Aoki couldn't drink and frowned, but Higu didn't care, and he patiently listened to his old friend tell about his past experiences.

"You know, my ancestors all died of the same disease, and I got sick not long after I started going out on my own, and my condition got worse day by day, and that was a curse, hehe."

"I know that, your body."

"At the beginning, it was just a little inconvenient to move, and there was no big problem, so I still have an obsession with casting knives, hehe, born with a surname like Aoki, how can I not have an obsession with it, in short, I want to recruit a helper."

"So, that little girl is the apprentice you found later?" Bigu asked.

"Apprentice?! Hmph, hahaha, apprentice? Ha, cough cough cough cough ......" Aoki smiled and began to cough, coughing up saliva with blinding blood.

"She's not an apprentice, she's sent to me by a ghost...... Poison. ”

……

……

At that time, Aoki was only in his thirties, but he had already suffered from an ancestral stubborn disease, and the initial symptoms were not obvious, Aoki could not let go of the hammer and iron tongs in his hand, let alone the forging knife skills given to him by his ancestors.

Legend has it that it is a supreme technique that can forge the sword of the same name, which is as sharp as the sword.

But his feet were not very dexterous, so Aoki wanted to buy a slave and come back to do it, but as soon as he went out, he saw a dirty little beggar lying at the door of his house, skinny as wood, wearing a tattered cloth coat, which did not have the slightest effect on keeping warm in the cold winter season.

"......" Aoki has no mercy, he is mean and eccentric by nature, and now that the world is in chaos, I don't know how many homeless street children there are, if he gives alms one by one, he Aoki will not be enough even if he has thousands of family wealth.

Ignoring the beggar girl who fell to the ground, Aoki walked towards the market, but only took two steps when the sound of rubbing behind him sounded, and his left ankle was hugged by the beggar.

Obviously she looks very thin, but her strength is incredible, she grabbed Aoki's feet, and Aoki couldn't move a single inch because of the disease on his feet.

"First...... Mr. ...... "His voice was faint and he stammered.

The man turned back impatiently, trying to get rid of the little ghost who came out of nowhere, but as soon as he turned around, he met the "little ghost's" gaze.

There is no emotion except longing, it is simply a look that only a newborn child can have, pure, eyes full of curiosity about something.

This made Aoki's scolding stuck in his throat.

Interest suddenly came from his heart, and he suddenly became interested in hearing what the little beggar would say.

“……”

She took out a messenger from her bosom, and when the blade was unsheathed, Aoki recognized it at a glance, it was a gift she had forged for a certain samurai, it was a proud work, sharpened iron like clay, a superior weapon.

And now, this helper is in the hands of this child.

"This ...... Be...... You ......" word by word, she said: "Send ...... To give...... Family...... Parent ......"

Father?

If the daughter born of the Shi clan had fallen to such a point, Aoki probably guessed what happened to him.

"Oh roar, because you were frightened too much, you became stuttering?"

"......" She let go of her left hand, which was grasping Aoki's ankle, and put her hands in a knife, before kneeling towards Aoki and falling to the snow.

"Eight...... Square...... Bell...... "Child" girl's name.

This look, the meaning that the girl wants to express is very obvious.

"You want to apprentice with me?"

Bafang was silent.

"Heh, I still want to come and eat."

Still silent.

"......" couldn't do much communication, the weather was cold, Aoki inexplicably began to feel tired, he picked up the knife in Hago's hand, knocked her on the head with the handle, and then grabbed her and took the girl back to his house.

Unexpectedly, after only half a step out, I found someone who could help with it.

"You can change your name, it's called Bafang Buzhu."

“……”

At that time, Happo was not Aoki's apprentice.

……

……

"So, you took her?" Bigu was curious.

"No, I decided to take her as an apprentice when I discovered her talent in forging, I have no children, and I am only one who can be considered an apprentice, if I am safe and sound, until I die, even if Bafang is a girl, I will let her inherit my name."

It turns out that Happo has such a place in Aoki's heart.

"But while she has a talent for blacksmithing, she also has an almost crazy desire for sharp blades."

She was not satisfied with using straw mats and using dry wood to test knives, she had extraordinary confidence in the tools she forged, Aoki didn't understand, he couldn't understand what the world was like in the eyes of the eight directions.

Could it be that the world in her eyes is a target that can be divided at will?

When they first met, Aoki was not mistaken, Happo just had a crazy thirst for sharp blades, and other than that, the kid didn't care about anything.

"After consulting the literature of the ancients who tried the knife on the human body, she became ready to move."

Aoki smiled wryly.

"I taught her the art of blacksmithing, but I never taught her how to behave! Hahahaha. ”

He shook the empty wine bottle, put it down, and was asked Aoki.

"So, after all these days of hesitation, you're finally going to come and beg me."

“……”

Aoki buried his head down, his brow furrowed, the hesitation in his heart all expressed on his face, and finally turned into a turbid breath, which was revealed with his usual sighs.

"Bigu, it's hard for me to ask you for anything in my life, kill Bafang for me, if you can do it, it's not difficult to forge a knife for your apprentice."

"Now, you can only forge farm tools, and the first time I see you again, I will know that the former Aoki is gone~"

Bigu got up.

"It's a good time to think about it, it's a good time to think about it."

The wind blew, the candle flame was swept away, and Kiyojuro Hiko had disappeared from Aoki's face.

"Good student...... Consider...... Ha, it's not like you, it's not like what Bigu would say. ”

If Happo dies, his Aoki family's ancestral skills will be cut off from now on.

……

……

Back in the village where Nanami was, Higu knocked Hachifang unconscious, then grabbed Nanami by the waist and put Happo on his shoulder, and when the villagers broke in, they found only the bodies of the woman and her child, and the rest was only the katana stuck in the ground.

"Master! Why are you here! ”

"No need to ask."

Bigu told Nanami.

"When you go back, you fight this kid again."

"What?"

"Fight her again." He said, "Cutting off the knife in this little imp's hand is your task. ”