Walking quickly along the only dirt road in the village that could barely be called a "road", Imagawa Yoshimoto finally heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance. When he got closer, he immediately recognized the tall and powerful Kira Weicheng. Behind him were Takeda Harunobu, Ginkgo, Taiyuan Xuezai, Mrs. Sanjo and others. The clumsy carriage and Xinrui had been abandoned, and the group traveled lightly.
"Haha, Master Xuesai really knows Goro." After Takeda Harunobu saw Imagawa Yoshimoto coming this way, he couldn't help but sigh to Taiyuan Xuesai, "I knew he would walk in the opposite direction when he saw the torch."
"Chengfang has been naughty since he was a child. He knew that he was doing the opposite of his teacher, so he naturally had to do the opposite." Taiyuan Xuezhai also laughed twice, and then urged, "Let's go quickly, don't waste time. .”
"Ah...this..." Kinoshita Tokichiro listened to the conversation in front of him, looked at the team of dozens of people and the horses in front of him, and caught the word "pursuing troops", and was stunned.
"Sorry, I didn't want to get you involved." Imagawa Yoshimoto bowed slightly apologetically, "We are samurai from another country, and we were chased when we passed by Owari. If you want to avoid disputes and danger, you can leave now."
"Your Highness, the Governor, is joking." Amano Kyoutori spoke almost without hesitation, regardless of the risk of overstepping, "There is no reason to let the stranger leave, otherwise it will be troublesome if he reveals his whereabouts to the pursuers. Either take him to Release them to a safe location or execute them on the spot."
"It doesn't have to be like this, the little one won't leave." Kinoshita Tokichiro shook his head. After a moment of panic, sparks of excitement seemed to flash in his eyes - it seemed that the more dangerous it was, the closer he was to getting ahead, "I'll follow you, little one. , Not afraid of swords, mountains, fire and sea."
"It's really an ambition that I can't match. Go get him a pair of shoes and some clothes. Don't get cold." Imagawa Yoshimoto sighed secretly, then got on his horse and followed the queue forward. Halfway through, he almost forgot about the matter and hurriedly opened his hands to Takeda Harunobu, "Oh, by the way, Tokichiro, this is the man I want to introduce you to his house. He is the governor of the Takeda family..."
"No, no, no, no need." Unexpectedly, Takeda Harunobu waved his hands repeatedly with some fear, and involuntarily pushed back Imagawa Yoshimoto's hand, "Goro, this kid just follows you. Kid, listen, you The person in front of me is the famous most benevolent person in Tokaido, His Highness Imagawa, the governor of the Imagawa family."
"Huh?" This time Imagawa Yoshimoto was confused. It was Takeda Harunobu who recognized at first glance that Kinoshita Tokichiro was a talented person. It was Takeda Harunobu who was determined to track down Kinoshita Tokichiro and take him away. It was Takeda Harunobu who insisted that Kinoshita Tokichiro would be his retainer. How could it be that when the time came, instead? What about passing it on to others?
"Stop talking and leave quickly." Takeda Harunobu glanced at the movement in the distance and urged him to change the topic, "Otherwise, we will be caught up later."
No one cared that Kinoshita Tokichiro was dumbfounded after hearing those two famous names - although he was young and didn't know what kind of behemoths the Imagawa family and the Takeda family were - but he was favored by the big shots anyway. .
·
Everyone headed northwest, and soon met Kentaro Tian Shen, who was rushing back to the team.
"They have all been led to the west. After extinguishing the torches, they will no longer be able to find me." Kentaro Tian Shen said as he turned to look back, "Within three or four hours, we will definitely not be able to catch up."
"Okay, by then we will have already left the territory of the Oda Danmasa family (Oda Nobuhide) and entered the Oda Yamatomomo (Oda Nobyou) family in Qingzhou City, and the ninjas of Furuno Castle will not be able to make a big splash. The ground is chasing you." Taiyuan Xuezhai replied confidently, "You can rest on the roadside first. We set out all night and didn't have enough fodder, so the horses can't go very far."
After the group stopped on the side of the road, the entourage and ninjas began to feed the horses quickly, while Taiyuan Xuesai and Takeda Hironobu looked at the map to study the next route. Until then, they had no time to ask about the reckless behavior of Imagawa Yoshimoto and Takeda Harunobu.
"You were talking about going for a walk, why did you bring a child back inexplicably?" Taiyuan Xuezhai glanced at Kinoshita Tokichiro, who was sitting awkwardly on the wall not far away, and said to the two of them with some dissatisfaction, "We are in enemy territory. You should be careful in your words and deeds, why are you so easy to cause trouble?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto did not answer, but glanced at Takeda Harunobu - meaning that this matter was caused by you and you can solve it yourself. So Takeda Harunobu had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Master Yuksai, Master Hongxin, I think that kid is quite talented in spiritual energy, and I want to take him back as a retainer."
"But didn't my lord say before that he only had a relationship with that humble boy?" Takeda Hironobu looked kind, but the word "disbelief" was still written on his face, "Why do you think he is talented? The poor monk also I can’t see what’s different about that child’s appearance.”
"This..." Takeda Harunobu was also speechless for a moment, but just when he was hesitating how to answer, the sound of wheels and the sound of horse hooves came from the distance.
Everyone turned around and saw an old donkey cart driving on the road from the south. The child standing at the front driving the donkey cart was dressed in strange clothes, half naked, and whipped the donkey's back hard with a whip, driving the donkey very fast. And on the four-wheeled wooden cart pulled behind the donkey, there were four and a half-year-old children sitting on it, and they screamed in pain from the bumps.
"Be alert." Taiyuan Xuezai ordered coldly. The surrounding ninjas of the Imagawa family and the Takeda family all stretched their hands to their arms and looked at the intruder warily.
"They're just some playful Owari kids." Takeda Hironobu disagreed, half in relief and half in mockery, "Master Yukisai, why is this necessary?"
"You have to take a look and you will know." Taiyuan Xuezhai smiled. He is usually informal, but he is extra cautious when encountering things.
·
Seeing so many ninjas and horses, the children racing in the car seemed to be stunned. They stopped holding the riding whip in their hands and looked at those people at a loss.
"The fabrics of the clothes are not cheap, and they are also very nutritious. At such a young age, there are already traces of martial arts practice on the hands. He must be a martial arts disciple of the Oda family." After a brief observation, Taiyuan Xuezhai already understood. "If you deliberately lie and say you are a civilian later, we will capture them immediately."
"Are you the adults of the Shibata family?" The kid in the strange clothes at the head did not shy away and asked carelessly.
Imagawa Yoshimoto frowned and roughly guessed the situation. This young son of the Oda family was obviously here to defraud his identity. At this time, no matter how Imagawa Yoshimoto answered, there would inevitably be flaws. But if you directly ask the other person, "Who are you?", you will admit that you don't know this martial arts disciple - in a sense, you will reveal your identity.
Therefore, Imagawa Yoshimoto made a clever decision and focused his answer on "Your Excellency", bypassing the element of "Shibata family" and answered with his hands raised: "I don't dare to accept 'Your Excellency', but the Lord has promoted me. I don't know what the Lord is doing." Come on, what's the matter?"
"My father sent me to see how your mission is being completed." Master Odaji, a young man in fancy dress, said generously, "Tell me, how is the progress?"
At this moment, Imagawa Yoshimoto really didn't know how to answer. Just as he was about to answer bravely, Taiyuan Xuezhai behind him suddenly raised his hand and pressed his shoulder.
Imagawa Yoshimoto looked back in confusion, only to find that Taiyuan Xuezhai's eyes were as fierce as hawks at this moment, staring at the strangely dressed boy in front of him and the other children behind him.
"I am 80% sure that the person in front of me is probably the son of an important member of the Oda family, or even the eldest son of Oda Danmasa, and his age is appropriate." Taiyuan Xuezai whispered in Imagawa Yoshimoto's ear.
"How is it possible? How can a young master of a family wander around in the wilderness dressed so inappropriately, and approach an unidentified group alone? Could it be that he is a fool..." Imagawa Yoshimoto muttered to himself, but at this point he suddenly realized ——The eldest son of the Oda family, hasn't he always been known as the "big fool"?
"How can you see it?" Imagawa Yoshimoto covered his mouth with his hands and asked Taiyuan Xuezhai in a low voice - at this moment, he couldn't care less about the doubtful and panicked expressions of the children in front of him as they looked at him and whispered.
"He used his identity as the 'Shibata family' to defraud you, and then used his 'father' to suppress you. What does that mean?" Taiyuan Xuezhai snorted coldly and said to the point: "It means that this is what he feels subconsciously. He feels that his own authority or that of his father can suppress the Shibata family. Then he is either the young master of the Shibata family or the young master of the Oda family, otherwise there is no reason to cross the family to manage other people's ninjas?"
"What the teacher said is..." Imagawa Yoshimoto also frowned when he heard this, "But maybe he is deliberately bluffing to continue to deceive us, right?"
"That was completely a subconscious reaction. It doesn't seem like a fake." Taiyuan Xuezhai believed in his own judgment.
"Then if they are important members of the Oda family, the teacher won't want to detain them, right?" Imagawa Yoshimoto guessed Taiyuan Xuezhai's thoughts after a second thought, "It's not good. The Wu family should be fighting against each other in public, how can they be private? What’s the point of kidnapping his heir?”
"Weren't the heirs of the Songping family kidnapped by them?" Taiyuan Xuezhai laughed dryly, "Stop your pedantic morals. You are even more pedantic than this old monk at your young age."
"Does the teacher really want to arrest someone?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked, while quietly reaching into his arms to hold his ribs, and at the same time observing the reactions of the children - they obviously realized that the situation was wrong, and several children It was with great trembling and sweating. But the strangely dressed young man at the head did not change his expression, but clenched his fists slightly nervously.
After Taiyuan Xuezhai pondered for a moment, he whispered quietly:
"No, I suspect this is a higher-level conspiracy and a trap."
Later, Taiyuan Xuezhai ignored the differences among everyone, waved his hand suddenly, got on his horse and shouted: "Escape! Go northwest and go straight out of Owari! Don't stop!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Taiyuan Xuezhai immediately ran away. The crowd didn't care to think, and hurriedly mounted their horses to follow him. The children were also dumbfounded. After being stunned for a moment, they set up a donkey cart and tried to catch up, but they couldn't catch up. Master Odaji was so angry that he stood on the donkey cart and jumped up and down.
