People are dying on the pillar, and there is no misery at the beginning

Chapter 223 Extra volume:——A visitor from the Sword Dojo
……

There are some thin wisps of white clouds floating in the pure blue sky.

An unknown red bird flew across the blue sky quickly.

Inside the Soryu Dojo.

Outside Lianxue's room.

The mother was leaning against the wall on one side of the corridor, she looked helplessly at the sky beyond the eaves, her pink pupils similar to Lianxue trembling slightly.

She gently covered her mouth, holding back the tears from overflowing her eyes.

Turning around, wiping the tears from his eyes, he staggered towards the outside of the dojo.

"Cough...cough..."

Lianxue's cough became farther and farther away until she couldn't hear it.

……

at the same time.

Not far from Suryu Dojo.

On a road where the distance between the houses on both sides gradually widens.

The figure in the white martial arts uniform moved quickly.

"Huh...huh...!" Qingzang controlled his breathing rhythm, hugged the flowers in his arms, and ran in the direction of Soryu Dojo in small steps.

It will be here soon.

As a martial artist who has been training his body all year round, Qingzang has a very strong body function.

At least it's not a problem to knock down a few sword-wielding warriors with bare hands.

Well, if it is less than ten, it can be said to be a few.

At this time.

pat, pat.

In front of Qingzang.

Two well-dressed figures slowly walked towards him:
One grown and one young, the elder walking in front was wearing a black haori, inside which was a slim-fitting kendo suit.

The old man's resolute face full of vicissitudes is very old-fashioned, and the long tied hair is also mixed with some silver threads - he looks about fifty years old.

In the early Edo period, it was considered to be very long-lived.

And the young man who followed the elder looked only fifteen or sixteen years old.

The solemn and solemn elder at the head raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw Qingzang running towards him.

"... Qingzang."

Some vicissitudes of life slowly called Qing Zang.

Qingzang also saw the elder who was going in the opposite direction, he stopped slowly, smiled and nodded:

"Ah, it's you!"

"Is something wrong?"

For those who are older than him, Qingzang usually calls "you".

What's more, he knew the elderly swordsman in front of him.

The opponent's name is "Iwakin Hanbei", and it is said that he is a samurai who survived the battlefield in the Warring States Period. The hairstyle of the opponent's Tsukiyo head is a good proof.

And this "Yanjin Banbei" is the owner of the sword dojo next door to his Suliu dojo.

Qingzang scratched the back of his head, he kept his usual smile, and pointed in the direction of Soryu Dojo:
"If there is nothing else, I will leave first. There are still some things at Suliu Dojo..."

The moment Qingzang said those words.

Standing behind the elder, the young man who looked only about fifteen or sixteen, was suddenly a little unhappy.

The boy tilted his neck, raised his head, and looked contemptuously.

"Tsk."

He clicked his tongue, frowned slightly, and looked at Qingzang maliciously:

"...you bastard..."

As far as he knew, Qingzang's dojo didn't have any apprentices at all.

What, you ask how did he know?
Ah, it's probably because he took the lead in repelling all those who wanted to join the Soryu Dojo.

"Just your dojo, which is empty and doesn't even have apprentices... what can you do in a hurry?"

The boy said in a very arrogant tone, as if he didn't take Qing Zang seriously:
"It's too rude to find such an excuse to interrupt my father's speech!"

Saying that, the young man took a step forward, questioning Qingzang with his eyes.

Seeing the young man's arrogant appearance, Qingzang slowly turned his head to look at Iwakin Banbei with his unchanging smiling eyes.

As the owner of the field, Iwakin Banbei naturally couldn't allow his son to be so embarrassing in front of him, he immediately turned his head and yelled:

"Duzai! Shut up!"

"It's you who is being rude now!"

Seeing his father scolding him, the young man named Duzai's arrogant face froze immediately, and he looked at his father again unwillingly:
"But... my lord father..."

"……I understand."

After seeing the seriousness in his father's eyes, Duzai slowly lowered his head, glanced at Qingzang quietly, and retreated behind his father with an unnatural expression.

Iwakin Hanbei took a deep look at his son.

His son, Iwakami Atsuya, will inherit his dojo as the owner of the dojo in the future, but his character is too impatient, arrogant and immature, so he is not suitable as a manager.

But this is also the result of my negligence in managing him when he was young.

Ugh.

Iwakin Banbei sighed a long time in his heart, and he turned his head slowly.

The eyebrows drooping because of wrinkles stared deeply at Qingzang, and it took a long time before he slowly said a word:

"...The juniors are very sorry for your rudeness to you a few days ago."

"It was me who was negligent in discipline. They have already been reprimanded by me."

Saying that, Iwakin Hanbei slightly bowed his head towards Keizo.

Hearing his father's apology, Atsuya immediately raised his head and looked at his father in disbelief.

"Father..." Atsuya's pupils trembled slightly, and he frowned tightly.

Iwakin Hanbei glanced at his son, but did not speak.

When Qingzang heard Yan Jinbanbei's words, he was a little taken aback for a moment, and after being slightly dazed, he burst out laughing:
"I see, did you come here for this matter?"

He smiled and waved his hands, and said he didn't care:

"It's okay, it didn't bother me too much."

A few days ago, several apprentices from the sword dojo, led by Duya, surrounded Qingzang who was standing at the gate of Suliu Dojo.

And with the slogan "Suryu Dojo is ours", they forced Qingzang to "return" the dojo.

At that time, Qingzang, who was a little at a loss, was just puzzled.

But things are not as the apprentices of the Kendo Gym said—the Soryu Dojo is not theirs.

Qingzang rescued an old man who was robbed by bandits in the mountains. In order to express his gratitude, the old man gave Qingzang the large ashram and land.

They in the kendo hall just coveted Suliu Dojo for a long time, and wanted to take this opportunity to directly snatch Suliu Dojo.

However, when several apprentices were urged to come forward to compete with Qing Zang.

But he was beaten to the ground without any power to resist, and the matter ended like this.

Qingzang slightly recalled what had happened, and nodded slowly:

"It's better to say that the discussion at that time was a bit interesting."

"Is that so..."

Yan Jinbanbei slowly raised his head, sighed slightly on his old-fashioned face, and his expression unexpectedly became a little kind:

"Your Excellency can think so, it is naturally the best."

"But." Iwakin Hanbei's tone changed, and he became serious again, but there was also a hint of joking:
"My disciple was knocked down. I will go to your dojo to get it back when I have time."

Qingzang smiled and nodded, and took another step forward:
"Haha, then I will definitely accompany you to the end!"

Then he waved his hand and made a farewell gesture.

Under the watchful eyes of Iwakin Hanbei and his son, they slowly ran in small steps towards the Soryu Dojo.

Slowly, they left the line of sight of the two of them.

Iwakin Hanbei slowly put away his kind expression, and changed back to that serious and rigid warrior.

Being able to mix with the general beside him who was given the name "Half Military Guard", he naturally knows how to communicate correctly.

Qingzang's strength deserves his attention.

At this time.

"Father." Duya, who had been puzzled all this time, lowered his head, and said slowly:
"I don't understand why you have to apologize to that guy."

He raised his head and looked at his father suspiciously:
"That dojo, don't you also want to get it?"

"We just... did what we were supposed to do!"

Yan Jinbanbei slowly shook his head, he put his hands behind his back, took a deep breath, and then sighed:

"No, Atsuya."

"It is the correct way to take that dojo into the bag through legitimate means."

"Using peaceful communication, money transactions, and even a duel to determine ownership... are all methods that can be adopted."

"This is the spirit of Bushido."

He looked at his son, with a hint of disappointment hidden in his deep eyes:
"It's not what you do, constantly looking for other people's troubles, like a disturbing mouse in the crack of the wall."

After finishing speaking, Iwaki Hanbei turned his head and continued to walk forward:

"Such a thing, never do it again."

In addition, Iwaki Hanbei had the idea of ​​including the dojo in his pocket before Keizo inherited the dojo.

What he thought was that since this dojo was empty, it would be better to communicate with the master of the dojo, keep it in his pocket, and reuse it.

But now, since Qingzang has inherited the ashram, it is not appropriate to disturb others.

He thought, and walked forward slowly.

Leaving Atsuya who was reprimanded again, staring blankly at his father's back.

"…Father?"

The pride he held in his heart felt a little incomprehensible when he was reprimanded by his father.

Being reprimanded by the most respected person for crushing dignity, the consequences are nothing more than two possibilities.

First, the dignity and belief that I have always insisted on collapsed, and I turned to re-establish another face-to-face idea.

Two words...

"...a mouse...?" Duzai repeated what his father said, his eyes dimmed, and he shook his head slowly.

In my mind, the images of the brothers and sisters in the Kendo Gym all came to my mind.

Everyone... It was clearly the father's will that ran through it all along, but it turned out to be wrong in the end?

mouse…

"No, it's not like that."

He raised his head and stared at his father's back, with subtle changes in his eyes.

He has lost sight of the pride and arrogance of his father back then.

What I can see is only the mentality of old age and the practice of seeking perfection.

Bushido spirit...?
Father...you are already old.

Thinking this way, Duzai slowly followed the pace of his father.

In an instant, in the heart of this 16-year-old boy, a crack appeared indistinctly in the respect and solemnity towards his father.

and gradually spread.

One day, this rift will become the farewell between father and son.

Or, farewell forever.

……

Possibility number two: All respect for that person vanishes in an instant.

……

The entrance of Suliu Dojo.

Tatata!
Qingzang's breathing was very steady, even though he was running all the way here.

He stopped slowly, adjusted the position of the flowers in his arms, and walked towards the entrance of the dojo.

At this time.

Hey.

A foot wearing women's clogs protruded from the dojo and stepped on the street outside.

Qingzang's expression froze for a moment, he sensed that something was wrong, so he quickly ran two steps forward.

At the same time, Qingzang's wife, Lianxue's mother, slowly walked out of the dojo.

She looked to the left of the dojo, which was the direction Keizo usually came back from.

But this time, because he met Iwakami Hanbei and his son on the road, in order to take a shortcut, Keizo climbed over the wall and came back from the right side of the dojo.

Seeing that there was still no sign of Qingzang coming back, she slowly lowered her head and gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her hands.

Turn around and walk towards the direction to the right of the door.

In that direction, there is a river.

There are no people around the river, very open and peaceful.

When she felt very hopeless, she would sit there for a while and look at her own reflection in the river.

But this time, it just happened to bump into Qing Zang who had just returned.

"Wow!" She was taken aback, and she crashed into the arms of Qingzang who was holding flowers.

Qingzang's body is still relatively tall, and he is the type who gives people a feeling of "this guy is very reliable" as soon as they meet.

"Hui Ren, what's wrong?" Seeing the tears in the corners of his wife's eyes, Qingzang looked down at his wife with some concern.

Huiren is the wife of Qingzang, who runs the Soryu Dojo together with Qingzang, and stays at home for a long time to take care of their daughter, Lianxue.

Huiren turned her head slightly, not wanting her husband to see the red corners of her eyes. She gently raised the tip of her nose and smelled the familiar fragrance of flowers.

The sadness in my heart instantly turned into a kind of temporary helplessness.

She patted Qing Zang's arm lightly, and took two steps back, covering up the sadness in her heart with a complaining tone:
"Really...you only bring flowers back?"

"Although it smells good... But it can't be like this all the time."

Huiren gently moved closer to the flowers.

Faced with his wife's question, Qing Zang could only helplessly scratch the back of his head and laugh dryly.

He really didn't know how to make his wife happy, so he often brought some flowers back.

Girls like flowers, he remembered what his father once said.

But this time, Qingzang faintly saw the emotion in his wife's eyes, he lowered his brow slightly, and the smile on his face became forced for the first time.

pat.

He put his palm lightly on his wife's shoulder, lowered his head slightly, and pressed his forehead against his wife's.

The two immediately looked at each other.

moment.

"What... what?!" Huiren was taken aback for a moment, then blushed slightly, and shouted in a low voice with some shame:

"What are you doing?! How many years have we been married? It's still outside. It's a shame!"

Huiren's pink pupils glanced around, her face flushed with shame, unconsciously, some of the sadness in her heart had been dispelled.

"Let me go! Quick!"

At this time, Qingzang stared at his wife's pink and white flower pupils, and said with a smile:

"Hui Ren, if you feel uncomfortable, you must tell me."

"... okay?"

As he spoke, Huiren's expression was slightly stunned, the hidden emotions could no longer be stretched, and the glistening teardrops couldn't stop flowing out from the corners of his eyes.

Qingzang stretched out some rough fingers, gently wiped away tears for his wife, and slowly closed his eyes:
"...Lianxue, you will definitely get better."

Huiren sobbed slowly and softly, she was hugged by Qingzang into his arms, and finally in between sobs, softly, with a crying voice:

"…Um!"

(End of this chapter)