You are still as energetic as ever."

The familiar male voice rang in front of Tang Shen's booth.

After quickly opening his eyes, Tang Shen immediately looked towards the stall.

Standing in front of the stall was a middle-aged man who was quite familiar to Tang Shen.

The middle-aged man was looking at Tang Shen with a smile.

Looking at the middle-aged man, Tang Shen also smiled.

"Oh! It's Yamamoto-sama! It's been a long time! Have you arrived so early this year?"

"Yes." The middle-aged man named'Yamamoto-sama' by Yushen shrugged. "The pet that I bought from you last time was soon sold out. It just so happened that our fur was almost sold out, so This year, we can only start early to purchase goods."

Yamamoto—that is, this middle-aged man, is an old customer of Yushen.

He is a wealthy businessman from Kyoto who specializes in fur business. It specializes in furs produced in Ezo land.

Due to the large area and sparse population and other reasons, the various wild animals in Ezo land not only have a large number, but also have many and dense furs to keep out the cold.

Therefore, the animal fur of Ezo land has always been a best seller.

In addition to selling fur, Yamamoto also took a part-time job in "pet sales".

As a thousand-year-old capital, Kyoto has no shortage of princes, nobles and samurai giants who have both spare money and free time.

Cute pets have always been best-sellers among these "Human Masters".

Red foxes, pikas, red squirrels in Ezo land are only found in Ezo land, and cute animals that are not available in Kyoto are extremely popular.

Therefore, Yamamoto is the most important and frequent customer of Yushen's business.

Every time Yamamoto came to Ezo land to buy furs, he also bought these cute little animals unique to Ezo land from Yugami, and then transported them back to Kyoto for reselling.

Yamamoto glanced at the wooden cages in front of Yushen.

"How many animals do you have this time?"

"A total of 32." Tang Shen responded, "5 red foxes, 14 pikas..."

Tang Shen reported the number of various types of animals one by one.

After Yushen's voice fell, Yamamoto said:

"This time the number of animals seems to be less."

"I am getting older." Tang Shen smiled bitterly, "The skill has become a bit worse than before."

Yamamoto leaned down and looked closely at the animals in the cage.

After selling pets for so long, Yamamoto also developed some eyesight.

Which animals are healthy and which animals are sick-Yamamoto knows at a glance.

After briefly checking the status of all the animals in the cage, Yamamoto nodded:

"Although the number is less this time, every animal is healthy."

Yamamoto straightened up.

"All right. I want all of your animals. You can quote a price."

Yamamoto is not only Yushen's most important and frequent person to his business, but also Yushen's favorite customer.

Because Yamamoto was so proud, every time he came to patronize his business, he would buy all his animals at one go—except for those that seemed unhealthy.

Later, Yushen and Yamamoto launched a brief "commercial war."

Although Yamamoto is an old customer of Yushen, the price to be negotiated and repaid is still to be negotiated and repaid.

After several rounds of bargaining, Yushen and Yamamoto finally negotiated a price acceptable to both parties.

After giving the donated money a lot of money to Tang God, Yamamoto immediately called the guys under his command and asked his staff to immediately move the pets from the Tang God stall to the bed.

As one of the well-known wealthy merchants in Kyoto, Yamamoto naturally had a lot of men under his command.

Soon, the wooden cages containing various animals that were piled up as high as a hill in front of Tangshen were emptied.

After all the animals were removed, Yamamoto had a brief chat with Yushin before saying goodbye to Yushin.

Selling fur is Yamamoto's main business, so he needs to be busy negotiating with the local fur dealer about the purchase.

After Yamamoto left, Yushen looked at the empty stall with joy.

As a businessman, there is nothing more joyful than selling out goods.

"It looks like I have to go hunting again..."

While muttering, Tang Shen stood up slowly from the ground while propped on the ground with a cane.

Now that the animals have been sold out, Tangshen naturally doesn't need to stay here anymore.

A wheelbarrow parked behind Tang Shen.

The owner of this trolley is Tang Shen.

Tang Shen relied on this trolley to push his animals to the street corner connected to the port for sale, and then pushed them back in the afternoon.

Just when Tang Shen was about to turn around and push his cart home—

Bang.

"Hey! Don't you look at the road when you walk?!"

Because the animals were sold out and he was so happy, Tang Shen didn't notice that the famous and strong man happened to be walking very close to him.

Excited and forgetful about Tang Shen, he accidentally bumped into the brawny man, making a sound of physical collision.

The thick and long crutches in Tang Shen's hand with a half-bowl mouth also accidentally dropped his hands during the collision and fell to the ground.

The brawny man who was accidentally hit by Tang Shen was dressed in ordinary coarse clothes and had no saber around his waist—it was an ordinary civilian.

But he was obviously a person with a bad temper. After being hit by Tang Shen, he immediately cast an extremely unpleasant look at Tang Shen and yelled at Tang Shen.

Tang Shen, who was taken aback, bowed and apologized to the brawny man in a panic.

"No, I'm very sorry! Please forgive me!"

Looking at Tang Shen, who bowed and apologized to him frequently and respectfully, the brawny man felt a little less angry.

"Huh!" the strong man let out a heavy cold snort, "show me the road next time I walk!"

After leaving a vicious remark, the strong man strode away.

Just as the brawny man left, a young man who happened to have witnessed the whole thing just now rushed towards Tang Shen from a short distance.

"Old man, are you okay?" The young man cast a caring look at Tang Shen.

"It's okay..." A bitter look appeared on Tang Shen's face, "It's just that he accidentally hit his left shoulder just now and it hurts..."

While talking, Tang Shen rubbed his left shoulder.

"That guy is really..." The young man raised his eyes and looked in the direction where the strong man had left. "This kind of little thing is ashamed to be harsh to an old man."

While complaining about the brutality of the brawny man, the young man bent down and helped Tang Shen pick up the crutch that accidentally dropped after hitting the brawny man.

Holding the crutches in his right hand, the young man's face changed suddenly after he lifted it up.

"Old man, are your crutches filled with lead? Why is it so heavy?"

Tang Shen's walking stick is not too heavy, but for a wooden walking stick, it seems too heavy.

After taking the crutch back, Tang Shen smiled:

"Who would use a lead-filled cane? My cane only looks a little heavier because it uses special wood."

"Thank you, boy."

After thanking the young man, Tang Shen hurried to his trolley next to him, pushed the trolley, and headed straight toward his home.

…

…

Both Ogata and Amachi are people who are accustomed to living a life of casual dining and sleeping.

Ah Ding has received corresponding ninja training, and when performing those tasks before, he didn't lack food and sleep.

Not to mention Ogata. In the more than a year since he left Hirose, he has spent slightly more days in the open air than in a comfortable hotel.

Therefore, the two of them are not uncomfortable with the current "trip to Ezo Land".

During the day, following the map, head straight towards the Ezo settlement closest to Matsumae Clan. At night, they take turns to go to bed. When one of them sleeps, the other is responsible for going to bed.

Before they knew it, it was five days before the two left the Matsumae Clan and headed north.

…

…

A Ding looked at the sun that was already drooping in the sky in the distance, and whispered, "It's going to get dark..."

As soon as Ah Ding's voice fell, Xu Yi on the side answered in a helpless tone:

"That's not good in winter, it gets dark too fast."

According to Ogata's calculations, it is probably just after 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

However, in this period of time, in Ezo Land, which is quite north of the latitude, it is already about to get dark.

"Hurry up a little bit." Ogata looked around. "It's not very suitable for camping."

Ogata and the others are in a forest now.

It is surrounded by dense trees, which is not suitable for camping.

"Yeah." After Amachi nodded lightly, he followed Ogata to quicken his pace.

Before taking a few steps, Ogata and Amachi suddenly heard a few strange noises.

After watching the sound, it turned out to be two deer.

The two deer's heads have long and big antlers, and their smoky brown hair has several white spots. They are very majestic. Even if they are covered by heavy fur, they can feel the powerful power of their four hooves.

The two deer seem to have also discovered Ogata and Amachi.

Without even looking at Ogata and Amachi, they spread their four hooves and quickly left their field of vision.

Looking at the two deer hurriedly leaving, Ah Ding let out a low emotion:

"There are so many deer in Ezo land..."

During the five days in the hinterland of Ezo land north of the Matsumae clan, Ogata and Amachi did not see half of them other than them.

No matter the Japanese, Ezo and Lucia, neither Ogata nor the others have seen it.

On the contrary, I have already seen a lot of animals.

So far, the most commonly seen animal in Ogata and Amachi is deer. Next are all kinds of small animals such as squirrels and rabbits.

Deer can be seen everywhere, every time you walk a distance, you can see the deer.

Because I have seen the deer too many times, Ogata and Amachi are not surprised now when they see the deer.

"The two deer just now are really big." A Ding said casually, "it should be the biggest deer we have seen so far."

"Speaking of big. This kind of deer is not too big." Ogata smiled, "I heard that in the country of Tangtu and Nanban, there is a kind of deer called'moose'. These deer are called big."

"The height of the moose is 6 feet to 8 feet (one foot: 30 cm)."

"Ah, I've heard people say this animal before." Ah Ding nodded, "If I have the opportunity, I really want to see with my own eyes whether this moose is really as big as the rumors."

"In addition to the moose, I also want to see what a unicorn looks like."

Ah Ding touched his swan neck.

"I heard that Qilin's necks are very long, three or four as long. (1: 1.818 meters

"And I heard that as long as you touch the unicorn, you can get the auspiciousness of the unicorn, and you can become lucky in a while."

"I don't know if it's so amazing. If I have the chance, I really want to see the unicorn with my own eyes."

The time on the road is always boring.

So in order to pass the time, Ogata and Amachi often chat about messy topics like they do now.

Although Ogata has never seen a moose in person, he has seen related photos on the Internet-a moose standing next to a car.

With the moose as a reference, the car became petite.

This picture that made Ogata intuitively feel the huge moose gave Ogata a great impact.

Although the "unicorn" that Ah Ding said just now has this rather domineering name, it is actually just a very common animal in Africa.

This animal is the giraffe.

Why call the giraffe a kylin? It all starts with an **** named Zheng He.

When Zheng He sailed to East Africa in the early Ming Dynasty, he found giraffes in East Africa.

Because the appearance of the giraffe was very similar to that of the unicorn recorded in the book, Zheng He believed that the giraffe was the legendary auspicious beast, the unicorn, and enthusiastically brought the unicorn back to the country.

In this way, Zheng He successfully took the Japanese title of giraffe.

As a traverser, Ogata naturally knows that the so-called unicorn is just an ordinary animal, not a legendary beast, and touching it will not be contaminated with auspicious air.

But Ogata couldn't explain the true face of the unicorn to Amachi, and he couldn't bear to break Amachi's beautiful fantasy of the unicorn.

Therefore, Ogata could only show a slightly weird smile, and casually replied:

"I can only hope that one day in the future, the shogunate will be able to send individuals across the sea and oceans, just like the Ming Kingdom in Tang Dynasty, and pull one or two unicorns back like Zheng He."

"In this way, we can also see the style of the unicorn."

"Um... actually compared to a unicorn..." Ah Ding pondered for a moment, "I want the shogunate to bring the lion and the tiger back."

"Lion and tiger?" Ogata asked, "why?"

"Because lions and tigers are also animals that we don't have in Japan." Amachi said, "I have heard that lions and tigers are very ferocious animals since I was a kid."

"I don't know whether lions and tigers are more ferocious than boars and bears."

"I think the wild boar should be stronger. There should be no animal more fierce than the wild boar in this world."

"Huh? Is it possible that you have encountered a boar before?" Ogata asked back.

"Yeah. Before leaving Shiranui, I met a boar in a certain mission."

"The companion I was in charge of that task was accidentally attacked by this wild boar."

"He only lay in bed for half a year before getting out of bed."

There are neither lions nor tigers in Japan.

Although there are no lions and tigers, Japan has wild boars.

Because there is no other similarly ferocious animals for comparison, and the wild boar is indeed quite ferocious, a saying related to the wild boar was born: pigs are advancing by leaps and bounds.

It means to move forward courageously.

"Fortunately, there are no wild boars here in Ezo." Ah Ding shrank his neck. "I heard that even the most experienced hunters dare not use wild boars."

"The wild boar is stunned. If you irritate it, you won't stop without its fangs arching you to death."

"So when hunting a boar, either the boar will die or you will die. If you can't kill the boar with a single blow, then you will be dead."

"Although there is no wild boar here in Ezo Land, there are equally terrifying animals—bears." Ogata smiled wryly.

When I was still living in Kinno-cho, I heard a lot of stories about his previous hunting from the "Original Hunter" named Shimsuke.

The most heard story is the bear hunting story.

Shimasuke always took the trouble to tell the audience like Ogata: Bears are extremely dangerous, and even the most experienced ghosts don't dare to be careless when hunting bears.

"That's right..." Ah Ding muttered, "Although I haven't seen a bear, I heard that a bear can smash people with just one palm..."

"Although bears are scary, they are actually not that dangerous." Ogata comforted, "I think we need to pay attention to wolves more than bears."

"People are afraid of bears, and bears are also afraid of people."

"As long as you don't anger bears, bears will not actively attack humans under normal circumstances."

"And it's winter now, and bears are basically hibernating."

"You seem to know a lot about bears." Amachi Chao Ogata cast a look of admiration, "have you investigated it specifically?"

Being watched by Amachi with this gaze made Ogata a little bit happy, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

"I haven't investigated, but I have heard of the habits of these bears from a ‘former hunter’."

What Ogata said just now is just copying the knowledge that "former hunter" Shimasuke said to him.

"When you encounter a bear, you can't pretend to be dead or run away. You must not be able to run away from the bear. Stand still and look straight at the bear. It is best to talk to the bear."

When Amachi looked at it with such a look, Ogata's talk came up.

Talking eloquently, plagiarizing all the knowledge he learned when listening to Shimasuke telling the hunting story one by one...Ah, no, it was relayed one by one.

"As long as you stand still and look directly at the bear, you can send a signal to the bear-you are harmless and will not threaten your life."

"The bear will leave obediently after confirming that his life will not be harmed."

"But not all bears will not take the initiative to humans."

"There is a kind of bear, even if humans do not provoke it, it will actively attack humans."

"That is the bear that has eaten human flesh."

"After a bear has eaten human flesh, it can no longer eat any other food. It can only feed on human flesh for life."

"So in the face of bears that have eaten human flesh, even if you stand still, it's useless. If you stand still, they are happier."

"A bear who has eaten human flesh can only feed on human flesh for the rest of his life..." Ah Ding shrank his neck again, "It's terrible..."

"This kind of bear that has eaten human flesh is very rare."

Ogata smiled and shrugged, comforting.

"In a hundred bears, maybe not one has ever eaten human flesh."

"So the probability of encountering this kind of bear is very..."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Before Ogata's words were finished, a roar that seemed to shatter the waiting trees around him suddenly reached Ogata and Amachi's ears.

Both of them froze for a moment, and then quickly turned their heads around.

I saw a big brown bear coming from the southwest, rushing towards them both with four palms!

The bear that rushed straight towards them reminded Ogata involuntarily of the big trucks in his previous life-no matter the speed or the pressure, it was the same.

In his previous life, Ogata had seen some introductions related to bears on the Internet—Bears can sprint at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour and go hand in hand.

At this moment, Ogata really felt that this introduction was not scribbled.

In a short while, the bear, who was still a long way from Ogata and Amachi, rushed to the two of them, and then lifted the bear's paw, which was bigger than Ogata's head, and patted it towards Ogata.

Instead of being an ordinary person, there should be nothing else to do except waiting for his head to be smashed like a big watermelon.

But Ogata is no ordinary person after all.

After the bear raised its paw, the reflex nerves and agility were far superior to ordinary people's Xu Khan immediately hugged Ah Ding beside him, and hugged Ah Ding towards the snowy ground aside.

Avoided the bear paw in time.

The bear's paw didn't smash Ogata's head, but instead smashed the big tree behind Ogata and Amachi that was as thick as two bowls.

Facing a bear's paw, such a thick tree trunk was like glass, which was easily smashed to pieces.

One hit missed, and the bear immediately unfolded the second one.

It lifted its other fore palm, and pressed heavily towards the two of Ogata who had just thrown aside Amachi.

Ogata, who continued to hug Amachi, rolled on the snow, once again avoiding this big bear's attack.

The bear's paw hit the place where Ogata and the other two had just fallen, splashing a lot of snow.

During this evasion, Ogata dodges directly to a place a few steps away from the big bear.

Before the big bear launched a new attack, the two quickly got up.

Ah Ting took out her Su Ying and pointed her gun at the big bear.

When Amachi was about to pull the trigger, Ogata immediately shouted to Amachi:

"Don't hit his head! Hit his belly!"

At this moment, the "bear hunting suggestion" that I heard from "former hunter" Shimsuke appeared in Ogata's mind-when hunting bears, never attack the bear's head.

Because the bear’s skull is very hard and the hardness is similar to that of steel, even with an iron cannon, it may not be able to penetrate the bear’s skull.

After hearing Ogata's reminder, although he didn't know the reason, Amachi quickly adjusted the position of the muzzle, aimed at the bear's belly, and blasted the 4 rounds of bullets in the barrel of Moto Sakura in one go.

At the same time that Ah Ding took out Suzakura, Ogata also took out his Kasuna.

He wants this bear to experience the power of mankind!

Bang, bang, bang...

Ogata and Amachi blasted all the bullets in Kasuna and Susakura in one breath.

Eight gunshots broke the tranquility of the woods.

This bear is so big and so close to the two of them, even if it is a person like Ogata who has never practiced marksmanship, there is no reason to be biased.

All eight bullets fell into the belly of the bear.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

A painful roar spouted from the big mouth of this bear.

These 8 bullets failed to kill the bear immediately.

While roaring, he raised his two fore palms high, then waved his right palm and patted Ogata's head again.

The 8 bullets just now are still useful.

The bear's movement speed is much slower, and its power is not so terrifying.

Ogata drew his body short, avoiding the bear's palm, then gritted his teeth, handed Kasana to his left hand, then leaned his right hand to Dashaten on the left waist, and then moved forward like an arrow from the string. The big bear rushed.

The sword light flashed.

When he was about to pass by the bear, Ogata resorted to the two-skilled Raeche, and slashed hard at the bear's belly.

"Oh..."

The roar of this big bear, which was hit hard again in the belly, has become much weaker.

It shook a few times like a drunk drunk, and then fell heavily to the ground.

Ogata didn't dare to be careless, after taking Kasana back into his arms, he drew out Da Zijo with his left hand, and then rushed to the fallen bear with a pair of knives, aimed at its neck, and frantically mending the knife.

Swinging two knives alternately aimed at the bear's neck and stabbing more than ten times, Ogata finally stopped after the bear was soaked in a pool of blood.

"Scared, scared to death..." Until this moment, Ah Ding's lips and face were still white.

It only took about half a minute for the bear to suddenly appear and attack them, to when Ogata and the others killed the bear.

This half-minute time made Ogata and Amachi feel as long as several hours.

While reloading Suzakura, Ah Ting slowly leaned towards the bear that could not die anymore.

And Ogata also wiped off the bear blood and bear fat that Osaten and Ozaza had stained. After taking the knife back into its sheath, he took out the Kasana that had just been stuffed into his arms and reloaded it.

"This bear is really big..." Ah Ding murmured, "If it stands up, there are almost two of them that I add up to..."

Acho’s words are a bit exaggerated. According to Ogata’s visual observation, if this bear stands up, his height is almost 2.5 meters, and no two Achos add up to this height—but such a height is already terrifying. Up.

"Not that high, if there are two you are as high as you are, at most only one and a half you are as high..." Ogata turned his head, looked at the tree that was broken by the bear, and whispered," It's a bear...human beings can't compare with it..."

The strongest opponent Ogata has encountered before is Shuntaro, the head of the "Four Heavenly Kings" in Shiranui.

But now, Ogata feels that this record can be refurbished.

The strongest opponent he has encountered now is this bear.

Although this bear doesn't know much about martial arts, it has wild instincts, power and speed far superior to humans.

In the face of absolute power, skills and so on are actually useless...

In terms of strength and speed, Shuntaro is compared with this bear-to put it mildly, it's simply scum...

Every attack of this bear is basically a nirvana, and one hit will undoubtedly die...

Until now, recalling the brief history of the bear fight just now, Ogata has a feeling of lingering fear.

If it is someone with less skill, the body must have been smashed long ago.

After witnessing how this bear sprints at a speed comparable to that of a big truck on the highway, and how this bear smashes such a thick tree with one palm, Ogata I knew it was the turn of Xia Nai, who hadn't used it for a long time.

Even in the "Selfless Realm", Ogata is not absolutely sure that he can win such a big bear in close combat...

After all, no matter how much the "Selfless Realm" brings to Ogata, it will not allow Ogata's physical fitness and swordsmanship to exceed the limits of the human body...

Even if it is a physical body that has been elevated to the limit, it is a slap in the face for a bear...

"Yi, you just said that only bears that have eaten human flesh will attack humans, right?" Ah Ding swallowed, "That means...has this bear ever eaten human flesh?"

"Maybe..." Ogata twitched his mouth, UU reading www.uukanshu.com "Our luck is too bad, right... Just now we were talking about bears that have eaten human flesh is relatively rare, but we immediately ran into a possibility. The bear that has eaten human flesh attacked us..."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

At this moment, exactly the same scene as before happened.

Before Ogata's words were finished, another roar burst into the sky.

The two, whose nerves were still tense, quickly turned their heads to look at the roaring sound.

The roaring was a big bear bigger and stronger than the dead bear beside Ogata and Amachi.

********

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Recently, the author has been studying the "What to do when I meet a bear" which I told you about the general bear knowledge. I have learned a lot about bears and the hunting knowledge of Ezo (Ainu people). I highly recommend this Book.