I formed the strongest swordsman group

"Potential", stunned... These thieves who committed crimes under the banner of "striders against barbarians" couldn't understand what they meant.

They could only instinctively perceive: this middle-aged man and woman are not easy to mess with!

"Bullying the weak and fearing the hard" has always been the nature of these thieves who "only dare to draw their swords towards the weaker".

After realizing that they had hit a hard nail tonight, they hurriedly helped up the fainted strong man, trying to escape from this place.

But at this moment, another unbelievable scene appeared before the eyes of the thieves.

Suddenly, the middle-aged man who was standing 10 steps away from them and standing shoulder to shoulder with the beautiful woman disappeared from the spot.

The map of Edo from 10 years ago that he was holding was still in the air. After hovering for a moment, it fell naturally like a fallen leaf.

Immediately afterwards, they saw light-colored haori.

The light-colored haori embroidered with "bellflowers" fluttering in the wind filled their field of vision.

Flying with the night wind, there is also a cold glow hidden behind Yuori...

Pasha... that old map of Edo fell to the ground.

At the same time, there were several dead bodies that fell to the ground.

"Why do we always encounter bandits who block the road...Are we so easy to bully?"

While the middle-aged man muttered, he shook the knife in his hand, shook off the blood attached to the blade, then stuck the tip of the knife back to the sheath, and put the knife back into the sheath.

"Maybe it's because I'm so beautiful, which aroused the desire of the robbers to rob me of their sex while robbing them."

The beautiful woman picked up the old map of Edo, and walked back to the middle-aged man with a smile.

The middle-aged man smiled slightly at the beautiful woman, noncommittal to what the beautiful woman said just now.

"You didn't spill blood on your clothes, did you?"

"Don't worry, who do you think I am? When it comes to beheading people... In the whole world, there aren't many people who are more experienced than me, right?"

Whether it's a middle-aged man or a beautiful woman, their expressions are extremely calm.

As if used to it.

It seems that whether it is encountering robbers blocking the road and robbing people, or beheading people with a knife... they are all used to it.

These days, dead bodies appearing in the streets and alleys are nothing more than a very common occurrence.

This is especially true for a large city like Edo, where fish and dragons are mixed and various forces are intertwined.

The "national thieves" killed by the bewildered "anti-barbarians", the poor people who were killed by bandits, the bandits who were killed against them... People have long been accustomed to seeing all kinds of corpses in this city .

In the early morning of tomorrow, there will be special personnel to deal with the remains of these robbers, and then the "three times" warriors of the enforcement office will be dispatched to investigate the case - limited by the limited means of investigation, and the "three times" daily There are too many things to be busy, and the results of the investigation are mostly fruitless.

"Let's go." The middle-aged man said, "I have found the way. Go straight along this street, then turn right, and you should be able to find a hotel that is still open."

"Really...?" The beautiful woman cast a suspicious look at the middle-aged man, "You have been saying that since just now, but we have been lost until now."

"Even if we go wrong again, it doesn't matter." The middle-aged man shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "Anyway, we have a lot of time, so at worst, we can treat it as a 'night tour of Edo'."

The beautiful woman thought for a while, then nodded:

"That's right...then let's go."

The beautiful woman supported the bamboo hat above her head, and strode straight forward with the middle-aged man.

The two walked a few steps away, and the beautiful woman seemed to have remembered something, and asked the middle-aged man abruptly:

"Shouldn't we go to Qianshiwu first tonight and meet Jian Gongjun and Ah Wu?"

"It's late at night now." The middle-aged man replied, "Mr. Jian Gong and Ah Wu are probably ready to rest now. It's a little inappropriate to visit people at this time."

"Anyway, I'll be able to see them at Isamu Kondo's wedding tomorrow morning, and it's not too late."

"Well then...Speaking of which, we haven't seen Ah Wu for a long time, and we don't know how Ah Wu is doing now."

Having said that, the beautiful woman with a flash of reminiscence in her eyes smiled sweetly.

"She should be at the age where she can marry someone and start a family with someone... Well, I'm a little worried."

"What are you worried about?" The middle-aged man asked in confusion.

"I'm worried about Ah Wu. It's not like you don't know what kind of personality Ah Wu has."

The beautiful woman with a worried look on her face sighed softly.

"A-Wu is good in everything, except that her character is a little too naive... her ears are too soft, and she is easy to be coaxed. Occasionally she is very stubborn."

"A person with her personality is especially easy to be fooled and deceived by some bad guys who are good at rhetoric."

"To be honest, with Yia Wu's temperament... I wouldn't be surprised even if she is foolishly tricked into being someone else's mistress or concubine in the future."

"A-Ming, you are just worrying too much." The middle-aged man smiled casually, "A-Wu is no longer an ignorant child, you can give her more trust."

"And—isn't Mamiya-kun still around?"

"There is a palace gentleman in charge of looking after Ah Wu, what are you afraid of?"

"If there is any sign that Ah Wu is about to go astray, Jun Gong will definitely take action immediately to pull Ah Wu back from the wrong path."

"That's right...but..." A-Machi was about to say something more, but was interrupted by the middle-aged man:

"In addition to Mr. Jiangong, Miss Lin is here, Mr. Mucun is here, you are here, and I am here... With so many of us supporting Ah Wu, there should be no girl in the world who is safer than Ah Wu. "

The middle-aged man showed a confident and meaningful smile, then raised his right hand and placed it on the handle of the saber at his left waist.

"Although I don't have the ability to persuade Ah Wu to return from the wrong way, I do have the ability to deal with the bad guys who dare to bully and deceive Ah Wu."

"And it's huge."

...

...

the next day—

In the first year of Wanyan (1860), September 1——

The lively and jubilant August, filled with all kinds of wonderful summer activities, has finally passed.

For most people, today is just the first day of September, a very ordinary and unusual day.

But for Kondo, Zhou Zhu, and Abi, today...the day they have been waiting for for a long time; the day they have been preparing for for a long time; !

Although all the links of the wedding have been rehearsed countless times in advance, when the day of "actual combat" comes, the faces of Zhou Zhu, Abi, and Kondo's family still show strong tension uncontrollably color.

In this tense but festive atmosphere, the testing hall ushered in the sunshine on September 1st...

Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi-cho, Shouweikan, the gate——

"Oh! Yuan! Long time no see!"

"Hahaha! Mr. Tianyin!" Inoue stood up quickly with a smile on his face, and quickly walked towards a young couple who was walking towards him, "We haven't seen each other for a long time! Come on, come on Please come in, please come in!"

"Congratulations to you guys today! Congratulations to your young curator on his wedding! Come, please accept these! It's not a respect!"

"Mr. Tianyin, you are too polite!" Inoue raised his hand to block back the package of gift money that Tianyin handed over, "We are very happy that you and Lingzheng are willing to come to the little master's wedding today! There is no need to be so polite! Stop standing around outside! Please come in!"

Just as Inoue led the Tianyin and his wife into the testing room, a group of new guests came immediately. Inoue immediately put on a warm smile again, and quickly returned to the gate of the testing room, and returned to his post.

There are three main types of weddings in ancient Japan: weddings in front of gods, weddings in front of Buddhas, and weddings in front of people.

For these three types of weddings, you can roughly infer the difference between them just by looking at their names.

A shrine-style wedding, as the name suggests, is a wedding held in a shrine. It is the most complicated of the three types of wedding procedures.

The pre-Buddhist wedding is a wedding held in a Buddhist hall, which is the least used wedding among the three types of weddings.

As for the pre-personal wedding, it is a wedding held at home.

Whether it is a wedding in front of the gods or a wedding in front of the Buddha, the links are quite complicated.

Take the most complicated pre-God wedding as an example. The steps to be followed in the wedding before the gods are: the ceremony of participation, the ceremony of worship, and the adnouncing ceremony of the Lord of fasting.

After these three ceremonies are held, the wedding ceremony will officially begin. The bride and groom will then perform the three offering ceremonies, recite the oath, the witch dances the blessing dance, and worships the jade string...

If a complete pre-god wedding is to be held, it may take half a day just to go through the complicated procedures.

In terms of the complexity of the wedding, the pre-Buddhist wedding is comparable to the pre-God wedding.

Because there are quite a lot of links in the pre-god wedding and the pre-Buddhist wedding, and the battle is quite large, only those with wealthy families have the ability to hold these two weddings.

Due to limited financial resources, most of the weddings held by civilians and warriors are pre-personal weddings with simpler procedures and extremely low cost.

The pre-personal wedding is basically held at the groom's home.

The groom takes the bride to his home, and then holds a three-offering ceremony and reads the oath under the witness of relatives and friends. After reading the vows, the wedding can be declared over.

If it is too troublesome, even the three offering ceremonies can be omitted. After the bride is taken to her home, the oath will be read under the witness of relatives and friends, and then the banquet will start and the work will be done.

Due to the small number of links, if the hands and feet are fast, it usually only takes 10-15 minutes to hold a pre-personal wedding.

After the wedding is over, the bride and groom will have a lively meal with relatives and friends who came from afar.

The Kondo family is not a wealthy family, so the wedding ceremony adopted is the most common and down-to-earth wedding in front of the couple.

Just after 8 o'clock in the morning, relatives and friends of Kondo and Matsui arrived at the testing hall continuously.

Zhou Zhu sent Genzaburo Inoue, who knew etiquette and was quite mature due to his age, who knew "adult social etiquette" to "guard" the gate of the test hall and entertain all the guests who came.

Today's weather is really perfect for the Kondo family.

Since the beginning of summer, sunny days are quite rare. The scorching light, like a spiked whip, continues to torture everything exposed to the sun.

Only today, the sun's "temper" has become quite mild.

Sunshine changed from "Spiked Whip" to "Smooth Satin". You'll still feel the heat, but you won't have that burning, tingling sensation.

The warm sunshine shrouded the testing hall, and it looked like a golden screen had been erected for the testing hall.

It seems that even God is blessing today's marriage.

In terms of identities, Qingdeng, Yongcang, and Saito are all guests of the Test Guard Hall today.

So, as a guest, Qing Deng didn't have to do anything today, he just waited for the wedding to start, and then waited for the dinner.

When attending someone else's wedding, it is the basic etiquette to dress decently and formally.

In order not to be rude to others, Qingdeng changed into his most formal and gorgeous clothes early this morning: white clothes and black hakama, and a wine-red haori on his upper body. Both the haori and the upper body are embroidered. There is the family crest of their orange family: gentian leaves.

There is still nearly half an hour before the wedding officially begins.

The guests have just arrived less than a third.

At the moment, Qingdeng, who was flustered with idleness, and the chief executive, who was also bored because of nothing to do, were sitting side by side in a corner of the banquet hall, chatting casually.

"Tachibana-kun, that physically strong man is Kondo's brother: Miyagawa Otogoro."

He was introducing to Qingdeng who each guest was, and pointed to a young man in the distance.

Qingdeng looked in the direction pointed by the director's finger.

I saw that the facial features of the young man that the chief executive pointed out were very similar to Kondo... especially the big mouth. This young man has a big mouth like Kondo's that feels like it can fit an entire adult's fist.

"Although Brother Kondo was adopted by his master as the adopted son of the Kondo family, Brother Kondo still maintains close contact with his original family and some people in his hometown... Ah, Ms. Ashin and the others are here too. Tachibana-kun, see Is that couple over there? That couple is Mr. Hijikata's sister and brother-in-law: Miss Ashin and Mr. Hikogoro Sato."

"Hifang's relatives are here too?" Qingdeng blinked in surprise.

"of course."

The general manager smiled "hehe".

"Mr. Sato Hikogoro is an old acquaintance of our test guard. He is Tama... that is, a big landlord in the hometown of Brother Kondo and Mr. Hijikata."

"In order to guard against bandits and bandits, rural areas in many places often pay to hire samurai to teach them martial arts during the slack season... Tama is no exception."

"Tama has a strong style of admiring martial arts, and the people of Tama are all proud of practicing martial arts."

"The unpretentious but fierce natural Lixin flow is very popular among the people of Tama."

"So when the master was young, he was often hired by the people of Tama to teach them the natural mental flow."

"That's why the natural mental flow is so popular in Tama."

"It's also why the natural flow of mind was often referred to as 'peasant swordsmanship' by good people in the past, because the main practitioners of the natural flow of mind in the past were farmers from Tama."

"Master met Brother Kondo...and Mr. Hikogoro Sato when Tama was teaching swordsmanship."

"Mr. Sato Hikogoro once worshiped under the master and practiced the natural flow of mind for a period of time, so he can be regarded as our senior brother."

"Probably more than ten years ago, Mr. Hikogoro Sato built a dojo of natural spiritual flow in Tama: 'Sato Dojo', and often invited the master and brother Kondo to come and guide."

"It was through the dojo built by his brother-in-law that Mr. Hijikata got to know Natural Rishin-ryu and Kondo-san who often shows up in the dojo."

"Afterwards, Mr. Hijikata, who became interested in the natural Rishin Flow and intends to further improve his sword skills, formally became a teacher of his master last year, and transferred from the Sato dojo to the test guard hall."

"So Kondo-san and I got to know Mr. Hijikata and became close friends with Mr. Hijikata, thanks to Mr. Hikogoro Sato."

"Thanks to the relationship between Mr. Hikogoro Sato and Mr. Hijikata, the relationship between the Kondo family and the Hijikata family is as good as a family."

"So Kondo-san got married, and it's impossible for Mr. Hijikata's relatives to come and celebrate."

After carefully listening to the brief "Kondo · Hijikata's past history" by the general manager, Qingto nodded slightly.

"So that's how it turns out...it turns out that Kondo-kun and Hijikata-kun still have such a bond..."

Japan is a mountainous island country, nearly three-quarters of the country is hilly and mountainous.

Such a country's terrain is simply the best breeding ground for bandits and bandits.

Farmers have always been harassed by bandits and bandits, so many villages will spontaneously raise wooden knives and other weapons to form a defense force.

Although the Edo shogunate did not allow common people to wear swords, there were loopholes in this regulation - it did not prohibit common people from practicing martial arts and using swords.

Moreover, the Edo shogunate only forbids the common people to wear swords, and does not have any control over wakizashi, so many civilians will carry wakizashi for self-defense when they go out.

The general manager moved his finger to the next direction, ready to tell Qingdeng University about the identity and history of the next guest.

But at this moment, Tufang's voice suddenly floated from afar:

"Hey! Director!"

On weekdays, he always wears casual clothes, but today he also dressed up in a rare way.

The hem of the costumes embroidered with their Hijikata family crest swayed slightly as Hijikata walked fast.

The footwork of the earthwork is very fast.

As soon as Qingdeng and Zongsi followed the sound and raised their eyes, Tufang had already come to them.

"What's the matter?" the boss asked.

"There are more and more guests coming to the door, Uncle Yuan is a bit too busy, so the master wants to invite the two of us to help Uncle Yuan."

"Uncle Yuan? Okay, I see." The chief nodded vigorously without thinking, then rolled over with a carp, and stood up neatly, "Mr. Ju, I have to go to work, and I will talk slowly later. Go ahead. Remember to reserve my seat, don’t let others take my seat!”

Hijikata, Soji and Kondo are like brothers, basically a family. Therefore, the two of them, who are no different from Kondo's stepbrothers and sisters, can't do nothing like Qingdeng and Saito.

After the general manager left these words, he hurried to the gate of the test hall together with Tufang.

Without the chat partner of the chief executive, Qingdeng suddenly became bored.

Yongcang and Saito don't know where they are now.

Surrounded by people I don't know.

Occasionally, some people who recognized Qingdeng as the famous "King Ren" would run over to say hello to Qingdeng.

But a wedding banquet is always an unsuitable place to socialize with people.

Therefore, it is not convenient for these people who come to get close to Qingdeng to chat with Qingdeng. Basically, they simply exchanged a few words with Qingdeng and then left.

Feeling flustered, Qingdeng turned on his pocket watch, checked the current time, then looked up at the window in front of him, and passed the time by counting the patterns of clouds in the sky outside the window.

Suddenly, a gentle male voice entered Qingdeng's ears.

"Excuse me, is there anyone sitting here?"

The voice came from Qingdeng's rear.

Qing Deng reflexively turned his head and glanced behind him - a middle-aged couple smiling kindly looked down at him.

The middle-aged man was dressed like a samurai, wearing a dark blue shirt, a black hakama, and a light onion-colored feather.

Although dressed as a samurai, but the waist is empty - this is also a matter of course, how can anyone attend someone else's wedding with a knife? All the samurai who went to today's banquet were confiscated with sabers, including wakizashi, before entering the gate.

The middle-aged woman standing shoulder to shoulder with this middle-aged man is a very beautiful mature woman.

She didn't get old because of the passage of time, but she also had a beautiful face with a different charm.

The delicate kimono with a red background and white belt perfectly outlines the charming figure of the beautiful woman.

The clothes of this middle-aged man and woman are both embroidered with the same family crest...the "Gentian flower" which belongs to the same "flower and plant family" as Qingdeng's "gentian leaf" family crest.

The clothes have the same family pattern...the intimate positions with shoulders together...Qingdeng guessed that the middle-aged man and woman should be a couple.

Except for the seats closest to the place where the groom and the bride read the wedding vows, all the seats were allocated to the immediate family members of the two families, and no detailed arrangements were made for the rest of the seats at the banquet.

That is to say, other than the immediate family members of the groom and the bride, the rest of the guests can sit wherever they want.

Since the wedding banquet will officially start soon, the banquet scene is already full of guests, and more than 80% of the seats are already filled.

The surrounding area of ​​Qingdeng is one of the few places where there are still many vacant seats.

The middle-aged man and woman must have seen that there were still many vacant seats around Qingdeng, so they wanted to come over and ask if they could come and sit.

The middle-aged man pointed to the seat on Qingdeng's right with a very polite gesture... The seat reserved by the head of Qingdeng's gang was on his left, and there was no one sitting on the right, so Qingdeng was very polite to the couple. The couple smiled slightly:

"This seat is empty. Please take a seat."

After finishing speaking, Qingdeng moved his body to the left.

"Grateful."

The middle-aged couple bowed slightly, and after giving Qingdeng a light salute, they lifted up the hem of their clothes and sat down with their knees bent.

The middle-aged man is sitting next to Qingdeng... The light green haori and wine red haori that are close at hand complement each other, forming a strong but natural color contrast.

Suddenly there was a gust of drafts blowing, blowing the feathers of Qingdeng and the middle-aged man.

"Gentian leaves" and "Pianisco flower" fluttering in the wind...

--Um? This man's right hand...?

Only then did Qingdeng realize that the right hand of the middle-aged man sitting next to him... had a strange skin color.

The entire right hand that was exposed outside of Haori was scorched black like coal.

At first glance, it looks like it has been scorched by fire.

But if you look closely... it seems that it has nothing to do with fire.

Such a color, such a pattern...it reminds Qingdeng of the kind of tree that was struck by lightning.

Could this person's right hand have been struck by lightning?

As soon as this idea popped out of Qingdeng's mind, Qingdeng sneered at himself and shook his head to veto it.

Got struck by lightning? Then the grass on this person's grave is probably taller than mine!

Qingdeng didn't know middle-aged men, so although he was very curious about why the middle-aged man's right arm was this color, Qingdeng held back his curiosity out of politeness.

After noticing that the skin color of the middle-aged man's right hand is different from that of ordinary people, Qingdeng's eyes have been unconsciously looking at the direction where the middle-aged man is...that is, his right hand.

It might be naive to say it, but Qingdeng really thinks that the middle-aged man's scorched black right arm looks like it was struck by lightning... a bit cool...

When Qingdeng secretly looked at the middle-aged man's right hand, he unconsciously looked at the middle-aged man carefully from head to toe.

For the time being, this person can also be regarded as a "handsome uncle".

Although he is not very handsome in appearance, he has a good figure and temperament.

Tall and tall, with no fat, calm temperament and elegant demeanor.

This uncle should be a very cultured literati! Qingdeng thought to himself.

The middle-aged man didn't seem to notice Qingdeng's "peeping" of him. As soon as he sat down, he chatted with his wife next to him.

"The testing hall...it seems that nothing has changed."

"Well, yes." The beautiful woman nodded in agreement. "Although the appearance hasn't changed much, I heard that the testing hall has developed very well recently. Whether it is the reputation or the number of apprentices, it is not the same as before."

"Haha..." The eyes of the middle-aged man showed a hint of reminiscence, and the corners of his mouth slightly turned up, and a smile full of vicissitudes of life floated, "This small genre that didn't even have an official name back then, finally... It's also pretty good."

Qing Deng, who overheard the group conversation between the middle-aged man and his wife, thought to himself:

——It seems...these two are relatives and friends of Kondo and the others.

Qingdeng only regarded the sudden appearance of the couple as an ordinary episode.

Qingdeng had no intention of eavesdropping on other people's chats, and after gathering his mind for a while, he refocused his attention on the window in front of him, preparing to continue counting the patterns of clouds in the sky outside the window.

However, just as Qingdeng raised his gaze forward, his thoughts were swallowed up by a sudden intervening shout:

"Mr. Orange!"

Yongcang came to Qingdeng's body in one step and three steps.

"What's the matter?" Qing Deng asked.

"Mr. Orange! I can't find my clothes. Have you seen the black feather weaving I bought a few days ago?"

Yongcang raised his finger and pointed to his upper body which was not covered with haori.

"Haori?" Qingdeng recalled for a moment, then shook his head, "I didn't see it. Did you forget your clothes in the Chihiro House when you went to take a shower?"

"Impossible, I haven't worn that haori since I bought it back, so it's impossible to miss it in Chihiro House."

After finishing speaking, Yongcang smacked his lips vigorously.

"Tsk...that's really weird...why did it suddenly disappear...I bought this new dress just to dress better for today's wedding..."

Yongcang raised his hand to scratch his hair, and walked away.

Anyway, I am very free right now... Just when Qingdeng was thinking about whether to help Yongcang find clothes——

"Orange...?"

A mutter full of surprise attracted Qingdeng's attention.

The person who made the muttering sound... is right in front of us.

Qingdeng looked in the direction of the voice, and saw two pairs of eyes staring straight at him.

"Orange..."

The middle-aged man with a strange color on his right hand showed a pensive look while chewing Qingdeng's surname carefully.

Immediately afterwards, he half-closed his eyes, staring straight at Qing Deng's face.

"Excuse me—what's your name?" The middle-aged man asked Qingdeng.

"Me? My surname is Ju, and my name is Qingdeng."

"Oh..." The middle-aged man's eyes flashed with a little smile, and he said with a smile, "You are the King Ni... You really have known your name for a long time."

The middle-aged man straightened his waist a little, turned slightly sideways, facing Qingdeng, and then gave Qingdeng a very formal bow in a manner that was neither humble nor overbearing.

"This is Gumu Goro. This is my wife: Gumucho."

"Gui'an." As soon as Gu Mu Wulang finished his sentence, the beautiful woman... that is, Ah Ding bowed slightly to Qing Deng with a smile on his face.

People respect me one foot, and I respect others one foot—this is one of Qingdeng's social principles.

Seeing that Gu Mu and his wife were so polite to him, Qing Deng hastily saluted the two of them and spoke modest words.

Being recognized by a stranger as the famous "King Ren"...Qingdeng has long been used to such things. How to respond and what to say, Qingdeng is very familiar with it.

After exchanging a few words with Gu Mu and his wife, Qing Deng thought for a while and asked:

"Mr. Gu Mu, listening to your and Ling Zheng's accents... are you from Kyoto?"

As a "Three Backs" Tongxin who often deals with people of all kinds, Qingdeng is quite familiar with several local dialects that are spoken by a large number of people.

Therefore, Qingdeng keenly noticed that when Gu Mu and his wife spoke, they both had quite heavy "Jingyan leaves".

As a group in Japan who likes the black region the most and has the most sense of regional superiority, Kyoto people have given the Kyoto dialect an extremely elegant nickname, "Jingyan Ye" in order to show the nobility of Kyoto.

"Jingyanye" is characterized by slow pronunciation and long sounds, and the honorific language is very developed. It is often said that after a conversation, the real meaning is only one word: thank you.

"Oh? Your ears are very good." Gumu Goro smiled, "Although my wife and I are not natives of Kyoto, we ran a small wagashi shop in Kyoto and lived in Kyoto for a long time. time."

I didn't mishear the accent of the Gumu couple...Qingdeng was secretly speechless:

"Has my name already spread to Gyeonggi..."

"Hahaha, don't underestimate Kyoto."

Gu Mu Goro said lightly.

"Although in terms of prosperity, Kyoto is far inferior to Edo and the 'business capital' Osaka, but it is still one of the largest cities in this country. The speed of circulation of goods and information cannot be underestimated."

"Probably more than a month ago, the name 'King Ni' was first circulated in Kyoto."

"However, the scale of the spread is not too large. I only heard of your name by chance."

"Strange to say..."

Speaking of this, the lines of Gu Mu Goro's cheeks relaxed, and the corners of his mouth also relaxed, showing a peaceful smile at Qingdeng.

"Maybe it's because it's been too long in this country that there hasn't been a man of the hour who became famous just by relying on the three-foot sword. After hearing the name 'Nioh' for the first time, I inexplicably remembered the deeds and names of his steps. "

"Nio, you are much younger and more handsome than the rumors say."

"Haha." Qingdeng smiled, "Mr. Gu Mu, you're too much for your prize. You don't dare to be a man of the hour or something."

At this time, Qingdeng realized belatedly: his current mood...is so relaxed.

I can't explain why, but Qingdeng has an inexplicable...intimacy with this Uncle Gu Mu.

After chatting with Gu Mu Goro, the mood became extraordinarily peaceful and gentle unconsciously.

There is a feeling that I am getting along with my most familiar and best relatives and friends in the world.

Maybe it was influenced by Mr. Gu Mu's quiet temperament...Qingdeng thought to himself.

Qingdeng has a modest personality and doesn't like to talk too much about his own affairs, so after humbly saying "I don't dare to do it" several times, he took advantage of the opportunity to lead the topic elsewhere.

"Mr. Gu Mu, you are the owner of the wagashi shop?"

This uncle actually sells dim sum... This surprised Qingdeng a little.

Gu Mu Goro's demeanor was full of the aura of a refined literati, and Qingdeng thought he was the kind of teacher who couldn't bear to kill a chicken.

"Hahaha, yes. I am an ordinary wagashi shop owner who can be found everywhere in this country." Goro Komu put on a half-joking tone, "The shop I opened with my wife is called Kikyoya. In the future If you are destined to come to Kyoto, please take care of the business of our shop."

"Okay, no problem." Qingdeng said with a smile, "I really like wagashi. If there is a chance in the future, I will definitely visit your shop."

"Huh? Mr. Gumu, Ms. Machi?"

At this moment, a certain woman's voice came abruptly.

The chief executive is back... and he brought his sister Okita Hikaru and brother-in-law Okten Rintarou with him.

The director who returned to Qingdeng's side first glanced at Gu Mu and his wife happily, and then glanced back and forth with surprised eyes at Gu Mu and his wife and Qing Deng who was having a hearty chat with them.

"Okita-kun." Gu Mu Goro, with a relaxed expression on his face, nodded to the chief executive, "Long time no see, you seem to have grown a lot taller."

Director: "Mr. Gu Mu, Ms. Ding, long time no see! Hehehe, compared to the last time we met, I am indeed taller."

Being praised for growing taller... This seems to make the chief executive very happy.

Okita Hikaru and his wife and Gumu Goro and his wife... these two groups, a young couple and a middle-aged couple, are obviously not very familiar with each other. They exchanged simple greetings with ordinary social expressions without much communication.

"Mr. Ju, why are you chatting with Mr. Gu Mu and the others? Did you know Mr. Gu Mu and Ms. Machi before?" asked the chief.

Qingdeng shook his head, and then told the whole process of how he got into a conversation with Gu Mu Goro, in a concise and concise manner.

After listening to Qingdeng's explanation, the director general said "Oh!"

"So that's the case! Then Mr. Ju, let me introduce you!"

The director sat upright a little, cleared his throat with an "huh-huh", and then said solemnly:

"Mr. Gu Mu and Ms. Machi are old friends of our testing hall!"

"When the master was planning to build a natural Lixinliu dojo in Edo, he suffered from no money to buy building materials and no connections to find a good location. The establishment of the sword hall has not been smooth."

"Thanks to the timely appearance and assistance of Mr. Gu Mu and Mr. Kiryu, the master finally passed the most difficult period, and let the sword hall... which is our current testing hall be completed!"

"It can be said that Mr. Gu Mu has shown great kindness to our test clinic! Although Mr. Gu Mu and Ms. Machi live in distant Kyoto, our test clinic has always kept in touch with them."

"After Kondo's wedding day was decided, Master and the others immediately sent invitations to Mr. Gu Mu and Ms. Machi, inviting them to attend Kondo's wedding."

"Ah, by the way—although the age difference is a bit big, Mr. Gu Mu and Mr. Kiryu are very good friends."

Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrived at——

As soon as the chief executive finished speaking, two familiar figures, one old and one young, appeared in the corner of Qingdeng's left eye.

"U, Uncle Wulang? Aunt Ding?"

A young female voice slightly broken by a strong surprise.

Immediately afterwards, a bright red figure rushed towards Komu Goro and A-Ming like fire.

"A Wu!" Ah Ding, whose pretty face was full of longing and doting for a moment, opened his arms and hugged the girl who rushed forward.

The couple, an old man and a young man who arrived suddenly, were Boss Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita.

The relationship between Senshiya and Sanweiguan is so close, so Kiryu and Kinoshita Mai naturally have no reason not to be invited to Kondo's wedding.

Kinoshita Mai is dressed in a classic dress: a bright red kimono, a bright yellow belt embroidered with many cute patterns, tightly wrapping her slender waist.

Kiryu's clothes are full of tacit understanding with Qingdeng - white clothes and black hakama, with a wine red haori on his upper body.

Goro Komuki patted Mai Kinoshita's little head fondly, who was hugging A-Machi tightly, and then raised his eyes, meeting Kiryu's eyes with a smile.

"Kiryu, long time no see."

When seeing Komu Goro and A-Machi, Kiryu was slightly surprised at first, and then quickly regained his composure.

"Well, it's really been a long time..." A slight smile appeared on Kiryu's old face.

*****

*****

Thank you everyone for voting yesterday! The number of monthly tickets yesterday exceeded the target. In order to thank everyone, the author worked overtime yesterday to code words, and successfully completed the goal of bursting 4000 words.

At the same time, because the number of monthly tickets has exceeded the predetermined target by a lot, the author has decided to continue to explode tomorrow! Try to code 8000+!

Therefore, for the sake of the author's hard work, please vote for this book again today! (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)

Ask for a monthly pass! Ask for a ticket!

A small preview: based on the relationship between the Little Chiba Sword Hall and the Test Guard Hall, Chiba Shigetaro and Sanako will definitely come to the banquet. So...you get the idea.

Recommend a book to everyone——"Girl, don't worry"

I am a township envoy of the township department.

You ask me what am I doing?

I am helping the old woman to cross the road.

Why do you do this?

Because the system says I won't survive three days.

Oh yes, one more thing.

I found out that my house actually has a tunnel leading directly to the next door.

Then a princess moved in next door to me.

Newcomers and new authors, with many heroines, the style of writing is relaxed and humorous, it is very comfortable to read, and it is a bit sweet. If you are interested, you should not miss it.