Jiuzang has been walking along the mountain road for nearly two hours. Although he knows that the bandits will not ambush on the roadside, he is still cautious and alert to the movements around him at all times, so he consumes a lot of time and energy.
He went to seize the musket this time, actually with the idea of success or failure. On the one hand, the threat of muskets to the samurai was ranked first, and on the other hand, he would never allow himself to be defeated in today's battle.
Bear the humiliation of not accomplishing anything.
Every time he recalled Kanbei's sighs intentionally or unintentionally, as well as Kikuchiyo's triumphant expression staring at him, Kuzou felt an indescribable pain in his heart.
The death of Gorobei was a huge blow to Kanbei. As a defender with him, even though I went to support Kazuha Sorayama, I still had an unshirkable responsibility.
If he didn't take half of the farmers with him, if he could be faster, if the defenses were stronger... What Jiuzang couldn't accept the most was that he hadn't killed a single bandit, not even with his own sword.
Never scratched the bandit's skin!
No one, including Kanbei, would complain about Jiuzou for this, but as a persistent swordsman, the principles in his heart made it impossible for him to shirk responsibility. If this happened in the war for the loyal daimyo, Jiuzou would
Zang will definitely apply to the head of the family for caesarean section to atone for his fault.
Now, he can only offset his mistakes by capturing the musket and restore the dignity of the samurai.
Suddenly, a few firelights and faint shouts appeared in the distance. Jiuzang took a calm breath and carefully stepped over the gravel and weeds. His whole body was like a shadow, approaching silently along the darkness of the trees.
The bandits did not set up any defensive measures, not even open or hidden sentry posts. Perhaps they thought that this place was very far away from the village, and the samurai who had just experienced a fierce battle would not risk a sneak attack. If someone really came, they would not be afraid.
After all, after today's battle, they knew that there were less than 5 samurai left. Even if they all came, what would happen? Except for that terrifying swordsman...
Today's attack caused heavy losses to the bandits, and the blow to their momentum was much more serious than Kanbei expected. It's not that they were afraid of casualties, but that they still couldn't see any hope of victory when they suffered such huge casualties.
.
In particular, Kazuha Sorayama actually killed half of the bandits alive. However, this person's martial arts far exceeded the bandits' expectations, and he even escaped from musket attacks many times. Just now, in front of everyone, he used a magical
Dodge arrows and bullets in a skillful way.
They couldn't imagine any way to kill this swordsman who was as terrifying as a ghost.
When we first returned to this temporary camp, the two groups of people who carried out sneak attacks from two directions were silent, and the atmosphere was extremely depressing.
"You were killed by one person and fled. It's really a shame as a samurai! Or maybe you have been bandits for too long and have already forgotten your sword skills? A bunch of idiots!" A high-level bandit holding a musket and wearing a uniform
I couldn't help but cursed loudly.
"Yes, if you could invade the village, under our attack from the front and back, you might be sleeping with the women in the village in your arms."
"Shut up!" a bandit yelled angrily: "Don't say we are useless, what about you? So what if we have horses and muskets to help us fight, but I heard that you were riding horses and firing guns, and you were killed by that swordsman.
3 people, and they didn’t even touch a hair on that person!”
"Baga!" The bandit's eyes were red. Feeling humiliated, he drew his sword and said viciously: "Draw your sword and let me see if your martial arts is more powerful than your mouth!"
The bandit squinted his eyes and stood up: "Am I afraid of you, a fool who only knows how to sleep with women? I have long wanted to teach you a lesson, you bastard."
Seeing that the two people had a disagreement and drew their swords at each other, about to decide whether they would live or die, the bandit leader slowly stood up and glanced at the two men with a sinister look. The long-term accumulation of power immediately made the two bandits stay silent and quietly sheathed their swords.
He lowered his head and said no more.
The bandit leader looked around and saw that all the bandits did not dare to look at him. Then he relaxed his expression, and his dull voice had an indescribable cruelty and cunning: "Are you afraid? Haha... Who wants to quit now?
There's still time." The bandits were silent for a while, no one dared to move.
The leader continued: "I know what you are thinking. Do you want to avoid this village and plunder elsewhere?" Upon hearing this, many people immediately raised their heads and glanced at the leader, and then quickly lowered their heads. Obviously, it was
This plan.
"I tell you, this is a dream. If we cannot capture this village, we will have no choice but to wander around like dogs." The leader continued: "Why? First of all, our food can only last until tomorrow at most, thanks to you fools
Grant, the only rice we have was almost burned when the samurai raided the village last time. Also, the other villages closest to us are also three days away. Are we hungry to grab them? Besides, the rice in other villages has not been harvested yet.
, Even if it is given to us for free, which one of you is willing to pick up the sickle and start cutting the rice? Even if you are willing, aren't you afraid that the farmers will quietly report the news and lead to the government's encirclement and suppression? Huh?!"
"We can exchange horses and armor for some grain, and wait until the farmers finish harvesting..." a bandit leader whispered.
Before he could finish his words, the bandit leader strode up to the bandit, raised his palm and rounded his arm, and slapped it on his face with a "snap" sound. The bandit leader let out a miserable cry and covered his face.
He rolled around on the ground, spat out a bloody tooth, and stared at the leader in horror.
"Baga! In exchange for food, do you want to feed this waste like you?!" The bandit leader was furious. He chased after him and thrashed again. While beating him, he cursed: "Do you know how much I spent on these weapons and horses?"
Are you working hard?! Do you think that if word spreads about our heavy losses this time, other villages won’t hire samurai to defend themselves? Won’t they take up arms to resist?! If we don’t kill all the samurai and villagers in this village, it will frighten the surrounding areas.
You untouchables in this village, we will never get another grain of food from you!"
The bandits were silent, but after thinking about the leader's words carefully, they found that just like what the leader said, there was no other good way before them except to continue to attack the village, unless they sneaked away on horseback... However, again,
When he saw the three die-hard men holding muskets and standing at the outermost edge of the leader, he secretly gave up the idea of escape. They were not the terrifying swordsmen who could dodge bullets!
After seeing that no one dared to object, the bandit leader changed his tone and said Wen Yan to two of the bandits: "Taro, Heiji, Tadanobu, and Maruzou, you have been with me the longest. How many dangers have we experienced together? That year
, were surrounded and suppressed by the samurai of Hataya City, how many of them did we kill! Hashimoto, Komura, Yamada, the eight of you were hunted down by ninjas hired by the Kadaya businessmen a few years ago. Not only did we kill all those ninjas to avenge you,
We also stole the muskets from those businessmen. Our village has gone through so many hardships, but hasn’t it survived to this day? Back then, we were not afraid of the government or big businessmen, but now we are afraid of those untouchables?!"
One of the bandits whose name was called stood up and shouted: "Yes! Are we afraid of those untouchables? Even if they have a few warriors, have we killed few warriors in these years? I will be the first to charge tomorrow, which one?
If you think you are brave, just rush to the front with me!"
The rest of the bandits were excited by the leader's words. Knowing that they had no way out, they all shouted that they would fight to the death tomorrow.
Seeing that the bandits had regained their momentum, the leader said excitedly: "Our chances of winning are higher than those of the samurai. Don't be afraid of that highly skilled swordsman. Apart from him, I don't believe anyone else can dodge bullets! Listen, no one is allowed to attack tomorrow."
He concentrated his firepower to eliminate the other samurai. Didn’t he kill two samurai today?! In the end, only the swordsman was left. No matter how powerful his martial arts was, he could still kill us all by himself?!"
"Yes, that's it" "As expected of the leader" "Kill all the villagers and steal all the food" "And their women" "Hehehehe, hahaha"...
"Okay!" The bandit leader stopped the discussion and said calmly: "Everyone has worked hard today. Now take a good rest and wait for the decisive battle tomorrow. Tomorrow, we will all mount our horses and rush into the village at one go. Whoever rushes in first?
Who do I want to be the first to pick a woman!"
For a long time, I hid in the dark and stared at these bandits who were in high spirits. Their voices became quieter and quieter, and they began to lie down in twos and threes next to the fire with their clothes on.
Jiuzang held his breath and did not move, and the snoring of the bandits gradually started to sound. Until one of the bandits holding a musket stood up, untied his belt and walked towards a big tree.
Jiuzang quietly stood up on tiptoes and made a small circle to the side of the bandit. When the bandit urinated the last drop and shivered with pleasure, a big hand covered his mouth. Before he could
After struggling, the sharp knife had cut his throat.
Jiuzang helped the bandit's body lie down on the ground, picked up the musket standing on the side, and slowly moved backwards, disappearing into the darkness again. From the beginning to the end, no sound was made.