I formed the strongest swordsman group

Arima stared blankly at Qingdeng. Because I was so surprised, I forgot to speak for a while.

At this time, a childish voice came from a distance:

"Father, who are you talking to?"

Arima and Qingdeng both looked at the prestige.

"Mr. Arima."

Qingdeng said seriously while putting on the hat again.

"I'm waiting for you in your study. I have something very important to talk to you about."

After all, Qingdeng's waist shortened, and his whole body disappeared into the darkness.

As soon as Qingdeng left, Arima's second son, Tora Shoumaru, who was only 9 years old this year, walked up the porch of the yard and came to Arima's side with a Cuju in his hands.

In ancient Japan, all boys from samurai families basically had a baby name.

Qingdeng is no exception. Qingdeng's nickname was "Jiulang", but unfortunately, after the death of Tachibana Takashi, the person who was qualified to call Qingdeng's nickname no longer existed.

And Tiger Shou Wan is the baby name of Arima Second Son.

Some families even have hereditary baby names. For example, the eldest sons of the Tokugawa family all use "Takechiyo" as their baby name.

After the yuan server, the baby name can be changed to the official name.

"Father, I seemed to hear you talking to someone just now?"

Tora Shoumaru stretched his neck and looked into the courtyard.

Arima had recovered from the shock at this moment.

He smiled at his son:

"Did you hear me wrong? I've been quietly wiping my knife here just now. How can I talk to anyone? What's more, look, besides you and me, where are there outsiders here?"

"But, but..."

Hu Shouwan also wanted to argue one or two reasons.

But Arima blocked the conversation one step ahead:

"Okay, Torajumaru, father still has some important things to do, so go and play by yourself first."

After dismissing Torajumaru with a few words, Arima couldn't bear it for a moment, hurriedly gathered up the knife powder, knife oil, powder stick and other nursing tools, and then rushed to the direction of the study in three steps at a time.

...

Arima's mansion, study——

Arima's study seemed to have the word "serious" posted on it.

The books in the bookshelves are all arranged neatly by category.

The Four Treasures of the Study on the desk case, as if carefully adjusted with a ruler, are neatly arranged and pleasing to the viewer.

One can tell at a glance that it is the study that a person like Arima who suffers from "severe obsessive-compulsive disorder" would have.

Arima pushed open the paper sliding door of the study.

As the light leaked into the room through the crack of the door, he saw Qingdeng, who had taken off his bamboo hat and saber, kneeling on the tatami in the study, waiting for his arrival.

"Sorry, Mr. Ju, for keeping you waiting."

Qingdeng shook his head lightly.

"No, Arima-san, I'm the one who should apologize. Sorry for trespassing on your house without saying hello."

Arima sat down directly opposite Qingdeng, with the saber casually resting on his right side.

"Mr. Ju, where have you been for so many days? Do you know how hard it was for us to find you?"

"Feel sorry."

Qing Deng apologized softly again.

"It makes you worry. Because of some complicated reasons that are long and complicated, I have to deliberately conceal my whereabouts."

"When I have the opportunity and time in the future, I will come to you... No, I will explain to you where I have been and what I have done these days."

Qingdeng paused for a moment, then changed the topic.

"Mr. Arima, as I said just now in the courtyard, the reason why I took the liberty to come here tonight is because I have something very important to ask you."

Time is running out.

Maybe at any time, Arima's wife and heirs will suddenly come over to disturb them, just like what happened to Torajumaru just now.

Therefore, Qingdeng decided to "make a quick decision" and cut straight to the point without making any twists and turns.

If you want to chat and reminisce about the past, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

"Quite important? Please teach me?"

Arima looked confused.

Looking at Qingdeng's eyes that contained some kind of strong determination, Arima immediately understood: What Qingdeng wanted to discuss with him was no small matter!

"……Um."

Arima nodded vigorously a few times.

"go ahead."

As soon as Arima's words fell, Qingdeng couldn't hold back and asked quickly:

"Mr. Arima, please tell me everything you know about my father."

"Your father?"

Although it was imperceptible, Qingdeng was keenly aware of it: for a moment, Arima's pupils shrank to the size of pinholes.

"...Mr. Ju, why did you suddenly ask this?"

"Mr. Arima, I can't explain the specifics. In short... I am eager to know what my father did during his lifetime. Why did he suddenly become addicted to gambling? Did he really die of illness?"

Speaking of this, Qingdeng carefully observed the changes in Arima's facial expression.

I saw someone looking at his heart with his eyes. I don't know what he is thinking now, but his waist, which is extremely straight at any time, is actually slightly bent at this moment.

Seeing this, Qingdeng pursed his lips thoughtfully, and then said softly:

"Before my father died... I was secretly investigating some serious case, am I right?"

Arima's hands on his lap trembled instantly.

The study was surrounded by silence.

The surrounding air seems to have weight at this moment, and it feels like the sound is gradually moving away from the surroundings.

Although the two did not draw their swords at each other, there is no doubt that Qingdeng and Arima are "confronting each other" - anyone would think so, right? When seeing this picture of the two facing each other, when feeling the tense atmosphere.

In this silent "confrontation", the person who uttered the first sentence was Arima.

"Alas... this day has finally come..."

The faint sigh mixed with a bit of self-deprecating color made Arima's figure suddenly feel a little more erratic.

"Mr. Ju, although I don't know how you discovered Longzhi's secret, I respect your proposition and don't ask further questions."

"Okay...then I will tell you everything I know about Takashi..."

Speaking of this, he took a deep breath to balance his breath and emotions.

"However, Mr. Ju, I put my ugly words first. Even I, Zhu Gu and Niu Shan know very little about Long Zhi."

"If my answer later doesn't satisfy you, please forgive me for trying my best."

Arima spoke while slowly raising his head, staring at the ceiling above his head, as if recalling.

"The beginning of everything...we have to start with a report three years ago."

"I remember...it was March in the fifth year of Anzheng (1858). A teacher who taught in a private school came to Beifan Institute to report the case. He said that his wife had been killed by an adulterer, and asked us to give him justice."

"Mr. Ju, you used to be a member of the Beifan Institute, so you should be clear that it's fine if it's an ordinary case, but the enforcement office can't ignore the murder case."

"Therefore, we quickly accepted the teacher's request and quickly dispatched personnel to investigate the case."

"And the person in charge of handling this case...is Takayuki!"

"In retrospect, I really echoed that old saying: the beginning of all big events is often a small event that can be seen everywhere in daily life."

"At that time, no one thought that the situation would turn out like that..."

"Since he took over the murder case, Longzhi has become a little weird."

"I live in seclusion every day, reticent, and have less contact with people."

"Ask him what he's busy with, and he doesn't answer."

"At first, we thought it was because the investigation of the murder case was too difficult, that's why Longzhi was forced into such a gloomy look."

"Then... just one day later, we suddenly learned that Takashi appeared in the casino run by the 'Qingshui Clan'..."

"At first, I didn't know what other people thought about this matter. Anyway, I couldn't believe it at all."

"Longzhi has always been a very law-abiding person and has never had any bad habits."

"It's really hard for me to put the words 'gambling' on the same level as Longzhi."

"Whether it's me, Zhugu, Niushan, including some of Longzhi's other friends, they all tried to dissuade Longzhi first, and hope that Longzhi will not go astray. If you encounter any difficulties at home, you can ask us for help."

"As a result... Longzhi politely declined our kindness."

"When asked why he wanted to gamble, he only replied: There is no reason, just a sudden discovery of the joy of gambling."

"To be honest, when I heard Longzhi's answer...my heart really went cold."

"I have been working in the enforcement office for so many years, and I have seen too many people who fell into the abyss because of a momentary obsession with ghosts."

"At that time, I already regarded Longzhi as a hopeless person who was willing to degenerate."

"But no matter what, Longzhi is my good friend and old subordinate. I can't just sit back and watch him do nothing."

"I joined forces with Inoya and Ushiyama to think of ways to bring Longzhi back to the right path."

"However...before we figured out why, we suddenly received news that Longzhi was seriously ill."

"After that, I shouldn't need to repeat it."

"Longzhi's high fever persisted, he couldn't even speak clearly, he vomited up and down, and frequently pulled out feces like rice slop."

"The doctor said it was 'tiger wolf dysentery'... There is no cure..."

Tiger wolf dysentery - that is, cholera.

From 1817 to 1826, cholera was widespread worldwide. In 1822, it landed in Japan for the first time via the Korean Peninsula, Java, and Tsushima Island.

The Japanese call this disease "tiger wolf dysentery".

The reason for this name is that the symptoms of cholera outbreaks are as fierce as tigers and wolves, and the second is that the world has heard that the disease is related to the rebellion of foxes, wolves, and raccoons. The pronunciation of the three together is "korori", which is similar to "Tiger wolf dysentery" homonym.

In all fairness, although cholera is extremely contagious, it is not incurable.

Even in the Edo period, when the medical level was still very backward, there were ways to treat cholera.

The human body can excrete Vibrio cholerae on its own, so it is only necessary to strictly isolate the patient and quickly replenish the patient with water and electrolytes until the day when the patient excretes Vibrio cholerae on its own.

However, because people in this era lack a correct understanding of cholera, cholera is recognized as an incurable disease in Japan today, and people talk about tiger wolf dysentery.

Cholera is a disease which, if not treated quickly and reliably, causes severe dehydration and death in a matter of hours. …

In other words, after getting cholera, it doesn't take half a day from the onset of illness to death...

Ansei five years (1858), Edo cholera epidemic. As many as 30,000 to 40,000 people died of cholera in the Edo area alone. Throughout Edo, every family wears hemp, and every household hangs filial piety.

In the following two years, that is, the sixth year of Anzheng (1859) and the seventh year of Anzheng/the first year of Wanyan (1860), cholera reappeared again and again.

Takashi Tachibana died of illness in the 6th year of Ansei (1859)...It was quite normal to get cholera in this year.

Takayuki Tachibana's symptoms were not only the same as those of cholera, but even the time of death was consistent with the characteristics of cholera - less than a day passed from onset to death...

And on the last day of his life, Tachibana Takayuki was too weak to speak, and he couldn't even move his fingers.

Just like that, Tachibana Takashi didn't even leave a last word when he took his last breath...

"At that time, it was not a strange thing to get tiger wolf dysentery. Every day, I heard that someone in a family had tiger wolf dysentery."

"But I never thought... I actually saw the day when my relatives and friends were trapped by this terminal illness..."

Arima's words were gradually stained with sadness.

"Longzhi died of illness——I originally thought that everything would be over here."

"However, one day half a month after Longzhi passed away, a letter was stuffed under the door of my house."

Qingdeng's two thick eyebrows shrugged on the raised corners of his eyes.

"……letter?"

Arima nodded slightly, then got up and walked towards the bookshelf behind him.

He rummaged through the sea of ​​books for a while, and finally found a yellowed envelope.

Arima handed the envelope to Qingtou, motioning Qingtou to read it.

Qingdeng said softly, "I'm sorry," and then respectfully took the envelope from Arima's hand.

The envelope contained only a piece of clean, as-new letter paper.

After pulling out the letter paper and unfolding it, Qingdeng's eyes suddenly widened.

"This is……!"

I saw only a simple sentence written on the huge letter paper——

(Tachibana Takashi did not die of illness, he was killed by a secret association called "Fa Zhu Dang")

The law kills the party!

Long-lost vocabulary...

After the battle with Kamaitachi, Qingdeng has never had any contact with this organization...

Just as Qingdeng was stunned, Arima's narration sounded again.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the contents of this letter."

"'French Party'...what an outdated term..."

Hearing this, Qing Deng couldn't help but lowered his eyebrows heavily, and he quickly lifted his eyes from the letter paper in his hand.

"Mr. Arima, before you received this letter, have you ever heard of the name 'Hazard Party'?"

Arima shook his head.

"I don't know much. I only heard that 60 years ago, in the Jingban area, a political association called itself the 'Fazhu Group' emerged. The members of the organization included scholars, farmers, businessmen, men, women, and children."

"They played the banner of 'following the law of heaven and earth, punishing traitors' and called on righteous men from all over the world to come and defeat the Tokugawa family. They were soon suppressed by the Edo shogunate, and we have never heard of their deeds since then."

*****

*****

Still recovering from illness, please forgive Leopard Leopard for being short today! (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)