"I'm fasting, am I about to have the last quiet moment of my life?"

Facing the sea, the samurai, with a strong body but a dying twilight, had been sitting alone for a long time on a boulder battered by the waves, the daylight in the sky changing its gloomy brightness, and illuminating his wrinkled face slightly. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Because of his old age, because of the defeat in the duel, he was expelled by the lord he served, and he came to this small village that he did not even want to disturb the flames of war, and survived with his sword.

No home, no wife, no confidant.

Sword -- all his life is to pursue the way of the sword.

For a while, he felt invincible. And so it was.

But, in old age, these hands have not left a single thing.

Zhong Juan Zizhai looked at his hands, the calluses on his palms and tiger's mouth, and the scars on the back of his hands, which seemed to have become a note of this man's life.

"Hahaha. Hearing the sound of the waves, Zhong Juan laughed loudly, "Look at this sea, my life can only disappear like these waves, unknown." ”

He took out a folded letter from his bosom, the only contact he had received since he came here, an apprentice who had studied swordsmanship with him but had no memory of his face at all, Sasaki Sayasu.

"Mr. Zhongjuan, I hope you can read this letter safely. The city of Beizhuang, which is known for its grandeur, has now fallen to the enemy, and it seems that the military fortune of our army has come to an end, and I am ready to dedicate myself to the lord, and wait quietly for that moment to come. ”

"The only thing that can't be relieved is my family, and I just hope that my newborn dog Kojiro can escape this fate. Last night I told them to go on their way to visit my kendo master, the Bell Roll Zisai. I know it's going to cause you trouble......"

"But, there is no one left for me to leave ......"

After reading it for the last time, the bell scroll let go of his hand and let the wind carry it to the sea.

It had been five days since the letter arrived, and he had tried to wait, but in such a time of war, wasn't it a ridiculous thing to wait?

"Die. ”

Standing up from the stone, the bell scroll faced the sea, and all thoughts were lost.

The churning waves crash against the shore, and those who live by the sea will be familiar with the anger of the sea from time to time. But this time, after the tide receded, two people appeared on the sandpile.

A dead woman, the bell scroll noticed that the costume on her body was the decoration of a samurai woman. There was also a dying old man.

"Save ...... Child...... ...... child"

The old man, dressed in a servant's clothes, stretched out his hand to the man on the stone.

The bell scroll looked sharply into the sea, and in the distance, an unmanned boat was rocking in the wind and waves, and at last it was overturned by a large wave that was tumbling, and when it turned over, a baby in swaddling fell into the sea.

"Kojiro?"

For some reason, the bell scroll who uttered this sentence tore off his clothes and jumped into the sea desperately.

He wanted to save the child. Even before I die......

Just like the compassion of the Buddha, or it may be God's mercy on him, in the wave after wave, holding the crying baby, the bell scroll fasted step by step, and walked ashore.

After placing the weeping children in the stone pile, Kanamaki decided to bury the other two dead adults, and the cemetery was chosen in the nearby woods, because they did not know their names, and the earthen bags that did not even have a tombstone became their final destination.

Facing the gradually brighter sunlight, the naked bell scroll returned to the baby, who was so weak compared to the stone that kept him from the sea breeze.

Zhong Juan stretched out his calloused hand tremblingly and picked up the crying baby.

"Hey, stop crying, Kojiro. ”

"I want to cry. ”

"Good, good, you must be very uncomfortable, you must be very lonely. ”

Holding the child high above his head, Zhong Juan Zizhai suddenly realized how long ago he had used these hands to hold people.

No...... Have you ever hugged someone in your life?

I've just been holding the sword for so far, and if the sword is broken, it's all over.

"Just survive...... A little longer......"

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It is difficult to raise a child alone, and the man who has lived so far by pursuing only kendo is desperately, desperately, desperately raising it.

How many times have I suffered setbacks, I have thought about giving up. But every time he was saved. In the case of help, he is also desperately raising him.

Fortunately, Kojiro is really growing. In addition to being deaf and mute, Kojiro, who is already six years old, is a healthier child than anyone else.

After returning from farming, he began to teach Kojiro to read and write in a dilapidated hut. It's harder than raising him, because no matter what he says or writes. Six-year-old Kojiro can only make a "ah, ah, ah" sound.

If...... One day, I died. What are you going to do, Kojiro, how are you going to live alone in this world......

Seeing that his body was aging day by day, Zhong Juan had to start worrying about these complex issues. Like a flickering candle flame and a starlight in the sky. Maybe the night hasn't even passed, and I've already reached the moment of burning out, but the stars are still shining.

Outside the house, there was a sudden rustling sound, and the alert Zhongjuan picked up his sword at the foot of the wall, he was old enough to be brave enough to be armed with a weapon.

Summer nights, years of war, in addition to the terrible refugees lurking, the beasts in the mountains are also one of the dangers.

"Who, who's there?!" come out!!" Tightening his weapon, the bell rolled out of the weeds and shouted.

The figure that came out of it startled him. A child who looks as big as Kojiro, but with a long sword at his waist.

"Little ghost, how can you be here alone in the middle of the night, your family?" the bell scroll laid down his weapon and did not rashly approach this strange child.

"Uncle, where is this?" The little imp with strange white hair also kept a vigilant distance.

Is it separated from the family?Jongmaki grabbed his hair in distress, and before he could answer, Kojiro, who ran out of the house, was already excited to come to the other party.

I don't know when it began, Kojiro has a special affection for everyone with a long sword on his body, and it's too late to say anything about it.

"Hey, you little ghost, don't touch my autumn knife casually!"

"Ahh!!h

"What do you mean, don't touch him, Red Lotus, bite him!"

"Wow. ”

Looking at the two children playing together in the distance, the bell scroll that looked up at the starlight was silent, and for some reason it was silent.

Forget it, it shouldn't be a suspicious guy. Let this kid stay here tonight.