I formed the strongest swordsman group

Accompanied by an indifferent voice without any emotion, Toshizo Hijikata turned his head slightly and glanced at the executioners aside from the corner of his eyes.

Suddenly, they felt their skin tingling, as if what was shooting at them was not the sight, but knives, like falling into an ice cave, and they shivered several times uncontrollably.

After hurriedly responding, they rushed out of the prison as if they were running away.

After a while, they returned to Hijikata Toizan and others, and there were two more five-inch nails and two hundred-eye candles in their hands.

"Do it."

Saying that, Hijikata Toizo untied the Izumi Mamoru Kanesada from his waist, and sat on a wooden barrel not far away with his golden sword, his hands folded at the bottom of the handle, and he held the sword in front of him, He looked at the pale and trembling Yuya Kiemon with cold eyes.

The executioners looked at each other, and then gritted their teeth in unison.

There was obviously no prior discussion, but they acted with great understanding.

They pounced on Yuya Kiemon, put down the two boulders on his legs, and untied his legs.

Before Yuya Kiemon could take a breath, a new nightmare came.

The executioners divided the work and cooperated——

One person controlled his head to prevent him from biting his tongue and committing suicide.

One person hugged his body tightly to prevent him from moving.

One person held his legs so that he could drive nails into his feet.

Another holds a hammer and five-inch nails.

When the skin on the instep felt the cold and sharp touch of the nails, Yuya Kiemon could no longer pretend to be calm.

Although his expression was dominated by a strong look of fear, he still pursed his lips tightly, looking like "even if I am full of fear, I will not give in."

Of course, his "strongness" disappeared after 2 seconds.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-!!!"

The executioner responsible for hammering the nails swung down the hammer in his hand.

The unparalleled pain put Yuya Kiemon's nerves under tremendous pressure in an instant.

The shrill scream seemed to tear off his vocal cords.

Even the executioners who were accustomed to seeing horrific scenes, as well as the stubborn Serizawa Duck, couldn't help but change their expressions after hearing such tragic cries.

Only Hijikata Toshizo remained the same, with no sadness or joy on his face, no strange color at all, and he didn't even move his brows.

"Move quickly, I'm in a hurry. If you take your time, don't blame me for punishing you."

Yuya Kemon's screams were certainly terrifying.

But for the majority of the Shinsengumi team members, the angry "Deputy Commander" is even more terrifying!

Under Hijikata Toshizo's urging, the executioners did not dare to neglect.

Within a moment, both of Yuya Kemon's feet were turned into a bloody mess, which was too horrible to look at.

And this is just the beginning.

The executioners hung thick ropes from the rafters and hung him upside down.

The two large iron nails on his feet were turned upside down because of his body hanging upside down. The executioners set up a hundred-eye candle on each of the nails and lit them.

In the blink of an eye, the hot wax flowed down from the soles of Yuya Kiemon's feet like sticky hot lead, dripping onto his calves.

The dizzy feeling of the body hanging upside down, the severe pain of the feet being pierced, the heat and sticky texture of the dripping wax... any of the above are enough to make one's hair stand on end!

Bearing all these pains at the same time... it's like falling into hell!

I am afraid that even if I exhaust all human languages, I cannot accurately describe the devastation it causes to people!

Yuya Kiemon, who was still able to maintain his integrity during the Ishibashi torture, could no longer maintain his calm and heroic demeanor at this time.

"Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

Incessant screams.

Distorted expression.

It can be said that those who see it are trembling with fear and those who hear it are trembling!

Not long after, the wax oil flowing down gradually solidified and covered the calf, like being stuck in a quagmire. Every pore on the leg was blocked, which made people extremely uncomfortable and added another layer of pain.

On the other hand, the two hundred-eye candles have just faded a little.

Hijikata Toshizo spoke calmly:

"Tell me, who are you? What's going on with that warehouse full of weapons? What are you planning?"

"...I, I...as a...good man who stands upright...will never...succumb to...the enemy...because of pain..."

After hearing this, Hijikata Toisho seemed to be amused and burst into laughter.

"Okay! I have the guts!"

"In that case, let me open my eyes again."

"I really want to see how long you can last."

"Don't let me down, we have plenty of hundred-eye candles."

Having said this, he turned to look at the executioners on the side.

"If the wax solidifies too much and is too thick, remember to peel it off. Otherwise, he won't be able to feel the burning heat of the wax all the time."

"yes!"

The screaming continued.

The torture is still going on.

…

…

Kyoto, Gion——

The two dusty ronin looked around, then lowered the low-brimmed bamboo hats in their hands and continued to move forward.

Suddenly, a beggar in ragged clothes and unkempt hair jumped out of the thorn, blocking their way.

"Two gentlemen! Please be kind! I haven't eaten for three days! Please reward me with some money! If you don't have money, I can give it to the stutterer! Please! The merit is immeasurable! The merit is immeasurable!"

Because of the low-brimmed bamboo hats on their heads, although the facial expressions of the two ronin cannot be seen, from their actions and words, it can be seen that they are very unhappy.

"Smelly beggar, get out! Don't come near us!"

"We have no money, and even if we have money, we won't give it to you. Ask others!"

With that, they walked around the beggar without hesitation and walked away.

The beggar sighed heavily, drooped his head, retreated to the street with a look of disappointment, and curled up in the corner.

At first glance, this seems to be just a common "beggar begging for money" on the street, and no one would pay special attention to this kind of thing.

However, if you look closely, you will find that after the beggar retreated to the corner of the street, he pulled down the tattered Sojuro headscarf on his head to hide his eyes, and quietly squinted his eyes, staring at the two ronin's backs that were getting farther and farther away without blinking.

[Note: Sojuro Turban: A men's turban designed by Sawamura Sojuro in the Edo period]

His expression was completely different from the shabby and dirty one just now. He was only thinking and considering, and muttered:

"Choshu accent..."

Who would take the initiative to pay attention to an inconspicuous and dirty beggar on the street?

No one noticed that the beggar quietly retreated and disappeared into the deep alley with no one in the blink of an eye...

...

...

Kyoto, Sanjo Avenue, Izutsuya——

"Boss! Who is the boss?"

Two young samurai lifted the door curtain and swaggered into the store.

"Hey! Here I come!"

A middle-aged man with half white beard and hair ran out from the inner room swiftly and knelt to greet the guests.

"Boss, we are going to have a banquet tonight! Do you have a room?"

Hearing that it was a big business, the boss smiled and became more enthusiastic:

"Of course there is a room! How many people do you want to prepare?"

"About 30 people. Here, this is the deposit."

"Okay! Sir, please rest assured, we will prepare the banquet properly!"

After giving the order, the two warriors did not stay for long, leaving a sentence "Boss, I leave it to you", and then strode away.

"Hey, everyone, big business is coming! It's time to get busy!"

The boss rolled up his sleeves and rushed to the kitchen in a hurry.

A ronin who was hiding in the stairs and staying in this hotel was drinking alone while listening to the conversation between the boss and the two warriors.

While there was no one around, he sneaked onto the street and disappeared in the crowd...

...

...

Kyoto, Sanjo Avenue, Ikeda-ya——

"Tainosuke! Tainosuke! Where are you?"

"I'm here."

"Wow! Are you... Tainosuke?"

"Yes, I'm Tainosuke."

"Oh, right! I almost forgot again... Tainosuke, sorry."

Before the boss finished speaking, "Tainosuke" said first:

"It's okay, it's my own problem, I'm too inconspicuous."

"Tainosuke, where have you been? I was just calling you."

"I've been sweeping the floor here."

"Huh? Were you sweeping the floor? Oh, forget it, this kind of thing is not important. Tainosuke, quickly carry all the rice to the back kitchen."

"Okay, no problem."

After that, "Tainosuke" leaned down and carried the heavy rice bags on one shoulder.

The boss was amazed when he saw this:

"Tainosuke, you look so thin and small, but I didn't expect you to be so strong! We are so lucky to hire you as our store's assistant!"

"You are too kind."

"Tainosuke" said a few humble words and quickly moved the bags of rice into the back kitchen.

Looking at the hard-working "Tainosuke", the boss nodded with satisfaction and went to do other things.

When "Tainosuke" finished moving the last bag of rice-

"Meow~~Meow~~Meow~~Meow~~Meow~~Meow~~"

Suddenly, a cat's meow came from outside the store.

One short, three long, and one short.

If ordinary people heard it, they would probably just think it was a wild cat calling nonsense.

However, when "Tainosuke" heard the sound, he was slightly stunned, then turned his head and looked around.

After confirming that there was no one around, he walked quietly towards the back door of the hotel.

Soon, he came to a hidden place behind the hotel and put his head close to a shoji.

[Note: Shoji: a baffle set on the inside of the door, window or corridor in Japanese houses. The wooden frame is covered with highly light-transmitting paper and is used for lighting the house. It is also called "Ming shoji.\