Chapter 443 Ogata: Take a bath together, can it be cheaper? 【8300 words】
Looking at Ogata who slowly lowered his body weight, the bald ronin was slightly stunned at first.
Then the corners of his mouth pulled up exaggeratedly, as if he had heard some funny joke.
"Then do I have to thank you for giving us a chance to live, and then leave obediently?"
After mocking Ogata, the bald ronin charged towards Ogata with his sword in hand.
The other eight ronin behind him followed closely.
Facing the nine ronin who were charging straight towards him, Ogata's expression did not change at all.
He just silently watched the nine people getting closer and closer to the circle he drew.
After the bald man who was at the forefront stepped into the circle drawn by Ogata...
choke!
The sound of the blade being unsheathed was loud.
The silver light popped out of the sheath, drawing an arc that swept towards the bald ronin's neck.
Blood sprayed out from the bald ronin's neck like a fountain, splashing on the side, causing "Plum Blossom" to appear on the snow in advance.
[Ding! Use Wuwo Sword Style·Raikiri to kill the enemy]
[Earn 80 personal experience points and 70 swordsmanship "Sakakibara Itto-ryu" experience points]
[Current personal level: LV34 (14205200]
[Wuwo Sword Style Level: 11th Stage (154012000)]
"Didn't I say it?" Ogata said softly, "This circle is my attack range, and you just barged in without warning... I don't know whether I should say you are big-hearted or stupid."
As a sword-drawing technique, Raikiri is not very useful when fighting against masters, but it is quite useful against those guys who can't even grasp the distance between the enemy and ourselves.
Until the main artery in his neck was severed by Ogata, the bald man belatedly showed an expression of shock and fear.
He opened his lips as if he wanted to say something.
But his neck was chopped, and now he can't even speak a word.
When the bald ronin rolled his eyes and fell softly to the ground, Ogata ran towards the other ronin behind the bald ronin.
Just by looking at the movements of this ronin, he could tell that his swordsmanship was as bad as that of someone who had never learned swordsmanship.
Ogata didn't swing his sword either.
He only stretched out his left hand like a pair of pliers to grasp his hands that were holding the handle of the knife tightly and holding the knife high.
Converted to modern earth units, this ronin's height is only about 1.5 meters tall, which is not as tall as Atachi.
For such a short man, Ogata could catch his hands holding the sword high by raising his hand slightly.
After controlling the hands of the dwarf ronin, Ogata stepped forward, clamped his head with the crook of his right arm, and then stretched out his left foot to trip against his feet.
He destroyed the dwarf's center of gravity and made the dwarf fall heavily to the ground. At the same time, he used his right hand to break the dwarf's neck.
This is a very useful killing move in Shiranui-ryu jujitsu.
[Ding! Use Shiranui-ryu Ninjutsu and Shiranui-ryu Jujutsu to kill the enemy]
[Acquire 60 personal experience points and 60 experience points for the Ninjutsu "Shiranui-ryu Ninjutsu"]
Ogata killed their boss and one of their companions in an instant, and the remaining seven ronin finally had expressions on their faces as if they had seen a wild tiger or a wild bear.
In this world, robbers are basically a group of guys who can only fight with the wind.
When you encounter a weak person, you are like a wolf or a tiger.
If you encounter a strong enemy, run away immediately.
After seeing Ogata losing his bald head and dwarf in seconds, the remaining seven people were not stupid, and they all knew that they were going to have a hard time today.
So they immediately took the action that was most consistent with their status: turned around and ran away without the slightest hesitation.
The remaining 7 people fled in 7 different directions.
But now I realize that I have messed with the wrong person. It is obviously too late.
Ogata had just warned them and asked them to leave obediently.
Since they didn't listen to the advice, Ogata naturally had no reason to show mercy.
After using jujitsu to deal with the bald ronin, he immediately raised his knife and killed the seven people who were escaping.
No matter how strong Ogata is, he only has his hands and feet. It is always a bit difficult to chase down seven people who are fleeing in different directions alone. After all, there is no shadow clone technique in this world.
So there was no need for Ogata to say anything. Amachi took action very consciously and chased the seven people who escaped.
The blood flowers splashed and turned into "plum blossoms" on the snow.
Whenever a new blood flower appears, the system sound prompting Ogata to gain experience points will sound in Ogata's mind.
The strength of this group of ronin is very poor, even Amachi, who is not good at melee combat, can easily defeat them all.
It didn't take much time to kill them, but it did take some effort to catch them up one by one.
It took Ogata and the two of them nearly 7 minutes to catch up with the escaping people one by one, and then all the ronin who had just clamored for Ogata to leave his money and Amachi turned into corpses that could no longer vent their anger.
.
Among these 9 people, 6 were killed by Ogata, and the other 3 were killed by Atachi.
"The Ou area is truly well-deserved..." Ogata took out two pieces of paper from his pocket and wiped off the blood and grease on the blade of the Daishiten sword. "It is well-deservedly named..."
After sighing with emotion, Ogata opened his current personal system interface, checked his current personal system interface, and confirmed each experience bar.
Because he didn't count carefully, Ogata didn't remember how many robbers he and Atachi encountered after they stepped into the snow-covered Mutsu area.
Ogata only remembered that many waves of people came before and after, and he gained a lot of experience.
These robbers who came to trouble them were basically ronin who had nothing but the knife at their waist.
These robbers who came to trouble them naturally turned into experience points, allowing Ogata to gain 1340 personal level experience points, Sakakibara one-sword style experience points of 560, Muga two-sword style experience points of 330, and Shiranui-style ninjutsu experience points of 550.
.
After putting Da Shiten back into the scabbard, Ogata quickly walked towards the long wooden stick that he had just thrown aside casually.
Just when Ogata picked up the long wooden stick again, Amachi had just finished searching for the nine robbers.
"The money for tonight's meal is already settled." Amachi clasped his hands in his arms and hurriedly returned to Ogata, then spread his hands to show Ogata what he had just learned from these nine tribulations.
The money seized from the robbers: a handful of copper coins.
According to Ogata's visual inspection, there are probably hundreds of copper coins in this handful.
In the past few days, after killing all the waves of robbers who wanted to enrich Ogata and his wife, and some who also wanted to kill Ogata and their lives, Ogata gained a lot of experience points.
At the same time, it also gave Ogata and Atachi some extra income, although it was not much.
The only valuable things the robbers had on them were undoubtedly their weapons.
But Ogata and Omachi, who are currently rushing to Ezo Land, obviously do not have the leisure and energy to carry these knives and sell them.
Moreover, the two of them had no way to sell knives in this unfamiliar land.
Not every pawn shop has the guts to accept large quantities of weapons of unknown origin.
What's more, carrying so many knives can easily attract the attention of the government and cause trouble. A couple carried so many knives into a castle and planned to sell them, hoping to prevent the officials from suspecting that they were reselling stolen goods.
It's hard for thieves.
"Let's go, Amachi." Ogata straightened the bamboo hat on his head, "I was delayed by these robbers for nearly two sticks of incense, so I have to speed up my pace a little."
"okay."
Atachi quickly put the copper coins he had just snatched from the robbers into his own money bag, and then followed Ogata and continued walking along the avenue that was already covered with snow.
Both Ogata and Omachi have a long wooden stick in their hands. When they are on the road, they use the long wooden stick as a crutch to make their feet easier.
After walking all the way to the place where the bodies of the robbers could no longer be seen, Atachi turned to Ogata next to him and asked:
"Ayi, when you faced those robbers just now, why did you draw a circle to warn them?"
"When you faced robbers before, didn't you just draw your knife?"
As Asachi spoke, he tightened his grip on the long wooden stick in his hand and imitated Ogata's movements of drawing circles on the ground just now.
When Xuefang faced these robbers who were looking for money and life, he never talked nonsense with these robbers. He just drew his sword and rushed forward to kill them all.
But today was the only exception. Instead of drawing the knife directly, he first drew a circle on the ground to warn the robbers to leave quickly.
"What else could it be?" Ogata smiled bitterly, "It's not because of that."
After saying that, Ogata raised the long wooden stick in his hand and pointed it towards the western sky.
In the western sky, there are large dark clouds.
This large group of dark clouds formed a "black tide", which was in sharp contrast with the rest of the white sky that had not been eroded by the "black tide".
Although this "black tide" is still squeezed into the corner of the western sky, it is showing signs of expanding to all directions, occupying the entire sky above Ogata and Omachi.
"If it were normal, I certainly wouldn't talk nonsense with those robbers." Although Ogata and A-Machi were chatting, their pace did not slow down at all, "but now the snowstorm is coming."
"If we fail to arrive at the inn before the snowstorm arrives, we will be in trouble."
"That's why I gave the robbers a chance and told them to leave quickly and not waste our time."
"It's a pity that my warning didn't work." A hint of helplessness flashed across Ogata's face, "Thanks to them, the two of us were delayed for almost two sticks of incense."
After saying that, Ogata looked up again and glanced at the "black tide" in the western sky.
I don't know if it was Ogata's illusion, but he always felt that the expansion speed of the "Kurotide" seemed to be getting faster.
"'Snowstorm'..." Amachi muttered, "It is said that the snowstorms in the Ou area are particularly scary..."
"This is the north after all. Okay, O-Machi, just concentrate on your journey. The next inn should not be far away."
…
…
As Ogata visually observed, the expansion speed of the "Kurotide" is indeed getting faster and faster.
Half an hour ago, the "black tide" was still shrinking in the western sky.
But half an hour later, the "Kurotide" directly occupied the entire sky above Ogata and Omachi.
It was obviously only around 4 p.m., but the surroundings were already as dark as night.
The dark clouds were extremely low, as if they would fall on Ogata and Atachi's heads at any time.
This situation made Ogata couldn't help but recall the famous ancient poem he had memorized in his previous life: "Black clouds are pressing down on the city, threatening to destroy it."
Not long after the "black tide" composed of a large number of dark clouds occupied the entire sky, snow began to fall.
At first there were just a few flakes of snow.
But gradually, the number of falling snow flakes increased rapidly, and the falling speed increased rapidly.
Finally, more and more snowflakes fell, and they rolled into a mess, as if covered by a dense silver net, and the dense snowflakes turned into a roaring blizzard.
Ogata's sight was obscured by the dense snow flakes.
Looking up, everything around seems to have disappeared into a chaotic white mist. Through the mist, goose feathers and heavy snow are flying, and the sky and the earth merge into one color.
The cold wind stirred up the falling snow flakes and flew them all over the sky. At the same time, the black scarf wrapped around Ogata's neck also billowed with the wind.
Ogata and Omachi are just downwind of this cold wind.
Waves of cold wind carrying snowflakes hit Ogata's skin, making Ogata feel the pain as if he was being cut by thin knives.
Ogata raised his right hand holding the cane in front of his face to block the cold wind from destroying his face.
His left hand tightly held Amachi's right hand, leading him to step on the snow that had become thicker due to the arrival of the blizzard, and continued to walk straight forward.
While leading A-Machi forward, Ogata specifically asked himself to walk directly in front of A-Machi, so that he could block most of the oncoming wind and snow for A-Machi.
Amachi, who was walking behind Ogata, let Ogata hold her hand, holding her own crutch tightly with her free left hand, and like Ogata, she used her free arm to cover her face to protect her face.
Because Ogata, who was walking in front, blocked most of the wind and snow for her, A-Machi was more relaxed than Ogata.
The sudden snowstorm was bigger than Ogata imagined.
If you are an ordinary person, facing a snowstorm of this intensity, you will probably be unable to move even a single step.
Just as Ogata kept rolling his eyes, looking for a place to take shelter from the wind and snow, Omachi suddenly shouted at him behind him:
"Ayi! Look! There is fire ahead!"
Fire?
Ogata quickly narrowed his eyes and tried to look forward.
After Ogata concentrated all his attention and looked forward, Ogata finally saw a faint orange light in the layers of snow.
"Your eyesight is too good..."
Although he and A-Machi have been together for a long time, Ogata can still be surprised by A-Machi's powerful eyesight far beyond that of ordinary people from time to time.
After trying hard to increase his speed a few minutes, Ogata led Omachi and walked straight towards the blurry orange fire in front of him.
After getting closer to the fire, Ogata finally saw clearly the appearance of this inn.
There are a large number of inns built on each of the "Five Streets" starting from Edo. These inns were all funded by the shogunate.
This is also one of the important reasons why Edo is so prosperous. There are inns along each of the "Five Streets" to facilitate travelers and businessmen to stay, and for people from all over the world to travel to Edo.
There are 27 inns along the Oshu street that Ogata and Omachi are walking on. The inn in front of them should be one of these 27 inns.
There is a large plaque hanging at the gate of this inn, with three large Chinese characters painted on the plaque: Xintian Juku.
Ogata opened the door of the inn as quickly as possible, then led Amachi into the inn, and then closed the door.
After closing the door and blocking out all the wind and snow, Ogata finally breathed a sigh of relief.
There is a counter opposite the door of the Yisu.
Sitting behind the counter was an old man who was about 50 years old and whose hair was half gray.
After Ogata and Ogata broke into the inn, the old man immediately cast a somewhat surprised look at Ogata and Amachi.
"You two...do you want to stay here tonight?" the old man asked.
This old man has a very strong accent.
Since entering the Mutsu region a few days ago, Ogata has always encountered people with this accent. This should be the accent of the Mutsu region.
"Yes." Ogata took off the bamboo hat on his head and shook off the snow accumulated on the bamboo hat while nodding, "Do you have any free rooms? I would like a room that can accommodate two people."
"Of course there are rooms." The old man smiled bitterly, "You two should be the only ones staying here tonight. There are plenty of rooms."
"We are the only two guests?" Amachi looked surprised.
"Yes." The old man walked out from behind the counter with a wry smile, "But this is a common thing. Come with me, I will take you to your room."
The old man led Ogata and Amachi up to the second floor and brought them to a paper sliding door located deep on the second floor.
After the old man pulled the door open, Ogata briefly took a look at the room he and A-Machi shared tonight.
Overall, this room is pretty good.
It's spacious enough, clean enough, and has no odor.
Two clean beddings were neatly stacked in one corner of the room.
"This is a double room in our hotel." The old man introduced, "It costs 400 yuan a night."
400 Wen per night is quite a reasonable price.
This kind of clean double room is basically at this price.
"This hotel provides meals and bathrooms." The old man continued, "Do you two need meals and bathrooms?"
"How much does it cost to stay in this room for one night, have dinner, and then take a shower?" Ogata asked.
"What do you two want to eat?" the old man asked, "We provide different meals here, and different meals have different prices."
Ogata: "What kind of food do you sell here?"
After pondering for a moment, the old man said:
"Judging from your accents, you are from Kansai, right?"
"My wife is indeed from Kansai." Ogata smiled, "But I'm actually from Izumo. I just stayed with my wife for a long time, and my accent unknowingly changed to a Kansai accent."
"Well, that's really rude." The old man looked embarrassed and bowed to Ogata to apologize.
Ogata waved his hand: "It's okay. No need to apologize."
After a brief apology to Ogata, the old man cleared his throat and then continued:
"If you two are both foreigners, I recommend you to try our Mutsu specialties."
“We sell three of Mutsu’s specialties here: bowls of soba noodles, bamboo leaf fish slabs and edamame stuffed mochi.”
"Since it's rare to come to Mutsu, why not take this opportunity to taste our Mutsu specialties? What do you two think?"
The old man's suggestion made Ogata a little excited.
Since entering the Mutsu area along the Oshu streets, Ogata has never tasted the local delicacies of Mutsu.
Ogata turned his head, and just after casting a questioning look at Amachi, Amachi immediately nodded with a little excitement and expectation in his eyes.
"Then let's try the local delicacies of Mutsu." Ogata said to the old man, "How much does it cost to stay in this room for one night, have dinner for two people and take a bath?"
"The accommodation fee is 400 Wen, and the dinner for two people is 70 Wen. The price of the bathroom here is 10 Wen for one person, and 20 Wen for two people, so the total is 490 Wen."
"Is the bathroom you have here the kind where you take a bath in a tub half as tall as a person?" Ogata asked.
"Exactly."
"Then if the two of us take a bath in the same tub, can the bathing fee be cheaper?" Ogata asked seriously.
The old man raised his eyebrows, and his eyes when looking at Ogata and A-Machi couldn't help but become a little weird.
"If you two plan to take a bath in the same tub, then it will cost only 10 Wen for each of you. The accommodation fee plus food and bath money will total 480 Wen."
"Deal." Ogata took out his wallet and prepared to pay.
…
…
Wow!
Ogata and Omachi jumped into the large wooden barrel filled with warm water at the same time.
The hot water in the barrel was immediately squeezed out of the barrel by the two men, making the ground under the barrel wet.
"Ah..." After jumping into the wooden bucket filled with warm water, Ating narrowed his eyes comfortably, "I feel like I'm alive..."
The service of this inn is quite comprehensive, and Ogata and Omachi were provided with 2 towels soaked in cold water.
Ogata folded the two towels soaked in cold water and placed them on Omachi's head.
Then fold another towel soaked in cold water and put this towel on your head.
The reason why Japanese people put towels on their heads when taking a bath or bathing in a tub actually has a scientific basis.
This is actually to prevent cerebral hemorrhage.
Generally speaking, the towel placed on the head must be a damp towel soaked in cold water.
As soon as you enter a bathtub or bathtub filled with hot water, your body will be subject to water pressure, and blood will easily concentrate in the head, which may cause cerebral hemorrhage.
So to cool your head, place a wet towel soaked in cold water on your head.
Ogata straightened the wet towel on his head and asked Amachi:
"When was the last time either of us had a hot bath?"
"I remember it was like two days ago." Atachi folded his arms on the edge of the tub, and then hooked the folded arms with his chin.
"I don't know that I haven't had a chance to take a hot bath when I arrived in Ezo." Ogata half-joked, pouring hot water on A-Machi's back, and then helped A-Machi wash his back.
"If two people take a bath together, they can save one person's bathing money." This is a money-saving trick that Ogata and Omachi discovered after leaving Edo.
Most hotels provide bathing services by providing you with a bathtub and then preparing hot water for you so that you can take a bath in the bathtub.
So if two people take a bath in a bucket, doesn’t it mean saving one person’s money on renting a bucket and water?
Ogata discovered this money-saving plan by accident.
As for why he discovered this money-saving trick... the reason is actually not easy to elaborate on.
Since leaving Edo, Ogata and Omachi have been using this method to save money for bathing.
While saving money, you can also do a lot of other things. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.
Of course, there are still some stores that insist on charging bathing fees for two people.
However, most shops will agree to only charge per person.
When Ogata was helping A-Machi take a bath, A-Machi joked to Ogata:
"That person just mistakenly thought you were from Kansai."
Ogata smiled helplessly: "My accent has been distorted by you. Isn't it normal to be mistaken for a Kansai person?"
"Your Kansai accent was not very standard before." Amachi continued, "But now your Kansai accent is getting more and more standard."
The official language of this era was naturally Guandong dialect.
That is the standard Japanese of modern Japan in later generations.
Kanto dialect is similar to the "Mandarin" of this era.
And A-Machi can’t speak Kanto, that is, he can’t speak the “Mandarin” of this era.
Born in Kansai, Omachi can only speak Kansai dialect.
Kansai is the most spoken dialect in Japan. It has many differences from Kanto.
For example: "What" in Guandong dialect is pronounced as "Nani".
The word "what" in Kansai dialect is pronounced as "徳uck".
Kansai is a large country, so people from different regions speak different Kansai dialects.
According to different regions, Kansai dialect has many branches.
These branches are called "XXX debate".
For example: Osaka debate, Nara debate...
Because he was born in Omi, Kansai, what Amachi talks about is the "Omi debate" in Kansai dialect.
After spending such a long time with A-Machi, Ogata's accent was gradually skewed by A-Machi.
Now Ogata speaks with a strong Kansai accent.
The old man just now was not the first person to mistake Ogata for a Kansai native.
After leaving Edo, Ogata has met several people who thought he was from Kansai...
…
…
In addition to taking a bath, Ogata and Atachi also did some other things together, so it took them a while to get out of the bathroom.
After returning to the double room they had rented, they happened to bump into the old man walking towards their room carrying two tables filled with food.
"Two distinguished guests, you have come back just in time."
The old man smiled at Ogata and Atachi.
"Dinner is just about ready."
Although the old man was old, his arm strength was amazing. He held a table full of food in each hand, which he could not only move but also hold very steadily.
Ogata and Omachi returned to the room and sat down on the tatami in the room.
After Ogata and Amachi sat side by side on the tatami, the old man placed the two tables filled with food in front of Ogata and Amachi respectively.
"Come! Sir, please use it!"
The smile on the old man's face was a bit proud.
“These are the delicacies that we in Mutsu are proud of! Bowls of soba noodles, fish slabs with bamboo leaves, and mochi with edamame filling!”
Oxiang bowed to the old man and thanked him.
But he didn't immediately pick up his chopsticks to eat.
Instead, he first asked the old man:
"Excuse me, I would like to ask, do you know where there are merchants around here who can travel to and from Ezo?"
"A businessman who can travel to and from Ezo?" The old man raised his eyebrows, "Why do you ask?"
Xu Fangyan told the old man the reason in a concise and concise manner.
"Oh...you guys want to go to Ezo..." The old man nodded gently, "Indeed, if you don't have any connections or financial resources, the best way to go to Ezo is to take a taxi with someone with Ezo.
It’s a smooth sailing boat for our business.”
"Then you can continue walking north along Oshu Street tomorrow morning." The old man raised his hand and pointed north, "Going further north from here is Nishikino Town."
“I remember that the ‘Minamoto Tachibana House’ in Nishikino Town was a shop specializing in Ezo goods.”
"The owner of Minamoto Tachibana House is a very big businessman. He owns two merchant ships."
"He usually uses his two merchant ships to go to the Ezo land, buy furs and other Ezo goods from the Ezo people, and then bring these goods back to sell them."
"Go and ask the people at Yuanju House if they would like to give you a ride."
"If you walk fast enough, you might be able to reach Nishikino Town tomorrow evening."
Having collected very valuable information, Ogata and Atachi's faces showed joy.
"Thank you." Ogata bowed to the old man again and thanked him, "You have helped us a lot."
The old man smiled and waved his hand: "It's okay, this small favor is not worth mentioning."
After saying that, the old man suddenly changed into a more solemn face.
"Two guests, although I don't know why you are going to Ezo. But if it is not because of something particularly important, then I advise you that it is better not to go to Ezo now."
"In recent years, the Ezo people have been restless."
"The Ezo people just broke out in riots in Kunasi Limenasi last year."
"In the current tense atmosphere between the two races, I advise you not to go to Ezo Land now, and it is better not to go to Ezo Land as much as possible."
As soon as the old man finished speaking, Xu Fang smiled slightly:
"Thank you for the reminder. But we happen to have something very important going on, so we have to go to Ezochi now."
"Since you really have something important to do, I don't have much to say." The old man sighed softly, "Let me give you another reminder."
"When you arrive in Ezo, you should pay attention to the 'Red Moon Fortress'."
"'Red Moon Fortress'?" A Machi looked confused, "What is this?"
"That is a place that must not be approached." The old man smiled bitterly, "I don't remember when it was, but a group of Lucians came to Ezo Land and built a small fortress out of wood."
"But not long after the fortress was built, these Lucians suddenly left for some unknown reason, leaving only the already built fortress behind."
"Not long after the Lucians left, a group of Ezo moved into the fortress left by the Lucians."
"This group of Ezo who occupied the fortress have a lot of iron cannons for some reason."
"Their iron cannons all have a red crescent engraved on them."
The old man gestured with his fingers and drew a crescent shape in the air with his fingers.
"So gradually, we called this fortress the 'Red Moon Fortress'."
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Let me show you the information pictures that the author found.
This is the "Five Streets". Ogata and Omachi are now on the streets of Oshu →
This is the seat of Matsumae Domain, the northernmost vassal state in Japan during the Edo period →
This is the location of Dewa and Mutsu. The two areas are collectively called the "Ou area" or the "Tohoku area" →