I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

"Qina Village sent a large number of people to search for it"

"But after searching everywhere, there is no sign of an avalanche in any area."

"None of the missing people have been found."

"I saw neither the living nor the dead."

"Not only did the person not come back, but some people who went to look for them also suddenly disappeared while looking for them."

"It took a long time to find anyone, so Qina Village wondered if someone had kidnapped people from their village."

"So they went to your and people's territory, that is, the place called 'Matsumae' in the south, and asked your and people's leaders if it was you and people's ghosts."

"The leader of the Matsumae clan categorically denied it. To prove his innocence, the Matsumae clan sent a large number of people to assist the people of Qina Village to find the missing people in their village."

"However, even with the help of others, there is still nothing to gain."

"Not long after that, no one disappeared from Qina Village."

"That's how things ended."

"The old people in our Kuma village said that it was because the gods were angry. The gods punished China village."

"But I don't agree with that point of view."

Aiyaka shrugged.

"The people in Qina Village did nothing wrong. They neither destroyed the forest nor killed bears, deer and other animals indiscriminately. Why did the gods punish Qina Village?"

"...It sounds like a ghost." A-Ming at the side answered.

"Shenyin?" Aiyaka tilted his head.

"It's a very popular legend among us and people." A-Ming replied, "Shenyin means 'hidden by gods and monsters'."

"According to legend, the phenomenon of 'hidden spirits' mostly occurs in rural areas."

"Some gods and ghosts often abduct some people in the countryside for fun or for other reasons."

"The abducted objects are mostly children."

"Those abducted children either never came back again, or were sent back by the gods after a period of time."

Japan's "Shenyin" legend - Ogata had read an article related to it in his previous life.

That article was revealing what happened to the Japanese legend of "hidden gods".

According to that article, "Shen Yin" sounds like it is full of mystery, but in essence it is just an ordinary child playing outside and then accidentally getting lost.

Why does the phenomenon of "hidden spirits" appear more in rural areas?

Because many villages in ancient Japan were built near mountains, when children went out to play, they often ran to the nearby mountains and forests, and then accidentally lost their way and could not come back.

Why are most of the children touching "Shenyin"?

Because children are far easier to get lost than adults.

Some lost children were lucky and came back by themselves.Some lost children were unlucky, never came back, and died in a remote corner of a certain mountain.

Most of the ancient people were more superstitious about such things as gods and ghosts. After encountering this kind of incident of a child's sudden disappearance, they liked to associate it with the things of gods and ghosts.

"It's quite similar to the legend of 'God's Hidden' about you and people." Aiyaka shrugged, "But there are still some differences."

"The missing people in Qina Village are all people who went out to hunt, and some people who went to find the missing people."

"Since this disappearance happened, more than half of the young people in Qina Village have been lost."

"Without a sufficient number of young and strong, the women in Qina Village can only fight by themselves."

"The women in China are really strong."

There was some admiration in Aiyaka's tone.

"The fathers, husbands and sons of many of them disappeared in that 'disappearance incident'."

"In order to support the broken home, they did all the work of men and women."

"Some of them are not inferior to men in terms of archery level or hunting skills."

"One year ago, there was an incident that made the female warriors of Qina Village completely famous."

"I told you before that the gold diggers do all kinds of evil. Besides panning for gold, they often attack and plunder our Ainu villages."

"Just one year ago, some 1 or so gold diggers heard from somewhere that there are very few young and strong men in Qina Village."

"So, with evil thoughts, I ran to Qina Village, intending to loot the property and women in Qina Village."

"As a result—those gold diggers underestimated the strength of the female warriors in China Village."

"Before they had time to rush into the village, they were defeated by the random arrows shot by the female warriors."

"It is said that only a few of the more than twenty gold diggers managed to escape back."

A-Ming murmured softly: "The female warriors in Kina Village are so powerful...they can use bows to this level..."

A-Machi is very aware of how difficult it is to use a bow.

Archery seems to be easy, but it actually requires great physical strength and strength.

After all, it is necessary to shoot the arrow with sufficient force to injure or kill the enemy. Without a certain amount of strength and physical strength, it is impossible to shoot many arrows.

"Yes." Aiyaka nodded, "The female warriors in Qina Village are just that powerful."

"All in all—when you arrive at China Village tomorrow, you must pay attention to your words and deeds."

"Don't mention the 'disappearance incident', it is a sad event for the whole village, some people in their village can understand Japanese."

"And don't underestimate those women in China Village."

"Their toughness and heroism are not lost to men."

……

……

After Aiyaka told Ogata and Atachi about the "disappearance incident" in Kina Village, and warned them to be cautious in words and deeds when they arrived in Kina Village, he left in front of the two.

The place where Ogata and Atachi slept was the place where Aiyaka's house was originally used to store sundries.

Aiyaka and the others cleaned up the place, leaving enough space for Ogata, Acho and the others to rest.

A-Machi seemed to be still immersed in the story Aiyaka just told.

"The sudden disappearance of people...it's really scary..." A-cho, who was lying beside Ogata, said softly.

The quilt covered by the two is a quilt made of bear skin.

At first, I was not used to it, but after getting used to it, Ogata felt more and more that this bearskin quilt is really a magic weapon in winter. He felt that as long as he covered it, he could easily cope with the cold weather.

"Do you think there is really a god at work?" A-Machi asked Ogata softly.

A-Ming is not like Ogata, who is a time traveler, who has been taught materialism since he was a child.

A-Machi is a person who has a very devout belief in Shintoism, so A-Machi has always held the attitude of "they may really exist" towards gods, ghosts and ghosts.

"Who knows." Ogata replied casually, "Compared with gods and demons, I think it may be done by humans."

"But what are you abducting so many young men for?" Ah Ding asked.

"Hmm...human trafficking?" Ogata put forward a hypothesis.

"But isn't human trafficking all about trafficking young girls or children?"

"Maybe it's sold to be a coolie, or sent to a very dangerous mine to mine or something."

"Indeed, there is a possibility of this... Forget it, let's not talk about it." A-Machi tightened the bearskin quilt covering her and Ogata, and then squeezed into Ogata's arms, "Ai Yaka said that as long as there is nothing else to do, we will set off early tomorrow morning and arrive at Qina Village in the evening."

"You have to remember not to talk nonsense, talk about the pain points of the villagers in Qina Village."

"Don't worry. I know it myself."

……

……

The next day—

Just after dawn, Ogata, Atachi, and Aiyaka were ready to travel.

The 3 people who were ready to go sat on the sled of Aiyaka's family. After Aiyaka shouted "Tuohe (Einu: forward)" to the 4 sled dogs in charge of pulling the cart, the 4 sled dogs went Pulling the sled, he ran forward at a speed that could make people's hair blow in the wind.

In Ezo, only those rich families can afford sled dogs.

The feed fee for sled dogs alone is an expensive expense.

And Aiyaka's family happened to be that kind of big family.

The four sled dogs raised by their family do not know how they were raised, and each one is stronger than the other.

It is so strong that it can be used as a mount for petite women like Rin Kinoshita and Gua Shengxiu.

It is precisely because the sled dogs of the Aiyaka family are strong enough that they can pull the sled very fast.

In recent days, thanks to the sleds and sled dogs of the Aiyaka family, Ogata and the others were able to quickly travel between so many villages.

Ogata also likes to do this kind of dog sledding, which reminds him of the feeling of riding a motorcycle in his previous life.

Ogata liked the feeling of strong wind blowing against his face - even though it was a little painful.

"The weather is not very good today." Aiyaka, who was in charge of driving, looked at the sky above his head.

Today is a cloudy day.

Between the sky and the earth, it was blocked by layers of thick clouds, and the clouds exuded bursts of coldness.

"I hope there won't be a blizzard." Ogata followed Aiyaka and looked up at the sky above his head.

The horror of a blizzard—Ogata and A-machi had already experienced it in the Ou area.

"It won't happen in a blizzard." As an experienced hunter, Aiyaka has long had his own experience and deep experience in watching the weather. "But until the end of the day, the clouds should not be able to disperse."

Aiyaka needed to concentrate on driving the sled, so after taking a look at the current weather and having a brief chat with Ogata, he withdrew his attention and concentrated on driving.

"Mashima, Machi, hold on tight. We're on flat ground. I'm going to get the dogs to speed up a little bit."

After all, Aiyaka, holding a thing like a joystick in each of his left and right hands, shouted at the four sled dogs in charge of pulling the sled ahead:

"Tho! Tho! Tho! Tho! (Ainu: Go forward)"

The four sled dogs immediately increased the speed of the sled by another level like a conditioned reflex after hearing the "Tuohe" that Aiyaka called out one after another.

……

……

Aiyaka had previously told Ogata and A-Ming that if they set off at dawn and did not encounter any accidents along the way, they would be able to arrive at China Village in the evening.

So far, it looks like it's taking a little less time than Iiyaka expected.

When the time was just around 4:[-] p.m., Ogata and the others saw streaks of white and faint cooking smoke.

"Mashima! Machi! We're here!"

After loudly reminding Ogata and A-Machi behind him, Aiyaka commanded the sled dogs to slow down a little.

"After entering Qina Village, you must be cautious in your words and deeds."

"Don't mention anything that reminds the villagers of China Village of the 'disappearance'."

"Understood!" Ogata had no choice but to yell at the top of his voice because of the wind blocking him.

Aiyaka drove the sled at a slower speed and slowly approached the place where white and thin cooking smoke rose.

Soon, Ogata and the others saw the shadows of the buildings of the Ainu village appearing in front of them.

Then, after going forward for a certain distance, Ogata and others finally noticed something strange—a lot of people gathered at the entrance of Qina Village.

In addition to people, I also saw a lot of horses.

Looking at those horses, Ogata couldn't help frowning slightly.

These horses are all too recognizable.

Because they are too tall and too strong.There are no such horses produced in Japan.

Ogata had just seen such a tall and strong horse in Vasili's camp before.

—the horse of the Cossacks...