Changguang stood quietly on the hard, dusty stone slabs.

The edge of the slab was outlined with fractured cracks, but it was not sharp. It has long been sharpened by the flow of chariots, horses and people, and after countless years of wind, frost, rain and snow, time has already polished him rough and round.

It's a weathered slate. It has been lying on the ground of Kyoto for hundreds of years as part of the road. It has witnessed the flow of people for countless generations, and countless people have stepped on it. Those people are either honorable families or down-and-out wandering samurai.

But hundreds of years later, those people are gone, only this stone slab still lies quietly here, lying on this inconspicuous ground, inconspicuous alleys, inconspicuous corners.

Such stone slabs are everywhere in Kyoto.

After the third shogunate of Shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu stabilized the government, Kyoto was ordered to be renovated on a large scale, and it was at that time that the stone slabs were chiseled off by mountain stone craftsmen on the stone mountains of remote Nara, ground into regular shapes, and then pulled down Kyoto by horse-drawn carriages for thousands of miles, and laid on the ground of Kyoto, adding the most extravagant touch to this glorious castle - the pavement made of stone.

Today, these stone slabs have contributed indestructibly to Kyoto, allowing carriages to pass faster, soldiers to move faster, and Kyoto's delicate aristocrats not to worry about mud staining their luxurious clothes when they go out.

Changguang walked softly.

The white feet with thick clogs stepped lightly on the stone slab, but they still made a very clear sound.

Click...

Click...

She walked forward with a calm expression, the brass pendants and wide robes on her body swaying slightly as her body swayed, colliding with a crisp jingle of bells.

She walked slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, and her eyes wandered among the high walls and tiles of the pavilions and pavilions of the imperial capital. In this cold January, she is like a noble daughter who has secretly escaped from home, carrying her daughter's reserve through the summer market and wandering among the people.

Obviously curious about everything, his eyes can't help but wander left and right, but he is trapped in the pride of the noble daughter and does not want to stop to take a good look, but after missing it, he will be fiercely annoyed in his heart for a long time.

After a long time, she finally withdrew her gaze and took everything in her eyes. The afterglow in her eyes still contained the color of the cold winter imperial capital, but she closed her eyes deeply, as if she wanted to lock everything she saw in her eyes.

She opened her eyes, exhaled softly, and looked at the mansion in front of her.

The tall courtyard walls with white walls and black tiles and the door plaques painted all black. The colors are monotonous and boring. The whole courtyard is like a blank and unbearable independent world, but this world is inhabited by people who control the power of the world.

However, now the room is vacant.

Because the person who controls the power of the world can't withstand the passage of time after all, and collapses.

In front of the house, Nagamitsu saw a samurai with his back to her.

The warrior was dressed in black armor and wore a golden half-moon standing on his head. The leather placket is tied with two katanas, one long and one short.

It was as if the samurai had completely blended into the world. Here he stood, landing, the wall, the tile, the room, and the candlelight on the windowsill, and the scattered wind and snow, and the dim daylight, all became part of his back.

It's like he's been standing here for a long, long time, and he's already integrated into this world.

"You know I'm coming today." Changguang said lightly.

It's obviously a questioning word, but she said it as if she was telling something very ordinary.

"I don't know." The samurai replied.

But his voice and body are the exact opposite.

Such a voice is extremely old, and even has the hoarseness that only old people have.

He sighed softly and turned slowly. He had a red ghost on his face. This mask looks very ordinary and doesn't seem to have anything special about it. If it appears in the general population, no one knows what is strange about it.

But if a person wearing such a mask appeared in the Imperial camp, it would directly blow up the nerves of the entire country. The whole city will be under martial law, and the davito's apartments will be fully guarded.

Its source is a mysterious team called: "Oni Warriors".

People who have not heard of his existence can only represent those who are not qualified enough. Anyone who hasn't seen this mask means she hasn't been hated yet. And those who have seen this mask have already had their throats cut off.

They are more mysterious samurai than ninjas.

It stands to reason that such a stop should have been eliminated long ago, but they have kept themselves well hidden, because they are subordinate to one of the most powerful men, the shogun of the shogunate.

Now, this ghost warrior is standing here, in front of the general's mansion, dressed in the costume of a ghost warrior.

"Now yours is really ugly." Changguang said lightly.

"Of course it's ugly. Because I'm old. The Oni Warrior replied in the same calm tone.

"The armor of the ghost warrior is worn to kill. You wore it to meet me today, did you want to kill me? ”

"No, I'm not waiting for you. I didn't even know you were going to be here today... I'm just, every day I'm going to be here for a while, every day. The Oni Warrior bowed his head. He walked slowly towards Changguang, very slowly, very carefully, as if he was afraid of something, afraid of what would be alarmed.

"Why are you so careful? Ashikaga Shogun has just passed away, and you are now the most powerful person in all of Kyoto. What you want to do, no one can stop you. ”

When the ghost warrior heard this, his body trembled violently. Then, he retreated little by little, away from Changguang little by little.

"Including... Got you. The ghost warrior said faintly.

Changguang looked at him calmly. He just watched calmly, without answering or making any movements.

"That's nice... After all these years, everything has changed. The house has changed, the furniture has changed, the weapons have changed, the family has changed, the servants have changed, even the Lord has changed, but you are still the same as before, not the same at all. You're still so young, you're still so beautiful, you're still so beautiful. Time stands still in you, keeping you in the most beautiful moment forever, but—" The Oni Warrior paused abruptly. After a long time, he let out a long sigh and said calmly, "But I'm old." ”

Changguang didn't speak, just listened quietly to his narration, quietly listened to him pour out.

"Changguang... Changguang... If, if I could be forty years younger... I think I will, I'll do it. But I'm getting old, and I'm even an adult with my grandchildren. Old... I don't have the courage to pursue you, I don't have the qualifications to touch you. Now I'm hungry when I touch you, it's blasphemy... You are the flower that never withers, and I am a ghost who hides in the shadows. ”

"Is that so?" Changguang's expression was flat, "But you chose this path after all, and you went farther and farther." ”

"Yes, far away, I can't find a trace of you anymore."

"You already have your own way, why do you have to look back at the flowers that pass by."

"It's so beautiful, if I had to forget, I can't do it. Although I know that flowers and ghosts are different after all. ”

"Then why did you want me back?"

"I—" The ghost warrior was suddenly speechless.

"I've been looking for you for twenty years... I never expected to be able to actually find you, knowing that today, you suddenly appeared behind my back..."

"You have spent twenty years and succeeded in letting everyone know that the daughter of the Iseshu family, the knife worker, is a cursed person. There is no place for me in the great kingdom of the sun. ”

"I'm sorry... I..."

"Now, I'm here as you wish. Isn't it ironic that your family drove me out of Kyoto at first, and now you've brought me back? ”

"Changguang, I don't want to argue with you anymore. I have atoned for your sins for fifty years for your wrongs. I'm old and don't have another fifty years. ”

"Anything else to say. If not, I'm leaving. ”

"Leave? Where to go? The Oni Warrior looked a little panicked.

"Recently I met an interesting child. He doesn't like to talk, but his mind is delicate and sensitive. He values his things, whatever they are, and if they are going to be robbed, he will kill for them. But he is also a kind-hearted person, and after killing someone, he will be afraid of himself for a long time, afraid that he will do something wrong. He has a blank sheet of paper that has not yet been in the world, so clean that people can't help but want to scratch some traces of himself, but he is strong and does not look like a child like that kind of blank paper at all. He's smart and can learn a lot in one day, but he's stupid, and he can't figure out some very simple truths. Changguang couldn't help but smile when he talked about this person.

The ghost warrior looked at Changguang in silence.

"Can I know who he is?"

"One, a child who resembles you before." The Oni Warrior was silent.

After a long moment, he seemed to smile.

But the voice was so small, like an illusion.

"I'm going to kill someone."

Changguang did not answer.

"This time, it may be my last mission."

Changguang still didn't respond to him.

"I was going to be here, to continue to look at this intersection for a while, to look at this corner for a while. Look at the path you took when you left fifty years ago. Looking forward to, longing, praying, when you will be able to appear at this intersection again as you walked. But... I didn't expect that at the end, when I didn't expect it, you actually appeared. I didn't expect that I had been looking in the wrong direction for so many years. He laughed miserably.

"The path is your choice, and the direction is your own search. If it's already been decided, why regret it now. Either way, you've been on this path for a lifetime. ”

“... Oh, yes... I've been gone all my life, so why regret it. He raised his hand and patted the snow off his body.

"I'm leaving."

“.... Well. After waiting for a long time, Changguang responded.

The Oni Warrior raised his head and looked at the sky.

"The gray sky is really like a thoroughfare to the other side of the Yellow Spring. Dark clouds grew like rock walls, and cold snow fell from the darkness. It's some... Some—" His form vanished suddenly.

Changguang's eyes widened slightly. There seemed to be a look of astonishment and disbelief in her eyes, but she finally closed her eyes and locked all the expressions in her eyes.

The Oni Warrior hugged her tightly.

He hugged it so tightly and so hard, as if he was afraid that if he didn't work so hard, he would never be able to hold it again.

"I'm sorry, Changguang, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." he seemed to be sobbing, whimpering and saying apologies, but there was no trace of relaxation in his hands.

"I can't help but touch you after all, I can't help it after all... Want... Hug you..."

"I know that we can't be like when we were children anymore, the past is gone forever, we can never go back to that time, and I'm no longer qualified to touch you, but..."

"I'm sorry, I'm still selfish and hugged you. I used my fastest speed to hug you, I held you as fast as my brain couldn't react, because I was scared, once I reacted..."

He let go of Changguang and slowly stood up, "I'll let you go." ”

The Oni Warrior left. There was never a look back.

Changguang watched him slowly walk out of the avenue of the mansion, and as she had done many years ago, she disappeared around the corner when she left.

Changguang stood at the doorway of the hinterland, looking at the corner.

It's as if the Oni Warrior has been doing for more than fifty years, staring at that corner.

(End of chapter)