Chapter 119 What are you afraid of?
In the Land of Rain, at the top of the highest tower.
Yoshitaka stood outside the door, looking at the figure walking in the distance with complicated eyes.
"It seems that you are waiting for me?" Kumokawa walked over and asked with a smile without shying away from his inspection.
"Yes." Yoshitaka stepped aside to get out of the way, opened the door for Kumokawa, and said in a deep voice, "Lord Musashi has been waiting for you for a long time."
After saying that, he paused and whispered: "If possible, I hope you can show some mercy..."
"Stop saying such childish words." Before Yoshitaka struggled to finish his words, he was interrupted by a smiling voice, "The battle between swordsmen is not only about superiority and inferiority, but also about life and death."
Kumokawa walked through the door without looking back. Yoshitaka, who raised his head slightly, only saw his back, not knowing whether his smile was sarcastic or gentle.
Click.
As the door slowly closed behind him, the noisy sound of wind and rain was cut off.
"It's such a quiet and nice place. Even If there is fighting outside, you won't be disturbed here."
Kumokawa looked at the layout of the room, then turned to look at the old man sitting there. He couldn't tell whether he was teasing or sarcastically saying, "Mr. Musashi is so elegant."
In the center of the living room, there is a long mulberry red table. On the table is a six-piece tea set, and the fire is boiling water.
There is no melodious music and ecstasy. There is only an old man making tea quietly, and the general silence and Zen tranquility visible to the naked eye. ( Zen= Japanese form of Buddhism)
Kumokawa walked slowly to the long table and sat down on the futon very casually in front of the old man's long table.
In the spacious Japanese-style tea room, fragrant tea is on the stove and simmers slowly.
It can be seen that Musashi also has some attainments in tea ceremony.
Avoid drinking tea on an empty stomach.
Tea entering the lungs will cool the spleen and stomach, so a few slices of crispy scallops are always baked on one side of the teapot on the fire.
He also avoids drinking cold tea, so the tea leaves are boiled and brewed, so he can only smell the calming fragrance of tea in the whole room.
Gurgling~
Musashi brushed his sleeves with one hand and lifted the teapot with the other. The tea flowed down from the top into the teacup, and the tea tips rolled and spread, swirling continuously.
"Muzan, oh, I should call you 'Tsukimi Sato' now."
He poured the tea with his head slightly bowed and asked without raising his head: "As far as I know, the relationship between you and your father is not that close, at least not worthy of revenge."
"So, I don't understand. You are a talented person, have a rich family, a bright future, and unlimited potential. Why do you want to be lumped together with those refugees?"
"Or do you, as the son of a noble, sincerely fight for their injustice?"
Having said this, Musashi seemed to be amused by his own words, and a smile appeared on his face.
"The Land of Rain is an iron house with no windows and extremely difficult to break. Those people are fast asleep in the house and look like they will be suffocated to death soon. But they died in their sleepy dreams and they do not need to face the fear of death."
Musashi looked away from the teapot, raised his head and looked at Kumokawa in front of him, and said calmly: "And now, you have woken up a few people with your loud shout."
"But these unfortunate few cannot save themselves and others from the current situation at all. They can only endure the experience of powerlessness and pain. But you think you are kind?"
Kumokawa watched as the tea flew out of the spout of the pot, slid down the wall of the cup, and swirled up in it.
The scent of tea overflowed with the whirlpool, rising and spreading between the two of them, and filtered into the vermilion wooden pillars above their heads in the sky.
"From the beginning to the end, I have never claimed to be just and kind. It is natural selection. You should understand this truth."
Kumokawa raised his head and looked through the faint tea mist, looking at the old man sitting in the shadow of the wall and smiled: "Which big country in the ninja world has not become strong through war and change?"
"You don't understand, it's not easy for His Highness, Daimyo now." Musashi, who lowered his head and narrowed his eyes slightly, said in a deep voice, "A country's major affairs are not that simple. It is definitely not something that samurai and ninjas like us can..."
Before he could finish his words, Kumokawa shook his head and interrupted in a calm tone: "The Land of Rain has been weak for a long time and has reached an uncontrollable point. Anyone can see this."
"Those nobles and clansmen, corrupt officials, follow the old ways, whitewash and bluff, and the people live in an ignoble way, ignorant, and a dignified country is so cowardly."
"Daimyo? Noble? What's the use of keeping such a Daimyo and Nobles?"
Musashi's brows couldn't help but jump when he heard this treasonous statement.
He knew very well the grudge between Kumokawa and the peaceful faction. It was indeed a blood feud in which the whole family was killed.
Therefore, if it was for revenge, he would be able to do anything outrageous.
But he didn't expect that the other party's wolf ambition had reached such an extreme level, completely surpassing Hanzo's ambition to seize the leader position of Amegakure, that he actually wanted to drag the daimyo and nobles down from above.
"You, you are so angry."
Musashi was speechless for a moment, shook his head and said in a complicated tone: "I originally wanted to give you the position of leader of Amegakure, but if you really want to threaten the safety of the daimyo, then I must not..."
"In my entire life, I have climbed to the pinnacle of swordsmanship, where I can see everyone at a glance. In these decades, I have accumulated countless karma and stepping stones at my feet."
Musashi's eyes as he stared at Kumokawa were no longer cloudy but full of determination: "You are only a teenager now. There are too many things you have not experienced. Do you think you have flattened this hill like mine?"
"If you're not full of energy, are you still a young man?" Looking at the old man sitting in the shadow of the wall, Kumokawa couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's you, what are you afraid of?"
Afraid?
Musashi stopped pouring tea, then raised his eyes slightly and looked at Kumokawa under the dim light, with some doubts in his tone: "What am I afraid of?"
"You are afraid, afraid of our youth, afraid of the coming of a new era."
Kumokawa had a smile on his lips, lowered his eyes and said with a smile: "You are afraid that young people will realize the power they have, start making noises, stop being respectful, break into the palace, and occupy your position. You are afraid that young people will knock you over on the table."
"You are afraid, timid, and desperately want to prove that your era has not passed yet, and you want to compete passionately with the new era, but your hand holding the sword is already old, and you have even lost your faith."
"Just like those poor prostitutes whose glory has passed, they hope to cover up their frivolous and dissolute ugliness with heavy makeup and wipe away the wrinkles that are getting deeper and deeper at the corners of their eyes."
Being compared to a prostitute by Kumokawa in front of him, Musashi's expression turned gloomy again, and he held the handle of the sword at his waist.
The smell of gunpowder smoke in the air suddenly became thicker, and even the water ripples in the teacup tensed up like a mirror, waiting for the ripples to break up the light.
At this moment, the old man and the young man truly met each other.
(End of chapter)