342 The Story of Koushirou

The slightly cold rain, the whispering wind, it was like something was crying.

The sky is grey; the rain blows down diagonally, sadness, like raindrops, envelops the island.

The lush green forest.

The green hair little boy was frantically hacking away at the stakes in the rain with a dumbbell in his mouth and the wooden sword in both hands.

Crack!

The wooden sword and the wooden stake shattered at the same time.

The little boy's teeth loosened, and the clenched dumbbell fell off.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Bastard bastard bastard! We clearly agreed to work together and strive towards the strongest in the world, we clearly agreed, we clearly agreed!"

"That's despicable! Kuina! Why don't you give me a chance to win over you! If you remember the vow we made then, now, stand up to me!"

Rush ~ Rush ~

It is the sound of stepping on the grass.

"Kuina, is that you?" The young boy looked back in excitement and was horrified to find that behind him was a tall man wearing a ghost-faced mask.

The scarlet and bloody colour of the pupils flickering, demonic and frightening;

In the grey silence of the rainy night, they are adding a touch of betrayal.

The good thing is, the little boy has always had a strong heart and was not afraid, just lost in thought, "You should have admitted it long ago, someone who is dead, how can they come back to life?"

The masked man just looked down at the little boy and then walked past him indifferently.

Just like most strangers, they meet indifferently and then leave indifferently.

"What a strange one!" The little boy just sighed, then he picked up the spare wooden sword, "I can't slack off any longer, I'll get stronger along with Kuina's share, I'll become the world's number one great swordsman, and make my fame so big that it will resound through the heavens!"

With that, the boy once again bit the dumbbell and wielded his wooden sword, slashing at the other stake furiously.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The crisp slashing sound echoed in the rainy night, startling the forest animals from sleeping.

Time passed for an unknown period, just when the little boy's arms had become too heavy to lift, the forest, once again, resounded with the sound of human voices.

"Ghost! Help!"

"Demon, it must be a demon!"

The young boy was no stranger to the voice; it was his fellow disciple.

"Carmen, Yuki, what's wrong with you guys?"

"Zoro, run! It's a monster, the monster is coming after us!" Carmen shouted.

Zoro looked behind them and wondered, "There's nothing behind you!"

"Is that so?" Yuki glanced back, then let out a long breath, "Saved."

"What's wrong with you guys?" Zoro asked.

"It was a man in a mask, very tall and very big." Carmen gestured with his hands to depict it.

"It's him!" Zoron exclaimed.

"Hey? You've met him?"

"Yes! And then what?"

"And then? What more then?" Carmen looked horrified, "Do not you see? His pupils, they're red!"

"I saw it! It's pretty good looking." Zoro nodded seriously.

Carmen and others were stunned for a moment, and only after a long time did they hold back a sentence, "Aren't you afraid? We felt like we were going to be killed when he took one look at us!"

"It's okay, nothing special." Zoro rubbed his head.

Yuki spoke a word half-heartedly, "No more, we have to hurry to find someone to save Koushirou-sensei."

"What happened to Koushirou-sensei?" Zoro asked nervously.

"That man was headed for the Isshin Dojo, but he didn't make a move on us, which means he must have wanted to kill Koushirou-sensei."

The two little ones said illogical words with a serious face, and then Zoro believed it.

"What, I have to hurry to save Koushirou-sensei!"

"Don't go! Zoro, you'll be killed!" Yuki shouted nervously, then looked at someone indifferent to the side, "Hurry up and persuade him with me!"

Carmen said calmly, "It's okay, he ran in the opposite direction."

"Yeah! Oh! Almost forgot he's a roadie!"

...

Isshin Dojo.

The place used for the competition in the past, but at the moment, a coffin is quietly placed.

In front of the coffin, a tall figure sat on his knees.

"Is this fate's punishment for betrayers? Guardianship? In the end, no one can guard!" The tall figure whispered to himself.

"So, that's why you seem to have no momentum now?" A harsh voice rang out in the hearth, accompanied by a wind chant as if it were the whisper of a ghost.

However, the figure sitting kneeling in front of the coffin said calmly, "What a sharp swordsmanship, why would such a powerful swordsman appear in such a small place?"

"I heard that there is a powerful swordsman called Koushirou, and I want to fight with him."

"Then you are too late, now Koushirou, has nothing to cut off, want my life, go ahead and take it!"

"Among the samurai I've met in the Wano Country, you are one of the strongest and at the same time the weakest."

"Wano?" Koushirou that was sitting on his knees in front of the coffin with his back to the masked man, finally turned around, "Can you tell me how you know that?"

"Shimotsuki clan, Shimotsuki village, and the symbol of the two blades crossed on this dojo costume of yours are identical to the one I once saw in the Wano, Hakumai, I believe it can be said."

"I am indeed ashamed of Kojiro-sama, and the death of Yoko and Kuina is perhaps the punishment I deserve for being a renegade!"

"I can see that you no longer have a sword heart."

"Yes! What kind of swordsman is a swordsman without a heart?" Koushirou laughed to himself, then asked, "Would you like to hear my story, strong man from afar?"

"Less bullshit."

Koushirou shook his head bitterly at the corner of his mouth, "I was once the strongest swordsman under Kojira-sama, and my swordsmanship was to guard, to guard the benevolence of Shimotsuki family."

"Until one day, my heart was broken into by a woman. Her name was Yoko and she was a very, very nice person and I saved her from the mountain bandits ..."

Koushirou was about to reminisce for a moment but found that the temperature all around plummeted. Hence, he had to say with a bitter smile, "The general situation is that Yoko was captured one day, I went to rescue her, but on that day, Kurozumi Orochi attacked Shimotsuki clan."

"I was planning to rush into Orochi Castle afterwards to rescue Kojira-sama to make amends, but Yoko told that she was pregnant."

"Rushing into the Orochi Castle would have been suicide, so naturally I couldn't let Yoko take that risk as well, so I prepared to send her to the outside world."

"After several twists and turns, we finally made our home here. I was not happy for that period of time, and I was suffering from inner torment and torture every day."

"What I didn't expect was that Yoko took it all in stride. After giving birth to Kuina, Yoko told me that she was actually sent by Kurozumi Orochi to get close to me."

"Actually, I figured everything out in the days when I came to the East Sea. But I don't blame her, it was a mistake I made myself, and it must be terrible for a man to blame a woman for a mistake he made!"

"But Yoko told me that she loved the great and powerful hero who saved her from the mountain bandits, not this, now, the obsequious coward Koushirou."

"She didn't want me to continue my decadence, she wanted me to be that hero again, so then she killed herself."

"Perhaps in her eyes she is the culprit for all of this."

"But what she doesn't know is that after her death, my sword heart that guards everything is also completely shattered!"

PS: This B is toxic! A day without shopping B site, it isn't easy to feel (๑ŏ﹏ŏ๑).

Published in Qidian, July 09, 2019