"...What the child just said about 'looking for her family' was just her one-sided statement."
"I think... we can't rule out the possibility that she actually wanted to get close to you for some reason, and she made up a random excuse."
Staying close to Ogata for a reason - Atachi has experience in this.
She was on Choujima in the first place in order to take advantage of Ogata's powerful strength and to increase her chances of completing the mission successfully by staying close to Ogata.
At the beginning, his intention was to take advantage of Ogata, but as for the fact that he later developed feelings for Ogata, that is another story.
As soon as Ah-Ming finished speaking, Oo-fang smiled and said, "I know all of this. I have been wandering outside for more than a year. During this time, I have not only improved my swordsmanship, but I have also gained a lot of experience in how to guard against others."
"Bring her with me. Even if she has bad intentions, I have enough confidence that she won't be able to murder me."
Ogata felt that what Azuki had just said was still credible. At least the fact that "Azuki and Iga were connected" was basically correct.
People can lie to others, but the system will not lie to others.
The system clearly told Ogata that this technique was a forbidden technique of the Iga School. The technique used by Azhu was indeed a technique of the Iga School.
It is certain that the child Azuku has a connection with Iga, whether shallow or deep - this is true.
"Then let's assume for the moment that what Azhu just said was true and that he didn't lie to us..." Acheng bit his lower lip and shook his head, "Then I think in this case, we can't bring her with us."
"What you just said, 'The remnants of Iga were hired by the forces researching immortality and are looking for you everywhere' is just your guess. The remnants of Iga might be hired by other forces, such as a certain feudal state, or... hired by the shogunate."
"If we bring Azuki with us, and really attract the remnants of Iga, we might end up attracting an organization that is more troublesome than the forces that research immortality."
"If this force is looking for you for friendly purposes, then it's fine. But if it's looking for you for some unfriendly purpose..."
Having said this, Ating paused and pursed his lips as if he couldn't bear to say any more.
"So, I think it's better to avoid trouble instead of inviting it."
"You and I are now homeless and our whereabouts are erratic. You have also been very careful to hide your identity, so it is not easy for these forces to find you."
"So as long as we don't bring Azhu with us, and we act cautiously as always and don't reveal our whereabouts, these forces that are looking for you may not be able to find us even after decades."
"Um...so...can you understand me?"
Knowing that she has little cultural knowledge, A-Machi has no confidence in her ability to summarize in words. After saying what she wanted to say, A-Machi couldn't help but ask Ogata if he understood what she had just said.
"Yes. I heard it clearly, very clearly." Ogata nodded, then smiled, "In short, you are worried that the remnants of Iga are actually hired by a more troublesome force, and you are worried that if you bring Azuki with you, it will attract an organization that is more troublesome than the force that studies immortality."
"Without any clues, it will be difficult for them to find us. So instead of actively attracting them, it is better to avoid them before they find us. In this way, maybe that force won't find us until a hundred years after you and I."
Ah-Machi nodded rapidly, "Yes, yes, that's what I meant. You are worthy of being the first in the Imperial Examination. You summarized my previous long speech in just two sentences."
"I understand all your concerns and have taken them into consideration." Ogata slowly put away the smile on his face and his expression became serious. "But I think - if those remnants of Iga were hired by other forces, then it would be even more necessary to bring Azuki with me, lure the remnants of Iga here, and then follow the clues to find out what force is behind the remnants of Iga."
"My human skin mask has been destroyed."
"Now we can only rely on scarves, bamboo hats and other things to cover our faces, but using these to cover our faces will inevitably lead to loopholes."
"Without the human skin mask, I can no longer guarantee that my whereabouts will not be exposed."
"So - instead of waiting for these forces lurking in the dark to track our whereabouts one day in the future and find us."
"It would be better to find out their true identity and purpose as soon as possible, so that we can still take the initiative."
Finally, Ogata changed his tone to a half- joking :
"I don't want to be in the bath in the future and suddenly some unidentified guy comes to my door."
A-Machi lowered her head and pursed her lips, as if she was thinking and digesting what Ogata had just said.
After a while, Ating finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"...I see." Atachi raised his eyes, looked at Ogata, and smiled. "Think about it carefully - just letting an unknown force look for us while we remain indifferent is indeed not in line with our style."
"It's not really a good idea to just ignore this unknown person who's trying to find you."
"Well then... let the child go with us then."
…
…
"Excuse me, where is the toilet?" Zhi Zhou asked a young man dressed as a waiter in front of him, who had a conspicuous red birthmark on his left cheek.
"Uh, ah..." The waiter with a birthmark on his face stammered, his face flushed with embarrassment.
"You don't know where the toilet is?" Zhi Zhou was surprised and looked up and down at the male waiter with the birthmark several times. He was indeed wearing a waiter's uniform.
"I'm sorry..." The birthmarked waiter lowered his head and stammered, "I'm new here. Tonight is my first time working, and I haven't memorized the exact location of the toilet and other places..."
“Hahahaha, I see.” Naoshige laughed heartily, “It’s okay, I understand.”
"Sir, I'm sorry, what happened?" At this time, an older waitress came running quickly from the side of the corridor.
——If I tell the waitress that the young man doesn’t remember where the toilet is, she will definitely scold him afterwards…
After Zhi Zhou glanced at the male waiter with the birthmark in front of him, he smiled at the female waiter who was walking quickly towards them:
"Nothing happened. I was just bored and forced this young man to chat with me."
"Oh, yes. I want to ask, where is the toilet?"
"As for the toilet, go straight along this corridor, then turn two corners to the right and you will see it," the waitress replied while bowing.
"I see. Thank you very much." Nao Zhou patted the birthmarked waiter on the shoulder and said, "Young man, let's chat again when we have a chance."
Knowing that Naoshiro was just trying to smooth things over for him, the waiter with the birthmark nodded vigorously and cast a grateful look at Naoshiro.
Zhi Zhou followed the path indicated by the waitress and finally found the toilet.
After losing nearly half a pound of weight in one breath, Zhi Zhou frowned, rubbed his temples hard, and walked out of the bathroom with a staggering step.
——As I get older, my body is really getting less and less useful... I just squatted for a short while, but when I stood up, I felt so dizzy that I almost couldn't stand...
I would feel dizzy if I squatted for a long time - this has been a problem I have had for several years.
He also tried to see a doctor and took a lot of medicine, but none of it worked.
——I really don’t know… whether I can see the fall of the Edo Shogunate in my lifetime…
Zhi Zhou let out a silent sigh in his heart.
After the dizziness eased a little, Naoshige quickly walked back to the room where he and Isshiki lived.
After turning into the corridor that was the only way back to the room, a group of people passed by Zhi Zhou.
This group of people seemed to be traveling merchants, and they were walking towards the stairs leading to the first floor in a lively manner.
Zhi Zhou didn't pay much attention to the group of merchants who passed by him, and didn't even look at them as he passed by them.
After Zhi Zhou had separated himself from the group of merchants, the leader of the group, a fat, middle-aged man with a big belly, shouted to his subordinates behind him: "Are all the people here?"
"Everyone is here!" someone responded loudly, "Mr. Ichinosuke, where are we going to drink?"
"Hahaha! I'm taking you to an izakaya that serves really good liquor! We finally sold out today, and we won't come back unless we get drunk and celebrate!"
…
…
As soon as he returned to the room, Naoshu saw Isshiki sitting cross-legged on the tatami.
At this time, Isshiki was carefully reading the famous book on military strategy, "The Book of Five Rings", written by the great swordsman Miyamoto Musashi more than a hundred years ago.
Japan's military tactics are not the same concept as China's military tactics.
The Japanese word for "martial arts" means "the law of weapons". The "Gorinsho" mainly records Miyamoto Musashi's experience in using various weapons, and the insights into "Tao" derived from this.
After seeing his grandfather coming back, Isshiki just looked at Naoki coldly, then looked away and never looked at Naoki again.
—Are you still mad at me?
Naoshige could tell at a glance that Isshiki was still sulking about Naoshige's previous remarks asking her to get married within this year.
Naoshige was too lazy to pay attention to the stubborn Isshiki. He didn't think it was an excessive request to ask Isshiki, who was already 21 years old and considered an old woman in this era, to get married within this year.
"Aren't you going to take a shower?" Naoshige asked coldly as he sat down a little further away from Isshiki.
Naoshige had just arrived at the bathhouse and taken a bath first.
"No hurry, let's go later when there are fewer people." Isshiki responded without any emotion, "I have just checked the closing time of the bathhouse in this hotel. It will not close until 5 pm (10 pm). It's still early now."
"Just don't forget to take a shower."
After he finished speaking, Zhi Zhou stared at the flickering flame of the oil lamp in front of him in a trance.
——Is there really no way to get Master Ittosai to join us?
What concerns Naoshige most right now is the matter concerning Ogata.
They encountered the executioner Ittosai outdoors - this was a once-in-a-lifetime precious opportunity for them who were determined to overthrow the shogunate.
If possible, Naoshige didn't want to miss Ogata who was powerful enough to defeat thousands of troops...
Zhi Zhou racked his brains to think.
I was thinking if there was any way to make Ogata change his mind...
…
…
About half an hour later——
"Grandpa, I'm going to take a shower."
At this moment, Isseki's voice suddenly reached Zhizhou's ears.
The sudden sound of Isshiki's voice brought Naoshige back to his senses from his thoughts.
"Hmm? Has it been so long already?..."
Because he was so absorbed in his thoughts just now, Zhi Zhou completely forgot the passage of time.
When I came to my senses, a long time had passed and even the oil in the oil lamp had decreased a lot.
"Grandpa, please leave the room for a moment. I need to change my clothes." Isshiki closed the "Book of Five Rings" in his palm and untied a package beside him that contained various clothes.
"Got it." Zhi Zhou responded casually and quickly left the room.
Naoshige was standing outside the room, with his hands crossed and put into his wide sleeves, silently waiting for Isshiki to change his clothes.
Kerala...
Not long after, the door of the room was opened from the inside.
After changing his clothes, Isseki walked out of the room through the open door.
Naoshige tilted his head, quickly looked at Isshiki who had just changed his clothes, and said with a half-joking smile:
"I've been used to seeing you in men's clothes for a while now, so it's a little strange to see you in women's clothes again."
At this moment, Isshiki is no longer wearing men's clothes and carrying a sword.
Instead, she was wearing a goose yellow women's kimono with a light green belt. The only thing that remained unchanged was the pair of white cloth socks on her feet.
Isshiki's response to Naoshige's joke was to ignore it.
"I plan to take a longer shower today." Isshiki said in a slightly cold tone, "So I will be back later."
During the days they were drifting on the sea, there was naturally no condition for them to take a slow bath.
The air in the cabin was so humid that it didn't feel like there was moisture in the air, but rather air in the moisture, making people's skin sticky.
The thing Isshiki wanted to do most since getting off the boat was to take a bath.
The reason why she persuaded Naoshige to stay in this hotel for one night was because this hotel had its own bathhouse.
Faced with the long-awaited opportunity to take a good bath, Isshiki didn't want to waste it so hastily.
After leaving these words, Isshiki strode towards the east side of the first floor, towards where the bathhouse was.
Looking at Isshiki's back as he walked away, Isshiki shook his head slightly with a helpless look on his face and returned to the room.
…
…
——Very good... Ogata Ittosai and the others are not around...
If Ogata Ittosai and the others saw Isshiki Ryoma, who was currently wearing women's clothes, Isshiki would have to spend a lot of energy explaining herself, so in order to avoid trouble, she naturally wanted to avoid meeting Ogata and the others as much as possible.
Isshiki moved forward cautiously and finally arrived at the door of the bathhouse safely.
Since Matsudaira Sadanobu took office as the senior councilor, he has issued many new policies and orders in order to reverse the social atmosphere, which he considered to be corrupt.
These new policies and orders covered all aspects, even the layout of bathhouses.
Matsudaira Sadanobu issued a specific order: no more bathhouses where men and women could bathe together were allowed.
Once this new policy was released, countless people who loved mixed bathing for some reason were miserable. They cursed Matsudaira Sadanobu as a sinner for all ages and regarded him as an unforgivable evil creature.
No common people would dare to go against the shogunate, so after the new policy was issued, all bathhouses that allowed mixed bathing for men and women or advertised mixed bathing were urgently renovated. To this day, bathhouses that allowed mixed bathing can probably only be found in some remote areas that are difficult for the shogunate to control.
The bathhouse of this hotel honestly responded to the call of Matsudaira Sadanobu's policy and was divided into men's baths and women's baths.
The door leading to the men's bathroom is hung with a blue door curtain with "Men" written on it, and the door leading to the women's bathroom is hung with a red door curtain with "Women" written on it.
Just as Isshiki was about to enter the women's bath, he suddenly smelled a nauseating stench of alcohol coming from beside him.
With a frown on his face, he followed the smell and saw a group of men reeking of alcohol striding towards the bathhouse.
Isshiki hates people who reek of alcohol the most.
So after taking a glance at this group of drunken people, Isese quickly lifted the curtain of the women's bath and entered.
…
…
"Mr. Ichinosuke, did you see that..." A young man with a pointed face and monkey cheeks, swallowing hard, nudged a fat, big-bellied middle-aged man next to him with his right elbow, "The woman in the yellow kimono just now was so beautiful."
“Hmm…” The middle-aged man called Ichinosuke nodded blankly.
If Naoshige was there, he would probably be able to vaguely recall that these people were the same group of people he met in the corridor when he was returning to his room after using the toilet.
They are traveling merchants who sell goods everywhere.
They successfully sold out all the goods today, and to celebrate, they just went out for some drinks.
After everyone's faces were as red as monkey's butts, they supported each other and returned to the hotel where they were staying, then went straight to the bathhouse, intending to take a simple bath and then have a good sleep.
And then——at the entrance of the bathhouse, they ran into Isshiki who also came to take a bath at this time.
Everyone was so stunned by Isshiki's appearance that they couldn't move. They stood there in a daze until Isshiki entered the women's bath.
"She's really beautiful. This is the first time I've seen such a beautiful woman."
"It's a pity that he looks a little older, probably around 20 years old."
"It's so big, it's directly on the belt, wow..."
They slowly came to their senses and started to comment on Isseki in a very rude manner.
As the saying goes - alcohol makes cowards brave.
Although he was quite drunk at this time, he was still staring blankly at Ichinosuke who was bathing in the bath, and slowly revealed an obscene smile.
"Hey." Ichinosuke whispered to his companions, "Listen to me--"
Under the influence of alcohol, Ichinosuke came up with a daring plan that he would never dare to carry out if he was sober.
"Look, there's no one else around. How about we swap the curtains between the men's and women's baths?"
The obscene look on Ichinosuke's face became more and more intense.
"After swapping the curtains, we rushed into the 'Men's Bath' and took the opportunity to feast our eyes. When asked why we went into the Women's Bath, we said: We were definitely in the Men's Bath."
"Eh? This, this is not good..." someone said timidly.
"What are you afraid of?" Ichinosuke said, "There's no one else around here. We insist that the curtains for the men's and women's baths are placed like this. Without evidence, what can they do to us?"
"Besides, I'm very familiar with the government here. If I attract them, I can just pay some money to settle the matter."
The effect of alcohol is powerful.
Not only did Ichinosuke lose his mind due to alcohol, but the rest of his subordinates also lost their minds one after another.
"Yes, that's right."
"Go ahead, go ahead. It's a rare opportunity to meet a beauty like this. It would be a shame if you don't take the opportunity to feast your eyes on her."
Under the dual effects of alcohol and lust, Kazunosuke and his group rushed to the bathhouse in a large crowd.
Some people who are unwilling to do so can only follow suit helplessly.
They quickly pulled down the curtains between the men's and women's baths and swapped them.
"Hehehe." A smug and obscene laugh came from Ichinosuke's lips, "Let's go."
They were rubbing their hands together, their faces filled with excitement and anticipation.
But just as they were about to rush into the "Men's Bath" -
"Hey! What are you doing?"
A young male voice suddenly pierced their eardrums—a male servant with a noticeable birthmark on his face strode towards them.
Looking at the approaching male servant, those who were unwilling to do such a thing in the first place were frightened and ran away quickly.
Humans are animals that are extremely easily affected by the environment.
After these people escaped, a chain reaction immediately occurred, and the rest of the people who were unconscious due to alcohol also fled the place.
In the blink of an eye, Ichinosuke was the only one left standing there.
Seeing his companions "disappear", Ichinosuke looked around blankly for a while, then scolded: "A bunch of cowards..."
Although he cursed like this, he still ran away from the bathhouse door as quickly as his companions.
“Really…what on earth were those people doing just now …” The male waiter with the birthmark stood where Ichinosuke and the others had just stood, looking around in confusion.
In the end, he didn't notice anything unusual, so he walked away slowly, scratching the back of his head.
"Go back and continue to remember the locations of toilets and other places..." the birthmarked waiter murmured, "Don't make the same stupid mistake again when a customer asks where the toilet is and you don't know where it is..."
As a newcomer, he didn't notice at all that the men's and women's shower curtains in the bathhouse had been swapped...
…
…
"Huh..." Isse let out a long breath and pounded his shoulders with a force that was neither light nor heavy. His shoulders were sore from carrying heavy objects all the time.
While pounding her shoulders, she glanced around the bathing area where no one else was except her, and a hint of joy appeared at the corner of her mouth.
The reason why she came to take a bath so late was to have the bath alone like she is now.
The reason she did this was not only because she didn't want A-Machi, A-Tsuki and the others to see her suddenly turning into a girl, but also because she particularly enjoyed the feeling of being the only one in the entire bathhouse.
After several rounds of beating, feeling the pain in his shoulders ease a little, Isshiki leaned back, leaned against the wall behind him, and closed his eyes.
She wanted to just empty her mind and let her brain and body, which had experienced so much tonight, rest for a while.
But for some reason... Ogata's face and... the words Ogata had said to her before, replayed uncontrollably in her mind.
…
[I just said that all these ‘swords’ and ‘swords’ should be eliminated in this era. It’s not just those flashy secret swords and ultimate swords. It also includes the ‘real sword’ you just mentioned.]
…
[Let me put it in simpler terms - I think all sword techniques should be eliminated. ]
…
[Hmm... I feel like I'm just an average swordsman, and I still have a long way to go.]
…
All the brows were furrowed slowly.
Just then——
Clack la la la…
The wooden door connecting the bathtub to the outside was slowly opened.
Before Isshiki could even open his eyes to see who it was, he heard a... very familiar male voice:
"Hmm? Isshiki-kun?"