【7600 words】
You have arrested the wrong person. I am not XXXX, I am an innocent citizen... Those officials at the prison who have been dealing with criminals all year round are tired of hearing these words.
"Shut up!" The Tongxin punched the young man who kept shouting "I am not from the anti-barbarian group" with extremely rough movements. "How many times do you think I have heard similar words?
"
Facing the "three rounds" of Nanfansuo officers who were far more numerous than them, most of the members of the anti-barbarian group had no intention of fighting.
They fled and were captured one by one by the officers who had surrounded them.
The few people who were more aggressive and wanted to fight to the death with their swords were quickly suppressed by the officers who had absolute advantages in numbers and equipment.
In less than 10 minutes, the gang of thieves who broke into Ryogoku Hiro alley and tried to rob the shops here were all caught, without a single fish being caught.
A temporary officer from the Nanban Police Station proudly looked at the thieves who were being pushed to the ground in various postures, with a look of relief on his face.
He raised his eyes and looked at the surrounding shops.
If it hadn't been for someone's tip-off, which allowed their enforcement office to obtain relevant information in advance, the merchants on Ryogoku Guangxiao Road might have suffered tonight.
Thinking of this, Yu Li couldn't help but feel terrified.
"Hmph!" Yuli looked away from the surrounding shops and laughed contemptuously at the middle-aged man in front of him who was still pressed to the ground and whose body had been tied up like a rice dumpling. "What are you talking about?"
"Group'... it's really funny, the name is really nice, but in the end you are no different from those 'anti-foreign patriots' who often make trouble everywhere."
"Using the banner of 'repelling foreigners', we do all kinds of despicable things that only bully our own people."
Yu Li originally thought that the middle-aged man would show unwillingness and anger after hearing his taunts, and then he would raise his head and "argue" with him - after all, Yu Li had seen similar scenes.
Been through it too many times.
As long as the so-called "great cause of resisting the foreigners" practiced by some "repelling the foreigners" is questioned, they will immediately shout angrily like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, "What do you know?"
Everything you do is for this country." "You government lackeys can't understand the ambitions of patriots like us"...
But who would have expected - after hearing Yu Li's harsh ridicule, this middle-aged man actually showed an expression that Yu Li had never expected.
This middle-aged man...raised his head with a confused look on his face and cast a startled look at Yuli: "The Anti-Yi Group...? Wait, wait a minute! You have recognized the wrong person! We have nothing to do with the Yi Group.
!We are from the Tianzhong Party!”
"Tianzhong Party...?" Yu Li frowned.
Yuli's mocking voice just now reached the ears of several thieves who were also being pinned to the ground.
At this time, these people also raised their heads and screamed:
"Yes, yes! We are not a group that seeks to suppress the barbarians!"
"We have nothing to do with the anti-barbarian group! We are from the Tianzhong Party! We are from the Tianzhong Party!"
…
If a person says that he is not a member of the anti-barbarian group, Na Yuli will only regard the person as making excuses and will not pay any attention to the person.
But so many people claimed in the same terms that the organization they belonged to was the "Tianzhong Party" that they had never heard of before, and it had nothing to do with the anti-barbarian group... This made Yu Li feel a little guilty.
.
Yuli's brows furrowed tighter and tighter, confusion and confusion slowly appeared on his cheeks...
…
…
Edo, somewhere——
"...Mr. Kamino."
"What's the matter?" Kamino, who was leaning against the wall and concentrating with his eyes closed, opened his eyes through a slit and glanced at the one-armed warrior beside him.
"The spies we sent to Ryogoku Hirokoji to collect intelligence are back - our plan was very successful."
"The idiots from the Tianzhong Party foolishly ran into the 'big net' deployed by the execution office on Liangguang Xiao Road. They have all been caught by the official officers of the execution station."
Kamino's eyes opened wider as the one-armed warrior spoke.
"...Ha." Kamino sneered, then changed to a sarcastic tone, "The plan... is progressing much more smoothly than we imagined."
"Thank you for your hard work as an official of the police station. You helped us get rid of a nasty enemy."
"Mr. Kamino, is it almost time for us to start taking action?" The one-armed warrior stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth.
"...Hmm." Kamino pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly, "Send the order below - the operation has officially begun."
The one-armed warrior smiled "hehe" and replied "yes" in a frivolous tone, then quickly stepped back and disappeared into the darkness.
…
…
Edo, Kitabansho, a certain room——
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah..." Bosui's mouth opened wide enough to hold an apple.
"Susui." Minami Bansho Town Chief Atsukawa glanced at Susui next to him, "Would you like to go get some sleep now?"
"Haha..." Houchuan laughed a few times and raised his hand to rub his huge belly, "As a person gets older, his body will gradually become useless..."
"There's no need to rest or anything, I'm not that tired yet."
After saying that, Bo Jing took out a Western-style pocket watch from his pocket.
This Western-style pocket watch was given to him by Hsui's eldest son a few months ago.
At first it was a bit hard to get used to, but after using it for a long time, Hakui gradually realized that this Western clock is really convenient. You can tell what time it is just by opening the case, and you no longer have to guess by looking at the sky.
It's time.
Hakui skillfully opened the case of the pocket watch, and saw that the hour hand and minute hand inside the watch formed a large obtuse angle - the current time was exactly 11:30 pm.
"Why is it that at this time, there is still no news..." Bo Jing sighed and put the pocket watch in his hand back into his arms.
"It would be a good thing if it can stay like this quietly without any news." Atsukawa on the side smiled slightly, "This means that Edo can spend tonight peacefully."
Susui and Atsukawa, the two current "mayors" of Edo, will personally sit in the "temporary headquarters" Kitabansuo tonight and have full authority to command all officials involved in tonight's big operation.
After more than two hours of hard work in Beifan Station with no results...Both Susui and Atsukawa inevitably began to feel tired.
Suddenly, just as Bo Jing took his pocket watch back into his arms, an official hurriedly opened the door and rushed to Bo Jing and Hou Chuan.
"Lord Hakui! Lord Atsukawa!"
"The anti-barbarian group really showed up at Ryogoku Hirokoji!"
"Officials from the 'Three Chapters' of Nanfan Institute bravely took the lead to greet the group that appeared to suppress the barbarians."
"All thieves have been captured now!"
Bo Jing and Hou Chuan were stunned for a moment, and then stood up at the same time with excitement on their faces.
"Have all the thieves who appeared on Ryogoku Hirokoji been caught?" Atsukawa suppressed the excitement in his heart.
"Yes!" The official nodded vigorously, and then began to give a detailed report on the whole process of how the officers of the "Three Chapters" of the Nanban Institute swept away the members of the anti-barbarian group who had swarmed the streets of Ryogoku Guangxiao Road.
After listening carefully to the official's report, Atsukawa, whose cheeks turned red with excitement, slapped his thigh: "Wow! Well done! All the hard work today was finally in vain!"
Although it was Nanfansuo... who was Atsukawa's subordinates who gave the anti-barbarian group a head-on blow and made great contributions, Hsui was equally happy after hearing the good news.
If this terrorist organization that does not know when it will cause another evil act can be eliminated as soon as possible, it will be a great benefit to the Minami and Hokuban offices responsible for maintaining public security in Edo.
Both Susui and Atsukawa were delighted with the good news... However, the official who came to report the good news to these two people suddenly changed the subject:
"But... some officials from the 'Three Chapters' of Nanfan Station jointly reported that there was something strange about these captured thieves."
The expressions of Bosui and Atsukawa suddenly froze.
"Strange?" Houchuan frowned at the official.
"The captured thieves all claimed that they had nothing to do with the anti-barbarian group and that they were members of the Tianzhong Party."
"Oh my god, the Tianzhong Party...?" Bo Jing, with doubts in his eyes, chewed on this very unfamiliar title several times before turning his head and looking at Houchuan beside him.
The Tianzhong Party... neither Bojing nor Houchuan had ever heard of it.
"Those people...are they lying that they are not members of the anti-barbarian group in order to get a lighter punishment in the future?" Houchuan asked hesitantly.
The anti-barbarian group is the "target of severe attack" that the Enforcement Office has vigorously promoted in recent days, so Atsukawa's speculation is not unreasonable.
Those people may indeed want to reduce their crimes, so they lied that they were not members of the anti-barbarian group and made up an organization name for themselves.
"... Let's bring all the captured thieves back to the prison as soon as possible." Bo Jing said solemnly, "When we bring them all back, we can interrogate them slowly to see what they are like.
Something happened."
"Well..." Houchuan nodded, "That's the only way..."
Before Houchuan finished speaking——
"Master Hsui——! Lord Atsukawa——!"
Outside the room, there was a roar that sounded like a scream.
An official with a look of horror on his face stumbled open the door and threw himself into the room.
Bo Jing originally wanted to reprimand the official and ask him to calm down and stop making noises, but after seeing the unusual look of panic on this man's face, Bo Jing couldn't help but feel a little uneasy in his heart.
The reprimanding words that had come to my mouth were swallowed back into my stomach.
"What's wrong?" Houchuan asked the official first.
"Master Hsui, Master Atsukawa! Something bad is going to happen! Fire breaks out in Nishiyama Town, Tsuki Town, and Wai Town! Fire breaks out in Nishiyama Town, Tsuki Town, and Wai Town! Nishiyama Town, Tsuki Town,
Fire broke out in Huan Town and other places——!"
In a louder tone, the official announced this news three times in a row. Although it was brief...but each word was so heavy that it seemed like it could make a big hole in the ground.
It was as if the magic of "time suspension" had been cast...Bosui and Atsukawa's eyes were as wide as bells, and they froze in place.
Not moving at all...
In other words... I forgot that my body can move...
…
…
Mars flies.
Scattered cherry blossom petals, accompanied by sparks, are scattered in the night sky.
In places such as Edo's Homachi, flashes of red firelight not only brightened the dark night, but also woke up the citizens of Edo who were sleeping.
"Huh? Why is it so bright...ah! It's on fire! It's on fire!"
"It's on fire! Run to an open space!"
"Quick! Call the town fire department to put out the fire!"
…
In Japan's Edo period, there was a common sense - in a castle town, as long as you see a fire somewhere, and the fire is of a level that cannot be put out with a few buckets...then you can do anything.
Don’t think: run away quickly!
If you don't run away quickly, you might not have time to escape.
More and more townspeople were frightened awake by the sudden fires, and then fled the fire scenes in terror.
Because everyone was in a hurry to escape, almost no one noticed that there happened to be a few sneaky figures around each fire location.
Without exception, these sneaky figures are all samurai with swords at their waists.
They all raised their heads proudly, looking at the growing flames and light on the fire field as if they were admiring their own outstanding works of art...
…
…
Qingneng was currently in a castle town called "Keymachi".
Among the more than a thousand castles and towns in Edo, this Keymachi belongs to the most ordinary and unremarkable category.
There are no famous shops or special industries, and no celebrities worth mentioning live here.
But tonight... to be precise, just now, this normally inconspicuous town suddenly became "dazzling".
Because it's on fire.
The fire came suddenly and quickly.
When Aoto led Saito and others on a tour of this key town, he suddenly caught a glimpse of an orange-red light flashing at the left end of his field of vision.
When he moved his eyes away, the orange-red light had condensed into concrete flames, ravaging the surrounding buildings...
Due to its dense population and dense buildings, Edo has always been a city prone to fires. On average, hundreds of large and small fires occur every year. Therefore, the residents of Edo have developed profound experience and experience in how to avoid fires.
Skill.
After discovering the fire, the residents of Kagi-machi screamed and hurriedly took their families and important belongings and fled away from the fire.
The sudden fire stunned Nagakura and Harada.
"Tachibana, Mr. Tachibana!" Toudo stammered and asked urgently, "I, what should we do now?"
Qingdeng was also shocked by the sudden appearance of the fire, but he was only stunned for a moment and quickly regained his composure.
Fires occur - in Edo, where hundreds of fires can occur a year, this is not a rare thing, not to mention that now is the time when the weather is getting warmer and fires are most likely to occur.
But Qingdeng just felt that the fire appeared too coincidental!
Why did the fire break out at this juncture tonight?
Qingden pursed his lips and made a quick judgment after only thinking for a moment.
"Does any of you know where the nearest town fire station is from here?" Qingto asked quickly to the surrounding subordinates.
Nagakura, Saito, and Todo look at me and I look at you.
"I! I know!" Harada raised his hand high at this time, "I have washed the dishes here for a certain noodle restaurant for a while! I know where the nearest Machi fire station is!"
Wash the dishes?
Harada's experience of washing dishes for others made Qingto couldn't help but feel a little concerned, but now was not the time for small talk. He suppressed his curiosity and said to Harada quickly:
"Okay! Harada, go find the nearest fire department immediately and ask them to come and put out the fire quickly! Go quickly!"
"Understood! I'll be back as soon as I go!" Harada put the spear behind him coolly and ran towards the street next to him, his body quickly blending into the night.
With no time to watch Harada go, Qingto turned his sharp gaze towards Nagakura and the others.
"You guys are responsible for following me to the fire scene!"
Without any unnecessary nonsense, after giving the order quickly, Qingdeng turned around decisively and ran straight towards the increasingly bright fire in the distance.
The hem and sleeves of the burgundy feather fabric on his body were blown by the wind pressure as he ran so fast.
…
…
Edo, Tibetan Book Transfer Office, Katsurin Taro’s office——
"Mr. Katsu! Mister Katsu! Stop working! Something big happened! There's a fire in Arijo Town in the west!"
Outside the room, Umegoro's anxious shouting interrupted Katsurin Taro, who was still working overtime on translation work.
"Fire?" Katsurin Taro was startled for a moment, then quickly put down the brush in his hand, ran to the window not far away, and stuck his head out of the window.
The western sky was illuminated by orange-red light.
Although judging from the intensity of the fire, the fire location was far away from Fanshu Tiao, but no one could tell whether the fire would spread.
A small fire eventually turned into a huge fire that burned several surrounding towns, towns, and even most of the city to ashes... This kind of thing happened repeatedly throughout the Edo period.
"Quick! Meigoro! Come with me to transport all these important books and manuscripts! Let those who are still studying and working at the Fanshu Diao Institute come and help!"
With a gloomy face, Katsurin Taro walked towards the bookshelf in the corner of the office and took down some of the books on the shelf one by one.
"Okay, okay!" Meigoro nodded vigorously.
However, suddenly - bursts of hurried footsteps came from the first floor of Fanshu Diao House. Along with these footsteps were the scoldings of the guards, and then the scoldings suddenly turned into exclamations.
The shouts then turned into screams...
Katsurin Taro, who was hurriedly carrying books and manuscripts, suddenly stopped and tensed up. His eyes narrowed and he looked down at the tatami at his feet: "What's going on on the first floor...?"
…
…
The current "wave of opposition to foreigners" is getting more and more intense. In order to prevent lawless people from coming to make trouble, the Fanshu Diao Station has specially increased the number of guards to 6 people.
After Rintaro Katsu took over as the head of the Toshu Coordinating Institute, they originally wanted to further increase the number of guards, but the available operating funds were limited, and hiring six guards was the limit for the Toshu Coordinating Institute.
The first ones to be attacked were the six gatekeepers who were still guarding the gate of Fanshu Diao Institute at this time.
"who?!"
They saw black shadows emerging from the darkness shrouded by night outside the gate of Fanshu Tiaosuo.
The guards shouted warnings and drew their swords.
But somehow the shadows had an absolute numerical advantage.
In the electric light and flint, more than twenty black figures swooped towards the guards, taking advantage of their numerical advantage to divide and surround them.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
The guards fought bravely and performed their duties as guards. While fighting against these "uninvited guests", they raised their voices and shouted warnings to the apprentices and staff who were still in the Fanshu Diao Institute.
.
The sword light danced, and blood splashed.
Under the mass offensive of the shadows, the thin defense line of the gatekeepers was quickly breached.
After all the guards were killed, more black shadows emerged from all directions.
After leaving more than 30 people to surround the Fanshu Adjustment Institute, the remaining 40 or so people jumped over the gate of the transfer station fiercely!
As soon as they entered the prison, they met a young man with a pair of glasses on his nose.
This young man must have heard a strange noise at the gate, so he came here to check the situation.
"Heavenly Punishment!" - After a certain black figure shouted like this, he stabbed the young man with a knife in the head. The tip of the knife hit the young man's left eye socket. The tip of the knife penetrated from the left eye socket and came out from the back of his head. The soft eyes
The balls exploded, red, white...strange liquids composed of various colors splashed everywhere.
"Tenchu——!"
"Heaven punishes the national thief!"
…
The shadows scattered in all directions, bringing screams and killings wherever they went.
People in the training center either ran away in fear, or hid somewhere shivering.
People and people, people and things, things and things collide with each other.
The originally peaceful facility suddenly became a mess and chaos.
These shadowy figures who invaded the Fanshu Diao Institute had a very clear division of labor.
Some people were responsible for hunting down the apprentices and staff who were still studying and working in the training center tonight.
Others took out bamboo tubes from their waists and poured the highly pungent smelling liquid contained in the bamboo tubes everywhere...
They hunted down the apprentices and staff of the training center like cats catching mice, like hunters rounding up their prey.
Only a handful of people managed to escape outside the transfer station, but the outside of the transfer station was also controlled by the shadows. Those who were lucky enough to escape outside the transfer station were killed one by one by the shadows responsible for surrounding the transfer station.
"It turns out that the interior of the Fanshu Diao Institute looks like this..."
Kamino held the knife at his waist and walked along a corridor in the training center at a pace as if he were relaxing in his own yard, while looking around.
Suddenly, his foot kicked a book that fell to the ground.
He bent down, picked up the book, and turned it over casually - the book was filled with words like tadpoles in an unknown language.
As if he had touched something extremely dirty, Kamino threw the book in his hand back to the ground with a look of disgust.
"It's really disgusting... There is no need to learn the knowledge of the barbarians in this majestic kingdom of God."
"This Tibetan Bookstore is really full of disgusting people and disgusting things."
The apprentices and staff of the Fanshu Diao Institute were basically scholars who did not know any martial arts. Facing the attack of the brutal anti-barbarian group, they had no power to fight back.
A few people who grabbed weapons and tried to resist were quickly defeated by the anti-barbarian group who had an absolute numerical advantage.
"Ahhhh——!" A young man who was probably only about 15 years old stumbled and tried to escape to the second floor of the training center.
But his legs, which had been frightened weak by the sudden change, became difficult to control and no longer looked like they were growing on his body.
"ah!"
The boy's left foot kicked a corpse on the ground, causing it to fall to pieces.
"You're pretty good at running."
A "praise" with a strong sense of joking and ridicule sounded faintly from behind the young man.
Kamino's confidant, the one-armed samurai, held a sword and walked toward the young man with a pleasant, twisting step.
The boy, with fear written all over his face, tried to hold himself up and run away.
But my arms, which were constantly trembling, couldn't use any strength...
"You, you, you know what the hell you are doing?"
Although his body became unable to move due to fear, for some reason, the young man retained the strength and courage to question the one-armed warrior.
"This, this is the forefront of our Japanese study and study of foreign studies."
"Have you ever thought about the consequences if we destroy this place? We have finally mastered some Western knowledge and technology!"
The one-armed warrior squinted his eyes at the young man.
"Of course we know what we're doing now."
"We're here to destroy this disgusting place."
"What is there to learn from Yi Di's knowledge? We don't need to learn anything from Yi Di at all."
"You guys, these traitors who are learning the knowledge of Yi and Di, really make me sick when I see you."
After saying that, the one-armed warrior raised the sword held by his one-arm high and pointed the blade at the boy's head.
"Hey...!" The young man held his head in his hands, his body trembling with a more frightening amplitude and speed.
Just when the one-armed warrior was about to swing down the sword in his palm, he suddenly heard a metallic "click" sound coming from behind him.
The one-armed warrior's pupils shrank suddenly, and then jumped to the side as a conditioned reflex.
boom!
The sound of the pistol being fired was deafening.
A hot bullet grazed the one-armed warrior's cheek, leaving a hot blood trail on the one-armed warrior's face.
The one-armed warrior hid in a nearby room with a slightly embarrassed posture, and then with a gloomy expression, he poked half of his face out of the hiding room and looked towards the direction where the gunshot came from just now.
I saw a middle-aged man standing at the end of the corridor where the one-armed warrior had just been, holding a bloody knife in his right hand, and a revolver with smoke still coming out of the muzzle in his left hand.
"Katsu Rintaro...?!" The one-armed warrior's pupils shrank again.
This middle-aged man was none other than Katsurin Taro, whom he had just taken Kamino to meet at noon today.
"Azheng!" Katsurin Taro shouted to the young man, "Come here quickly!"
"Old teacher!"
The timely appearance and rescue of his mentor moved the young man greatly, and at the same time, he also gained new strength.
Feeling that his hands and feet were no longer shaking, the boy got up from the ground and ran towards Katsurin Taro.
"Tsk..." The one-armed warrior curled his lips and tried to rush out to chase the young man and Katsurin Taro.
But as soon as he leaned out half of his body from the room, Katsurin Taro quickly shot the one-armed samurai again, forcing the one-armed samurai to retract his body back into the room.
During this dodge, Katsurin Taro had already taken the young man and fled away...
Rintaro Katsu took the boy and fled to the stairs leading upstairs, then pointed at the stairs with his hand.
"Azheng! Go to the roof quickly! Go quickly! I have asked Meigoro to set up defenses on the roof!"
Fanshu Diao Institute has three floors in total.
The roof of the building mentioned by Katsurin Taro is the third floor of the temple.
"Well, what about you, teacher? Won't you go to the top of the building with me?"
"There should be some people who haven't been killed yet." Shenglin Taro said solemnly, "I want to rescue them all! Don't worry about me, hurry up and go to the roof!"
"Tenchu——!"
At this time, a black shadow suddenly jumped out from behind Katsurin Taro and pounced on Katsurin Taro.
"Teacher! Your back..."
boom!
Before the young man finished his warning, Katsurin Taro quickly turned around, raised the revolver in his left hand, aimed at the black figure who was planning to attack him, and shot the black figure in the head, blowing the head of the black figure directly.
"Don't underestimate the elderly!"
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This chapter has been completed!