I formed the strongest swordsman group

Ever since the Test Guard Hall, under the leadership of Qingdeng, defeated Little Chiba Sword Hall in the red-and-white battle at the "Plum Blossom Festival" more than five months ago, the Xuanwu Hall has been sending out "appointments" to the Test Guard Hall. War Invitation".

For the current owner of Xuanwu Hall: Chiba Dosaburo, Qingdeng has only met a few times, and has hardly had any communication with him

The deepest impression Chiba Michizaburo left on Qingdeng was that he was very taciturn.

Personality is a bit like Saito.

They don't like to talk very much, and they are often expressionless.

But under Daozanlang's paralyzed appearance, there is a burning heart of a warrior!

If you want to improve your swordsmanship, you can't do it without sparring with masters! If you don't practice against others or only practice against people whose strength is still to be improved, it will only make your strength worse and worse. Only by constantly practicing against masters can you continuously improve your strength. ——Chiba Michizaburo Is a fanatical believer in this teaching philosophy.

Therefore, under the leadership of Chiba Michizaburo, the style of the Xuanwu Hall... is quite "simple".

It is a very qualified gathering camp for fighting madmen!

Influenced by Chiba Michizaburo, the apprentices in the school competed one by one, and they all took pride in competing with the masters.

In the red-and-white battle against their Xuanwu Gym and Xiao Chiba Sword Gym, the test guard, which has been losing more and more victorious all the year round, unexpectedly defeated the Little Chiba Gymnasium, Chiba Shigetaro, Sanako, Shannan and other masters They were all defeated... This aroused the strong curiosity of Chiba Michizaburo!

Chiba Dosaburo, who wanted to try for himself why the Weiguan suddenly became so powerful, not long after Xiaoqianye Jianguan was defeated by the Weiguan, he sent a message to the Weiguan, "Let's have a red and white match together!" Let's fight" invitation.

The test hall of Dasheng Xiaoqianye Sword Gym is in the "career rising period" due to its great reputation.

Both Zhou Zhu and Kondo wanted to temporarily put their energy on developing the sword gym, so they politely declined Chiba Michizaburo's invitation to fight.

Chiba Michizaburo, who really wanted to see how the Test Guard Hall became so strong, was not discouraged by this small failure.

In the past few months, Chiba Michizaburo has been unremittingly sending out invitations to the test guard hall every once in a while.

But the testing hall has always declined.

Last month, that is, at the end of July, Chiba Michizaburo once again issued an invitation to the Test Guard Hall to "Let's hold a red and white battle together".

This time... the testing hall did not refuse without thinking!

Both Zhou Zhu and Kondo, father and son, agreed very tacitly: After such a long period of development, it is time for a fierce contest to test how the current strength of the test guard hall has improved.

The mighty Xuanwu Gym...just happens to be an opponent worth challenging!

Only by fighting against a powerful opponent can one fully unleash one's own potential.

So, this time, the Weiwei Pavilion accepted the invitation from the Xuanwu Pavilion!

After a brief discussion between the people of the two sword gyms, they finally decided on August 20th as the date for the Red and White Battle.

After confirming that they will have a long-lost red-white battle with Xuanwu Hall, the atmosphere in the Weiwei Hall these days is particularly serious and tense.

The list of players participating in this red and white battle has not yet been determined.

The apprentices who aspired to be selected to fight against Xuanwu Hall all worked harder recently.

Speaking of Chiba Michizaburo, this man is also a very legendary man.

Chiba Shusaku, the founder of Hokushin Yidao Style and the first owner of Genwukan, has 4 sons: Chiba Kisutaro, Chiba Eijiro, Chiba Michizaburo, and Chiba Tamon Shiro.

The eldest son Chiba Kisutaro died young, and only the other three sons are still alive.

After Chiba Shusaku died of illness 5 years ago, Chiba Eijiro should have been the head of the Hokushin Issou-ryu clan and the head of the Xuanwukan, no matter in terms of seniority or strength.

However, before Chiba Shusaku died of illness, Chiba Eijiro had already served in the Mito clan in order to improve his knowledge and swordsmanship, so he had no spare energy to inherit the family business.

Therefore, the position of the second generation head of the Beichen Yidaoru clan, the second generation head of the Xuanwu Museum... This huge family fortune fell on the shoulders of the third son: Chiba Dosaburo.

Many people who don't know enough about the Edo swordsmanship world often have such misunderstandings - Chiba Michizaburo got to his current prominent position entirely by picking up leaks.

It is true that if Chiba Eijiro had not become an official in the Mito clan, this huge family business would never have been the turn of Chiba Michizaburo to inherit.

In terms of comprehensive strength, Chiba Michizaburo is indeed far inferior to his second brother Eijiro... But compared to his second brother, his swordsmanship level is still very low.

No matter how you say it, Chiba Michizaburo is also a child of the "Swordsman Family" Chiba family.

Because Eijiro's light is too dazzling, people often ignore it subconsciously...Chiba Michizaburo is also a top-notch genius swordsman!

Chiba Shigetaro once said this to Qingdeng in a certain chat - among the younger generation of their Chiba family, if they are ranked according to the strength of swordsmanship talent, then his second cousin Chiba Rong Jiro monopolizes the first gear, and then third cousin Chiba Michizaburo monopolizes the second gear, and himself, Sanako, and fourth cousin Chiba Domon Shiro are in the lowest gear.

At this stage, counting all the members of the two brother sword gyms, Xuanwukan and Little Chiba Sword Gym, only Chiba Sadakichi, Chiba Eijiro, and Chiba Michizaburo have reached the state of being able to freely retract "power" !

Compared with Eijiro, Dosaburo is much more low-key and inconspicuous.

But in the world of swordsmanship in Edo, Dosaburo's various anecdotes are no less than Eijiro's.

Among the various anecdotes related to Dosaburo, it is naturally the most famous that "in order to defeat Eijiro, he developed the Hokushin Two Swords Style".

According to rumors - Dosaburo has always aimed to surpass his second brother, who surpasses him in both talent and strength.

In order to defeat his elder brother, Daozaburo practiced swordsmanship hard and thought hard about tactics.

After losing to Eijiro again and again, Dosaburo had a sudden thought: Since I can't beat my second brother with one sword... then what will happen if I use two swords?

Dosaburo has a famous stunt: he can do two things at once.

His left and right hands can do two things at the same time without disturbing each other, and the efficiency of both hands is quite high.

Daozaburo, who felt that he could make full use of his special skills, practiced hard, and finally brought a breakthrough innovation to Beichen One Sword Style, and developed a version of Beichen One Sword Style Two Sword Style, namely "Beichen Two Sword Style"!

Daozaburo, who has practiced the Beichen Two Swords Style, has greatly increased his strength. The two-sword swordsmanship is a perfect match for him who can use two things at once.

The two swords in his hands can attack the target from different directions and angles at the same time with different sword speeds and strengths.

Create the effect of "double attack" with one's own strength.

People who fight against Daozaburo often lose miserably because they can't cope with the strange feeling of "it's obviously against one person, but it feels like they are fighting against two masters with a high degree of tacit understanding" .

It's a pity... Even with painstaking efforts to develop the "Hokushin Two Swords Style", Dosaburo still failed to defeat his elder brother Eijiro...

The red-and-white battle with Xuanwu Hall is imminent, but Kondo, who is the second in command of the test guard hall, has been busy with another matter that has nothing to do with the red-and-white battle, but is crucial to his own future.

Isamu Kondo, the teacher and next owner of their test guard hall, is finally getting married!

Kondo's marriage partner is the blind date recommended by Zhou Zhu to Kondo before: Matsui Tsune, the daughter of Matsui Yagoro, a recent student of the Shimizu family, one of the Tokugawa imperial courts.

A few months ago, at the time when Qingdeng had just finished the "Battle of Fanshu Tiaosuo" and recuperated at home, Zhou Zhu and Abi found a Kondo who was 26 years old this year but was still alone. The girl praised by the matchmakers is Matsui Tsune.

On the matter of "Kondo's marriage", Zhou Zhu and Abi, who often bickered frequently due to disagreements, reached a common opinion rarely.

The old couple agreed: Kondo's marriage must not be delayed any longer!

After giving Kondo the death order to "must get married this year", Zhou Zhu and Abi forced Kondo to have their first blind date with Matsui Tsune at the beginning of April this year.

Kondo, who wants to devote more energy to the development of the test hall, and does not want to get married so early, is very resistant to the blind date that Zhou Zhu and A Bi forced him to...however, it is hard to disobey the orders of his parents.

Originally, because Kondo kept emphasizing "I don't want to get married so early", Qingdeng thought that Kondo's first blind date might not go well.

But who would have imagined that the whole process of Kondo and Matsui Chang's first blind date... was surprisingly smooth!

Qingdeng felt that he might never forget the change in Kondo's attitude before and after participating in the blind date...

Before going on a blind date——

"Father, mother, I don't want to get married yet. I want to focus all my energy on running the testing hall. I'm afraid it will distract me if I marry a wife!".

The above are the original words that Kondo shouted in a righteous tone before participating in the blind date.

After going on a blind date...

"Father! Mother! I've figured it out! There are three ways to be unfilial, and having no offspring is the greatest! I am so old, it is indeed time to get married and have children! I want to get married! I want to get married!"

After returning from the blind date scene, Kondo knelt down in front of Zhou Zhu and Abi in the most standard Dogeza posture, expressing with sincere emotion that he wanted to continue the incense of the Kondo family and wanted to get married... To be precise, he wanted Desire to marry Miss Matsui Tsune.

Qingdeng conducted a simple investigation as to why Kondo's attitude changed so drastically before and after, and the reason was quite simple.

Matsui Chang was indeed a pretty nice girl.

Although Qingdeng has never met Matsui Tsune with his own eyes, whether it is a young man like Kondo or an old man like Zhou Zhu and Abi, they are all full of praise for Matsui's appearance and temperament.

According to Kondo, Matsui is often a beautiful woman with fair skin like snow, petite figure, exquisite facial features, good temperament and family education.

Regarding Matsui Chang's temperament, Kondo probably only mentioned one sentence and quickly skipped it.

The rest of the words are all about how beautiful Matsui Chang is...

By the way - when introducing Matsui Tsune's beauty to Qingdeng, Kondo mentioned the experience that he accidentally touched Matsui Tsune's little hands.

"Mr. Ju, do you know? When I was sending Ms. Matsui out of the tea house, Ms. Matsui accidentally stepped on the stairs going downstairs and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, I supported her quickly."

"At the moment when I reached out to support Ms. Matsui, my right hand touched Ms. Matsui's left hand."

"Girls' hands are smaller than I imagined."

"Ms. Matsui's hands are so small, so delicate, and so tender. It feels like with a little more effort, Ms. Matsui's hands can be cut off."

"Oh... I feel so embarrassed... I actually touched someone's hand..."

Speaking of this, Kondo raised his left and right hands. The right hand crossed the throat from the front of the body, the palm of the hand grasped the back of his neck vigorously, and the left hand crossed the front chest from the front of the body, hugging his back, his cheeks were flushed, and the whole body was twisted into a ball in shame, like a maggot Twist slightly. With this appearance, it seems that he can't wait to find a gap to get in immediately...

A mighty man who is about to reach his thirties, who is as strong as a gorilla, will turn red with shame and "hug" a girl because he accidentally touched a girl's little hand... This is really true. It opened Qingdeng's eyes.

While broadening his horizons, Qingdeng also gained a deeper understanding of Kondo.

I didn't expect you, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, to have such a simple side!

Qingdeng couldn't help feeling: Isamu Kondo and Toshizo Hijikata, brothers with different surnames, are really interesting.

The former accidentally touched a girl's little hand, and he was so shy and excited that he wanted to throw himself over his shoulder and throw himself out.

The latter has so many girlfriends that he can form two football teams to play each other there.

All in all——After having the first blind date with Matsui Tsune and seeing what Matsui Tsune looks like with his own eyes, Kondo never objected to the blind date and marriage.

Kondo fell in love with Matsui Chang at first sight, and Matsui Chang and her family were also very satisfied with Kondo, who was tall, burly, upright and masculine, and looked very samurai-like.

Now that the two families are quite satisfied with each other, then the next thing will be a matter of course.

In mid-June, the elders of the two sides made the determination to form a good relationship between Qin and Jin.

On July 5th, Kondo and Matsui Chang became officially engaged.

The couple's wedding is scheduled for September 1st.

In recent days, under Abi's request and urging, Kondo spends at least 2 hours every day practicing wedding etiquette there.

After all, it is to practice how to get married. This kind of practice can be regarded as painful and happy... probably.

On August 20, the red and white battle with Xuanwu Hall will be held

Kondo and Matsui Tsuneka's wedding ceremony will be held on September 1st.

In the next month, the test hall is bound to be quite lively and busy.

...

...

That night--

Test hall, dojo——

Qingdeng stood alone in the middle of the empty dojo.

Standing casually, Qingdeng swung the bamboo sword vigorously with one hand.

While confirming the length and weight of the bamboo sword, which was a bit unfamiliar to him because he hadn't swung it for a long time, he flexed the muscles of his arms and waist.

When he felt that the muscles and bones in his arms were almost fully active, Qingdeng took a deep breath, held the bamboo sword with both hands, and posed a standard mid-section posture against the air in front of him.

call--! call--! call--! call--!

There was a sharp sound of breaking wind in the empty dojo.

Qingdeng swung his sword quickly, practicing cutting back.

Cut back: one of the basic movements in fencing practice. First cut a knife from the front, then the left and right sides, and repeat the cycle.

After practicing until he felt his breathing began to become a little short, Qingdeng slowly stopped the sword in his hand.

"The body is so stiff..."

Qingdeng grinned vigorously, and raised his hands to rub his two arms.

The day before yesterday, Qingdeng went back to Ren Medical Hall following Bei Ren's doctor's order to "come back every 7 days for a reexamination".

Bei Ren is really a good doctor. Every time he re-examines Qingdeng's body, he does his best and is never sloppy.

After carefully inspecting Qingdeng's body from head to toe, Bei Ren showed a relieved and satisfied smile.

"Mr. Orange, your recovery ability is really amazing. Your body has completely healed, and you don't need to come to Renyitang for a reexamination in the future."

"Then can I exercise my body and practice swordsmanship as usual?"

"Of course you can. You have already recovered, so feel free to exercise your body and sharpen your sword skills!"

Now that his body has recovered, Qingdeng began his physical rehabilitation.

After two full months of leisurely days without even touching a sword, Qingdeng's body became terribly stiff.

It will take some time to regain the feeling of holding a sword in both palms and to rejuvenate the muscles of the body.

At this moment, Qingdeng is recovering.

After vigorously rubbing the muscles of his shoulders a few times, Qingdeng, who had a short rest, once again held the sword in both hands, holding the bamboo sword firmly in front of him.

Just when Qingdeng was about to practice "cutting down" again, there was a sound of footsteps coming from the direction of the door of the dojo.

Familiar footsteps.

Walk lightly and energetically like a puppy.

Qingdeng, who has lived in the Weiwei Museum for nearly 8 months now, could not have heard it wrong.

"Okita-kun, didn't you go take a bath?"

Without looking back, Qingdeng called out the name of the person who came.

"Huh? Mr. Ju, you can tell that it's me."

"How long do you think I've lived here? I've already remembered everyone's footsteps."

Qingdeng laughed dumbfoundedly, put away the bamboo sword in his hand, and turned back.

At the gate of the dojo, Okita was standing holding a bathtub with only towels, soap, and a change of clothes in his arms.

"I don't know what's going on today. It's this hour, and there are still many people taking a bath at Chihiro House." Okita smiled helplessly, "I have no choice but to come back temporarily."

"Okita-kun, you really like to enjoy the bath by yourself..."

Okita has an extraordinary obsession with "exclusive use of the large bath".

In order to be able to enjoy the huge bath of Chihiro House exclusively, Okita did not take a bath until late at night when Chihiro House was about to close and almost no guests came to visit.

There are no exceptions.

Qingdeng has lived in the test guard hall for so long, and he has never seen Okita go to the Chihiro house at any time other than late at night.

"Of course!"

Okita thrust his left hand, which was not used to hold the bathtub, into his waist, and straightened his flat chest forward.

"Mr. Ju, don't you think it's cool to be alone in a whole bath?"

"Spread your arms and legs if you want, and lie in the bath in whatever position you want."

"I will never encounter the embarrassment that I can't even straighten my legs, but I will accidentally kick others when I stretch my legs."

"Well..." Qingdeng blinked, "That's true..."

Qingdeng quite understands Okita's pursuit of "exclusive use of the big bath".

After all, there is only one person in the huge bathtub, and I can soak as much as I want, and I can lie down as I like in the bathtub, which is really cool.

"Mr. Ju, it's so late at night, are you still practicing sword here?"

This time, Okita asked Qingdeng a question.

"Yeah. I'm idle anyway, so I'll just practice swords for a while."

"Mr. Ju, you are really hardworking...how is your body recovering?"

Okita and the others who lived under the same roof as Qingdeng knew that Qingdeng was actively carrying out "physical rehabilitation" recently.

"It can be regarded as recovering in an orderly manner." Qingdeng half-jokingly said, "The muscles and bones are still very stiff, and it should take some time to fully recover to the state before the injury."

"It's good that you are recovering smoothly. Will my staying here affect your practice?"

"It's okay." Qingdeng waved his hand, "It's better to say... Okita-kun, you came just in time, I happen to have something I want to talk to you about."

"Want to talk to me about something?" Okita tilted his head suspiciously.

"I heard from Hijikata this afternoon." Qingdeng smiled, "Your eldest sister Okita Hikari and your eldest brother-in-law Okita Rintaro are coming to Edo to attend Kondo-kun's wedding. Is it true?"

Okita was startled.

Then he put his left hand behind his head and played with his ponytail.

Under Okita's fingers, the slender ponytail danced lightly behind his head.

"Mr. Hijikata told you about this... Yes, after knowing Kondo-san was getting married, my eldest sister and my eldest brother-in-law wrote to say that they would definitely come to the wedding to congratulate them."

"Originally, my second sister also wrote a letter saying that she wanted to come, but because the place where she lives is too far away from Edo, she had to give up."

Okita has two older sisters who are both married.

The eldest sister Okita Hikaru married to Hinojuku in Tama County, not too far from Edo. The husband-in-law is a door-to-door son-in-law, and after marrying Okita Hikaru, he changed his name to Okita Rintaro.

The second sister, Chong Tianjin, married to a place quite far away.

"When will your eldest sister arrive in Edo?"

"I don't know. My eldest sister didn't say in her letter when they would arrive."

Speaking of this, Okita raised a puzzled look at Aidou.

"Mr. Ju, why do you seem to care about my eldest sister?"

"Because of Ms. Okita Hikaru's name, I have already heard it like thunder." Qingdeng smiled, "Both Kondo-kun and Hijikata mentioned to me: You and your eldest sister look very similar, just carved out of the same mold Same."

"So I have long wanted to see with my own eyes whether your eldest sister is really that similar to you."

At this time, Qingdeng suddenly noticed: Okita's expression at this time...is a little weird.

His long eyebrows are slightly frowned, his eyelids are lowered, his lips are slightly pursed, there is a look of sadness between his brows, and the left hand stuck behind his head is also stopped, no longer hanging high on the back of his head ponytail.

"Okita-kun, why did you suddenly show a sad expression? What's wrong?"

"Huh? Ah, nothing."

Okita's body shook slightly.

Immediately afterwards, Qingdeng saw Okita's iconic sunny smiling face that he was familiar with.

The slender ponytail danced lightly on the back of Okita's head again.

"I'm just worrying about how to deal with their marriage urging after my elder sister and elder brother-in-law arrive."

"Marriage reminder?" Qing Deng was stunned.

A look of helplessness and bitterness visible to the naked eye slowly appeared in Okita's pupils and cheeks: "My eldest sister is the kind of person who thinks 'it's not too late to get married'."

"Last year, when I just passed my 15th birthday, my eldest sister started writing letters to urge me to get married, and started looking for a blind date for me..."

Having said that, Okita sighed heavily.

"I don't want to marry anyone, start a family just yet..."

"I have told my eldest sister many times that I have no intention of getting married at present, don't come to urge me to get married, and don't help me find a blind date anymore."

"But eldest sister, she doesn't listen to me at all..."

"well……"

Qingdeng raised his hand and scratched the hair on the back of his head, and agreed with a wry smile:

"Your elder sister...you must be too anxious."

"Although Okita-kun, you are indeed at an age where you can get married now, but it is far from the time when you need to be so eager to get married."

"That's what I told my elder sister too!" Okita bared his teeth angrily, "But elder sister just won't let in oil and salt!"

"Oh... how disgusting..."

After sighing forcefully again, Okita took a deep breath and cleaned up his expression and tone.

"Forget it... Mr. Ju, let's not talk about this for now."

Okita put the bathtub in his hand on the ground at his feet.

"I don't know when it will be until Qianxun House is empty."

"Mr. Ju, why don't the two of us come and compete now?"

Qingdeng raised his eyebrows vigorously: "Discussion? Now?"

"Yeah!" Okita put his hands on his hips and said with a smile, "It's already time, Tachibana-kun, you are still practicing swords in the dojo... Your hard work makes my blood boil a little bit!"

"It just so happens that I have a lot of free time right now, why don't I take advantage of this time to practice a duel!"

"The two of us haven't sparred for a long time."

As soon as Okita's words fell, Qing Deng immediately nodded without thinking.

"Well, good!"

It's been a long time since I exchanged ideas with Okita... This is exactly what Qingdeng wanted!

Competing with a master like Okita will be of great benefit to his recovery, and it will allow his body to recall the feeling of fighting with people faster!

Qingdeng and Okita quickly walked to the edge of the dojo one by one, took a pair of protective gear each, and put them on their bodies one by one with skillful movements.

At this moment, Okita smiled abruptly at Qingdeng and said:

"Mr. Ju, speaking of it... I don't seem to have mentioned it to you yet."

"What did you mention?"

"Recently, I have a new understanding of our natural mental flow!"

"Enlightenment? What insight?"

Okita let out a "hehehe" laugh, showing a mischievous smile.

"Based on Pingqingyan and Wuming Sword, I realized a new trick!"

Ping Qingyan: The basic sword-holding stance in fencing, a variant of the middle stance, and one of the most commonly used stances in the natural flow of mind.

Wuming Sword: The stabbing skill in the natural flow of mind. Among all the sword skills of the natural Li Xinliu, this move is the best practiced by Qing Deng, and it is Qing Deng's best sword skill.

Qing Deng was startled, then grinned.

"Have you realized a new move? What kind of new move? Can you let me see it later?"

"I can't let you see it yet." Okita shook his head vigorously, the slender ponytail on the back of his head flying high, "This new trick of mine is still under development, and there are still quite a few things that need to be improved. Show it off for people to see."

Speaking of this, Okita paused, grinned, and smiled at Qing Deng with a crescent moon.

"I'll show you my new trick after I've fully developed it and practiced it well!"

"Although there are still many imperfections, but I have a hunch - this new trick of mine will definitely surprise you... No, it will surprise everyone!"

Qingdeng smiled: "Then I am looking forward to it."

While speaking, the two wearing protective gear had already separated on the left and right sides of the center of the dojo.

Just as the two squatting and standing were about to start fighting——

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door from the direction of the museum door...

Both Qingdeng and Okita were stunned.

"This is... a guest is here?" Okita muttered while putting down the bamboo sword in his hand.

"It's so late, it's unlikely to be a guest." Qing Deng frowned slightly, "Let's go, let's go and have a look."

The night was already so deep that someone knocked on the door of their testing hall at this time... Both Qing Deng and Chong Tian felt a little vigilant in their hearts.

It was too late to take off their protective gear, so Qingdeng and Okita just put on their protective gear and strode towards the gate of the museum.

"Here we come!" Okita walked quickly, and shouted towards the thick wooden gate that appeared in front of him after leaving the dojo, "Who is it?"

"Director, it's me. I'm back."

Behind the gate, came a thick middle-aged male voice speaking in a gentle tone.

"?!" The moment this thick male voice sounded, Okita's eyes widened suddenly, with excitement shining in them.

"Ah!" Okita screamed excitedly, quickened his pace, and ran towards the gate bouncing around.

The middle-aged male voice just now was very unfamiliar to Qingdeng. Qingdeng had never heard this voice before.

But Qingdeng keenly noticed that the owner of the male voice called Okita "Chief Secretary" in a very affectionate tone.

Combined with Okita's reaction at this time...Qingdeng thought of someone.

Someone he had heard of on the first day he lived in the testing hall, but had never had the chance to meet him.

Bang bang... While Qing Deng was thinking about it, Okita quickly pulled the latch of the gate open.

As the two-person-high wide door was slowly pushed open by Okita little by little, Qingdeng hurriedly followed the opened door crack and looked out the door.

I saw a middle-aged man with a pair of knives on his waist and a big package behind his back standing outside the door.

This middle-aged man looks to be about forty years old; his slightly dark complexion shows that this face has been associated with the sun for a long time, and his facial features are ordinary, very typical of "throw it in the crowd and you can't find it". s face.

He is not particularly tall, and his height is full, just over 1.6 meters. Neither strong nor thin.

I don't know if it's because of his appearance, but Qingdeng only feels that this person has a kind of honest and honest temperament.

Such a face, such a temperament... makes this middle-aged man more like an ordinary old farmer than a warrior.

The whole body of this person, the only place that is more conspicuous and attracts Qingdeng's attention...is his eyes.

The eyes of this middle-aged man are very bright, as if there is sunshine in his eyes.

This pair of bright eyes made this middle-aged man look radiant and quite energetic.

Qingdeng originally wanted to take a closer look at the appearance of this middle-aged man.

But at this moment, Okita's excited shout beside him interrupted his thoughts.

"Uncle Yuan!"

I saw Okita, whose face was so excited and excited that it couldn't be more intense, bouncing towards the middle-aged man like a rabbit.

While jumping, he continued to shout excitedly:

"Uncle Yuan! You're finally back!"

"Chief." The middle-aged man who was called "Uncle Yuan" by Okita put on a kind smile like an elder, raised his right hand and gently rubbed Okita's head, "Long time no see."

...

...

The test room, hall——

"Yuan, you're back!" Zhou Zhu laughed loudly, "If you count your fingers, you've been away from the testing hall for half a year!"

"Master, I'm sorry to trouble you." Gensaburo Inoue bowed to Zhou Zhu in front of him and smiled apologetically, "I didn't expect that I would leave the testing hall for so long this time. time……"

"A friend from my hometown asked me to help him reclaim the wasteland."

"After all, it's an old friend, and I'm too embarrassed to refuse him."

"The wasteland that my old friend wants to reclaim is much more difficult than I imagined!"

"I only agreed to help him pick up all kinds of gravel in that wasteland and loosen the wasteland."

"I thought that such a job could be done in just three months."

"Unexpectedly, I worked hard for 8 months... Sigh, I don't want to help people cultivate wasteland anymore."

"Hohohoho..." Zhou Zhu raised his hand and stroked his bare chin, "This is how land reclamation works. It is impossible to reclaim a piece of wasteland with nothing into a fertile field that can grow things without working hard for 2 or 3 years."

At this moment, in the living room, all the current members of the testing hall, including Kondo, Okita, and Abi, gathered together.

Qingdeng, Saito, Yongcang, Harada, Jiubingwei... the new residents of the testing hall who are currently living in the testing hall, and sitting behind Zhou Zhu at the moment, are all puzzled and curious now. His eyes scanned Gensaburo Inoue on the opposite side.

Qingdeng thought to himself:

——Is this Gensaburo Inoue...

This middle-aged man who suddenly came to the testing hall late at night and was affectionately called "Uncle Yuan" by Okita was none other than Gensaburo Inoue, who Qingdeng had admired for a long time, but had never met him.

Inoue Gensaburo—the doorman of their test guard and an extremely old man with senior qualifications.

He is 31 years old this year. In the fourth year of Honghua (1847), he entered the test guard hall to practice natural flow of mind.

In terms of seniority, even Isamu Kondo had to respectfully call him "senior brother".

Those who are of the same generation or higher than Gensaburo Inoue have left or scattered because they gave up halfway or successfully learned martial arts.

Only Inoue Gensaburo remained in the test hall.

Therefore, among all the apprentices who are currently enrolled in the test guard hall, Gensaburo Inoue is the oldest!

The reason why Inoue Gensaburo has been staying in the examination hall is not because he is stupid and has been "repeated" in the examination hall because he has not been able to graduate for a long time.

The reason why he has been staying in the testing hall is quite simple - his affection for the testing hall is too deep, and he stayed spontaneously without asking for anything in return, and assisted the Kondo family in running the testing hall.

Inoue Gensaburo stayed in the test hall for more than ten years...dedicated all his wonderful youth to the test hall.

Not asking for fame, not asking for anything in return.

Silently support the juniors in the test hall, silently do everything you can for the test hall.

Just to make the testing hall better.

Grateful for Inoue Gensaburo's dedication and contribution, the Kondo family reciprocated with great respect.

A long time ago, when Okita hadn’t lived in the testing hall, Zhou Zhu invited Gensaburo Inoue, who was renting in a shabby house at that time, to come and live in their testing hall, and eat with them under the same roof. live together.

In order to better assist Kondo and others in managing the test hall, Inoue Gensaburo gladly accepted Zhou Zhu's invitation.

Therefore, Inoue Gensaburo can be regarded as the earliest diner of the test health hall.

Being able to be directly invited by Zhou Zhu and the others to live in the testing hall... This shows that the Kondo family really does not treat Inoue Gensaburo as an outsider at all.

On the first day when he moved into the testing hall, Okita told Qingdeng: Inoue Gensaburo went back to his hometown because something happened in his hometown, and it will take some time before he can return to Edo.

That's why Qingdeng and others didn't meet Gensaburo Inoue for the first time until now.

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