Birds are chirping, but there are not many species and numbers; The leaves still hang on the branches, but they are all yellow and scattered; But there are still plenty of wild things, and from time to time a rabbit will scurry through the grass, or a pheasant will cooing and fly out of the thorn bush.

"Yes!" I flicked the head of the "golden" horse and turned away from the top of the hill towards a valley. From time to time, a dozen or twenty samurai dressed in light clothes and horseback appeared around him, and the polite greetings to each other were obviously not all the way.

Hunting near Owari was no stranger to me, and when I first came to this world, I used to hang out with Shinhachiro a lot, but at that time I was mainly trying to relieve boredom and eat mixed rice. It was a really good time, relaxed, enjoyable, and without psychological burden.

At the beginning of the samurai, there was no such leisure, and at that stage I was always running around and busy, because there were not many opportunities to go directly to the battlefield with low martial arts, so I could only compensate for it with my usual efforts. However, after the first crusade against Ise, the opportunities to accompany Oda Nobunaga to hunt gradually increased, but at that time, most of his thoughts were no longer on the prey.

In any case, there was no danger of hunting in the nearby mountains, and there was a sense of intimacy with every plant and tree, but somehow I suddenly missed Oda Nobunaga, and it seemed that the slightly thrilling vitality that had gradually disappeared within the Oda family after his death. A living person suddenly becomes a remembered person, and even his enemies will feel a little emotional! The valley I'm going to today is a great place to remember, it's on the border between Owari and Mino, and it's there that Oda Nobunaga and I hunted when Ashikaga Yoshiaki's messenger sent a message for help.

I walked along, occasionally shooting a few arrows, but the results were not satisfactory, except for a pheasant that seemed a little silly and was unlucky. Fortunately, the guards around me are quite skilled, and there is a Shinhachiro who is not a fool of arrows, which makes our results on the horse look better, otherwise it would be too embarrassing.

As we walked through the mountains, we soon approached the middle of the valley, and the brook rattled beside us, and in the distance there appeared a hut made of thatch and planks, in which there were shadows of swaying figures.

The Cheongju Conference was held the day after tomorrow, but because of the large number of people, it required a preparatory process. In order to plan and discuss in advance, Niwa Nagahide invited some people to hunt in the mountain so that they could talk in a relaxed and pleasant environment.

Those who were invited all gladly accepted, and the preparation was very thorough. In fact, it is clear to everyone that the formal meeting is just a formality, and everything will be decided in this discussion. After all, everyone is a "noble" and "decent" person, and hoarseness and vicious quarrels are not suitable for being exposed to the public.

"It turned out to be His Royal Highness Yuchai, you arrived so early!" When I saw the "monkey" sitting in the hut, I greeted him with a smile. It seemed that he had been here for a while, and around him were Fukushima Masanori, Kato Kiyomasa, and 20 attendants.

"Just came, just came, how did His Highness the Stars harvest!" I was thinking about something that I didn't notice that my "monkey" came out immediately, probably because of Yamauchi Kazutoyo's words, his face was full of smiles and joy.

"I really wanted to spend more effort to fight for it, but in the end I got up late!" I motioned for Shinhachiro to stay outside, and I went into the hut with him. "Just think about it, what else can I do in front of a master like you and His Highness Shibata? I wasn't much interested in the beasts and the odd prey, so it was enough to entertain myself by hunting a few pheasants and rabbits! ”

"It is said that the lord once received your words of 'hunting in the world' before his death, and then the Oda family hegemony came to fruition!" Because of the smile, Hideyoshi Hashiba narrowed his big round eyes, but there was some light in them that was flickering and jumping. "It can be seen that His Highness Zhuxing has a lot of experience in hunting, and his knowledge and courage are far beyond those of us laymen. It's the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, and the birds and beasts are fat and have no branches and leaves to hide, don't you want to give it a try? ”

"Thief monkey!" I gritted my teeth and cursed bitterly in my heart, and connected with his ancestors for eight generations. This guy's suspicion is too heavy, and he will never let go of the opportunity to test others.

I thought the news of leaving would have been released a long time ago, but at first not many people believed it, and it wasn't until the return of the Takenaka Hanbei squad to Shikoku that people gradually accepted this reality in disbelief. Whether it is the praise of the "saint" or the ridicule of the "fool", it seems to loosen a rope for those who are "ambitious". I could hear the sound of sharpening knives in my ears, and maybe the last moment was coming!

However, "Monkey" and his military adviser were cautious, and even transferred some troops from the front line in order to prevent me. For him, with a blazing flame burning in his heart, this was really a painful ordeal. But I also had a plan, and after this meeting, he was completely "relieved"!

"You always know how long your hands are and how big your mouth is, so why push yourself so hard!" I pretended not to understand what he meant, looked left and right, and asked, "Where is His Highness Niwa?" ”

"Oh...... I was still here just now, and it seems that there are some things ahead of me to deal with! "My remarks added to his doubts, and he didn't intend to change the subject." Your Highness, the falcon you gave me is truly the best in the world, and I really can't find a decent hound to match it. According to my guess, if you equip the hunting team with such a divine object, you must already be invincible in the world, can you really bear to let them die of old age and useless heroes? ”

"The eagle strikes the sky and the fish soars to the shallow bottom, although everything in the world does have its own skills, but it also has its own fate!" I laughed noncommittal, I couldn't get him an answer so quickly. "I know the blessings of my life, but I can't fight for it. In the case of this hunting, wouldn't it be nice for me to collect some birds and beasts that I bumped into along the way? If your heart is not strong enough to be extravagant, and you lose yourself in this mountain forest, maybe you won't get anything! I'm such a non-motivated person, so let's take a look at your takeaways first! ”

"Oh, this ...... Integrity! Although I was scratching my heart in my heart, the "monkey" could not pull my collar to pick out the words. So he had to call in Kiyomasa Kato, who was chatting outside, and he didn't know what he was thinking there.

"Yes!" Kiyomasa Kato said yes outside, and turned around to find something in the saddle.

The hut was so simple that there was no barrier inside and out, and everything could be seen clearly through the railings made of wooden sticks. Their prey was also hung in the saddle, and I looked at it and saw that they were all the same, except for a little boar of twenty or thirty pounds more than me, and I knew not what to boast about.

"Your Highness the Stars, look at this, we just hit it!" Kiyomasa Kato found what he was looking for, walked in and put a long "white ribbon" in front of me. I took a closer look, and it turned out to be a big snake.

The snake is indeed very large, at least two and a half meters long in length, and the thickest part of its body is the thickness of the mouth of a teacup. The snake appears to be a non-venomous snake, with pale cyan patterns on its white skin. It's strange that the snake hasn't hibernated until this point, but that's about it.

"Quite a prey indeed!" I nodded and complimented casually. This snake is indeed very rare, at least I have never seen such a big snake, but after all, it is just a cauliflower snake, nothing remarkable.

"Really?!" didn't want me to say this, but Kato Kiyomasa became excited, and hurriedly asked me for advice: "It is said that your Highness Zhuxing is well-informed, so please advise and advise the juniors!" ”

"Oh......" I was stunned by his question, how do I know what the reason is for a kind remark in passing? However, when I saw the "monkey" next to me thinking thoughtfully about my own business, I suddenly came up with an idea. "It can be seen that you boys don't usually pay attention to reading, and you don't even know such a famous allusion!" I couldn't help but laugh and put on my face.

"This ......" Kiyomasa Kato was a little hairy at what I said, blinking his eyes there at a loss.

"What the hell is going on?" The attention of the "monkey" was also attracted.

"What's the matter, Your Highness Yuchai actually has a time when you think you can't do it?" At this time, Shibata Katsuya happened to dismount outside, and happened to hear the last sentence. "This is really a memorable day, His Royal Highness Yuchai finally bowed his head and retreated!"

"I have always admired His Highness Zhuxing's extensive knowledge, and I don't feel ashamed to ask him for advice!" "Monkey" replied with a smile.

"Humph!" Shibata Katsuie snorted heavily with a dark face.

"Actually, it's nothing, we're talking about the prey of His Highness Yuchai!" I smiled and pointed to the floor.

"It's just a dead snake, what's the big deal!" Shibata Katsuya pouted haughtily and showed great disdain. I followed his gaze and saw that the horse of his attendant was carrying a black bear that was not much bigger than a wolfdog, but it was rare to see in the Thick Tail area.

"That's not what I said!" I shook my head solemnly, Shibata Katsuya had come at a good time. "White and unusually large prey has been an extremely auspicious sign since ancient times, and it may not be seen once in a hundred years!" Seeing that their attention was focused, I continued: "Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty of China encountered an extremely large white snake at the beginning of his army. When Kiyomori Seokuni was young, he went to visit the ship of Ise Jingu, and there was also a record of a white fish jumping into the cabin. It can be seen that this is something given by God to the male master, and it is not easy to obtain! ”

"This useless prey, what's so rare!" Although Shibata Katsuya said this, the muscles in his left cheek jumped and jumped.

"Snake gall bladder is originally the best quality for nourishing the liver, not to mention that this snake is afraid that it will be more than ten years!" As I said this, I turned to the momentarily confused "monkey" and patted him on the shoulder. "However, according to the record of the deeds of the Qing Sheng Xiangguo, such a 'divine gift' should be used in its entirety, don't you want to try it?"