Zuo Cun stood with a knife, and behind him were the corpses of a group of bandits.
Recently...it feels like the number of bandits has increased again.
Zuo Cun expressionlessly took out a piece of cloth and wiped the blood on the pheasant feathers.
From my observations along the way, except for the villages next to the big city, which can be considered peaceful, these relatively far away villages...
It can only be said that the number of people killed in Zuo Village has increased to a new level.
Japan...has turned to hell.
With a long sigh, Zuocun rubbed his temples.
During the period after leaving Renshengji Temple, he had been feeling that there was something wrong with his emotions.
Becoming more silent and more irritable than before.
"Huh?" He suddenly felt a vibration in the air above him, and subconsciously looked up.
Although he didn't see anything, Zuo Cun felt that something was approaching him.
But there was no malice.
Suddenly, he thought of something, with a smile on his lips: "Is it Sakamoto?"
This place is an inaccessible barren mountain and old forest. No one will appear except for creatures like bandits, so Miss Aaron did not hide her figure. She appeared directly from the clouds and waved to Zuocun.
The weather today is not very good. Although it did not rain, it was overcast and the clouds were very low.
Miss Aaron fell to the ground, and Ryoma Sakamoto, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, greeted Zuomura: "Hey, long time no see."
"You guy." Zuo Cun couldn't help but laugh twice.
The two smiled while gently hugging each other and patting each other on the back.
"Look--" Miss Aaron, who had transformed into a human body, appeared, "Miss Aaron is here too."
"Long time no see, Miss Aaron." Zuo Cun also patted Miss Aaron's shoulder and said with a smile.
"How did you find me?"
"We met Senior Brother Shannan Keisuke in a village. He told me that not long after you left, I asked Miss Aaron to follow your scent and find you." Ryoma glanced at the corpses on the ground behind Zuocun, and also
Not really caring, "Let's talk somewhere else."
Living in hell, even if Ryoma doesn't want to take the initiative to kill, he will definitely adapt to others' killing.
"Yeah." Zuo Cun used a piece of cloth to wipe off a little blood that was spattered on his face, and sheathed the pheasant feathers.
The three people left, leaving behind a pile of corpses.
...
"What have you been doing this year?" Zuomura leaned the two knives on the table and asked Ryoma.
Zuocun and Ryoma came to the village tavern and sat down in a corner with few people.
When old friends meet again, it's natural to have some wine.
"I first went back to Tosa to learn something at the beginning of the year, and then I came back to Edo to see if I could find you, and then I found you." Ryoma smiled and poured the wine and handed it to Aaron.
Miss, "What about you, what have you done this year?"
"I also learned something." Zuo Cun took a sip of wine and exhaled happily, "What did you learn?"
"I have some connections in Tosa, and my contact learned Western artillery techniques." Ryoma looked at the wine in the bowl, his own face reflected in the wine, "For this country now, sea power is the most important thing.
It is crucial that we learn artillery techniques without delay."
"I organized a group of people and wanted to set up a group in Tosa to see if they could get into the core of Tosa Domain."
"As a large feudal lord near the sea, Tosa has many ports. I can purchase some ships and try to see if I can train a navy. As for the attitude of the shogunate... they themselves are not safe, but I am
Someone in the shogunate is quite interested."
Samura's heart skipped a beat and he blurted out: "It can't be Masahiro Abe."
"No." Ryoma smiled and shook his head, "It's another one, Katsu Kaishu, the director of the warship training center in Edo. But he doesn't seem to be in Edo during this time, but frequently goes to Kyoto. I've always thought
I’d like to pay my respects to Lord Katsumi.”
Ryoma said regretfully: "Although the shogunate itself is equivalent to a big tree that is about to die, there are still individual roots that are working hard to absorb nutrients. Although the nutrients they absorb can no longer save the big tree."
"What did you just say about Abe Masahiro? I heard... he was assassinated recently?" Ryoma's eyes looked a little strange.
Zuo Cun sighed and thought for a moment.
"Ryoma, what is your evaluation of Mr. Abe Masahiro?" After thinking about it, Zuomura decided not to tell the truth yet.
Ryoma did not doubt Zuo Cun too much. He touched his chin: "If we only rely on rumors, that Abe Masahiro should be a sage with extraordinary wisdom and knowledge of the world, but he has never seen him in person. I
It’s hard to comment too much, but some of the policies he made can indeed show that he wants to help this decadent shogunate make its final struggle. This is what I think.”
"...I met this old Chinese man in winter." Zuo Cun was silent for a few seconds, took a big sip of wine, and said this.
"Wait a minute." Ryoma was stunned for a moment when he heard what Zuo Cun said. Then he seemed to think of something and looked around. No one noticed this except Miss Aaron who was eating a lot.
He lowered his head and asked Zuocun in a low voice: "You couldn't be the one who killed him, right?"
Zuo Cun nodded.
Ryoma sighed: "He... did you have any conflict?"
"It's not a contradiction, he wants to recruit me." Zuo Cun poured himself a bowl of wine again, "I don't want to work under the shogunate, and Abe Masahiro...is not as rumored
The one among them."
"After the recruitment failed, he wanted to kill me. I killed two of his men and then left."
"Later, about a month ago, I left Kyoto, and he sent his ninjas...and then, he died."
Looking at Zuocun who said these words calmly, Ryoma couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.
Although Zuo Cun said it simply, the process in between...
"When you struck, you didn't let others see you clearly." Ryoma was a little worried about Zuo Cun.
He did not pity Masahiro Abe. After all, even if Masahiro Abe was really wise, he was just a piece of bark on a diseased tree that refused to fall off.
Ryoma and Zuocun are both loggers, and they may have the stubbornness to appreciate tree bark. However, instead of paying attention to the bark that has fallen to the ground, they should pay more attention to their fellow loggers.
"No, I didn't bring crane feathers and pheasant feathers with me at that time. I also wore ninja clothes. As for the weapons, this is what I used."
Zuo Cun picked up the imperial feather from his chest and handed it to Ryoma.
Ryoma pressed Zhen Ling back to Zuo Cun's chest and shook his head: "Let's talk about other topics. What have you learned during this time?"
"I'm...learning English." Zuo Cun wanted to pour more wine, but found that the wine can was empty.