Although there are still doubts, the woodcutter's role in the team is still crucial, at least when turning back, he can avoid many detours.

However, the woodcutter told them the news that while he was chasing the mountain monkeys, he had seen a faint light of fire on a high ground, as if someone was hiding in the woods.

"Are you sure the fire didn't come from us?" Matsumoto Ichiro squinted his eyes and looked at the woodcutter in his bow with disdain.

For some reason, he always felt that something was wrong with the woodcutter, but for a while he couldn't remember what was wrong.

"I'm sure it's not a light in your hands, and it's a long way from here." The woodcutter was as hoarse as steel rubbing glass.

Matsumoto Ichiro exchanged glances with the other samurai, and then said to the woodcutter, "You lead the way, and we'll go find the source of the fire you see." ”

……

Through the low shrubs, the dense tall trees, and finally at the meandering of a stream to see the lights in the woodcutter's mouth.

It was a mountain temple that had been abandoned for an unknown amount of time, and the dilapidated mud bumps had been eroded by the wind of the years, and the surface was pitted.

It is conceivable that when no one was inhabited, this small mountain temple must have become a habitat for some animals.

Even the occasional hunter or woodcutter who passes by will not choose to enter the temple.

Who knows what big animals are lurking inside.

However, this time it was different, the firelight entered Matsumoto Ichiro's eyes through the long-rotten paper window grid, and vaguely, you could see that there seemed to be a shadow looming in the shaking of the lamp.

There's someone inside!

This was the first thought of the samurai ronin.

There's a ghost inside!

These were the thoughts of the two hunters, and the frightened expressions on their faces illustrated their mental activity at this moment.

As for the woodcutter, there was only a casual sneer in his expression that was so frightened that it was exaggerated.

It's just the relationship between the darkness and the lights of the mountain temple. No one is enough to reach the woodcutter's eerie smile.

"Let's go, go in and have a look!" Matsumoto Ichiro ordered, and walked to the mountain temple first.

Walking out of the bushes, everyone found that the mountain temple in front of them is located at the foot of the mountain, and the topography of the mountain and water can be seen that the original designer of the mountain temple was original.

From the remnants of the mountain temple. It can be seen that this mountain temple was once prosperous.

Along the cracked steps, ten people walked into the gate of the mountain temple where the fire was swaying, and before they could fully enter the gate, everyone smelled a strange smell of burnt.

That's the aroma of barbecue!

Ten people traveled all the way, all with dry sweet potatoes as a snack to satisfy their hunger, and now they smell the aroma of barbecue, and their stomachs immediately gurgle.

No matter what's inside, since you have the ability to barbecue, it's naturally not a ghostly beast. Most of the apprehension in everyone's hearts suddenly disappeared.

The mountain temple is not big from the outside, but after entering it, the feeling of emptiness quickly becomes people's first reaction.

Heights of up to five meters were rare during the Japanese shogunate, and even in solemn temples, it was considered a high standard.

In the corner of the mountain temple, there is a small flame alive, and the light is naturally not very abundant, therefore. A back in front of the fire is also not very real, faintly. It seems to be a man with a strong waist.

His figure didn't seem to hear Matsumoto and the others coming in, and turned his back to them, flipping the roast meat stuck in the branches.

With the current distance between the two sides, no matter how attentive the other party is, it is impossible not to notice that an outsider has entered, let alone the three burdens standing behind the samurai ronin. The heavy footsteps echoed in the empty mountain temple.

Strange people, coupled with the emptiness and darkness of the mountain temple, the strange atmosphere quickly spread in the hearts of people.

Suddenly, the man raised his head and moved his face slightly. But he didn't really turn his head to look at the uninvited guest behind him.

It was only a moment's side face, and before Matsumoto and the others could see the side face of the man clearly, they turned their faces back again, as if they thought the ten people who came out of the night forest were air.

Still, Matsumoto saw one thing: the man with the tiger's back was a bald man, or a monk was more appropriate.

At this point, through the light of the bonfire, I could vaguely see the clothes he was wearing, with obvious robe lines.

"Who the hell are you? What to do in the deep mountains and old forests? "My intuition told Matsumoto that it was definitely not normal for a guy who suddenly appeared to be a monk like this.

Even if an ascetic monk inadvertently passed by this place and borrowed an abandoned mountain temple to stay overnight, what was the smell of barbecue?

At that time, the monks of the Edo period did not have the consciousness of "wine and meat through the intestines", and there was no reform that modern Japanese monks could marry wives and eat meat.

In the Edo period, before Emperor Meiji came to power, Japanese monks maintained the same customs as Middle-earth.

Matsumoto replied to a crisp sound of a wine jug pulling a bolt, a gourd with the word "wine" written on it, and in the monk's mouth-to-mouth cooing, he took three sips, and then spit out a heavy sip of alcohol that could be smelled even ten meters away.

Since the donor came uninvited, the little monk borrowed the treasure land and used it as half of the master. If you don't dislike it, you might as well sit down and enjoy the delicious food in the world with the little monk. ”

The monk's voice was like a bell, and as soon as he opened his mouth, the dilapidated mountain temple trembled, and the eaves of the reluctant supporters fell in the loud vibration, falling patches of dust, making the samurai standing behind him hectic for a while.

Matsumoto noticed that although the dust fell, the monk's shiny head did not show a trace of dirt, and there seemed to be an invisible umbrella above the monk to block the dust that had fallen.

As he spoke, the monk never turned his head, burying his head in the barbecue in front of him, not worrying at all about what strangers thought of him.

Matsumoto Ichiro was even more suspicious in his heart, but at the moment, the other party did not move, and it was not good for him to act rashly, not to mention that this time they were entrusted by Rizheng to find the whereabouts of the little master.

Let a sleeping dog lie.

With this in mind, Matsumoto motioned for the others to come over to the monk and sit on the spot.

In fact, the ten of them trekked through mountains and rivers, and after a whole day of searching, they were already exhausted, and the ronin samurai still had little physical strength.

Seeing that they could finally sit down and rest, the other nine people didn't care about the strange atmosphere in the mountain temple or the dirt on the ground, so they sat down.

Only then did they see the monk's appearance clearly.

It was a fat monk with kind eyebrows, about forty years old, and his complexion was well maintained, but the traces of time could still be seen in his worldly face. Even sitting cross-legged on a shabby futon, he could still see from his frame that he was tall and burly, far a head and a half taller than the skinny Fuso public.

His skin is very white, and for some reason, everyone always feels that the monk's whiteness is a little abnormal at first glance.

After only a few glances, people quickly took their eyes off the fat monk and focused on the food barbecued in the campfire.

They had been salivating over the scorching fragrance for a long time, and they hadn't forgotten that the fat monk had said that he would enjoy it with everyone.

However, when their eyes fell on the campfire almost at the same time, everyone was stunned for a moment.

There was even more blatant fear in the eyes of those two hunters! (To be continued.) )