Kyoto, Sanjo Bridge. Kenshin leaned against the bridge pier and looked up at the stars in the night sky. A thick shadow enveloped his whole body, leaving only a pair of gray cloth socks and straw sandals, revealing a hazy outline in the bright moonlight.
Since arriving in Kyoto, he has been particularly fond of washing his hands. The 16-year-old boy's hands are quite white, but no matter how he washes them, the faint blood can never be eliminated from the nails.
Countless times, he huddled up under the quilt and didn't dare to breathe. It seemed that only this small space was the safest place for him to rest. When he lifted the quilt, he seemed to be able to see those people floating in every corner of the room.
The murdered man's twisted face could only calm him down a little by holding the handle of the knife tightly in his palm and the friction from the rough mackerel skin.
As killing becomes more common in life than three meals a day, this fear appears less and less, until now there is no trace left.
In this year, Kenshin has lost count of how many people he has killed, including mission targets, their guards, pursuing samurai, encirclement and suppression soldiers, shogunate spies, and cleaning up the organization.
Traitor... everything starts from that day.
"I'll just say something straight to the point, Kenshin, can you... kill people?" Katsura Kogoro has now become a mature swordsman with a majestic aura. Perhaps a leader is more appropriate. He put his hands behind his back and spoke calmly.
Asked Kenshin.
"Senior Gui, I..." A rhythmic shouting came from outside the hut. This is one of the training grounds of the Changzhou Fanqi Army. The drizzle of light rain cannot extinguish the training enthusiasm of the team members. This is only caused by
The team founded by Shinsaku Takasugi is experiencing a vigor that has never been seen in this era.
"Kenshin, it is my responsibility for you to come down and join the world, because I need you, the country needs you, and the people need you. I know that Senior Higu hates me for this. He is afraid that you will be used by me and other people with ill intentions.
, I don’t want to make any high-sounding excuses, what I need you to do is indeed the dirtiest assassination."
Katsura Kogoro turned around, stared coldly at Kenshin's round cheeks, and said word by word: "But in order to create a new world, you must destroy the old things. This is the way of heaven! Kill to stop killing, although
It will be heartbreaking, but... we don’t have time to delay!”
"Kill..." Kenshin stared blankly at the somewhat unfamiliar Katsura Kogoro. The cheerful and wise swordsman in his impression could not overlap with the ruthless leader of the fallen patriot in front of him. He must have been having a rough time these years.
It's very hard...
"Yes, it is killing people. Although it is a job that is invisible to others, it often requires the most capable people to do it. You said that you must use your own power to protect the people. So, I hope you can give me a helping hand.
For the sake of the new era, can you kill someone?"
"Hi! In order to help weak people find their own happiness, I, I am willing!" Kenshin seemed to be promising, but more of it was convincing himself.
Killing is just two words that fall lightly on the paper, but when the sharp blade in your hand splits the skull of the same kind and cuts off the body of the same kind, the pain of the stomach tightening into a ball can only be experienced by those who have actually done such a thing.
Kenshin doesn't understand the feeling of being hit yet, but he will soon understand...
Choshu Domain, Kiyomori Shrine.
A man dressed as a ronin was walking on the shrine outside the temple. As soon as he came under the torii gate painted in vermilion, he was stopped by a young man with crimson hair. The young man bowed and saluted, "This is the island from Edo."
Mr. Katsuchosaburo? Someone asked me to deliver a message for you." "Oh? Please tell me." "It's not convenient for me to explain here, but please follow me." The young man turned around and walked towards the woods on both sides of the shrine.
Although he was wearing a long sword, seeing that the opponent was a weak and delicate young man, he naturally could not associate it with strength and ferocity. Unexpectedly, the man named Shima Katsu was there and followed Kenshin to a forest clearing.
"Your first mission target is a spy sent by the shogunate to the Choshu Domain. His martial arts skills are very ordinary according to the intelligence. It is quite easy to kill him with your flying sword skills. But after all, you have never done anything like this.
Kenshin, before you take on this mission, Katsura Kogoro, as your senior, reminds you for the last time: This kind of life will become your daily life in the future, and your destination will be a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, even if a new era finally ushered in.
, you will also become a butcher with bloody hands, and will not be tolerated by the ignorant people you are saving now, Kenshin, are you... willing?"
"Once you nod, the person in front of you is no longer Katsura Kogoro, who is the disciple of Master Sorayama and a senior in kendo, but Katsura Kogoro, the leader of the Choshu Domain's patriots. From now on, you will no longer be special. You must abide by the laws and complete the mission until
Death, Himura Kenshin, do you understand?"
Kenshin's steps were steady and he tightened the hilt of the sword in his hand. The man behind him seemed to sense something was wrong. He drew out his long sword and pointed it at Kenshin and shouted vigilantly: "Who are you! Who sent you here!"
Senior Gui... Chief, I understand... Okay, I understand!
Kenshin pointed his toes to the ground, crouching and twisting to draw the sword. He held the scabbard with his left hand and dragged the sword behind with his right hand. The suffocating breath in his chest made him unable to help but raise the knife high. His eyes were a little blurry, with a thin layer of blood in his eyes.
Water mist...
Kenshin, who had already locked onto the man's figure, knew that this sword would strike him from the head and split him into two pieces. From this, he would become a qualified patriot. In order to overthrow the shogunate and save the people... Master
,Sister...forgive me...
Kenshin widened his eyes and shouted in his heart: Death! The blade smoothly split the man's forehead, along the nose line, split the teeth, slid to the chest, and cut off the first bone, but it did not go as expected.
It went down in a consistent manner, and the blade was blocked by the man's sternum. The sticky resistance caused the blade to tilt and get stuck in the chest of the corpse.
Are you still weak? Kenshin drew out his sword and stared blankly at the body that fell to the sky. The chirping of cicadas at noon made the woods seem unusually quiet. The boy raised his head blankly. Although the sun shone on his face, why couldn't he help it?
Want to tremble.
"Hey, little brother." A man's voice came from behind. "You are..." Kenshin turned around and looked at this stranger. How could he be here at this moment and greet him openly and openly?
, it seems that they are not enemies.
"I am the person responsible for examining the body." The thin man, who is about thirty years old, has a cheerful moustache and looks like a very easy-to-deal with guy.
He squatted in front of the corpse of the slain target, took out a piece of white paper from his arms, spread it out carefully, and inserted the white paper on the corpse with a slender iron drill. "First work, you have to
Stay calm. If you vomit nearby, it will damage the deterrent effect of this operation! You don't know, in the past, some guys would go crazy because of this, some would not be able to eat and collapsed, and some people..."
"It's okay, it's calmer than I imagined." Kenshin responded lightly, or rather coldly.
"That's good." Fan wiped his hands as if nothing had happened, then stood up and handed Kenshin a few pieces of writing paper and said with a smile: "This job is not difficult for a swordsman like you, just be quick and accurate. It's not suitable to stay here for a long time, we
move."
Kenshin took the white paper, wrapped it around the blade and rolled it down. The dry paper immediately absorbed the blood on the blade.
If a new era where everyone can live and work in peace and contentment can be born in front of my dirty bloody blade and sacrifice of life, I am willing to... act for heaven! Kenshin made up his mind and left with the meal without looking back.
The blood-stained writing paper fell into the pool of blood flowing from the corpse behind him. It was soon soaked all over, and no trace of its original white color could be seen anymore.
And on the piece of paper that was nailed to the chest of the corpse, there were two large black characters written on it: Tianchu!