The three people who died in the battle were eventually placed in an unnamed cemetery on the fork at the foot of the mountain. There used to be a temple here, but it was unknown when it was abandoned.
The cemetery near the temple has stone tombstones and walkways made of small stone bricks. Most of the stupas standing behind the tombstones have decayed, and only some of them look newer and seem to have experienced wind and rain for two or three years.
People have long since left the abandoned temple. There are no more monks eating Buddha and chanting sutras, and no one is clearing the weeds anymore. It seems that even the family that was buried here in the past has perished, so there is no tomb sweeping or maintenance, and the stone tablet is just silently and slowly weathering.
When the wind blows in the forest, the rotten and collapsed roof tiles make a "buzzing" sound like a dull flute, and the pieces of Zutaba bump against each other, making a "click-click" sound.
To Kazuto, it was a somewhat creepy sound. But Henry and others who were born in Rigar did not feel much about this.
Fear sometimes comes from the unknown, but for some fears that require familiarity with a specific culture to be felt, ignorance makes people fearless.
——The words return to their original place.
Even though the monks in the temple have long since left, and the family that originally buried their relatives here no longer exists, the nearby villagers obviously still retain the function of this place as a cemetery.
On both sides of the simple earthen path that is different from the stone road are the tombstones of the deceased people in the nearby poor mountain villages. Since there are no monks to pray for them, naturally there are no Zutaba. Even the tombstones are simple and crude. Some of the better ones have crooked and chiseled characters, while the worse ones are really just a few stones on top, lest passers-by think it is just a small dirt slope and trample on it and desecrate it at will.
The dead, including Nobukatsu, were buried in graves along with their belongings and armor. Narumi originally wanted to leave the tombstones alone for the time being, and wait until he went to town to correct the tombstones for them. He wanted to use the swords and helmets of the samurai as tombstones, but Henry stopped him.
"If it is too different from other surrounding tombs, it would be like pointing out to others that there is property here." The sage said, and the samurai leader was stunned for a moment: "Sir, are you saying there will be tomb robbers?"
"There are unscrupulous people in poor places. They can't even afford to carve the tombstones of their deceased relatives. A small sword can cover half a year's livelihood." Henry's tone was calm, but the facts he said made many warriors angry. They all gritted their teeth and clenched their fists.
"The villagers we met on the way here..." Lao Qiao behind him hesitated to speak. They also met some villagers on the way down the mountain. Although they were not ethnic minorities like Hayato Village, they were still relatively small. Poor Japanese mountain people.
"If those guys dare to desecrate the bodies of the martial arts disciples!" Ayong, a young and vigorous warrior, angrily clenched the handle of his sword and grabbed the reins, intending to turn around.
"What do you want to do!" Narumi shouted to stop him.
"Sir, I want to warn those -" "What are you warning? If you run to warn them, won't you confirm their profitable speculation here." The samurai leader is worthy of his status. He only needs a little reminder from Henry to notice these things. matter.
"That's it, according to Mr., the graveyard of the other villagers will keep the same appearance as the rest of the villagers, and then that's all." Narumi clenched his fists in silence: "I hope these villagers will not do such indecent acts."
The team fell into silence again. Although the samurai and ashigaru who were in complicated moods had a lot to say, after a long time of sorting it out, only the sound of the forest wind blowing through the roof tiles echoed around them.
The short and silent lunch was made of simple Japanese miso soup and sesame seed cakes given by Hayato's village. This was another great gift from Hayato to the samurai.
Sesame cakes are made from finely ground corn flour mixed with nuts and nuts newly picked in the forests in summer. Chestnuts, which are drought-tolerant and do not have excessive demand for soil moisture, are the staple food of civilians in the remote areas of the central and northern Crescent Continent - although half There are a large number of rice fields in Taizhou territory within a month's journey, but rice is still not affordable for these poor families.
After the rice harvest in Taizhou, the first priority is to supply the garrison in the local and nearby territories. More than 40% of the harvest is used as military food. Secondly, it was provided to the Chinese and nobles in the nearby area for enjoyment, and finally it was the turn of the people in the province. The cultivation of rice requires higher land than chestnuts. Therefore, except for the south with abundant water systems and many plains, from the central to the north, more than 80% of the people of the Moon Country still eat more chestnuts and potatoes.
The cheap and easy-to-obtain cereals do not taste as good as the rice commonly eaten by samurai when cooked directly. However, whether potatoes or cereals, starch-rich staple foods are always suitable for grinding into powder and using creative thinking to process.
The dough cakes that have been beaten repeatedly and left to ferment overnight do not look very good, but the experienced farmers have mastered the control of the heat. Even if there is not much oil and water, they still have a comfortable aroma.
The types of nuts that have been hastily pounded with a stone mortar are no longer identifiable. Considering the region and season, they are probably almonds. Although they could be minced more finely, they were kept about the size of half a pinky fingernail. In this way, when chewing, in addition to the crispy outer shell and soft inner dough, there is also a layer of crushed nut texture, which enriches the texture.
It lacks sugar and oil, and all the seasoning is just a little salt in the dough. But despite this, it is full of flavor. The noodles of the minority Hayabusa people and the soup that Kazuto likes to drink form a rare but unexpected combination of simple meals. Perhaps because the style is similar to Rigar, even in the face of the samurai's contempt The missionary and his entourage, who had always been a little unappetizing for Ruozhen's delicious food, ate heartily and happily for the first time in a long time.
The pancakes were made overnight and handed over to the samurai and his party before setting off this morning. Because there were not many ingredients, the quantity was only enough for one meal this morning and one at noon. When I ate it in the morning, it was still hot from the oven, but now it no longer has that aroma, but it still makes people want to eat it.
Choosing such a simple meal was largely due to the need to rush on the road. After burying the three dead but still leaving four seriously injured Ashigaru who needed to be taken care of, they did not have the leisure to stop and cook slowly.
Narumi is an excellent leader. Although he also has the aesthetics and idealistic tendencies of a Kazuto samurai, he can still make the right decisions decisively most of the time. The eight people who escaped were in good health. After spending a certain amount of time searching but failing to find them, he decisively abandoned them.
"If you realize your shame a little, you should have turned around and come back to apologize. Since you can't be found within a few miles, I've probably made up my mind to go." What the great god said is also a common view among others. Those people are no longer children, and their bodies are Health does not require their face-to-face care. They couldn't be found within the huge search area, which meant that they had probably been running away for several hours. The further they ran, the less courage they could muster to come back and face their abandoned companions.
Narumi's approach was ruthless to a certain extent. He directly donated all the equipment left by the eight people and their rations to the Hayato villagers, telling them that they could sell them to merchants to exchange funds for the medical expenses of the injured.
After freeing up this considerable amount of equipment, they sorted out the baggage and made room to carry the wounded.
——No commemoration or prayer for those who abandoned their teammates and fled; but for those who stayed, even the ashigaru who were treated as slaves by the samurai, were taken care of in every possible way.
This kind of judgment ability that a qualified leader should have can always be seen in Narumi, which is why he was able to convince the crowd to become the leader of the Qingtian samurai.
However, such an important minister who should have stayed by the master's side was sent out to travel. Even if Yajiro is the next head of the family and traveling and seeing things is crucial to his growth, the configuration of this team is still a bit too luxurious.
Since they have not spoken, they should not explore. Even if you already know, some things are still better to be silent about.
"How pitiful are the hearts of parents in the world?" The sage sighed in his heart as he looked at these loyal veterans who were left behind, and then at the still numerous baggage.
The last section of the road down the mountain soon came to an end. In order to buy time, the group did not take the auxiliary road, but went directly onto the bustling main road.
The national highway is far more efficient than the auxiliary road. In just a few hours, before the long summer sunshine has ended, the group has arrived at the destination town.
The territorial province separated from Taizhou, which is an important town in the north, is called Zhangzhou. Compared with Taizhou, which has large rice fields and distinctive features, Zhangzhou, which has a relatively narrow territory, is like the most inconspicuous and rarely noticed among a group of people. Small role.
It is not an important grain-producing area, and it does not have the function of warning the feudal king in the north. Zhangzhou, which is located on a national highway, exists like a roadside hotel. If there are some, it will be relatively convenient. If there are not, it will not be a big problem.
It's just that the passers-by settled here over time, and Xinjing divided the territory and sent dedicated personnel to manage it. It's a piece of territory that comes naturally, but is ordinary and featureless.
Because there are no food, handicrafts and other industries here, and it is not a military garrison, most of the capable and ambitious Zhangzhou people have gone out to do business, leaving naturally these unambitious, loose and free characters.
There is a saying among the people of the Moon that "Businessmen know that the Zhangzhou dialect can be used all over the world", which refers to how many Zhangzhou people are doing business abroad. Even from the south to the north, anyone who meets a fellow merchant can use the Zhangzhou dialect to converse.
However, even though there are so many people going out to do business, the reputation of Zhangzhou people in Heren society is very average. Scholars, farmers, and merchants, in the social distribution of the Kingdom of the Moon, merchants are actually a class that suffers considerable discrimination. Beings like the Qingtian family, who are Chinese generals who excel in business through specialty products, are often belittled by other Chinese as "a smell of copper", and ordinary civilians engaged in business are naturally even more despised.
This status, coupled with the fact that most of the people who remain in Zhangzhou have no ambitions and just want to spend the rest of their lives in ignorance, further strengthens the idea that "most of the people in Zhangzhou are despicable, idle and opportunistic, have no sense of honor, and are full of lies." The impression of "disciple" - even the Qingtian family warriors who came from the vassal area knew this, and Miss Doctor's journey to the north directly skipped Zhangzhou.
Regional discrimination exists in every country. Although most of the time you will find that they are all nonsense when you really come into contact with them, this time the group of people actually saw such a scene as soon as they stepped into the town.
"Pfft, Lord Nagara, look at those country warriors. They are dressed in armor and ready to fight as if they are going to fight. Really, do they think they are living in "The Record of Warriors and Heroes"?"
The Qingtian family warriors wearing armor and carrying the wounded directly bumped into the Zhangzhou warriors who were walking out of the restaurant in luxurious clothes. It was still only 4 o'clock in the afternoon, but these people were all flushed with faces and wine. You can smell it from several meters away.
"Hold it." Narumi turned around and spoke, but it was already too late. The experiences of the past two days have left people in a state of confusion and confusion. The inexplicable casualties, the treacherous escape of comrades, and the risk of burying fallen comrades and having their graves stolen. Running around and bumping into these people who have no samurai attitude started in broad daylight. For those who drink, there must be an outlet for new and old grudges - so the young and vigorous samurai, Ayong, like Yajiro's brother, argued angrily:
"You still remember the glory of the Wu family, and you started drinking and having fun during the day. We defeated the evil spirits yesterday and suffered heavy casualties. Looking at these seriously injured companions behind us, do you have the nerve to call yourself a samurai? Put away the ridicule just now, Apologize to us!”
He spoke loudly, in a controlled manner despite the conflict. Narumi sighed, but also looked at the warriors in front of him.
The Zhangzhou warriors, who were gorgeously dressed and smelled of alcohol, fell silent, their faces somewhat gloomy. Many people coming and going around stopped to watch. The conflict between the warriors was a rare drama in their ordinary daily life, not to mention that one of the parties was rarely on horseback and ready to go.
"Pfft." The calm was finally broken by a sneer from the young warrior who spoke at the beginning, and then a whole row of Zhangzhou warriors laughed heartily.
"Evil ghost? Just you?"
"Hahahahahaha, you're just a bunch of country warriors. I think you were ambushed by bandits and beaten up. You were dressed so gorgeously, but you couldn't even pull out the knife, so you were held down and beaten."
The drunken Zhangzhou sergeants taunted loudly, while the wide-eyed Ayong gritted his teeth and wanted to draw his sword and rush forward, but his wrist was grabbed by Henry next to him.
The sage's big hand was as immovable as a rock. Ayong looked at him with an angry face, but the gray-blue eyes under the bamboo hat were only calm.
"Don't be impulsive." Henry said, and Narumi also suppressed other equally angry Qingtian samurai.
"Bah, they are just a bunch of lost dogs after all. Why are you bragging? You have to be cowardly." The swaying Zhangzhou warriors spat in an imageless manner and turned away. Looking at where they were going, they seemed to be planning to drink again. Seeing that there was no conflict or fight to be seen, the surrounding civilians dispersed in disappointment.
"We are here to find doctors. Even if these people have lost their samurai spirit, we are not the ones who should treat them." Narumi opened his mouth to enlighten the others, but only those who were familiar with him could tell that the tone of the samurai leader was as cold as ice.
Anger does not always take the form of passion, just as a sad person does not always cry.
For people like Narumi and Henry, when cracks appear in their calm and steady side, it means that the anger in their hearts is enough to prevent them from maintaining their usual sanity.
"Let's go, go find the doctor first." The sage said, and Narumi nodded, and the group officially entered the Zhangzhou territory.
