Saying goodbye to Mitsuhide Akechi, the group continued westward, and on May 2, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), they arrived at the Fuwa Pass in the western part of Mino Country - the boundary between Kanto and Kansai in Japan. From here, continue westward through Sekigahara and enter Omi. However, the group had to stop at Sekigahara.
"Master, please help me!"
Beside the official road, a young man knelt down in tears in front of Imagawa Ujimoto's horse and begged, "The younger one received a letter from home saying that my father could no longer hold on and would die in a matter of seconds. The younger one originally rode from Omi to Kaohsiung. I rushed back to Owari's home, but for some reason the damn horse kept getting weak in the middle of the road and couldn't stand up at all. The younger one walked in a hurry and didn't have any spare money with him, so he had to leave the horse and walk, but he couldn't stand up at all. It’s too late! Please lend me the horse! I will leave this heirloom jade pendant to you. When I go home and see off my father, I will come back to you immediately! Please wait here, I will come back to get the jade pendant! "
"Ignore him, he must be a liar." Nakasugi Torachiyo sneered at the young man in front of him and patted Imagawa Jimoto on the shoulder, "Your horse is a good horse and it costs hundreds of dollars. How can you just lend it to others?"
"Please have mercy, sir. Please have mercy. Let me see my father for the last time! Please, sir!"
The man in front of him was kowtowing like he was pounding garlic, and there was faint blood oozing out from his forehead. Imagawa Ujimoto finally agreed, took the jade pendant handed over by the young man, and watched the latter hurriedly get on his horse and ride away southward.
"Goro, I've told you it's a lie, do you really believe it?" Nakasugi Torachiyo was very helpless at Imagawa Ujimoto's behavior and sighed with hatred.
"He is going back to see his father for the last time..." Imagawa Ujimoto was silent for a long time and finally replied.
Not being able to see his father for the last time was Imagawa's biggest regret in his life. With the sympathy coming together, it was no longer difficult to contain it.
"Ordinary people wouldn't joke about their father's life, right?" Imagawa Ujimoto looked at Nakasugi Torachiyo and whispered firmly, "You would risk your own father's death just to deceive a horse, right?"
"In order to cover up that I want to go to Beijing to become a disciple, I will even tell my father to death. This is hundreds of dollars, what can't I say? What can't the poor in troubled times do? You give him hundreds of dollars and let him He could even kill his father with his own hands." Chiyo Nakasugi laughed and shook her head. "That's all. If Goro is afraid that because of his suspicion, his father and son will not see each other for the last time, then there is nothing wrong. I would rather believe it, If you’re fooled, just be fooled.”
"This jade is not bad." Ginkgo didn't know when he took the jade pendant from Imagawa Shimoto and looked at the sun. "Although it's not as good as Mr.'s good horse, it cost a lot of money. It should be good." I’m going to use this to deceive people.”
"Since my sister and Wu Lang both feel that he is not a liar, then just wait here. Anyway, I think I can leave now. He will never come back."
·
Nakasugi Torachiyo was right. The group waited for a full five days, and until May 7th, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), they did not see the shadow of the young man. It stands to reason that with the speed of that good horse, five days is enough to travel between Owari and Mino anywhere. Even if his home is at the southernmost tip of the Chita Peninsula, he still has time.
"It's also possible that something unexpected happened and I haven't come back yet." Sitting in the lobby of the inn to rest, Imagawa Ujimoto still didn't want to believe that he had been deceived, nor did he want to believe that the young man's sincere longing for his father was fake. of. Miao Miao jumped on the table, stood up and played with the green-edged folding fan held by Imagawa Shimoto.
"Haha, it's good that Goro is happy." Nakasugi Torachiyo laughed at Imagawajimoto and tossed the jade pendant. "Let's wait one more day. If we don't come back tomorrow, we will continue on the road. We can't delay the journey for too long."
"I'm so sleepy..." Ginkgo, who was also sitting at the table, yawned, lay down on the table a little tired, let her hair spread out, and blinked at Imagawa Shimoto, "Sir, I'm squinting." In a moment, call me when it’s dinner time.”
"You just got up not long ago, right?" Imagawa Shimoto complained in a low voice, but after being glared at by Ginkgo, he honestly raised his hands and said with a smile: "Okay, just go to sleep if you feel sleepy." Not long after he finished speaking, Ginkgo has already fallen asleep peacefully.
At this moment, there was a sudden noise at the door. Imagawa Ujimoto looked up and saw Kira Usei holding the reins and pulling a horse to the door of the store, making a lot of noise.
"Sir, the horse has been found!" Kira Usei called to Imagawa Ujimoto loudly, "It is tied to the stable outside the inn."
"Look, you're back!" Imagawa Shimoto was shocked when he heard this, then stood up with a smile and patted Nakasugi Tora Chiyo on the shoulder, as if to show off his "victory".
Before Imagawa Ujimoto could reach the door, he saw a long knife coming from outside the store and heading straight for the door facing Kira Uisei. Kira Weicheng did not dodge, he drew his sword in his hand and struck with a horizontal blow, forcing the attacker back half a step. Then Ji Liang Weicheng strode forward and slashed with his sword again.
"What's going on?" Imagawa Shimoto rushed out of the store and saw Kira Usei fighting with the attacker. Yoshimoto Imagawa knew Kira Usei's kung fu, but at this moment, under the attack of the attacker's precise sword skills, Kira Usei was actually a little embarrassed - which showed that the attacker's sword skills were quite good. However, Kira Usei quickly found an opportunity. A heavy chop forced the attacker to block, and the two began to wrestle with each other.
The attacker was dressed in black cloth, his figure was slightly thin, and his strength was obviously not as strong as that of Kira Usei, who was bulky and muscular. But even so, he insisted on wrestling with Kira Wei with only one left hand. Perhaps because he saw Kira Weicheng only using one hand, the attacker did not hold a knife with both hands out of dignity considerations, so he was naturally forced to retreat.
Then Imagawa Ujimoto discovered something was wrong - the attacker did not intentionally not hold the knife with both hands, but because he only had one left hand and the right sleeve was empty - no wonder his figure looked thin. However, even though he was disabled, the attacker had no intention of backing down. He gritted his teeth and fought against the extremely powerful Kira Uicheng.
"That's all you have?" Ji Liang Weicheng looked at the serious look on the attacker's face and said he was trying his best. He snorted disdainfully, and then with a sudden force, he raised his hand and knocked the attacker away. . The loud fighting sound obviously alerted others. A middle-aged warrior in his thirties ran out from behind the stable. After seeing the attacker being knocked against the fence, he hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, murmuring concern. Said: "Kentaro?"
"Master..." The attacker, who was called Kentaro, had blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. It seemed that the blow just now was unclear. "That person... stole the horse."
The middle-aged man looked sideways, his eyes already filled with murderous intent. However, Kira Weicheng was dissatisfied with that look and spat on the ground - this completely angered the middle-aged samurai.
He stood up slowly and walked towards Ji Liang Weicheng. With every step he took, Ji Liangwei could feel the murderous aura steaming out of the samurai's body doubling in intensity. When the middle-aged samurai approached Kira Usei, the oppressive feeling caused by the fierce murderous intent was even stronger than that of thousands of troops, making Kira Usei, a fearless berserker, somewhat out of breath.
At this moment, he also realized that the person coming was evil, so he very carefully pulled out the other sword and took a stance with rare seriousness. But the samurai didn't seem to pay any attention to Kira Weicheng, and he still walked on his own, not even bothering to make a defensive posture.
It wasn't until he stepped within the attack range of Kira Weicheng that he pressed his hand on the handle of the knife. Ji Liangwei wanted to get rid of the severe pressure, and roared bravely, then jumped up high, raised the two giant swords behind his head to gather strength, and the veins of his two thick arms popped out, and he exerted force violently. He rounded his arms and struck down hard at the samurai. The samurai was unhurried, unsheathed his sword with one hand in his right hand, and without dodging or dodging, he slashed head-on at Kira Usei's swords.
"It's broken! Someone's going to die!" Imagawa Shimoto has seen the brute force of Kira Usei. He can even cut off a solid stone bridge, let alone a fragile human body? Hardly receiving Kira Weicheng's high and downward blow, he would not die but he would be disabled!
However, the development of the war situation quickly exceeded Imagawa Shimoto's imagination. The moment the swords intersected, the middle-aged samurai's body only paused slightly, but Kira Usei trembled as if he had exerted all his strength. But as the middle-aged samurai kicked the ground hard with his left foot, an astonishing amount of energy poured into the sword along his body. With a horizontal swing of the katana, the strength of Kira Weisei's swords and the weight of his whole body were completely overwhelmed, and Kira Weisei's sword was swung away instead. Kira Usei's strong body was as light as a playing card at this moment. He was easily overturned and hit the fence that Kentaro had just hit, causing the fence to collapse on the spot.
"Is this enough strength?"
The middle-aged samurai snorted disdainfully, and then turned his attention to Imagawa Ujimoto.
Imagawa Ujimoto looked at the samurai in front of him. He was dressed in coarse black clothes, which looked a little gray from being washed many times. Under a pair of sword eyebrows, the angular features are powerful. Although the scabbard on his waist is ordinary in style, the katana is definitely a fine one - it can take a blow from Kira Weisheng without any gaps.
"There is really no way..."
Realizing that a one-horse fight was about to break out, Imagawa Ujimoto followed the etiquette of the samurai family, respectfully addressed his name, and at the same time drew his sword out of its sheath, "My Majesty, Shinagawa Goro, may I ask your surname?"
"Da Hu Xiugang, please ask for advice." The middle-aged warrior reported his name. In later generations, this middle-aged samurai will have a more resounding title - Sword Master Kamiizumi Ise Morinobu Tsuna.
