"You know the general topography of Mount Koya and the location of the main temples very well? Really?" the hot-tempered Asai was the first to exclaim.
"Both my mother and I believe in Buddhism."
Isshikihua answered softly.
"My mother and I often go to Kongobuji Temple in Koyasan to worship Buddha. Therefore, I know more about Koyasan."
"If you need it, I can do my best to draw a map of Mount Koya for you."
"but……"
Having said this, Isshikihua paused...
After a moment of pause, she said word by word:
"I want you to agree to a condition first."
"My family... were also taken away by the Toyotomi clan. Their whereabouts are also unknown."
"If you plan to go to Mount Koya to look for your companions in the future, can you take me with you?"
Isshikika's tone became high-pitched with excitement.
"My family might have been captured and taken to Mount Koya."
"I want to go to Mount Koya to find my family!"
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone in the Calabash House looked at each other in confusion.
Finally——they all focused their attention on Ogata.
After Isshikika took the initiative to say that she knew about Mount Koya, Ogata kept looking at Isshikika with surprised eyes.
Looking at Isshiki Hana who firmly said "I want to go to Mount Koya to find her family", Ogata looked thoughtful.
Just when Ogata was about to say something to Isshikika——
"...I don't think we should rush to find out the detailed information about Mount Koya now."
Mamiya's voice sounded suddenly.
I saw him push up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and then sighed softly.
"Now... let's make a clear plan first and then talk about our next action plan."
"The purpose is to continue to torture Zuemon and the Iga kunoichi to obtain more information."
"It is better to leave immediately for Mount Koya to find the master."
Mamiya's simple words made the atmosphere around everyone become more solemn.
"...I think it would be better to continue to interrogate Iwaemon and the Iga kunoichi." Makimura, who has always been rough but subtle, took the lead and said in a deep voice, "The information we currently have is too little."
"I'm not even 100% sure whether the Lord is really in Mount Koya."
"Youemon is a close confidant of Toyotomi Nobhide, so he must know a lot of useful information."
"Although this guy is very tough-talking, as long as he continues to be tortured like this, he will always speak."
"When I was on duty in Kyoto, I used waterboarding countless times, and I never saw anyone survive it."
"I have seen people who are more arrogant than Iemon before, but after being tortured by waterboarding for two consecutive days, that guy finally cried out like a bitch, 'I will tell you anything.'"
"It would be safer to get enough information from Zuemon first before taking action."
As soon as Makimura finished speaking, Asai immediately put forward an opinion completely opposite to Makimura:
"no."
"I don't think we should spend too much time on the torture of Iemon."
"The reason why the lord was captured is still unclear."
"That bastard Toyotomi Nobhide, when he ran away from home, he took away all the money and valuables in the family, leaving no money for his family, and leaving his grandmother, mother, and sister to starve.
A cold-blooded thug who froze and never came home once."
"God knows what such a bloodless and tearless guy planned to do when he suddenly arrested the lord."
"The lord must be rescued as quickly as possible."
"Then let me ask you -" Makimura frowned slightly and glared at Asai, "What if we go to Mount Koya now, only to find that the master is not actually in Mount Koya at all, and we miss the mark?"
"Then I have to ask you too." Asai stared back at Makimura not to be outdone, "While we were interrogating the left and right guard step by step, something unexpected happened to the master. What should we do?"
"Um..." Shimada, who had the lowest status in Calabash House, silently interjected, "Can I speak?"
Everyone looked at Shimada.
"I think...Makimura-senpai's words make more sense..." Shimada, who didn't dare to look at Asai's expression, said slowly in a timid tone, "It's better to try to get more information first."
"At the very least, we must devise an action plan that can not only save the master, but also protect ourselves..."
"Kami-sama, what he said just now is right..." Shimada turned his attention to the fuuma not far away, "Mt. Koya is not Mount Hiei two hundred years ago. Mount Koya now is an undoubted holy land."
"Two hundred years ago, Oda Nobunaga burned down Mount Hiei, a man who had done all kinds of evil except worshiping Buddha, and some people still applauded him."
"Now, if you trespass on Mount Koya without permission, no one will give you a good word... People in the world don't know that the Toyotomi clan who is trying to overthrow the Edo shogunate is lurking in Mount Koya."
"If you rush into the Holy Land rashly, you will suffer eternal infamy... and you may even be punished by heaven..."
"Hey Shimada." Asai looked displeased and raised his eyebrows, "God's punishment? When did you become a Buddhist?"
"I don't believe in Buddhism..." Shimada, who was a little scared by Asai's glare, shrank his neck, "I just think that there are things like gods and Buddhas. I would rather believe that they exist than believe that they don't exist. You have to have a certain degree of confidence in others.
Respect……"
"Tch...boring." Asai curled his lips, "Shimada, let me ask you - more than a hundred years ago, when the Edo shogunate expelled all Kirishi Dan from the country, why didn't the gods of Kiriji Dan come to save them and give them
What about the divine punishment imposed by the Edo shogunate?”
"If gods and Buddhas really existed and were so powerful, there wouldn't be so many tragedies in the world."
[Note·Kirikidan: The name given to Christians during the Warring States Period and the Edo Period in Japan. After the establishment of the Edo shogunate, in order to maintain its rule, the Edo shogunate expelled all Kirikidan in the country and strictly prohibited anyone from becoming a Kirikidan anymore]
Shimada, who was speechless by Asai, lowered his head silently and said no more words.
"...Mamiya." Asai then turned his attention to Mamiya, "What do you think?"
"..." Mamiya didn't answer immediately. He pursed his lips in deep thought.
Just then——
"Um...can I express my opinion?"
A sound that no one expected suddenly sounded.
Everyone cast their surprised gazes on the owner of the voice just now - Ogata.
…
…
Mount Koya, somewhere——
"Hulu...Hulu...Hulu..."
Hasegawa was sleeping against the stone wall behind him, snoring loudly.
The conditions of the cell provided by Toyotomi Nobuhide for Hasegawa were quite good. He had no worries about eating and drinking, the food was quite delicious, and he could sleep on the tatami.
Everything is fine except no freedom.
Since there is nothing to do and no entertainment activities to pass the time, Hasegawa only eats and sleeps these days, and can only rely on "eating" and "sleeping" to pass the time.
The place where Toyotomi Nobuhide imprisoned Hasegawa was a cell with no windows and no sunlight.
At the beginning, Hasegawa was able to calculate the number of days he was captured and imprisoned here by Toyotomi Nobuhide based on the time he fell asleep.
However, because he slept too much in recent days, Hasegawa's biological clock has become slightly disordered, making Hasegawa no longer able to judge the current time based on when he feels sleepy.
At this moment, when Hasegawa is sleeping soundly——
Blah, blah, blah...
Suddenly there was a large number of footsteps outside the cell.
Too many and too dense footsteps formed a strange sound of "huh-huh-huh-huh".
Hasegawa, who was awakened by the sound of footsteps, quickly opened his eyes, then threw himself on the fence in front of him and looked out.
While looking outside, he thought to himself:
——What time is it now...
——Is that Toyotomi Nobuhide here...
When the name "Toyotomi Nobuhide" was mentioned, Hasegawa couldn't help but grit his teeth with resentment.
Since his first meeting with Toyotomi Nobuhide, he had never seen this strange-looking young man again.
Toyotomi Nobuhide had previously told him categorically that the reason why he was captured was because he was interested in his talents and planned to bring him under Toyotomi's command.
As a result, after meeting Hasegawa once, Toyotomi Nobuhide never came to this cell again, nor did he send anyone else to contact Hasegawa.
He kept Hasegawa locked up like this and kept him in the cell like a pet.
This made Hasegawa feel puzzled.
Because in his understanding, when trying to bring someone under his command, shouldn't he have to send out a large number of lobbyists to lobby?
Toyotomi Nobhide kept him locked up here and didn't send anyone to lobby him. What on earth was he trying to do?
Hasegawa would rather see Toyotomi Nobuhide send a large number of people to lobby him than sleep in a cell doing nothing every day anymore.
At least the former won't feel bored, and can also get some information that may be useful from the lobbyists.
There were footsteps outside the cell, approaching Hasegawa at extremely fast speeds.
After a while, he saw clearly who were coming.
A large group of guards responsible for guarding the prison pushed the three slightly dirty people and roughly pushed them into an unused cell located in front of Hasegawa.
"Be honest! As long as you are honest, I will be gentle to you!" After yelling at the three people, the jailers strode away arrogantly.
After watching the jailers leave and confirming that all the jailers had left, Hasegawa turned his attention back to the three new "companions".
Among these three people, there are two men and one woman. One of the men is quite old. He looks like he is at least 60 years old. His hair is already gray. The mental condition of the three people is not very good, especially the old man. He looks like
Extremely haggard.
These days, Hasegawa has been living alone in the cell without anyone to talk to.
The long-lost desire to chat with others, and the eagerness to learn about the outside situation through the mouths of those three people, made Hasegawa eagerly lower his voice and said quickly to the three people:
"Hey. What are your names? How did you get imprisoned?"
The old man among the three people raised his eyes and cast a doubtful look at Hasegawa.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Hasegawa Heizo." Hasegawa responded, "I have been caught here for a while."
"Hasegawa... Heizang...?" The old man and the man and woman beside him slowly opened their eyes in shock, "Are you the 'Onibei'?"
"Yes. I am that 'Kipira'." Hasegawa said with a wry smile, "It's really embarrassing to say that... I, the noble 'Kipira', will one day become a prisoner of his subordinates... What are the names of the three of you? Are you?
What were you arrested for?"
"My name is Isshiki Naoshu." The old man pointed to the man and woman beside him, "This is the dog: Isse Rushui, and this is my daughter-in-law: Isse Shi."
"We run a sword studio in Osaka."
"As for why I was caught..."
Zhizhou fell silent.
"I'm sorry...can I not say this?"
"...Of course." Hasegawa pondered for a moment and then nodded, "Then before you were captured here, did anything happen outside?"
"This... we don't know..." Zhizhou shook his head, "The three of us have been locked in a small, dark room."
"Probably...yesterday? Because it never saw the light of day, I don't know exactly when it was. In short, not long ago, the three of us were put on hoods and escorted into a carriage."
"When I opened my eyes again, I was already here."
"I was locked up in a dark little room before? Was I locked up in a small room in Osaka?" Hasegawa asked.
"It should be."
"Do you remember how long the carriage ride took?"
"I don't remember this...but it should have been 1 or 2 hours..."
——1 or 2 hours... In other words, I am now being held in a place that is 1 or 2 hours' drive from Osaka...
Hasegawa silently digested the important information he had just received from Isshiki Naoshu.
"Then do you remember how many horses were pulling the carriage you were riding in?"
Hasegawa asked Isshiki Naoshu a new question.
However, Isshiki Naoshu didn't have time to respond to his question——
Pa da, pa da...
At the end of the corridor outside the cell, footsteps were heard again.
This time the footsteps were no longer a loud clatter.
Judging from the sound, there were only two people coming.
Listening to these two footsteps, Hasegawa quickly shut his mouth, then raised his hand to signal Isshiki Naoshu not to speak.
Hasegawa pressed his face against the cell fence again and looked outside the cell following the sound.
The footsteps were quick.
After a while, Hasegawa saw who was coming.
After seeing the appearance of the visitor clearly, Hasegawa's pupils immediately shrank uncontrollably:
"Toyotomi Nobuhide?!"
"Ah, long time no see. Mr. Hasegawa. I feel relieved to see you are still so energetic."
Toyotomi Nobuhide, whom I haven't seen for a while, is still the same - wearing a purple-handled sword on his waist, with a faint smile on his face, and the appearance and temperament of a handsome young man.
Behind him followed a bald monk whom Hasegawa had never seen before.
The bald monk was quite old, probably over 60 years old, with quite a lot of lines and wrinkles around his eyes. Wearing a cassock, he followed closely behind Toyotomi Nobuhide.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Hasegawa." Toyotomi Nobuhide quickly walked to Hasegawa's cell and bowed apologetically to Hasegawa, "I'm really busy these days. I have too many things to do."
It’s something I’m worried about, so I’d like to extend my long-lost greetings to you.”
"Stop talking about these yes or no things." Hasegawa lowered his voice and said in a deep voice, "How are my subordinates doing now?"
At first, Hasegawa was knocked unconscious together with his subordinates. Until now, Hasegawa still does not know where his subordinates are being held.
"Don't worry." Toyotomi Nobuhide smiled, showing his beautiful white teeth towards Hasegawa, "Your subordinates are now eating well, drinking well, and living well."
"I told you, right? My goal is to take you under my command. I will not do anything too rude to you and your subordinates."
After hearing what Toyotomi Nobuhide said just now, Hasegawa's originally gloomy face looked a little better.
"...What are you doing here?" Hasegawa asked tentatively while scanning Toyotomi Nobhide in front of him, "Are you here to persuade me to betray Tokugawa and join Toyotomi like before?"
"No, no, no." Toyotomi Nobuhide shook his head gracefully, "If possible, I really want to talk to you more now."
"But time doesn't allow me to do this."
"I'm still anxious to see my lovely sister whom I haven't seen for a long time."
"When I came here this time, I was simply visiting my sister. I stopped by to see you, whom I haven't seen for a long time, and to see how you are doing now."
"Sister?" Hasegawa frowned slightly at first, then sneered, "There are more people with direct bloodline from the Toyotomi clan than I thought."
"The only people who have the direct bloodline of the Toyotomi family are my sister, me, and my uncle." Toyotomi Nobuhide smiled and saluted Hasegawa again, "I will rest assured if you are in good spirits.
Already."
"Then - please allow me to take my leave first, and I will come back later when I am free."
After saying that, Toyotomi Nobuhide turned around and wanted to leave.
But just when he turned around, he noticed Isshiki Naoshu and others who were now living in the cell in front of Hasegawa.
Toyotomi Nobuhide was stunned for a moment, then lowered his voice and asked the old monk at a volume that only he and the old monk behind him could hear clearly:
"Master, who are those three people?"
"The Osaka Isshiki Sword Hall's Isshiki Zhizhou, Isshiki is like water and Isshiki is solid." The old monk responded in a voice that only he and Toyotomi Nobhide could hear clearly, "Toyotomi-sama, have you forgotten? You ordered the general to be killed a few days ago.
The three of them were brought to Mount Koya."
"Oh." Toyotomi Nobuhide raised his hand and patted his forehead, showing a guilty smile, "I remember. Are the three of them members of the Isshiki family..."
"Master, help me tell the jailers later to keep those three people under safe custody."
"The three of them are the backup pillars for the subsequent 'Edo Battle'."
"We have to make sure they don't die before the 'Edo War' begins."
"Yes." The old monk responded respectfully.
[Note·Jinzhu: In ancient Japan, there was also the bad custom of using human beings to sacrifice to gods. This bad custom is collectively called "human sacrifice" in Japan. The ninja is a type of human sacrifice.
When building a house or building a bridge, they would bury living people under the foundation or bridge piers. The ancient Japanese believed that as long as they did this, the houses and bridges would not collapse. These poor people who were used as "pillars" were called
As the "Human Pillar".
Until the Edo period, the bad custom of "human pillars" did not end. There were human pillars under the Fukushima Bridge built during the Kan'ei period in the 17th century. If you travel to Fukushima Bridge, you can see a sign indicating that there are human pillars under the bridge.
Therefore, during archeology in Japan, a large number of human bones can often be excavated under ancient buildings]