After Ogata and his group passed through the gate of the inner city wall and officially entered the Red Moon Fortress, they separated from Aisuma and others.
Asuma and others went to report.
Ogata and his companions were first led to an open space not far from the gate of the inner city wall.
Ogata and the others were not left aside for too long.
Soon, a group of young people came.
The group of people found Chepke and said something to him enthusiastically.
After the conversation, Chepke excitedly brought Ayizan to find Ogata and A-Ming.
"Mashima Goro, A-Machi!" Chepke said, "Cha-nup asked me to come over and discuss the detailed procedures and details of our move-in in China Village with me. (Ainu language)"
Ayizan translated word for word.
"In addition to me, Chanup also found you two, and hopes that you two can go with me. He really wants to meet you. (Ainu language)"
"Chanoup?" Ogata raised his eyebrows, then nodded after thinking for a while, "Yes, I understand."
…
…
Ogata, A-Machi, Chepke, and several high-ranking officials of China Village, led by several young men wearing the iconic bright red clothing of the Red Moon Fortress, walked towards the depths of the Red Moon Fortress at a leisurely pace.
Along the way, Ogata kept looking around.
The scenery seen along the way was no different from the scenery that Ogata had seen when he visited Kuma Village and other villages before.
The Ainu people, who were still in the tribal civilization, naturally did not have the ability to build any magnificent palaces or any straight and spacious stone roads.
Built on both sides of the road are small houses made of stone, wood, straw and other materials in the Ainu style.
Under my feet is a muddy road that has been trampled by people day by day and gradually become solid. Probably to make it easier for people to walk, the snow on the road has been cleared, revealing the original gray-brown appearance of the road.
When the weather is nice, the dust is flying.
When it rains, it turns into mud, like a swamp.
Having such an advanced fortress, they still lived a primitive Ainu tribal life - this gave Ogata an inexplicable sense of weirdness.
This feeling is like having a mansion of thousands of square meters, but setting up a very cheap camping tent , and then eating, wearing and sleeping in the tent...
Naturally, there were many people watching along the way.
Perhaps because many people had already received the news that guests were coming to the fortress, there were quite a few villagers surrounding Ogata and his group, watching them.
Those who came to join in the fun were mainly here to see Ogata and Atachi.
They looked at Ogata and Atachi as if they were rare animals in a zoo, and pointed and talked to them in a low voice.
While observing the living environment of the residents of Red Moon Fortress, Ogata was also carefully observing the eyes of the onlookers.
The onlookers cast a variety of glances at them.
I'm curious.
Have doubts.
There is indifference.
Of course, what is indispensable is hostility.
Ogata noticed that most of the people who looked at him curiously were very young.
Those who looked at him with hostility were of all ages.
The reminder that Chepke had given to Ogata before now surfaced in Ogata's mind: the Red Moon Fortress had just taken in a group of people who had become homeless due to their defeat in the war with the Wa people.
…
…
Chanup's home is located in the center of the fortress. Since the Red Moon Fortress is not a very large super fortress, Ogata and his companions quickly arrived at their destination.
Chanup, the highest authority in Red Moon Fortress, lives in a house that is not much different from the houses where other people live.
The only difference is probably that Chanup's house is bigger.
After arriving at the destination, the young man who led Ogata and his friends shouted something loudly into the house.
Then, a deep response sounded from inside the house.
After the response was heard, those who were leading Ogata and his group stepped aside and gestured for Ogata and his group to come in.
Ogata took off the Daishakuten from around his waist, held it in his right hand, and followed the others through the door.
After entering Chanup's house, Ogata saw a middle-aged man in his prime sitting cross-legged on the ground.
The middle-aged man had a dark blue turban on his head, very long hair, and a thick beard that left only his mouth and two eyes exposed.
Due to age, middle-aged people have more white hair and beards.
But his graying hair and beard were in stark contrast to his energetic appearance.
At this time, Chepke, who was walking in front of Ogata, whispered to Ogata and A-Machi behind him:
“This is Chanup.”
As soon as Chepke finished his introduction, the middle-aged man… or rather, Chanup, put on a warm smile and said loudly:
"Chepke! You are finally here! Your movements are much faster than what I imagined! Don't stand here, come and sit down! (Ainu language)"
After saying something to Chepke in Ainu, he turned his head and spoke to Ogata and A-machi in Japanese:
"These two should be Majima Goro and Atachi. Come, come and sit down."
Although Chanup's Japanese was fluent, his pronunciation was not standard and Ogata could hardly understand some words and phrases, but overall he could still understand what Chanup was saying.
"You speak Japanese really well." Ogata sat cross-legged next to Chanup and placed Daishikatsu on the floor on the right.
Ogata is no longer surprised by Ainu people who can speak Japanese.
Since entering Ezo and starting to interact with the Ezo people, Ogata found that he always met people who happened to speak Japanese and people who could translate Japanese for him.
So until now, Ogata has never worried about communication problems.
“Hahahaha.” Chanup laughed heartily. “I used to… have a Japanese friend. I learned Japanese from that friend.”
After saying that, Chanup, with a flash of memories in his eyes, picked up the pipe and the cloth bag of tobacco leaves beside him.
As soon as he put the pipe in his mouth, he immediately seemed to remember something and quickly took the pipe out of his mouth.
"You don't mind the smell of smoke, do you?" Chanup asked Ogata and Atachi.
Ogata shook his head.
Ating also shook his head.
After asking Ogata and Atachi, Chanup turned to ask the high-ranking officials of China Village who had come here with Chepke in Ainu whether they cared about the smell of smoke.
Chepke was an old acquaintance of Chanup, so Chanup knew that Chepke didn't mind the smell of smoke, so he didn't ask him.
After making sure that no one around him cared about the smell of smoke, Chanup put the pipe back in his mouth, put tobacco leaves in it, lit it, and then started smoking hard.
The Wagyu and Ainu peoples have been in love and hatred with each other for thousands of years. During these thousands of years of fierce friction, the cultures of the two peoples have been constantly communicating and learning from each other.
Many of the Ainu's items were passed on to the Japanese society - such as dog sleds.
Many items of the Japanese were also passed on to the Ainu society - such as pipes and tobacco leaves.
Ogata had been looking at Chanup carefully since a while ago.
He had heard of Chanup's name for a long time.
Ogata had heard of Chanup's name long before.
Based on the various rumors that Ogata had heard about Chanup, he had a vague impression of Chanup before he saw him in person today - if he had to use one word to describe Chanup, he would have been a heroic figure.
At the beginning, it was he who led several tribes to the south in search of a new home, and finally successfully found this fortress abandoned by the Lucia people.
After becoming the most powerful person in the fortress as expected, he worked hard to make the Red Moon Fortress gradually stronger.
According to Chepke and his men, the total population of Red Moon Fortress is now over a thousand people. Looking at the entire Ezo land, there should be no other Ainu village with a larger population than Red Moon Fortress.
Now, after seeing this hero with his own eyes, Ogata discovered that Chanup looked amiable, not at all like the supreme ruler of a settlement with thousands of people, but more like an ordinary uncle next door.
After taking two deep puffs of his cigarette and blowing out two smoke rings, Chanup turned his head and smiled at Ogata:
"Mr. Majima, welcome to Heye Zhe."
"I have heard about your deeds in detail from Chepke before."
"Although I already knew that you were a very young person, after seeing your young face in person, I still felt deeply moved."
"At such a young age, he has such amazing skills. It's really amazing and rare."
"Thank you for saving our compatriots."
Chanup put down the pipe from his mouth and bowed to Ogata.
"Thank you for lending a helping hand to our fellow man."
Ogata quickly bowed in return.
"I don't deserve it. I just did what I could."
"It's my wife and I who should say thank you."
"Thank you for letting my wife and I enter your place. It is a great help to us."
"Hahahaha." Chanup laughed loudly a few times, "This little thing is nothing."
Having said that, Chanup picked up his pipe again, put it to his mouth and took two hard puffs.
"I heard from Chepke before that you are looking for someone now."
"I will assist you in any way I can."
"But—what a coincidence."
Chanup put down his pipe and blew out two big circles under his eyes.
"Just the day before yesterday, we caught a weird-looking Japanese in the wild."
"We are temporarily holding him because we suspect he is a spy."
"Kazuto?" Ogata frowned slightly.
"Yes." Chanup nodded, "He is a very old man. Do you want to go and see that Kazuto now? That Kazuto might be the one you have been looking for."
"If we can go and take a look, we would certainly love to do so," Ogata said immediately.
A Japanese person caught in the wild - no matter how much you think about it, you must go and take a look.
Chanup smiled and nodded, then shouted something in Ainu language that Ogata could not understand outside the house.
The young men who were responsible for bringing Ogata, Chepke and others to Chanup's residence are still staying outside Chanup's house.
After Chanup's voice fell, a young man with ordinary appearance walked quickly into the house.
"Mr. Mashima, Ms. A-machi, you should follow him to the prison where that Kazuto is being held." Chanup said, "I will also have a good talk with Chepke and the others about their village's move-in while you are away."
Ogata nodded.
…
…
Ogata and A-machi were led through roads of different sizes and through intersections one after another.
Naturally, there were still many people watching and discussing in low voices along the way.
On the way to the place where the "spies" were imprisoned, Ogata also learned more about the living environment of the Red Moon Fortress.
Ogata saw a river just now.
The river is about 2 meters wide and flows slowly, and it has not frozen even in such a cold weather.
Not only was the river wide, it also seemed very long. When Ogata passed by the side of the river, whether he looked upstream or downstream, he could not see the head of the river.
The residents of Red Moon Fortress seemed to get their daily drinking water from this river. Ogata saw many women carrying bottles and jars to the river to fetch water.
Ogata guessed that this river should be a tributary of the "J"-shaped river outside the fortress.
The Red Moon Fortress was built on this tributary, making it convenient for the residents of the fortress to obtain and use water.
The Red Moon Fortress was not a very impressive fortress on earth, so it only took Ogata and his companions a few minutes to reach their destination - a shabby-looking hut.
Although the residents of Red Moon Fortress occupied this advanced fortress, they still lived a tribal life, so naturally there was no facility like a prison. So they only imprisoned people in an uninhabited hut.
There were two young men with bows and arrows guarding outside the hut.
The "guide boy" who was responsible for leading Ogata and his team walked forward and said something to the two guards, who nodded.
"Mr. Majima, Ms. A-machi." The "guide" pulled open the curtain of the window of the house, "Please check if this person is the one you are looking for."
The doors and windows of the Ainu people are all made of a special kind of grass.
After the "guide boy" pulled open the curtain of the window, Ogata and Atachi immediately walked forward and put their heads toward the window with the open curtains.
A damp and musty smell hit Ogata in the face.
After holding his breath unconsciously, Ogata narrowed his eyes slightly and looked into the dim hut.
This hut is a typical Ainu-style hut. Converted into modern area units, it is probably about 10 square meters.
There was no furniture inside . Even without stepping into the house, Ogata could feel that the house was very damp and the air was filled with an unpleasant, pungent musty smell.
In the empty room, there was a man sitting cross-legged on the ground.
It's an old man.
He was probably in his early 50s, with a mixture of black and white hair and beard.
He had a shaved head, but because he hadn't taken care of it for a long time, some hair had grown on the top of his head.
The problem with having a topknot is that you have to shave the top of your head every once in a while, otherwise the hair will grow on top of your head, making the already ugly hairstyle even uglier.
Except for the hair growing on the top of his head, the temples that did not need to be shaved and the bun on the top of his head were now messy. Even from a distance, Ogata could see that there was a lot of dandruff in his hair.
He had a thick beard above his lips and on his chin, which was not very common in this era.
During the Edo period, growing beards was not very popular among either the samurai class or the common people.
Therefore, the probability of encountering a samurai or civilian with a thick beard on the street is not very high. The most common things are various kinds of "pale and beardless" samurai or civilians.
The old man had a thick beard, which was rare in that era, and his beard was as messy as his hair.
Although the light in the room was dim, Ogata could still clearly see that the old man had a darker skin color, which meant that he had been in contact with the sun for a long time.
Moreover, Ogata also found that this man's body was unexpectedly strong.
Even though he was wearing thick clothes, Ogata could feel that this man was very strong and not the kind of person who was frail.
At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, as if in a daze.
After the curtains were drawn, he was the first to notice the movement and turned his head to look towards the window.
When he noticed Ogata and Atachi looking into the house through the window, the old man was stunned at first, then hurriedly stood up, and then quickly rushed to the window, facing Ogata and the others.
"Wazuto?" The old man looked at Ogata and Atachi's faces, which were full of Wazuto style, with surprise, "Were you also captured as spies? Ah, it seems not."
The old man asked himself this question after taking a look at Ogata and the others' hands that were not tied and seeing that there were no escort personnel around them.
"Who are you?" The old man asked a new question like a machine gun. "Why can you, as fellow Japanese, look at me so brazenly from outside the cell, while I can only look at you from inside the cell? Hey! This is too unfair!"
The old man said the second half of his sentence to the two guards who were responsible for watching over him.
The old man spoke this sentence in Japanese, so the two guards did not understand what he was saying.
However, after the old man finished speaking, the two guards gave a bitter smile, then turned their heads and said something to Ogata and Atachi beside them.
After the two guards finished speaking, the "guide" immediately translated for Ogata and the others:
"They said that this man was very old, but very...lively."
The "guide boy" hesitated for a while before uttering the word "lively" with a conflicted look on his face.
"So the two of them were almost annoyed to death by the old man's noise, and they finally stopped for a while just now."
——He seems to be a person with a strong personality...
After silently complaining in his heart, Ogata turned his head and looked at the old man again.
" Nice to meet you, my name is Majima Goro." Ogata said, "For some reasons, my wife and I are now guests of this Red Moon Fortress."
"This is Uchiko-Mashima-cho."
"Hello." Ating also bowed and greeted the old man, "You can just call me Ating."
"Guest?" A look of surprise appeared in the old man's eyes.
After looking Ogata and A-Machi up and down with a look of astonishment, he cleared his throat and said seriously:
"Nice to meet you. My name is Lin Ziping." The old man introduced himself. "I'm a scholar. Although I prefer people to call me 'Mr. Lin', if you find this way of addressing me troublesome, you can just call me 'Lin'."
"Scholar?" Ogata raised his eyebrows.
Lin Ziping...that is, this old man nodded heavily.
"Have you heard of my name? I seem to be honored by some people as the 'Forerunner of the North Gate'."
Ogata and Atachi shook their heads at the same time in perfect tacit understanding.
Ogata never paid attention to the academic world of this era.
Not to mention Atachi.
As a poor student who couldn't even recognize a few Chinese characters, Ating had no interest in the academic world.
"It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of it. It's just some boring reputation anyway."
Hayashi Shiping didn't seem to be sad at all about the fact that Ogata and Atachi didn't hear his name.
"I came to Ezo to conduct new research in order to further my academic studies."
"Just a few days ago, I went to the area to study the surrounding terrain and topography."
"Then he was caught by the people from the Red Moon Fortress."
"They forcibly brought me here on the pretext that they suspected me of being a spy, and have been keeping me locked up like this ever since."
At this time, the "guide boy" on the side added:
"When we found him, he was squatting on a hilltop, recording the surrounding terrain."
"After searching him, we found a large number of hand-drawn maps and records of topography and landforms of various places on his body."
"We strongly suspected that he was a spy sent to collect intelligence on us, so we decided to bring him back and release him after confirming that he is indeed not a spy."
"You have a lot of hand-drawn maps and records of terrain and topography of various places..." Ogata turned his head and looked at Lin Ziping speechlessly, "It's reasonable for you to be regarded as a spy..."
"The boss should feel lucky." The "guide" had a cold light in his eyes. "He didn't have any gold panning tools or gold sand on him at the time."
"If we find gold mining tools and gold sand on him, we won't be so gentle with him."
"I won't do something as boring and time-wasting as gold panning," Lin Ziping said immediately, "There are more important things waiting for me to do!"
After saying that, Lin Ziping turned his attention back to Ogata and Atachi.
"Mr. Majima! Ms. Atachi! Since you are guests of the Red Moon Fortress, can you help me talk to the higher-ups there? I'm not a spy for the shogunate!"
"Look at my age."
Lin Ziping pointed at his black and white hair.
"Is it possible that the shogunate would send such an old man as a spy?"
"That's hard to say." The "guide boy" said lightly.
After giving Lin Ziping a cold and ruthless reply, the "guide" turned his head and asked Ogata:
"I almost forgot about the main thing... So, is this old man the person you are looking for?"
Ogata shook his head: "No, he is not the person I am looking for."
"Hmm?" At this time, Lin Ziping suddenly raised his eyebrows.
He looked at Ogata, then at Atachi.
"Are you two looking for someone?"
"Yes." Ogata nodded, "My wife and I are looking for two doctors now."
"Doctor...?" For some reason, Lin Ziping's brows suddenly frowned.
At this moment, Ogata suddenly thought of something - before Hayashi Shiping was captured, a large number of hand-drawn maps of Ezo were found on his body, which meant that Hayashi Shiping had been to many places in Ezo.
He might have a clue.
"Mr. Lin." Ogata said to the old man with a respectful tone, "I want to ask you, have you seen these two people?"
Ogata told Lin Ziping the ages and appearance characteristics of Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen.
After Ogata finished speaking, Lin Ziping lowered his head and remained silent, as if he was recalling something.
When Ogata was puzzled and was about to ask Lin Ziping what was wrong, Lin Ziping suddenly raised his head slowly and said to Ogata and the others:
"What a coincidence. I just met a strange-looking doctor in an Ainu village not long ago."
"That doctor is the village doctor of that village, but he is a Japanese."
Ogata's eyes widened slightly in surprise: "Can you tell us in detail?"
"I remember this happened more than a month ago."
"I passed by an Ainu settlement."
"The villagers in that settlement don't hate people, so they treated me quite warmly."
"I found the doctor in that settlement."
"It's rare for Japanese people to live in an Ainu settlement for a long time, so I was deeply impressed by him."
"He was the only Japanese man in the village. He had white hair, a weathered face, and a hoarse voice. He looked to be in his 50s."
Ogata's brows were already furrowed at this point.
His hair was pale and he looked to be in his 50s - these two characteristics did not match either Xuan Zheng or Xuan Zhen.
Lin Ziping's narration continued at this time.
"That guy said his name was 'Zhongshan'. For some reason, he ended up in this settlement and became a village doctor."
"He didn't tell me why he ended up there."
"The villagers in that settlement seem to respect that man very much."
"That Zhongshan looked pretty normal at first."
"When passing through this settlement, he invited me to sit in his house for a while."
"I was also very interested in this Japanese man who lived alone in the Ainu village, so I accepted his invitation and went to his house to sit for a while."
"Then, after arriving at Nakayama's home, I discovered a compartment in Nakayama's home."
"You should also know that most Ainu homes have no partitions. A home has only one living room, and the whole family's food, clothing, and shelter are all solved in this living room."
"I was curious, so I asked Nakayama if the compartment was his bedroom?"
"But who would have thought that as soon as I asked this question, Zhongshan, who was originally normal, suddenly became..."
Lin Ziping fell silent.
Like thinking about the wording.
After a while, he slowly said:
"Becoming...hysterical."
“He growled and told me not to go near that stall.”
"He had just invited me to his home in a friendly manner, but after I asked that question, he went crazy and drove me out of the house, asking me to leave the village as soon as possible."
"As I said earlier, the villagers in that village all respect Zhongshan very much."
“So after Zhongshan chased me away, the other villagers also changed their friendly attitude and waved all kinds of weapons to chase me away.”
"I was so scared that I ran away in a hurry."
Ogata and Atachi listened quietly to Hayashi Shiping's story.
After Lin Ziping finished speaking, the expressions of both Ogata and Atachi became solemn.
"Why does it sound so much like a ghost story?" Ating said, "Aren't you making it up?"
Although Ating likes to listen to stories, he has always been indifferent to horror stories and ghost stories.
"I'm not making this up." Lin Ziping looked angrily, "Every word I said is true!"
"Did you go to that village again?" Ogata asked at this time.
"How could I possibly go to that village again?" Lin Ziping said, "That Zhongshan looks crazy, how could I possibly go there again!"
At this time, Ogata lowered his head and was deep in thought.
Based on the physical features of Zhongshan that Lin Ziping just described, it seems that Zhongshan is neither Xuanzheng nor Xuanzhen.
But Zhongshan is a doctor, and this characteristic is consistent with Xuanzheng, Xuanzhen and others.
Moreover... Zhongshan looked a bit nervous... This characteristic was consistent with Xuan Zhen's...
After thinking for a moment, Ogata made up his mind.
"...Mr. Lin." Ogata looked up at Lin Ziping and said seriously, "Can you tell us where the village is?"
"Hmm?" Lin Ziping raised his eyebrows. "Why? Do you want to visit that Zhongshan?"
"Yes." Ogata nodded, "My intuition tells me that Zhongshan is worth visiting."
"So I want to meet him."
"So can you tell me where that village is?"
Lin Ziping looked at Ogata, then at Ating.
Then he lowered his head, a thoughtful look on his face, but no one knew what he was thinking about.
After a while, he raised his head quietly.
"...How about we make a deal?" Lin Ziping stared at Ogata, "You help me get out of this damn place. Then I will take you to the village where the doctor is."
Ogata's brows immediately frowned: "Help you leave here?"
Lin Ziping nodded heavily:
“I still have a lot of important research to do.”
Lin Ziping's expression was so serious at this moment that it was hard to describe it any more, causing Ogata to subconsciously look at him with an equally serious expression.
"I can't keep wasting my time here. Please, Mr. Majima, help me."
After saying that, Lin Ziping bowed his head to Ogata.
After staring at Lin Ziping for a while, Ogata said in a deep voice:
"First of all, although Ah-Ming and I are guests of the Red Moon Fortress, our relationship with the higher-ups there is not good enough for them to release us if we just say 'please release us'."
"And secondly - how can we be sure that what you just said is true?"
"Finally - even if what you just said is true, how can we be sure that you will really take us to that village?"
"I can swear to you!" Lin Ziping seemed a little anxious now, "I swear that what I just said is true..."
Before Lin Ziping could finish his words, Ogata interrupted him:
"If swearing an oath works, there wouldn't be so many tragedies in this world." Ogata said lightly.
Lin Ziping pursed his lips, lowered his head and said nothing.
"...I can't give you any substantial guarantees right now." After a moment of silence, Lin Ziping said softly, "All I can do is hope that you believe me."
"Trust me that I won't lie to you and that I will keep my promise later."
Lin Ziping slowly raised his head and looked at Ogata with a serious gaze without any unnecessary emotion.