Volume 4: The Undead Chapter 263: Red Moon Fortress and the Lu Kingdom Going South (Part 1)
"Ayi." A-Ting pointed at his neck, "Is your injury okay?"
"Hmm..." Ogata raised his hand and touched his neck, which had been wrapped in a thick white cloth again. "Apart from the pain caused by the wound not yet healed, there is no other discomfort..."
"Okay..." At this moment, Mamiya looked around, "I think we have already gone around a big circle..."
Ogata looked around - there was only sea water all around, and no trace of land was visible.
"We have now gone southeast and circled the sea." Mamiya said softly, "We should be far away from the shogunate's camp. Let's go back to land."
After saying that, Mamiya put the oars in both hands into the sea again, drove the boat around in a circle, and started heading straight towards the land.
I have to say - Mamiya's boat handling skills are really first-class. He doesn't look like a ronin, but more like a fisherman from a fishing family.
"Do you need my help?" asked Makimura, who was sitting next to Mamiya.
"No need." Mamiya said cheerfully, "I'm not so weak that I can't handle it after just two hits. Just sit tight."
Having said this, Mamiya paused.
After a moment of silence, Mamiya turned his gaze to Ogata and Atachi in front of him.
"We have now successfully escaped from that damn place. What are your plans after returning to land?"
"What plans can we have?" Ating shrugged helplessly, "Since the mission has been completed, of course I have to go back to Shiranui to report."
"Although there are still many important things we don't know about the cannibals, the information we have collected so far should be enough for us to report to the leader."
After Atachi finished talking about her next plan, Mamiya, Makimura and Atachi all turned their attention to Ogata.
" Ayi." A-Ting said softly, "What are your plans next?"
At this point, A-Machi couldn't help but glance at Ogata's neck which was wrapped in a thick white cloth.
Ogata did not immediately respond to the inquiring looks from Atachi and others.
Instead, he silently took out from his arms the two prescriptions that the master and disciple Kazuyo and Kazunao had written to Chikanosuke, and that Chikanosuke had now handed over to him.
"...I'm going to look for the master and disciple pair, Kazuyo and Kazunao." Ogata said softly.
After saying this, Ogata's fingers, which were holding the two prescriptions, involuntarily tightened the two papers.
After hearing what Ogata said, A-machi, Mamiya, and Makimura all looked more or less surprised.
"...Do you want to find this master and disciple pair and ask them to help you cure the immortal poison in your body?" Although the sentence structure of Mamiya's sentence is a question, the tone is affirmative.
"Of course." Ogata said half-jokingly, "I don't want to die young."
"Even if he really was going to die young, he should have died on the grandest stage, rather than dying in such a cowardly way because of a so-called 'immortality poison' that we don't even know if it's a toxin or not."
"This master and disciple pair had medicine that could suppress the immortal poison a few years ago."
"Now that several years have passed, they may have more powerful drugs that can target the immortal poison."
"I want to find them... and remove the immortal poison from my body."
"...That's true." Makimura shrugged and continued, "There is a poison in your body that may kill you at any time - this is definitely not something that can be ignored like that ."
"Yeah." Ogata nodded, "That's right."
Ogata concealed some facts from Atachi, Mamiya, Makimura and others.
Ogata concealed the fact that the Immortal Poison was a double-edged sword and that after it entered his body, his body functions were enhanced.
The main reason why he chose to conceal it was because whether it was Atachi, Mamiya or Makimura, they were not yet close enough to Ogata to tell him everything about themselves.
Especially Mamiya and Makimura - Ogata still clearly remembered that Mamiya had said that the Gourd House to which they belonged had been focusing on the investigation of "immortality" over the years.
When dealing with these two people, Ogata had to be more reserved when introducing the current changes in his body.
"So..." Mamiya asked Ogata, "Japan is so big, where are you going to find this master and disciple pair?"
"Besides, this master and disciple pair may not be in the country right now. It is possible that they have fled abroad."
"There are still clues," Ogata said softly, "Both Sokai and Chikanosuke said that this master and disciple had a very strong Kyoto accent."
"So - I'm planning to go to Kyoto next."
Ogata, who was concentrating on telling his next plan, did not notice that when he uttered the name "Kyoto", Makimura raised his eyebrows and a strange light flashed in his eyes.
Of course, the gleam in his eyes was only fleeting. In a flash, his gaze returned to calm.
"Kyoto... Ogata-kun, are you planning to go alone to find this master and disciple pair?" Mamiya asked.
"Of course." Ogata rolled his eyes at Mamiya.
Ogata's eyes seemed to be saying to Mamiya: Aren't you talking nonsense?
"I am a homeless vagrant with no one to rely on, so of course I will go to Kyoto alone."
Having said that, Ogata turned his attention back to the two prescriptions in his hand.
"Let's go to Kyoto first, and then ask one by one to see if there is anyone in Kyoto who can recognize these words..."
"...Ogata-kun." Mamiya had a faint smile on his face at this time, "I have a small suggestion, I wonder if you are interested in listening to it?"
"Oh? Any suggestions?"
"Would you like to join us at the Calabash House?"
Mamiya put the oar he was holding in his right hand back into the boat, and then extended his right hand towards Ogata.
"I should have told you, right? We in Calabash House have been investigating 'immortality' for years."
"You want to find that master and disciple to remove the 'immortal poison' from your body."
"We want to investigate 'immortality'. Our next target is this suspicious master and apprentice who may know a lot of information related to 'immortality'."
"Our goals are now aligned."
"We have the same goal, so we are the best partners."
"It just so happens that our Hulu House is short of staff right now."
“Although we have few members in Huluya, we have a huge network of contacts throughout almost all of Japan.”
"If you cooperate with us, it will be a cooperation for both you and us."
"The pursuit of that master and disciple pair will surely be twice as effective with half the effort."
"How about it? Do you want to join us in the Calabash House?"
Ogata didn't expect that Mamiya would extend an olive branch to him.
After looking at Mamiya several times with a surprised look, Ogata asked in a joking tone:
"Is it really okay for you to just randomly recruit people into your group without even consulting the leader?"
"I am the second in command of Huluwu." Mamiya said with a smile, "I still have the right to recruit people into the group without the master's consent."
"Second in command?" Ogata raised his eyebrows and cast a questioning look at Makimura standing beside him.
Feeling Ogata's inquiring gaze, Makimura nodded slightly.
"If the Lord is considered the head of our Hulu House, then Jian Gong is indeed our second in command."
"In the Gourd House, besides the lord and Master Gen-ichi, I only listen to Mamiya."
"…If Mamiya is considered the second in command, then how many in command is Kinoshita Genichi?" Ogata couldn't help but ask.
"Master Genichi is an exception." Makimura said with a wry smile, "Master Genichi never interferes with things and is very free. In fact, he is more like a guest of our Hulu House... When he is in a good mood, he helps us with some tasks, and when he is in a bad mood, he stays at home drinking and having fun."
After gaining a deeper understanding of the mysterious organization, Hyakuya, Ogata nodded slightly.
Then he turned his gaze back to Mamiya's right hand, which was stretched out towards him.
"Want to join your Calabash House..."
A faint smile appeared on Ogata's face.
"You make a lot of sense..."
"Our current goals are consistent."
“There are indeed many benefits to working together.”
"I can strengthen the fighting power of your Calabash House."
"And you can help me find the master and disciple."
“It is indeed a very good and very worthwhile cooperation.”
Hearing Ogata's words, Mamiya, who thought Ogata was going to agree to cooperate with them, showed joy on his face.
Just as Mamiya was ready to go forward and hug this new companion—
"But I refuse."
Ogata said this in a firm tone, enunciating each word.
Mamiya, Makimura, and Atachi, who was sitting next to Ogata, all had frozen expressions on their faces.
Even Atachi thought that Ogata was going to agree to join the gourd house of Mamiya and the others after hearing what Ogata had just said.
"I am just a wanderer who lives by the sword."
Ogata smiled slightly.
"Although my vagrant life lasted only less than three months from beginning to end..."
"I've only been a wanderer for less than three months, and I've been caught on this broken island."
“Although the time is short, I have already gotten used to this free and unfettered life.”
"I no longer want to join any organization, and I don't want to have another lord over me."
"So - Mamiya, thank you for your kindness and invitation."
"Although I won't join your Gourd House, I can be friends with your Gourd House."
"If your Hulu House encounters any trouble in the future, and I can help you with this trouble, I will do my best to help you."
Although Ogata's words were lightly joking, whether it was Atachi, Mamiya, or Makimura, they all heard a strong sense of determination in Ogata's words.
Knowing that he couldn't persuade Ogata to change his mind, Mamiya sighed silently.
"Okay... In that case, I won't force you."
"Ogata-kun, if you ever change your mind, you can always come to us. We at Huluwu always welcome masters like you to join us."
"Yeah." Ogata nodded and said casually, "I will."
Ogata was just saying this casually.
After saying this, he had no intention of joining any other organization, so he threw Mamiya's suggestion of "you can come to them anytime" out of his mind...
…
…
Just as the sun was about to sink below the horizon, the boat carrying Ogata and his companions finally reached the shore.
After the boat reached the shore, Ating couldn't wait to jump off the boat.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, Ating let out a long sigh of relief, stretched his waist vigorously, and said with emotion:
"It's still more comfortable to stand on land..."
After landing right after A-machi, Ogata looked around.
Looking up, there was a large piece of gravel ground. Although I didn't know where they landed, there were no soldiers of the Shogunate Army around, so they must have successfully moved away from the Shogunate Army camp.
"Let's find a place to spend the night tonight." After jumping off the boat, Mamiya glanced at the sun that was about to disappear from the horizon, "We'll set out after dawn tomorrow."
Ogata did not comment on Mamiya's proposal.
However, Ating said at this time:
"No, I'll leave now."
"Now?" As soon as Ating finished speaking, Ofang was the first to show surprise, "Ating, can't you see that it's almost dark now?"
"For a ninja like me, walking at night is a piece of cake." Atachi shrugged. "In the evaluation of mission completion in our Shiranui, one of the most important criteria is time."
“The shorter the time it takes to complete a task, the higher the evaluation you will receive.”
"So I have to return to Shiranui as soon as possible to report to the mission, so that my mission will look more beautifully completed."
"...A-Ming." After hesitating for a while, Ogata asked A-Ming, "After completing this mission... is there any chance that you will be demoted?"
"Hmm..." Atachi pondered for a while, "Probably not. In Shiranui, whether you are demoted or not depends on whether you have completed the task beautifully."
"Only those Genin who have been unable to complete their missions will be demoted to Saka."
"I have now collected a lot of information about cannibals, so I think I have completed this mission quite well."
"Once you have a successfully completed mission, you will not be reduced to dirt."
After learning that Atachi would not be demoted to a guild, Ogata immediately felt relieved, as if a huge stone had fallen from his heart.
"Is that so... That's good."
After muttering this, Ogata wanted to say something like "I wish you good luck in martial arts" to bid farewell to Atachi.
But when I opened my mouth and words came to my lips, I couldn't utter these farewell words.
For some reason, when Oobe thought about Atachi's imminent departure, he felt a sense of emptiness in his heart...
At this moment, Mamiya, who had been standing next to Ogata, spoke softly to Ogata in a voice that only he and Ogata could hear clearly:
"Ogata-kun, although all good things must come to an end, one day you may meet someone again at a certain time and place."
