After escaping from Tenjoyama Shrine, Juzo thanked the other three people for their help and left alone.
On the surface, he used this action to express: Although I am a ninja, my meeting with you here is purely coincidental and I am not here for you. So now that everyone has worked together to escape, I have chosen to leave. Okay.
Let you rest assured.
But in fact, Chongzang's wariness and doubts about Shuangxie, the two Central Plains people, were not lifted because the purpose of his trip was not achieved - he failed to investigate the background and intentions of Sun and Huang.
However, Juzang considered... Shuangxie had almost immediately seen through that he was not an ordinary person, and the way these two guys dealt with others and their attitudes were quite sophisticated. I'm afraid there would be no advantage in getting close to them, so Juzang judged
It would be wiser to withdraw first.
As for the life-saving grace, Chongzang will definitely remember it, but for a "traitor general" like him, how much weight does loyalty, righteousness, kindness, and love have in his heart, and which one is more important?
, I can’t explain this clearly.
For example, if he found out that these three saviors were a threat to his current master Takeda, he didn't know what he would do at that moment.
Of course, this is just a hypothesis, and this did not happen later... In the final analysis, Shuangxie's mission to Japan only posed a threat to Zuo Yuanguo, and there was no conflict of interest with the other forces of the Warring States Period.
; in fact, if the other big names knew the "secret" of Zuo Yuan Kingdom, I'm afraid they would have to welcome Shuang Xie to go there and cause trouble.
Then let’s go back to the dual harmony...
After bidding farewell to Ma Shanjuzo, who called himself "Yozou", Sun and Huang teamed up with Hayato and went to Yae Township to the east of Tianshang Mountain.
Our previous clerk mentioned that Hayato went to Tenjoyama Shrine because he received a commission from a local family named Tomita to find the missing young master of the family. Although he has not been found, this trip
They all ran away, and the process was so dangerous. It would be a shame not to ask for some reward.
Therefore, Shuangxie acted as a "witness" and cooperated with Hayato to make up a story that "Mr. Ling was killed by a demon in the mountains" to explain the case.
Then some people may want to say, you haven't seen anyone alive or dead, isn't it a lie?
That's right, it's a lie.
But there is no way, because it is impossible to find out this matter.
As Hayato said before, the young master of the Tomita family who was seen "going into the mountains alone at dusk" may indeed have encountered a monster, but it is also possible that he slipped and fell to his death in the mountains and was eaten by wild beasts.
Or was harmed by bad guys...
But no matter what the situation is, so many days have passed. Based on the conditions at that time, what else can be found?
The people of the Tomita family naturally understand this truth, and the Tomita family does not only have this young master. They have many children, and the disappearance of one... may be something worth celebrating for others, but after delaying it for a while, they still
There are three reasons why Hayato, an onmyoji, was hired to investigate.
First, some elderly people in the family are quite concerned about their grandchildren, and they are indeed quite superstitious.
Secondly, the uncles of the missing young master also had to make some gestures, not wanting to appear as if they didn't care that someone was missing from their family.
Thirdly, because the legend of the "shrine that should not exist" has been circulating in Yaego for many years, and every few years there are eyewitness reports of "someone walked into the mysterious torii gate and never came back."
The villagers were also panic-stricken; Tomita, as a wealthy and prominent family in the village, took advantage of the disappearance of his young master and hired people to investigate the legend of the shrine. It was said that he had done a good thing for the villagers.
This is good for their reputation in the countryside.
Furthermore, although the pay for this kind of job is high, if Hayato never returns... there is no need to pay the balance.
Even if Hayato really completes the investigation and comes back, if the results he brings back make the Tomita family dissatisfied, they can turn out on the spot and call Hayato a liar, and then not only fail to pay the balance, but also take the deposit they gave him before.
Grab it back, and then fight Hayato out.
This was the common face of the local tyrants and evil gentry back then, and the Tomita family was not even the worst among them.
Of course, because when Hayato came back to life, he had Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai by his side... these two people, everything would not develop according to the Tomita family's expectations.
Let's say that the three of them entered the Tomita family's house in the dust before lunch, as if they wanted to "have a light meal" after taking the money.
However, when the Tomita family saw that Hayato was really back, their attitude was completely different from when they entrusted him with the task...
The three of them haven't met the owner of the house yet. From the expressions and attitudes of the servants when they received him, Sun Huang could see some of the owner's personality. They also clearly felt that it was hard to get this money today.
.
Sure enough, after a while, Tomita Katsuo, the "second uncle" of the Tomita family, arrived late.
Before he even sat down, he already had a slightly disgusted expression on his face, and he almost had the words "I don't want to pay" written directly on his forehead.
"Mr. Kamo, who are these two?" Tomita Katsuo is nearly fifty this year. He is not polite to the young people in front of him. He doesn't say hello and just asks questions.
"They are my assistants, Edo-kun and Kameda-kun." At this time, Hayato had naturally become angry with Sun Huang, and gave them their false names.
"Please give me more advice." Sun and Huang also pretended to nod to each other.
"Oh?" Tomita Katsuo ignored them and just raised his eyebrows and said to Hayato, "When you came last time, you didn't say you had any assistants."
"Ah, because I just came here to accept the commission before, it's more convenient for me to be alone." Hayato's words were already prepared, "And this morning we just came down from the mountain, and they were both witnesses of this trip, so
It would be better to come together and talk."
"Well..." Tomita Katsuo groaned, then frowned and said, "At first we thought Mr. Kamo was handling this matter alone, but this is different from what was promised..."
Everyone, this is called finding trouble for nothing. Normally, under the premise that the remuneration remains the same, if someone adds more people, you will take advantage. However, Tomita Katsuo has planned to default on the debt, so he will also take advantage of you if you add more people.
Choose your rationale.
"When I first accepted the commission, you and several other elders in the family only asked me to go to Tianshang Mountain to investigate the rumored shrine and the whereabouts of the fifth young master. There were no other details required. I don't think I have violated any agreement.
" Hayato replied calmly.
"Haha... That's because I didn't remember clearly..." Tomita Katsuo saw that the other party responded fluently, and it was really not easy to find fault with the other party from the "two more people to help" matter, so he casually hit him
Haha blurted it out, and after a short pause, he immediately changed the subject and asked, "So, what is the result of sir's investigation?"
Hayato pretended to think for a while, and then replied in a deep voice: "The three of us went deep into the mountain last night and found that there is indeed a shrine on the mountain where many monsters are entrenched. Unfortunately, after a series of fierce battles, we only found the fifth young master deep in the shrine.
It seems that he has been dead for many days. We were surrounded by demons and transformed him into a Buddha, and finally escaped with great difficulty. This is roughly what happened."
"Oh?" Hearing such a reply, Tomita Katsuo became excited, "Have you really seen Goro's ghost?"
"Yes." Hayato said this nonsense without changing his face or heartbeat.
"Then let me ask you, what kind of clothes is he wearing? What kind of hair is he combing?" Katsuo Tomita asked again.
"Mr. Tomita, the ghosts all wear white clothes and have disheveled hair. In addition, they also wear sky crowns (a triangular turban) on their heads and have no feet." Hayato caught the all-purpose answer almost without thinking.
The other party’s questions.
After hearing this, the muscles on Tomita Katsuo's face twitched slightly. He was obviously a little annoyed, but he still tensed up and continued to ask, suppressing his anger: "Since the ghosts are all dressed up the same, what can Mr. really be sure about his salvation?"
Goro?"
He was right in his question. In that era without photos, identifying people was a problem in itself.
"Yes." But Hayato answered with confidence.
"How to determine?" Tomita Katsuo asked.
"I asked him what his name was, and he said his name was Goro Tomita." Hayato gave another simple answer that the other party couldn't verify at all, but it seemed that there was nothing wrong with it.
"Mr. Kamo, let me ask you, what does Goro like to eat? What is his nickname? Why did he go into the mountains that day?" Tomita Katsuo was not discouraged. He took advantage of the opponent's trick and followed the other person's "talk to the ghost"
"I passed" and asked again.
"Mr. Tomita, as I said just now, the environment we were in at that time was very dangerous. How could I have the leisure to ask him these questions?" Hayato replied, "Of course I quickly saved him and left, otherwise
The three of us will have to die there ourselves."
"You...then how can you be sure that the ghost is Goro? Did he say he was it?" Tomita Katsuo finally became a little anxious.
"Mr. Tomita, he said the name himself. I didn't ask him if he was Goro Tomita. I only asked him who he was. He said he was Goro Tomita, and then I asked him when
Damn it, he said not long ago, if you can say that he is not Goro, then do you mean to say... A few days ago, there was another young man who was also eighteen or nineteen years old and also named Goro Tomita.
Did that person happen to die there?" Since Hayato wants to lie to people, the logic is undoubtedly very smooth, although these logics are all based on the magic stick-style nonsense, "Or, do you think a person
Even though everyone is dead, do you still have to pretend to be someone else? But that is impossible, because he is just an ordinary ghost, not an evil spirit. Ghosts are not like people, and they cannot lie."
"Hey..." After hearing this, Tomita Katsuo no longer planned to act anymore. He pierced the last layer of window paper, showed an evil look on his face, and said loudly, "After saying so much, it's just yours."
You just want to get away with this one-sided statement... Do you think I, Tomita Katsuo, am a fool?"
When he said the last few words of this sentence, he was almost yelling.
Therefore, when the servants and slaves who had been waiting around the house heard this, they immediately understood and opened the sliding doors on both sides of the Japanese room, swarmed in, and grabbed Hayato, Sun Yixie, and Huang Donglai who were sitting on the ground.
People surrounded him.
"Mr. Tomita..." This time, it was Huang Dong who spoke, "What does this mean?"
"What do you mean? Huh..." Tomita Katsuo sneered, "You swindlers colluded and made up a set of lies just to come here to defraud money? I don't think you have even gone into the mountains, right? What else are you talking about?
Who would believe it if I saw Goro’s ghost in a shrine full of monsters?”
After Tomita Katsuo said this sentence, Sun Yixie's expression suddenly changed, and his instinct to "use the heart of a villain to judge the belly of other villains" sounded like an alarm in his mind.
At this moment, Brother Sun felt strongly from Tomita Katsuo's demeanor and tone that the other party was extremely confident that "the three of them had not seen the ghost of Tomita Goro in the shrine", and this kind of insistence, even
The state of being a little angry because of their nonsense is no longer the reaction of someone who "exposed the lie with his own wisdom" or "purely wants to default on the debt", but more like the reaction of someone who "already knows the truth"
.
Sun Yixie's guess was indeed correct. The real culprit behind the disappearance of Goro Tomita was Katsuo Tomita.
The current head of the Tomita family is Tomita Katsuo's brother. This head had several children in the past, but they all died. Now, only Goro is the only son left. Apart from Goro, the next generation of the Tomita family is Tomita.
Katsuo is the son of his second uncle and another third uncle.
Most of the third uncle's children are young, the oldest is only fifteen years old, while several of Tomita Katsuo's children are adults and older than Goro. So if Goro is gone one day, who will be at home?
The power of speech is great and it is clear at a glance.
Therefore, Tomita Katsuo has already wanted to get rid of Goro, his nephew who will come of age in one or two years.
In the past, when the head of the family was still in good health, Katsuo Tomita didn't dare to act recklessly. But half a year ago, the head of the family contracted lung disease and has been bedridden since then. He has seen that his brother's condition has not improved in the past six months and his health has become worse and worse.
, Tomita Katsuo felt that the time had come; if his brother burped one day and passed the position of head of the family to Goro, it would only be more difficult and more conspicuous to take action at that time.
So, a few days ago, Tomita Katsuo found an opportunity to trick his nephew Goro into the mountains, killed him with a sneak attack from behind, and then threw the body directly into the valley. After returning, he bribed a villager, and in advance
An eyewitness testimony of "witnessing Wu Lang entering the mountain alone at dusk" was prepared for emergencies.
Goro stayed out all night that night, and there were many anxious people in Tomita's house. But Tomita Katsuo said, "You are a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old, how can you lose him? Maybe he secretly slept with a girl from some family."
He made excuses like this, and worked with other elders in the family and his bedridden brother to mediate, delaying the investigation for several days.
A few days later, someone asked about the so-called "going into the mountains alone" information...
It just so happened that Hayato was passing through Yae Township at this time. He gave the village tavern owner some money and asked the owner to let him know and keep an eye out for any commissions that Onmyoji could accept in the countryside.
As soon as the elders of the Tomita family heard that there was an onmyoji in the town, they went to Tomita Katsuo to discuss whether they could hire this mage to check on Goro, because they suspected that Goro might have been killed by the "legendary"
The monsters in the "shrine" were hooked.
Tomita Katsuo pondered: It has been so many days, not to mention that it is difficult to find the body thrown into the valley. Even if it is found, it will probably be eaten by wild animals by now. No evidence will be left, and I don’t have any.
To mislead people in that direction, these old guys only rely on the words "I go into the mountains alone at dusk" to think about the weird and mysterious way. This is a good thing.
In this way, Tomita Katsuo followed the wishes of the elders of the Tomita family and sent people to invite Hayato back to the mansion. He really received Hayato as if he were an "Onmyoji-sama" and even opened a very high
For the price, ask Hayato to go to the shrine.
Of course, while doing this, the Tomita family also loudly publicized in the village how they spent money "for the benefit of all villagers."
Originally, Tomita Katsuo just had to pay the balance today, accept Hayato's statement in full, and convey it to the elders in the family, and the matter would be over. Even if there are still people in the family who doubt him, this is unfounded.
What can I say?
But Katsuo Tomita is not only a bad person, but also a small figure. He even wants to save the final payment, and will not give it if he can; because according to his idea, the money of the Tomita family will soon be equal to
It's all his money. How heart-wrenching it is to spend it?
But what he didn't expect was that just because he didn't want to pay a sum of money that he should have paid to get rid of these three "liars" in front of him, his matter... was going to be bad.