The moment the door of the broken house was pushed open, the two people in the house and the person at the door were dumbfounded.
A-Zhi was surprised because before she opened the door, she never expected that there would be someone in this random shabby house in the wilderness.
As for Sun Yixie and Hayato, it's not like they didn't hear the footsteps of someone approaching outside the house just now, but they both took it for granted that it was Huang Donglai who had returned from defecating, so they didn't pay much attention.
Who would have thought that when the door opened at this moment, a woman with a beautiful face and a graceful figure stood at the door.
"Huh? Are you..." After a second, Sun Yixie's small eyes glanced up and down, and he immediately remembered that the woman in front of him was the female ninja who had briefly fought with him at the port of Xiaguan.
Let me mention it a little here. Even though Sun Yixie and Azhi didn't see each other's faces clearly when they were playing in that dark cabin, because Azhi was captured by those ashigaru before they were taken into the cabin.
, Sun Yixie remembered the other party's appearance at the port, so it didn't prevent him from recognizing A-Zhi now.
As for A Zhi, even though she didn't see Sun Yixie's face clearly at first, as we've said before, Brother Sun's height of about 1.75 meters was relatively rare in Japan at the time.
He has a very distinctive voice, which caused his current half-sentence "You are..." to awaken A-Zhi's memory.
It can be said that these two people recognized each other quickly, but their subsequent reactions... were both very subtle.
From Sun Yixie's point of view, although he could probably deduce that Azhi's sneak attack on him was probably due to a misunderstanding, the incident was the other party's fault anyway. Therefore, at this moment, he could completely pretend not to know and use that
Conflict is used as an excuse to first take action to restrain the other party.
However, now there is another problem that prevents Brother Sun from taking action, and that is - he suspects that this female ninja may be "Xiao Mei" who comes to contact him.
This guess is quite reasonable...
First of all, Sun Yixie had only judged that the other party was a ninja before, but did not know the other party's name or code name; secondly, the identity of the ninja was also consistent with the "neutral organization that sells intelligence" they mentioned when chatting in front of Huang Donglai's stool.
On the other hand, from Azhi's perspective, she saw that Sun Yixie was still alive and well, which in itself was something that caused her to have many questions and shakes.
Because before her boss Chongzang separated from the trio, he claimed to go to explore the reality of Shuangxie, but now...at least Sun Yixie is still alive, but Chongzang is not present.
There are many possibilities behind this situation...
Maybe Chongzang didn't find Shuangxie at all, maybe Chongzang found Shuangxie but after investigation found that there was no problem with the two people and withdrew, or maybe Chongzang had already been killed by Shuangxie... In short, Azhi didn't know
Something happened between Juzo, Sun, Huang, and Hayato, so she would inevitably have the conjecture that "maybe Masugi-sama has encountered something unexpected."
Of course, given her current situation, she has no time left to worry about Chongzang's life and death; it can even be said that if Chongzang really died at the hands of Shuangxie, that would be good news... because in
It seems to Azhi that the monks of the Tome Sect who are chasing her at the moment cannot deal with Juzo even if they come. If the two people in front of them are really stronger than Juzo, then if they are used, they may still have a chance to survive.
Thinking of this, A-Zhi immediately came up with a plan.
Facing Sun Yixie, who had obviously recognized her, she didn't answer the other person's words at all. She just moved forward half a meter tremblingly, and then with a cry, her body went limp and fell to the ground.
.
At this moment, Sun Yixie hesitated because he was wary of this woman.
As for his hesitation, Hayato, who was not sure why, instinctively took a step forward and supported Azhi.
Seeing A Zhi fall into Hayato's arms, and he really collapsed, and did not make a sneak attack, Sun Yixie regretted it, why did he give up this advantage that was brought to him?
But when others hug you, you can’t just go up and say, “I’ll do it for you,” right?
Therefore, Brother Sun could only suppress his regretful emotions, try to control his expression and tone, and said: "Hayato, be careful! This woman is not a good person."
"Ah?" Hayato was shocked when he was reminded like this.
However, he didn't immediately throw the person to the ground. He just put A-Zhi gently on the ground, then let go and backed away.
"Hey, have you finished your performance? Don't think you can get away with it this way. I have something else to ask you." Sun Yixie was about to carry out his serious character to the end, and said to Azhi coldly.
Such a sentence.
Unexpectedly, hey! I really deceived the other party.
"Hmph...you are really not an ordinary person..." A-Zhi thought that the other party was not impressed by her beauty and acting skills at all. While she was deeply impressed, she also stopped pretending; she snorted coldly and slowly raised herself from the ground.
He stood up, then climbed to a nearby pillar and sat up leaning against it, "Then I have something to say directly... No matter what misunderstandings we have had before, at this moment, I hope you can help.
I...I am being hunted, and only you can save me here."
"Oh?" Sun Yixie, while observing his words, glanced at Azhi's hand that was still protecting his ribs even after he "passed out", thinking that at least the other person's injuries were not fake, and then Brother Sun thought about it.
, then said, "'Misunderstanding', right? Okay... Even if the previous time was really a misunderstanding, I won't argue with you, but now, why should we help you?"
"Ha..." Azhi smiled, "I won't let your work go in vain..." As she spoke, she skillfully put on a charming look, resting her head back on the pillar, revealing her
Her white and slender neck was loosened by the collar of her clothes, but her eyes were filled with indifference and disgust at the moment, "As long as you save me, I can repay you in any way you want..."
As a female ninja living in troubled times, Azhi certainly knows that beauty is one of her weapons, and it is a very powerful one. Although she does not like to use her body as a bargaining chip to achieve her goals, she knows that,
A lot of the time, this works really well.
"Well... even though you said 'you can repay in any way', as if you have many ways to repay, the way you said this was completely indicating a specific way of repaying." No.
Thinking of it, what greeted Azhi next was a comment from Hayato.
"Huh?" Even Sun Yixie didn't expect this, and he couldn't help but wonder: How could Brother Hayato remain unmoved by the beauty and calmly say such a teasing statement?
Then Hayato continued: "Although I am not a gentleman, and I am involved in all kinds of food, drink, prostitution and gambling, but I have a principle, that is... I accept entrustment to help people, and the reward can be money, jewelry, or
It’s calligraphy, painting and porcelain. If you really don’t have those, other sundries that can be exchanged for money will do... But I will never, never accept physical payment! This is the last dignity and bottom line of being an Onmyoji in my lower body!"
"Damn it..." Sun Yixie heard this and cursed in his heart at that time, "Your bottom line is not very high. Why the hell are you so loud when you look so upright? Besides, she is not one now.
Please be alone, and I am here! If you do this, I can't just jump out and say, 'It's okay, my bottom line is lower than him, you can just repay me alone', right?"
"Well said!" Two seconds later, Sun Yixie's unhappiness turned into an air of hypocrisy, as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He then used a louder voice and a more serious expression than Hayato, and stared.
He rolled his eyes and shouted, "How can a chivalrous man like me save people just to do such a frivolous thing! Tell me first, what is your name? Who is chasing you? As long as you say it, we are fine with it.
We will save you, no need for anything in return!"
A-Zhi was a little confused by the singing and harmony of the two people, but after thinking about it, she had already taken the initiative to say that she could "repay like that", but the two people still clearly refused and scolded them, which at least meant that they did have some
Different from those young people.
So, after A-Zhi thought for a while, he said eloquently: "My name is A-Zhi. You should have seen through it long ago. I am a ninja...
"A few days ago, I received a mission that required someone to rush to Kyoto to monitor the movements of a certain important person, so I set off with two companions.
"Originally, we were just passing by the northern edge of Kobe and had no intention of going deep here. Unexpectedly, we met a group of strange monks on the road and came to talk to us and ask for directions; they claimed to be monk soldiers from the Ichigo Sect, but this was more deceptive than ordinary people.
People can't deceive us... We have dealt with people from the Yixiang Sect many times, and we can tell the difference.
"According to the information I have, this group of people is more like members of a small sect called the 'Tianxing Sect'. This sect has existed for many years. It is said that it specializes in kidnapping and trafficking children. Its methods are cruel and...
Very mysterious...but there are only a few of them, and they don't participate in the battles between the big names, so no one cares about them."
When A Zhi said this, Sun Yihe and Hayato looked at each other. It was obvious that they both realized that they had met the white-clothed monk in Tianshangshan Shrine before, and that Shuanghe and Keijiro met in Kawapengzhuang.
Ajafang Yigen and Ajafang Xinggen are most likely members of this "Zhenxing Sect".
A Zhi also noticed the reaction of the two people, but because the pursuers would arrive at any time, she wanted to seize the time, so she did not stop narrating.
"These demon monks from the Tuxing Sect have obviously taken a fancy to my companion Xiaosuke... the kid who pretended to be my son in Xiaguan... and want to take Xiaosuke away.
"There was no one around at the time. My companions and I exchanged glances and decided to strike first, kill these evil monks and escape. But I didn't expect that these guys were as strong as monsters. Facing our surprise attack, they
It ate all the attacks like an immortal body, and then subdued the three of us in turn.
"Then, they caught us here..."
Hearing this, Sun Yixie finally interrupted and asked: "Then you left your companions and ran away alone?"
"No!" A-Zhi immediately denied with some excitement, "There was a monk who was lustful towards me, so he sent away his companions on the grounds that he wanted to interrogate these two adults...
...As soon as the others left, he only untied my rope, left Gengoro aside and dragged me into the woods.
"I knew what he wanted to do, so I didn't resist on purpose. I originally wanted to kill him while he was careless, then go and untie Gengoro, and then work with Gengoro to find a way to rescue Xiaosuke. Unexpectedly, I was just killed
After being dragged into the woods, Gengoro untied the rope himself and attacked the monk from behind.
"Seeing this, I naturally cooperated, but we were still no match for the demon monk two against one. In the end, Gengoro risked his life to give me a chance to escape..."
At this point, she lowered her head and looked at her ribs, and then said: "Although I escaped, several of my ribs have been broken. Even if I force myself to continue running, it will only be a matter of time before I am overtaken, so
I just want to find a house to hide first, and see if I can set up an ambush in the house, and maybe there is a chance to kill the opponent..."
"Then you bumped into us unexpectedly?" Hayato took over the conversation and asked.
A Zhi nodded: "That's all I can tell you now, no matter how much more...if there is another chance in the future...let's talk about it." She let out a sigh of relief, as if she felt a lot more relaxed after she finished speaking, "
So, two 'chivalrous men', what are your plans now? Do you believe my words and help me deal with those monster monks, or do you leave me and run for your lives?
"Ha... Of course, even if you run away using my words as 'untrustworthy', I won't blame you. After all, you can't do it for an irrelevant person like me and those guys who are as strong as monsters."
Fight hard."
Although her last few words were provocative, they were also largely sincere.
After all, A-Zhi has seen too much of the ugliness of human nature, and he will not have too much hope in the other party just because someone said a few nice words like "a chivalrous man."
So, how much of A-Zhi’s paragraph above is worthy of belief?
The implicit hint in the book here is that 90% of it is indeed true.
That day, after the trio of genin separated from Juzo, they had followed Juzo's instructions to find a nearby place to hibernate. Unexpectedly, they had just rested for two days when a mission was sent from the Takeda clan.
.
Masugi Juzo's situation at Takeda's place, as we have said before, nominally he is equivalent to the head of Takeda's Kansai Intelligence Network, and he manages more than a dozen ninja teams like Aji and the others, but in essence
But it was "actual duty", because Takeda Shingen had no ability to reach out to Kansai, so he just listened to the affairs of Kansai.
On weekdays, the Takeda clan would only contact Juzo on a regular basis and receive some information compiled by Juzo that in Takeda Shingen's view was dispensable. But Takeda Shingen himself, since the day Juzo took office, has never
What tasks did you proactively assign to Chongzang?
Those tasks for Juzo were all "asked" by him in his reports, such as "I think there is something important in Kyushu. Should we send a team of people there to investigate?" or "There have been recent developments in Kochi."
There is a domain that seems to be rebelling against the Miyoshi clan, should we find someone to add fuel to the fire?"... For "suggestions" such as this, Takeda's instructions are usually "yes, yes, go, go, go", and then these are hidden until
There are tasks to be completed before the next scheduled contact.
But this time it was interesting. It happened that at this time when Ma Shanjuzo was looking for Shuanghe to "explore the truth", he was not at the intelligence point, and it was not a day for regular contact, Takeda Shingen took the initiative to send a message for the first time.
Here comes the task order.
The mission doesn't wait for anyone. Who knows when Juzo will come back? You wait for him to come back before opening the letter. Are you responsible for delaying the opportunity for fighting?
At this time, there was a three-person team left behind at the intelligence point. A-Zhi was the captain, so she had no choice but to open the letter and see what mission was sent from above.
What happened next was basically the same as what she said.
The only thing she concealed was that Xiaosuke was indeed her son, and the statement "the boy pretending to be my son" was a lie.
She has been telling this lie for many years. The only person who knows the truth, apart from Azhi herself, is her respected boss Juzo. Even Xiaosuke himself does not know that Azhi is his biological mother.
Of course, don't assume that Juzo is Xiaosuke's father because of this... he really isn't.
Juzo is clean with any female ninja under his command, because he understands that in a profession like theirs, which licks blood at the edge of the knife, they must not cross that line with the people around them, especially their superiors and subordinates; you must obey
If you don't care about him, you must not have that thought. This is why, no matter whether Chongzang's subordinates care about him or not, they at least respect him.
As for who Xiaosuke's father is, Azhi actually doesn't know. She just got pregnant with the child of a man she didn't care about during a certain mission, and she even killed him.
But in the end, she still couldn't bear to abandon the newborn Xiaosuke, so Juzo gave her an idea: keep Xiaosuke and train him as a ninja, but don't tell him about his life experience and let him think that he is an orphan.
Xiaosuke can stay with Azhi and be cared for and protected by his mother to a certain extent; when Xiaosuke is older, he will be transferred to another team, so that he will have a better chance of growing up alive.
As an adult, even if Azhi died one day, Xiaosuke wouldn't be too sad.
In these troubled times, faced with such a proposal, what else could A-Zhi say?
But now, A-Zhi was attacked by the Zhenxing Sect. When he thought about the inhuman treatment his son might receive after being kidnapped by the demonic monks, not only was he unable to save him, but he could not even protect himself, A-Zhi felt a little desperate.
What supports her to continue to survive at this moment is actually the kindness of her companion Gengoro who fought desperately to save her; Azhi just didn't want Gengoro's death to be in vain, so she didn't give up completely.
How could she easily regard these two almost complete strangers in front of her as her savior?
"Isn't it a way to provoke generals?" After hearing what A Zhi said, Sun Yixie immediately raised his eyebrows and said, "Humph... Actually, you don't have to do this, I trust you."
Isn't that right? Before today, Sun Huang had already come into contact with the demonic monks from the Zhenxing Sect twice. They had long suspected that those monks were not good people. Now that they heard what they said was correct, then he must be
I'm sure of it.
"Isn't he just a little 'Zhenxingzong'? Damn it, give him face, right?" Sun Yixie opened his mouth and scolded, "I'm in a bad mood today, so I just want to fuck them, what the hell?
"
Before he finished speaking, he heard someone outside the house shouting loudly: "What did you say?"