After bidding farewell to Imai Munehisa and Shimoma Yoriyo, Sasa Narumasa, Akechi Mitsuhide, and Sasaharu returned to Kyoto with 30 iron cannons and a lot of miscellaneous goods, such as convex lenses, pocket watches, table clocks, and the most comical violin. As for the irrigation, he will stay in Sakai Town for a few more days, on the one hand, to cooperate with Mitsuhide to collect information from the Chamber of Commerce, and on the other hand, to continue to maintain contact with Raphael and others.

The violin was given to Mitsuhide as a gift, but Mitsuhide kept sending Naimasa to the pier by Lake Biwa.

From here, cross Lake Biwa to Kita-Omi, and it's a day's journey to Echizen. From Echizen through Kaga and Echichu to back to Echigo, this is a route that has been planned for a long time.

Sasa Narumasa and Akechi Mitsuhide watched on the pier for a long time, and there was no suitable ferry, which was a bit of a pain.

At this time, a boat came from the lake, and a young boatman shouted to greet the guests.

"Do you want a ferry?"

The young boatman nodded and asked cautiously.

Sasa Narumasa looked the boatman up and down, and found that he was tall and strong, powerful and powerful, and a rough face was ugly, but full of loyalty.

If such a person was born in a samurai family, he might be able to become a famous warrior, right?

Sasa Narumasa thought so in his heart, and he had a good impression of this boatman.

"Just this boat."

Cheng Zheng made the final decision, because he looked at the ship was indeed relatively large, and there was no problem with at least three people and one horse.

"Not enough...... The boat is still not big enough. ”

Guoxin frowned, and pulled Cheng Zheng's sleeve behind him, Cheng Zheng was slightly stunned, and looked the boatman up and down again, only then did he turn back with a puzzled expression.

"There is no bigger ship! It's better not to hire a boat to send horses. ”

After exchanging glances with Guoxin, Sasa Narimasa found that his guess was not wrong.

The boatman usually has a lot of strength, which is normal, but in the case of the boatman, the boatman is a little too strong.

To put it simply, there is pubic X hair.

"No problem! There was a little acquaintance on the dock, and the little man called one. ”

The boatman nodded flatteringly to Chengzheng, turned around and shouted twice, and a slightly smaller ferry boat rocked over.

In this way, one boat loaded with 3 horses, and the other boat loaded with 3 people and two large boxes, set off from the south bank of Lake Biwa.

Sasa Naimasa stood at the stern of the boat, and when he saw Akechi Mitsuhide on the shore, he waved for a long time, and stood there until he couldn't see her.

In the evening of the same day, Sasa sat on top of the two cargo boxes and revealed some information to the boatman...... And made the idea of accepting the other party as a retainer, and the benefit was to give the other party the status of a samurai.

As Sasa had expected, the young boatman politely rejected him and apologized to him.

Cheng Zheng didn't force it, he smiled and revealed.

After nightfall, Sasa Narumasa was still sitting in the stern of the boat, thinking, he took out the Patek Philippe, which had rotten straps and only the metal body remained, and stared at the turning second hand in a daze by the moonlight and the color of the water.

Even if it hasn't been turned for a decade...... But once the momentum was restored, the watch returned to being an incomparably precise timepiece.

It's weird.

The quality of this watch is not surprising, because there is no doubt that its brand, Patek Philippe, must be a masterpiece.

It's strange why this watch appeared.

His crossing is not a physical crossing, but a soul piercing...... Like Guangxiu, it's all soul wearing.

Since it is a soul piercing, it will not bring the physical body or other accessories.

So...... What the hell is this watch?

Maybe...... Is it a clue?

Maybe Chengzheng's guess was right, he comforted himself like this.

- But isolated clues don't do much.

The young boatman was still rocking, and the ferry boat moved slowly on the mirror-like surface of the lake, forming two shallow ripples as it broke the current, gradually disappearing from view.

Cheng Zheng shook his head, got into the small cabin and lay down.

This boat should be considered a small morning boat, with a narrow hull, low resistance, and correspondingly, little space in the cabin - only enough for three people to lie side by side.

Sasaharu didn't have a good impression of Guoxin, a female ninja of the Southern Barbarians, so the two of them each occupied one side, leaving Seimasa in the middle.

…… Ouch, look at this posture, how do you pronounce the word "women and women", right?

With such a high-level benefit, Cheng Zheng should have been excited, but when he thought that Guoxin was just a contract worker and not a real retainer, Sazuo Cheng Zheng lay down with Ah Chun very sensibly.

The consequences of molesting Sister Guoxin are very serious, and Sazuo Chengzheng knows that he will definitely be retaliated by the most immortal death...... Relatively speaking, give her the back, this woman can get along as a trustworthy partner, and for the past six months, the two of them have been like that.

It only took Sasa Narumasa a to get from Sakai Port to Lake Biwa, which was a fast journey, so he was a little tired and fell asleep soon after lying down.

It is said that women turn over about 13 times a night in their sleep, while men turn over about 14 times a night.

In other words, Sazuo Chengzheng and Guoxin originally slept back to back, both of them turned over and turned over, and then Sazuo Chengzheng took a beat faster, turned it one more time, and turned his back to Guoxin, with his back to Ah Chun.

Subconsciously, he still thought that the woman in front of him was his concubine, and Sasa Seimasa put his arm on the other party's chest......

In the darkness, Sister Guoxin opened her eyes suddenly, and was about to give an elbow blow to the pervert behind her...... But thinking of something, the movement hesitated, she cautiously turned her head to look at Zuo Zuo Chengzheng's natural sleeping appearance, and finally did not take Chengzheng's hand away, but sighed faintly.

…… Perhaps, she was wrong before?

Maybe...... Toki Raiji wasn't the person she needed.

The person who can avenge her, the person who can help him free himself from the curse of revenge, may only be Sasa Narumasa.

Feeling the lightness of the ship, Guoxin immediately jumped out of meditation...... She listened intently and noticed that the sound of the swaying oars had stopped.

Guoxin grabbed Zuo Chengzheng's hand, turned around and patted Chengzheng's cheek.

“……？”

Before Cheng Zheng could make a sound, he was covered by Guoxin.

"Do you know the name of this boatman?"

Guoxin stared at Sasa Chengzheng with a smile, but his mouth did not open.

"Sanada Hachiro! He told me. ”

Sister Guoxin stretched out a finger and shook it in front of Chengzheng's nose.

"That's just my real name...... This guy's current name is ...... Stone - River - Five - Right - Guard - Gate! ”

Hearing this name, Sasa Chengzheng's eyes suddenly widened.

Guoxin put her finger on Chengzheng's lips, and then quietly got out of the cabin like a cat, and there was a faint sound of water outside, thinking that she had jumped into the lake?

Only then did Narumasa look up at the stern of the boat, and the young boatman, Ishikawa Goemon, had disappeared at some point!

Getting up and getting out of the cabin, Sasa Narumasa was shocked to find that his two wooden boxes were gone!

It was dark in sight, but the boat stopped moving forward and began to spin in place!