Volume 2: A sudden change in the prison, a red-clothed man goes out to find a thief Chapter 198 Even in the most difficult times, some bottom lines should not be lost
The sun was shining brightly the next day, hanging unobstructed in the cloudless sky, making this winter seem no longer so cold.
In front of Mingzhou City, when Wada no Mori and his brothers stopped outside the city gate, they were stunned.
The original crew members on the ship said that this place was called Mingzhou City, a small city in Tang State, but the "magnificent" city wall in front of him did not look like a small city at all. Wada Shou assured that he had never seen such a tall building in his life, even the mansions of the nobles in his country were not as tall as this huge wall.
The countless stacked stone slabs make it hard to imagine how it was built. Swords and knives would hardly leave any marks on it. Standing in front of this wall, people can only sigh at their own insignificance.
"Gulp." A man next to Wada Mamoru swallowed, lowered his head, and whispered in Wada Mamoru's ear.
"Brother, are we really going to rob this place?"
"Ah." He Tianshou looked at the city wall and responded subconsciously, with an obvious tremor . But then, he must have come back to his senses, tightened his expression, and said in a deep voice, "Of course, isn't this what we came here to do, to change our fate!"
Having said this, Wada Mamoru clenched his knife, took a step forward, his eyes became determined, and he waved his hand.
"Are you willing to just go back to Heben and continue to live a life worse than that of a dog? If you are not willing, then take a gamble with me, let fate see our determination, and use the sharp swords in our hands to open a way out!"
"Oh!!" The people behind Wada Mamoru seemed to be excited and clenched their fists.
"Brother, I feel relieved when you say that!"
"Some time ago I thought you had lost your ambition!"
"That's it! We'll go back to Japan after we've robbed a shipload of gold!"
A group of people were shouting outside the city gate.
At the gate of Mingzhou City, a young soldier guarding the city was leaning against the wall with his weapon in his arms. Perhaps he heard some noise, and turned his eyes doubtfully to look at a group of noisy and strange people standing on the official road. He raised his eyebrows in confusion and asked his colleague beside him.
"Hey, what do you think those people are doing?"
The middle-aged soldier in the same position also glanced sideways, then looked away nonchalantly and said.
"Who knows? Judging from their appearance, they are probably beggars from somewhere. Just give them some money and send them away."
"It's possible. Well, you know what, these beggars are actually quite pitiful. If they had a choice, who would want to be homeless like this? Look, they seem to be a little confused because of hunger."
The young soldier who asked the question at the beginning spoke again. He looked at the group of people on the road who suddenly began to cry and laugh and hug each other, with a somewhat pitiful look on their faces.
"You pity them?" The middle-aged soldier curled his lips in disdain.
"Who would pity us? We have to work here during the New Year. We can't go home and sleep in a bed. It's all for the sake of earning a few taels of silver. Who has an easy life in this world? We are all poor and humble. No one can pity anyone else."
"That's true..." The young soldier hesitated.
At this moment, he suddenly saw the group of people walking towards the city gate, probably planning to enter the city.
In order to avoid being questioned by the soldiers guarding the city gate, Hetian Morikazu and his men hid their knives in their clothes, hunched over, and pretended to be hungry and cold, hoping to sneak through the city gate.
However, because it was close to the New Year's Eve and the city was remote, not many people had entered and left Mingzhou City recently, and right now, only their group was preparing to enter the city.
So it was no surprise that they were stopped by the soldiers.
"Hey, stop, what are you guys going to do in the city?"
The middle-aged soldier frowned and stopped Wada Mori and his group. He didn't have any other intentions, it was just a routine inquiry.
But Wada Shou immediately became nervous. He had only learned Tang language for a few days, and he only understood the two words "enter the city" in the sentence the soldier said.
So he, who didn't know what the soldier meant, nodded and said, "Go into the city, let's go into the city. Let's go into the city."
"You can enter the city, but you have to explain the reason first." The young soldier next to him interrupted. Compared with the middle-aged soldier, his tone was relatively kind and there was no hint of impatience.
They have done this kind of routine inquiry many times, and it's just a casual question anyway, so they don't take it too seriously.
Mingzhou City is just a remote small town. There are no escaped prisoners, and it is not a border where the situation is serious. Naturally, the inspection of the city gates is not that strict.
"We, we'll go into the city." Unfortunately, Watada Mori only knew how to repeat this sentence.
This made the young and middle-aged soldiers stunned. Could it be that these people in front of them were really a bunch of fools?
At this time, the middle-aged soldier suddenly discovered that Wada Mori seemed to be holding something in his arms, so he frowned, walked up to him and asked .
"What's that in your arms? Take it out and let me see it."
But he had just taken a step forward when he was driven back by the smell of Hetian Morikazu and his group.
No one knows how long it has been since Wada Mamoru and the others took a bath. Even they themselves probably can't remember.
They sailed on the sea for countless days and nights, and then slept on the coast for many days. The smell on their bodies had long since changed from quantitative change to qualitative change, and it was difficult for humans and animals to get within two steps.
"Damn, what's that smell?" The middle-aged soldier pinched his nose, retched, and immediately waved his hand at Wada Morikazu and his group.
"Go in, go in, don't stay here."
As if they understood what the middle-aged soldier meant, Wada Mori and others breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to prepare to enter the city.
"Wait a moment." But at this time, the younger soldier stopped them.
He Tianshou and others stopped in their tracks at the same time and gripped the knives in their arms. Seeing that they were stopped again and again, they were ready to take action.
"Let's go into the city." Wada Mamoru said in a stiff tone, slowly turned around, with some hidden light in his eyes.
"Let's go into the city. I understand. No need to say more." The young soldier sighed, took out a tael of silver from his pocket, threw it to Wada Shou and said.
"Go buy some food for yourselves, don't starve to death in our city."
After saying that, the soldier waved his hands, probably meaning that they should leave quickly.
This amount of silver was not much for a soldier, but it was not too little either. It was enough for him to make half a month's salary..
But for Mamoru Wada and the people around him, this was something they had never encountered in their lives.
Wada no Kami knew about silver. After all, he used to be a low-ranking samurai, so he had seen this currency that was only circulated among noble lords.
But he had never touched such a thing, because among the people of his country, copper coins were the main currency in circulation, divided into large copper coins and small copper coins. Silver was something that most ordinary people dared not even think about.
Similarly, the people around He Tianshang were also stunned. Looking at the silver coin, their eyes were filled with either fiery or incredible expressions.
This was a favor, Wada no Mori understood, a favor that was bestowed upon him in his most difficult time, a favor that he should have repaid with the loyalty of a samurai.
Unfortunately, he is no longer a samurai now.
His throat seemed to be strangled and he couldn't make any sound. He Tian stood at the city gate in a daze for a long time.
Suddenly, he knelt down, holding the silver coin tightly in his hand, and prostrated himself on the ground, shouting loudly in his country's language.
"Tian Shou and I swear here that we will repay your kindness in the future! Even if it means death!"
The soldier was startled by his roar. When he looked at him again, he saw that he was already kneeling there, crying bitterly.
This was Wada no Mamoru's final persistence, insisting on his last dignity as a samurai.
He would repay the favor, he swore on his sword.
