I formed the strongest swordsman group

Akabane's house, inside the mansion——

"Damn it! Damn it! How could such a thing happen!"

The current head of the Akabane family: Akabane Sotaro took a gulp of wine and said angrily.

On the opposite side of him was Suzumura Kentaro, a retainer whom he relied heavily on: a strong and sturdy man with two arms as thick as elephant legs and calloused palms comforted him:

"Master Zong, you already drank too much tonight, stop drinking."

Akabane Sotaro turned a deaf ear to Suzumura Kentaro's suggestion.

"Damn... how could such a thing happen... how could such a thing happen!"

While filling the glass in his hand with wine again, he muttered while blowing his beard and staring.

If you want to use precise language to summarize Akabane Soutaro's recent mood——

Successfully recruited many Banners and Yu family members who are willing to support their Akabane family... The damn Ju Qingdeng was sent to prison... Two happy things overlapped, and these two happy things brought me even more So much happiness, what I got, should have been a happy time like a dream... But, why did it become like this?

His beloved son Akabane Koichiro was killed by Qingdeng—suffering such humiliation and hatred, Akabane Sotaro couldn't let it go.

If he doesn't avenge his beloved son, and doesn't exhaust the anger in his chest, he vows not to be human!

Of course, Akabane Soutaro, who has lived in the human world for more than forty years, has been ups and downs in the big dye vat of the shogunate officialdom for such a long time, and has cultivated better than a fox. A reckless person who acts blindly.

He knows: Qingdeng, who has both outstanding personal ability and extraordinary popularity, is not a soft persimmon that can be manipulated by him.

Therefore, he did not act rashly.

The reason why Akabane dared to criticize Qingdeng was because he was confident: he could completely defeat Qingdeng by relying on his family's energy and connections—if he knew that on New Year's Day, Wakonian Itakura Katsutora would be respectful to Qingdeng , and did not hesitate to teach his son Itakura Hirahiko in public, he might not have this confidence.

On the night when the incident of "Itakura Hirahiko looking for Qingdeng and Tenzhangin's group" happened, Tokugawa Iemo secretly summoned Itakura Katsutora and told him: Do not bring him with Qingdeng, Tenzhangin and others for a private visit. spread the word.

Tokugawa Iemo is currently only being targeted by the powerful Hitotsubashi faction. He is not the kind of virtual monarch who has no real power and is emptied by his subordinates. What he says has weight—at least to Itakura Katsutora .

How dare Itakura Katsutora refuse to obey Tokugawa Ieshige's order?

He kowtowed immediately, promising that he would never reveal anything about what happened today.

Katsutora Itakura was silent, and it was time for the crowd to watch the whole process of "Katsutora Itakura greets Qingdeng" was not large enough to allow this news to spread in and out of Edo in a short period of time. .

So, under this information gap, Akabane Sotaro didn't know that Qingdeng's personal energy was so great that today's Wakanian would have to sell him a little bit.

Otherwise, Qingdeng's being falsely imprisoned might not have happened—no matter how confident Akabane Sotaro was, he would not be so confident that he would think that he could bring down the man who even Wakaneyo had to treat him repeatedly.

Ever since he learned of his son's death, Akabane Sotaro hibernated secretly, looking for allies while waiting for the best opportunity for revenge.

Banners and imperial family members, who possess a lot of political and social privileges, were originally a high-ranking existence under the rule of the Edo Shogunate.

After nearly three hundred years of development, this group of "superior people" has long been formed into a political group with intertwined relations with each other.

Killing Banner's disciples in public——Qingdeng's behavior is a blatant challenge to the authority of this group of moths who have been corrupted by the comfortable life early on! It's intolerable!

What's more, among Qiben and Yujia, there are quite a few people who hate or even hate Qingdeng.

Qingdeng's origin is a royal family whose family income is no more than a hundred stones.

In less than a year, he transformed himself into a banner with a family salary of more than a thousand... For those who value blood and family status, they can't accept that a person with low blood like Qingdeng is among the banners. List.

Therefore, Akabane Sotaro didn't have to worry about finding allies.

The Akabane family has always had good contacts, and Akabane Soutaro happened to be the kind of eloquent person. After some lobbying and instigation by him, many people responded immediately, and soon a group of people willing to help the Akabane family fight against Qingdeng's "direct participation in the alliance". (Zhishen is the collective name of Banner and Royal Family).

After several months of preparation, Akabane Sotaro, who felt that everything was ready, immediately launched his revenge on Qingdeng!

It has to be said that the initial process of the revenge operation was so smooth that even Akabane Soutaro was surprised.

He reported Qingdeng on the grounds of "abusing his power and killing Zhongliang in vain", and cooperated with his allies to put pressure on the execution office and other government departments.

As a collective of samurai directly under the shogun, Banner and the royal family took over almost all the official positions of the shogunate.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to call them the cornerstone of the Edo Shogunate.

Without them, the entire Edo Shogunate would have to shut down immediately.

Therefore, the influence of the "Direct Participation Alliance" formed by Akabane Sotaro should not be underestimated.

Under the strong pressure of Akabane Sotaro and others, the government couldn't bear the pressure, and sent Aoto to the prison house in Kodenmacho.

The first battle was won... According to Akabane Sotaro's plan, the next step is to continue to put pressure on the government and convict Qingdeng!

Although he knew it was impossible, Akabane Sotaro still sincerely hoped that Qingdeng would be sentenced to death!

It doesn't matter if he is ordered to cut seppuku or beheaded, and let him be the sword tester and training object of the swordsmen of the "executioner family" Yamada Senemon clan, anyway, as long as Aoto can die, Akabane Soutaro is satisfied.

No matter how bad it is, he will be sentenced to exile!

Jiudu Mountain, Bazhang Island...anywhere is fine, as long as it makes his life worse than death!

After learning that Aoto was successfully imprisoned, Akabane Sotaro began to happily imagine the wonderful scene of "Aoto's death or exile". The corners of the mouth that were raised high couldn't be put down for a long time.

However... what happened next far exceeded his expectations...

First of all, he never imagined that Qingdeng's network resources are so rich!

The Chiba family personally led the Edo-owned Hokuto Issou-ryu Dojo, Katsu Rintaro and other senior shogunate officials who came to help stand on the platform, scholars from the Tibetan Book Institute, Westerners in the settlement, and officers of the Huofu Thief Kai , the "policemen" of the towns in the northern part of the country, and the wealthy businessmen who have a pivotal position in the economic circles of Edo...

Martial arts circles, political circles, academic circles, business circles, military circles, foreign forces... People and forces from various industries and fields unite with each other to avenge Qing Deng's grievances.

I'm afraid I haven't had the opportunity to see such a grand battle in 10 years... It really makes people feel dumbfounded.

If only a single force supported Qingdeng, then Akabane Sotaro would not be afraid, but so many forces supported Qingdeng... This made Akabane Sotaro swallow a mouthful of uneasy spit.

It can be said that the strength and energy of the "Supporting Tachibana Alliance" is no weaker than the "Direct Participation Alliance" formed by Akabane Sotaro!

Just when Akabane Sotaro was racking his brains, thinking hard about how to deal with the offensive of the "Supporting Tachibana Alliance"... A new sudden accident, the main reason why Akabane Sotaro is drinking here now, suddenly fell.

That was the sudden fire in the prison house in Kodenmacho! Qingdeng is missing!

It's been a long time since the prison house in Kodenmacho caught fire, and it happened to be on fire on the day Qingdeng was imprisoned!

Such a coincidence, it is hard not to make people have a reasonable association.

Naturally, all kinds of conspiracy theories are rampant.

For example: "The fire at the prison house in Kodenma Town was man-made. It was set on fire by Akabane's house! The purpose was to kill Qingdeng!"

Another example: "The Akabane family burned the prison house in Kodenmacho, took advantage of the chaos and took Qingdeng away, locked him in the underground secret room of the Akabane family's mansion or other places, humiliated and tortured Qingdeng severely, this is Qingdeng The reason why he disappeared, and the truth about why Koden Macho's prison house caught fire for no reason!"

Faced with these various rumors and conspiracy theories, Akabane Sotaro really wanted to roar loudly: Even if it is made up, it should be made up reasonably, okay? !

"Arson" is a very serious crime that even if Dashen Banner (a banner with a family salary of more than 3,000 shi) committed it, he would not be spared!

yes. Akabane Sotaro admitted that he really hated Qingdeng and wished him to die quickly, but his head was not broken, no matter what he would use this stupid trick of "killing one hundred enemies and harming oneself eight thousand"!

Akabane Sotaro firmly believes that "rumors stop with wise men".

But any smart person must be able to judge that the fire at the prison house in Kodenma Town and the disappearance of Qingdeng have nothing to do with the Akabane family.

However... In this world, after all, fools who have no ability to speculate, have no ability to judge, and follow others' opinions account for the vast majority of the population.

Recently, there have been frequent people who love to join in the fun and crouch around the Akabane family's mansion.

Not to mention the children of the clan, even the ordinary servants of the clan would often receive strange glances from others when they went to the streets.

Akabane's house is really yellow mud falling off the crotch now-it's either shit or shit.

If this continues, and if these outrageous rumors continue to spread... It is not impossible for the shogunate to launch an investigation into the Akabane family.

Inexplicably, he recited the blame for "arson and murder"... How could this make Akabane Sotaro angry? How not to be depressed?

Drinking from a porcelain bowl that is not as big as a palm is really not enjoyable. Akabane Sotaro threw away the cup in his hand, picked up the wine bottle, and poured it vigorously.

"Master..."

Lingcun bit the bullet and persuaded again.

"Please stop drinking..."

"Worry! Long-winded! Long-winded!"

Akabane Sotaro interrupted Ryomura roughly.

"I can drink as much as I like!"

After the roar, Akabane Sotaro leaned on his elbow, sipped and muttered softly.

"Damn it... damn Ju Qingdeng... it's not peaceful to be missing... hiccup!"

Akabane Soutaro burped heavily, his body shook violently, his hand became unsteady, and the bottle slipped from his palm.

Under the influence of gravity, the wine bottle drew a straight line and fell to the tatami beside Akabane Sotaro's lap.

The moment the wine bottle hit the tatami and made a muffled "boom"—

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Puchi! Puchi!

The sound of the door being kicked open one after another, the screams of human beings, and... the sound of blades cutting flesh...

Akabane Soutaro's eyes suddenly widened, and his drunkenness disappeared.

"What's going on?! What happened?!"

Suzumura's reaction was slightly faster than Akabane Sotaro's.

After being stunned for a moment, he immediately picked up the sword resting on his right leg, inserted the sword back into his waist, and drew the sword out of its sheath.

"Zongye! Please stay close to me and don't leave me!"

...

At this very moment—

Somewhere in the Akabane mansion——

"Who is coming! Do you know where this place is?!"

A retainer of the Akabane family with a sword in hand stopped a man in black with a lot of blood on his body.

Just now, a group of men in black, all dressed in black and wearing black face scarves, poured into the mansion of the Akabane family from all directions. Never let it go.

"..."

The man in black ignored the retainer's questioning, he rushed straight to the retainer in front of him without saying a word!

"hateful!"

While swearing, the retainers set up their knives in the middle, pointing the tip at the man in black.

"This place is the residence of the Banner Akabane family! We will never allow thieves like you to come here!"

Before he had finished speaking, he quickly drew out his knife and slashed down on the head of the man in black.

clang!

The man in black raised his knife to defend, and intercepted the retainer's attack impartially in mid-air.

In the next moment, a black shadow flashed from behind the man in black—it turned out that there was an accomplice of the man in black, one of whom was hiding behind him. When the empty door was wide open, he quickly stepped out, strode forward, and slashed the retainer's waist with a knife.

Pooh!

Blood splatter.

The blade of the sword swept across the retainer's waist—the retainer was cut in half. A cut in half in the true sense.

The upper half of his body fell down along the smooth incision because of the loss of support.

Cutting in half is a very painful way to die.

The important organs of human beings are basically concentrated in the upper body, so after cutting the artificial ground in half along the waist, people will not die so quickly.

After wailing and screaming in pain for a long time, he died of excessive blood loss.

This is how the retainers are now.

He stared blankly at his body that had lost his lower body, and the severe pain came slowly.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The screams resounded through the sky.

Similar scenes appeared everywhere in the Akabane family residence.

"What's going on?! How could this be?!"

Akabane Sotaro's face was defeated, and his lips trembled.

"W-Who are these thieves?!"

"Zongye! Let's go!"

Lingcun dragged Akabane Sotaro towards the Unclean Gate (a small door at the back of the house for those who carry urine and feces).

Before they had gone a few steps, they saw a strong man in black blocking their way.

This person is extremely tall and burly, holding a saber with a very curved blade in his hand. The hilt and scabbard are both red and black...

"Who are you, you guys?!"

Akabane Sotaro said sharply.

"Why did you break into my mansion and kill my people?!"

"..."

The burly man in black was silent and ignored Akabane Soutaro at all.

With solid steps, he slowly approached Akabane Soutaro and Suzumura.

"Zongye, back off..."

Suzumura solemnly raised the knife in his hand, and raised his posture in the middle.

Swordsmanship is not Suzumura's specialty, but he is not the kind of person who knows nothing about swords. He holds the catalog qualification of Katori Shinto Style.

Facing Suzumura, who was already in an attacking stance... the burly man in black walked steadily and at the same pace, as if he saw Suzumura as nothing.

"Drink!"

With the burst of qi chorus, Suzumura took a sharp step forward, closing the distance between himself and the man in black in one breath, and at the same time raised the blade, ready to chop Tianling Gai of the strong man in black.

At this moment, the strong man in black seemed to have been cast with "acceleration magic", or the time slowed down returned to its normal flow rate.

I saw him who was walking leisurely forward a moment ago, suddenly transformed into an indistinguishable afterimage!

He rushed towards Suzumura like a whirlwind.

Immediately afterwards, two sword lights flashed in the air.

With his first strike, Suzumura saw Suzumura prepare for the downward chop, that is, he raised the saber high, and chopped off Suzumura's right hand holding the saber with one blow.

The second cut cut Suzumura's throat with a cold arc.

His vitals were injured, and the loyal retainer didn't even have a chance to scream, so he slowly fell forward and died.

After beheading Suzumura, the strong man in black swung the knife in his hand downwards heavily, sprinkled the blood attached to the blade, and threw himself at Akabane Soutaro without changing the momentum of the whirlwind.

"you……"

puff!

In the darkness, the white blade flashed.

Akabane Soutaro just had time to call out the word "you", but the rest of his voice was permanently stuck in his throat due to severe pain and breathlessness...

The burly man in black pierced Akabane Sotaro's chest and heart with an unpretentious "deep stab", giving Akabane Sotaro a chill.

"Ho...! Ho...!"

Akabane Soutaro, who kept spouting blood foam like a fish spit bubbles, stretched out his hand to grab the face towel of the strong man in black with his last bit of strength.

When he was dying, he wanted to see with his own eyes who the person who killed him was, and he had to die to understand.

It's a pity... Akabane Sotaro's vision is just an extravagant wish after all.

The heart was pierced... With such an injury, the remaining life will only count down in "seconds".

Akabane Soutaro's hand had just put on the black-clothed man's face scarf, and the strength of his hand, along with the light in his eyes, disappeared as quickly as snow in spring...

The burly man in black twisted the knife in Akabane Sotaro's body half a circle, paring away the muscles clamping the blade due to the severe pain, and slowly withdrew the knife.

The body of Akabane Sotaro, who still lost his vitality and now lost his support, swayed twice on the spot and fell heavily to the ground.

"grown ups."

At this time, a thin and short man emerged from the shadow beside him.

"It's all cleaned up. There are 31 people in Akabane's family, and none of them survived."

The strong man in black nodded slightly.

"very good."

As he spoke, he put the knife in his hand... the handle and scabbard were red and black, and just by looking at the shape, it was definitely not an ordinary knife, and he inserted it randomly on the floor beside his feet.

"Let's go, we made such a big commotion. Tsujiban (in the Edo period, daimyo and flagmoto set up sentry posts at the intersections of the Edo samurai residential areas. The purpose is to strengthen the self-discipline of the samurai and prevent the samurai from killing people at night on the street. )’s messengers should be here soon.”

After all, the burly man in black didn't even look at the knife that he used to kill just now, but was now abandoned like a shoe, and led the thin man away empty-handed.

...

...

Akabane's entire family was killed—this incident shocked the entire Edo!

A whole family was brutally killed... Even if such a vicious incident happened to ordinary people, the government would not be able to bear it, let alone a banner with a certain social status and a high family income?

Cases of this nature have already met the conditions for Huofu thieves to be dispatched.

Therefore, the government immediately sent fire to pay the thieves to investigate and handle the case.

On the afternoon of the next day after Akabane's house was wiped out, another official veteran of Qingdeng: Inotani Hanjiro secretly visited the testing hall——

"What? In the murder scene of Akabane's house, Tachibana-kun's spirit-fixing spirit was found?!"

Because of being too shocked, the chief executive shouted involuntarily, his voice cracked badly.

"Mr. Inoya!" Harada yelled, "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake? Don't make another 'accidentally made a mistake' misunderstanding!"

Although Kondo, Hijikata, Saito and others didn't shout directly like Soji and Harada, the expressions of shock and astonishment on their faces were no less than those of these two.

Inoya sighed with a complex expression:

"In the early hours of this morning, after the officers of Huofu Thief's Rehabilitation entered the scene of the crime, they immediately found a knife that was suspected to be a ghost-fixing knife that was stolen not long ago. Confirmation: This knife is indeed Tachibana's saber: To fix ghosts and gods."

"The reason why I came to visit your residence suddenly is because I was ordered by Master Arima to tell you: Tachibana's current position... is very delicate."

"The government has listed Tachibana as a major suspect in the murder of 31 members of Akabane's family."

"Now there are arguments like this in the government: after Tachibana successfully escaped from the fire scene in the prison house in Kodenmacho, in order to avenge the Akabane family who put him in prison, he first stole the saber back, and then entangled a group of accomplices , killed Akabane's family completely, and fled Edo overnight after the incident because he was afraid of being arrested—this is the reason why Dingguishen was suddenly stolen, and Tachibana has not been found until now."

"Although no official arrest warrant has been issued yet, the government has actually begun to send people all over the city to arrest oranges."

As soon as Inoya's voice fell, the director immediately said anxiously:

"Wait a minute! What's going on here?! Because Ju Jun's knife was found at the murder scene, I suspected that Ju Jun was the murderer? Regardless of the fact that Ju Jun is currently missing, Ju Jun is not a fool, how could he be here? After killing someone, leave objects that can prove your identity at the scene of the crime?!"

"Mr. Inotani! It is obvious that someone is deliberately framing and framing Tachibana-kun!"

"Specially stole Ding Guishen from Beifan, and after killing Chiyu Manmen, deliberately left Ding Guishen at the scene!"

Earthwork put his hand on the chief's shoulder.

"Boss, calm down."

Inotani closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

"Oh... Okita-kun..."

"We're not fools with defective brains."

"Why can't we see that the act of 'leaving Ding ghosts and gods on the spot' is no different from saying loudly to us: 'Quick! Hurry up and suspect Ju'."

"Why don't we know that it is too far-fetched to list Tachibana as a major suspect just because of this reason?"

"well……"

Inotani sighed again, and after brewing his emotions for a while, he continued:

"But... the people above... no, it should be said that it is the entire Edo shogunate and the three hundred princes who ruled various places. What they pursue has never been fairness, justice, and the truth. What they want has always been only One thing: don't give me trouble, don't threaten the place under my ass."

Speaking of this, Inotani sighed for the third time.

"You haven't been officials in the shogunate, have you?"

"If you are like me, who have spent nearly twenty years in the officialdom, you should be able to understand that some of the seemingly stupid behaviors of the government actually hide... a rather dark wisdom .”

"Of course the people above know that there is a high probability that some unknown person or group stole and deliberately left Tachibana's saber at the murder scene in order to divert the attention of the authorities, or directly blame Tachibana for the murder— — but so what?"

"For the people above, it doesn't matter whether the murderer is Tachibana or what the truth is."

Inotani stretched out both hands, one pointed to the ceiling above his head, and the other pointed to the cushion under his buttocks.

"There are only two things that they care about—the face of the people above them, and whether the cushion under their buttocks is still firm."

"If it's just the common people or Jie Duo who were killed, then there is still room for the case to be delayed for a long time."

"But Qiben... And it's such a high-status, quite famous Banner who has been murdered all over his family... For a case of this nature, it is impossible for the government not to catch the murderer as soon as possible!"

"Under pressure, the government is bound to deal with this case quickly and strictly."

"But everyone knows that catching the murderer is not so simple!"

"It is normal for a case to take half a year or even a year or two before the criminal is finally caught."

"So, if the time drags on for too long, no one can be sure whether those people at the top will just grab some dead ghosts to take the blame in order to explain to the higher-ups as soon as possible."

"In fact, such things... During my tenure, I have witnessed several..."

"The culprit who put Tachibana in prison is the Akabane family, so Tachibana has a very sufficient motive for killing."

"There was Tachibana's saber at the murder scene...Although it is very reluctant, it is not impossible to serve as evidence!"

"The motive and physical evidence are all there, plus Tachibana's current whereabouts are unknown, and there is a possibility of absconding in fear of crime... To be honest, the chain of reasoning for suspecting Tachibana to be the murderer is quite complete."

"Therefore, if the people above are really forced to jump the wall by the pressure of reality...then Tachibana is the best scapegoat."

Pig Valley is over.

"how so……"

The chief executive murmured in a daze.

At this time, Inotani sighed for the fourth time.

"Hey...how is your situation these past few days? Have you collected any new clues about Tachibana's whereabouts?"

"No……"

Kondo shook his head.

"We have searched all the places Mr. Ju often goes and may go... nothing."

Saitoichi, who had been by Qingdeng's side as a bodyguard for a period of time, had a general understanding of Qingdeng's daily activities, said slowly after he approached the rattan:

"Mr. Tachibana seldom hangs around teahouses, izakayas, and flower streets. The places he often goes to are nothing more than Senshiya, residence, and small Chiba Dojo."

These days, the various members and forces of the "Supporting Orange Alliance" headed by the Test Guard, Qianshiwu, and Chiba Clan have tried their best to find Qingdeng.

They searched every corner of Edo, wishing to turn Edo over.

The result...but still nothing.

"...Find Tachibana as soon as possible."

Pig Valley said in a deep voice.

"Ju must stand up and prove his innocence, the sooner the better!"

"Otherwise, the longer the time drags on, the more unfavorable the situation will be for him!"

"At this stage, the government is only treating Tachibana as a 'major suspect'. If it is too late to catch the real culprit and Tachibana is still missing...then the people waiting in front of us will really be pushed by the pressure. At this moment, Tachibana is probably not a 'suspect', but has been determined as a 'true murderer'!"

"At that time... it will be troublesome..."

The general manager and the others all showed solemn expressions...

...

...

The prison house in Kodenmacho caught fire, "Nio" Tachibana disappeared, and the whole family of Akabane Hatakemoto was killed...

The second year of Wanyan (1861) has just begun, and there have been unimaginable and terrifying incidents in Edo one after another...

For a time, the air in the streets and alleys of Edo was full of tension.

I'm afraid... No one would have thought of it—just on the night after Akabane's family was killed, a new terrorist incident happened!

The leader of Huofu Thief Kai's second team, Zhongsuke Kanazawa, and his younger sister Jin Zeqin - died tragically on the street.

*****

*****

This chapter is a long-lost 8000-word chapter! It is not too much to ask for a monthly ticket!

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