I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

"Quick! Go!"

"I found the old middle-aged man!"

The dense sound of horseshoes gathered towards the entrance of the cave.

After a while, many people with torches and horses came running towards the entrance of the cave from all directions.

Among the people who surrounded him was Tachibana, the nickname of someone Ogata knew, Matsudaira Sadanobu.

It was Tachibana who rushed to the entrance of the cave for the first time.

"My lord!" Tachibana leaped off his horse and threw himself in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu, with an expression on the verge of tears, "Finally found you! Are you not injured?"

"I'm fine. I was rescued by Mashima Goro-kun."

"Mashima Goro?" Tachibana was stunned.

And Matsudaira Sadanobu turned his body to the side at this time, so that Tachibana could see Ogata who was standing not far behind him.

Looking at Ogata, Tachibana's face was full of shock.

"Old, old lord, what's going on?" Tachibana stammered and asked.

"I'll explain it to you later." Matsudaira Sadanobu said, "Anyway, it's hard work for you to come to me."

"It's our negligence that caused the old middle-aged and adults to encounter such an accident!" Tachibana's tone was a little excited, "Please punish us later!"

Matsudaira Sadanobu waved his hand: "We'll talk about these things later."

After finishing speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu turned around and looked at Ogata and the others inside the cave.

"Everyone, thank you for your hospitality. My people have found me, and it's time for me to leave."

"Are you leaving now?" Ogata asked.

"Yeah." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded, "Since my subordinates have found me, I have no reason to stay here anymore."

"And I have to go back as soon as possible. My subordinates have to see with their own eyes that I am still alive, so that they can be at ease. Moreover, my subordinates were attacked by wolves this afternoon, and I have to quickly check the casualties and losses. .”

After finishing speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu stood up straight and bowed solemnly to Ogata.

"Today, thank you very much."

"See you in the future."

"If you change your mind in the future, or if you need help with something, remember to come to me."

At this moment, a faint smile appeared on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face.

"This time, don't forget my words again."

When Matsudaira Sadanobu's voice fell, Tachibana had already pulled his horse over, and led it behind Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Matsudaira Sadanobu turned over and sat on Tachibana's horse.

"Let's go." Matsudaira Sadanobu ordered Tachibana.

"Yes!" Tachibana sat in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu, then raised the rein of the horse, and led Matsudaira Sadanobu into the depths of the woods not far away.The rest of Matsudaira's men followed closely behind.

Ogata stood where he was, watching Matsudaira Sadanobu all the way until his figure completely disappeared from his field of vision.

"Hey" At this moment, A-Machi walked to Ogata's side with a worried expression on his face, "Is what Matsudaira Sadanobu said just now true or not? Chanup and the others really encouraged the naturalized shrimp in Matsumae Castle Did the barbarians start a riot?"

Aizan and Ahili also focused their flustered eyes on Ogata at this time.

On the emotional side, he turned his head expressionlessly and glanced at Ading, Aizan, and Ahili who all had panicked faces.

"The matter of going to Xi Village has to be temporarily postponed."

After a long silence, he said so.

"Hey! Is it really in this direction?!" Kitano growled towards his grandfather Jiang.

Hearing Kitano's roar, grandfather Jiang shrunk his neck.

"Yes, it is indeed in this direction, there is no mistake!"

"Tsk" Kitano's face was full of impatience.

At this moment, he felt that the account on his right hand was a little hot.

Turning his head, he saw that it was the torch made of straw held by his right hand, and the flame had almost reached his hand.

The torches used by Kitano are simple torches made of grass and wood.

Although it is simple to make, it is not very resistant to fire.

He had been concentrating on looking for Matsudaira Sadanobu and Ogata Itsuki just now, and he was so inattentive that he didn't notice that the torch in his hand was almost burned out.

Kitano quickly pulled out another torch from his waist, lit the new torch, threw the old torch that was about to burn out on the ground, and then stamped it out.

"Damn it..." Kitano looked up at the sky and spat out a dirty word, "It's almost dawn."

According to Kitano's judgment, it will be dawn in less than an hour.

They searched for nearly a whole night, but they couldn't find either Matsudaira Sadanobu or Ogata Itsue.

Whether it was Kitano or the subordinates beside him, they were all tired from staying up all night and trying to find someone.

But before he found Matsudaira Sadanobu and confirmed Matsudaira Sadanobu's current situation, Kitano did not dare to slack off.

Ogata Itsuki may not be found, but Matsudaira Sadanobu must be found.

"The terrain of this place is quite complicated," said grandfather Jiang tremblingly, "so"

Before Grandfather Jiang finished speaking, Kitano interrupted him roughly:

"To shut up!"

After being yelled at by his grandfather Jiang, his grandfather Jiang hurriedly shut his mouth, not daring to say another word, for fear of offending Kitano, who is now very irritable and impatient.

Grandfather Jiang is actually more anxious than Kitano now.

If Matsudaira Sadanobu or Ogata Itsue can't be found, grandfather Jiang dares to believe that Kitano, who doesn't look very patient, might treat him as a "liar" and kill him with a single knife.

Grandfather Jiang worshiped all the gods that could be worshiped in his heart, praying to the gods that they would find Matsudaira Sadanobu or Ogata Itsuki quickly.

At this moment, grandfather Jiang suddenly saw a little fire emerging from the depths of the dark woods in front of him.

A light of fire approaching them.

This light should be a torch.

But because of the darkness, grandfather Jiang couldn't see who was holding the torch.

Kitano also noticed the fire that was approaching them for the first time.

"Who?!" Kitano shouted in the direction of the torch.

As soon as Kitano's voice fell, "Torch" shouted in a joyful tone:

"Ah! Kitano-sama! I finally found you!"

"Torch" approached Kitano and their speed suddenly increased a little.

As the "torch" approached, the appearance of the person holding the torch finally gradually emerged from the darkness.

He was a soldier in armor like Kitano and the others.

"Master Kitano!" The soldier yelled at Kitano as soon as he showed up, "Master Tachibana, he has found him! He is safe and sound! Now he has returned to the camp safely under the protection of Master Tachibana!"

"My lord, is he safe and sound?!" The big rock that had been hanging in Beiye finally fell to the ground at this time.

As long as Matsudaira is safe and sound, even if the superior punishes him for his lack of protection, he will not be severely punished.

At this time, Kitano suddenly remembered what happened to Ogata Itsuki.

"Where did Tachibana-kun find your lord?" Kitano asked.

"Tachibana found your lord in a cave." The soldier replied, "Your lord was rescued by a certain samurai after he rolled down the snowy slope, and he was taken to the cave by that samurai to heal his wounds."

"Rescued by a certain samurai?" Kitano's pupils shrank slightly.

What the soldier said just now was exactly in line with what grandfather Jiang said just now.

"What's the name of that samurai?" Kitano asked, "Where is he now?"

"I don't know the name of that samurai. After Tachibana-sama took him back, he seemed to be separated from that samurai."

Kitano pursed his lips tightly.

The soldier in charge of reporting the letter didn't understand why Kitano was so concerned about the samurai who saved Lao Zhong, and he didn't pay much attention to it.

"Master Tachibana is now recalling all the teams sent out to look for him." The soldier said, "Master Kitano, hurry back to camp!"

"I see." Kitano turned his head and shouted to the subordinates around him, "Have you heard it? My lord has found it! Let's go back to the camp!"

As soon as Kitano's words fell, the subordinates of Kitano, who had been exhausted for a long time, immediately let out a louder cheer.

Kitano was not as happy as his subordinates.

He turned his head expressionlessly, and looked at the two subordinates who had been standing on the left and right of grandfather Jiang, holding him.

"Continue to be optimistic about this person!" Kitano ordered, "Bring this person back to the camp!"

The first thing Matsudaira Sadanobu did after returning to their camp was to check the total losses suffered by their team after being attacked by wolves.

Matsudaira Sadanobu's team paid a total of 4 deaths and 8 injuries before successfully repelling the attacking wolves.

These injured or dead people were all Matsudaira Jonobu's guards, and most of them were the 50 elite shogunate troops sent by Inamori to Matsudaira Jonobu. Of the original 32 red cavalry, only 2 people suffered minor injuries.

In addition to people, horses also suffered certain losses.

Some horses were unfortunately killed by wolves.

Some horses were frightened, and then ran away in a hurry, and have not been found until now.

There are a total of 13 missing and injured horses that can no longer move.

In addition to Matsudaira Sadanobu, two people who were responsible for carrying the sedan chair for Matsudaira Sadanobu fell down the hillside.

These two people did not have the same conditions as Matsudaira Sadanobu. When they fell down the hill, they could rely on wakizashi to slow down the speed of the fall. At the same time, they did not have the good luck of Matsudaira Sadanobu.

When Tachibana and the others went down the hillside to look for Matsudaira, they had already found these two people before they found Matsudaira.

Unfortunately, when these two people were found, they had already become cold corpses.

When one fell down a snowy slope, it seemed that his head accidentally hit a rock, and his skull was directly shattered.

The other was attacked by wolves, and the corpses were bitten beyond recognition.

Compared with the two people who fell down the snow slope, Matsudaira Sadanobu who survived without any injuries was really extremely lucky.

After confirming the casualties of the team, Matsudaira Sadanobu went to rest.

After experiencing so many things, Matsudaira Sadanobu was also very tired, lying on the bed, closing his eyes, and quickly fell asleep.

When he woke up again, it was already light.

Getting up from the bed and stepping out of the tent, strands of warm sunlight hit Matsudaira Sadanobu's face.

The sun rising slowly from the eastern horizon, the sunlight it emits reflects the white clouds covering the sky, uncovering the black veil covering the sky, and the sky is gradually dyed in the color of sunrise.

With such fine weather, it is hard to imagine that such a terrible snowstorm happened in the same place yesterday.

Matsudaira Sadanobu is not a person of Taoism, and has no interest in Taoism.

Some people who do not exclude others, their small surnames are not only responsible for personal service, but also for soothing the loneliness of their lord.

And Tachibana is only responsible for personal service, not for other things.

Therefore, Matsudaira Sadanobu and Tachibana, who have different identities, naturally sleep separately.

The tent where Tachibana lived was located next to that of Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Last night, Tachibana first led people to search for Matsudaira Jonobu, and after receiving Matsudaira Jonobu, he was busy sending people to inform the rest of the search team that "the old man is safe and well, and he will return quickly", and deal with other miscellaneous things .She has been busy working until very late before falling asleep, and falling asleep late coupled with exhaustion makes Tachibana still sleep soundly.

After pricking up his ears and listening carefully, Matsudaira Sadanobu could still hear Tachibana's faint snoring constantly coming from the tent next door.

Just when Matsudaira Sadanobu was thinking about whether to go back to the tent to rest and refresh himself while it was still early, a familiar male voice sounded from his side:

"My lord."

"It's Kitano-kun, you're back."

The owner of this sudden male voice was Kitano Shuki.

When Tachibana brought back Matsudaira Sadanobu and sent people to recall the search teams, the search teams turned back to the camp one after another.