"In this absurd world, only the strong can survive, and the weak don't deserve to live at all! But why, my heart ...... But they tremble at the word protection......"

- Nest Seat

At the beginning of the 17th century, Tokugawa Ieyasu established the shogunate in Edo, and Japan entered the Edo period, which lasted for 265 years.

Like all grand dynasties that are overturning, they have experienced prosperity in the early and middle periods, and at the end of the era, the so-called prosperity is an old dream of yesterday.

The generals at the top and the gods and the drunken feudal lords of all over the country indulged in pleasures, while the commoners under the strict hierarchy could only survive.

And our story began in that distant era.

……

[糛治], which means [糛犬], represents "protection".

The boy named "Koji" by his family is a sign of his family's earnest desire to protect his family like [Komachi].

Originally, it was supposed to be like this......

But as time passed, the boy named Koji witnessed his family die due to poverty, illness, and other reasons, and by the time he was 11 years old, his father was the only one left, and he vowed to protect his only loved one, no matter what the cost.

And in the face of a destitute family with four walls, what can a young boy do if he wants to maintain the high medical expenses of his sick father? His only choice was ......

Stealing.

In just a few short years, because of this behavior, the revenge of others, and the punishment (note 1) made the boy scarred, but he never bowed his head, and only endured pain in the middle of the night when no one was around, and as a result, he gained a constitution stronger than ordinary people.

"I want to be strong enough, strong enough to survive all suffering, strong enough to have the power to protect everything!"

This was the only belief in the heart of the teenager at that time.

Several times (note 2) left three tattoos on each of the boy's arms, and the identity of a 'sinner' will stay with him forever in the rest of his life until he dies.

But the boy didn't care, as long as it was for his family, no matter how much suffering he suffered, he could survive.

However, when he was once again arrested and put into the prison for the crime of "stealing", gritted his teeth and limped home after enduring a hundred board punishments that are unbearable for adults, his "protection" came to an end.

I learned from the neighbors that my father, who had heard that "Koji" had been arrested and sent to the office again, had been struggling to persist in the hospital bed, and finally chose to commit suicide.

Unlike his son, who gritted his teeth and chased hope, the gloomy life of years of illness and the loss of his family had already wiped out his father's desire for survival, and he didn't want his beloved son to go into the abyss step by step because of himself, and he didn't want to be a burden to his son, so in the end, he chose to leave.

"Sorry for the trouble......"

This is the last sentence that his father left to Koji through his neighbors.

But all this, for Koji, who lost the last person to "guard", only brought more sorrow.

It was only at this time that the young man suddenly discovered that what caused him to fall into the current situation was the absurd world in front of him.

In the years that followed, the muddy Koji was expelled from Edo and began to wander aimlessly.

It is said that the passage of time can heal the pain, but for the boy who has lost hope, it will only make him more angry.

Witnessing more people going to despair because of this abominable world, Koji's desire to become stronger became stronger and stronger.

By the time he reached the age of 15, he was even more powerful and was already able to defeat 7 adults with his bare hands.

By chance, after Komaji vented his anger on a few adults as usual, there was a sudden applause from the crowd of onlookers.

It was a middle-aged man dressed in white, with a gentle smile on his face.

Even though he can see the identity of Komaji as a "criminal" through the tattoos on his body, he does not show the same disgust as everyone else.

Looking at the man who was saying strange nonsense such as "reborn" in his mouth, Koji, who was too lazy to listen to nonsense, rekindled the anger that had just calmed down in his heart, and hit him without hesitation.

But who knows, the seemingly ordinary man in front of him is a very powerful master.

With just a few moves, Koji was knocked out and knocked unconscious.

When the boy woke up from the darkness, what appeared in front of him was a clean and simple dojo and a man with a gentle smile on his face.

Koji, who has nowhere else to go, finally chooses to stay in the dojo in the face of the persuasion of the powerful man in front of him to "start a new life", out of a desire to become stronger.

The man's name is Keizang, he has no dojo protégé, usually only relies on some chores to make a living, and he has to be distracted to take care of his daughter who is sick in bed, listening to the man in front of him in a flat and painful voice, a few days ago his wife chose to commit suicide by jumping into the river because she was desperate for her daughter's condition, Koji fell into silence for a while.

A teenager who has experienced a similar tragedy, it is hard to imagine how much grief this man has to endure to still smile in this situation.

"Can you, who have sunk in the dark, really be able to start a new life?"

Koji muttered to himself.

Time passed, and Keizang, who had to go out to work in order to make ends meet, naturally fell on the shoulders of the young man to take care of his frail and sickly daughter.

After walking through the deep corridors of the dojo, Koji meets the man's daughter for the first time, "Koiyuki".

A stubborn and rigid teenager, as soon as they met, they were attracted by the weakness of the snow.

At the first meeting, Lianxue had a gentle smile on her face, and she couldn't tell that she had been suffering from illness.

This delicate flower, which seems to wither away on the cliff when blown by the wind, makes the memories that Koji has been sealed for a long time slowly come to mind.

He also ...... I tried my best to ...... Protecting others......

The unruly boy in front of outsiders, in front of the girl, showed an appearance of peace that he had never had, as if all the sorrows he had experienced in the past had never existed......

In this way, Koji stayed quietly in this ordinary dojo.

He was a little confused and a little relieved.

Just like what he said when he was having dinner with Keizang, they are all people who "can't do without something to protect".

Just like the [Komainu] who guards the shrine, guarding is the only meaning of its existence.

In a long life, it is not a lucky thing to be able to find something worthy of "guarding".

Time passed, and in addition to taking care of Aixue, Koji also learned the Suliu boxing method taught by Master Keizang.

The experience of being a young boy made the boy patient and comprehensive when taking care of Lianxue, and when the girl was sober, he always kept guarding her.

Even with a gentle smile on his face, Koji, who is kind by nature, can feel the despair in Koyuki's heart, just like his father back then......

In order to take care of Lianxue, the boy gave up almost all his free time, and promised the girl that he would take her to see the fireworks when her condition improved.

Once in the dojo, it is three years.

Xu is blessed by God, and Lianxue, who has been dying several times, miraculously ushered in a recovery and can live a normal life like an ordinary person.

After three years of getting along day and night, Koji has long become an inseparable part of the girl's life.

Under the provocative suggestion of Master Keizo, the shy and overwhelmed boys and girls expressed their hearts to each other and made a vow to spend their lives together.

Soon after, Koji, who was about to get married, returned to Edo full of joy and told the news of his imminent marriage in front of the tombstones of his father and family.

It wasn't a long way back, and at sunset, he returned to the dojo.

What you can see is a large number of residents gathered at the entrance of the dojo.

The ominous premonition in his heart made him rush into the dojo like crazy, but the peaceful and warm "home" in the past is unusually empty and cold at the moment.

Because they are not the opponents of Keizo and Koji, those villains who have coveted the dojo for a long time put poison in the well.

The master died, and Aixue was gone, and he became alone again......

"Can someone like me really come out of the darkness?"

still remembers that night when the fireworks were in full bloom, he finally fulfilled his agreement to watch fireworks with Lianxue. The shy girl lowered her head, not daring to look at him, but whispered her love......

"I will become stronger than anyone else and protect you for the rest of my life!"

In the face of the girl's show of love, Koji solemnly made a promise.

At that time, the smile on Lianxue's face will never be forgotten by the young man for the rest of his life.

But when I woke up, I only had a cold corpse in my arms......

Pain, numbness and even madness, in this absurd world, evil thoughts from human nature have forced a good person into an angry evil ghost.

The still crazy young man, alone, washed a certain sword gym in blood, a whole 67 people, and was beaten to death by him with his bare hands, and there was not a single complete corpse at the scene......

This bloody case was recorded in detail by the government at the time, but because it was too exaggerated, it was considered by the people at the time to be an evil ghost.

Kill the murderer, but so what?

The lost "guardian" can never return, and in this cold world, there is another numb person with an empty body.

One night, Koji, who was wandering like a lonely ghost, was passing a wooden bridge when he met a man dressed in black.

The ghost king who has not appeared for a long time, Onimai Tsuji is miserable, and he heard rumors of ghosts haunting and came here, but what he saw was only a human who had lost his soul.

"It's boring......"

The powerful Oni King, who surpassed the limits of mortals, pierced through the head of Koji, who had been tempered by his body to be extremely powerful, with just one move.

"Everything, it doesn't matter......"

The boy who lost hope did not resist, but calmly chose to accept it.

Since then, there has been one less human in the world named "Koji", and one more, a terrifying evil ghost named "Kodoza"!

The brain was pierced, and the memories and emotions of the newborn Zodiac were completely gone, and only the obsession of becoming stronger remained in the bottom of his heart.

……

Before you know it, it's been hundreds of years.

Next to the infinite train, looking at the Kyojuro, who refused to turn into a ghost in front of him, and exuded a dazzling and extremely vindictive spirit, he sat in the unfolding technique, and slowly put on a starting pose with no hands.

"Since you don't want to be a ghost, then, kill you!"

——

(1. "Shoge": It was an official position that existed in Japan from the Heian period to the Edo period, and in the Heian period, it served as a temporary position in charge of court ceremonies, and after the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, it gradually became a permanent position in charge of government affairs.

2. "Punishment": Also known as ink punishment, it is to tattoo words on the body and face of the offender, and then apply ink charcoal to indicate the sign of the crime, which cannot be scrubbed. ）

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