Edo, western suburbs——
Aoto, Sanako, the marshal, and the old man who led the way—the four of them walked leisurely on the broad road covered with weeds.
It was nearly noon, and the cold wind blew past their ears, with the cold smell of earth.
Not long after, the sound of running water reached the ears of the three of them.
Qingdeng followed the sound and saw a river with a lot of broken ice floating in it.
The river flows quietly, reflecting the clear winter sky, passing through the messy river bed, making a low and monotonous roar, and heading straight to the west.
The shore is covered with dense, withered wild reeds.
As if being pulled by the river, the wild reeds meander in the vast wilderness. Occasionally there are scattered bushes or woods blocking the way.
"Ah! Master Samurai! Do you see that mountain?"
The old man who was leading the way suddenly stopped and raised his hand to point northwest.
"That mountain is Platycodon Mountain! Just keep walking along the river and you will reach Platycodon Mountain!"
Neither Aoto nor Sanako nor Souji were familiar with the western suburbs of Edo.
Kikyo Mountain and so on...Aoto, Sanako and Souji have never heard of it.
So, Aoto spent money to hire a guide who was very familiar with the western suburbs of Edo...that is, this old man, and asked this man to guide them.
Qingdeng raised his gaze and looked in the direction pointed by the old man.
Looking as far as the eye can see, there is a large mountain opposite the vast reed plains, with its blue-black ridgeline exposed.
"Old man, is this the mountain?"
"Yes, yes, that's that mountain! That mountain is Platycodon Mountain!"
At this time, the general manager suddenly interrupted:
"It's so big... much bigger than I imagined..."
As soon as the director-general finished speaking, the old man immediately explained:
"The characteristic of Platycodon Mountain is that it is wide. It is extremely wide! One mile from north to south and half a mile from east to west. Unfortunately, it is not high enough. There are only 10 rooms at the highest point. Otherwise, it would definitely be a battleground for military strategists!"
[Note: One mile in Japan is approximately 3.924 kilometers. 1 room is approximately 1.818 meters. 】
Hearing this, Qingden turned his head and looked at the Edo city behind him, and then nodded slightly.
"Indeed. If this mountain were ten kilometres higher, it would be a perfect fort. Just by setting up a cannon on the top of the mountain, it could directly bombard most of Edo."
This was just Qingdeng's casual remark, but it ended up attracting enthusiastic flattery from the old man.
After flattering him with a flattering "Your Majesty's words are true!", he hurriedly asked:
"Master Samurai, are you going to Mount Kikyo?"
"um, yes."
"In this case, you must be careful!"
"What? Are there wild boars in the mountains?"
Qingdeng asked back, subconsciously showing a solemn expression.
If there are wild boars in the Platycodon Mountain... then you really need to be extremely careful.
As the saying goes, one pig, two bears and three tigers.
Many people have a deep misunderstanding of this saying, thinking that it ranks the three animals according to their combat effectiveness. It is said that wild boars have the strongest combat effectiveness, followed by bears and tigers.
In fact, this is completely a misunderstanding.
This proverb is based on the ranking of the threat these three large beasts pose to humans.
In other words, wild boar injuries are the most common in the wild, and they are the most dangerous.
Next is the bear.
As for tigers, they often hide in deep mountains and old forests and will never enter human territory unless they are extremely hungry, so they are ranked last.
The wild boar is a typical animal capable of both offense and defense.
Anyone with a bit of common sense knows that in hand-to-hand combat, the heavier party has an advantage.
The wild boar can weigh hundreds of kilograms. Not only is it big and powerful, but it also has a pair of long and hard tusks in its mouth that will continue to grow with age.
In addition, its bite force is also amazing, which can reach up to more than 400 kilograms.
Wild boars are very aggressive and fearless. Once provoked, even gods will attack you.
If you are hit by them, the consequences are no less than that of a car accident. The impact of their running can easily break human bones, and the result is often death or injury.
The famous Japanese idiom: "The pig rushes forward" describes the ferocious momentum and domineering power of the wild boar when it charges.
The attack power is astonishing - this is already very troublesome, but the wild boar's "defense" turns out to be even more troublesome.
The skin of wild boars is very thick, and they have hard and long bristles on their backs. They also like to roll around in the mud and get covered in mud. After the mud dries, it turns into a solid lump, which is like wearing a suit. armor.
In this way, the defense power of wild boars is extremely amazing, and ordinary weapons cannot hurt them at all.
So far, Qingdeng has never fought against large beasts such as wild boars, bears, and tigers, and he has killed a lot of people.
The gap in strength, speed, and fighting style between wild boars and humans... may be even greater than the gap in body position preferences between Aomori and Souji.
Qingdeng was really unsure whether he could challenge a wild boar alone.
Under Qingdeng's gaze, the old man shook his head:
"No, there are no wild boars in Platycodon Mountain. At least in the past 10 years, I have not heard of wild boars in Platycodon Mountain."
"Mountain Platycodon is an uninhabited mountain. No one travels there, and no one lives there. It is a veritable barren mountain. The road is extremely difficult to walk, and there is basically no place that can be called a 'road'! You will get injured if you are not careful. Your feet may even fall down the mountain, so you must not be careless!”
——It turned out to be just a reminder to pay attention to the terrain...
Qingdeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled and said:
"Thank you for your suggestion, we will take note of it."
At this time, the old man seemed to be worried about something, hesitating on his face and tightening his shoulders for a time.
After a moment, he asked in a cautious tone:
"Master Samurai, I brought you here, do you think so?"
The old man probably thought that traveling back and forth between Edo and Mount Kikyo would take too much time and effort, so he decided to give up.
For Qingto, as long as he could know the specific location of Platycodon Mountain, it didn't matter whether the old man was willing to continue leading the way.
So, Qingden nodded slightly.
"Well, thank you for your hard work, old man."
After saying that, Qingdeng took out 20 copper coins from his arms and handed them to the old man.
Feeling the heavy weight in his palm, the old man suddenly smiled and opened his mouth wide, revealing a mouth full of rotten and yellow teeth.
After he said a lot of auspicious and pleasant words such as "Uncle Samurai, I wish you a safe and smooth journey" and the like, he took the money Qingdeng gave him and left happily.
"Did you hear everything?"
Qingden turned his head and said to Sanako and Souji behind him.
"If you walk another mile, you will reach Platycodon Mountain."
"It's still a long way to go..."
Souji flattened his beautiful red lips, then squatted down and hugged his legs.
Her figure is already petite and exquisite, but after posing like this, she looks even smarter and cute.
Qingdeng saw this and smiled bitterly.
"Hold on a little longer. If it's really hard, I can carry you."
As soon as Aonto said this, before Souji could say anything, Sanako was the first to react.
I saw the soft and delicate body that was bulging forward and backward trembled for an instant.
Then, she raised her gaze, looked at Qingdeng, and then looked at Souji, with long and intriguing glances in her beautiful eyes.
The emotion in his eyes was hard to grasp...it seemed like he was impatient, but also like he was unhappy...
"no thanks."
The Souji smiled "hehe", stood up, and put his hands on his hips.
"Don't underestimate me! I'm a warrior after all, so this little journey won't trouble me!"
Qingdeng looked closely at the General Secretary's face.
After confirming that the General Secretary's expression was normal, his face was rosy, and there was no sign of fatigue between his brows, Qingden's facial lines slowly relaxed.
But to be on the safe side, he still said in a serious tone:
"Don't force yourself. If you really feel tired, just tell me. You don't weigh much anyway, so it won't be a problem to carry you."
After finishing speaking, Qingden turned around and said the same thing to Sanako beside him:
"Miss Sanako, you too. If you feel tired..."
Before Qingden finished speaking, he was interrupted by Sanako:
"Don't worry. Although I don't dare to claim to be alive and healthy, such a short distance won't make me feel embarrassed."
Seeing that Sanako and Souji both said this, Qingto also closed his mouth at the right time and said no more.
Let's go - Qingden said, and then headed straight towards the ridgeline ahead.
The director followed closely behind.
Sanako was half a body behind Souji, walking at the rear of the three. Along the way, she couldn't help but raise her eyes several times, casting intriguing glances at Qingto and Souji in front of her one after another...
…
…
Qingdeng and others are all warriors, so naturally they will not lack leg strength and physical strength.
About 20 minutes later, they passed through the dense reed plains and successfully arrived at the foot of Mount Kikyo, and then officially climbed the mountain.
The first impression that Platycodon Mountain brings to Qingdeng is that it is full of primitive scenery of nature.
The air is very fresh, and there is no smell of human civilization.
The gurgling sound of the river can be heard in the distance, and bursts of roaring are interspersed from time to time.
On the cliff in the distance, snow-white water splashed violently from the mountain col into the pool, and then merged into mountain streams and continued to flow downward. Many puddles and muddy areas were formed where the streams flowed.
Qingden knew nothing about botany, so he couldn't name the flowers, plants and trees on Platycodon Mountain accurately.
It was clearly winter, but all the trees wherever Qingdeng could see were still lush, and the lush branches were filled with the soft and sweet sunshine.
From time to time, you can hear the chirping of birds. They step on the treetops, shaking their tails, and their shadows are clearly reflected on the ground.
The north wind was blowing, and the forest waves were blowing. Shadows of different shades were constantly changing among the trees. The network of light pouring down from the gaps between the leaves also swayed rapidly like a pendulum on Qingdeng and others.
According to Ugaki Goro, Tachibana Takayuki's "secret stronghold" is located at the top of Mount Kikyo.
Mountain climbing, no matter how difficult it is, just walk straight towards the top of the mountain - this was Qingdeng's original idea.
The road in Platycodon Mountain is really bad.
There was no way to rush up the mountain in a straight line, so I could only find ways to go up through every crack.
In addition, the difficulty of the hiking trail was far beyond Qingdeng’s expectations.
The ground under your feet is uneven and not to mention tired, you may sprain your ankle or even fall to the ground if you are not careful.
However, despite the tiredness, the beautiful scenery they saw on the road made Qingdeng and others feel relaxed and happy, and even their tiredness was forgotten a lot.
Sometimes the branches drooped low, and the three of them quickly lowered their upper bodies.
Sometimes a few vines hang from the branches, holding flowers.
Sometimes I see a bird with brightly colored fur standing on an old tree by the roadside, looking curiously at a man and two women below.
Climbing hills, jumping down hillsides, clearing jungle...
After marching like this for a while, Qingden suddenly felt a rush of heat.
At first, Qingden didn't care about this.
After walking some distance further, after passing through a small bush, a clear blue spring suddenly appeared in front of him.
The calm surface of the pool reflects the floating clouds, and the ripples are rippling.
Qingdeng blinked in astonishment - he was surprised to find that the heat in the air came from this spring.
"This is……?"
Qingdeng squatted down and reached into the water.
What spreads along the nerves along the fingers is not a biting coldness, but a gentle warmth.
At the same time that Qingden squatted down to test the water, the Souji on the side also noticed that this spring was unusual, so he extended his right index finger and poked the surface of the pool like a dragonfly touching the water.
Immediately afterwards, a look of shock appeared on her cheeks at a speed visible to the naked eye, and she said that word for Qingdeng——
"This is... a hot spring?!"
In the middle of winter, the spring water is not cold at all... Qingdeng can think of only one reason - there is a hot spring hole underneath!
Because it is located between two major tectonic plates, Japan has many earthquakes and volcanoes.
Although such a harsh geographical environment has brought a lot of troubles and disasters to this small island country, it also comes with a rare benefit, which is the abundance of high-quality hot springs.
For example, Mount Hakone, not far from Edo, is a famous hot spring resort and is known as Japan's "hot spring town". "Hakone Seven Hot Springs" have long been famous.
The Tohoku region of Japan...the Ou region is even more famous for its hot springs.
Qingdeng was so surprised that he couldn't help but put most of his arms into the depths of the spring.
This was the first time in Qingden's life that he had encountered a real hot spring - in his previous life, he had only seen boiler water with the name "hot spring".
There was a strange smell all around - this must be the so-called sulfur smell.
Sanako suddenly looked curious when she heard the word "hot spring".
She walked forward in three steps and two steps at a time, squatted down gracefully, and lightly tested the spring water with her delicate fingers.
"It's really a hot spring...but...the temperature is not very high."
Qingdeng nodded and agreed:
"Indeed...the temperature is not very high, and the pool is very shallow."
According to Qingdeng's rough estimate, the temperature of the spring water is about 40 degrees Celsius.
In this cold weather where you can spit out ice shards with your breath, this temperature is only enough to make people feel a little warm.
In addition, the depth of the pool is not enough.
Qingdeng only stretched out half of his arm and touched the bottom of the spring - it was only deep enough to soak his feet at best.
"Okita-kun, Miss Sanako, let's go."
Qingden said as he retracted his arm from the water.
Hot springs are not just mineral spring water containing trace elements that are beneficial to human health - the above is all Qingdeng's views on hot springs.
In short, Aoden has no special feelings for hot springs.
He only regarded the "discovery of hot springs" as a small accident and an episode, and didn't take it to heart at all.
However... just because he has no interest in hot springs does not mean that others have no interest in hot springs either.
"Tachibana-kun!"
Qingto was startled by the sudden loud voice of the Souji.
"Wow! What, what's wrong?"
Qingdeng turned to look at the General Secretary.
I saw Souji looking straight at him with shining eyes.
"Tachibana-kun! I happen to be a little tired! Why don't we take a dip in the hot springs here and take a rest!"
After saying that, Souji clenched his fists in front of his chest excitedly, stood on tiptoes, and leaned his whole delicate body in the direction of Qingto.
Her slender ponytail swayed gently as she moved.
*******
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Sorry! Leopard Leopard went to see the female leopard today, so today’s update is not very good, I’m guilty!
The next plot is full of boat flavor, and Arknights players will definitely be ecstatic about the welfare plot! (leopard laugh.jpg)
(End of chapter)
