I formed the strongest swordsman group

Duo Duo, Dao Trial—after hearing these two words, Qingdeng's brows were instantly frowned.

This country has always had a terrible bad habit: to test the knife with people.

In order to test the sharpness of their sabers, certain psychotic warriors often lie in ambush in the streets late at night, attacking and killing passers-by, and testing their swords with others.

This kind of behavior of taking people to test knives on the street is called "Tsuji Zan".

Tsuji cut was quite common before the Edo period.

It wasn't until three hundred years ago, after the establishment of the Edo Shogunate, that the Tokugawa family finally legislated to prohibit such insane and lunatic behavior. Once discovered, they will be severely punished.

The legislative prohibition of the Edo Shogunate has achieved good results, and this inhumane bad habit has been greatly curbed, but the term "Tsuji Zhan" has not been completely swept into the trash can of history.

After all, no matter when and where, there is never a shortage of lunatics with mental problems.

Even now that the Edo shogunate has ruled the country for nearly 300 years, even at the feet of emperors like Edo Ichimachi, there are still shocking news that "so and so was tested with a knife last night" from time to time.

And the person who is most often used as a victim of Tsuji-Zan... is Uta.

Udo—in simple terms, they are untouchables.

Japanese society in the Edo period was divided into four levels from top to bottom: scholars, farmers, businessmen and commerce.

In addition to the "scholars, peasants, industry and commerce", there is another..."invisible class" outside these four levels, that is, the "Zuduo class".

With the name of "dirty", just hearing the name is enough to know the status of this group in society.

The origin of the group of Feiduo can be traced back thousands of years ago. Before Japan fully learned the advanced culture and system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there had always been a class in the society that served those officials: "slaves".

Most of the filthy men in the Edo period were descendants of these servants.

In addition to the slave class thousands of years ago, the source of the Zydos is——

People who specialize in occupations related to blood pollution such as leather and butchery.

A person infected with leprosy who was thrown into the settlement of Zandou and survived.

The Ainu people who became prisoners of war.

Etc., etc……

The above-mentioned people and their descendants together constitute the class of "Zuduo".

Seen as a pariah, it can be said that he suffered from discrimination.

The Edo shogunate gathered the Udos in a certain corner of the city, or in some remote rural areas for centralized management.

All filths are hereditary. As long as you are filthy, you will live forever, and your children and grandchildren will be filthy, and you will never be able to stand up, and you will never be able to obtain citizenship.

They can't buy land, and they can't engage in agricultural and commercial activities. They can only do some dirty and unclean jobs such as cleaners, morticians, butchers, and leather manufacturers. .

The Tudors often have to cover their faces when they leave the ghetto they live in and prepare to go out, because people are afraid that they will bring "filth" by speaking.

People in some places even require the Zedt to walk backwards when passing a certain place, because this way they can wipe their dirty footprints while walking backwards.

With such a humble status, their lives are naturally worthless in people's eyes.

In the Edo period, there was an unwritten rule: 7 filthy lives are worth 1 civilian life.

Because of the cheapness of Guiduo's life, those lunatics with brain problems often use Guiduo to test their swords.

Take Hui Duo to test the sword, even if you are accidentally caught, you will be given a light sentence because the person you killed was Hui Duo.

When Qingdeng frowned when he heard the two words "贴多" and "考刀", Kinoshita Mai then said in a deep voice:

"In the past month, when I was patrolling various places in Edo, I frequently found victims who were hacked to death on the streets of the settlement of Renduo."

"According to my current statistics, the number of these victims is as high as seven...the actual number should be even more than my statistics."

"In just one month, so many hacked remains appeared on the street, it is basically certain that someone was performing Tsuji chopping."

"Because the number of knife wounds on each body is very large, I suspect that it is not a single person who committed the crime, but a whole group of people frantically trying the knife."

"It's okay if it's a single person, but if it's a large group of warriors with swords... I'm not sure I can subdue them."

"So, Mr. Ju, I thought of you."

"I want you to help me, and join me in dealing with these lunatics who wantonly use innocent people to test their knives."

After listening to Kinoshita Mai's sincere plea, Qingdeng asked subconsciously:

"Since you found someone killing at Tsuji, why didn't you try to inform the enforcement office?"

As soon as he finished asking this question, Qingdeng's expression froze.

Because he reacted so quickly - he just asked a stupid question...

As expected, Kinoshita Mai smiled helplessly.

"Mr. Ju, you are the 'Three Returns' of the Enforcement Office, you should know better than me, right? How can the Enforcement Office care about the life and death of the uncles..."

Qing Deng pursed his lips and said nothing.

The enforcement office is understaffed all the year round.

Even with the help of the "Municipal Citizens' Self-government Organization" to help share those civil cases, the execution office can focus on handling criminal cases, but the manpower of the execution office is still extremely tight.

Regarding the order of handling cases, the Enforcement Office has always followed an unwritten rule.

First of all - cases related to those dignitaries are the highest priority.

Then there is the case of the samurai.

Then there are the cases of ordinary civilians.

Just dealing with the cases of these "normal people", the execution office is often overwhelmed, so how can they have the energy and time to accept the cases of You Duo?

In normal times, I don't care much about Feiduo's life and death, let alone when the enforcement office is using most of its energy and resources to encircle and suppress the "radical anti-barbarian faction".

If Kinoshita Mai had managed to report to the execution office that "a group of lunatics are coming to test their knives with ulta", then her report would definitely fall to the ground.

At most, the execution office only sent some of its own servants to the scene of the crime to pretend to walk around a few times.

After another moment of silence, Qingdeng's frown that had been furrowed slightly loosened.

"...I understand the specific reason."

"But I still have a lot of things I don't understand."

"Miss Kinoshita, when you were in the test hall just now...why did you show up in that form?"

Qing Deng sighed with complicated emotions.

"Suddenly jumped down from the ceiling and landed behind me... To be honest, I was frightened by you at the time. I thought you were a thief who wanted to steal in the test hall, or a beggar who wanted to take revenge on me." team members."

"Hahaha..." Kinoshita Wu laughed a few times in embarrassment, put her hands behind her back, shrank her right foot behind her left foot, and said coyly, "I wanted to scare you and give you a surprise..."

"I thought you would be so frightened that you would fall to the ground and then crawl back on your hands and feet."

"Who knew that you rushed over and knocked me to the ground..."

After hearing Kinoshita Mai's explanation, the corner of Qingdeng's mouth twitched into a helpless wry smile:

——Miss Kinoshita also has a very childish side...

After thinking secretly in his heart, Qingdeng immediately added: However, in terms of age, Miss Kinoshita is indeed still a child.

If Qingdeng remembers correctly, Mai Kinoshita is only 15 years old this year.

Although from the perspective of this era, a 15-year-old girl is already old enough to get married and have children.

But in Qingdeng's eyes, Kinoshita Mai, who has not even reached the age of 16, is a child who has not even grown up.

"Don't do this kind of thing again."

With his hands on his hips, Qingdeng said in a serious tone.

"Fortunately, my knives were placed by my feet at that time, not on my waist."

"Otherwise, instead of throwing you to the ground, I might have just drawn out the knife."

After briefly reprimanding Kinoshita Wu, Qingdeng fell silent thoughtfully, and after a few breaths, he spoke again and asked Kinoshita Wu a new question:

"...Miss Kinoshita, why did you ask me for help?"

"Confess your true identity to me directly... Aren't you afraid that I will directly arrest you, transfer you to the execution office, and replace you with my achievements?"

"Successfully arresting and killing the little monk Mao who has been a headache for a long time in the execution center... This is a great achievement."

As soon as Qingdeng finished speaking, Kinoshita Wu immediately saw a happy smile on her cheeks hidden under the black scarf.

"Because I have no one else to ask for except you."

"You are the only one I trust, and at the same time have a very good skill."

"I believe you will never betray me."

"And...and..."

Kinoshita Mai seemed to want to say something more.

But when she said "and", her words got stuck for some reason.

After repeating "and" a few times in a thoughtful tone, Mai Kinoshita raised her hand and pulled the kerchief on her face higher.

Because it was covered by the face scarf, Qingdeng didn't see—Kinoshita Mai's cheeks were now slightly flushed.

"And what?" Qingdeng asked in confusion.

"And...and...and you once told me: You don't hate Little Monk Mao, and you also said that if you have the chance, you want to try to be a strange thief like Little Monk Mao, who is also a good thief!" Wu Shixia said urgently Said, "So I am even more convinced that you will not betray me."

"Ha...'I won't betray you'..." Qingdeng repeated the words Kinoshita Wu just said in a low voice, then he couldn't help laughing, and said in a half-joking tone, "I'm inexplicably flattered..."

After finishing speaking, Qingdeng raised his hand and scratched the hair on the back of his head.

"Sell you out, send you to the enforcement office... I really can't do such a thing."

"But as for what you said about 'assisting you in dealing with the group of people who tried to use the sword with a lot of knives'...Miss Kinoshita, allow me to ask a few more questions."

"Are you planning to rely on the strength of the two of us to deal with that person and cut the group?"

"How much information do you have about this group of people? How many people do they have? Where do they often appear?"

"How are you going to deal with them?"

Like a cannonball, Qingdeng threw several questions in one breath.

Facing these questions continuously thrown by Qingdeng, Mai Kinoshita replied one by one without rushing or panicking:

"Besides you, I have no one else to ask, so I really... It should be said that I can only rely on you and me to deal with this incident."

"I don't have too much information about the Renzhan group. I only know that they have been testing their knives with the Zeduos who live in the Zeduo settlement in the northern suburbs of Edo."

"I'm going to lie in ambush in the residential area of ​​Huiduo and wait for the rabbit. When this group of people reappears, I will directly catch them! There is no other good method available."

After finishing speaking, Kinoshita Wu raised her head and stared at Qingdeng without blinking.

Since just now, she has been casting a look of anticipation at Qingdeng from time to time.

She was looking forward to hearing the answer she was longing for from Qing Deng's mouth.

However... in her eyes, a touch of loneliness flashed uncontrollably at this moment.

Because Qingdeng has been silent.

Qingdeng's head...hasn't completely recovered from the "downtime" state.

Before he could fully digest the shocking emotions caused by "the cat monk is Kinoshita Mai", he received another commission to "solve the 'Tsuji-Zan Incident' together"...

Feeling that his head was beginning to swell a little, Qingdeng bent his right index finger and rubbed the center of his eyebrows with the second joint of his index finger with moderate strength.

The Tsuji-san incident specifically aimed at Sudo...

This kind of thing has nothing to do with me—Qingdeng heard such a "voice" in his heart.

This "voice" then said to him: Going with Ms. Kinoshita to deal with this matter that the execution office will not handle... It is not beneficial at all.

Even if the incident is successfully resolved in the end, there will be no merit at all. What merit can be gained by extending a helping hand to Fei Duo?

Completely thankless.

The pitch of this "voice" is getting higher and higher.

In the end, its pitch was so high that Qing Deng's heart beat involuntarily accelerated a little.

What this "voice" said... makes sense.

Yes, it makes sense.

Why bother to get involved in something that has nothing to do with me, takes time and effort, and is not beneficial to me at the same time?

But—at this moment, a question came to Qing Deng's mind one after another:

What good is it for Ms. Kinoshita to deal with this "Tsuji Slash Incident"?

...

...

Seeing that Qing Deng did not speak for a long time, Kinoshita Wu couldn't help pursing her red lips, and the look of loneliness in her eyes gathered more and more.

However, suddenly, Qing Deng spoke suddenly:

"...Miss Kinoshita, why do you want to intervene in this matter? People are afraid to avoid Udo, and even the execution office will not take care of them, but you actually want to take the initiative to help them."

Hearing Qingdeng's question, Kinoshita Mai was startled.

Then, she heard her reply without thinking:

"Xie Duo is also a human being, I want to do my best to lend a helping hand to those in distress, that's all!"

After finishing speaking, Kinoshita Mai blinked, and the pupils of the eyes shone with firm light—as if she was saying something that was taken for granted.

This is the first time Qingdeng...sees Kinoshita Mai showing such eyes.

"..." Qingdeng looked at Kinoshita Mai blankly.

After a while, a strange smile appeared on Qingdeng's face.

"Ha... It seems that what you said just now, 'Looking forward to becoming a hero who can do something for the common people', is not nonsense."

"I see."

Qingdeng took a deep breath, then nodded solemnly.

"Then—let me do my best."

"?!" Kinoshita Mai opened her eyes wide in surprise.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, as if she wanted to say something, but the thing she wanted to say never came into words.

Under the black veil, a joyful smile bloomed quickly—her smile was worth a thousand words.

"Miss Kinoshita, when are you going to start investigating the 'Tsuji-Zan Incident'? Tonight? Or do you want to wait until later?"

"I think I'm leaving tonight." Mai Kinoshita replied quickly after recovering from her senses, "That group of 'human killing group' may show up again tonight."

Qing Deng nodded: "Okay, then let's go."

"Ah, wait a minute."

Kinoshita Mai took off a small cloth bag she had been carrying behind her back.

"this is for you."

The cloth bag was untied - inside was a set of black clothes, a black face scarf and a fox mask.

"This is?" Qing Deng asked in surprise.

"This is the clothes I prepared for you in advance." Mai Kinoshita smiled and said, "I can't let you not pretend at all, so that people can find out that Ju Qingdeng from the enforcing office is a friend of Mao Xiaoseng, right?"

...

...

"How? Does it fit?"

"Huh? Just right." Qingdeng tightened his belt, then stretched his arms to confirm the tightness of the clothes.

The suit that Mai Kinoshita handed over to him was the same style as the Phantom Thief suit she was wearing—the same style, and they were all black from head to toe.

"Mr. Ju, which one do you want to wear, a face towel or a mask?" Mai Kinoshita held the face towel in one hand and the mask in the other. Both things are ready."

Qingdeng raised his gaze, and swept the face towel and mask in Muxiawu's hand.

The mask that Kinoshita Mai prepared for him was a black fox mask with a fairly good texture, and only a pair of eyes were exposed in the whole mask.

"Did you only wear this mask?" Qing Deng asked casually.

"In order to conceal the figure as much as possible, it is best to wear black masks and face scarves, and among all the masks I can find, only this black fox mask is completely black." Kinoshita Mai added, "So I Only this mask came here."

Qingdeng nodded, and responded to Kinoshita Mai's explanation with movements.

Then he picked up the black fox mask almost without hesitation.

"You choose to wear a mask?" Mai Kinoshita blinked, "I thought you would choose a lighter facial scarf."

"Well, this is my personal hobby." Qingdeng said while quickly putting the black fox mask on his face.

Ever since he played the game "Goddess X Wenlu 5", Qingdeng has a surprisingly good impression of masks.

After putting on the mask, out of the corner of his eye, Qing Deng noticed a puddle of water at his feet, so he stretched his head over it, using the water as a mirror.

Well, not bad, the black fox mask of just the right size covered his entire face, with only a pair of eyes exposed outside the mask.

Before changing clothes, Qingdeng quietly went back to the testing hall, and changed the saber on his body from the ghost-fixing sword to orange water.

The red and black Dingguishen are quite conspicuous and unique in style. If you wear Dingguishen on your body, it is easy for people to spot—isn’t this the Ju Qingdeng knife of Beifansuo?

If you are wearing orange water, you don't have to worry about this.

Because the handle and scabbard of Tangerine Water are black, the style is quite popular. Nine out of ten knives on the market are of this style, and outsiders can't tell people by knife.

After making a final inspection of his attire and equipment, Qingdeng, led by Kinoshita Mai, rushed out of the alley where they were hiding.

Tonight is a sunny day and a full moon night.

The clear and transparent full moon hung high in the sky, and the faint blue moonlight sprinkled down like light dust, stretching the figures of Qingdeng and Kinoshita Wu.

Under the soft moonlight, Qingdeng, who was moving with Mai Kinoshita in the shadow of the houses and galloping through the town of Edo, felt as if he was in the tranquility of the seabed.

Kinoshita Mai's legs are fast, but Qingdeng, whose leg strength has been modified by "leading the horse" and "strong muscles", can easily keep up.

Looking at Kinoshita Mai who was leading the way, Qing Deng quietly broke the silence between the two.

"Miss Kinoshita, I almost forgot to ask you."

"The night that the Fan Shu Tiao was attacked... how did you know that the Tiao Shu was under attack? Why did you tell me this news?"

"Ah, this..." Kinoshita Wu turned her head and glanced at Qing Deng behind her, "I can only say that this is all a coincidence."

"At the end of January, after Elodie and the others were almost killed by the barbarians, I noticed that those 'radical barbarians' had become a vicious force that cannot be underestimated or ignored. "

"I think if you let them continue to grow wildly... they will do crazier things sooner or later."

"So since February, I have been focusing all my energy on dealing with the 'radical anti-barbarian faction'."

"I patrol the cities and towns of Edo every night to see if I can find the whereabouts of the 'radical extermination faction' or collect any useful information."

"The night Fanshudiao was attacked...it was really good luck."

"At that time, I happened to be passing by the Fanshu Institute, and happened to witness the whole process of the Yi group's attack on the Fanshu Institute."

"I still have self-knowledge about my skills. No matter how hard I fight, I can't subdue dozens of sword-wielding warriors by myself."

"So I can only try to bring over the officials from the execution office."

"As for how to bring the officials from the execution office, I was very worried at the time."

"After all, as a little monk like a cat, it is impossible for me to walk into the enforcement office ostentatiously and say to the people in the enforcement office, 'Hurry up and support the Tibetan Book Research Office.'"

"So my idea at the time was to find an official from the enforcement office and tell him the information that the 'Fan Shu Tiao Institute is being attacked', so that he can bring reinforcements from the enforcement office."

"So... I just ran into you by chance."

"All in all, it's all a coincidence."

"I happened to come across the scene where the barbarian group attacked the Tibetan script office."

"And then I happened to find you again."

"So it's like this..." Qingdeng nodded lightly, then smiled, and said casually, "Then...the two of us seem to have a very strange fate."

"Edo is so big, it just happened to let you find me."

Kinoshita Mai's explanation just now finally answered Qingdeng's various questions about "why Mao Xiaoseng sent him information at that time".

There is a very strange fate - after hearing what Qingdeng said just now, Kinoshita Wu's red lips pursed slightly.

The pupils are slightly rippling.

"Hmm..." Kinoshita Mai muttered, "Yeah...I think too..."

During the conversation, the two had arrived in the northern suburbs of Edo.

Came to... the only filthy settlement in Edo.

After stepping into the Xeduo settlement, Qingdeng had the illusion that he had traveled through time again.

Looking up and looking around--

Small, dilapidated houses.

Weird, foul smell.

This place...compared with other cities and towns in Edo, it is like two worlds.

*****

*****

Ask for a monthly pass! Ask for a recommendation ticket! (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)

It always seems that many people have mistook the protagonist's name as "Juqingcheng"...it is "Qingdeng", don't get it wrong...