"We're here." Mucun pointed to a plain-looking inn in front of him, "This is where we're staying now."
Ogata looked at the inn in front of him. On the door plaque of the inn were written three large Chinese characters "Kadaya". Then he scanned the environment around the circle - although this place was not far from Shinmachi, it was quite desolate and had little traffic.
In a nutshell - this place is a rather inconspicuous area in Osaka.
"Has everyone in your gourd house come to Osaka?" Ogata asked.
Makimura shook his head and said, "No. Currently, only Mamiya, Asai, and I are coming to Osaka. The rest of us will have to come later. I'll tell you the details later."
This Mondaya house has only two floors. Makimura led Ogata and Atachi up to the second floor in one breath, and then stopped in front of a room in the corner.
As soon as he stood in front of the sliding paper door of this room, Obuchi heard a very familiar voice and a very familiar sentence structure from behind the door...
"Mamiya, you can actually repair this kind of barbarian pocket watch..."
"Well, I once learned how to repair this kind of clock in Nagasaki. I've told you that cheap things don't come cheap, but a Nanman pocket watch only costs 500 wen? This watch will definitely break down in a few days, and you see - it's just as expected, right? Well, it's barely fixed, but if it breaks down again, I may be powerless to fix it."
"While I was working hard to negotiate with Yukimura, you two were so leisurely..." Makimura twitched his mouth and opened the door unceremoniously.
"Oh, Makimura, you're back... huh?" Mamiya's eyes widened, staring blankly at Ogata and Atachi who were standing behind Makimura, "Ogata-kun... Miss Atachi..."
Asai, who was sitting opposite Mamiya with a silver pocket watch in his hand, was also stunned at this moment.
"Long time no see, Mamiya, Asai." Ogata smiled at the two people who had not seen each other since they parted in Edo at the end of last year, "We and you... really have a wonderful fate."
…
…
The Kadoya where Mamiya and his friends stayed was an ordinary hotel with nothing special. The rooms in such an ordinary hotel were also ordinary. There was no word to praise their room except "big". Such a big room had basically no furniture, only a few cushions.
Ogata, Atachi, Mamiya, Makimura, and Asai sat in a circle, and Makimura took the lead in telling the story of his chance encounter with Ogata and Atachi.
"...That's how I met Ogata-san and Atachi-san." Makimura said slowly, "Then I brought them here."
After listening to Makimura’s account of the encounter between Ogata and A-machi, the first person to express his thoughts was Mamiya.
"...Ogata-kun, it's just as you said just now - we really have a wonderful fate with you..."
Mamiya let out a long breath, looking incredulous.
"I didn't expect that we would run into you by chance after traveling all the way to Osaka."
"I thought you were still in Ezo..."
"Some time ago, when we just left Edo and were preparing to come to Kansai, I heard about your feat of defeating the shogunate's 10,000-strong army in Ezo."
"When we heard the news, we couldn't believe our ears. We couldn't imagine that such a feat could be accomplished by a mere warrior."
"Looking at all the swordsmen of the past and present, let alone Miyamoto Musashi and his ilk, even Kamiizumi Nobunaga and Tsukahara Bokuden are probably no match for you."
Having said that, Mamiya smiled, raised his hand, and patted the shoulder of Ogata who was sitting next to him.
"I am really... becoming more and more curious about how people in the future will evaluate you..."
Ogata simply smiled at Mamiya's words, which showed no unusual emotion but only the purest admiration.
"As long as the Edo shogunate still exists, the official evaluation of me will probably not be very good." Ogata said in a joking tone, "Now... those who are loyal to the shogunate are probably eager to cut me into pieces for causing their disastrous defeat in Ezo."
"Let's stop here for my story. Now let's talk about yours."
Ogata moved his gaze, passing over the faces of Mamiya, Makimura, and Asai one by one.
"Why are you three here?"
"Well..." Mamiya looked at him with eyes that seemed to see through Ogata's body, "...We are here to track down 'immortality'."
"After parting with you, we got new clues about 'immortality' in Edo."
"We followed this clue and came to Osaka."
Hearing what Mamiya said, Ogata's eyes were filled with surprise uncontrollably.
At this time, Mamiya continued:
"Ogata-kun, did you and Miss A-machi gain anything from your trip to Ezo to search for Master and Disciple Gensho and Gennao?"
"..." Ogata thought for a moment and said, "...I have gained a lot. This is a big step towards curing my body that is infected with the 'Immortality Poison'."
"I see..." Mamiya murmured softly, "Then in this case, both of us hold important information related to 'immortality'..."
"...Ogata-kun, how about this - let's exchange information."
"I will tell you what we know so far, and you will tell us yours. We will share what we have and benefit from each other."
As soon as Mamiya finished speaking, Asai beside him said in a hurry:
"Hey! Mamiya! Is this okay for you? You don't even say hello to the lord, and you want to exchange information with Ogata."
"I still have this autonomy." Mamiya smiled at Asai, "Ogata-kun is no longer a stranger to us."
"Exchanging information with him will be beneficial to both them and us."
"If the lord were here, he would definitely choose to exchange information with Ogata-kun and the others without hesitation."
After saying this, Mamiya turned his gaze back to Ogata.
"Ogata-kun, what do you think?"
"...Okay." Ogata didn't think for long before nodding, "Then let's exchange information. I'm also curious - what new information do you have in Edo?"
Just as Mamiya said, exchanging information with Huluya has many benefits. Ogata couldn't think of any reason to reject Mamiya's proposal.
Maybe Mamiya and the others really have information that he and Atachi don't know.
"Well then - let us start." Mamiya cleared his throat and began to tell the story.
After their battle with Shiranui, they quietly recuperated in Edo, and talked about how they recently rescued the poor girl, Atake, who was imprisoned in the Yamada Asaemon family.
Ogata and Atachi, who had been listening quietly, had their expressions change several times as Mamiya spoke.
Ogata's expression suddenly changed twice.
The first sudden change was when he found out that Mamiya was actually a descendant of the famous Yamada Asaemon family.
The second sudden change was when he learned that the girl named Azhu had such a strong recovery ability that her organs could repair themselves even if they were removed.
Such a strong recovery ability made Ogata almost subconsciously recall the monsters on Butterfly Island...
"Ogata-kun, Ms. Atachi." Mamiya suddenly asked them, "Do you know about the recent frequent disappearances in Kansai?"
The two of them shook their heads at the same time in tacit understanding - because they were busy on the road, they seldom went to pubs, teahouses and other places to listen to the "implementation news".
"We have heard about this briefly in Edo before." Mamiya said slowly, "Recently, there have been frequent disappearances in Kansai. Regardless of gender, age, samurai or common people, people have disappeared. We call this disappearance incident the 'Kansai Missing Population Incident'."
"When we heard the rumor, we didn't pay much attention to it."
"It was not until we rescued Azhu that we realized the 'Kansai Missing Persons Case' was not that simple."
"Atake, who was from Osaka, was kidnapped on the streets of Osaka. It is hard not to link Atake's kidnapping with the 'Kansai missing persons incident.'"
"We suspect that the instigator of the 'Kansai missing persons incident' is the group of people who are researching 'immortality'."
"They kidnapped people for experiments. Ah Zhu was the victim of this experiment."
"So we followed this clue and came to Osaka. We plan to start the investigation centered in Osaka."
At this time, Mucun interrupted:
"Brother Ogata, the Yukimura you just saw is an old friend of our Huluya."
"The lord has been kind to him. The reason why Yukimura has achieved such remarkable success in such a short period of time is largely because of the lord's help."
"You can think of Yukimura as half a member of our Hulu House."
"I just went to see him to ask Yukimura to mobilize his forces to help investigate the 'Kansai Missing People Case'."
The speaker switched to Mamiya again:
"It would be too dangerous if we brought Takeru to Osaka as well."
"After all, Takeru was kidnapped in Osaka. There might be many spies of the Immortal Research Group hiding in Osaka. If they find Takeru, it will be troublesome."
"Until we figure out the true identity and strength of the Undead Research Group, we must try to avoid confrontation with them."
"And if we don't first try to restore Ah Zhu's body to its original state, and let her go home to reunite with her family, it would be very dangerous."
"If her relatives discovered something wrong with her body in the future, she might be turned over to the government as a monster, or even worse things might happen to her."
"So, to sum up - the lord has decided to send me, Makimura, and Asai to Osaka first to prepare for the investigation of the 'Kansai Missing People Case'."
"She, along with Genichi and Shimada, took Takeru to Nara. They planned to entrust Takeru to the care of an old friend of Genichi who he trusts. After entrusting Takeru to someone else, she will come to Osaka to meet us."
"My lord, they are probably almost in Nara now, and will reach Osaka in a few days."
Nara, one of Japan's famous ancient capitals, is located on the Kinki Plain in central Japan, just like Kyoto and Osaka.
Nara is located just east of Osaka, and the straight-line distance between the two cities is less than 30 kilometers.
The story of the people in Gourd House since they parted with Ogata has come to an end.
After hearing what they had been going through over the past few months, Ogata and Atachi could not calm down for a long time.
"A girl who can repair herself even if her organs are taken away..." Ogata murmured in a deep voice, "It seems... the group that is researching 'immortality'... has found a way to transform a person's body into a monster..."
Having said this, Ogata took several deep breaths.
After calming down, Ogata said to Mamiya in a relaxed tone:
"Mamiya, I didn't expect your real name is Yamada Asaemon Yoshitsune... Yoshitsune... What an impressive name. Is that sword Vairocana?"
Ogata looked at the katana with a black and purple handle and scabbard placed on the tatami to the right of Mamiya.
Mamiya showed a smile that contained complicated emotions, and raised his hand to gently stroke the scabbard of the sword at his side.
“…These are all things of the past.”
"My father always told me that every time I swing my sword, the world becomes a better place."
"So whether I'm testing the knife or executing a death row prisoner, I will do it without hesitation."
"It was not until five years ago, when my father asked me to chop off the heads of hundreds of innocent people just to use their courage to save the Empress in Kyoto, that I realized that every time I swung my sword, it was not to make the world a better place, but only to enable the Edo Shogunate to rule the world better."
"Since then, I no longer have the mood or awareness to stay in the Yamada Asaemon family..."
"Instead of continuing to work for the shogunate, it would be more pleasant to work for a female businessman."
"Oh, sorry. That seems to have gone a bit off topic."
Mamiya took his hand away from the scabbard of Vairocana.
"Ogata-kun, the above is the information we at Huluwu have collected about 'immortality' in the past few months."
"What about you? Did you manage to find Master Xuanzheng and Master Xuanzhi in Ezo, or find any other useful information?"
Ogata was not in a hurry to respond to Mamiya immediately.
Instead, after pondering for a moment, he said faintly:
"After hearing the information you just gave me... Koyasan is becoming more and more suspicious..."
Mamiya: "Koyasan?"
Suddenly, when they heard the word "Koyasan" from Ogata's mouth, which seemed to have nothing to do with the topic they were just talking about, both Mamiya, Makimura and Asai looked surprised.
"A-Machi and I successfully found Gennao in Ezo." Ogata sighed softly, "When we found him, he had already gone crazy..."
The story of Ogata, Atachi and others is undoubtedly much longer than that of Mamiya and others.
Ogata first briefly recounted how he and the Ainu people of the Red Moon Fortress fought against the shogunate's 10,000-strong army, and then focused on the information they obtained from Gennao after finding him.
A young man who calls himself "Taikoku", the monk Sengen of Koyasan, a medicine that can suppress the "power of immortality", a person who changes...
Ogata's narration lasted for nearly half an hour.
After half an hour, the expressions of Mamiya, Makimura, Asai and the others all became interesting.
When Mamiya heard Ogata mention the young man who called himself "Taiko", his expression became strange.
However, this strange expression only lasted for a while before he returned to normal and continued to listen carefully to Ogata's story - because Mamiya's strange expression was fleeting, no one noticed what was wrong with him.
"…The above is the information that A-Machi and I know at the moment."
"Koyasan is also located in Kansai , just 12 li southeast of Osaka (about 50 kilometers in modern times)."
"Combined with the information you found... I have a bold guess -" Ogata's expression was extremely serious, "Is it possible that the Buddhist forces in Koyasan are helping to abduct people for the 'immortality' experiment..."
No one questioned Ogata's bold guess.
Everyone had a serious look on their faces, as if they were thinking.
"Koyasan?" Asai swallowed his saliva to moisten his dry throat. "It really involves a...huge monster..."
"It is indeed a formidable behemoth..." Mamiya scratched his hair with a wry smile, "I never thought that even Buddhism would be involved..."
In the past, Japanese Buddhists were very arrogant.
Japanese Buddhists have always been a powerful force that cannot be ignored and can even influence the situation in the world.
For various reasons, Japanese Buddhists in the past not only had their own land, but also could support their own army, the famous monk soldiers. Because of the blessing of faith, the monk soldiers were a powerful force known for their bravery.
During the Warring States Period more than 200 years ago, these Buddhists in Japan were even more powerful. They had large numbers of followers, strong political influence, vast estates and armies. Buddhists could also marry and have children, eat meat and drink wine, and they did everything except chant sutras. They were basically no different from warlords.
How exaggerated was the power of Buddhism at that time?
For example, more than 200 years ago at the end of the 16th century, the Oda clan led by Oda Nobunaga, one of the most powerful feudal lords in the world at that time, spent a full 10 years to deal with one of the Buddhist forces: Ishiyama Honganji, before finally defeating it.
In order to retaliate against the Buddhist forces that often tripped him up, and to suppress the huge power of Buddhists, Oda Nobunaga burned down Mount Hiei, one of the holy places for Buddhists, in 1571. He also massacred all living things on the mountain, regardless of gender, age or status.
There are quite a few sects in Japanese Buddhism.
Koyasan is the main mountain of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, while Mount Hiei is the main mountain of the Tendai sect of Buddhism.
Koyasan and Hieisan are both sacred places in the hearts of Japanese Buddhists.
Oda Nobunaga's act of burning the holy place, Mount Hiei, angered Buddhists, so Oda Nobunaga got another title - "The Sixth Heaven Demon King", which means "Enemy of Buddha".
Although people in later generations have various opinions on Oda Nobunaga's series of actions to suppress Buddhist forces, it cannot be denied that he successfully suppressed the arrogance of the arrogant Buddhists at that time.
After Tokugawa Ieyasu ended the chaos of the Warring States Period and founded the Edo Shogunate, he stood on the shoulders of giants, absorbed all the experiences and lessons of previous generations, and carried out drastic reforms on Buddhist forces.
The current Buddhist forces can no longer own as much real estate or train and organize monk soldiers as they did before.
They are now like a tiger with its teeth and claws pulled out.
But even if its claws are plucked, a tiger is still a tiger.
Although they have no military or financial resources, their political influence is enormous - especially on Mount Koya.
If you act rashly on the sacred Mount Koya, I am afraid that Buddhists all over the country will regard you as an enemy.
After absorbing so much shocking news in one breath, it took Mamiya and the other two a while to recover.
Mamiya raised his hand and tapped his forehead a few times, then asked Ogata:
"...Ogata-kun, what are your plans for the next move?"
"I plan to repair my Daishakuten and Daijizai first." Ogata answered almost without thinking, raised his hand and touched the piece of letter paper with the address of Yoji's residence lying quietly in his arms, "After the sword is repaired, try to go to Koyasan to investigate."
"What about you? Are you planning to investigate the 'Kansai Missing People Case' in Osaka first?"
"…Our current plan is this," Mamiya said, "but the new information I got from you is too important."
"The three of us will now wait for our Lord, Master Yuan-ichi and the others to come and join us."
"After we reunite, let's think carefully about what to do next."
Having said this, a thoughtful look slowly emerged , and his mouth closed tightly.
He was silent for a long while before he raised his eyes again and looked at Ogata beside him, and said solemnly:
"...Ogata-kun. Are you interested in forming an alliance with our Gourd House again, just like we did before against Shiranui?"
"We are all in Osaka now, and we have the same goal - to investigate 'immortality'."
"We are an alliance, and no matter what we do, we will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort."
"My Lord, I'm sure she will be happy to form an alliance with you again for the purpose of 'Investigating Immortality'."
Mamiya extended an olive branch - Ogata had completely expected this.
After all, this was not the first time he had received an invitation to form an alliance from Huluwu. They had formed an alliance once before to fight against Shiranui.
No matter how you look at it, forming an alliance with Huluwu will bring more advantages than disadvantages.
However, Ogata did not respond immediately to Mamiya's invitation.
Instead, he looked straight at Mamiya with calm eyes.
It was not until a long while later that he quietly asked Mamiya a question that had nothing to do with his previous invitation:
"…Mamiya, when will Ms. Lin, Master Genichi, Shimada and the others arrive in Edo?"
"Hmm? I can't say for sure, maybe 3 or 4 days later." Although he didn't know why Ogata asked this, Mamiya still answered honestly.
"Then - when Miss Lin and the others arrive, can you come and inform me? I have two questions that I want to ask Miss Lin that have been in my mind for a long time."
"Problem?" Mamiya raised his eyebrows.
A hint of vigilance flashed across Mamiya's eyes.
"Don't worry." Ogata smiled. "It's not something that will offend you. You and I have known each other for a long time. Don't you know what kind of person I am?"
"I am happy to form an alliance with you again - but before the alliance, I have to ask Miss Lin those two questions clearly."
"If you don't ask clearly, I'm sorry I can't fight alongside you again."
"...I understand." Mamiya was silent for a while, then nodded, "When the lord and his men arrive, we will notify you as soon as possible."
"Don't ask any weird questions."
Mamiya now changed his tone to a joking one.
"If you ask her why she looks like a 13 or 14-year-old even though she's already 20, she'll probably cry."
"Hey, Mamiya, don't speak ill of the lord while he is away." Makimura said helplessly.
"I'm not saying bad things." Mamiya smiled and shook his head, "I'm just telling the truth."
While Mamiya and the others were bickering and laughing, Atachi, who was sitting on Ogata's right, secretly put her red lips close to Ogata's ear and whispered:
"What question do you want to ask Miss Lin?"
"Well... I'll tell you later." Ogata smiled and replied softly, "It's just... I want to confirm two things with Miss Lin."
…
…
The next morning -
In Osaka, on a deserted street——
"Excuse me." Ogata stopped a middle-aged woman who looked very idle and asked, "Excuse me, do you know where 17 Kisara Street is?"
"No. 17 Kisara Street..." The old lady looked up, thinking, and then pointed behind her, "Go straight in this direction, turn right and you will reach Kisara Street. As for where No. 17 is, I don't know."
"Would you please go straight in this direction and then turn two corners... Thank you." Ogata bowed politely to the middle-aged woman.
After saying goodbye to the old lady and returning to A-Machi and A-Tsuku who were waiting for him not far away, A-Tsuku asked Ogata impatiently:
"How is it? Did you find out the location of that Kisara Street?"
Ogata nodded, "We're not far from here. We're almost there. Let's go."
Things must always be prioritized. Going to Koyasan to investigate without repairing one's own weapons first is an unwise move no matter how you look at it.
Ogata, who had already planned to "repair the sword first and then investigate", decided to visit the swordsmith today after getting Yoji's address last night.
As soon as the sun rose from the horizon today, Ogata finished washing up and prepared to set off.
A-Machi and A-Tsuku naturally followed Ogata.
Fuma, who had already helped Ogata find Yoji's residence, continued to talk to his old subordinate.
Although they already knew Yoji's specific address, Osaka is a big city with a population of nearly one million after all. It took Ogata and his friends some effort to finally find Yoji's residence.
The three Ogatas followed the instructions of the old lady and successfully arrived at Kisara Street.
The scenery of Kisara Street... to put it nicely, it's very suitable for seclusion.
This place is located in the suburbs of Osaka, and the flow of people is so sparse that the three of Ogata have seen no more than the number of hands since they entered Kisara Street.
The houses on both sides of the street are also low, dilapidated huts.
It's hard to find words to praise this place. The best compliment I can think of is probably "house prices here must be very cheap."
After entering Kisaragi Street, Ogata continued to ask about the location of "No. 17 Kisaragi Street".
Finally—they found their destination.
A plain little shabby house located on a street corner.
"…Is that really where that Yoji lives?" Atachi couldn't help but ask Ogata beside her.
"According to what the uncle just said... that shabby house is indeed 'No. 17 Kisara Street'..." Ogata looked at the house that looked more like a haunted house with a complicated expression, "Anyway - let's go over and take a look."
Ogata and the others walked quickly towards the "haunted house".
"Excuse me—is anyone home?"
Standing in front of the door of the "haunted house", Ogata shouted loudly into the house.
They were worried that no one would respond in the house.
But unexpectedly, as soon as Ogata finished speaking, the sound of "dong dong dong" footsteps was heard in the house.
Click…click…click…
The dilapidated wooden door was opened with difficulty.
Behind the opened wooden door was a face that all three of Ogata had seen before.
Ogata and the other two looked at the person who opened the door in astonishment.
The person who opened the door also looked at Ogata and the other three with surprise.
The person who opened the door of this "haunted house" was the old man who had previously persuaded Ogata to join in the overthrow of the shogunate: Isshiki Naoshige.