I formed the strongest swordsman group

Qingdeng exchanged greetings with Zhu Gu for a while before saying goodbye to him.

After leaving the enforcement office, Qingdeng began to scan his eyes, looking for his bodyguard.

Qingdeng soon found Saito - under the body of the three pigeons...

I saw Saito still standing under the root of the stone brick wall directly opposite the gate of the execution office.

Standing straight, with his hands crossed on the saber hanging on his right waist, he remained motionless, like a statue. The only thing in his body that was moving was his eyes, which blinked at a very rhythmic frequency.

On top of his head and on his two shoulders, there is a big fat pigeon squatting on each side.

The three pigeons seemed to really regard Saito as a statue, half-closed their eyes, and constantly adjusted their fat bodies so that they could sit more comfortably on Saito's head and shoulders.

And Saito did not drive away the three big pigeons sitting on him, and just continued to stand motionless.

A samurai who does not move like a rock, and three big fat pigeons squatting on the top of the samurai's head and shoulders... Such a strange sight naturally attracted the attention of many passers-by.

The passers-by who passed by Saito's body frequently looked back, looking at this unsmiling young man with eyes mixed with doubts and curiosity...

When Qingdeng found Saito, Saito also saw Qingdeng coming out of the prison for the first time.

He shook his body vigorously a few times like a dog shaking off drops of water from his body.

"Cuckoo, cluck—!"

The three pigeons on Saito finally realized that the place they were squatting just now was not a statue, and hurriedly flew away.

After watching the three big fat pigeons fly into the sky with his mouth slightly open, Qingdeng turned his gaze back to Saito who was walking towards him quickly.

"...After I entered the enforcement office, you have been standing under that wall without moving?"

Saito nodded.

"You stand still like this, won't your feet or waist be sore?"

Saito shook his head: "I like to sit quietly, stand still and be in a daze."

Are you a sloth? !

Qingdeng took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to complain.

"...Alright, since it's your personal preference, I won't say anything more."

After finishing speaking, Qing Deng pouted in the direction of his family.

"Let's go, Julan...Saito, come home with me."

"What are you doing at home?"

"There is a group of thieves at Fujisawa-juku on the Tokaido Road. Mr. Feng Xing personally named me to take charge of the case. I need to trouble you to accompany me to Fujisawa-juku."

...

...

After returning to Hatchobori's home as quickly as possible, Qingdeng immediately asked Kubei to help prepare the luggage for the business trip.

You don’t need a lot of luggage. After all, Fujisawa Juku is very close to Edo, and it only takes 6 days to go back and forth. Therefore, you only need to prepare a few changes of clothes, a few pairs of spare straw sandals, and a little Dry food is fine.

"Young Master, Mr. Saito, here it is." Kubei handed two pointed hats for snow protection, and two black cloaks whose hems reached to the calf and were specially used to block the wind, to Qingdeng and Saito.

Just now Qingdeng specifically asked Kubei to prepare a set of hats and cloaks for Saito.

Their family just happened to have an extra set of cold-proof equipment, which happened to be lent to Saito for use.

Saito looked at the bamboo hat and cloak that Kubei handed him with eyes that made it difficult to guess what he was thinking.

"...Thank you." He said to Qing Deng.

"You're welcome." Qingdeng smiled slightly at Saito, "If you catch a cold or catch a cold, then I will be very embarrassed."

Qing Deng neatly put on his cloak and hat, and put the cloth bag full of luggage on his back.

"Kubei, while I'm not at home, I'll trouble you to take care of the house. If I'm lucky, I'll be back in about 6 or 7 days."

"Yes!" Jiubingwei, who was kneeling on the ground, bowed his waist and bowed solemnly to Qingdeng, "Young Master, Mr. Saito, I wish you good fortune in martial arts."

The "five streets" all start from a place called "Nihonbashi" in Edo.

Nihonbashi, as its name suggests, is a huge wooden bridge.

As the starting point of the "Five Streets" connecting all important places in the country, Nihombashi has naturally become the most crowded and lively place in Edo.

With the huge wooden bridge of Nihonbashi as the center, there are a large number of shops and vendors in the surrounding area, and people of all kinds gather here.

A souvenir shop specializing in the business of travelers who come to Edo.

Teahouses, izakayas, and inns provide a foothold for travelers and businessmen who come from afar along the "Five Kaidos".

Knowing that there are many people here, so I came here specially to sell all kinds of goods.

Travelers, traveling merchants, wandering monks, anxious officials, wandering girls standing on the street soliciting customers, beggars crouching on the street...all kinds of things in the world seem to be condensed in this Japan on the bridge.

Saying goodbye to Kubei, he and Saito came to the shoulder-to-shoulder Nihonbashi one after the other, looking at the scene in front of him that was comparable to the train station during the Spring Festival travel period in his previous life, Qingdeng turned his head and shouted loudly to Saito behind him:

"Saito! Keep up! Don't lose track!"

Saito nodded vigorously.

Qingdeng led Saito to "cut through the waves" and struggled to open up a passage to the Tokaido among the dense crowd.

But, at this moment.

Just after Qingdeng passed by the door of a tea house, several figures walked out of the tea house slowly, quietly "melting" into the dense sea of ​​people.

Using the crowd as a cover, he followed Qingdeng and the others from a distance...

...

...

Leaving Nihonbashi, throwing away the sea of ​​people pushing and pushing each other, and turning onto the spacious Tokaido, Qingdeng felt that the whole world opened up in an instant.

In the Edo period, as a society with extremely strict class hierarchy, what people of any class could do was clearly stipulated.

For example: Qingdeng's concentric level officials are not qualified to ride horses, even if they encounter some official business that needs to travel far, they cannot ride horses.

Therefore, Qingdeng, who is now ordered to go to Fujisawa on a business trip, can only rely on his own legs to walk little by little.

A powerful official like Youma and Dongcheng is qualified to ride a horse.

Therefore, people in this era often use "riding" as a quantifier of strength, such as: 1 riding and strength, 2 riding and strength.

After entering the Tōkaidō, looking around, the only sights in the eyes are the flat avenue that has been trampled thousands of times, the milky white sky full of winter atmosphere, the lonely trees occasionally seen by the roadside, and the travelers passing by. Caravan……

Saito made Qingdeng really feel what it means to "travel with you, it is better to travel alone than me".

In order to pass the boring time on the road, and to learn more about this bodyguard who should be with him for a long time in the future, Qingdeng has been trying his best to find topics to chat with Saito.

But Saito is completely the embodiment of the "topic terminator". Facing all kinds of questions thrown by Qingdeng, he either responded with "um", "oh", or "okay", or ended the topic directly, delaying It is impossible to build a benign chat atmosphere with him...

"Saito, where is your hometown?"

"Akashi Fan."

"Akashi Fan... I remember that this fan country is located west of Kyoto. I don't know much about this fan country. Are there any interesting specialties or places of interest in your hometown, Akashi Fan?"

"I don't know. I haven't tried to find out."

"...Yesterday, Lord Arima said that you were his old acquaintance. How did you meet Lord Arima?"

"I don't remember clearly, but I already knew him when I came back to my senses."

"...Then do you have anything you like to eat? You can eat and drink for nothing after you go to the dormitory, and it happens that the people in the dormitory can help you prepare your favorite meals."

"There's nothing I like to eat."

"...Then is there anything you don't like to eat?"

"There's nothing I hate to eat."

"..."

no more! Can't talk anymore!

Chatting with Saito is more tormenting than both of them being silent.

Completely unable to chat with Saito, Qing Deng simply stopped chatting with him and hurried on his way silently.

After walking for a while, the surrounding passers-by and vegetation became thinner.

The sky, which was originally high and refreshing, also slowly darkened just now, and then began to fall with moderately large and small snowflakes.

The fluttering snowflakes are like elves falling from the sky.

In just a moment, the world in front of my eyes was covered with snow, and everything around me disappeared into a chaotic white mist.

Fortunately, he and Saito both wore snowproof hats and windproof cloaks, so Qingdeng didn't feel too cold.

If you want to go to Fujisawa-juku, you have to pass through 5 lodging places: Shinagawa-juku, Kawasaki-juku, Kanagawa-juku, Hodogaya-juku, and Totsuka-juku.

Qingdeng raised the brim of the bamboo hat a little, and glanced at the sky above his head.

"Saito, we have to speed up our journey a little bit, we have to arrive at the first dormitory before dark: Shinagawa Juku."

Saito nodded.

And just when Saito nodded...

Crack...!

Saito suddenly stopped in his tracks, and the sandals rubbed against the snow on the ground with a muffled sound.

While stopping in his tracks, Saito slowly raised his head with his head lowered slightly.

Two sharp arrow-like gazes pierced the road ahead from the bottom of the hat.

"Huh? Saito, why..."

Before Qingdeng finished speaking, his voice stopped abruptly.

Qingdeng's gaze became more and more condensed, and he cast his gaze forward like Saito.

On the side of the road in front of the two stood a dead tree that could only be hugged by three adults.

After both Qingdeng and Saito stopped, as if by magic, one after another tall or short, strong or thin figures flashed out from behind the withered tree, standing between Qingdeng and Saito. A line of people lined up in front of them, and a human wall was erected, blocking the way of the two of them.

"Juqingdeng! It's finally time to catch you as an order again!"

*****

*****

New book set sail!

Ask for a monthly pass! Ask for a recommendation ticket! Ask for collection!