Killing people is the food of the underworld.
Wipe the blood on the pheasant feathers with a cloth and slowly put it back into its sheath.
Zuomura Annuo sighed.
No feeling of guilt at all......
After moving his wrist, Zuomura Annuo left the place.
What was left behind were more than ten corpses.
A group of bandits specialized in robbing and beheading pedestrians on the road.
After Zuomura Anno left the trial defense hall, he headed north.
Since there is no goal, just find any direction and walk.
It took Samura a month to get from Mutsu to Echizen.
"This...is the Aizu Domain." Zuomura had no idea about the corpse behind him. He just scratched his head and looked at the simple map in his hand.
A bandit who was not completely dead looked at Zuomura Anno's back with vague eyes.
Fear, fear, regret.
The young samurai didn't look back, he just scratched his head in confusion and moved forward.
Why could such a man - after drawing his sword - do that, so...
ruthless?
His face was expressionless, neither angry nor excited.
He just pulled out the emerald green knife, killed all those who surrounded him, and then continued on his way expressionlessly.
"This is...what...a monster..."
The bandit, whose chest wound could even see his chopped heart, said the last words of his life and fell to the ground, making a little noise.
Zuo Cun looked back subconsciously.
Blood flowed down the mountain path.
"Well, what you have done is enough to define you as a human being. Why should I measure you by the standard of killing people?"
Turning his head back, Zuocun continued to move forward.
"brute."
Anno Samura, who has no past, has summed up his own values from what he has experienced so far.
In his opinion, these scum that are not enough to be called human beings are not even enough for him to pull out the knife used to attack people. Instead, he just pulls out the pheasant feathers as a backup and kills them in twos and twos.
Then just move on.
Another two months passed.
The New Year has passed, and Zuo Cun is walking in the wind and snow wrapped in a scarf.
"Ah, there is a village ahead."
In late winter, only the leaves of the coniferous forest were still green. Zuo Cun saw a house among the gaps in the leaves.
"What, it turns out to be just a shrine." Zuocun sighed.
If there is a village, there may be a post house.
But with this shrine, I finally don’t have to sleep in the wind and snow today.
And when Zuo Cun was happily nestling in the dilapidated shrine and preparing to sleep peacefully for a night——
Edo.
Outside Edo Bay.
Nine large ships are anchoring.
"General, didn't we say we would come back in April or May? Let's bring the ship here now..."
A petty officer had a few drops of cold sweat streaming down his temples as he looked at the old man standing in front of the deck.
Admiral of the United States Navy, General Perry.
He has a sinister-looking aquiline nose, which looks very scary against the night sky.
“It’s one thing to say it, but it has to be another thing what we do.”
General Perry's lips curved slightly.
"The Japanese..." He smoked a cigarette and looked at the seemingly prosperous Edo, "If I give in a little bit, this group of people will think they have won."
"So, the best way is to eliminate all the cumbersome procedures."
"Showing the toughest and most stubborn side of our America."
Throwing the cigarette butt into the sea, Perry turned around and walked into the cabin.
His words echoed across the deck.
"When negotiating with these smart and disguised people, we must give priority to eliminating all hypocrisy. The best way is to use the arrogance and arrogant attitude that we are extremely accustomed to."
...
"What should we do now? The American ships... have arrived at Edo Bay. Looking at the trends, they even want to break into Haneda Bay..." A person sat on the seat, looking flustered.
"Matsudaira...calm down." Behind the curtain, a young voice said with a difficult tone, "The purpose of the Americans should be very clear."
There was silence in the air.
"General..."
"Those hateful foreigners..."
"Mr. Abe, it's better not to say these words now... We need to recognize the reality."
"But General Tokugawa Iedada...!" Abe Masahiro said urgently.
"Be quiet... We need to negotiate now." General Tokugawa Iedada said in a sad tone.
"...Yes." Abe Masahiro looked unwilling and lowered his head.
The remaining four Chinese and Lao people remained silent and silently accepted the fact that they would have to negotiate with those Americans again.
Masahiro Abe's nails were about to dig into the palm of his hand, and his teeth were gritting loudly.
"The four feudal lords from Qingxi, Sendai, Aizu, and Nagaoka mobilized troops to guard this negotiation." Tokugawa Isada also felt extremely humiliated. The five veterans could feel this unwillingness even through the curtain. .
Everyone knows what the Americans' purpose is.
Let Japan open a port as a springboard for them to go to the mainland across the Sea of Japan.
This is about Japan's policy, and more importantly, Japan's... dignity.
However, now that things have happened, American ships have been blocked in Edo Bay.
The powerful force made this group of losers who were accustomed to comfort...scared.
Since you are scared, how can you talk about dignity?
...
Early the next morning.
Kondo Shusuke stood on the harbor, looking at the nine ships on the sea.
Although it seemed far away, Kondo Shusuke vaguely felt...
"Master, what happened?" Toshizo Hijikata is already taller than Shusuke Kondo.
Kondo Shusuke did not answer Hijikata Toshizo's words, he just stared at the nine large ships and thought deeply.
"My premonition is the same as Samura-kun's... Chaos is coming, but I didn't expect... it would come so soon." Kondo Shusuke sighed slightly.
"Ask everyone in the Trial Guard Hall not to go out anymore. Let's... close the hall for a while."
Kondo Shusuke's brows knitted together.
He looked at his disciples.
Okita Souji, Shimazaki Katsuta, Hijikata Toshizo, Inoue Genzaburo...
Besides these four, there are many more.
Troubled times are coming, and I can only take care of your immature feathers before the big waves come.
"Let's go back first." Walking down the harbor, Kondo Shusuke walked towards the direction of the trial defense hall.
Shimazaki Katsuta scratched his face: "Troubled times are coming..."
"Well, I don't need to think too much, I just need to follow your footsteps." Genzaburo Inoue smiled.
Everything he has is in this trial defense hall. Hijikata Toshizo and Shimazaki Katsuta are his path forward.
"Well! If the fire of chaos burns us, let's call that bastard Zuo Cun and form a team together!"
"Yeah!" Souji Okita nodded vigorously, "Be sure to call Samura!"
"Speaking of which, that guy has been gone for several months now..." Tobizo Hijikata muttered, "What the hell is he doing now..."
