"Brother Kato, we are rich now, we can have a good meal when we go back!" While running, a very young man said excitedly while breathing heavily.
The man next to him has messy hair tied on his head with a straw. The sweat mixed with the dust on his bronze square face has turned into black marks. The original color of his clothes can no longer be seen. Although his gait is very clumsy when running,
But the sound of his footsteps was very light. Just by looking at his body skills, he could tell that he was a rare master.
The man slapped the young man on the buttocks and shouted in a low voice: "Fuck you! My family is still waiting for the rice to be put into the pot! Forget it... go back to the residual rice house and have a full meal today."
"Ah... Although there is always a strange smell, I haven't tasted the taste of rice for a long time. Brother Kato, I'm so hungry that I can't run. Let's go eat quickly. That person won't chase us.
"The young man slowly stopped and stared longingly at the corner of the copper coin in the man's arms.
The man wiped his sweat and looked obviously very tired, but he still said resolutely: "No, that man's martial arts skills are too high! Who knows if he will catch up with us, so hurry up. The further away, the safer it will be."
The man understands that his partner's martial arts skills are low. He may know that the person who knocked down the gangster in an instant is very powerful, but he must not understand how powerful that person is!
He can also deal with the gangsters himself, but it will never be so easy. Especially when the two guns are aimed at him, his psychology is not affected in any way, and he can easily knock down the gangsters and injure them without killing them. Obviously, he has absolute confidence that he can not be affected by them.
Shooting.
If he had such martial arts back then... maybe... He shook his head to get rid of his unrealistic thoughts.
"What! If I run any further, I'll have to leave the city. I don't think that kind of person would chase him so far just for two ounces of money. I'm going to die from exhaustion..." The young man stopped and held on to a bundle of clutter in the alley.
The bamboo with a pale face seemed to have reached its limit. Perhaps if it were not for the strong motivation of eating a full meal, his physical strength would have been unable to take a step.
The man sighed, supported the young man and said: "Qingshui, I know you are hungry, but this little thing is nothing. I think that when Hecheng fell, all the guys like you who couldn't run died in the government
Under the saber. Compared with death, no matter how tired you are, you have to grit your teeth and keep going."
The young man took a few deep breaths, casually grabbed a bamboo and leaned on his body: "Let's go, Brother Kato, you are always so old-fashioned, I understand."
The two of them walked around in the alley, and when they saw that the sky was getting dark and no one was following them, they stopped and collapsed directly to the ground regardless of the soil underground.
After a while, the man managed to regain some strength, and then he took out the money and rubbed it carefully, as if missing the long-lost touch between skin and brass.
"Oh, it's just two points. It was just a banquet among colleagues at the beginning... but now it has become money to survive." The man weighed the money, feeling inexplicably disgusted, but he could only smile bitterly and shook his head: "Qingshui, we are wandering.
Thousands of miles away, I still abide by the principle of not stealing or robbing, what does that mean now?"
The young man sneered: "Ah! I really can't stand you, you act like an old man, Brother Kato! We didn't steal this or robbed it, we just picked it up from the ground. Don't be verbose, let's go buy it quickly."
Bring back some food."
"Go back first, and then buy food." The man stood up with difficulty while holding on to the wall. Before the young man could refute, he pointed to his clothes and said, "When questioned by the police, we couldn't tell how we got the money.
If you come, it’s going to be troublesome. Just hold on to some water.”
The young man muttered, but did not refute.
At the beginning of the Restoration, the power of the police increased greatly. Yokohama was slightly better. Two-thirds of the entire Tokyo police force was recruited by Omura, most of whom were former Satsuma feudal lords who overthrew the shogunate. This group of people were highly skilled in martial arts and more powerful.
He was so domineering that even ordinary nobles did not dare to openly confront him.
Fortunately, the place where they live is not far from here. It is more appropriate to say that it is a wreckage than a house. It is lying in a dilapidated state among the sage grass that is about half a person tall, and there is no smell of fireworks.
There are some firewood piled in the open space that can barely be called a courtyard. There is a basket made of bamboo and wood neatly placed near the door. Next to it is a pole tied with a hemp rope. This is the only possession of the two.
.
The dirty wooden boards in the room were covered with a thick layer of thatch as straw mats. The two took off their straw sandals, barefooted, and lay on them to recover without washing them.
The young man named Qingshui turned over with difficulty, pulled out a bamboo tube from the embers of the stove, pointed it at his mouth and drank heavily - of course there was no iron pot in the house, so the readily available bamboo became their favorite.
Commonly used cooking utensils.
He finished half of the drink and handed the bamboo tube to the man, "The grass seeds and grass roots are boiled well, but it's a bit bitter. I'll try another one next time... No, we are rich now. We should never eat this kind of dog-smelling food again."
Something that would make you frown."
The man said nothing, took the bamboo tube and drank silently.
Glancing at the young man with pale complexion and faintly exposed sternum, the man felt sour in his heart. In his impression, the young man with a round face and a round face who looked full of vigor has now become the thin and skinny man with disheveled hair. Unknown to him,
How to explain to my sister... I followed him around and suffered a lot. Not only did I not make a name for myself, but due to the limitations of my old identity, I was starving every day. If I continued like this, my body would be destroyed.
The man made up his mind, unwrapped the hemp rope, twisted out three large coins, pushed the rest to the young man's side and said: "Keep your money carefully, I'll buy food."
"I want to go together!" The young man stood up in a hurry. "I will be starving to death by the time you come back. You promised me that you will have enough to eat tonight."
"No, what to do with Cai!"
"Oh! Look up at this damn place!" The young man pointed to the roof with light from all directions. "The wild dogs won't come here. Even if you hang your money here, you won't lose one in a few years."
The man frowned and was about to be persuaded. Suddenly he turned around alertly and pulled out a smooth wooden stick from the thatch in his hand.
The sunlight at the door was blocked by a figure, making the already dark and cramped environment even more depressing.
A drop of cold sweat oozed from the man's forehead. He raised the wooden stick as a long sword and quickly formed a strict mid-level posture. The head of the stick pointed at the door, lowered his voice, and said in a dull voice that seemed to come from the chest: "Who are you?
What’s the point of coming here?”
Too careless!
The man thought that as long as someone approached the courtyard, it would be impossible to avoid his detection. The sound of clothes scraping against thatch and the soles of shoes stepping on dry grass stubble were all obvious in this quiet environment.
What's more, there are a few broken wooden steps at the door. Let alone people stepping on them, even if a mouse runs over, they will creak. How did this person appear? Or, this person is not a human at all...
In fact, in the man's heart, he hopes to face those legendary monsters.
Because no matter the police or gangsters who appear to follow them, it is impossible to be indifferent to the money. With his current physical strength, it may be quite difficult to drive away a few gangsters...
Kazuyo Sorayama didn't look at the difficult man who was watching him warily. He followed him all the way and heard everything he needed to hear. He also made a preliminary judgment about the person he was.
He looked at this house with skewed wooden boards, drafty everywhere, mixed with the smell of rotten wood, dirt, foot odor and sweat. The environment was a hundred times worse than the tents of the Cheyenne Indian tribe across the ocean, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for himself.
The decision raised some doubts...
Looking at the man who was waiting for him, Kazuyo Sorayama didn't respond. He took half a step towards the room. The setting sun outside the house shone on him, coating him with a layer of gold, which was dazzling and slightly warm.
However, the words from Kazuyo Sorayama's mouth made the man feel like he was falling into an ice cellar: "The money belongs to me, and I can't let you walk away in vain." Still haven't gotten rid of it... The man smiled bitterly, lowered his arms and threw away the stick.
Now that he recognized Ichiyo Sorayama, he also lost the idea of resisting. Not to mention that the money did not belong to them. Even if he wanted to rob him, could he still stop the other party's unpredictable martial arts? Even if he resisted forcefully, it would not be enough.
Lost his life in vain.
Even if the other party has no intention of killing, if they don't have the money to spend on a meal and a beating, the two of them may not even have the strength to get up and go to the ground tomorrow. This is no different from waiting to die.
"Nonsense, this is obviously a gift from the Bodhisattva, no one can take it away!" The young man didn't think so. He threw himself on the copper coin and pressed it tightly, staring at the empty mountain with hatred, revealing, "Even if you die,
I will also splatter you with blood."
"There is a saying over there in the ocean, which is that 'the gifts given by Bodhisattva to everyone are actually marked with a secret price.' I don't believe in any gods and Buddhas, but this sentence still makes some sense. What price do you think you need to pay for this gift?
, your life? Or something else, this little brother Qingshui." Kazuyo Sorayama got used to the smell in the house and said hoarsely as he stepped into the house.
"There are no Bodhisattvas on the other side of the ocean. They believe in God." The man snorted, looked at Sorayama Kazuyo and frowned: "Old gentleman, the two of us are neither thieves nor robbers. We just take your money and leave.
Don't humiliate me."
Without waiting for Sorayama Kazuyo to respond, he turned to look at the young man and persuaded: "Give it to him. Samurai cannot steal. Although the money was picked up, it is obviously not ownerless... Since the creditor is here... Shimizu,
Have we fallen so low that we have to give up our dignity..."
The young man seemed to be greatly stimulated, clinging to the straw around him. The resentment he had accumulated over the past few years, his dissatisfaction with the status quo, his pedantry against men, and his persecution against Kazuyo Sorayama... all exploded at this moment!
"Samurai? Haha, dignity... Where is your official ribbon? Where is your family tree? Where is your feather? Where is your... sword? Samurai, haha... Look down, what kind of samurai are you?
! Reiko’s body is thinner than a bamboo pole now, and her belly is empty than a bamboo pole. You can keep your reputation as a samurai and ignore your sister’s life and death, but I can’t just watch my fiancée starve to death! Even if I steal or rob!”