An old man who seemed not worth paying attention to at all suddenly said something shocking - Yuan Yi and others cast their astonished eyes on the old man who was still laughing in the cell.
"Ms. Hatsumitsu, Mr. Shibata." Atachi asked Hatsumitsu and Shibata beside him, "Do you know this old man in the prison?"
The two men stared at the old man in the cell and shook their heads at the same time.
"I haven't seen him." Chu Guang said.
Shibata nodded in agreement.
"Oh?" The old man in the cell looked at Hatsumitsu and Shibata with interest, "You two are wearing the ninja uniforms of Iga no Sato..."
"You two...are you not the traitorous ninjas who betrayed the Toyotomi clan to their enemies?"
"It's normal that you don't know me."
"After all, the place where I worked before was a place that could not see the sun."
"Hey." Mucun took a quick step forward and grabbed the bars of the cell with both hands. "Who are you?!"
Based on what the old man just said, it is not difficult to hear that this person seems to know a lot about the Toyotomi clan.
"Who am I..." The old man looked straight at Mucun without any fear on his face, "I can tell you who I am... It's not impossible."
"But... before I introduce myself, could you please let me know who you are?"
"Who are you?"
"This shouldn't be a place where strangers can come and go as they please."
"What's going on outside? How did you get in here?"
Although the old man was disheveled, he was still in very good spirits. He asked Yuan Yi and others questions one after another in clear speech.
Mamiya frowned slightly at this time.
"Master Genichi." Mamiya turned his head and said to Genichi beside him, "The wildfire outside is still raging. If the wildfire spreads over here, it will be troublesome."
"This is not a good place to stay for long."
"Besides, the lord is not here, so there is no need to stay here any longer."
"Let's take the old man away first, and then slowly question him while leaving this underground prison."
"Yeah." Gen nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking. Mamiya, please open the door."
"yes."
Mamiya suddenly raised his hands, holding the scabbard with his left hand and grasping the hilt of his saber with his right hand.
Step forward and draw your sword!
The purple sword light of Vairocana illuminated the narrow cave.
Of course, they didn't have the key to unlock the cell door.
But who says you need a key to open the door?
The purple knife light flashed again and again.
Click.
At the same moment when Yu Jianmiya put away his sword, the sound of wood breaking was heard.
A hole large enough for an adult to enter and exit was cut out in the wooden cell bars by the purple knife light.
Mamiya did not lower his voice when he was talking to Genichi just now.
Therefore, the old man in the cell clearly heard the conversation between Mamiya and Genichi.
When the conversation between the two ended and Mamiya drew his sword to "open the door", the old man seemed to have heard something extraordinary and kept looking at Genichi outside the cell with surprise.
"Master Genichi..."
After repeating in a low voice what Mamiya had just said to Genichi, the old man, who had been curled up in the corner of the cell, suddenly used his hands and feet to hurriedly crawl to the center of the cell, crawling closer to Genichi.
"Genichi..."
The old man stared at Genichi's face.
"Are you 'Toyotomi Genichi'?"
Genichi's brows twitched slightly.
He stared at the old man for a long time with sharp eyes that seemed to penetrate the old man's body.
"...Yes. I am Toyotomi Genichi." Genichi admitted openly, "It seems that your status in the Toyotomi clan is really not low. You even know the name 'Toyotomi Genichi'."
Hasegawa and his subordinates, who knew very little about Toyotomi, were now staring at each other in confusion...
Especially Hasegawa.
At this moment, he looked at Genichi, who had just called himself "Toyotomi", in astonishment. His brain fell into a state of near chaos because his thinking speed could not keep up with the changes in reality.
"Hahaha." The old man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth that hadn't been brushed in a long time. "You really are Toyotomi Genichi... I've heard of your name for a long time. I often heard Xinxiu mention you before."
"Heh." Genichi laughed, and it was unclear whether it was happy or sad. "Nobuhide told so many people about me... He really cares about me more than I thought..."
Mamiya had already opened the cell by then.
Mucun took the initiative to step into the cell that was emitting a bad odor and took the old man, who was also emitting a bad odor, out of the prison.
Afterwards, under Genichi's command, everyone began to return along the same route they came from, preparing to leave this underground prison where they no longer needed to stay for long.
Perhaps it was because he had been in prison for too long and had not exercised for a long time, the old man's body was visibly weak.
Walking is fine, but running is a bit difficult for this old man.
Fortunately, Mucun is a person who does things without paying attention to details.
Seeing that the old man was weak, he simply carried the old man on his back, regardless of the dirt and bad smell on the old man's body.
"We can tell you about our situation." Yuan Yi ran in front to lead the way, and said quickly to the old man lying on Mucun's back, "But in return, I hope you can tell us everything after we finish our 'self-introduction'. At least let us know who you are."
"We came here to find our companions..."
Yuan briefly told the old man their identities, purpose, and how they found this place.
After listening carefully to Genichi's words, the old man murmured:
"So that's how it is..."
"Ha, Mr. Toyotomi Genichi, you are just as Nobuhide said, a man who never lacks courage... You dared to take Koyasan directly with such a small number of people."
"Hahaha, it feels so good!"
The old man laughed loudly.
"If I had the chance, I would really like to see what Nobuhide's expression would be when he learned about the attack on Koyasan..."
"Well, I guess he wouldn't show any inappropriate expression."
"After all, he is the kind of person who can keep his expression unchanged even when he is in an extremely unhappy mood."
"Hey, can you tell us who you are?" Mucun, who had been carrying the old man on his back, turned his head and glanced at the old man on his back with an impatient look, "We have introduced ourselves as you asked just now. It's your turn to introduce yourself."
"Me?" A faint look of reminiscence slowly emerged on the old man's face. "I... I am... No, I used to be a doctor under the Toyotomi family who was responsible for doing some shameful research."
As soon as the old man said this, Ating on the side seemed to remember something. He frowned his handsome eyebrows, then raised his eyes and carefully looked at the old man from head to toe.
The old man, not noticing Ating's scrutinizing gaze, continued slowly:
"I worked very hard for Nobuhide and successfully achieved some results, so I was personally received by Nobuhide many times."
"After a few visits, I became familiar with Nobuhide."
"Oh... What a pity... No matter how close the relationship is, once there is a conflict of dreams, it will become extremely fragile..."
The old man's hands, which were around Mucun's neck, slowly clenched.
The look of reminiscence on his face slowly turned into anger and... a hint of regret.
"I gave everything I could to Nobuhide."
"But in the end, all I got was jail time."
"Oh, I never thought that there would be a day when I felt that Xuan Zhi's decision to leave directly was a wise move..."
Hearing what the old man just said... or rather, hearing the name "Xuanzhi" that the old man just mentioned, Ating, who had been staring at the old man with a scrutinizing gaze, suddenly had his pupils shrank.
"Wait a moment!"
Ah Ting shouted .
"You...could you be Xuanzhi's master - Xuanzheng?"
"Oh?" The old man turned his head and looked at Ah Ting in confusion, "Little girl, do you... know me?"
"It's really you..." Ating clenched her teeth, her expression becoming strange as she showed various emotions such as joy, anger, relief, confusion, etc.
As for the name "Xuanzheng", A-Ming felt that he might still remember this name even after decades.
In order to find this man and his apprentice Gennao, she and Ogata traveled across most of Japan.
As for Genzheng, a person whom Ogata and Atachi had spent countless efforts to find but had yet to find, Genichi and others had naturally heard of his name for a long time.
"You are the Xuan Zheng..." Yuan Yi stared at Xuan Zheng's eyes and narrowed them slightly.
"Wow..." Xuanzheng looked at Ating, then looked at Yuanyi, "You actually know me? This surprises me..."
During the conversation, everyone had already turned a 90-degree corner.
As soon as he turned the corner, Hasegawa saw a hole in front of him that was neither too big nor too small, just enough for two adults to enter and exit side by side.
The light emanating from the cave entrance made Hasegawa, who had been underground for a long time, lower his eyelids and use his eyelashes to filter out the dazzling white light.
Looking at the cave entrance that was already within reach, joy slowly climbed up Hasegawa's cheeks and eyes.
He couldn't wait to bask in the long-lost sunshine and breathe the long-lost fresh air.
When Hasegawa thought that he was finally going to leave this damn underground prison, he felt that the pain in the wound on his leg was relieved a lot, and his steps became faster.
However, the cruel reality that was about to come froze the joy on Hasegawa's cheeks and eyes in an instant.
After rushing out of the cave impatiently following Genichi and others, what hit Hasegawa's face was not fresh air.
Instead, it has a burnt smell that makes people want to vomit.
Along with the burnt smell came scorching hot wind that made Hasegawa wonder if his eyelashes might be set on fire.
"This is..." Hasegawa stared blankly at the sea of ​​fire in front of him.
Not far ahead of them, they saw Zhurong wreaking havoc.
It was as if an endless sea of ​​fire was devouring the grass and trees, emitting large amounts of sparks, falling trees, the groaning of broken wood, and burnt and smelly hot wind that kept blowing on Hasegawa's face.
"Tsk..." Mamiya's face darkened. "Even if this is the time when fires are most likely to get out of control, it is impossible for a wildfire to spread to this extent in such a short period of time."
"How much kerosene did Toyotomi's people use to make the wildfire burn like this in such a short time...!"
Ating said nothing.
But she still couldn't help but cast a worried look towards the sea of ​​fire ahead.
At the other end of this seemingly boundless sea of ​​fire is Xianyuan Temple.
This was the direction in which Ogata attacked in order to attract the Toyotomi clan to attack.
"…Don't worry." Makimura, who was rough but thoughtful, noticed the worry in A-Ming's eyes and comforted him softly, "A mere forest fire can't do anything to Brother Ogata."
"He should be able to join us soon."
As soon as Makimura finished speaking——
"Atachi! Mr. Gendai!"
Makimura, who had just comforted Ating, was stunned for a moment, then smiled.
"Look, A-Ting, am I right?"
Makimura raised his eyes following the sound.
After raising their eyes, everyone saw a familiar figure on the hillside in front of them.
Looking at this figure, the worry in A-Ming's eyes quickly turned into relief.
…
…
"By the way, I still don't know your name." Ogata asked the old monk behind him, "Can you tell me your name? It's rude not to know your name."
"…My Buddhist name is Qingyan."
"Qingyan?... It's a very meaningful Buddhist name."
Compared to wandering around in this unfamiliar mountain area alone, it is obviously more convenient to bring someone who is very familiar with the place.
It was obvious that the Toyotomi clan, who set fire to the mountain, did not want to have any entanglement with Ogata.
The "Woodpecker Tactics" of attracting the main force of the Toyotomi clan to attack and helping Genichi and his companions find the Toyotomi clan's stronghold in the back mountain has failed. Faced with this situation, Ogata's top priority is to quickly get to the back mountain, find Genichi and his companions, and reunite with them.
So, after the "old monk with a goatee" proposed to act with him, Ogata, who was eager to reunite with Genichirō and his companions, agreed to the proposal after only a brief thought.
Because the "old monk with a goatee" was not very agile in his legs and feet, Ogata simply carried him on his back and let him lie behind him to show him the way.
Bringing along someone who was very familiar with the topography and conditions of Mount Koya really made things much more convenient, just as Ogata had expected.
Under the guidance of the "old monk with a goatee", Ogata avoided places with many trees that were easily affected by forest fires. Although he took a long detour, his progress was actually faster.
"This fire...seems to be burning too much..."
At this time, a large-scale forest fire broke out on the back mountain of Koyasan. The fire spread so quickly that the "old monk with a goatee" lying on Ogata's back also discovered that the speed of the fire's spread was unusual.
"It's probably because the thugs lurking on Mount Koya have spread kerosene everywhere." Ogata said with a gloomy face, "It's crazy to set fire to the mountain... Once the fire gets out of control, it won't just be Mount Koya that will suffer... Even Osaka and Nara, which are close to Mount Koya, will be implicated..."
“…Are there really a large number of thugs lurking on Mount Koya?” The “old monk with a goatee” asked Ogata this question, a question he had asked countless times.
But this time, the tone of the "old monk with a goatee" was obviously much softer than the previous times, and not as aggressive as before.
"Yes." Ogata also answered patiently, "It's impossible that I started this mountain fire. If I wanted to set the mountain on fire, I wouldn't have to show up at Xianyuan Temple from the beginning."
“Who are these thugs?” the “old monk with a goatee” demanded.
"You won't believe me even if I tell you."
"Just tell me. I will slowly make the decision whether you believe it or not."
"…The thugs lurking in Koyasan are the descendants of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his followers. They have been dormant until now in order to rebuild the Toyotomi Empire."
"I have some grievances with them, so I came here to settle accounts with them."
"...Are you kidding me?" The "old monk with a goatee" opened his mouth wide.
"I've already told you...you wouldn't believe me even if I told you."
The "goatee-bearded old monk" pursed his lips with a complicated expression: "My Koyasan... has been infiltrated by thugs, and I have never realized it..."
After mumbling this, the "old monk with a goatee" stopped talking altogether except for giving Ogata directions.
Ogata was happy to use this opportunity to concentrate on finding Genichirō and his companions.
After being strengthened by the "power of immortality", Ogata's five senses, including vision and hearing, have been greatly enhanced.
I can clearly see the flight path of a fly dozens of meters away - Atachi, who has extraordinary eyesight, once told Ogata this.
In the past, Ogata could never understand what level of vision this was.
And now, he understood.
Things that Ogata could only see with a telescope before, he can now see with his naked eyes.
The raging wildfires, to some extent, made it easier for Ogata to look for people - because Genichi and others could only appear in places where there were no wildfires.
Ogata originally thought that it would take some time for him to find Genichi and his group. After all, the back mountain was very large, and who knew where Genichi and his group were currently.
But he didn't expect - perhaps it was luck, when he was walking down the steep slope, Ogata suddenly caught a glimpse of a group of very familiar figures coming out of a cave not far away.
"Atachi! Mr. Gendai!"
Ogata quickened his pace down the slope, and after reaching the bottom of the slope smoothly, he carried the "old monk with a goatee" on his back and walked quickly towards Genichi and his group.
"Ayi!" A-Ming was the first to run to Ogata and carefully looked him up from head to toe. "Are you okay? Who is this?"
A-machi looked at the "old monk with goatee" on Ogata's back in confusion.
"I'm fine, just a few spots on my face and clothes are blackened by the wildfire." Ogata replied, "The man on my back is a monk from Mount Koya. Thanks to his help, I was able to successfully avoid the area with more wildfires."
After saying that, Ogata looked at Hasegawa and others standing behind Genichirō and others, as well as Isshiki Naoshige's family with a complicated look dominated by surprise.
Just now, when walking down the hillside, Ogata had already discovered Naoshu's family, and... this official with whom he had always had a wonderful connection.
Ogata didn't speak to Hasegawa.
After taking a deep look at Hasegawa, he immediately looked away as if he didn't know Hasegawa.
All this was because he saw the officers behind Hasegawa who were wearing the modified uniforms of fire thieves.
If Hasegawa's subordinates knew that their leader seemed to have a close relationship with the notorious Ogata Ittosai, it would definitely bring Hasegawa a lot of trouble.
So, even though he was extremely confused about why Hasegawa was here, Ogata pretended not to know Hasegawa and did not say hello to him.
And Hasegawa is not a stupid person.
Ogata ignored him.
And he ignored Ogata.
The two of them tacitly treated each other as strangers.
However... although Hasegawa wanted to pretend that he didn't know Ogata and took the initiative to move his eyes away from the direction where Ogata was, he couldn't help but stare at Ogata... at the "old monk with a goatee" behind him.
--Um?
Hasegawa stared at the face of the "old monk with a goatee".
——This old monk... Have I seen him somewhere before...
——He seems to be from Koyasan...who is that?
Hasegawa thought hard.
But after thinking hard for a long time, he still couldn't remember who this "old monk with a goatee" was.