"Ha, ha, ha, ······"

In the dense forest, a man in a samurai suit hastily walked through a patch of bushes.

He looked embarrassed, gasping for air. He looked panicked, his clothes were disheveled, and there was a knife wound on his leg, and the blood flowed, making his steps bumpy and unsteady.

He was running for his life, but even with all his might, the deep and visible knife wound in his leg made it difficult for him to move.

Blood was stained on the bushes he had passed through, dripping among the dead leaves of the road, and the smell of blood was everywhere in the woods, exposing his traces.

He couldn't escape, maybe he himself understood this, that's why the heart in his chest was beating so fast, that's why his breathing was so rapid, that's why he was so scared.

"Bang!"

The man's foot tripped over a dead vine, his pupils constricted, and the look on his face became more frightened, but there was nothing he could do anymore.

The body suddenly lost its center of gravity, and the whole person fell forward to the ground, in front of a dead tree.

The man gritted his teeth, opened his eyes, and scratched the ground in front of him with his palm, as if trying to get up again.

At this moment, footsteps were heard behind him.

It was the sound of unhurried footsteps, and a man walked along the path he had walked.

The man was wearing a loose cloth coat with an earthy yellow hat, his chest exposed, and a straw in his mouth. He carries a brownish-red sword around his waist, symbolizing that he is a swordsman.

The strangely dressed swordsman lifted his feet, stepped over the blood-stained bushes, and slowly walked towards the man who had fallen to the ground.

"Ah, ah, don't, don't come, don't come. ”

The man who fell to the ground said dryly, dragging his injured leg and crawling along the ground, trying to get away from the people who were walking behind him.

But he didn't get what he wanted, and the swordsman with his hat had already walked up behind him and stepped on his back.

The man was trampled on the ground, like an ant under his feet, and he tried to escape, but he couldn't even stand up. In the previous chase, he had used all his strength, and now he could only lie on the ground, clutching the dead leaves on the ground with his hands.

The swordsman wearing the hat lowered his eyes, and in the shadow of the hat, those eyes were cold and merciless.

With a sound of slow rubbing, he drew the sword at his waist, the blade reflecting the cold light in the dim dense forest, illuminating the face of the man on the ground.

"No, please, don't kill me. The man's voice was almost crying, and he begged without dignity to save his life.

The swordsman's sword stopped in mid-air.

The man thought he was going to spare his life, and he let out a cold sweat.

But the next moment, the swordsman's indifferent voice sounded.

"Ten years ago, you had a quarrel with a person, you were unhappy for a while, you drew your sword and killed someone, did you spare his life?"

"Six years ago, you were drunk and made trouble, killed in the street, killed two people and injured one, did you spare someone's life?"

"Three years ago, you took money from people and killed a family for him, did you spare your life?"

He seemed to know everything, one by one, in the man's horrified gaze, telling his past one by one.

Finally, the swordsman said no more, he stared into the man's eyes, as if sighing, and said.

"It's too much, I don't remember the rest, you can go to the Yama Hall and count the sins yourself. ”

After saying that, the sword in his hand fell.

"No, no!" the man wanted to say something, but this time the blade didn't mean to stop.

"Thorn!"

There was a sound of flesh penetrating, and the sword pierced the man's back.

"Ahem, ho, ho······" Blood flowed from the man's mouth, and he hung his head silently with a distorted expression.

The swordsman drew his sword, wiped the blood from the sword with his hand, dropped the straw in his mouth, and walked away slowly.

In the dense forest, only a corpse and a blood-stained rice stalk remained.

An earthy yellow broken hat, a wide cloth coat, a straw in his mouth, and a brown-red sword at his waist.

A person dressed like this has only recently appeared in people's eyes.

By the time he was known, he had killed dozens of well-known samurai for their past crimes.

People call this person Jizo, but no one can tell whether he is really called Jizo, or whether he is always called Jizo. It is only known that he will find the sinner with the charge and then kill him.

Whether Jizo is a good person or a wicked person, no one can say clearly.

He is said to be a good man because most of the people he killed were deserving of death and had committed deserving crimes.

But he is said to be a wicked man because every time he comes to the door with a knife, he will raid his house and destroy his mouth. He will kill old people, women, he said, this is to repay karma.

The only kind of person he doesn't kill is children, because in his opinion, children don't carry karma.

In short, Jizo is a paranoid person who insists on justice in his heart. When he thinks you deserve to die, he will find you and kill you.

He has a phrase that often hangs on his lips.

"In a lifetime, there is always a time to repay. ”

······

In a tavern on the side of the road.

"A bowl of wine. Jizo put his hat on the table and called to the shopkeeper.

"Okay, wait a minute. The shopkeeper answered and went to the back to pour the wine.

It didn't take long for a bowl of sake to be served in front of Jizo.

Jizo picked up the bowl and looked at his own reflection in the drink, the focus in his eyes spreading slightly.

Those with swords at their waists are warriors, among whom there are heroes, prodigal sons, swordsmen, but also scum. The scum acts recklessly with the sharp blade in his hand, and takes people's lives according to his likes and dislikes, and such a person should not have a foothold in the world.

Jizo has always thought so.

Some people say that if he kills people like this, isn't he also a scum?

Jizo's answer was that if someone could take his life, he would give it away.

But before that, he had to ask the world for an explanation.

In this world, ghosts are dancing and claws, and ghosts are rampant, and someone should ask for an explanation.

Pick up the sake bowl, raise your head, and take a sip of the sake. The wine trickled down the corners of his mouth, burning like fire in his throat and stomach.

He wiped his mouth, picked up the hat on the table, put it on his head, and left with his sword.

He's going to find the next person, the next person he's going to kill.