I formed the strongest swordsman group

Qing Deng sniffed, trying to distinguish the ingredients in the air.

The musty smell of damp, the smell of excrement and urine, the stench of spoiled food... All kinds of disgusting smells mixed together, making Qingdeng involuntarily slow down his breathing.

Looking down at the feet, the potholed ground is reminiscent of the surface of the moon.

There is a big hole there, and a big rock protrudes there. It just rained heavily this afternoon, so those holes are full of stagnant water of a rather disgusting color.

From time to time, dead mice, dead bugs, and other strange objects can be seen floating on these ponds.

There is almost no intact house here, and as far as the eye can see, there are only dilapidated houses that feel like they can be kicked down with a random kick.

It was terribly quiet, and the sound of mice and insects was one of the only sounds here. Just listening to this sound, people who don't know it might think that this is some kind of uninhabited no-man's land.

In a word - this area is really suitable as a location for suspense films and supernatural films.

This is Qingdeng's first visit to the only filthy settlement in Edo.

The desolation of this place, the desolation of this place, is shocking, far beyond any imagination of Qingdeng.

"Come with me." Kinoshita Mai said softly, "I know a pretty ideal place to guard, let's go to that place to guard."

Qingdeng responded softly with "Yes", and then followed Wu Shitao towards the center of the Zanduo settlement.

After going deeper into this Zanduo settlement, Qingdeng finally saw a living person.

Not every utdo has a house to live in.

There are many people who have no house to live in, not even a mat, and can only use the sky as their quilt and the earth as their bed.

Along the way, Qingdeng saw quite a few of them with their legs tightly closed and their arms tightly hugged together, nestling in the corners of dirty streets, or in the dark alleys between houses.

In order to prevent these people from discovering them and disturbing their sleep, Qingdeng and Kinoshita Wu purposely kept their footsteps light, and only took those remote trails that were not easy to be found.

The "place suitable for squatting" that Mai Kinoshita said was a big tree located beside a certain intersection.

This tree is nearly 5 meters high, and it can be regarded as one of the highest highlands in this Xiduo settlement—at least on the way to this big tree, Qingdeng has never seen a tree taller than this one. tall buildings.

Not only is the altitude high, but also because it is located next to a certain crossroad in the central area of ​​the settlement, it has a very good view, and there are thick leaves to cover the body.

And according to Kinoshita Mai, three of the seven corpses she found were found near the crossroads, so this place is considered a high incidence of cases.

Combining the above reasons, this big tree is indeed a very good place to squat.

The trunk of this big tree has a lot of pitted footholds, so it is not difficult to climb. Qingdeng and Kinoxia Wu climbed onto the thickest branch of this big tree.

"Mr. Ju, just keep an eye on the east and north." Mai Kinoshita pointed to the east and north, "I'm responsible for keeping an eye on the west and south."

There was no need to raise any objections to Kinoshita Mai's reasonable "staffing arrangement". Qingdeng nodded, expressed "I understand" to Kinoshita Mai with his movements, and then turned his body to face the north and east sides of the intersection.

Because the directions the two are responsible for guarding are completely opposite, Qingdeng and Kinoshita Mai now maintain a sitting posture with their backs to each other.

Qing Deng still wanted to ask Kinoshita Mai one by one a lot of questions.

So after a while, Qing Deng lowered his voice and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito, but just enough for Kinoshita Mai to hear clearly:

"On the night when I first met you dressed as a 'cat monk', why did you suddenly appear in the execution office?"

"Ah, this..."

Kinoshita Mai, who was facing away from Qingdeng, slowly raised her hand, and raised the scarf on her face slightly, covering her face more tightly.

"Also... there is no complicated reason."

"It's just that when I met you on the street in the morning, I heard that you will be on duty that night."

"That's why I was just curious to see what you 'three-time' warriors do when you're on the night shift."

"It turned out that I just sneaked into the enforcing office, and your whereabouts were discovered by you..."

——So I just wanted to see how we work the night shift...

After thinking so secretly in his heart, Qingdeng jokingly said:

"When we were on the night shift, the most common job we did was 'wait for dawn'."

After making a small joke, Qingdeng switched the topic back to the main topic again.

"Miss Kinoshita, you just said that during this period of time, you have been patrolling the cities and towns of Edo every night, looking for traces of the 'Radical Barbarian Sect', so have you found anything related to the 'Radical Barbarian Sect' that is worth mentioning?" information?"

"No." Kinoshita Wu slightly parted her red lips, sighed, and then replied in the same very light tone, "I don't know if it's my bad luck recently, or the group of 'radical extermination faction' headed by the barbarian group. 'They don't like to operate in the middle of the night, and I haven't found any useful information."

"Actually, my night patrols every night don't just focus on the pursuit of the 'radical extermination faction'."

"While I was investigating the 'radical anti-barbarians', I also paid attention to whether there were ordinary criminals in the cities and towns of Edo."

Having said that, Kinoshita Mai tilted her head slightly, with a hint of pride on her cheeks.

"A few days ago, I successfully caught two fugitives on the street who were about to commit a crime."

"It was really dangerous at that time. Fortunately, I happened to pass by that block at that time, otherwise another girl would have been brutally murdered by these scum."

"It's also fortunate that the two wanted criminals are very weak, and they were easily knocked down."

Hearing this, Qingdeng couldn't help raising his eyebrows—Seng Mao caught two wanted criminals for the execution office a few days ago who had not been arrested and brought them to justice, and threw the two wanted criminals at the gate of the execution office... Until now, it is still hot news that has not completely faded away.

At this time, Kinoshita Mai put her hand into her bosom, and pulled out a small stack of papers that were slightly yellowed and whose footers were beginning to be damaged due to being read countless times.

"In order to facilitate the identification of criminals, I specially found all the arrest warrants I could find, memorized every face on them, and always carried these arrest warrants with me."

Qingdeng poked his head over to look, and the stack of papers Kinoshita Mai had just pulled out from his arms was a wanted warrant that could be easily obtained in places with a lot of traffic, such as izakayas and tea houses.

——Have you memorized all the faces on these arrest warrants...

Qing Deng clicked his tongue secretly.

"...I finally understand now why the cat monk helped arrest criminals in Fujisawa three months ago."

Three months ago, Qingdeng was ordered to go to Fujisawa to arrest a group of burglars who had stolen many times in the dormitory.

As a result, after arriving at Fujisawa Ju, he found that the group of snitches that he was supposed to deal with had already been caught by Mao Xiaoseng.

For Qingdeng, who didn't know that Kinoshita Wu was Mao Xiaoseng at that time, this was the first time he had an encounter with Mao Xiaoseng, a big monster thief.

"Ah, you're talking about the Fujisawa-juku incident." Mai Kinoshita smiled, "After I arrived at Fujisawa-juku with Mr. Kiryu in order to meet Elodie and the others, I heard that there was a group of robbers going around. News of the Snitch's appearance in Fujisawa."

"At that time, Elodie and the others hadn't arrived at Fujisawa, so I happened to be very free."

"Since I'm idle, I'll try to see if I can help catch these snitches."

"Fortunately, on the first night of squatting outside the dormitory, I encountered those snitches."

Qingdeng, who was back to back with Mao Xiaoseng, has been listening carefully.

At the end, after Mao Xiaoseng finished speaking, Qingdeng smiled slightly:

"Miss Kinoshita, while stealing the money of those evil people like you, you can also help arrest criminals and stop crimes... Regardless of ancient or modern times, there are only a handful of phantom thieves."

Suddenly, Qing Deng paused.

"...Miss Kinoshita, can I ask you one more...maybe presumptuous question?"

"Huh? You can ask." Since she covered her face with a face towel, Mai Kinoshita spoke a lot more refreshingly.

Qingdeng turned his head, and stared at Kinoshita Wu with somewhat meaningful eyes.

"Miss Kinoshita, where did you learn your ability to fly over eaves and walls, and your superb boxing skills?"

"There has been a crazy rumor in the market that 'the cat monk is a female ninja'..."

Having said that, Qingdeng changed into a half-joking tone.

"You are not really a female ninja who has learned some ninjutsu?"

The cat monk is a female ninja... This rumor is half true, the cat monk is indeed a woman.

This made Qing Deng wonder: could the second half of the rumor be true...

Whether it's Kinoshita Mai's agility that can walk on complex terrain such as rooftops, or her boxing skills, they all left a deep shock on Qingdeng.

Thinking back to the night when he met Kinoshita Wu in the "cat monk form" for the first time in the prison, Qingdeng still remembers the palm that Kinoshita Wu gave him to force him to retreat.

To be able to issue such a powerful palm strike...Qingdeng concluded that Mai Kinoshita's hand-to-hand combat skills must be very high!

Kinoshita Mai, who had been always answering questions just now, did not immediately answer Qingdeng's questions as she did just now.

Seeing that her expression changed slightly, she pursed her lips and remained silent.

Qingdeng was not in a hurry, and quietly waited for Kinoshita Wu to give her answer.

Kinoshita Mai didn't keep Qing Deng waiting too long.

After a while, she turned her head slightly and cast apologetically at Qingdeng.

"Mr. Ju, I'm sorry... I'm not so convenient to answer this question about where I learned all these kung fu."

"If there is a chance in the future, I will answer you again."

——Is it not convenient to answer? Why?

Qing Deng couldn't help but startled.

But he didn't ask too much.

This kind of matter, after all, involves other people's privacy, since Kinoshita Mai does not want to say more, then it is inconvenient for him to ask more.

"It's okay." Qingdeng said quickly, "If you don't want to say more, I won't force you."

Where did Mai Kinoshita learn all these kung fu skills--this question is so quickly skipped.

And Kinoshita Mai... To be more precise, all kinds of questions related to the "cat monk" have been answered in this Q\u0026A.

There is only one last question left in Qingdeng's mind: Where did Kinoshita Wu get the huge amount of money she stole from those villains before?

40 years ago, the mouse monk distributed every money he stole directly to the poor.

But for the current Monk Mao, the enforcement office has not found any records of her directly distributing the stolen money to the poor like the Monk Mouse 40 years ago.

Therefore, in the market, there is such a voice: the cat monk is far worse than the mouse monk. Although both of them only steal money from the wicked, the latter will give all the stolen money to the poor, but the former only steals money from the wicked. Will keep the stolen money for his own enjoyment.

What did you do with such a large amount of money——Just when Qingdeng wanted to ask this question, suddenly...

"... Mr. Tangerine."

Kinoshita Mai, who had been acting as the "answerer" just now, suddenly changed her identity and became an "interrogator".

She blinked vigorously at Qingdeng, a strange emotion that was difficult for outsiders to detect was in her eyes.

"The question you just asked me reminds me of something I've always wanted to ask you..."

"Mr. Ju, the night I sneaked into the enforcement office to see how you all worked the night shift, after you found me, you could run very fast when chasing me, why did you run so slowly in the end?"

"Ah?" Qingdeng opened his eyes, and then his expression gradually became weird.

——Why are you running so slowly? Because at that time, I hadn't copied the talent of "leading the way"!

Qingdeng shouted the answer to this question in his heart.

However, it is impossible for him to tell Kinoshita Mai the true answer...

Therefore, Qingdeng could only hesitate for a moment, then nodded lightly: "Well... yes, I did run a little slower on purpose."

"Because... I told you before, I don't hate cat monks who only attack the wicked."

"I didn't want to catch him, so I deliberately slowed down."

Qingdeng told a lie that he made up in a hurry...

In order to avoid revealing his truth, Qingdeng deliberately turned his head away when he was rambling about his newly fabricated nonsense, so that Kinoshita Wu could not see his unnatural expression now.

"Did you slow down on purpose... Haha, then I guessed right."

Qing Deng heard Kinoshita Mai's joyful voice behind him.

"Thank you... In order to allow me to escape more easily, I deliberately slowed down."

"You're welcome, I just did what I wanted to do." Hearing Kinoshita Wu's words, Qing Deng breathed a sigh of relief.

He secretly rejoiced that his nonsense just now worked well, and successfully fooled Kinoshita Mai.

Qingdeng didn't know—his nonsense was more than effective?

Behind him, Kinoshita Mai softly said "thank you" to Qingdeng, and stretched out her hand to pull the scarf on her face higher and tighter.

The thick face scarf well covered Kinoshita Mai's snickering face with joyful smiles gushing out of her cheeks.

She smiled until her eyes were bent into two crescents, as if what she heard just now was some kind of unparalleled joy.

Hoo hoo...

A sudden night wind blew in, bringing a little bit of coolness.

At this time, Qingdeng, who was still secretly grateful for the fact that he successfully fooled Kinoshita Mai, suddenly found a strange black shadow squirming at the north intersection of the intersection.

"Miss Kinoshita." Qingdeng's expression turned serious, and while calling Kinoshita Mai in a deep voice, he raised his hand and pointed to the north intersection, "Look over there."

Kinoshita Wu hastily put away the smile on her face, looked in the direction Qingdeng pointed, and then, like Qingdeng, her expression quickly became serious.

Because today is a sunny day with the moon hanging high in the sky, under the illumination of the moonlight, Qingdeng and Kinoshita Mai quickly saw clearly what the black shadow "squirming" at the North intersection was.

There are eight samurai warriors, all of whom carry swords.

The figures of these 8 warriors were constantly "squirming" in the shadow of the houses at the north intersection.

After only a short while, I saw that their figures gradually condensed into concrete entities as they slowly withdrew from the shadows, and finally they were completely exposed under the moonlight.

The two leaders are twins.

Of the twins, one normally wears two sabers, one long and one short, around his waist, while the other wears two sabers around his waist, and also carries a large sword on his back.

The appearance of the two is very similar, eyes, nose, mouth... are almost exactly the same, there is only one place, the twins have a very significant difference - the person carrying the big sword has a red birthmark on the left forehead, and the other One also had a long birthmark, but his birthmark was on the corner of his right eye.

Looking at the pair of twins with distinctive features, Qingdeng's pupils shrank slightly.

The twins... gave him a very strong sense of familiarity.

Kinoshita Mai at the side also had the same feeling as Qingdeng.

Like Qingdeng, Kinoshita Wu also felt that the twins were very familiar. After blinking in a daze, she reached into her bosom, took out the stack of wanted warrants that she had always carried with her, and flipped through them quickly.

"...?! Found it." Kinoshita Mai exclaimed in a low voice, and then handed the two wanted warrants she found to Qingdeng's face, "These twins came from Kansai to Kanto 'Brother Red Face'."

Kinoshita Wu's words made Qingdeng instantly understand why he felt that the twins were familiar.

These twins... are the vicious wanted men who are currently wanted: the red-faced brothers!

The one with the big sword on his back and the red birthmark on his left forehead is the elder brother of the twins, Ichitaro Yoshikawa.

And the one who wears two knives neatly on his waist and has a red birthmark on the corner of his right eye is the younger brother of the twins——Kojiro Yoshikawa.

Six months ago, the brothers committed a series of murders in Osaka, Kansai.

They led their little brothers, frequently haunted at night, and together with their little brothers, killed every passer-by on the street at will.

When killing people, neither looting other people's money, nor a specific killing target - just killing for the sake of killing!

As many as 18 people were killed by their murderous hands, all of whom were unarmed civilians.

In order to catch this pair of vicious and perverted murderers, the Osaka Magistrate's Office mobilized a lot of manpower and material resources, but it was a pity that they finally escaped.

According to reliable information, the brothers have fled to Kanto with a group of younger brothers.

Therefore, after confirming that this information was extremely credible, their wanted notices were immediately posted all over the streets and alleys of Edo.

Because these two people have red birthmarks on their faces, the government gave them an easy-to-remember nickname for the convenience of addressing: the red-faced brothers.

The "treatment" given by the government to this pair of brothers who have committed extremely serious crimes and behaved extremely badly is not insignificant - two brothers, each with a reward of 10 taels! And regardless of life or death! As long as you meet them on the street, you can hack them to death! Whether you capture them alive or just send their heads, you can receive a reward of 10 taels!

Qingdeng looked at the portrait and appearance description on the arrest warrant, and the expression on his face gradually became extremely serious.

Suddenly, 8 sword-wielding warriors appeared in the settlement of Huiduo, and the 2 leaders of these 8 sword-wielding warriors were still wanted perverted murderers who liked to kill randomly...

What this shows is self-evident.

At this time, the group headed by the red-faced brother had completely walked out of the shadow of the house at the North intersection.

After looking around with vigilant eyes, they walked slowly towards the east intersection.

Qing Deng and Kinoshita Wu looked at each other, then nodded slightly.

The two quietly jumped down from the tree, quietly following behind the gang of perverted murderers.

*****

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