I formed the strongest swordsman group

Although the other party was trying hard to suppress it, a complex emotion still appeared on his cheek.

Nostalgia, sadness, resentment, anger, unwillingness... The complexity of this emotion is difficult to describe with specific words.

Through Prajna's straightforward words just now, Qingdeng understood something - but the "doubts" that surged out far exceeded "enlightenment".

To be honest, he is now completely confused and full of questions.

However, there is one thing he is very sure of - no matter what, take this guy down first!

Just one glance shows that Prajna is not in a good state now.

Even if hundreds of minions attack together, Qingdeng is not afraid at all, and he doesn't even frown.

But if he is besieged by masters of the level of Souji and Nagakura Shinpachi... Even Qingdeng will never be relaxed!

Qingdeng remained calm on the surface, but secretly he had quietly concentrated his strength on his toes, staring at Prajna and paying attention to Souji's state, ready to pounce at any time.

He now only hoped that Souji could recover his strength as soon as possible and then escape from Prajna's feet.

In this way, he could fight Prajna without any worries.

Although his action of accumulating strength was very obscure, Prajna still saw through it at a glance.

"Tachibana Aoto, I have been looking forward to a refreshing and all-out duel with you."

"However, unfortunately, I no longer have the energy to fight you now."

As he spoke, he raised his hand to wipe the blood from his forehead.

"I thought I would fight you again after defeating your subordinates."

"But I didn't expect that your subordinates were much stronger than I expected."

At this point, he deliberately squinted his eyes and glanced at Souji who was lying on his side at his feet, gasping for breath and not yet recovered from the severe pain.

"I almost died just now."

"Let's save our duel for next time."

He paused, then curled the corners of his mouth and changed to a meaningful tone.

"The duel between you and me will come eventually - in the near future."

Hearing this, anyone with ears and a brain can tell that Prajna wants to escape!

Qing Deng and Hijikata Toshizo and others beside him tensed up immediately.

At this moment when the atmosphere suddenly became tense... Prajna actually kicked! Kicked at Souji at her feet!

Souji, who had completely lost the ability to move, could not resist at all.

She groaned in pain, and then rolled down along the eaves.

In just a blink of an eye, her body flipped over the eaves and fell straight to the ground!

Based on Souji's current state, he couldn't do a body attack at all.

Falling to the ground without a body attack...even if he didn't die, he would be seriously injured!

At this distance, there was no time to save Souji - for ordinary people, it was true.

Whether to chase Prajna or save Souji - in Qing Deng's eyes, this was not even a multiple-choice question.

Qing Deng ran towards Souji without thinking!

He took only five steps, and he used the momentum of the forward rush to rush towards Souji who was falling like a gust of wind.

At the critical moment, he accurately hugged Souji in mid-air - at this moment, Souji's head was less than 3 inches from the ground.

Qing Deng hugged Souji tightly and protected her in his arms. The two rolled several meters away under the action of inertia before they finally stabilized their bodies slowly.

At the same time when Souji was kicked away, Prajna turned back, his feet were like wind, his arms turned into wings, and he ran straight into the darkness in the distance.

Qing Deng and Hijikata Toshizo once again played a tacit cooperation.

Even without prior discussion, the two of them tacitly took action separately.

When Qing Deng flew to save Souji, Hijikata Toshizo took over the command and shouted:

"Chase! Don't let this guy get away!"

At the moment, Prajna's combat power has been greatly reduced... No matter from which angle, now is the best time to deal with this big enemy!

While shouting so loudly, Hijikata Toshizo chased after him with his sword.

Serizawa Kame and Nakazawa Sadaki hurriedly followed.

As a top strong man who can overpower Souji and others, how fast is Prajna?

Even if his physical strength is declining now, his speed is still beyond the reach of ordinary people.

However, in the blink of an eye, his figure has fled far away.

Even though Hijikata Toshizo and others tried their best, they still couldn't close the distance between the two sides.

On the other side, Souji, who had saved his life, coughed a few times, and then hurriedly said to Qing Deng:

"Tachibana-kun... don't worry about me... go chase..."

Souji successfully escaped.

At this point, Qing Deng no longer had any worries.

He nodded gently and laid Souji flat on the ground.

At this time, Saito Ichi, who was less injured, caught up.

"Ichi, I'll leave Xiaosi in your care."

Saito Ichi nodded vigorously.

After entrusting Souji to Saito Ichi, Qing Deng immediately turned back and faced the direction where Prajna was running away.

"Leading the Way +4", "Nine Oxen and Two Tigers +3", "Elephant's Core +9"... All talents related to muscle strength, all activated!

In an instant, Qing Deng disappeared from the spot - he appeared several meters away, with strong wind pressure hanging behind him!

He did not hold back and pushed his speed to the extreme.

His speed was so fast that people with poor eyesight might not be able to catch his figure!

If you look down from the air, you can find that the distance between Qing Deng and Prajna is rapidly shrinking.

If Prajna had not used Souji to lead Qing Deng away just now and bought herself some time, how could he escape from Qing Deng's control?

If nothing unexpected happens, if Qing Deng is given another 10 seconds... no, 7 seconds! He can catch up with Prajna.

However... Qing Deng no longer has this opportunity. .

When Qing Deng started to chase, Prajna had already fled to a bridge over the Kamogawa River.

Suddenly, Qing Deng heard Prajna's voice coming from the dark night ahead:

"Tachibana Qing Deng! Help me tell my master a message!"

"Although he probably won't believe me, I do think of him all the time and always treat him as my mentor."

"I will never forget his kindness."

"I am sincere to him... I hope he treats me sincerely too!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped over the guardrail of the bridge and jumped into the Kamogawa River.

With a "plop" sound, Prajna fell into the river.

When Hijikata Toshizo and others rushed to the railing, they only saw circles of ripples.

Nakazawa Sadaki stretched out the lantern in his hand conspicuously, barely illuminating a small area of ​​the river below the railing.

With the lighting ability of the lantern, it was okay to illuminate the river surface, but forget about what was below the river surface.

Looking around, all you could see was a pitch-black patch.

It was as if Prajna had merged into the water, and you couldn't find its figure at all, nor could you hear its movements.

Hijikata Toshizo gritted his teeth and gave an order without giving up:

"Search along the river! If you find anything, remember to shout a warning, and don't fight him alone!"

Serizawa Kamo and Nakazawa Sadaki silently accepted the order, and each dispersed and searched in different directions.

Although no one said it explicitly, everyone knew in their hearts: the possibility of finding Prajna was very small.

Kamogawa is the mother river of Kyoto, running through Kyoto from north to south.

It was late at night, and visibility was extremely poor.

God knows which direction he fled to, and where he landed.

With their limited manpower, even if they ran their legs off, they probably couldn't find Prajna.

At this time, Qing Deng arrived a little late.

He held the railing with his hands and stared at the river with an expressionless face.

He said nothing, as if thinking about something.

…

…

In order to find Prajna and Katsura Kogoro who successfully escaped from Ikedaya, Qing Deng transferred a large group of people from the Shinsengumi station in Mibu-go to conduct a carpet search.

The search force dispatched by Qing Deng was huge.

What a pity... Everyone was busy until dawn, but they couldn't find Prajna and Katsura Kogoro.

Not to mention finding them, they couldn't even find the slightest clue.

This result was within Qing Deng's expectations.

Finding two people in such a big Kyoto is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and it is natural that they can't find them.

"A long night" is really the most appropriate way to describe this night.

A few short hours seemed as long as several days - even more so for Qing Deng.

Not only did he run around the warehouse, Luozhong, and Ikedaya, killing dozens of enemies, but he also learned a lot of secrets.

"The first geisha in Kyoto" Ziyang is actually Miss Jin, the intelligence chief of the Great Salt Party.

Tojo Shintaro, who was just promoted to the director of Kyoto a while ago, is actually a member of the Great Salt Party.

Not only that, the burn on his right abdomen made Qing Deng feel even more concerned.

Of course, the secret that shocked Qing Deng the most was the identity of Prajna.

Without any psychological preparation, a senior brother suddenly appeared...

In this way, Qing Deng seemed to have the illusion of "re-understanding the world".

Of course, shocking and confused, the important things that should be dealt with cannot be neglected.

The battle is over, and the first thing to do is to clean up the battlefield.

Qing Deng's results are self-evident.

Killed Yoshida Minoru, one of the most insane people in the world, and also killed dozens of people.

The results of the battle at Ikedaya were equally brilliant.

According to statistics afterwards, more than 30 bodies were cleared out of Ikedaya.

There were only more than 30 Sonjo patriots who participated in this meeting.

In other words, they were basically caught in one fell swoop!

All people except Katsura Kogoro and Prajna were killed by Kondo Isami, Souji and others, and none of them escaped!

It must be said that Katsura Kogoro was really able to escape.

Half a year ago, in the "August 18th Coup", Katsura Kogoro personally led the rear guard troops to block the Kai-Satsu coalition forces.

Logically speaking, this should have been a difficult task with a life-or-death struggle.

This was indeed the case. The rear guard troops suffered heavy casualties, and only one in ten survived.

But Katsura Kogoro returned to Choshu safely with all his parts intact.

This time it was the same again - Ikedaya was attacked, everyone else died, only Katsura Kogoro survived because he escaped successfully.

Given his "good at escaping" characteristics, the Shinsengumi soldiers privately gave Katsura Kogoro the nickname "Runaway Kogoro".

In short, although it is a pity that Katsura Kogoro, one of the "Three Heroes of Choshu", escaped successfully, it is just a flaw in the ointment.

Miyabe Teizo, Yoshida Minoruma, Otaka Matajiro, Matsuda Shigesuke... These people are all the backbone elites of the Sonnōjō faction!

If you make a horizontal comparison, it is almost equivalent to the Shinsengumi losing Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Ichi, Inoue Genzaburo, Fujido Heisuke and other captains!

For the Sonnōjō faction, this is undoubtedly an irreversible and heavy loss!

Compared with the heavy casualties of the Sonnōjō faction, the losses of the Shinsengumi are almost negligible.

Kondo Isami, Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Ichi suffered some superficial injuries.

Inoue Genzaburo suffered minor injuries, loss of strength, and a muscle strain in his right arm.

Fujido Heisuke was the most seriously injured, with a cut on his forehead.

Fortunately, his life was not in danger.

But from now on, he will have a conspicuous scar on his forehead.

Although Soji was kicked twice by Hannya and suffered some internal injuries, it was not serious and he would recover after resting for a while.

In comparison, the damage to weapons was more serious.

Nagasone Kotetsu (Kondo Isami's sword) had 6 minor injuries.

Oshu Shirakawazumi Kanetsu (Inoue Genzaburo's sword) had 4 major injuries and 19 minor injuries.

Banshu Zuiba Yama Ujishige (Nagakura Shinpachi's sword) had 11 minor injuries.

Kaga Kiyomi (Soji's sword) had a broken blade.

The four of them were the first to enter Ikedaya, so their swords were the most seriously damaged.

The swords of others such as Fujido Heisuke and Yoshimura Kanichiro also had damages of varying degrees.

The only person who participated in the battle and whose blade was completely intact was Aoto.

Firstly, Aoto was a great swordsman and would never fight with others if he could take someone's life directly.

Secondly, Vairocana was truly a rare and precious sword. No matter how it was chopped or split, the blade remained sharp.

In order to repair the swords for the generals, the blacksmiths of Seirenryo will be busy for a while.

[Note: Seirenryo: The department within the Shinsengumi that specializes in forging and repairing weapons]

Unfortunately... the swords of others can be repaired, but Kaga Kiyomisu of Souji really has no way to repair them.

The blade is broken... even if a master craftsman is reborn, he can't put the sword back together.

The only feasible solution is to melt the blade and recast a new sword.

Souji is still considering whether to recast the blade or just replace it with a new one.

On one side, there were heavy casualties, and a lot of elite backbones were lost.

On the other side, except for a few injuries, no one died.

Great victory!

Undoubtedly a glorious victory!

Since the "August 18th Coup", another glorious victory for the pro-shogunate faction!

The "August 18th Coup" was the result of the joint efforts of many forces. Not only the Shinsengumi fought hard, but Aizu and Satsuma also contributed.

This time, the "Ikedaya Incident" is very different-this great credit belongs exclusively to the Shinsengumi!

From collecting intelligence to finding the enemy, and then to annihilating the enemy, the Shinsengumi fought alone throughout the whole process.

Such excellent propaganda material, how can it be let go?

As a time traveler from the 21st century, Qing Deng naturally knows the power of public opinion.

Therefore, Qing Deng has always attached great importance to propaganda and maintained a very close relationship with several major tile board merchants in Kyoto.

Driven by his request and his ability to make money, tile manufacturers in Kyoto spared no effort to publicize the "Ikedaya Incident" for several days.

The content of the publicity was nothing more than "the Sonjo faction is bad, and the Shinsengumi is good."

Emphasizing the cruelty of the Sonjo faction, treating human life as worthless, and using any means to achieve their goals, in order to highlight the glorious image of the Shinsengumi saving the people from danger.

Judging from the results, this wave of publicity was very effective.

The prestige of the Shinsengumi increased greatly.

The hearts of the Sonjo faction were lost again.

For a time, "Shinsengumi" once again became a hot word among the people of Kyoto, and it was the most popular.

In the streets and alleys, in the three streets and six districts, there was no place where the Shinsengumi was not discussed enthusiastically.

Or discussing the bravery of Aoto, Souji and others.

Or thinking about what reward Aoto would receive after making another extraordinary achievement.

At this critical moment when "the war is over", Qing Deng, as the general commander of the Shinsengumi, naturally has a lot of work to deal with one by one.

But he pushed all the work away.

All the work that can be delegated to others was handed over to Hijikata Toshizo and Yamanami Keisuke.

The work that really cannot be delegated to others was put aside for the time being and left for later.

After getting rid of all the work at hand, Qing Deng immediately got on the back of the ox of Radish and went to Osaka alone - this time, he was going to find the boss Kiryu and ask everything clearly!

The day after the war ended, Qing Deng learned more detailed information about Prajna from Souji.

This included the other party's self-proclaimed name: Yamada Asaemon Katsumi.

Yamada Asaemon... When Qing Deng heard this name, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, with a look of astonishment on his face.

Speaking of "Yamada Asaemon", this family was well-known in the Edo period - this is the famous "family of slashers" and "family of executioners"! The family has been slashing people for generations!

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PS: Some book friends questioned: Even Souji was beaten, is the combat power of this book broken? No, this is just a very common "boss getting stronger" plot in combat works.

If a character can beat Souji, Nagakura Shinpachi and others in the later stage, this is called combat power collapse.