Cyber Daming

For Xia Zi, business tonight was a mess.

First, there was a heavy rain that lasted all night. The cold and humid weather caused the off-duty workers to go home early, and there were far fewer customers looking for fun on the streets.

Then there were bursts of firecracker-like explosions, coming from the direction of Nancheng.

In the bootlegger's communication channel, someone said that the Jin Yiwei was arresting thieves on Weiyang Long Street, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.

Those firecrackers are actually gunshots!

But these are not things that Natsuko cares about. What she cares about now is the batch of Mingjiu that she just prepared.

Most of the stimulants I added to the wine will be ineffective after tonight.

Because Xuanwei Si Yamen has recently vigorously raided various black market workshops and traveling vendors in the city, there have been many fewer competitors on the streets. As a result, many wine shops and izakayas have lost their channels and can only choose to sell expensive imported sake.

Natsuko saw this opportunity, and regardless of the fact that he was engaged in a high-risk business that was also targeted by the Xuanwei Division, he resolutely took out a large sum of money from the Buddhist Society, which had just emerged in Osaka City, and invested all of it in private liquor. During production, I want to take advantage of the opportunity to make a lot of money.

"We have to sell the goods quickly, otherwise we will be in trouble if we don't pay the interest for the first installment of the Buddhist Association's blessings."

Natsuko always shudders when she thinks of those bald men with compassionate expressions and soft-spoken words.

In her opinion, these people are much scarier than other established gangsters in the city.

Although she couldn't tell where this feeling came from, Natsuko always believed in her intuition.

After all, after surviving in Osaka Castle for so many years, this intuition has always been her only reliance.

Thinking of this, Natsuko couldn't help but tighten the collar of her plastic raincoat and quicken her pace.

After walking through the streets and alleys for a while, Natsuko finally arrived at her destination.

This street is home to low-end wine shops and izakayas with the most affordable prices and best reputations in Osaka Castle Kita District. It is the favorite gathering place for the workers in Kita District.

But the depression that greeted his eyes made the high-spirited Natsuko freeze in place.

There were no crowds of people as expected, just a few closed shop doors in dim light.

The blocked drains flooded the streets with inch-high sewage, and all kinds of garbage floated up and down.

Even the sake banners and carp streamers hanging in front of the shops were swaying feebly in the rain, and they no longer had the attentive energy of the past.

"What's going on? No one is doing business?"

Natsuko was stunned and had no idea what was happening.

Suddenly, she seemed to remember something. She quickly reached into her raincoat, took out an old electronic document, and entered the forum commonly used by bootleggers.

Since they were not qualified and could not afford Huangliang Dreamland, they could only choose to use this text transmission method to communicate, which had a very low safety factor and could be used as evidence by the guards to arrest them at any time.

[Warning: A vicious attack occurred in the Kita District of Osaka Castle. The entire Xuanwei Division garrison was dispatched and all entertainment venues in the Kita District were required to close immediately, and no one else could move around at will. The lifting time is tomorrow at sunrise and Mao hour. 】

[Reminder: It is better to go home and sleep today, and not to go out to sell alcohol. 】

The entire forum was empty and dead silent.

Only two lines of large letters marked in red hang on the page.

When did a vicious attack occur in the North District? I'm in the North District, why didn't I notice it at all?

Suddenly, Xia Zi remembered that she had heard several loud roars not long ago.

But at that time, she only thought it was thunder and didn't pay attention at all.

Natsuko grabbed her hair irritably. The cloud-shaped bun she styled specially for native women in the empire when she went out today was torn to pieces in her hands.

"Damn it, you shouldn't be selling wine. What will happen to the wine in my hand? What will happen to the interest on the blessings from the Buddhist Association?"

The sharp curses echoed in the empty streets, and were soon drowned out by the roaring rain.

"Are you a liquor seller?"

Natsuko, who was scolding the guards, suddenly heard a dry and old voice.

She immediately closed her mouth alertly and looked up in the direction of the sound.

Under the eaves of an izakaya, there was a shadowy figure, which looked like a person.

Beggars? Or a drunk who just woke up?

Could it be a Huangliang ghost? !

Xia Zi's heart skipped a beat. As a person who had been living on the streets since she was a child, she had heard too many strange rumors about Huangliang ghosts.

This kind of demon, born in the dream of inferior yellow beams, likes to occupy the bodies of men who lack yang energy.

Judging from this person's voice, it is no longer as simple as a lack of yang energy, but simply a lack of energy!

Natsuko pursed her lips nervously, and slowly reached for the Habayashiwei pistol stuck behind her waist with her right hand.

"Don't get stuck at a time like this."

Xia Zi suddenly regretted why she didn't buy a better weapon for self-defense when she got the money.

Otherwise, there is no need to pin your hopes on the pistol that is older than yourself.

"Let me ask you, are you a bootlegger?"

A creepy and terrifying face emerged from the black shadow. The fragmented flesh and blood hung on the collapsed mechanical facial bones. The two mechanical eyes had no eyelid decoration and were directly exposed to the cold air.

‘Ghostface’ didn’t move his upper lip, and he didn’t know where the impatient words came from.

"My lord, you are right, the villain is a wine seller."

Natsuko hurriedly raised her hands, a bright smile on her face, and stood there nodding and bowing.

It's not that she knew the person in front of her, but she was beaten into such a horrible state. Even if she had seen him before, she wouldn't be able to recognize him now.

The reason for the huge change in her attitude was the obvious traces of mechanical transformation on the other party's body.

Even his head has been modified. Even if he doesn't enter the military ranks, he is at least a gangster.

Regardless of whether this kind of person is captured by the Yellow Liang Ghost or not, he is someone who cannot be dealt with by the Yulin Guard in his hand.

"Isn't there a curfew? Why haven't those damn guards come here to patrol?"

Natsuko once again cursed the Osaka Castle guards in her heart.

"Since you're a wine seller, why are you hanging around? I'm buying wine."

"Ah good!"

Natsuko hurriedly rushed over, rolled up her sleeves, and pulled out a 'blue vein' from under the skin of her wrist.

This is a disguised pipe, and the other section is connected to the alcohol sample that Natsuko buried in her abdominal cavity.

"I don't dare ask for your money. Sir, you can drink as much as you want. It's my treat."

Natsuko smiled with a smile on her face, raised her eyes that were staring at her toes an inch, and quickly glanced at the other person's shoulder.

The right shoulder is empty, with many strands of hair hanging from the torn clothes.

It was so miserable, even my hand was chopped off.

The left hand was intact, but it didn't look like he would suddenly take out a wine cup from his clothes.

How can I drink this without a wine cup?

Could it be poured directly into the mouth?

Xia Zi gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, where do you think I can pour this wine for you? How about I break down the door and help you get one from the store?"

"No need to bother."

One hand took Natsuko's 'vein' and stuffed it directly into the lip-like crack on the 'ghost face'.

"Pour the bar."

"Oh, here it comes."

Xia Zi didn't dare to resist at all, so she quickly clicked her ring finger to open the valve in her body.

She didn't dare to sit on the same steps as this adult, squatting down next to him and letting him suck on his 'green vein' milk.

"The business was not done, and a batch of samples were lost. That's fine, but it's curfew time now! If the guards find that I'm still stranded on the street, I'm messing with such a weirdo whose identity is obviously unusual. Together, it would be a big problem."

When you are on the streets, you first look at treasure money, secondly you look at connections, and thirdly you look at fists.

There is nothing, so it depends on your courage.

Although Xia Zi is a woman, she has always been very courageous. Otherwise, she would not have dared to borrow money from the Buddhist Society, let alone choose to engage in the business of selling illegal liquor when the government was under heavy pressure.

But being bold doesn't mean you're not afraid of anything.

The person next to me is probably one of the suspects in today's Beicheng attack. If I had anything to do with him, it would probably be a luxury to have a happy death.

"My luck is too bad."

Natsuko was dejected, but there was a pattering sound in her ears.

The sound was different from the sound of rain, more like water droplets hitting stones.

Natsuko turned her head in surprise. From her angle, she could see the other person's body along Yuori's holes.

There was no flesh, blood or organs in the entire chest area, only a horrifying hole in the shape of an explosion.

And that pattering sound was the sound of wine flowing out of the broken pipe and pouring on the machinery.

"If you can't drink it, then don't fucking drink it. Why are you wasting my things? What a waste!"

Natsuko cursed in her heart, but she calmly moved her eyes away and continued to stare at her toes.

"I just wanted to try to see if I could still taste it. But now it seems that this body is really rotten."

The owner of 'Ghostface' seemed to be able to read minds, seeing through Natsuko's thoughts.

"My lord, what you are saying is wrong. When you drink alcohol, especially this kind of Mingjiu, you will not only drink the taste of the wine, but also that..."

Xia Zi's wildly beating heart made her mind a little dizzy, and she couldn't remember the endless recommendations she had memorized in the past.

A face with obvious traces of childishness turned red, and his inarticulate voice was mixed with a tremor that could no longer be concealed.

It's over, I'm dead now

But what shocked Natsuki was that the adult beside him didn't seem to be offended by his nonsense. On the contrary, his tone suddenly softened a lot.

"How old are you?"

"Just in time."

"Then you're only fifteen? Why don't you go to Confucius Temple to study at your age? Instead of selling illegal liquor on the streets?"

"Reading can't fill your stomach."

"I remember that the Confucius Temple in every big city in the Japanese area was recruiting students free of charge. Not only did all the students who enrolled receive full board and lodging, but they also received a good subsidy."

"you"

The sudden anger was swallowed up by fear in an instant, and the curse that came to Natsuko's mouth turned into an honest confession: "My genes are not good, and I can't even meet the threshold for admission."

“Doesn’t Confucius Temple claim that there is no distinction between religion and gender, regardless of status or genes?”

"The policy has long been changed."

Natsuko pulled back the messy hair on her head, looked up at the raindrops in front of her and looked like boiling sewage, and said calmly: "I know what other big cities are like, but in Osaka City, if you want to study in the Confucius Temple, you have to pay the gentlemen. . They say this is called Shu Xiu. But I have no father, no mother, and no money, so I can’t study."

The voice in my ear was silent for a long time, and then slowly sounded after a while: "You can start a business of selling private liquor, can't you raise money for Shu Xiu?"

"They're all borrowed."

Xia Zi answered very honestly: "No one would lend money to people like me before, and only Buddha would do such a thing."

"Buddha. Even the Buddha's order has come in."

The volume of this sentence was very low, and Xia Zi, who was a little lost, did not hear it clearly.

"what did you say?"

"It's nothing. But even if it's a loan, isn't it better to enter the Confucius Temple than to sell illegal liquor?"

"Sir, he doesn't want the borrowed money. It's too dirty."

Natsuko propped her chin up with one hand, "Actually, reading this book is of no use. Is it possible that I can finally break through the ranks and become a superior master? Well, I am a woman, so I should be called Madam, right? This is simply impossible. "

Even so, Xia Zi herself could hear the insincerity in her words, as well as the deep envy.

"Small liquor is also one of the contraband items. If you are caught doing this business by the guards, you will be punished severely according to Ming law. Aren't you afraid?"

"Of course I'm not afraid. What's more terrifying than being poor?"

Natsuko said matter-of-factly: "Death at the hands of the guards is death, death at the hands of gangsters is death, starving to death on the streets is death, there is no difference."

"Then do you think the New Deal implemented by those officials is good?"

"Of course." Xia Zi didn't hesitate.

"Why?"

I don't know why, maybe it's just an illusion, but Xia Zi always feels that the emotion conveyed in the other person's words is a bit bleak and gloomy.

"I can't quite tell."

Natsuko licked her lips: "But at least if I don't owe money, I don't have to worry about opening my eyes the next day and finding myself lying on the operating table of a gangster hospital."

"But after the New Deal, Japanese areas are no longer Japanese areas."

Xia Zi said excitedly: "Wouldn't that be better? Instead of being a criminal area, I can also become a citizen of the empire! At that time, I will give myself a nice Mingren name, just like the students in Confucius Temple !”

"That Japanese Country"

The words stopped suddenly, and a hand suddenly reached into Natsuko's sight and handed the 'Qingjin' back to her.

"I won't drink this wine anymore."

Xia Zi's heart suddenly trembled. She thought her words had offended the other party. She raised her face and forced a smile: "It's okay. Even if you can't taste the drink, just pour it into your stomach and drink it to drown your sorrows."

"There's nothing to worry about, that's it. How much does the drink cost?"

"No need to pay, this is all my filial piety to you." Xia Zixuan was about to cry.

"Money has to be given, one lump sum at a time."

The voice coming from the other party's body carried an unquestionable majesty.

The girl trembled and slowly spread her palms in front of her face.

"Sincerity, sincerity, one hundred treasure notes."

There was a rustling sound for a moment, but Xia Zi's palm was still empty.

"I don't have any money with me"

Xia Zi's crouching body suddenly trembled as if an electric shock had occurred, and her spread fingers suddenly closed together.

"You are a shameless villain. You dare to ask you for money. You really don't know how to live or die."

As soon as he pretended to be annoyed, a few treasure notes slipped in between his fingers.

"I will give him this money."

Natsuko looked up blankly, and what came into view was a tall, thin young man with distinct features, standing under a black umbrella, with a soft smile on his yellow face.

"Is it enough?"

"That's enough."

"That's enough, then go back quickly."

Xia Zi stood up in a hurry while holding the money. She didn't even have time to put on the hood of her plastic raincoat and hurried into the rain.

"Wait a moment."

The sudden stop caused a series of water splashes.

"Take this. When you run into trouble that you can't solve, go to Edo to find a man named Toyotomi Hideran. He will help me pay back the money for today's drink."

Natsuko caught a bit of shadow light thrown by the other party, and through the light of the surrounding street lights, she could clearly see several lifelike feathers engraved on it.

"Sir, your drink money has been paid."

"One stroke, one stroke!"

"Thank you, sir."

At this moment, only a young man holding an umbrella and an old man sitting slumped were left on the long street.

"It's you, it seems I've been betrayed again?"

This was the first thing Toyotomi said when he looked at Li Jun from far away.