I formed the strongest swordsman group

the next day—

Edo, Senjiya——

The current time is about 7 o'clock in the morning.

Kiryu, who had just opened the store, was sitting behind the counter, flipping through the account books, and checking the store's recent income.

When he was concentrating on reading the account books, he suddenly heard the sound of the shop door being opened.

"Welcome light... eh? Okita-kun?"

"Mr. Kiryu, good morning!" At the store door, Okita was holding a pack of newly bought Kopei candies in his hand, while closing the store door just opened with his backhand, he showed Kiryu his trademark cheerful smile.

Kiryu closed the account book in his hand, smiled and said, "Okita-kun, good morning."

Okita looked around: "Huh? Where's Miss Kinoshita?"

"Young master, she is still sleeping now. She usually doesn't wake up until five o'clock in the morning (8 o'clock in the morning)."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries with Okita, Kiryu directly asked Okita why he came here: "Okita-kun, why did you come to my place alone so early in the morning?"

"It's not a big deal." Okita grinned, "I just came to discuss business with Mr. Kiryu."

"Oh? Talk about business?" The smile on the corner of Kiryu's mouth became stronger, "I would like to hear more about it."

"It's like this—Tachibana-kun's workload has increased sharply now, so he wants to hire 2 or 3 Okaboshi to work for him." Okita said frankly, "Because Mr. Kiryu happens to be an employment agency, so I just I want to entrust you to recommend some suitable people to him."

"Mr. Ju is still very busy, and it will take a few days before he has time to visit you in person."

"So he asked me to come and say hello to you first, and let you help him find the right person in the next few days."

"In this way, when he comes to you later, he can come directly to pick him up."

"Oh, that's how it is." Kiryu nodded lightly, "Tachibana-kun, he wants to hire Okahito... no problem."

After saying that, Kiryu took the pen and paper that was placed on the side of the counter.

"Did Mr. Ju tell you what kind of subordinate he wants and how much salary he can offer?"

Okita nodded: "Tachibana-kun's request is very simple. Because the main work content of Okabiki is all kinds of hard work and tiring work, so as long as the character is reliable and able to bear hardships and stand hard work, it is better if he is a person who knows martial arts. Other than that, there is nothing else to ask for.”

"Mr. Ju, he is willing to pay each person 2 taels of gold per month."

"Two taels of gold per month..." Kiryu smiled, "The salary is quite high."

After carefully writing down Qingdeng's request and the salary he could offer, Kiryu put down his pen.

"Okita-kun, thank you for making a special trip to our store."

"When you go back, please tell Mr. Ju - I will help him find a suitable person as soon as possible in the next few days."

"Ah, yes."

Tongsheng got up, walked to the cabinet next to him, and took out a box of steamed buns from the cabinet.

"Okita-kun, since you are here... why don't you take this box of wagashi back with you."

"This box of wagashi was sent to me by an old friend of mine who has been with me for more than 70 years and is now running a wagashi shop."

"He sent too much, the young master and I couldn't finish it, please help me destroy some."

"Wagashi?" Okita's eyes suddenly lit up, staring straight at the box of wagashi in Kiryu's hand, "This box of wagashi looks very expensive, do you really want to give it to us? "

Kiryu laughed: "If you leave it like this, these wagashi will rot."

"Instead of letting them rot like this, it's better to give them to other people to eat."

"Take it back with peace of mind and eat it with other people in the test hall."

Kiryu directly stuffed the box of wagashi in his hand into Okita's arms.

Okita, who loves sweets, has always had little resistance to wagashi, which is basically sweet.

Seeing that Kiryu stuffed the box of wagashi directly into his arms, Okita secretly said in his heart, "Since Mr. Kiryu is so enthusiastic, then I can't be too disrespectful to others", and then "reluctantly" put the box of wagashi Hug tightly.

After chatting briefly with Kiryu, Okita swallowed saliva frantically, hugged the box of wagashi tightly, and left Senshiya happily and quickly.

"Okahito..."

After watching Okita leave, Kiryu muttered.

"I happen to have a good candidate here recently..."

Kiryu took out a large book with a dark green cover from under the counter.

It is very common for job seekers to go to the employment agencies and not find any jobs they want.

Therefore, many job seekers often leave their names and contact information in the employment agency, and entrust the staff of the employment agency to help contact them as soon as possible after finding a job that meets their requirements.

The information of these "job seekers" in Senshiya was recorded by Kiryu in this large book with a dark green cover.

Kiryu directly turned to the last page of the big book with words written on it, only to see that there were only 3 names written on it——

Yongcang Shinpachi.

Harada Zuosuke.

Fujido Hirasuke.

When Kiryu looked at the names of these three people carefully, suddenly—the sound of Kinoshita Mai's footsteps came from behind him.

"Mr. Kiryu, good morning..." The clothes and hair on her body were quite messy in sleep, and Mai Kinoshita, with her cute little feet bare, rubbed her sleepy eyes vigorously while walking slowly towards Kiryu.

"Good morning, young master." Kiryu turned his face and smiled at Kinoshita Mai, "You woke up quite early today."

"I've already made breakfast. Let's wash up and have breakfast."

"Yeah..." Kinoshita Mai nodded.

Just when Kinoshita Mai turned around and was about to wash up, she paused.

"Ah, that's right. Mr. Kiryu. We have to find a way to get rid of the pile of wagashi that Uncle Goro gave us today." Kinoshita Mai said to Kiryu with a serious face, "If we don't try to solve it, those wagashi will be destroyed. It's all going to rot."

"Ah, about this... Young Master, you don't have to worry." Kiryu chuckled a few times, "Just now when Okita-kun came to visit, I already gave him all the wagashi we couldn't finish."

"Did Okita-kun come just now?" Mai Kinoshita blinked, and then asked eagerly, "Did Tachibana-kun come?"

"Tachibana-kun, he didn't come." Kiryu glanced at Kinoshita Mai with some doubts, "What's wrong? Why did you ask Tachibana-kun if he came? Do you need to find Tachibana-kun?"

"Ah? Uh... no, no..." Kinoshita Mai stammered slightly, "It's just a random question..."

"Hey... Just a random question... Is that so..." Kiryu narrowed his eyes slightly, staring straight at Kinoshita Mai who had an unnatural expression.

The corner of his mouth slowly raised an intriguing smile.

"Chong, why did Okita-kun come here suddenly?" Mai Kinoshita cleared her throat and changed the subject abruptly.

"He's here to discuss business with us." Kiryu put away the weird smile on his face.

Tongyu succinctly explained to Kinoshita Mai what Okita just wanted to come.

"Tachibana-kun, he wants to hire Okabishi..." Kinoshita Mai said softly, "There should be quite a lot of people who are willing to be Okabiki with the same heart in the 'Three Times'."

"Yes." Kiryu agreed, "So it's not hard to find people."

"Since Mr. Kiryu, you have given the wagashi we can't finish to Mr. Okita, then I am relieved." Kinoshita Mai showed a relieved expression, "Uncle Goro and Aunt Machi and the others did such a good job Wagashi, it would be a pity if they were left to rot like this."

...

...

When Okita helped him negotiate business with Kiryu, Qingdeng was in a meeting at the Beifan office.

As soon as I reported to the Beifan office today, I received an order from Susukei to "hold an emergency meeting, and all the members of the Dingcho Hui and Temporary Hui will not be absent".

Susui, as the machiho of the Beiban Institute, in terms of how busy the past half a month has been, he will only be above Qingdeng's strength and concentricity.

Take a closer look - Susui's originally chubby body has lost a lot of weight, and dark circles have grown in both eye sockets.

Because there were so many tasks waiting for him to deal with one by one, so after everyone arrived, Susui didn't even say a word of greetings, and went straight to the point——

"According to reports from our spies and informants, we have obtained information about the 'Masked Party'."

Hearing Susui's words, everyone including Qingdeng immediately lifted their spirits.

Masked Party - a group of criminal gangs that emerged recently in Edo.

There were 5 people in total, all of them wore bamboo hats with wide brims and black face scarves to cover their faces, and they robbed businesses everywhere under the banner of "I, a man with lofty ideals against barbarians, give me money quickly. .

Up to now, there have been 5 full shops that have been killed by them.

The crime is so bad that it has been listed as a "key concern" by the Edo administration.

Because they must wear black face scarves every time they commit a crime, the execution office gave them the code name "Masked Party" for the convenience of calling them.

"According to reports from spies and informants, a gangster named 'Kin'emon' in Zhuo Town is very likely to be a member of the 'Masked Party'."

"Someone in the 'Masked Party' has a dark red birthmark on his ankle—that Kin'emon has the same physical features."

"And the height and body shape are quite consistent."

"Combined with the fact that Kin'emon usually doesn't know how to do any serious business, and only knows how to do all kinds of dirty things to earn a living, he has a very high possibility of being a member of the 'Masked Party'."

"so--"

Susui moved his eyes and scanned the faces of everyone present.

"Let's run!"

"That Kin'emon usually only goes to two places - his home and a casino in Tokuchocho."

"Therefore, two teams were sent to arrest him."

"One team is responsible for guarding his house, and the other team is responsible for blocking him in the casino he often goes to."

"Whether we can catch this Kin'emon is directly related to whether we can uproot that evil 'masked party'."

"So for this operation, I decided to send a heavy force! Only success is allowed, no failure is allowed!"

"Hyuga-kun, Kitaoji-kun, you two are in charge of leading the team to guard the house of Kin'emon."

"Yes!"*2

Hyuga and Kitaoji, who were targeted, responded in unison.

Hyuga is a concentric member of the temporary return, while Kitaoji is a concentric member of the "Dongcheng Group" of the fixed town return.

"Then……"

Susui slowly turned his gaze to Qingdeng, and... Nishino who was sitting not far from Qingdeng.

"Tachibana-kun, Nishino-kun."

"The two of you are responsible for leading the team to monitor the casino where Kinemon often goes."

Suddenly being called by Susui, Qing Deng was stunned for a moment, and then quickly reacted.

"Yes!"*2

Qingdeng and Nishino shouted "Yes" at the same time.

...

...

"Humph! Humph hum~! Humph~~"

Okita, who put the box of wagashi that Kiryu gave them just now, under his right armpit, hummed the song he had just composed in just 2 seconds, while playing with the caracalla in his hand.

"Caracalla" is a rattle-like children's toy from the Edo period.

When leaving Qianshiwu and heading back to the testing hall, Okita caught a glimpse of a purple Caracalla that he liked very much at a street vendor who specialized in selling children's toys.

Purple is Okita's favorite color, and the ribbons she usually uses to tie her hair never use anything other than purple.

Okita, who fell in love at first sight with this purple Caracalla, took out his wallet without hesitation——

So there is Okita's current look of playing with Caracalla while having fun.

Humming a song of his own creation, he returned to the testing hall, and seeing Kondo who was arranging bamboo swords in the dojo, Okita immediately greeted him.

"Brother Kondo! Look at this!" Okita waved the caracalla vigorously in his hand, and swung the caracalla until it clicked. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Kondo looked at the Caracalla in Okita's hand with a speechless expression, and then looked at the excited Okita.

"Director, you are also 16 this year, why are you still like a child, like playing with this kind of children's toys?"

"Toys are toys." Okita said confidently, "Who said we adults can't play with children's toys?"

Kondo sighed: "Okay. Just as long as you like it."

"Let's not talk about this. Director, I have something good to tell you."

Kondo grinned.

"A Sui, he came back just now."

"Huh?" Okita's eyes lit up, "Mr. Hijikata is back?"

Okita hurriedly turned his head and looked around: "Where is he?"

"Just went out again." Kondo replied, "While you were out, Ah Sui went back to the testing hall, stayed in the testing hall for a while and then left."

"Going out again? Is his injury healed?"

Kondo nodded: "Don't you know who A Sui is? His body is very strong, and the injury has completely healed."

"Mr. Hijikata, he is going out now..." Okita seemed to be recalling some bad memory at this time, his two beautiful eyebrows were slowly furrowed, "Did he say what he was going out for?"

"He said he had been away from Edo for nearly two months and was going to say hello to some of his Edo friends."

Okita's previously frowned eyebrows loosened slightly: "Will you go say hello to your friend... I hope he really went to say hello instead of causing trouble outside again..."

"Boss, don't always think of A Sui as a ghost." Kondo said helplessly, "A Sui...is really troublesome, but he won't be on the first day back to Edo after a long absence. Just run out and make trouble."

...

...

Edo, Takucho, somewhere—

"One three five, single!"

"Hahahaha! I won! I won!! I have money to go to Yoshiwara tonight!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Come again! I will definitely win this time!"

...

Even though it was a street away, the yells and shouts unique to casinos continued to reach Qingdeng's ears.

Qingdeng stood by the window, looking at the casino diagonally opposite.

Although it is broad daylight before noon, this does not prevent those gambling dogs from throwing their money and life on the gambling table.

Looking towards that casino, you can often see that many people will step up and leave when they pass by the gate of the casino, and they don't want to stay in front of the casino for even a second.

The gamblers who came out of the casino basically had only two expressions—high with joy or nauseated with pain.

Since the establishment of the Edo shogunate, the shogunate has clearly stipulated that it is forbidden to open casinos, and it is also forbidden for people to gamble.

However, this decree is like farting.

Due to various unexplainable reasons, the Edo shogunate has always turned a blind eye to the opening of casinos.

In the Edo period, most casinos were opened by Yakuza.

Gambling, pornography, and usury—these are the three main and most profitable businesses of the Yakuzas in the Edo period.

At this time, Nishino's voice came over: "How is it? Have you seen Kin'emon?"

Nishino's question was not asked to Qingdeng, but to a short middle-aged man who was standing next to Qingdeng and watching the casino through the window with Qingdeng.

"Not yet." The middle-aged man replied respectfully.

Nishino nodded slightly, and then said flatly, "Then trouble you to continue monitoring."

Short middle-aged man: "Yes!"

At this moment, Qingdeng was staying with Nishino and him in a slightly dilapidated hotel.

After receiving the order from Susukei to "go to the casino to block Kinemon", Qingtou and Nishino immediately assembled their respective subordinates and rushed to Takucho.

Of course—although it seems mighty to say "call out their subordinates", but in essence, the only subordinate Qingdeng can point out is his bodyguard Saito.

After arriving at Takucho together with Nishino, Qingdeng and the others first met up with the head of Takucho's own clan and servants, and asked them to allocate some people to help them capture the Kin'emon, and then went to the Kin'emon Frequent casino.

There is a hotel diagonally opposite the casino, which is a good surveillance location, so Qingdeng and the others opened a room on the highest floor of the hotel to monitor the movement of the casino in the hotel.

This short, middle-aged man who was looking at the casino with Qingdeng and was just questioned by Nishino was an old servant from Takumachi himself. Help identify who Kin'emon is.

"Master Nishino, water." At this time, one of Nishino's subordinates, Oka, handed Nishino a glass of water.

Nishino nodded, and took the glass of water from his subordinate.

While sipping the water in the glass, he suddenly turned his eyes to Qing Deng who was still looking out the window out of boredom.

"...Tachibana, what are you looking at?"

"Huh?" Qingdeng turned his head and looked at Nishino behind him, "I didn't see anything, I just looked at the scenery outside the window to relieve boredom."

They have been squatting in this hotel for almost an hour now, and Qingdeng is so bored that he wants to count the patterns on the walls of this room.

"Oh..." Nishino responded with "Oh" and stopped talking.

The room fell into a slightly awkward atmosphere.

Going out on missions with other groups of people is a common practice.

But it's Qingdeng's first time to partner with this "Northern Institute's No. 1 crime-solving master".

Qingdeng and Nishino are not very familiar, and the only little friendship with Nishino is full of bad memories.

When Qingdeng was still that "dumb man", Nishino always got along with Qingdeng with a very arrogant attitude, he didn't even bother to look at Qingdeng more, and he didn't even bother to say a word to Qingdeng.

With Nishino's attitude, Qingdeng naturally didn't bother to put his hot face on his cold butt.

Because of the slightly awkward relationship between the two, when they came out of the enforcement office and went to Zhuo Town to perform tasks together, Qingdeng didn't talk to Nishino very much, and only briefly exchanged opinions with each other at work. That's all.

But I don't know if it's Qingdeng's illusion.

He always felt that when Nishino was talking to him now, his tone became... softer.

At this moment——the old servant next to Qingdeng suddenly screamed:

"Ah! My lords, that Kin'emon has appeared!" Shouting, the old servant raised his hand and pointed to the east side of the street outside the window.

As soon as the old man finished speaking, Qingdeng quickly turned his head to the side, looking in the direction the old man pointed.

And Nishino also rushed to the window with a stride.

The old man's finger was pointing at a young man who staggered as he walked.

About 20 years old, with a sloppy face, a crooked bun, loose clothes, a toothpick in his mouth, and a lousy look.

According to information, this Kin'emon is a well-known local hooligan in Zhuo Town. Almost every townsman in Zhuo Town knows this shameless, notorious villain who only knows how to bully men and women on weekdays.

Now it seems that this information is really correct.

Where Kin'emon passed by, passers-by turned to the left and right sides of the street with disgusted faces, as if they were avoiding a poop.

Being avoided by people with a look of disgust - this Kin'emon is not ashamed, but rather proud, and proudly raised his head higher.

"Is that person Kin'emon?" Nishino confirmed to the veteran.

"Yeah!" The veteran nodded vigorously, "Even if the scum of Kin'emon is turned into ashes, I can still recognize it. My lords, do you want to go down and arrest him now?"

Nishino opened his mouth and was about to answer.

However, Qing Deng at the side had already responded one step ahead of him:

"It's not in a hurry. That Kin'emon is still a little far away from us now. It's safer to catch him after he gets closer."

Nishino glanced at Qingdeng with a look of astonishment: "... Well, as Tachibana said, wait until he gets a little closer before going down to catch him."

Qingdeng and his group stood by the window, concentrating on observing Kin'emon, which was getting closer and closer to the casino, and at the same time, Qingdeng and the others.

At this moment, Qingdeng caught a glimpse—on the west side of the street outside the window, a "masked man" wearing a white fox mask appeared.

This person is quite tall, according to visual inspection, his height is probably only a little shorter than Qing Deng.

Because of the mask covering his face, he couldn't see the person's appearance clearly, but judging from the exposed skin on the neck, palms and other parts, the person should not be very old.

I saw this masked man walking with a majestic and majestic appearance.

The height is far above the average of this era, coupled with the appearance of wearing a white fox mask that covers the entire face even though it is not at a festival, and the pace of the dragon and tiger, this mask makes the mask The man was quite conspicuous on this street, and Qing Deng couldn't help but look at him a few more times.

But Qingdeng didn't pay much attention to this person, he just regarded him as an ordinary passerby who was dressed a little strangely.

After glancing at the masked man for a few moments, he withdrew his gaze and continued to concentrate on observing Kin'emon's movements.

Accidents...often come very suddenly.

Just when Qing Deng took his gaze away from the masked man... a sudden change occurred.

The masked man coming from the west side of the street happened to be facing Kin'emon coming from the east side of the street.

Suddenly, the masked man quickened his pace.

Speed ​​up from a slow walk to a brisk walk, and then further speed up to a sprint.

He galloped across the street like a straight arrow.

Then, when he was only a few steps away from Kin'emon, he jumped and rushed towards Kin'emon——

"Ahhh—!"

Kin'emon let out a shrill scream.

The masked man's right fist landed hard on Kin'emon's left face, knocking Kin'emon to the ground.

Walking well on the road, Kin'emon was suddenly punched and knocked to the ground by a surprise attack from the masked man, clutching his left face tightly, looking at the masked man in horror.

This right uppercut was just the beginning.

The man in the mask turned over, sat on Kin'emon, raised two fists, and punched Kin'emon in the face one after another.

"Ahhhhhh! Who the hell are you!"

Kin'emon is the kind of person who knows at a glance that he has experience in being beaten.

He raised his arms in a very professional manner, and while covering his face with his arms, he loudly questioned the identity of the masked man.

The masked man remained unmoved, and continued beating Kin'emon without saying a word.

All of a sudden, passers-by in the surrounding area stopped, watching this sudden "street encounter" with curiosity or astonishment.

Inside the hotel, Qingdeng, Nishino and others watched the sudden accident in shock...

ha? what's the situation……?

Suddenly, a mysterious person appeared, beating the suspect they wanted to arrest without saying a word... These changes made Qingdeng and the others dumbfounded.

"My, my lords." The old servant stammered, "What shall we do now?"

"...Let's go out and arrest people now." Qing Deng frowned slightly, "If you let that masked man beat him down and injure or kill Jinweimen, then it will be troublesome."

"Arrest that masked man too." Nishino frowned at this moment, and said in a deep voice, "Beating people on the streets of Edo in broad daylight...how decent!"

Someone suddenly beat someone up in the street—these "three-time" concentrics couldn't ignore it after seeing this kind of thing.

Qingdeng blinked, then nodded, agreeing to Nishino's sentence of "catch the masked man too".

Qingdeng and Mask, who decided to attack immediately, led their subordinates and servants of Takumachi to file out from the back door of the inn, and then divided into two groups according to the original plan.

Qingdeng led the way to the west of the street.

Nishino led the way to the east of the street.

The two people double-teamed each other, making it impossible for Kin'emon and the masked man to escape.

Aoto and the others appeared from the east and west sides of the street, making the hand of the masked man who was still beating Kin'emon stop suddenly.

He raised his head, twisted his head, and glanced at Qingdeng and Xi Ye who were surrounding them.

Although he couldn't see his expression, Qingdeng guessed that he was seeing the "Three Times" Concentric actually "shooting the police at the speed of light", and he came and went twice, so he must have a bewildered expression.

The masked man made a decisive decision—put down Kin'emon, who was still clutched by his collar, and planned to evacuate.

Kin'emon's face was bruised and bruised by the masked man - but he still had the ability to escape.

Seeing Tongxin from "Three Times" coming suddenly, his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly got up from the ground in embarrassment, preparing to escape.

Kin'emon and the masked man fled in opposite directions, the former fled towards Nishino, while the latter ran towards Qingdeng.

Seeing that the masked man was about to break through from his direction, Qing Deng immediately took the initiative to meet him without fear.

When he was about to pass by the masked man, Qingdeng raised his hand and grabbed the masked man's lapel.

I planned to use grappling skills to bring him down, but who knew that this masked man had some skills.

After Qingdeng's hand grabbed the skirt of the masked man, he broke free from Qingdeng's control with a special skill.

"Oh?" Qingdeng raised his eyebrows, and there was a bit of interest in the eyes of the masked man.

Qingdeng continued to approach relentlessly, trying to subdue the masked man, while the masked man kept using various tricks to try to get rid of Qingdeng.

The techniques used by the masked man, Qing Deng knew at a glance that they were wild ways that he had figured out by himself.

Although it is a wild way, but the level is quite high.

Because people in this era generally don't pay much attention to boxing skills, this is the first time Qingdeng has seen a person with decent boxing skills since time travel.

So when Saito and Zhuo Ding's servants were about to rush forward to help him, Qing Deng stopped them in time so that they didn't have to come forward to help him.

It's been a long time since I met an opponent who is proficient in fists and kicks. Qing Deng, who loved all kinds of unarmed combat in his previous life, couldn't help feeling a little itchy.

Qing Deng and the masked man exchanged fists and kicks.

Perhaps because he realized that Qingdeng was no ordinary person, the masked man's movements became serious and sharp.

After a few simple confrontations, Qingdeng quickly judged that this masked man must have experienced actual combat and has quite a lot of actual combat experience.

Although these Yeluzi of the masked man are quite good...but Yeluzi are Yeluzi after all, and they are always inferior to Qingdeng who has received systematic training and mastered orthodox martial arts skills.

The strength and speed of Qingdeng and the masked man are not much different.

Under the premise that the physical qualities of the two are similar, one uses orthodox martial arts skills, and the other uses wild methods... It is clear at a glance who has the upper hand.

Seeing Qing Deng flaunt a trick, the masked man who was tricked showed a huge flaw.

Then Qingdeng took aim at the mask, grabbed the masked man's arm, made a grappling move, and crushed the masked man to the ground.

"Ahh...!" the masked man let out a low scream.

He tried to get up, but his arms were bound and he couldn't exert any strength.

The victory and defeat have been divided.

And just when the outcome was decided——

【Ding! Scan to talent]

[Successfully copied talent: "Ghost Heart\