The first day's work was not difficult. Just like Gabriel said, it was just about eating and having fun. The two of them took a walk around Kyoto, basically hanging out wherever the excitement was. Even before the evening, the French businessman told Zhang Heng that it was okay. After leaving, Zhang Heng could feel that there were sneaky guys following them along the way.
However, what he received was only the salary of the translator and did not include the part of the escort. Unless the little tails behind him suddenly took action against the French businessmen and Zhang Heng could not receive the salary behind him, otherwise he would just follow them like this, and Zhang Heng would not pay attention to them. Intend.
What's more, although Gabriel looked happy and cheerful, he might not have known that he was being followed, otherwise he would have been wandering around in front of someone instead of doing anything serious this day.
Zhang Heng has no interest in these two groups of people who have their own evil intentions. He will do whatever Gabriel says. He will not ask or care about the rest. When the work is over, he will go back to the place he just rented. In the small courtyard where I went down, I scooped a ladle of water from the well and drank it.
Cold well water is the best thirst-quenching drink in this era. Zhang Heng wiped his mouth with his sleeve. At this time, sparse shouts and the sound of wooden knives hitting each other came from the hill dojo across the wall.
Zhang Heng remembered Xiaoshan Qian's invitation last night, and he happened to have something to ask the other party. Taking advantage of the fact that it was still relatively early today, he put down the wooden ladle in his hand and came to the next door.
There is a plaque hanging outside the main entrance of the dojo, which reads "Oyama Akishin-ryu" in five characters. Zhang Heng searched his memory and found that there was no impression of this school, but this is normal. The end of the Bakumatsu period was the last glory of Japanese swordsmanship. There are more than 200 recorded schools, and even more are unrecorded.
However, most of them were later lost, and only the most famous ones have been passed down.
In the era of Heisei trash and Reiwa macho, there were even fewer people who were still learning swordsmanship. Each school also placed more emphasis on self-cultivation, and swordsmanship was no longer a killing technique.
Koyama Akishin-ryu must have been lost in the torrent of history like other small schools.
Zhang Heng didn't think much and walked directly into the dojo.
The first thing that catches the eye is a green grape trellis, covered with vines. However, the grapes have not yet matured. There are only some sparse flower bones among the green leaves. Next to the grape trellis is a maple tree. There was probably one person surrounding the tree, and the tree was surrounded by a fence. Three hens were raised there, and there was a small vegetable patch on the right side of the chicken coop. Some vegetables were planted in it, and they were growing well.
Zhang Heng's face looked a little strange. This place didn't look like a dojo at all, but rather like a small farmyard. Fortunately, the main house after passing through the courtyard was very neat. There were weapon racks with bamboo knives and breastplates, as well as offerings. There is a master position and a small wooden sign with each person's name written on it, arranged in order of teacher and disciple.
The dojo was very lively at the moment. Akane Koyama was teaching, but her students were all relatively young. The oldest was probably only fourteen or fifteen years old, while the younger ones were even seven or eight years old. They were clearly all There was a group of children, but they practiced very seriously. They caught them in pairs and struck with a knife while wearing protective gear. Akane Koyama was walking among the crowd, correcting the children's movements and cheering them up.
She saw Zhang Heng and nodded to the latter. After learning about Zhang Heng's experience of studying in the West, she finally no longer regarded Zhang Heng as an idle man who caused trouble.
After arranging the training, Akane Koyama walked out of the main room and said to Zhang Heng, "Have you come to practice swordsmanship?"
"No, no, I just want to ask what famous dojos are there in Kyoto." Zhang Heng said.
Xiaoshan Qian was stunned when she heard this, and then a look of shame and anger appeared on her face.
Zhang Heng realized that she had misunderstood something, and quickly added, "I'm not looking for a dojo to become a disciple. In fact... I came to Kyoto just to meet the masters here for a while."
"Hey, what did you say you came to Kyoto to do?" Xiaoshan Qian's eyes widened, as if she heard something incredible. Although she didn't say the next words, the look in her eyes at Zhang Heng said everything. Problem.
Akane Koyama's impression of Zhang Heng has improved to a certain extent now. However, in the market before, the latter watched the whole process and did not dare to save people. She also remembers it very clearly. It is hard to imagine that such a person actually said the purpose of coming to Kyoto. He is a master in the world.
However, Akane Koyama still likes to think the best of people. Maybe it’s because Zhang Heng spent too long studying abroad. After returning to China, he didn’t know much about the domestic situation, and he still had certain illusions, thinking that he was a master. However, having said that, Since this guy thought he was a master, why didn't he take action before?
Xiaoshan Qian was thinking about this problem, but suddenly she saw the tooth man who took Zhang Heng to see the house last night ran in from outside again, shouting, "It's not good, it's not good, it's not good, run for your life, a group of warriors are coming." I've been asking around where your dojo is. You look so aggressive, I guess it's your father's enemy. I pointed them in a random direction, but I guess it won't be long before they get back."
"Enemies? But when my father was alive, he never had any disputes with others, and I never heard that he had any grudges with anyone." Koyama Akane shook her head.
Zhang Heng's expression changed, and he thought of a group of people. The three warriors of the Changshu clan were defeated quite badly last night. In fact, in terms of strength, the guy who drew the sword and slashed people was still better than Akane Koyama. In addition, This matter involves the honor of the Choshu clan, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for the other party to swallow this sigh of relief.
Yaren was worried, "It's already this time, what's the use of saying such a thing? It's true that we go out first to avoid disaster."
"Do you want me to leave the dojo and hide alone?" Xiaoshan Akane frowned.
"Otherwise, can you still take the dojo with you?" Yaren rolled his eyes.
But what he didn't expect was that the group of warriors came faster than he thought. Before the two of them could discuss the outcome, the other party had already killed them first. There were five of them in total.
In addition to Yamada, who had played against Akane Koyama before in the market, Matsuo and Takahashi, who were watching the excitement, and two other unfamiliar faces.
Yamada's face was so gloomy that he could drip water. The defeat last night was too humiliating for him. After he woke up, he immediately wanted to recover the situation, but in the end it was still a step too late. After all, they were on the street last night. There was a fight, and some people on the samurai side of the overthrown sect had already heard the news.
Moreover, it was Takeuchi Shinji who didn’t have a good relationship with him. Takeuchi was also born in the Choshu Domain. Like Yamada, he was a relatively famous samurai in the Overthrow Sect. It was inevitable that people would compare him to each other. After a long time, they didn’t quite like each other. .
About half a year ago, Takeuchi approached Yamada to compete. He originally thought it would be a close fight, but it ended in Yamada's defeat. The two exchanged no more than a dozen moves, and Yamada was completely suppressed. In addition to the gap in strength, Yamada The style of swordsmanship he practiced was also restrained by Zhu. This was the real reason why his defeat was so ugly.
After that battle, Takeuchi became even more famous among the overthrown faction, but Yamada showed signs of decline, and the two also had a grudge. The last thing Yamada wanted to know about what happened last night was for Takeuchi to know about it. However, things didn't go as planned. Takeuchi and Takahashi have a very good relationship. Yamada suspects that Takahashi leaked the matter to Takeuchi. The latter came to the door early in the morning and expressed doubts about Yamada's strength. He must follow him together, otherwise he will be killed. Tell more people what happened last night.
Yamada had no choice but to agree to the opponent's request, so in today's battle, he not only had to win, but he also had to win beautifully, leaving Takeuchi speechless.
