Chapter 149 38. News From Shinano Arima

Kobayata had been standing at the highest point of the slope of Mt. Kurasho for almost two days. Most of the others were arguing and did not notice Kobayata's movements. Only Uncle Tsunara and Yamauchi Yoshikatsu noticed that Kobayata seemed to be waiting for something.

Uncle Tsunara watched Kobayata grow up. He could not see anything when he was a child. Later, after Kobayata's father and mother died, he became more determined and now he is a man with his own ideas. Uncle Tsunara felt that it was unnecessary to intervene in Kobayata's affairs. Moreover, he was more reserved and felt that he was old (only forty years old) and should not get involved in the affairs of young people like Kobayata. So he asked the old family to send a cotton jacket to Kobayata. He told Kobayata not to catch a cold (after all, if you catch a cold in this era, you may be sentenced to death by the bad life) and to avoid the wind.

Yamauchi Yoshikatsu has been hanging out with Kobayata for several years, since the first time Kobayata went to the capital, he could not afford the Wufu because of poverty, and Yamauchi Yoshikatsu secretly gave his old clothes to Kobayata. After this brief encounter in Kyoto, many things happened, and the relationship between the two became better and better, and they could talk without restraint. He saw that Xiao Pingtai was looking into the distance with a heavy heart, waiting for something. So he found a chance, found Xiao Pingtai, and handed him a small bamboo tube.

"Just heated wine, drink a sip." Yamauchi Yoshikatsu raised the bamboo tube in his hand and signaled to Xiao Pingtai. Then he tilted his neck and drank a big sip of hot wine, his face flushed.

"Taro, do you think the Kai Takeda family can be destroyed in one blow?" Xiao Pingtai gently took the small bamboo tube handed over by Yamauchi Yoshikatsu, shook it, felt the heat transmitted by the bamboo tube scalded by boiling water, and asked uncertainly.

Yamauchi Yoshikatsu was stunned for an unknown moment. No one had called him that for a long time except his father and mother. His father now called him Zuo Ma or Zuo Ma Tou. It is estimated that Xiao Pingtai is the only one who calls him that except his mother for several months. He called out to Yamauchi Yoshikatsu all of a sudden.

But Koyata didn't talk to him about anything serious, but he called out to him in such a strange way. Koyata was just asking about something that everyone had been arguing about for the past two days.

"Hmm?" Yamauchi Yoshikatsu didn't answer immediately. He had been with Koyata for a long time in the past few years, and he knew that Koyata was not a person who would shoot without a purpose, and he would never ask a question without a purpose. Since Koyata asked, there must be some deep meaning. Of course, Koyata also has the bad taste of poor literati who says half and leaves the other half. In short, Koyata's words cannot be judged only on the surface.

"Koyata, what you are waiting for must be related to the destruction of the Takeda clan, right?" Yamauchi Yoshikatsu just thought about it for a while and immediately turned around and asked Koyata back. After all, lice on a bald head are obvious. Now the only thing that can make Koyata worry for a long time is the current war, and there can't be anything more important than this.

"Something." Xiao Pingtai took a sip of wine, and the warm wine passed through his throat, with a hint of spiciness, and the whole person was a little warmer. So Xiao Pingtai took the opportunity to move his frozen hands and feet, and walked slowly around Yamauchi Yoshikatsu. Yamauchi Yoshikatsu drank the wine, smiled at Xiao Pingtai, and said nothing.

The two of them stayed together quietly for a while. Except for the swallowing sound of wine and the scattered footsteps, there was no other sound. Xiao Pingtai did not intend to continue answering or asking questions. Yamauchi Yoshikatsu did not force anything.

It seemed that Xiao Pingtai would not answer him directly in detail, and Yamauchi Yoshikatsu was no longer prepared to stay (after all, there was no shelter on the top of the mountain, and drinking hot wine would still be cold), he knew that Xiao Pingtai was a man with ideas. He took off his cloak and tied it for Xiao Pingtai. Then he held the bamboo tube and walked away humming a song.

Putting aside the episode that the two of them were still thinking about, Xiao Pingtai was bored and stayed on the top of Cangsheng Mountain for more than two hours. In the end, he waited in vain for a day, but there was no news. It gets dark very early in early spring, and the days are short and the nights are long. Aji came over and urged Xiao Pingtai to eat and rest early.

Xiao Pingtai looked at the sky. The sun had already set and it would be completely gone in half an hour at most. In this era, few people would go out in the wild at night. No matter what happened, they had to wait until dawn. So Xiao Pingtai had no choice but to turn around and prepare to leave.

As the sunset slowly sank in the sky, there was no light pollution in the wilderness of the old times. Without the sun, it was almost pitch dark (the light from the moon was not very effective for the Japanese who had night blindness). The earth, which had lost its only heat source, was quickly occupied by the cold wind, and all the heat in the wilderness was wantonly plundered by the wind.

Xiao Pingtai had to tighten his cloak to prevent the biting wind from penetrating through the gaps in his clothes. Seeing Aji wearing a thick cotton coat, the cotton inside was stuffed by Xiaonai before the New Year. It was good to have a sister who knew handicrafts.

The two took only two steps when Xiao Pingtai suddenly stopped and grabbed Aji, who was happily jumping back to the camp for dinner.

"Aji, did you hear anything?"

"What? Nothing."

"Listen carefully!" Xiao Pingtai asked Aji in a low and hurried voice.

"It seems that there is the sound of horse hooves, but there is wind and it is not very clear." Seeing that Xiao Pingtai seemed to be very anxious, Aji had to prick up his ears and listened hard.

"Hahahahahaha, it is the sound of horse hooves, it is definitely the sound of horse hooves, there is no mistake, there is no mistake." Xiao Pingtai took Aji's hand and jumped up.

Sure enough, through the heavy black curtain, the sound of horse hooves became clearer and clearer, and the sound of horse hooves hitting the muddy ground. Every sound that entered Xiao Pingtai's ears seemed so crisp and pleasant, so warm and beautiful.

The sound was getting closer and closer, and it seemed very urgent.

Soon, a messenger with two flags on his back suddenly appeared from the twilight, rushed to the top of the slope, and jumped off the horse. He took out a bamboo tube from his arms and ran towards the direction of the shogunate.

Xiao Pingtai would not let him go, and rushed forward to stop him, "I am the general of the iron cannon, Zixiaoji Tsuna, but I have news from Shinano."

The man saw the obstruction and was about to draw his sword, but he stopped when he heard Xiao Pingtai's identity.

"It is indeed news from Shinano!"

"Okay, go and report to His Highness, His Highness will be very surprised."

Xiao Pingtai was as happy as a three-year-old child.