Pushing open the door of the ancient temple, the cold air immediately rushed to Ogata like a tide.
The wind and snow have stopped.
No more chunks of snow falling from the sky.
Looking up, everything is covered in white.
The sun shines like light dust on the white snow.
Looking at the not dazzling sun in the sky, Ogata smiled and said with emotion:
"The weather is really nice today."
Then, he put on his bamboo hat, closed the door of the ancient temple, held the knife on his left waist, looked in the direction of the sun, and walked straight forward.
Since leaving Hirose Domain, the life Ogata has lived during this period can be described with an idiom: aimless.
I don't know where I'm going, and I don't know what I'm going to do.
Anyway, there was no place he wanted to go in particular, so Ogata simply looked in one direction - the east. He walked straight east.
Ogata didn't care where he was ahead, he just kept walking eastwards, taking care of where he went.
So Ogata, who was heading east, unknowingly entered the Kinki region and entered a small domain in the Kinki region - Tatsuno Domain.
Kinki area - a huge area with the two major cities of Kyoto and Osaka as its core.
Ogata knew that he was currently in Tatsuno Domain, but where exactly he was located in Tatsuno Domain, Ogata didn't know, nor did he want to know.
call……
A gust of cold wind whistled.
Feeling the cold wind blowing in his face, Ogata tightened the haori on his body and muttered:
"Although the sun is out today, it's still a little cold... I really want to take a hot bath..."
Although it was freezing cold now, Ogata did not feel that the cold was unbearable.
This is all thanks to his high vitality of 17 points.
Although the attribute of vitality does not help Ogata fight better, it can help Ogata live better.
Not only can Ogata's injuries and fatigue recover faster, making Ogata less likely to get sick. It can also make Ogata's physical condition better.
It was only after the weather got colder that Ogata discovered that increased vitality could improve his physical condition.
In the past, Ogata was a person who was very afraid of the cold.
On such a snowy day, I would not dare to go out without wrapping myself into a "zongzi".
But now, even if he is only wearing a thin kimono, Haori and Ogata don't feel too uncomfortable.
Traveling in a hurry is boring.
Driving in a place with less than beautiful scenery like this is even more boring.
In order to pass the boring time on the road, Ogata silently adjusted his breathing to the "breath of the source" and started practicing the "breath of the source".
After becoming a ronin, Ogata would start practicing "Breath of the Source" when he was bored.
Because the experiment of "can the level of martial arts be improved by practicing alone without using skill points" is still going on.
Although Ogata never gave up practicing the "Breath of the Source", he was unable to upgrade and still only had the "basic" "Breath of the Source", which gradually made Ogata's patience wear away.
Originally, Ogata would actively practice "breathing of the source" every day.
But now, because I have lost my patience, I am no longer as active in practicing "Breath of the Source" as before. I only pick it up and practice it when I am extremely bored or on a whim.
Regarding his experiment? Ogata has fully adopted the mentality of "take your time and don't rush", and does not expect to produce results quickly...
…
…
When Ogata was heading east as usual——
Tatsuno Domain? Tatsuno Castle.
At this time, a group of people were standing outside Tatsuno Castle, the feudal hall of Tatsuno Fan.
There are three family elders in Tatsuno Domain.
The leader of this group of people? It was one of the three elders of the Tatsuno Domain - Sano Munenori.
As one of the family elders, Sano led a group of officials from the Tatsuno clan to stand in the snow outside Tatsuno Castle - this was not because Sano and the others were insane.
The reason why they stood in the snow outside Tatsuno Castle early in the morning? It was because-some important figures from Edo were coming to their Tatsuno Domain today.
This big shot from Edo was none other than Hasegawa Heizo, the commander of the Hufu Thieves Kai.
Hasegawa Heizo will lead a group of officials who have been punished by thieves to go to Tatsuno Domain.
As one of the family elders, Sano was responsible for leading some officials from the domain to greet Hasegawa Heizo and others.
"Huh... it's so cold..." An official standing next to Sano rubbed his hands that were stiff from the cold and complained softly, "It's not snowing yet? Why is it still so cold..."
This official's name is Yuichi Obata. He is Sano's right-hand man. The two are not only good comrades at work, but also have a good personal relationship.
As soon as Obata finished complaining, Sano, who was standing next to him, chuckled a few times and said in a half-joking tone:
"Xiaobata? If you can't even stand this level of weather, it only means that your body is weak? As a man, don't be too obsessed with a woman's belly."
"I don't want to be dismissed by the gray-haired Sano-sama because I'm weak." Xiaobata responded in the same half-joking tone.
Can the two be considered close friends? Sano is 55 years old this year, while Obata just celebrated her 34th birthday.
Kobata crossed his hands and put them under his armpits, using the warmth of his own armpits to warm his stiff hands.
While warming his hands, Xiaobata looked at the horizon ahead.
Staring at this empty horizon? Obata suddenly asked Sano:
"Sano-sama...the commander of the fire bandit Kai...do you really want to come to our Tatsuno Domain?"
"That's right." Sano said without hesitation.
"Hasegawa Heizo...is the 'Onihira', right?"
"Besides him, who else would have this title?"
"'Kipira'..." Xiaobata muttered, "What a weird title..."
"The thieves helped him name him. In the eyes of the thieves, he was as scary as a 'ghost', so thieves all over the world began to call him 'Ghost Ping', and this title slowly spread.
"
"Why did Onipira come all the way from Edo to Kansai..."
"Who knows." Sano shrugged, "I guess - 'Onipira' came all the way to our Tatsuno Domain with the official servants of Huofu Thief Kai, in order to hunt down someone."
"Other than that, I can't think of another reason why the commander-in-chief of Huo Fu Thief Gai would travel thousands of miles to come to us."
"Have any vicious thieves flowed into our Tatsuno Fan recently..." Xiaobata muttered.
"..." Sano looked around, then lowered his voice and whispered, "I only heard about it two days ago - 'Executioner Ittosai' seems to have entered our Tatsuno Domain a few days ago.
.”
After hearing Sano's words, Xiaobata's eyes immediately widened.