"That year, my brother and I were only 17 years old."
"How can young people of this age withstand the temptation of 'becoming a samurai'?"
"My brother and I accepted the big shot's offer without any hesitation."
"And that big shot didn't lie to us. He really changed our household registration to samurai, and made us Yuli of Kyoto."
"My brother and I were transformed in this way, from Yakuza to samurai, and to the power of Kyoto."
"So from the perspective of household registration, I am actually a samurai." Makimura smiled bitterly and shrugged, "It's just that this household registration is fake."
"After becoming a Yuli in Kyoto, my career has been smooth sailing."
"After spending five safe years in office, I had to leave Kyoto two years ago due to some issues."
"After leaving Kyoto, I was taken in by Calabash House by various coincidences, and then I work for Calabash House until now."
After quietly listening to Makimura's narration of past events, Ogata said softly:
"Makimura...you are also a person with a lot of stories..."
"Every member of Calabash House has a story." After responding to Ogata's words in a half-joking tone, Makimura said seriously, "Brother Ogata, after you are a guest at our Calabash House, do you plan to go there?"
Kyoto is looking for clues about the master and apprentice pair, right?"
"That's right." Ogata nodded without thinking.
"In that case, if you have any questions about Kyoto, you can ask me now." Makimura grinned, "After all, I have stayed in Kyoto for 23 years."
"When it comes to understanding Kyoto, there are probably few people in the world who can surpass me."
When Makimura finished speaking, the three of them had just washed their bodies and started heading towards the bath.
The huge pool was only used by the three of them, which was a different kind of enjoyment.
"Ogata-kun." Mamiya, who had his whole body submerged in the pool, pointed to his neck, "Can you touch the water with the injury on your neck?"
"It's no problem, the scabs have already started to form."
When parting with Konnosuke and others, Ogata got some medicine from Sokai to treat the knife wound, and he has been applying medicine on time these days.
With a vitality of 23 points, coupled with this fairly effective medicine, the injury on Ogata's neck recovered at a very fast speed.
The wound has scabbed over now and should be intact as before soon.
It's a pity that this piece of flesh and blood is still dark purple, announcing to Ogata: the immortal poison is still in your body.
After immersing the area below his neck in hot water, Ogata continued the conversation he had just had with Makimura.
"There's nothing I particularly want to know about Kyoto..." Ogata said with a bitter smile.
"That's it...then let me give you a suggestion."
"After you come to our Gourd House as a guest, if you rush towards Kyoto without stopping, you should be able to catch up with this year's Gion Festival in Kyoto."
"Gion Festival?" Ogata asked doubtfully.
"The Gion Matsuri in Kyoto is a huge festival with a history of nearly a thousand years. Brother Ogata, you should know about it, right?"
"I know. But I don't know much."
"The Gion Festival is the most lively time of the year in Kyoto." Makimura's face showed a hint of memories at this time, "Both men, women and children, old and young, will take to the streets and make a lot of noise."
"There are shrines patrolling, and Yamabokos patrolling..."
“You can see men and women wearing yukata and wooden clogs laughing everywhere on the streets.”
"It would be a great pity if you go to Kyoto and fail to take a look at this grand Gion Festival."
"Gion Festival..." Ogata chewed on the term, "If I can catch up with the Gion Festival in Kyoto, I would be happy to go and see it."
"It's a pity..." Makimura sighed lightly, "Even if Ogata brother you really catch up with this year's Gion Festival, you probably won't see much of the bustling scene."
"Huh? Why do you say that?"
"Because of the big fire at dawn." Mamiya on the side answered abruptly.
"That's right." The smile on Makimura's face gradually faded away at this time, "After suffering a fire of this level, Kyoto must not have fully cheered up yet."
After hearing Makimura's words, Ogata's expression involuntarily became heavier.
Ogata still knew about this sensational fire like the Tianming Fire.
The Tianming Fire occurred two years ago, in the seventh year of Tianming, 1788 AD.
In this year, the largest fire in Kyoto's history occurred.
There happened to be strong winds blowing at that time.
The wind borrowed the power of the fire, and the fire borrowed the power of the wind. The fire soon got out of control in this all-wooden city.
The fire raged in Kyoto for two full days before finally stopping.
According to an official statement released by the Edo shogunate later: The fire destroyed 36,797 houses, 201 temples, and 37 shrines in Kyoto.
Burnt buildings account for 80% of the total number of buildings in Kyoto.
There are different opinions on the number of casualties. The official statement released by the Edo shogunate was 150 people, but any fool knows how it was possible for such a small number of people to die in a fire of this scale.
According to the official statement, the cause of the fire started in an empty house on the outskirts of the city. The cause of the fire has not been identified.
The fire that burned down 80% of the houses in Kyoto was called the "Tenmei Fire" by the world.
Although the Tianming Fire did not completely destroy Kyoto, it was almost done.
Only two years have passed since the Tianming Fire, so it is naturally impossible to completely rebuild Kyoto and recreate Kyoto's former glory.
Ogata was already prepared to see ruins everywhere he looked when he arrived in Kyoto...
…
…
After the three people took a bath, Zhang San's subordinates just prepared the clothes and horses for the three people to wear.
The clothes Ogata had worn since Hirose Domain were already in tatters. After getting new clothes, this tattered clothes were ruthlessly abandoned by Ogata.
I don’t know whether Jozo’s subordinates did it intentionally or not, but the new clothes they found for Ogata were exactly the same color as his old clothes.
Black hakama and cloth socks, dark blue kimono, light green haori.
Looking at this new set of equipment with the same color as his old equipment, Ogata couldn't help but smile helplessly.
After putting on clean new clothes, the three of Ogata, led by Jozo's subordinates, came to the outskirts of Dahe Town.
The reins of the three horses were tied to a big tree in a grove on the outskirts of Dahe Town. The three horses had saddles and stirrups tied to them.
"Mamiya-sama, Makimura-sama."
Zhangsan's subordinate made a "please" gesture toward the three horses.
"Please accept!"
"Thank you very much." Mamiya smiled and saluted the man, then walked towards the three horses.
The horse chosen by Mamiya was the one that seemed to have the strongest temper.
The fierce horses kept snoring and pawing the ground with their hooves.
After seeing Ogata and others approaching, Ogata and others continued to neigh and roar towards it.
"I'm sorry." The subordinate Zhang San looked apologetic, "Currently we only have these three horses that can be ridden here. There are no more docile horses."
"It doesn't matter." Mamiya waved his hand, "That's it."
After saying that, Mamiya happened to come to the side of the fierce horse.
With a neat turn, Mamiya climbed onto the back of the fierce horse with extremely beautiful movements.
After Mamiya sat on its back, the fierce horse immediately let out bursts of eardrum-numbing neighing.
While neighing, he kept jumping and throwing himself around, trying to throw Mamiya off his back.
But at this moment a miracle happened.
Facing the fierce horse that wanted to throw him to the ground, Mamiya pulled the reins in his hand with a special force, expressionless.
He kept mumbling the strange onomatopoeia of "Duoduoduoduoduo".
After a while, the extremely violent horse under Mamiya's crotch gradually calmed down.
After Mamiya mounted the horse, Makimura also picked a horse at random.
The temperament of the other two horses seemed to be much docile. After Makimura mounted the horse, the horse under him neither ran nor jumped, and only snorted a few times.
Although both Mamiya and Makimura can ride horses, Ogata can still tell at a glance that Mamiya's horse training skills aside, in terms of riding skills alone, Mamiya surpasses Makimura by a lot.
When Mamiya is riding on horseback, his waist and legs are very relaxed, while Makimura's back and legs are tight.
"Mamiya, have you learned equestrian and horse training somewhere before?"
"You are right. I have learned horsemanship and horse training in the Shinano area before. Come on, Ogata-kun. We are about to start our journey."
"I can't ride a horse..." Ogata slowly leaned towards the last horse with an anxious mood.
"Don't worry." At this time, Zhangsan's subordinate said, "That horse has the most docile temperament. Even if you don't know anything about equestrian skills, you don't have to worry about being thrown to the ground by that horse!"
"Ogata-kun, don't worry." Mamiya also said at this time, "We will teach you step by step. Equestrian skills are not difficult, and you will be able to master them soon."
After learning that the last horse had a very docile temperament, Ogata calmed down a little.
He put his left foot into the stirrup on the left side of the horse, then turned over and climbed onto the horse's back, imitating Mamiya and Makimura's appearance just now.
As Zhangsan's subordinate said just now, this horse's temperament is indeed docile, and it behaves well-behaved even if there is a person on its back. It does not make any noise or make a fuss.
"Hold the horse's reins tightly." Mamiya rode the horse to Ogata's side, "then gently tap the horse's belly with his right heel."
Ogata obediently followed Mamiya's instructions.
After tapping the horse's belly with his right heel, the horse under Ogata's crotch immediately let out a low neigh, and then ran forward carrying Ogata on its back.
Ogata, who was not prepared for the horse's sudden advance, let out a low exclamation and almost fell off the horse.
"Remember to hold on to the horse's reins." Mamiya let out a few evil laughs, then lightly knocked the horse's belly under his crotch, and chased Ogata in front.
"Teach me how to ride a horse, Ogata..." After letting out a helpless sigh, Makimura drove the horse and followed Mamiya closely.
…
…
Under the step-by-step guidance of Mamiya and Makimura, Ogata finally mastered the trick of riding a horse and was able to control his horse well. Of course, this was also related to the particularly docile temperament of his horse.
If Ogata were given a bad-tempered horse, Ogata would probably fall off the horse and eat his shit.
With the horses, the speed of the three people immediately increased.
The three of them went north from Kii and headed towards Owari.
Ogata didn't deliberately count how long it took them to arrive at Owari. After an unknown amount of time passed, Ogata finally heard from Mamiya and Makimura that we were almost there, and that ahead was our base of Gourd House.
It's dusk now.
The sun setting in the west reflected the clouds that covered the northern half of the sky. The sky began to take on the color of sunset, but the ground was still bright.
Thanks to the relatively bright light, Ogata could clearly see a small village surrounded by mountains sitting in front of him.
Because it was almost dinner time, smoke was rising from all over the village. At the entrance of the village, several urchins were playing. In the fields nearby, Ogata saw many villagers packing up their farm tools and preparing to return to the village.
Have a meal.
Looking at this small village, which looked extremely ordinary from anywhere, the expression and look on Ogata's face couldn't help but become strange.
"Mamiya, Makimura, is your Calabash House base here?"
"Are you thinking that this ordinary rural area is actually the base of your Calabash House?" Makimura asked in a half-joking tone, "If you think so, you are right. After all, this place is deliberately arranged to look ordinary.
"
"This rural village is actually the outpost of our Calabash House." Mamiya said softly at this time, "The villagers here are all members of our Calabash House. Once an outsider approaches this place, the villagers here will immediately report the outsider.
Let us know when news comes."
After seeing Mamiya and Makimura, several villagers who happened to be standing at the entrance of the village immediately greeted them with respectful faces.
When Mamiya and Makimura arrived at the village entrance, they dismounted and handed the reins of the horses to the villagers.
Seeing Mamiya and the others dismounting, Ogata also immediately dismounted, imitating what Mamiya and the others had done just now, and handed the reins to the villagers.
It seemed that it was not the first time for those villagers to lead horses. After taking over the horses from Ogata and the others, they used dexterous techniques to pull the three horses towards a corner of the village.
"Ogata-kun, we have to walk a mountain road next."
As Mamiya spoke, he pointed towards a large mountain behind the village.
"Our Huluwu base is inside that mountain."
"It should be almost dinner time now. If we move faster, we might be able to make it in time."
"Speaking of which, I have always forgotten to ask you, do you have many members in Calabash House?" Ogata asked, looking at the mountain that Mamiya pointed to.
"Not many." Mamiya held out four fingers, "In the entire Gourd House, apart from the Lord and Genichi, there are only four members including Makimura and me."
"The number of people is too small!" Ogata shouted angrily.
"Otherwise, why do you think I want to drag you into our Calabash House so much?" Mamiya smiled bitterly, "Ogata-kun, the other two members of our Calabash House...their personalities are a bit...weird,