"Please use it slowly." At this time, the boss served the meal.
Pickles, pickled radish, a rice ball, and a piece of spring cake.
Although he didn't know that the "Yamada-don" that Yamazaki Ichiro was slandering was simply a fabricated identity, he looked satisfied after seeing this sumptuous dinner.
Pei Ziyun nodded absently, despairing of the food of this era. The daily menu of the minister at that time was actually the above, with salted fish added, and at most a cup of tea and a few snacks after the meal, which was considered a very luxurious meal. .
"Be patient!" Pei Ziyun drank slowly, and in just a while, he had a general understanding of the identity of the person sitting here.
They are all samurai who have recently come to Heianjing on business, and most of them are lower-level samurai. Normally, these people are fierce samurai, and their courage is different from ordinary people, but now their expressions are wary and their words are careful.
"The influx of these samurai is not surprising. In the early Heian period, thieves were already rampant. They frequently attacked the national government, ambushed transportation, and even poured into Kyoto and burned down the imperial palace."
"In the first year of Kanpei (889), a group of thieves led by Mononobe Uji-inaga caused chaos in Kanto, and it took more than ten years to suppress them."
"Then the East China Horseman Party started to cause chaos."
"Then, the people in the Wei Mansion were laid off, and they rioted one after another. They used boats to attack the ships transporting the capital, seized rice and cloth, and roamed the South China Sea Road. These are the pirates of the Western Kingdom."
"To make matters worse, prisoners descended from the Ezo tribe rioted again."
"The so-called Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts, in real history, is actually synonymous with thieves or robbers. They were slandered as ghosts by the court. Even the prototype of Shuten Doji was actually a violent army."
"It's very interesting power tactics and propaganda. If the people knew that the uprising was made by people like themselves, they would follow suit. But now that the uprisings are all evil spirits, they not only have no intention of following, but also stay away from them. This isolates those who Evil ghost."
"Japan's ability to maintain a dynasty for 1,500 years is really a trick. Not to mention, in order to deal with these evil spirits, the court had to rely on samurai. This is the reason for the rise of samurai."
"Now the local police chief and transportation team are all samurai, so it is very normal for them to come to Heian Kyo."
"But obviously, in the world I live in, Hyakki may not be thieves or robbers, at least Shuten Douji is not."
"Although these warriors talk about many things, if you listen carefully, they are all during the day. They avoid night, and even avoid talking about things at night, which makes these warriors afraid. It seems that this man rules the day and ghosts rule The legend of the night is really not necessarily nonsense."
"If I had the force, I wouldn't have to hesitate and do it directly. But now I have to take a roundabout way and find out the Black Hand's intentions. For specific information, I might let Yamazaki give it a try."
Pei Ziyun didn't like talking to strangers very much. In addition, his temperament was quite different from that of these lower-level warriors, so it was difficult for them to get to know each other.
On the other hand, Yamazaki Ichiro, although not a generous person, has a formidable appearance and the unique vulgarity of a lower-level samurai, which is very reassuring to those people.
No, just after drinking some wine, the samurai sitting next to him came over slightly and struck up a conversation with Yamazaki Ichiro.
When facing Pei Ziyun, the other party was a little restrained. Especially when he learned that the other party was actually the young master of the Yamada family who served Tachibana Michizane, the smile on his face became much more humble.
But turning to Yamazaki Ichiro, there was no such discomfort.
The samurai smiled: "Yamazaki-kun, it must have been a hard journey from Izumi Country to Heian Kyo, right?"
Izumi Province is very close to Heian Kyo, but during the Heian era, it was already considered a remote countryside.
Yamazaki Ichiro's spirit was shaken, and his depression was swept away. He laughed and said with some pride: "You are right, we met two groups of bandits along the way! Those people are really hateful, they are all untouchables, their faces How dare you draw your sword against a samurai."
"But these untouchables, even if they grabbed one or two knives, they were just mud-legged. I chopped three of them down on the spot."
Yamazaki Ichiro picked out the things that made him outstanding and said a few things, which made everyone around him stop talking and listen carefully.
Pei Ziyun also listened curiously. After all, this "Yamada Shinichi" "airborne" directly to a location not far from Heian Jing. The previous events had nothing to do with him. He also planned to listen to see if he could find out any clues.
As a result, I heard Yamazaki Ichiro praising his superior martial arts, which made him feel bored.
Obviously, the focus of the warrior who asked the question was not this: "... This is really amazing, but other than these, haven't you encountered any strange things?"
Are you asking about monsters on the road to determine whether the journey back is safe
"Speaking of which, we encountered a strange thing after entering the city." Not wanting to continue listening to nonsense, Pei Ziyun suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention to himself.
Yamazaki Ichiro, who was talking about his proud place, couldn't help but shuddered when he heard the mention of this matter.
Someone noticed this immediately and asked a little uneasily: "Oh, Yamada-dono, Yamazaki-kun, I'm sorry for taking the liberty of asking - can you tell me?"
Some people resisted moving closer and sat back, obviously feeling a little nervous.
Pei Ziyun saw the reactions of these people in his eyes and said calmly: "The two of us found a lantern with the word "buckwheat noodles" written on it. When we walked over, we found that there was no one in front of the noodle stall. No one answered Yamazaki's call, so he cursed casually. With just one sentence, the lantern actually... went out with a pop."
"There was no wind at that time, and a woman's whimpering could be heard..."
The oil lamp in the house had a faint green light and looked a bit eerie. As he was saying this, it was suddenly blown by the wind. It shook slightly and almost went out. The wind noise outside was also louder, making a whimpering sound. , seemed to be echoing Pei Ziyun's words.
"..." Everyone present fell silent for a moment. The samurai who had just come over to joke with Yamazaki Ichiro all turned pale and went back to his original seat without saying a word.
"Gentlemen, what's wrong with you?" Yamazaki Ichiro felt uneasy and forced a smile.
No one replied, and after a long silence, someone whispered back: "This is a lantern that has been turned off, and it is a bad omen."
Yamazaki Ichiro couldn't stand this depressing atmosphere. After hearing this, his face turned ugly, he put the wine bowl on the table with a bang and stood up.
"It's just that there is no one for the time being. Is there anything strange about this? What a bad omen, don't talk nonsense!" He felt guilty in his heart and became more assertive. But even so, the people around him didn't say anything anymore and just looked at Yamazaki Ichiro blankly. Stand.
Pei Ziyun drank slowly, his expression calm and unaffected by just now, but in this case, it was obviously impossible to ask anything else.
"If you turn off the lights and walk with the lanterns, there will be no buckwheat. If you see lanterns and buckwheat stalls late at night in the cold winter, but there is no one around, something bad will happen."
"These people are obviously scared. Even the warriors are scared. It's no wonder that they don't see the common people leaving their homes."
"After all, compared to warriors who are powerful and can even kill ghosts, ordinary people can only wait to die when faced with ghosts, even the weakest ones."
"Heian Jing, this name is really ironic."
"Or is it because you pray for peace that you gave it this name?"
Pei Ziyun narrowed his eyes: "Hmph, as long as I kill two more big monsters, I can break through the boundaries in this world."
"No matter what kind of seal it is, it will be useless."
"As for now, if there are no big fish, shrimps will do. A little will add up to a lot."
"Who would have thought that I could refine and seize power through killing?"
"A bad omen? It's just the right time. It's easiest to wait and wait."
Thinking of this, Pei Ziyun called the owner and asked about the room.
"Sir, there are only three rooms left, two upper rooms and one lower room. Which one do you want to book?"
"Yamazaki, thank you for your hard work along the way. Now that we have arrived at Heian Kyo, please book two upper rooms and have a good rest so that we can visit my wife tomorrow."
Pei Ziyun said this, which satisfied Yamazaki Ichiro: "Yamada-don, I'll go take a look now and call you hot water."
Seeing Yamazaki Ichiro passing by, Pei Ziyun glanced around and found that there were still some people just now, but now only two or three were left.
You can see the power of what you just said.
"Boss, Ping'an Jing, is it dangerous at night?" Pei Ziyun asked as if he was curious after paying the deposit.
The boss's face changed, but when doing business, you must always be polite and considerate. He already knew the identity of "Yamada-sama" and did not dare to say anything. He could only whisper: "Yes, there is danger. He will die during this period." We met a lot of people, and the two adults were lucky. Although they encountered strange things, nothing happened."
That's not necessarily the case.
Seeing that the boss refused to say more, he just led me over. This was an old small room. The two rooms were in the same place. They were almost identical. You could see a lot of black dirt, and the window panes were very thin and vaguely white. , and inside it was actually just a straw mat and quilt.
The boss's own room is also in this corridor, not far away. He opened the door and bowed: "You two adults, if you need anything at night, you can come to me at any time."
"Got it!" Yamazaki Ichiro waved his hand and asked him to leave.
Pei Ziyun saw Yamazaki Ichiro entering and suddenly said: "Yamazaki, you can't sleep too hard tonight, be careful in everything."
Even if we meet by chance and have known each other for a day, we should still be reminded.
Yamazaki Ichiro thought that Yamada Shinichi was afraid, so he slapped his chest loudly: "Yamada-don, don't worry, if there is danger, I will protect you immediately!"
"Besides, when I think about seeing Mrs. Shikibu tomorrow, I feel a little nervous and have trouble sleeping. I can definitely help you keep a vigil."
Pei Ziyun was choked by this expression. He really didn't want to know what Yamazaki Ichiro was thinking, so he just smiled.
However, I am actually a little curious about what Izumi Shikibu will look like tomorrow.
"Is it Izumi Shikibu, the third talent of Heian? Is the whereabouts of Yako related to her?"
"The Black Hand arranged for my identity to be involved in a famous derailment incident in the Heian era. Is it just to facilitate Tachibana Michizada to deal with me?"
"No matter what, we will know tomorrow."
(End of chapter)