Su Shuang's world is collapsing [Comprehensive]

Chapter 274

Winter in Ezo is unbelievably cold.In a world of ice and snow, as soon as one opens the door and walks outside, the wind blowing on the face is so cold that it seems to be able to freeze the internal organs of a person immediately.

The scenery of Ezo is buried under the pure white snow.

Hijikata stopped outside the gate of Goryokaku, turned his head and stared at Liu Quan.There was no smile on his face.

"Did you see the mountain on the opposite side?"

Liu Quan followed his line of sight and looked at the past.

"You mean... Hakodate-san?"

The naming of this mountain range is anything but creative.

Hijikata's eyebrows turned slightly cold.

"At that time, they will cross that mountain and approach Hakodate."

Liu Quan slightly raised his eyebrows.

"So, Mr. Turkata thinks they won't choose to attack the port?"

The earthwork nodded.

"Attacking from the front is not a wise move. It is simply moths jumping into the flames and killing themselves." He concluded in a sonorous tone, "If the new government forces want to attack Ezo, they should land from Otobu or Echa. .”

These two place names are a bit unfamiliar to Liuquan.After thinking about it carefully, she remembered that these two places were located behind the mountain, so they must be good places for landing operations.

"As for Hakodate Port, bombardment was launched from the ocean. In this way, we are the turtles in the urn." Hijikata analyzed calmly.

Liu Quan couldn't help but sighed softly.

"It's really... an unfavorable situation." She reluctantly commented, her voice sounded calm and indifferent, like an irrelevant bystander.

Hijikata looked away, as if annoyed and troubled by this powerless disadvantage.

"It's a pity that we can't stop the attack from the sea. We are bound to lose in the sea battle. After all, the difference in strength is too great." He said calmly, and then turned his gaze to Liu Quan in front of him.

"This Goryokaku will become the last battlefield." His voice lowered, "This will also be the last time I draw my sword as a samurai."

In his calm and composed voice, Liu Quan could hear a gloomy emotion for some reason.

...does he want this place to be his final destination?

She wanted to help him a little bit, but she also knew that there was no way to solve the dilemma they faced.It's a dead end.

The cold wind of deep winter blowing on their faces seemed to freeze all their expressions.

Liu Quan stared at Tu Fang.

The suit really suits him well.No, it should be said that as a person who has the title of "the most beautiful man at the end of the Bakumatsu", no matter whether it is a kimono or a western dress, wearing him will look extraordinarily heroic and upright.

Liu Quan remembered that on the way to Ezo, when she was on a British merchant ship, she once heard someone mention earthwork in a chat.

At that time, the Englishman said with a bit of admiration: I never thought that today's Japan, an uncivilized country, would have such talents...

Then, he mentioned Hijikata's name.Because the surname of Hijikata is not easy to pronounce, Liu Quan was stunned for a moment before realizing that what the foreigner mentioned was the person he missed.

That person seems to be very talkative, probably because the destination of this merchant ship is Ezo, and Hijikata is one of the best people in Ezo today. He praised Hijikata several times to his conversation partner, such as being calm and wise, and having a long-term vision. Well, sometimes my mind is very flexible, good at accepting and learning the advanced advantages of foreign countries, and I can be called a strategic genius in military affairs. I heard that I am also a first-class master in swordsmanship. With a handsome appearance, he is almost the focus of attention of all the lovely ladies in Hakodate, including those courtesans with all kinds of charm in the flower street, and so on.

This kind of gossip made Liu Quan angry and funny for a while.She thought to herself at the time: ah, it was right for her to come to Hakodate.Didn't Mr. Zong Si make an agreement with himself at the beginning that he would never allow other women to approach the deputy chief?

Then, the next sentence made her completely stunned.

[I heard that the French also appreciate his talent.Those Frenchmen originally came to Ezo to sell arms, but they repeatedly invited the deputy commander of the Ezo army to jump to work for them?Those frenchies were, if I ask you, fantastic. 】

At that moment, Liu Quan finally realized that in front of him, there was indeed more than just a single path to take to perish with the old shogunate.

With his talents, he will become an extremely outstanding person wherever he goes.

But he stubbornly chose Sakuya, and chose the road that Kondo-kun and himself chose together and decided to guard to the end. Even if this road leads to a dead end, he will not retreat or regret it.

He can obviously plunge into the light of the new era.Or throw yourself into a whole new world of Western civilization.But without hesitation, he chose to stand in the deepest darkness at the junction of the old and new eras, and finally merged his figure with the darkness when the old era receded.

"Mr. Hijikata..." Liu Quan murmured.

Hijikata raised his eyebrows slightly, as if silently asking what she wanted to say to him.

"If...the new government army doesn't attack, if...they won't attack again—" Liu Quan vainly spoke a dream that even he didn't believe. extravagant hope.

"...At that time, what will you do?"

Tu Fang was slightly taken aback.

Perhaps she had never asked him such a stupid question before, and he paused for a moment.When Liu Quan began to wonder if he should apologize and withdraw the question, he spoke quietly.

"Even if they don't come, it's just over."

This answer didn't seem to really answer her question, but Liu Quan's eyes widened for a moment.

"The era when there is no need for 'Shinsengumi' is coming," he declared flatly.Contrary to what she expected, he didn't show obvious pain, sadness, anger or loss when he said such words.

In the future era, the class of samurai will disappear.

They are no longer needed as role models, and they are no longer needed to draw their swords. The things they can protect are probably gradually disappearing.

Liu Quan was silent for a moment, and softly expressed his feelings about the prophecy of the earth.

"...But the 'Shinsengumi' will one day be recognized by everyone. One day, everyone will recognize that what the Shinsengumi represents is the samurai itself."

"The age of the samurai lasted for hundreds of years...but, Hijikata-san," she gazed into his face, hesitated, and reached out to take his cold hand.

"The 'Shinsengumi', which appeared at the end of the samurai era, finally became a model representing the centuries-old samurai era and samurai spirit...Mr. Hijikata, this is the victory of the Shinsengumi. Also I would like to acknowledge and appreciate Mr. Kondo, you, and everyone in the Shinsengumi for their hard work.”

Tu Fang showed a very surprised expression on his face, his eyes widened, and he stared at Liu Quan.

"However, please don't say anything like implying me that as long as you participate in the final battle, you can die without regret!" Liu Quan suddenly raised his voice and glared at Hijikata angrily.

"Whether you draw your sword or not draws your sword, can it be used as a criterion to define whether you are a samurai?!... Please don't say that childish thing again. We have killed many unruly warriors on the streets of Kyoto... They also drew their swords, but They are not warriors at all!"

"A true samurai is a person who lives with a spirit. It has nothing to do with his birth, the fighting method or the way of life he uses." Liu Quan said aggressively, approaching Tufang.

"I came here to follow you to continue the Shido of the Shinsengumi representative, not to die hastily for you." Liu Quan gritted his teeth and said, "If you don't continue to live well, I will be very troubled! Hijikata Sir, please don't decide on your own to leave me again..."

Hijikata's eyes opened wider and wider, and there was even a look of astonishment on his face.Probably he never thought that she could say such a thing.

"I won't let you escape!" Liu Quan declared loudly at last, staring fiercely into Hijikata's eyes as if declaring war, and unconsciously clenched his hand.

Hijikata's expression suddenly softened, and it even sounded like a faint smile.

"...you are a terrible woman."

He laughed softly, put the other hand that was not held by her on her shoulder, and with a little force, he pulled her into his arms.

"That guy in charge, what kind of person did you recruit for me back then..." He complained jokingly, and the breath between his lips and teeth gently blew on her forehead.

"Even when I left Tama, I wouldn't have thought... that I would meet a girl like you in Kyoto." There was a touch of nostalgia in his tone, probably because he remembered being in the woods outside Sendai City, When he was about to leave, she should question him angrily.

"...Didn't you mention Ah Qin again at that time?" He actually began to slowly recall his dark history.Perhaps in order to dispel her worries on this matter, he actually started to explain to her about A Qin.

"Akoto is the daughter of the Shamisen House in Totsuka Village... She is very good at tuning the shamisen, and everyone says she is a gentle and beautiful woman. But in that era, I made up my mind to accomplish a big thing, so Can't marry her..."

Liu Quan gently pressed his forehead against his shoulder blades, but felt a black line in his heart.

...Deputy Chief, what happened to you today... It's not like your style to take the initiative to explain the dark history... Could it be because the word "marry" was mentioned in the visit of Da Bird just now, which touched his heart? memory?

【Seek and be confused／If you don't ask, you will have no confusion／The Way of Love】

This haiku from "Toyotama Fakuji" that Okita stole and stuffed for her suddenly popped into her mind for no reason.

It seems that he wrote it down before he went to Beijing.

...Is it written during those days when I was troubled by the girl from the shamisen shop in the Tama countryside?

Liu Quan knew that he should be a little jealous. After all, it was the woman who mentioned the word marriage. Maybe if he hadn't entered the health examination hall, and then joined the Langshi group, but continued to work as a drug dealer , that Aqin girl will become his wife at a certain moment, and they will spend their lives peacefully in the countryside of Tama. Their peaceful life, until old age, until death, he will have gray hair, full of children and grandchildren, he will never have any chance to meet her, right?

Although that conjecture made her feel a burst of emotions that were too complicated to express, but she still laughed softly.

Miss Aqin's later life was almost the same as what she predicted in the woods outside Sendai, right?This kind of life is indeed smooth and stable, but it is not the life she wants.

Liu Quan thought of the beautiful geisha and dancers in the flower street, and thought of the love letters piled up on the desk of the deputy head of Mibu Village. From the time he met Aqin to the present, there may be many beautiful, gentle, lovely, and virtuous people. This woman, once tried to leave a little trace in the heart of the Deputy Chief Oni of the Shinsengumi, or stay by his side?

But now, the person he hugged was her.

It was in the time when he was a drug dealer in the streets, in the carefree youth when he dated the eldest lady of the shamisen house, in the humble years when he was studying swordsmanship with those extraordinary guys in the test hall, in Living somewhere else, I don't know that one day in the future I have to come here, I have to save his life, I have to meet him, such a very ordinary, ordinary and small woman.

"Although I may be a little sorry for Miss Aqin for saying this..." She finally said, because she felt that this line was a bit embarrassing and hard to say, so she buried her face in the coat on his chest, so her voice was a bit muffled.

"But... I'm really glad that Mr. Hijikata has chosen the path of serving the country with lofty ideals."

Tufang was slightly taken aback, and suddenly laughed softly.

"...Maybe it's really like this." He said in a slightly emotional tone.

Obviously, he also heard the subtext in her words.

...What a rude and bold statement.

There seemed to be another tiny snowflake falling from the top of his head. In the biting cold of the deep winter, he laughed silently and hugged her warm body tightly.

Even if this warmth can only last for one winter, even if this hug can only last for a moment...

Before the cherry blossoms wither, she will stand by his side like this now, hug him back, support him as always, push him forward, and maybe tell him something about her that he never knew before. Things, let him get closer to her day by day, right?

Thinking like this, his arms strengthened a bit, and he hugged her tightly with all his strength, as if he wanted to embed her into his own flesh and blood, into his soul.

Before the arrival of spring, can we always rely on each other to keep each other warm on the road to the lonely end?

The author has something to say:

February 6:

Although the deputy director in the original work also has this kind of painting style, once he enters the personal line, he will warm up [what the hell], but he still feels really collapsed [being kicked away

Ah ah ah no matter!As long as Xiaoyi doesn't collapse, it's fine! ! [Actually, it's OOC, the author is insane