Chapter 473 In ancient times there was Wu Song fighting tigers, now there are Ogata fighting bears [8200 words]
The weather is very good today, there is no snow.
We didn't encounter any unexpected situations on the way.
So Ogata and the others arrived at the northern border of Matsumae Domain in the afternoon very smoothly.
After successfully delivering Ogata and Omachi to their destination, Nakahara said goodbye to them, and then drove the sleigh back to Matsumae Castle.
After watching Nakahara drive the sled back to the original place, Atachi turned his head and looked north, and then let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, now... we can only walk."
"Fortunately, we are very accustomed to walking." Ogata joked and took out a map from his arms.
This map was given to them by Soichiro Nishino on the ship.
This is a simple map of Ezo Territory.
But it's quite simple.
Only Matsumae Domain and part of the area north of Matsumae Domain are drawn.
In this map, there are some red dots drawn north of Matsumae Domain. These red dots are the settlements of Ezo.
Ogata planned to rely on this map to find these "red dots" one by one and collect clues.
Maybe some Ezo from one of the Ezo settlements would happen to bump into Xuanzheng, Xuanzhen and the others.
And maybe Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen are in some Ezo settlement right now.
"We are about to enter Ezo's territory." Ogata put away the map in his hand, and then said sternly to Amachi beside him, "Be cautious at all times."
Unnaturalized Ezo, Lucians, gold diggers... The Ezo land, where everyone is currently present, is not at peace. You must be extra careful. Ogata has heard similar reminders since he was still in Edo.
I don’t know how many times.
"I'm a kunoichi." Atachi smiled and said in a half-joking tone, "Saving lives is what we ninjas are best at."
…
…
2 days later
Today, Tang Shen was sitting behind his stall as always, waiting for customers to come.
Wooden cages holding various animals are neatly placed in front of Tang Shen and on both sides.
Tang Shen hugged his crutch, which was half the width of a bowl, and sat on the ground, with his head lowered and his eyes closed to meditate.
"Mr. Tang Shen, I haven't seen you for a long time. I haven't seen you for more than three months. You are still as energetic as ever."
A familiar male voice sounded in front of Tang Shen's stall.
After quickly opening his eyes, Tang Shen immediately looked towards the stall.
Standing in front of the stall was a middle-aged man who was quite familiar to Tang Shen.
This middle-aged man was looking at Tang Shen with a smile.
Looking at this middle-aged man, Tang Shen also smiled.
"Oh! It's Mr. Yamamoto! It's been a long time! Did you come to purchase goods so early this year?"
"Yes." The middle-aged man whom Yugami called 'Yamamoto-sama' shrugged, "The pets I bought from you last time were sold out quickly, and our furs are almost sold out, so
This year I have to leave early to restock.”
Yamamoto is this middle-aged man and is a regular customer of Tangshen.
He is a wealthy businessman from Kyoto who specializes in the fur business. He specializes in selling furs produced in the Ezo region.
Due to various reasons such as its vast territory and sparse population, the various wild animals in Ezo Land are not only numerous in number, but also have thick and dense fur to protect them from the cold.
Therefore, animal fur from Ezo has always been a best-seller.
In addition to selling furs, Yamamoto also works part-time as a "pet seller."
As a thousand-year-old ancient capital, Kyoto has no shortage of princes, nobles, and wealthy samurai families who have both spare money and spare time.
Cute pets have always been a best-seller among these "people on people".
The red foxes, pikas, red squirrels in Ezo, and other cute animals that can only be found in Ezo but not in Kyoto are extremely popular.
Therefore, Yamamoto is Yugami’s most important customer and the most frequent customer in Yugami’s business.
Every time Yamamoto came to Ezochi to buy furs, he would also buy these cute little animals unique to Ezochi from Yugami, and then transport them back to Kyoto for resale.
Yamamoto glanced at the wooden cages placed in front of Yugami.
"How many animals do you have this time?"
"A total of 32." Tang Shen responded, "5 red foxes, 14 rats and rabbits..."
Tang Shen reported the number of various types of animals one by one.
After Yugami finished speaking, Yamamoto said:
"The number of animals seems to be smaller this time."
"I'm getting older." Tang Shen smiled bitterly, "My skills are not as good as before."
Yamamoto leaned down and carefully examined the animals in the cage.
After selling pets for so long, Yamamoto also developed some discernment.
Yamamoto can tell which animals are healthy and which ones are sick at a glance.
After briefly checking the status of all the animals in the cage, Yamamoto nodded:
"Although the number is smaller this time, every animal is healthy."
Yamamoto straightened up.
"Okay. I want all of your animals. Please give me a price."
Yamamoto is not only the most important person to Yugami and the one who patronizes his business most often, but he is also Yugami's favorite customer.
Because Yamamoto is very proud, every time he comes to patronize his business, he will buy all his animals except those that look unhealthy.
Subsequently, Tang Shen and Yamamoto launched a brief "business war".
Although Yamamoto is an old customer of Tangshen, the price that needs to be negotiated and the price that needs to be repaid still needs to be negotiated and repaid.
After several rounds of bargaining, Yugami and Yamamoto finally negotiated a price acceptable to both parties.
After handing over the money to Yugami, Yamamoto immediately called his men and asked them to immediately move all the pets on Yugami's stall to the bed.
As one of the well-known wealthy businessmen in Kyoto, Yamamoto naturally has a lot of clerks under his command.
Soon, the wooden cages containing various animals that were piled as high as a hill in front of Tang Shen were emptied.
After all the animals were moved away, Yamamoto briefly chatted with Yugami and then said goodbye to Yugami.
Selling furs is Yamamoto's main business, so he still needs to be busy negotiating with local fur traders about purchasing goods.
After Yamamoto left, Yugami looked at the empty stall with joy on his face.
As a businessman, there is nothing more satisfying than having your products sold out.
"Looks like I have to go hunting again..."
Tang Shen muttered, while using crutches to support the ground, he slowly stood up from the ground.
Since the animals have been sold out, there is no need for Tang Shen to stay here anymore.
There was a trolley parked behind Tang Shen.
The owner of this trolley is Tang Shen.
Tang Shen used this pushcart to push his animals to the street connected to the port for sale, and then pushed the animals back in the afternoon.
Just when Tang Shen was about to turn around and push his cart home,
Bang.
"Hey! Don't you look at the road when you're walking?!"
Because all the animals were sold out, Tang Shen was so happy that he didn't notice a strong man walking very close to him.
Tang Shen, who was so excited that he was a little carried away, accidentally bumped into this strong man, making a slight sound of physical collision.
The thick and long crutch in Tang Shen's hand, which was half as thick as a bowl's mouth, also accidentally slipped out of his hand during the collision and fell to the ground.
The strong man who was accidentally hit by Tang Shen was wearing ordinary coarse clothes and had no sword on his waist. He was an ordinary civilian.
But he was obviously a person with a bad temper. After being hit by Tang Shen, he immediately cast an extremely displeased look at Tang Shen and shouted angrily at Tang Shen.
The frightened Tang Shen bowed and apologized to the strong man in a panic.
"No, I'm very sorry! Please forgive me!"
Looking at Tang Shen who was bowing and apologizing to him respectfully, the strong man felt a little less angry.
"Hmph!" The strong man snorted heavily, "Next time you walk, watch the road carefully!"
After saying a harsh word, the strong man strode away.
As soon as the strong man left, a young man who happened to have witnessed what happened just now quickly ran toward Tang Shen from a short distance away.
"Old man, are you okay?" The young man cast a caring look at Tang Shen.
"It's okay..." A bitter look appeared on Tang Shen's face, "It's just that the left shoulder I accidentally bumped into him just now is a little painful..."
Tang Shen said while rubbing his left shoulder.
"That guy is really..." The young man raised his eyes and looked in the direction where the strong man left just now, "You have the nerve to be cruel to an old man for such a small thing."
While complaining about the rudeness of the strong man just now, the young man bent down and helped Tang Shen pick up the crutch that he accidentally dropped after bumping into the strong man.
Holding the crutch with his right hand and lifting it up, the young man's expression suddenly changed.
"Old man, is your crutch filled with lead? Why is it so heavy?"
Tang Shen's crutch is not extremely heavy, but for a wooden crutch, it seems a bit too heavy.
After taking the crutch back, Tang Shen smiled:
"Who would use a lead-filled crutch? My crutch is just made of special wood, which makes it a little heavier."
"Thank you, young man."
After thanking the young man, Tang Shen quickly came to his trolley that was standing next to him, pushed the trolley, and headed straight towards his home.
…
…
Both Ogata and Omachi are people who are used to living a rough life.
A-Machi has received corresponding ninja training, and he often had to sleep in the open during those missions.
Not to mention Ogata, in the more than a year since he left Hirose Domain, he has spent slightly more days sleeping outdoors than staying in comfortable hotels.
Therefore, the two of them did not feel uncomfortable with their current "trip to Ezoji".
During the day, we followed the map and headed straight towards the Ezo settlement closest to Matsumae Domain. At night, we took turns sleeping. When one of them was sleeping, the other person was responsible for sleeping.
Before they knew it, the two of them left Matsumae Domain and headed north all the way, which happened five days ago.
…
…
A-Machi looked at the sun in the distant sky, which had set very low in the west, and murmured in a low voice: "It's going to be dark soon..."
As soon as A-Machi finished speaking, Orie on the side answered in a helpless tone:
"That's the only bad thing about winter. It gets dark too fast."
According to Ogata's calculation, it's probably just past 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
But at this time, in Ezo, which is quite far north in latitude, it is almost dark.
"Speed up your pace a little." Ogata looked around and said, "This place is not very suitable for camping."
Ogata and the others are currently in a forest.
Surrounded by dense trees, it is not suitable for camping.
"Yes." Atachi nodded lightly and followed Ogata to speed up the pace.
Before they had gone a few steps, Ogata and Omachi suddenly heard several strange noises.
After following the sound and looking around, it turned out to be two deer.
These two deer have long and large antlers on their heads, and there are a few white spots on their smoky brown hair. They are very majestic. Even if they are covered with thick fur, you can feel the powerful power contained in their four hooves.
The two deer seemed to have discovered Ogata and Omachi.
Without even looking at Ogata and Omachi, they spread their hooves and quickly left their sight.
Looking at the two deer leaving in a hurry, A-Machi let out a low sigh:
"There are so many deer in Ezo Land..."
During the five days they spent deep in the hinterland of the Ezo region north of the Matsumae Domain, Ogata and Omachi didn't see a single person other than the two of them.
Be it Kazuto, Ezo, or Lucian, Ogata and the others didn't see anyone.
On the contrary, I have seen a lot of animals.
So far, the animal that Ogata and Omachi have seen the most is deer. Followed by various small animals such as squirrels and rabbits.
Deer can be seen almost everywhere. Every time you walk a certain distance, you can see a deer.
Because they have seen deer so many times, Ogata and Omachi are no longer surprised when they see deer.
"Those two deer just now were really big." A-Machi said casually, "They should be the biggest deer we have ever seen."
"Speaking of big, this kind of deer is not considered big." Ogata smiled, "I heard that in the countries of Tang Tu and Nanman, there is a kind of deer called 'moose'. These deer are called big."
"A moose is basically 6 to 8 feet tall (one foot: 30 centimeters) in terms of shoulder height alone."
"Ah, I've heard other people talk about this kind of animal before." A-Machi nodded, "If I have the chance, I really want to see with my own eyes whether this moose is really as big as the rumors say."
"In addition to moose, I also want to see what a unicorn looks like."
A-Machi touched his swan neck.
"I heard that unicorns have very long necks, as long as 3 or 4 kilometres. (1 kilo: 1.818 meters)"
"And I heard that as long as you touch a unicorn, you will be blessed with its auspiciousness, and you will become lucky for a while."
"I wonder if it is really so magical. If I have the chance, I really want to see the Kirin with my own eyes."
Time on the road has always been boring.
So in order to pass the time, Ogata and Omachi would often chat casually about random topics like now.
Although Ogata has never seen a moose in person, he has seen related photos on the Internet of a moose standing next to a car.
With the moose as a reference, the car became petite.
This picture made Ogata intuitively feel the hugeness of the moose, which gave Ogata a great impact.
The "Qilin" that Atachi just mentioned has this rather domineering name, but it is actually just an animal that is very common in Africa.
This animal is a giraffe.
Why are giraffes called unicorns? This all starts with a eunuch named Zheng He.
During Zheng He's voyage to the West in the early Ming Dynasty, he discovered giraffes in East Africa.
Because the appearance of the giraffe was very similar to the appearance of the unicorn recorded in the book, Zheng He concluded that the giraffe was the legendary auspicious beast unicorn, and excitedly brought the unicorn back home.
In this way, Zheng He successfully changed Japan's name for giraffes.
As a time traveler, Ogata naturally knows that the so-called Kirin is just an ordinary animal, not a legendary auspicious beast, and touching it will not be tainted with any auspiciousness.
But Ogata was not in a position to explain the true face of Kirin to A-Machi, and he couldn't bear to break A-Machi's beautiful fantasy about Kirin.
Therefore, Ogata could only show a slightly weird smile and casually responded:
"I can only hope that one day in the future, the shogunate will be able to send people across the sea like the Ming Dynasty in the Tang Dynasty, and pull back one and two unicorns like Zheng He did."
"This way we can also have a glimpse of Qilin."
"Hmm... Actually, compared to Kirin..." A-Machi thought for a moment, "I would rather have the shogunate bring back lions and tigers."
"Lions and tigers?" Ogata asked, "Why?"
"Because lions and tigers are animals we don't have in Japan." Amachi said, "I have heard that lions and tigers are very ferocious animals since I was a child."
"I don't know who is more ferocious, a lion or a tiger, or a wild boar or a bear."
"I think the wild boar is stronger. There is probably no animal more powerful than the wild boar in the world."
"Huh? Have you ever encountered a wild boar?" Ogata asked.
"Yeah. Before I left Shiranui, I met a wild boar during a certain mission."
"The companion who was in charge of that mission with me was accidentally attacked by this wild boar."
"He stayed in bed for half a year before he could get out of bed."
Japan has neither lions nor tigers.
Although there are no lions or tigers, there are wild boars in Japan.
Because there are no other equally ferocious animals for comparison, and the wild boar is indeed quite ferocious, an idiom related to the wild boar was born: the pig advances by leaps and bounds.
It means moving forward courageously.
"Fortunately, there are no wild boars here in Ezo." Atachi shrank his neck, "I heard that even the most experienced hunters would not dare to stab wild boar casually."
"The wild boar is very stupid. If you anger it, it will not give up until it kills you with its fangs."
"So when hunting wild boars, either the wild boar dies or you die. If you can't kill the wild boar in one blow, you're doomed."
"Although there are no wild boars here in Ezo, there are equally scary animals, bears." Ogata said with a bitter smile.
When I was living in Nishikino Town, I heard a lot of stories from the "original hunter" named Shimazuke about his past hunting days.
The story I hear most is the story of bear hunting.
Shisuke always took the trouble to tell listeners like Ogata that bears are extremely dangerous, and even the most experienced Matauki would not dare to be careless when hunting bears.
"That's true..." Amachi muttered, "Although I have never seen a bear, I heard that a bear can crush a person with just one palm..."
"Although bears are scary, they are actually not that dangerous." Ogata comforted, "I think we need to pay more attention to wolves than bears."
"People are afraid of bears, and bears are afraid of people."
"As long as you don't provoke the bear, under normal circumstances, the bear will not take the initiative to attack humans."
"And it's winter now, and the bears are basically hibernating."
"You seem to know a lot about bears." Amachi cast a somewhat admiring look at Ogata, "Have you done any special investigation?"
Being looked at by Amachi like this made Ogata a little happy, and a smile appeared on his face involuntarily.
"I haven't investigated it, but I have heard about the habits of these bears from an 'original hunter' before."
What Ogata just said was just a copy of what the "original hunter" Shisuke told him.
"When you encounter a bear, you can't pretend to be dead or run away. You definitely can't outrun the bear. You have to stand still, look straight at the bear, and it's best to talk to the bear."
Being looked at by Amachi with such eyes, Ogata also became more interested in talking about sex.
While talking eloquently, he plagiarized all the knowledge he had learned from Shimasuke's hunting stories one by one... Ah, no, he relayed them one by one.
"As long as you stand still and look directly at the bear, you can send a signal to the bear that you are harmless and will not pose a threat to your life."
"The bear will leave obediently after confirming that his life will not be harmed."
"But not all bears are immune to humans."
"There is a kind of bear that will actively attack humans even if humans do not provoke it."
"That's the bear that has eaten human flesh."
"After a bear eats human flesh, it cannot eat other food. It can only feed on human flesh for the rest of its life."
"So when faced with bears that have eaten human flesh, it's useless even if you stand still. They are happier if you stand still."
"A bear that has eaten human flesh will have to feed on human flesh for the rest of its life..." A-Machi shrank his neck again, "It's really scary..."
"It's very rare for a bear to eat human flesh."
Ogata smiled and shrugged, comforting.
"Perhaps not one of a hundred bears has ever eaten human flesh."
"So the probability of encountering this kind of bear is very..."
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!!!!"
Before Ogata could finish his words, a roar that seemed to shatter the surrounding trees suddenly reached the ears of Ogata and Omachi.
The two of them were stunned for a moment, then quickly turned their heads following the sound.
I saw a big brown bear charging towards them from the southwest with all four paws on the ground!
This bear charging straight towards them reminded Ogata of the big truck in his previous life, which was the same in terms of speed and pressure.
In his previous life, Ogata had seen some bear-related introductions on the Internet. The sprint speed of bears could keep up with a large truck traveling at 60 kilometers per hour.
At this moment, Ogata really felt that this introduction was not written randomly.
In just a blink of an eye, the bear, which was still a long way away from Ogata and Atachi, rushed to the two of them, then raised its paw, which was bigger than Ogata's head, and slapped Ogata.
For ordinary people, there should be nothing else to do except wait for their heads to be smashed like a big watermelon.
But Ogata is not an ordinary person after all.
After the bear raised its paw, Omo, whose reflexes and agility were far superior to those of ordinary people, immediately hugged O-Machi beside him and rushed towards the snow beside him.
I avoided this bear paw just in time.
The bear's paw did not smash Ogata's head into pieces. Instead, it smashed into pieces the big tree that was as thick as two bowls behind Ogata and Atachi.
Facing the bear's paw, such a thick tree trunk was like glass and could be smashed easily.
One blow missed, and the bear immediately launched a second one.
It raised its other front paw and pressed heavily towards Ogata and the two who had just hugged Omachi and rushed to the side.
Ogata, who continued to hug Omachi tightly, rolled on the snow and avoided the attack of the big bear again.
The bear's paw struck the place where Ogata and the two had just fallen, splashing a large amount of snow flakes.
This time, Ogata dodged directly to a place several steps away from the big bear.
Before the big bear launched a new attack, the two quickly stood up.
A-Machi took out her Susakura and pointed the gun directly at the big bear.
When A-Machi was about to pull the trigger, Ogata immediately shouted to A-Machi:
"Don't hit it on the head! Hit it on the belly!"
At this moment, the "bear hunting advice" he had heard from the "original hunter" Shisukena came to Ogata's mind. When hunting a bear, you must never attack the bear's head.
Because the bear's skull is very hard, almost as hard as steel, even an iron cannon may not be able to penetrate the bear's skull.
After hearing Ogata's reminder, although he didn't know why, Atachi quickly adjusted the position of the muzzle, pointed it at the bear's belly, and fired all 4 bullets in the chamber of Sosakura's gun in one go.
At the same time that Atachi took out Sozakura, Ogata also took out his Kasumi Nagi.
He wanted this bear to experience the power of human beings!
Bang, bang, bang...
Ogata and Omachi took out all the bullets in Kasumi Nagi and Sozakura in one go.
Eight gunshots broke the silence of the woods.
The bear was so big and so close to the two of them. Even for someone like Ogata who had never practiced marksmanship, there was no reason to miss it.
All eight bullets entered the bear's belly.
"Ouch! Ouch!"
A painful roar erupted from the bear's big mouth.
These eight bullets failed to kill the bear immediately.
While roaring, he raised his two front palms high, then waved his right palm and slapped Ogata's head again.
Those 8 bullets just now are still useful.
The bear's movement speed is much slower, and its strength is not so terrifying.
Ogata lowered his body to avoid the bear's palm, then gritted his teeth, handed Kasumi Nagi to his left hand, then reached out with his right hand to the Daishiten on his left waist, and then moved forward like an arrow from a string.
The big bear pounced.
The sword flashed.
Just when he was about to pass by the bear, Ogata used the Raikiri of the Muga 2-sword style and slashed hard at the bear's belly.
"Ouch..."
The big bear suffered another heavy blow to its belly, and its roar had become much weaker.
Like a drunken man, it swayed a few times and then fell heavily to the ground.
Ogata didn't dare to be careless. After taking Kasumi Nagi back into his arms, he pulled out the big bear with his left hand, then rushed towards the big bear that had fallen to the ground with his two swords, aimed at its neck, and frantically performed the last blow.
He swung his two swords and stabbed the bear's neck alternately more than ten times. Ogata finally stopped after the bear was soaked in a pool of its blood.
"It's scary... It's scary..." Up until this moment, Ating's lips and face were still white.
From the moment the bear suddenly appeared and attacked them, to the time Ogata and the others killed the bear, only about half a minute had passed.
This half minute made Ogata and Atachi feel like it lasted for several hours.
As Machi reloaded Suying, he slowly leaned towards the dead bear.
Ogata also wiped off the bear blood and bear fat from Daishiten and Daizizai. After sheathing the sword, he took out Kasumi Nagi who had just stuffed it into his arms and reloaded it.
"This bear is so big..." Amachi murmured, "If it stood up, it would be as tall as two of me combined..."
What Amachi said is a bit exaggerated. According to Ogata's visual inspection, if this bear stood up, it would be almost 2.5 meters tall. There are not two Amachis as tall together, but such a height is already terrifying.
.
"It's not that high. It would be okay if there were two of you as tall as you. At most, it's only as tall as one and a half you..." Ogata turned his head, looked at the tree that was smashed by the bear, and whispered,
"As expected of a bear...human beings are completely incomparable..."
The strongest opponent Ogata had ever encountered before was Shuntaro, the leader of the "Four Heavenly Kings" in Shiranui.
But now, Ogata feels that this record can be renovated.
The strongest opponent he has ever encountered is this bear.
Although this bear doesn't have any martial arts skills, it has wild instincts, strength and speed that are far superior to humans.
In the face of absolute power, skills and so on are actually useless...
In terms of strength and speed, compared to this bear, Shuntaro is, to put it bluntly, a scumbag...
Every attack of this bear is basically a sure-kill move, and one hit will result in death...
Until now, Ogata has a lingering feeling of fear when recalling the brief bear fight just now.
If it had been someone with less skill, their body would have been beaten to pieces long ago.
After just witnessing how this bear sprinted at a speed comparable to that of a large truck speeding on the highway, and how this bear smashed such a thick tree into pieces with one palm, Ogata
I knew it would be Kasumi Nagi's turn, who had not been used for a long time.
Even if he enters the "selfless state", Ogata is not absolutely sure that he can defeat such a big bear in close combat...
After all, no matter how great the improvement brought to Ogata by the "state of selflessness", it will not make Ogata's physical fitness and swordsmanship surpass the physical limits of human beings...
Even if the body is raised to the limit, it is still a slap in the face for the bear...
"Ah Yi, you just said that only bears that have eaten human flesh will attack humans, right?" Ah Ting swallowed, "That means...has this bear ever eaten human flesh?"
"Maybe..." Ogata twitched the corner of his mouth, "Our luck is too bad... Just now we were talking about how rare bears that have eaten human flesh were, and then we immediately ran into a bear that might have eaten human flesh.
Launch an attack on us..."
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"
At this moment, exactly the same scene as before happened.
Before Ogata could finish speaking, another roar exploded into the sky.
The two people, whose nerves were still tense, quickly turned their heads to look at the source of the roar.
The one that roared was a big bear that was bigger and stronger than the dead bear next to Ogata and Omachi.
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Recently, the author has been studying the popular bear knowledge book "What to Do If You Encounter a Bear" that I told you before. I have learned a lot about bears and the hunting knowledge of the Ezo (Ainu) people. I highly recommend this book.