CHAPTER XXXI

The light in the cellar was still a little too dim, and after confirming that the things below were indeed those recorded on the parchment, Yoshida Matsuyo pulled Ao Ling back outside, and waited for half the night before he got some dead branches and leaves from the side, made them into torches, and walked in.

The musty smell in the cellar faded considerably.

Ao Ling followed behind Yoshida Matsuyo with a torch and looked around.

He found that the things on display here were not as shabby as he imagined, on the contrary, probably because of the material, they looked like they were simply dusted, and there were very few traces of rust.

"These ...... What is the teacher going to do with it? Ao Ling walked to the knife holder and looked at the neat rows of sharp knives, which had also fallen to ashes, and the scabbard was placed next to it, and it was not put on. The naked blade shows its sharpness in the most straightforward posture.

The torches flickered, and the cold light reflected off the blade.

"Actually, I wanted to try to subvert the country." Yoshida Matsuyo glanced at Ao Ling's gaze, but the words he said made Ao Ling look sideways, "But then I found that cultivating students and changing this country from the most fundamental place seems to be a little more fulfilling." ”

Ao Ling didn't react much to such a statement, and he couldn't understand how frightening Yoshida's idea of subverting the country was.

For him, it is more important to subvert the country or not, and not even care about the purpose of Yoshida Matsuyo's coming here.

"Mr. Songyang, do you want to find a suitable knife for them here?" Ao Ling returned to Yoshida Songyang and looked up at the division commander, the torch in his hand burning, illuminating a small piece of the world, allowing him to see the entire cellar clearly.

Yoshida Matsuyo nodded, "Although Takasugi's birthday has passed, when the samurai of the Takasugi family came the day before yesterday, he specially told me about Takasugi's interest. ”

Ao Ling was stunned for a moment and looked up at Yoshida Songyang.

"That's it...... This one. Yoshida Matsuyo pulled out what looked like a musical instrument from a pile of various weapons, and casually hooked the strings with his hand, making a dissonant sound, "Shamisen." ”

"For Shinsuke?" Ao Ling looked at the instrument that had accumulated a layer of dust, and Yoshida Matsuyo was carefully wiping it clean.

"In addition to that, there are knives." Yoshida Matsuyo finished wiping the shamisen and looked around at the various knife holders, "A knife is a knife if it sees blood, and if you want to achieve knife skills, you must also see blood, and you can make more progress than learning from each other in the yard or going to a place where you really face life and death." ”

So, they need a real knife, a knife capable of slashing enemies.

Ao Ling looked at the jet-black knife that had been given to him hanging from Yoshida Songyang's waist, "What about this knife?" Did the teacher give it to me because it was special? ”

Yoshida Matsuyo, who was walking to a knife holder and taking a closer look at it, was stunned when he heard this, then squinted and laughed, "It's really special, in terms of material, it's not a product of the earth, it has a very special feeling - and you should have noticed that it can drink blood." ”

Ao Ling nodded, he did notice it, so he felt that this knife was special.

Yoshida Matsuyo looked at the knife in his hand, took off its matching scabbard, and chose one.

"Actually, it's quite close to you, and it just so happens that you're not a very normal being, and your talent and strength are very strong, so ......" Yoshida Matsuyo stuffed the shamisen and the knife into Ao Ling's arms, "So I think you might be able to fulfill my wish with it." ”

Ao Ling held the shamisen and the knife, as well as a lot of various shamisen picks, and looked at Yoshida Matsuyo blankly, "Your wish?" ”

"Yes."

Yoshida Matsuyo's wish is that his disciple can use this knife to cut off his endless and hopeless life with his own hands.

Yoshida Songyang held the torch and did not continue the topic, but said, "Ling, what I told you earlier today, I hope you can think about it again. ”

“…… It's about leaving Earth and going to the wider universe. ”

Ao Ling was still immersed in the doubt of "Teacher Songyang's wish" and didn't come back to his senses, he was a little slow to react, and he just looked at Yoshida Songyang in a daze for a while.

Yoshida Matsuyo took another knife from another knife holder, put it in the palm of his hand, and then turned his head to look at Ao Ling, "You are not human, Ling, you should not be bound by human fetters and emotions. ”

The implication is that he should not have too much attachment and expectation for human beings.

Human life is too short and gorgeous, and after the death of the beloved human, the only thing that awaits the melancholy in the old place is the monster abandoned by time.

Yoshida Matsuyo himself was deeply touched by this.

"But you told me before, Teacher, that Yinshi's emotions are exactly what I am inferior to him......"

"But I didn't ask you to correct this, Ling, you're different, you're a monster." Yoshida Matsuyo put the knife in his hand back into his home, and the smile on his face gradually became shallow, "You want to accompany us, but what about after we die?" Have you ever thought about what will happen to you when we die? ”

"With your appetite and your need for flesh and blood full of power, you will only stay on Earth forever in your infancy." Yoshida Matsuyo said his words very frankly, "When we die, you have no one to shelter, no one to rely on, no one to accompany you, and even continuing to eat and grow may become a big problem." ”

Ao Ling felt that his thoughts all along were shaken by Yoshida Matsuyo's words, but it was not the words about food and power that shook him, but the subject used by Yoshida Matsuyo.

- He always uses "we" as a proxy for himself.

"Mr. Songyang, do you mean that you will die?" When Ao Ling said these words, his tone was extremely slow, "The teacher has always acted like a human being, even if you know that you are not, but you have always lived like a human being. ”

This is also the reason why Ao Ling's fear and vigilance from the beginning suddenly became receptive to Yoshida Matsuyo, and he could see in Yoshida Matsuyo that he was always troubled by some unfounded thoughts—such as being a youkai, and always thinking that he should be a human—similar to such thoughts.

"You think you should be like a human, so do you want to die like a human too?"

Ao Ling clearly realized from Ao Yan that such an idea is not advisable at all, but Yoshida Matsuyo has done it, and he never feels that there is anything wrong with this.

"I'm going to die, Ling." Yoshida Matsuyo sighed, half-squatted down and rubbed Ao Ling's head, hooked Ao Ling's ears in the opposite direction one by one, and watched the little monster's ears shake under his movements.

Yoshida Matsuyo was silent for a long time before he made up his mind to tell the truth: "My body can no longer bear such power. ”

Ao Ling opened his mouth and looked at Yoshida Songyang with wide eyes, the truth came so suddenly that he couldn't react.

"When I wake up after I die, I won't be the person I am now." Yoshida Matsuyo sighed, straightened up and withdrew the hand that fell on Ao Ling's head, and continued to pick out the knife for the students.

Ao Ling hugged the things in his arms tightly, looked at Yoshida Songyang's generous back, and only felt that the whole person seemed to be drenched in a basin of ice water on his head, and his whole body was cold, wet, and at a loss.

"What's ...... Solution? Ao Ling stumbled and said, "I, I ......"

"Method...... Maybe it will be useful to beg the gods. Yoshida Matsuyo smiled as before, he had already accepted such a result, and when he looked back and saw that Ao Ling really believed it, he almost didn't ask how to find the appearance of the god, and couldn't help but show a helpless look, "Lie to you." ”

Ao Ling stared at him silently.

"There may be a way, but I don't have much time, and my body can't support flying between planets." Yoshida Matsuyo picked out another knife, "But Ling, your hometown should have this method - a way to keep me from being eroded by hundreds of years of memory and becoming a different person." ”

Ao Ling, who had only been in the Yellow Sea for two months, looked confused.

As soon as Yoshida Matsuyo saw his expression, he knew that there was no play.

"You don't have to worry too much." Yoshida Matsuyo looked very open, and he took care of himself and stuffed the knife he had just picked into Ao Ling's arms again, "In this world, no one can accompany anyone all the time, even if it is a partner who truly loves each other, it will be blocked by life and death and reality." ”

"That'...... What about the teacher's wishes? Ao Ling felt that since he couldn't keep Yoshida Matsuyo like this all the time, it would be excellent to be able to fulfill his wish after Yoshida Matsuyo disappeared.

"My own desires...... In fact, it is possible to truly experience birth, old age, sickness and death as a human being, and live a good life. Yoshida Matsuyo said, pausing slightly, and then let out a long sigh, "But the best thing to say is to be able to end endless life." ”

Ao Ling didn't know how to talk for a while, and his cognition of Yoshida Songyang's wish definitely did not include the matter of killing the other party with his own hands.

"Ling, if you can, the teacher hopes you can kill ......"

"I choose to work hard to fulfill your first wish." Ao Ling looked at Yoshida Songyang seriously, and said word by word: "I will find a way, I will leave the earth." ”

Yoshida Songyang turned his head to look at Ao Ling for a while, and after a while, he showed a bright smile, "Okay, the teacher will try to drag out the time as long as possible, waiting for you." ”

In the end, Yoshida Matsuyo picked all the knives and didn't say anything else.

- When he cultivated Sakata Gin, who has endless potential and talent, he actually wanted to end hundreds of years of endless loneliness.

He has been lonely for too long, and he has experienced too much pain, so much that he doesn't even want to look forward to the company of Ao Ling, who also has a long life.

Instead of expecting the promised company, it is better to look forward to the huge energy that he can burst out for the goal in a short period of time.

- Humans often refer to it as a miracle.

Yoshida Songyang picked out a spare knife for himself, and with a smile on his face, he led Ao Ling back to the courtyard perched on the cliff by the sea.

The sun slowly rose behind him, and his broad back still looked extremely brilliant against the light.

Yoshida Matsuyo opened the room where the three imps were resting, and faced the three sleepy-eyed imps rubbing their eyes, and handed them the three knives respectively.

"I should have given you when you stayed in a private school, so I'll make it up now." Yoshida Matsuyo looked at the three little ghosts who woke up in an instant, and added with a gentle smile: "It's a late apprenticeship." ”

"And." Yoshida Matsuyo waved his hand at Ao Ling, who was hanging his head outside and was not in a good mood, and vigorously rubbed the little monster's head, taking out the cleanly wiped shamisen in his arms, as well as a large number of various picks.

"The teacher didn't know anything about musical instruments, so he took one of all sorts." He handed the shamisen and plectrum to Shinsuke Takasugi, "Do you want to play it now?" ”

In a short time, the sound of shamisen music flowed throughout the courtyard.

Ao Ling sat outside the door, listened to the sound of musical instruments coming from the room, lowered his eyes, and hugged the knife in his arms without saying a word.