[Gintama] Immortal

……

How badly a man must be wounded before he dies.

The heavy rain was torrential, and the mansion was silent, with the sound of the noisy rain hitting the white stones in the courtyard.

The dead man who replaced the head of the family crawled on the ground, and the scarlet blood dripping from his abdomen meandered all the way. After being washed by the rain, it was like bright red spider silk, soaking the brocade clothes in large swaths.

Buildings were blurred into shadows in the gray rain curtain, and dead bodies were scattered everywhere.

The dead man crawled towards the knife that fell on the ground, and the moment his trembling fingertips touched the handle, there was a puff, and blood splashed from the back of his neck.

Bean-sized raindrops splashed on the bamboo hat, and Nuo Da's mansion was dead silent.

Standing still for a moment, Yun withdrew his arm expressionlessly, the blood-stained knife tip bumped a few times near the mouth of the sheath, and slid back into the sheath.

The rain became more and more intense, driving the blooming early cherry blossoms into the mud, and the rainwater merged into streams on the ground, mixed with the blood of the corpses, flowing in all directions.

When crossing the unguarded threshold, Oboro's figure swayed slightly and leaned against the stone wall.

He raised his hand and touched the side of his neck. Blackened blood oozes from the wound that was scratched by the enemy earlier.

The toxin was onset very quickly, and the internal organs seemed to be pinched by severe pain, and slowly bent down, blood foam began to overflow from the corner of the mouth.

...How badly does it take a person to die.

The field of vision was shrouded in misty blood, and that layer of blood continued to deepen, and finally turned into an abyss of still black.

The noise of the rain is far away.

……

The heart doesn't stop beating.

After a momentary and eternal silence, the undead blood in his body surged.

The necrotic cells were reborn, the ruptured organs were stitched up, and the damaged tissues were repaired as before. The hot lava-like blood flowed around the body, and the pain, which was more tragic than fire, knocked the bones inside the body one by one. Broken and put together again.

Tear off the blocked tendons, cut off the withered nerves, dissolve and rebuild the toxin-corroded heart and lungs.

...will not die.

Even if his brain overflowed, his spleen ruptured, and his chest and ribs were crushed into distorted pieces by boulders, as long as the undead blood in his body didn't dry up, he wouldn't die.

— to live.

Under the excruciating pain, his sanity burst like a bubble.

Can't breathe, can't think, can't even open his mouth to scream, and the consciousness that was roughly torn apart by the pain is left with only one thought.

wanna die.

Only the living creature's instinctive thirst for death remains.

— to live.

The hot blood like magma surged in the body, and accompanied by the severe pain of bone erosion, the scattered body was reassembled and woven.

— to live.survive.Loyal to the last moment.

The hot blood whispered in his ear.

The pain that devours the soul is boundless, and in the darkness that belongs neither to the dead nor to the living, he can only hold on to that voice like a drowning man.

...is "Yoshida Songyang".

The undead blood flowing out of his body said to him:

For "Yoshida Shoyo".

It was the voice of the devil, the voice of redemption.

It was his own voice that kept murmuring in the empty darkness.

——For "Songyang".

……

Every time he "died", he would remember the experience of being crushed by a boulder.

Like a fixed replay, and like a memory imprinted in the body, those broken fragments adhered to his existence, growing into hard and cold scales.

The ups and downs of consciousness attached to the body, and something cold was pressed on the forehead.

Hazy opened his eyes slightly, and the dim candlelight seeped in. It seemed to be raining outside, and the hall surrounded by partitions was silent, only the sound of wind and rain hitting the wooden boards could be heard.

The unwrung towel was crumpled, and the cool water dripped onto the young man's cold and unmoving eyes.

Yae lowered her head to meet Obscure's gaze, her expression went blank for a moment.

The wooden basin placed on the floor was knocked askew, and the clear water rippled.

Before the ripples dissipated, Yae almost rolled over, returned to his original position in an instant, picked up the scriptures to cover his expression, and made a gesture of serious reading.

She was sitting upright reading a book, and it was raining heavily outside.

There was a bang, and thunder billowed from the distant sky, and the rain intensified after a moment of stillness.

The candlelight was quiet and steady, and no one made a sound in Nuo Da's hall.

Looking at the dimly lit courtyard, after a long time, he said hoarsely, "What are you doing here?"

Twirling the fragile and yellowed paper, Yae turned a page.

"I'm trying to keep quiet." She continued to read without raising her head, "If you don't make a sound, you can't drive me away because I'm too noisy."

"..."

"Of course, even if you drive me away, you won't be able to drive me away."

She seemed to think she was very witty, and if it wasn't for the book in her hand, she almost wanted to pat herself on the shoulder as encouragement.

"Until you can take care of yourself, I will stay here." Yae said with a straight face, "I can't help it, who told you to come back in tatters again."

... tattered.

He lowered his eyes, looked at the bandage wrapped around his neck, and did not refute.

Taking his silence as acquiescence, Yae cleared his throat and picked up the scriptures stacked aside.

"Idle is also idle when recuperating. Do you want to listen to the "Miaofa Lotus Sutra", or "Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra", or "Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra"?"

Blurred and expressionless:

"You went to the Sutra Pavilion."

"The point is this, what a boring man." Yae shook his head, "How do you know I don't have permission?"

"do you have?"

"..."

Yae slightly moved away his erratic gaze: "Hey, let's read this "Langa Sutra" first."

She turned to volume one.

"The world is separated from birth and death, just like empty flowers. Wisdom does not exist, but arouses great compassion. All dharmas are like illusions, far away from the mind. Wisdom does not exist, but arouses great compassion..."①

After reading a paragraph, she will stop.

"Do you know what these sentences mean? It probably means that life and death in the world are like flowers in emptiness. You will die too, I will die too, and everyone will die. This is the law of the world. Life and death are emptiness, but they are Only by realizing this emptiness can there be the mercy of redemption... The above is all my nonsense, let's continue."

And then really go on:

"Stay away from the eternal, the world is always like a dream, wisdom can't exist or not, and a great compassion..."②

Yae observed Oboro's expression while reading.

It wasn't her delusion, the other party's brows frowned imperceptibly.

... She seems to have discovered something.

Could it be that the other party, in fact, hates listening to Buddhist scriptures?

When Naraku has a gathering, when everyone bathes in spiritual baptism together, is it possible that the other party is actually deserting?

After pausing for a moment, Yae put down the scriptures and suggested naturally:

"...Why don't we still talk about "The Daughter of the Sea" today?"

"..."

"Are you Grimm? Or Hans Christian Andersen? I don't like sticky tragedies, so let's have some fun stories. Well, Momotaro's is a good one."

"Once upon a time..."

"enough."

The pouring rain beat on the window edge, the cherry blossoms outside must have withered.

After finally surviving in early spring, some flower buds were still clustered on the branches, but now they are scattered on the ground, crushed into the mud by the swaying wind and rain.

Wrapped in rain, the day was as dark as night.

Looking at the slender candlestick next to it, a white moth flapped its fragile wings and flew around the warm candle flame. It would fly away as soon as it was touched.

"Enough is enough. You can go."

Puff.

It was the sound of wings being scorched.

Hazy retracted his gaze.

"I want to be alone."

The noisy heavy rain was blocked by wooden boards and partitions, the candlelight in the hall was quiet, and the air settled on the ancient wooden floor.

The painting on the screen was old, like gold paint that was about to peel off.The dim candlelight burns silently, and the area outside the light circle is all dark. The old grid courtyard looks like the legs of a giant spider.

"Do you hate me being here?"

Yae tilted her head slightly.

"you hate me?"

Knowing that there would be no reply, Yae twitched the corner of her mouth and looked away naturally.

"It would be nice if that was the case."

She looked at the yellowed scroll in her hand.

This book copied during the Warring States Period is very old.

"That way, if there is a day when you need to kill me, you won't be sad at all."

She flipped to a page at random, and the ancient scroll contained dust-like debris, with no color visible, but it should be the remnants of some kind of plant.

Like fragile petals that will fall apart when the wind blows.

Yae stretched out his hand, wanting to touch, but finally withdrew his fingertips.

She smoothed the pages carefully and closed the book.

"If I die, you won't be sad, that's the best."

The gray-haired young man, no, it should be said that the man was silent for a long time.

His chest sank, a weak breath spewed out from his mouth, and he closed his eyes.

"The crows here know you."

Yae smiled slightly:

"The crows here like you too. I've never seen them like anyone so much."

Turning a blind eye to her stupid reaction, she said in a hoarse voice, "How long have you lived?"

After a pause, he opened his eyes: "No, maybe I should ask, how many times have you lived?"

With sunken eye sockets and pale complexion, the gray-haired man turned his head to look at her, showing a gloomy coldness when he was expressionless.

"You are that woman in the private school."

He remembered the man he almost killed.

Weak but persistent, full of contradictions and incongruities.

"...I thought that knowing it in my heart but not saying it was a rule that Naraku would abide by." Yae laughed and sat up straight, "Yes, I am her. But it's not just her."

"Are you here for revenge?" Obscure's eyes were full of deep inquiry and doubts.

Yae kept smiling: "Do you think I'm here for revenge?"

"..." Hazy looked away, his voice hoarse, "I was the one who got Songyang arrested."

"That's right." Yae lowered her eyes, "You were the one who burned your textbooks."

She whispered: "The private school that was set on fire by Naluo... used to have your textbooks."

"……why."

The gray-haired man turned his face away, his Adam's apple rolled up and down slightly. "Why tell me now."

Yae: "Didn't you ask me, 'Why not revenge'? That's the answer."

The heavy rain was still pouring down outside the hall, but the whistling wind seemed to subside slightly.

"There are too many people who want to seek revenge from you." Yae rubbed the big characters inscribed in ink on the book cover, "The so-called Naraku are people who have given up this life. Killers are always killed, and everyone in this organization Heinous sinner. Whether it is retribution or fate, in the past 500 years, almost no one has come to a good end."

"If you want to queue up to seek revenge from you, there are too many people in front of me." Her voice paused slightly, "Even you are in front of me, aren't you?"

Oboro remained silent and did not speak, Yae smiled, and put the scrolls and so on aside.

"But since you have asked so, I will not refuse."

She looked at the dying wick.

"As punishment, please listen."

"Born because of you, brought back to Naraku because of you, the story of the man Yoshida Shoyo."

……

It rained heavily until midnight.

The ancient Japanese room was lit with faint candlelight, and outside the window was the dark night rain. The dim yellow light and the cold rain were intertwined, like a strange and deep dream.

Hearing the movement behind him, Yae woke up in a daze.

"Close the door, it's cold outside."

After finishing speaking, she wrapped the cloak around her body a little tighter, turned around and was about to continue sleeping.

The man wearing the crow mask stood like a shadow, his scarlet eyes were deep and bloody, and seemed to flow in the dim environment.

"What are you doing here."

In the same day, two people have already asked her the same question.

Yae stretched out his hand from the warm cloak, didn't even bother to lift his head, and pointed directly at the painting on the wall:

"I chose."

Then, she pointed to the vase in the alcove:

"I chose."

Raising her arm slightly, she pointed to the cherry blossom branch inserted in the vase:

"I rescued it today."

Finally, she patted the tatami beside her cheek:

"I asked for a replacement."

Closing his eyes again, sleepy until he was in a trance, Yae muttered in a low voice:

"'What am I doing here?' I have lived for 500 years, if humans live on a piece of land for 500 years, if you want to take their land, they can start a war and fight you desperately, I will not be able to sleep .”

"Oh?" Xu squinted his eyes and leaned over, "Then what's the matter with the clothes on your body. Is this yours too?"

"..."

Yae opened his eyes and looked at him very sincerely.

"I was wrong. I was wrong when I said that your dress was too ugly. I just realized now that this dress is very warm and practical. You really have vision. You are worthy of it."

Ruoxu sneered, his expression was blocked by the mask, she couldn't see it.

"Just came back from outside, aren't you cold?" Yae sat up wearing the crow feather cloak.

"Look at you, your coat is wet, take it off and hang it up quickly."

Covering her mouth and yawning, she moved to the corner to light the charcoal stove, turned her head and stretched out her hand towards Xu.

"clothing."

The scarlet eyes narrowed slightly, and he stood there without moving.

Yae walked over.

"Raise your hand." She motioned.

"The tone is not small." Xu's tone was very cold, "You seem to have completely forgotten your current situation."

"Yes, yes, I forgot."

Yae raised his head, he was taller than her, there was no way.

"So, have you decided how to cut me? The heart, spleen, lung and kidney are up to you. Anyway, human beings are very fragile, and any part can cause fatal injuries."

……

What is there to say?

She can't remember.

In short, Xu refused to be pulled to the same level of mental retardation by her, and her rich experience was useless.

However, the problem was finally solved - the rain-soaked black feathers hung over the charcoal stove.

Wrapped in that black cloak, Yae slid to the table.

"It's not easy to be the villain who destroys the world." She raised her chin and looked at the information spread out on it, "Do you want to read at night?"

Taking off the mask, the light-colored long hair slipped down with the movement, Xu put the pitch-black mask on the table, raised his hand and randomly pulled out a piece of paper.

The columns above are full of people's names, positions, salaries, feudal lands, political affiliations, crimes, and execution dates of each person, all densely packed together with ink.A thin sheet of paper.

Yae scanned the list, but did not see any familiar names, so his shoulders relaxed.

Taking a panoramic view of her little movements, she showed a half-smile expression.

"Even if there is, what can you do?"

"...You're right, I can't do anything about it." Yae sighed and left the table.

"Go ahead, just treat me as air."

The pitch-black rain was pouring down in the outside world, Yae wrapped her cloak a little tighter, and lay down by the table with her back to the candlelight.

The pattering rain beat against the window sill, and the dim candlelight and the concept of time gradually blurred and dimmed.

The small voice was like talking in sleep, indistinguishable from the sound of rain.

"... False?"

... It wasn't sleep talking, it was actually falling asleep.

There was a slight tugging feeling when he raised his hand to grind the ink, Xu Xu lowered his eyes, Yafold wrapped in his clothes huddled up and slept soundly by the table, just pressing a corner of his clothes impartially.

What she wanted to say was: Look, I can leave a lamp for you now.

The rain is getting lighter, and the night has become silent.

The candlelight burns to the core of the short tail, and the hazy halo casts a virtual shadow on the wall in the alcove.

... The rain falls along the eaves. Although it is only for a moment, the shadow on the wall seems to want to go lower to the ground.