"Having said so much, I forgot to introduce myself..." The old man showed a somewhat apologetic smile to Ogata and Omachi, "My name is Heijo. I have lived in Kyoto since I was a child. I have lived in Kyoto for several years.

After ten years, I am still familiar with Kyoto."

"Since you two are foreigners who came here specifically to visit Kyoto, you definitely don't know that much about Kyoto."

"If you have any questions about Kyoto, you can come to me at any time."

"I live nearby and usually only move around here."

"Ah, but I will definitely not be here tonight."

"I'm going to take the whole family to watch the Yamaboko Parade tonight."

After saying that, a faint smile of satisfaction appeared on Pingzhang's face.

Judging from his appearance, he seemed to be looking forward to tonight's "Yamaboko Parade" just like the people around him.

…

…

After bidding farewell to Hirajo and leaving the maintenance site of "Mantis Mountain", Ogata and A-Machi started looking for a hotel again.

Since arriving in Kyoto, Oban has not seriously observed the expressions and looks of the people around him, nor has he seriously felt the surrounding atmosphere.

It wasn't until he calmed down and carefully observed his surroundings that Ogata discovered that almost everyone's faces on the street were filled with joy.

There is a child not far away. His left and right hands are holding the hands of a man and a woman. These men and women must be the child's parents.

On the left side stood four young girls in their prime. These four girls were all wearing beautiful, brand-new bathrobes, and they were talking and laughing there.

Although the distance was quite far, Ogata could still barely hear clearly that the four girls seemed to be discussing whether to take advantage of the fact that there were not many people around to grab a good seat to watch the Yamaboko parade later.

On the right side is an uncle who is carrying a thick wooden pillar and walking towards Ogata and the other two.

This uncle seemed to have met his friend by chance, and he was holding a wooden post on his shoulder and chatting with his friend.

These two people have very loud voices, and you can hear what they are saying even if you don't pay attention.

"are you still working?"

"Yes! Today's work is just about the last bit! Let's not talk about it for now! I have to finish the last bit of work quickly. My daughter is still waiting for me to come home and take her to see Yamaboko!"

…

The passers-by who passed by were male and female, old and young.

There are those who look like they are doing nothing, and there are those who are busy.

However - no matter what kind of person they are, the expressions on their faces are all similar - full of joy.

After withdrawing his attention from observing the passers-by around him, Ogata whispered in a voice that only he could hear clearly:

"It's really what Hiraboshi said... At this moment, everyone in Kyoto is looking forward to tonight's 'Yamaboko Parade' and fireworks..."

At this moment, Amachi, who was walking beside Ogata, suddenly asked Ogata:

"...Ayi, are you free tonight?"

"Huh? Of course I'm free. I will be very free until Lord Feng Mo finds out which prison Xuanren is being held in."

"I see... I have a lot of free time tonight."

Ogata turned his head and glanced at Atachi, who was hesitating and seemed to have something to say.

Reminiscent of Omachi's expression of being very interested in Yamaboko after seeing "Praying Mantis Mountain", a smile appeared on Ogata's slightly raised corner of his mouth.

"...Omachi, let's go watch the 'Shanboko Parade' together tonight."

As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Amachi immediately said with a happy face:

"OK!"

——The answer is so fast...

Ogata said helplessly in his heart.

——Have you been waiting for me to say this in person...

…

…

It wasn't until they walked out of this residential area that Ogata and Omachi finally found a restaurant - a ramen shop.

Neither Ogata nor Amachi wanted to waste time on the aimless "trip to find a restaurant" at this time, so they decided to settle the matter today at this ordinary-looking ramen shop.

It's dinner.

Until now, ramen has not been very popular throughout Japan.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, a scholar named Zhu Shunshui saw that there was no hope of recovering his Ming Dynasty. In order to preserve the integrity of the nation, he resolutely bid farewell to his country, abandoned his hometown, and went into exile in Japan.

After he was exiled to Japan, he was favored by Tokugawa Mitsuhiro, the then lord of the Mito domain, and invited Zhu Shunshui to give lectures in Edo.

Zhu Shunshui, who went into exile in Japan, not only brought advanced academic ideas and production technology, but also brought a kind of food - ramen.

There are generally two theories about how Zhu Shunshui brought ramen to the Japanese public.

The first theory is that when Zhu Shunshui first came to Japan, he was not used to Japanese food, so he decided to make ramen on his own, with enough food and clothing.

The resulting ramen not only suits Zhu Shunshui's own taste, but also suits the Japanese people's taste.

There is also a second theory that Zhu Shunshui, in order to thank Tokugawa Mitsuhiro for taking care of him, personally cooked a dish - ramen to entertain Tokugawa Mitsuhiro.

No matter which statement is correct, in short-Zhu Shunshui successfully brought ramen to Japan.

Although more than a hundred years have passed since ramen appeared in Japan, ramen has not become widely popular in Japan until now.

Amachi seemed to have never eaten ramen very often. After entering the ramen shop, he kept looking around with curious eyes.

Although it's already dinner time, there are still many empty seats in the ramen shop.

Ogata and Atachi casually found an empty seat and sat down.

After sitting down and casually ordering two bowls of ramen, Atachi let out a sigh of relief:

"Ah... I'm tired... I really can't get used to wearing clogs... The space between my big toe and second toe is a little painful now..."

"I can't get used to wearing clogs either." Ogata, who was sitting across from Omachi, agreed, "The clogs are too inconvenient for movement. Straw sandals are more convenient."

"Yes." After Omachi nodded lightly, he suddenly looked directly at Ogata.

Just when Ogata was wondering if there was something on his face, Atachi suddenly said seriously:

"Ayi... I discovered it when I was cleaning Master Feng Mo's mansion with you..."

"Isn't the area of ​​'dark purple' on your left neck a little bigger..."

"Is there any?" Ogata looked a little surprised on his face, raised his hand and touched the left side of his neck, "I just looked in the mirror yesterday and saw the left side of my neck. The area shouldn't be enlarged, right?"

"...That must be my imagination. After all, I haven't seen you for a while."

Since there were not many customers at the moment, the ramen ordered by Ogata and Atachi was quickly served.

At this time, Japanese ramen was still in its infancy, and there were not so many variations and flavors.

This ramen shop only sells two types of noodles: clear soup ramen and soy sauce ramen.

Although you can freely choose the toppings for your noodles when ordering, the toppings that can be provided are only common toppings such as bamboo shoots and fish, and there are not many types of toppings.

You can't eat while wearing this mask that only exposes one pair of eyes.

So after the ramen was served, Oubon removed the Tengu mask from his face and placed it on the corner of the table.

Ogata was not worried that people in this ramen shop would recognize him as the famous Ogata Ittosai.

First of all, there are not many people in this ramen restaurant now.

Secondly - almost all ordinary people don't pay much attention to the faces on the wanted poster.

Even in the modern earth where the speed of information circulation is astonishingly fast, few ordinary people would remember the faces of those wanted criminals.

This can be regarded as the experience Ogata has realized since leaving Hirose Domain.

Just when Ogata and A-Machi were enjoying each other's ramen in silence, A-Machi suddenly raised his head.

"Ogata, did you hear that?"

"What did you hear?"

Ogata raised his eyes from the bowl in front of him and listened carefully.

"Listen to the sounds outside the store. Do you hear the voice of the candy seller?"

Ogata poured more attention and energy into his ears.

After almost all his energy, Ogata finally heard - there was indeed the shouting of the candy seller outside the ramen shop.

However, the shouting was intermittent, and it was in a state that it might not be heard at any time - the candy seller must have walked away soon.

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"I'm going to buy some candies." Ating licked his lips and put down the chopsticks in his hands, "You go on eating, I'll be back soon."
To be continued...