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"In addition to confirming the code names of two major cadres of the Fuzhi Party, we have also recently discovered traces of Fuzhi Party activities in the Ou area."
"In order to find out what the Fazhu Party is planning to do, the Lord sent me to the Ou area to investigate and track the Fazhu Party."
"This is also the main reason why I suddenly visited Edo at this time. From Osaka to Ou, you must pass through Edo and take the Oshu streets."
Ou area - the collective name for the two regions of Oshu and Deu in Japan. Because these two regions are located in the northeast, they are also called the "Tohoku region".
As for the Oshu Street, there are five avenues centered on Edo that connect various strategic locations: one of the "Five Streets" runs from Nihonbashi in Edo to the Mutsu Shirakawa River in the Ou area.
"Ou..." Kiryu nodded slightly, "Then when do you plan to leave for Ou?"
"The Lord requires me to arrive at Ou as soon as possible. Therefore, I plan to leave early tomorrow morning."
"Then do you want to meet the young master tonight?" Kiryu asked, "If the young master sees you coming to Edo, she will be very happy."
"That's not necessary." Makimura pursed his lips and shook his head, "I will leave tomorrow morning. If I go to see the young master tonight, I will be too busy and I won't even be able to say a few words to the young master."
"I'd better wait until I'm completely free and have time before I come to see the young master."
"At that time... I'll also come and meet the Tachibana Aoden you mentioned in your letter before."
At this point, Makimura showed an expression filled with emotion.
"My lord and I were very surprised when we saw what was written in the letter you sent back a month ago."
"Is that Tachibana Aoden that powerful?"
"You can actually make you intend to pass on your sword-drawing skills and your demonic sword to him. No matter how you searched before, you couldn't find a suitable heir."
"...Tachibana-kun is indeed a talented person worth looking forward to in the future." After hearing Makimura mention Aoto's name, Kiryu smiled slightly, narrowed his eyes slightly, and recalled, "Not only does he have extremely outstanding
He has a talent for swordsmanship, as well as... the personal charm and commanding ability that can become the 'center' of everyone."
"But I'm still in the 'intentional' and 'considering' stage as to whether to pass on my sword-drawing technique, 'Liuguang', to him."
"I want to observe him for a while and think about it for a while before I decide whether I should try to accept him as my close disciple."
Having said this, Kiryu suddenly paused as if he recalled something.
Then, I saw that his expression gradually became weird.
"Kuro, what's wrong?" Makimura, who noticed that Kiryu's expression suddenly turned strange, frowned and said, "Is it because you've lost your head and feel uncomfortable?"
"...No." Kiryu pursed his lips vigorously a few times, then opened his mouth and let out a long sigh, "Speaking of Tachibana-kun... I don't think I have reported to you yet... About Tachibana-kun and Tachibana-kun
Those things about the young master."
"Tachibana Aoden and the young master?" Makimura was startled, "What happened to the two of them?"
"If my observation is correct... the young master seems to like Tachibana Aoden very much now."
"What?" Makimura's eyes suddenly widened as big as copper bells.
"It was probably 1 or 2 months ago." Kiryu continued, "I noticed that the young master's attitude towards Tachibana Aoden has become very different."
"When I see Mr. Tachibana visiting my Thousand Houses, he will smile happily and actively chat with Mr. Tachibana."
"When I work on weekdays, I often get distracted and dazed, and occasionally I suddenly giggle a few times."
"Based on the strange things I have observed about the young master recently... I speculate that the young master most likely has special feelings for Mr. Orange."
"And just a few days ago, the young master invited Mr. Tachibana to join her in phantom thief activities."
"What?!" Makimura yelled "What" again, and his eyes, which were already wide open, became even wider, "You mean... Young Master, she invited that Tachibana Aoto here.
Do you want to become a phantom thief with her? Kuro, please tell me about this in detail."
Kiryu nodded, and then told Makimura in a concise and concise manner the details of how Kinoshita Mai and Aonto worked together as Kaito thieves to solve the "human killing incident" a few days ago.
Makimura held his breath and listened carefully to Kiryu's story, his expression became extremely strange.
After a while, he picked up a handful of hot water and slapped it hard on his face, then smacked his lips a few times: "Young Master, does she have someone she likes... That's right, after all, Young Master, she is also 15 years old this year.
Now, you are indeed at an age where you will fall in love with any man. Kuro, have you written to my lord about these things?"
"Not yet. I plan to wait a few days before writing a long letter to report these matters to the lord in detail."
Makimura curled his lips and shook his shoulders: "Ha... I'm really curious about my master's expression after learning that the young master actually has someone he likes."
"...I guess my lord, she will be surprised at first." The expression on Kiryu's face became strange again, "Then he quickly wrote me a reply: asking me to carefully examine Tachibana-kun's character."
"If Mr. Tachibana is the kind of man who is not worthy of being entrusted with your whole life, let me prevent the young master from having any further dealings with Mr. Tachibana."
"On the contrary, let the young master and Mr. Ju let nature take its course, but be careful to protect the young master and prevent her from being harmed."
"Finally, she will try to squeeze out her free time and come to Edo in person to see with her own eyes who can be admired by her precious granddaughter."
"Haha..." Makimura laughed dumbly, "These are indeed things that the lord will do with a high probability... So does Tachibana Aomori know that the young master likes him?"
"According to my observation, Jun Ju doesn't seem to realize the young master's feelings for him yet."
"That means, young master, she is in unrequited love right now... To be able to have unrequited love in the hands of our princess of Calabash House... If this gets out, I don't know how many people will die of envy."
"Kuroro, do you personally think that Tachibana Aoden is a person worthy of being liked by the young master?"
Kiryu fell silent, a look of thought appeared on his brows.
After a moment, he nodded gently.
"...As I just said: Tachibana-kun is a talented person worth looking forward to in the future."
"Judging from his various performances so far, I don't think Mr. Ju is unqualified for the young master's love."
"So now I am taking the attitude of letting nature take its course."
"Until I receive relevant instructions from my lord, I will allow her and Lord Ju to travel freely."
"Oh...it seems that Kuro, you have a really high opinion of this Tachibana Aoden."
As Makimura spoke, he picked up another handful of warm pool water, slapped it hard on his face, then grinned and laughed a few times.
"I'm really getting more and more curious about this Tachibana Aoden."
"If I hadn't left Edo early tomorrow morning, otherwise I would have really wanted to go quickly to see what kind of strange man he is, who can not only gain your appreciation, Kuro, and make you intend to accept him as a closed disciple, but also be able to
Gain the admiration of the young master."
After that, Makimura straightened up his body that was leaning on the wall of the pool, and the water droplets on his body dripped down his strong muscles and melted back into the pool water.
"Okay... I've finished everything I need to tell you. Kuro, is there anything else important you want to tell me?"
Kiryu shook his head.
"Then let's leave first." Makimura raised the thumb and index finger of his right hand, pinched the temples on both sides of his head, and rubbed them vigorously, "After soaking in the bath for so long, my head is a little dizzy."
"I'm going back to my hotel to sleep now. Where are you, Kuro?"
"Of course I'm going back to my Senshiya." Kiryu said without thinking, "Makimura, since you are leaving for Ou early tomorrow morning, do you need me to see you off tomorrow morning?"
"Hahahaha, no need. We have been friends for seventy or eighty years, why do we need to do this kind of mother-in-law and mother-in-law thing." Makimura waved his hand generously.
"Then I would like to wish you that this 'trip to Ou' will be successful immediately." Kiryu smiled slightly, "Our Calabash House's power in the Ou area is very weak. When we get to the Ou area, remember to make tens of millions of dollars."
careful."
"Hahahaha." Makimura looked up to the sky and laughed, "Kuroro, who do you think I am?"
Makimura's tone was full of confidence and pride.
"The 'dragon' I am carrying behind me has not faded yet!"
After saying that, Makimura let out a "hoo" and stood up from the pool.
I saw a dragon tattooed on his back that almost covered his entire back!
A red dragon!
The black lines condensed into a dragon body.
The bright red color like blood turned into dragon scales.
The red dragon lay horizontally on Mucun's back, circling, with its head raised high, looking directly at Mucun's right shoulder, its mouth wide open, its eyes shining with unyielding light staring at the sky, as if it was about to emerge from Mucun's back at any time.
Fly out from behind, turn into a real dragon and rush into the sky, fighting with gods and Buddhas all over the sky!
…
…
Edo, Koishikawa Kohinagayanagicho, bathhouse·Chihiroya——
After immersing his body in the warm water, Qingdeng immediately felt that most of the fatigue on his body had been relieved. He was so comfortable that Qingdeng couldn't help but half-squint his eyes.
But at this moment, Zhou Zhu’s nagging suddenly sounded from behind Qingdeng:
"Junior Jun, although you have made a big splash in this competition, you must not be complacent."
"Practice martial arts...no, no matter what you do, pride and complacency are the most taboo things."
"Once this person becomes proud and complacent, it is easy for him to lose sight of his own worth, to be satisfied with his past glory, and to become complacent."
"So Mr. Ju, you should continue to maintain a normal mind and continue to practice hard..."
…
Zhou Zhu kept talking, and Qingdeng felt like there were dozens of mosquitoes flying around his ears.
"Master, don't worry." Qingden smiled helplessly at Zhousuke, "I'm not stupid enough to be complacent because of such a small achievement."
Tonight, except for Okita, who said "I want to come and enjoy the large bath alone late at night," all the men in the trial building, namely Aoto, Shusuke, Kondo, Saito, and Kubei, came to this adjacent building together for a rare occasion.
The bathhouse of the Test Guard Hall: Take a bath in Chihiro House.
Before that, there were very few people who came to bathe together.
"Okay, father." Kondo seemed to be unable to bear Shusuke's nagging at this time, and advised him, "Tachibana-kun will continue the game tomorrow, now let him take a good bath and rest.
, it’s not too late to talk about these great principles later.”
After finishing speaking, Kondo turned his attention to Qingto.
"Tachibana-kun, please stay in the bathtub for a while today. Taking a hot bath will help relieve your body's fatigue."
"Yeah." Qingdeng nodded.
After nodding, Qingdeng silently added in his heart:
——My body actually doesn’t have any fatigue that needs to be relieved...
Qingdeng only swung his sword three times in today's three games. How can he be tired?
Now is one of the most popular times in the bathhouse. Nearly 80% of the space in the huge bathhouse has been occupied by people. Qingdeng, who is soaking his body in a corner of the bathhouse, can't help but feel cramped.
After three fierce rounds of elimination today, only a dozen contestants are left.
The last dozen players will start the final three rounds tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow's fourth round can be understood as the "semi-finals", the fifth round is the "semi-finals", and the final sixth round is the "final" to decide who is the winner of this competition!
Although his body was not very tired, Qingdeng still held the mentality of "I also paid for this bathhouse, so I should take more baths." He closed his eyes and immersed all the parts below the chin into the bathhouse. The temperature was just right.
in the pool water.
——Among all the remaining players... the one who is worthy of attention and who is most likely to have special talents is probably the new wife in the training hall.
Qingden wanted to empty his head, but his thoughts drifted uncontrollably to tomorrow's game.
According to Qingdeng's own observation, among the remaining ten opponents, the only one whose strength is impressive is the last "Three Heroes" with whom he has not yet fought: Kuan Nitsuma of the training hall.
The other players except Kanazuma... To put it bluntly, Aoto could easily kill them all in an instant just by giving up a hand.
Qingdeng believes that if nothing happens, he will have a fight with his new wife Kuan sooner or later tomorrow!
Nitsuma Kuan's strength is much stronger than the other players. Except for Qingto, none of the remaining players can compete with Nitsuma Kuan.
That is to say - if in tomorrow's fourth or fifth round, Aoshito fails to face Shinzuma Kan, then the two opponents who will compete in the sixth round of this competition, that is, the finals
, that is, he and his new wife are estranged!
According to Aoto's observation in today's game, Nitsuma Hiroshi's strength... should be slightly stronger than Morishita, Oizaki and others who were all instantly killed by Aoto with one sword.
In a nutshell - although Qingneng has been listed as the opponent that needs the most attention in tomorrow's game, there is still a huge gap between Shinzuma Kuan's strength and the current Qingneng.
However, Qingdeng did not feel any arrogance or contempt for his new wife Kuan Xin.
He doesn't like Qingdeng, and he doesn't tend to be arrogant and complacent. Even though his strength is much higher than other players, he still wants to play every remaining game with full seriousness and strength.
While Aoto's mind was still drifting to tomorrow's game, he suddenly heard Shusuke, who was sitting across from him, saying to Kondo:
"Ah, by the way, Yong. Just now, the chief executive asked me to help him buy some sweets from the candy shop that is open late when I go home after taking a bath.
Gold-covered sugar."
"This task of buying candy for the chief executive will be left to you. When you take a bath later, remember to buy candy for the chief executive."
"Hua Tang House...Okay, I understand."
Okita... Hearing Kondo and the others mention Okita in their chat, Aoto couldn't help but open his eyes as he remembered something related to Okita, and then he intervened in the conversation between Kondo and Shusuke.
"Kondo-kun, speaking of Okita-kun... I have a question related to Okita-kun. I wonder if I can ask it?"
"A question related to Okita?" Kondo blinked, raised his chin towards Aoto, and motioned to Aoto: You can ask.
Seeing this, Qingdeng no longer hesitated.
"Kondo-kun, I discovered that since I stayed at the Imperial Guard Hall, I have never seen Okita-kun's family come to look for him."
"As for Okita-kun, he has always lived in the imperial examination hall. I have never seen him leave the imperial examination hall temporarily and go back to live with other relatives."
"So I just want to ask: Don't any of Okita-kun's relatives live in Edo?"
"Oh, you're asking this..." Hearing the question raised by Qingto, Kondo raised his eyebrows, then pursed his lips, as if thinking about his words.
After a while, I saw him slowly saying:
"Well, Souji does not have any relatives living in Edo. Apart from the Imperial Guard Hall, he has no other place to go in Edo, so naturally he has been staying in the Imperial Guard Hall."
Having said this, Kondo tilted his body and changed to a more comfortable sitting position, then continued:
"Soji, he lost his parents when he was young."
"The only closest relatives left are his two sisters who are both married."
"The eldest sister Okita Hikaru married a samurai who changed her name to Okita Rintaro because he had married into the Okita family, and now lives in Hino-juku, located in the north of Edo."
"Second sister Okita Kaneya married far away."
"Souji has a very good relationship with his sisters, but because Okita Hikaru and Okita Kane do not live in Edo now, Okita doesn't see his two sisters very often.
"
"Okita-kun turns out to have a sister..." Qingto murmured.
Okita has two sisters - this is the first time Qingto knows about this.
"Souji's two sisters are both great beauties." Kondo continued at this time.
"The second sister of Souji, Kane Okita, is married far away, so she rarely has the opportunity to return to Edo."
"But Hino-juku, where the eldest sister Okita Hikaru currently lives, is not very far from Edo, so she occasionally goes back to Edo to visit the Souji during the holidays."
"Every time Okita Hikaru goes back to Edo to visit Souji, he always attracts a large number of apprentices from our training hall to come and take a peek at Souji's sister."
"Hoo ho ho..." Suddenly, Zhouzhu on the side was smiling "ho ho ho" as he interjected, "When I first met A Guang, I even thought about bringing Yong and A Guang together.
, let us Kondo family and Okita family get closer."
"It's a pity that Aguang was already married at that time. Thinking about it carefully, it's really a pity."
"Are they all great beauties..." Qingto chewed the words carefully and said with a smile, "That's right. After all, Okita-kun is so cute... ah, no, he is so good-looking and has
It’s not surprising that there are two beautiful sisters.”
Aoden originally wanted to use "cute" to describe Okita's appearance.
But I thought that using "cute" to describe a man might be a bit offensive, so I temporarily changed it to "good-looking".
However, although Aoto had temporarily changed his words, Kondo still heard the "cute" sentence Aoto just blurted out.
"Tachibana-kun, when in front of Souji, please don't ever say, 'You look so cute.'" Kondo smiled helplessly, "Souji doesn't like people saying he's cute, because he feels that as a
It is quite humiliating for a man to be called 'cute' by others."
"It's understandable..." Qingto smiled bitterly, "But... to be honest, Okita-kun does have a very cute face. Apart from 'cute', I don't think there is any other adjective that can describe it better."
This describes Okita-kun’s appearance.”
Although it might be rude to say this, Aoden always felt that Okita was born with the wrong gender.
He is obviously a man, but he has a face that is cuter than 99% of women.
When he first met Okita, if it weren't for seeing Okita wearing men's clothes, Aoto would have mistaken Okita for a cute girl from some family.
On weekdays, when Okita and I go out together, Okita's extremely cute face often attracts some strange people.
In ancient Japan, people called Ryo Yang's good behavior "Zhongdao". Zhongdao has been quite popular in the Warring States Period three hundred years ago and in the current Edo Period.
So when I usually walk on the street with Okita, I often bump into some obscene "enthusiasts" who come to talk to and harass Okita.
Qingdeng had also been harassed once by "lovers of the Way".
In terms of appearance, Qingdeng belongs to the type with delicate and slender facial features - which happens to be the face that is most loved by "lovers of all religions"...
About two months ago, when Qingteng was drinking tea in a certain tea house, a well-dressed samurai suddenly came to his table and spoke some affectionate words to Qingteng...
"I am the second son of the Hatamoto Yuki family" and so on... In short, he hinted to Aoto "I am attracted to you" overtly and covertly.
After Qingdeng, whose sexual orientation was completely normal, figured out the guy's purpose, he raised his left hand unceremoniously and pressed the handle of the knife at his waist to scare away the perverted man.
Even Qingden was harassed by such a perverted man, let alone Okita.
There were 7 or 8 incidents of "perverted men harassing Okita" that Qingto had encountered alone.
"Anyway, remember not to praise Okita in front of him, just praise him as 'cute'." Kondo shrugged, "You can praise him for being good-looking, delicate, etc."
Soaking in a bath filled with hot water for a long time will cause blood to rush straight to the head, which is why it is easy to become dizzy after soaking in a bath for a long time.
I saw that Zhou Zhu was in a dazed state.
His cheeks turned red and his eyes were half-closed.
After Kondo's reminder to Aoto, Shusuke, who was dizzy, let out his signature "hohoho" laugh, and then shook his head in a vague manner as if he was drunk.
intonation says:
"Well, Souji is actually just saying that he doesn't like others praising him for being cute."
"If you tell him that he is cute in front of him, he will actually be very happy... ugh!"
Before Zhousuke could finish his words, a pain came from his butt, which made the rest of his words stuck in his throat. Kondo, who was sitting next to him, secretly kicked Zhousuke under the water.
"Father, you look a little dizzy. Do you need me to help you out and sit down?"
"Master, did you say something just now?" Qingdeng was a little distracted just now, and Zhou Zhu's words were very vague, so Qingdeng didn't hear clearly what Zhou Zhu said just now.
"Uh... I said my head was a little dizzy from the soaking." Shusuke's eyes became much clearer after being kicked by Kondo on the butt, "I'm going out first, you can continue to party."
After saying that, Zhouzhu made a "wow" sound, quickly stood up from the bath, and then left the bath room in three steps and two steps at a time under Qingden's confused gaze.
*******
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In the past two days, there have been more personal matters in reality, so whether there will be a W-shaped update, I have to leave it to chance for the time being...
However, although today’s chapter does not have 10,000 words, it still has a lot of words! So I still ask for a monthly vote! (Leopard Head Cries.jpg)
Please vote for me monthly! Please vote for recommendation!
This chapter has been completed!