"Oh, I've been either sitting on the tatami or lying on the bed recently. I haven't moved my body for a long time, and my shoulders are really stiff."
Rakshasa raised his beloved sword... Changyang Zhengzong high above his head, and then swung it down heavily.
The blood attached to the blade fell to the ground.
At this time, the two brothers and sisters who collapsed on the ground both let out silent moans in unison.
"Oh? You're actually still alive... Did you instinctively hide when my sword was about to cut down... You have a trick. The names of 'The Dog of Fire' and 'Little Zuo' are really not in vain.
Passed on."
Rakshasa's tone and expression were very frivolous, making it difficult to tell whether he was sincerely praising him or mocking him hypocritically.
"Ho...! Ho...! Ho...! Ho...!"
Zhongsuke, who was in a pool of blood, raised his head with difficulty and stared at Rakshasa who was still standing in front of him and Qin.
The blood dripping from the wound on his chest had stained most of his clothes and the ground beneath him red.
The same was true for Qin. The location where she was stabbed was also her chest, and her blood flowed like a waterfall.
Although the brother and sister relied on their martial arts strength and combat experience accumulated over the years to dodge reflexively just before Rakshasa's sword was about to hit their bodies, they only escaped "death on the spot".
It's just fate...
Both brothers and sisters suffered critical injuries. Even if they were sent to the hospital immediately, they would not escape death.
Severe pain slowly spread throughout Zhongsuke and Qin's bodies, and their consciousness was torn to pieces by the pain. It was difficult to speak or move their bodies, and even think normally.
A look of shock gradually appeared on Qin's face, as if she had seen some unbelievable sight.
Rakshasa's slash just now...she didn't see it clearly at all.
Although she dare not claim to be "powerful", Qin believes that her swordsmanship is quite good.
With her absolute strength, she has occupied a place in the small Chiba Sword Hall where there are many strong men. Not to mention the juniors, even many seniors who were exposed to swordsmanship earlier than her have become her defeats.
I'm like this... I can't even see clearly the path of the knife struck by this unknown young man... I can't even react...
If that's all it is, then that's it, Qin can still accept it.
However, my brother... was so powerful that countless thieves were frightened by the news. The brother who was given the majestic title of "The Dog of Fire" was actually killed instantly by this weirdo who called himself Rakshasa...
This makes it hard for Qin Zhen to accept...
After all, Zhongsuke's willpower was stronger than Qin's. He endured the pain and turned to look at his sister beside him.
As a front-line military officer and criminal investigator who has been dealing with danger, blood, and corpses all year round, Zhongsuke could tell at a glance that his sister, like him, was too seriously injured and would not die soon...
"Xiaoqin...damn it..."
Qin was speechless, but he could still squeeze out some rudimentary words from between his teeth.
"You bastard……!"
Tadatsuki turned his grief and anger into hatred.
"Could it be that... it's all you...? Everything that has happened recently... the fire in the prison house in Kodenma Town... the Akabane family was killed... Tachibana-kun's disappearance... these... are all your fault.
……?!"
"Hey, hey, hey." Rakshasa spread his hands, "Don't misunderstand me. What you just said about the fire, the whole family being killed, the disappearance of Ju Qingden, these messy things are all...
It’s none of our business.”
"What motive do I have for being so cruel to Tachibana Tachibana, whom I admire very much? I have always valued talents the most. I hope Tachibana Tachibana can live well and join my subordinates."
"However, I can roughly guess who is the initiator of all this."
"Although we are not the ones who created this mess, but to say that the culprit behind this series of events has nothing to do with us... that's not true."
Having said this, Rakshasa raised his hand and scratched his hair, looking troubled.
"Haha, that guy's resentment is really deep... It's been so long, are you still unwilling to let go of the Ju family..."
"Ah, I'm sorry, I seem to have digressed too much. Let's get back to the topic."
"The Dog of Fire, did I just say that? The reason why we came to kill you is just because you know too much and we can't let you continue the investigation."
"As early as 10 days ago, we sent people to keep an eye on your door, always waiting for the best opportunity to assassinate you. Choosing to do it tonight is purely accidental. Who told you to go out for a walk tonight?"
"As for your sister...this is even more unexpected."
Rakshasa sighed softly, and there was a look of regret on his face that made you feel that there was no trace of fraud.
"Our target is only you. If possible, we don't want to involve too many irrelevant people, especially my sister."
"I have always valued talents the most. My sister is a rare hero among women. Killing such a talented person... this is really too heavy for me."
"There is no way, we can't let the 'witnesses' who saw me murder with their own eyes live. I can only say that this is really unfortunate. This is probably the so-called 'fate'. If you didn't take your sister out for a walk tonight...
My sister doesn’t have to die.”
Zhongsuke's eyes were so wide open that it seemed as if they were about to pop out.
Bullshit "so unfortunate"... Bullshit "fate"... The murderer should stop pretending to be aloof and compassionate!
Zhongsuke really wanted to express his filial piety like this, but his physical condition no longer allowed him to do so.
He tried his best to speak, but the strange fatigue and sleepiness still overwhelmed him.
He fell deeply into a state where he had no concept of time and space and almost lost his sense of self.
The blood flowing out of his body became much less, because the blood was almost exhausted.
However, in his shattered mind, a picture revived for no reason.
It was a red and purple pill with an extremely strange color.
I know too much... I can't let me investigate anymore...
The only thing that allows Tadatsuki to connect these two lines of words together... is the only strange pill that he is currently actively searching for!
At this moment, Zhongfu suddenly felt his heart sinking - he suddenly realized that he seemed to underestimate this medicine a little too much.
Behind this strange pill, there may be a huge chain of interests or huge power that even he, who is well-informed, cannot imagine!
"Oh? Fire dog? Fire dog? Can you still hear my voice clearly? Well...it seems like you can't hear me. Anyway, I've talked to you for long enough."
After finishing speaking, Rakshasa turned his wrist, held the handle of the knife upside down, and pointed the tip of the knife directly at Zhongsuke's throat.
"Although you two brothers and sisters are definitely dead even if you don't do anything now, it will definitely be very painful for you to die of excessive bleeding alive, so I'm here to give you a ride."
don't want!
Qin wanted to scream and rush forward to protect her brother, but now she couldn't even lift a finger, and her tongue seemed to have lost consciousness, making it difficult to move.
Poof - Changyang Zhengzong pierced Zhongsuke's throat.
Zhongsuke's eyes suddenly shrank, and then slowly spread...
"now you."
Rakshasa turned to look at Qin.
Looking at the figure and the tip of the knife approaching her at a leisurely speed, Qin's lips moved slightly... She used up the last bit of strength left in her body and whispered:
"Brother...Tachibana-kun..."
…
…
"Lord Rakshasa, thank you for your hard work."
The dozen or so people who had just surrounded the Kanazawa brothers and sisters gathered towards Rakshasa. The leader among them continued:
"Sigh... I feel really sorry... Lord Rakshasa, you should not have done such dirty and tiring work..."
"do not mind."
Rakshasa took out the pocket paper from his waist and wiped the blade of the sword while smiling freely.
"I have been too idle recently. I lie down or sit every day. My body has become sluggish. If I don't find something to do, I will be bored to death."
Rakshasa put the cleaned Changyang Zhengzong back into its sheath.
At this time, a short figure emerged from the thorn.
"Lord Rakshasa."
"Oh, it's a kappa, is something wrong?"
"If nothing happens, I won't come to you."
The kappa quickly ran to Rakshasa's side and whispered something to Rakshasa.
"Oh?" Rakshasa raised his eyebrows and muttered, "Has that new wife Kuan finally recovered..."
…
…
The next day.
In the second year of Wanyan (1861), January 18, morning——
It started to snow when the sky was still just dark.
Thick clouds blocked the sky and the earth, and only a little weak sunlight barely penetrated the gaps between the clouds.
Translucent snowflakes passed through people's sight and fell on the cold bodies of the Kanazawa brothers and sisters...
"Get back! Everyone, get back! Get back! Don't come close!"
"Yes! Someone was really killed!"
"Sigh... I thought Edo would become more stable after the anti-barbarian group was destroyed..."
"Ah! I recognize the deceased! That man seems to be the captain of the second division of the Fire Thief: Kanazawa Chusuke!"
"Kanazawa Chusuke? That 'fire dog'?"
"Even such a powerful man was killed? Who is the murderer..."
…
The bodies of the Kanazawa brothers and sisters were surrounded by onlookers who came to join in the fun because they heard someone had been killed.
The officers of their own department used their bodies as a wall and tried their best to prevent other people from approaching the crime scene.
At this time, noisy footsteps were heard in the distance.
A group of warriors wearing black uniforms appeared in the southeast. They were in a hurry and their faces were ashen.
"Ah! It's fire paying for the thieves!"
someone said.
"It's my grandson Chutaro, the captain of the 1st Division of the Fire Thieves, and Mizushima Rensaburo, the captain of the 4th Division!"
Another person added.
The fire thieves and officers led by my grandson and Mizushima squeezed through the crowd, and after handing over to their own officers who were maintaining order at the scene, they slowly walked to the bodies of Tadatsuki and Qin.
"Kanazawa-kun...Miss Kanazawa..." Mizushima squatted on the ground, staring at the lifeless faces of the Kanazawa brothers and sisters.
Mizushima was known for being serious and unsmiling, but at this time his expression was distorted.
His eyebrows were upright, his eyebrows were furrowed into the character "Chuan", his cheeks were slightly bulging due to clenching his teeth, his face was bloodless, his hands were clenched into fists, and his joints were white.
In comparison, my grandson on the side was much calmer.
No matter when he was on the road just now, or when he arrived at the scene of the eucalyptus and came to the bodies of the Kanazawa brothers and sisters, my grandson was calm and looked as usual.
He didn't squat down, he just stood with his arms folded, looking around roughly.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps was heard again outside the crowd of onlookers.
"Ah, it's Nishino from Kitabansuo! Nishino from Kitabansuo is here!"
My grandson, Mizushima and others followed the call.
They saw a young man with a stern expression dressed in uniform, leading several young people who looked like Okabiki, striding towards them.
"Nishino...Nishino Hosejiro..."
Mizushima muttered as he stood up and walked towards Nishino.
"first meet."
Nishino was the first to call home.
"In Shimokita Bansho Town, I returned to Doshin, Nishino Hosejiro. I was entrusted by him to take full responsibility for the "Kanazawa brother and sister were killed" case."
There is currently no evidence to prove that "Aoto's disappearance", "Akaban's entire family was killed" and "the murder of the Kanazawa brothers and sisters" are related.
If we only focus on the love itself, then the murder of the Kanazawa brothers and sisters is just a murder that can be seen everywhere.
Since it was just an ordinary murder case, it naturally didn't require the deployment of the "special police force": fire to pay thieves.
Therefore, this case was naturally handed over to the department responsible for handling general criminal cases: the "three rounds" of the execution office.
It is January now, which is the month in which Edo is under the jurisdiction of Hokuban.
"Nishino-kun, I have admired your name for a long time."
Mizushima said seriously.
"It gives me a lot of peace of mind to have the famous 'Beifan Institute's number one cracking expert' supervising this case."
When Aoto was still young, Nishino was the face and ace of Kokubansuo.
His record is brilliant, and he has cracked many big guns and important guns.
"You are ridiculous." Nishino said calmly, "There are far more cases that I am unable to handle than those that I have successfully solved."
The specialist responsible for handling this incident has already arrived at the scene of the incident, so if they and other irrelevant people continue to stay here, they will only cause trouble for their work.
So, my mother waited for Nishino to urge me, and my grandson and Mizushima consciously led their subordinates to leave.
My grandson is standing some distance away from Nishino.
But when leaving, he deliberately took a few steps further and walked towards Nishino.
Just when he was about to pass by Nishino...he suddenly stopped.
"Nishino-kun..."
He lowered his voice and said quickly at a volume that only he and Nishino could hear clearly:
"The fatal injury to the Kanazawa brothers and sisters was a knife wound on the chest. Judging from the shape, size, location, height, and depth of the wound... it was a sword-drawing technique."
"The murderer is about six feet (180cm) tall, has a slender build, and should not be too old. He is an Iaido master who can perform sword-drawing techniques so fast that even Kanazawa-kun can't react."
"Although the fatal wound was on the chest, both Mr. Kanazawa and Ms. Kanazawa had traces of last-ditch wounds on the aorta in their necks."
"The main artery in the neck was severed, but not much blood came out. This means that before the last blow was made, the blood in Kanazawa-kun and Miss Kanazawa's bodies was almost exhausted."
"Between being hit in the chest and being hit by a last hit, there is a long period of time."
"During this period of time, the murderer is most likely chatting with Mr. Kanazawa and Ms. Kanazawa."
"This means that the murderer has a strong desire for expression. Not only does he not feel any resistance to the matter of 'killing', but he also has the leisure to chat with the victim... He is an incredible pervert or lunatic."
"Please be careful."
"?!" Nishino raised his eyebrows in surprise, then quickly turned to look at my grandson.
At this time, my grandson had walked away without looking back, leaving only a mysterious silhouette behind.
…
…
Um……?
Qingden blinked hard several times, then glanced around with startled eyes.
This is...where...?
Everywhere you look, there is fog...
The milky white mist obscured the vision and nothing could be seen clearly.
Qingdeng tried to speak out and move his steps, but found that he couldn't say a word, couldn't move his body at all, and couldn't even lift a finger.
What exactly is this place?
Qingdeng asked again in his heart.
In an instant, as if in response to Qingdeng's question, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed.
The fog subsided quickly.
Gradually, you can see the scenery hidden in this heavy fog - an extremely familiar scenery.
It was so familiar that Qingdeng recognized where it was with just one glance.
This is the dojo of the Trial Guard Hall.
The spacious and clean dojo, the sword barrels and bamboo swords neatly placed beside the dojo... everything is the same as the trial defense hall in Qingteng's memory.
Phew! Phew! Phew!
Suddenly, Qingdeng heard the sound of a bamboo sword being waved in front of him.
He looked forward intently.
Suddenly, Qingdeng's eyes widened in shock.
Such a statement...maybe strange...but Qingden saw himself.
It’s not about seeing yourself reflected in the mirror.
Instead, he really saw another version of himself, standing in the center of the dojo in front of him, meticulously practicing Suzhen in the air in front of him.
As if sensing Qingdeng's gaze, "Qingdeng" stopped holding the bamboo sword in his hand.
"Ju Qingden, you are so enviable."
"Qingdeng" held the bamboo sword and slowly turned around, facing Qingdeng, with an intriguing smile on his face.
"The previous one, as well as Kinoshita Genichi and Ogata Issei who came here last, all worked hard to improve their martial arts attainments to the extreme, and after experiencing countless near-death gambling crises,
I finally got the 'ticket' to visit this place..."
"And you... well, forget it, this is the so-called 'natural talent'. Who makes your affinity with me so naturally high?"
"Qingdeng" was like a child, playing with the bamboo sword in his hand.
"However, this place is still a little too early for you. You are not qualified to touch this realm."
As soon as the words "Qingdeng" finished, Qingdeng suddenly felt his eyes go dark.
The boundless darkness was like tentacles, creeping from the corners of the eyes to the center of the field of vision, followed by a strong sense of sleepiness.
"We will meet again... in the not-too-distant future."
"Qingdeng" showed a bright smile - this was the last sight Qingdeng saw before his vision and consciousness were swallowed up by darkness.
…
…
"Well……"
Qingden slowly opened his eyes.
"Huh? Ah! Tachibana-kun, you finally woke up!"
"Well..." Qingdeng turned to look at the speaker, "Tianzhangyuan... His Highness...?"
*******
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A chapter full of information... Isn't it too much to ask for a monthly pass?
Please give me monthly votes! Please vote for recommendations! (Leopard Head Cries.jpg)
That is to say, Hiroshi Arizuma and Hosejiro Nishino are both characters who have appeared in the previous article - does anyone remember when they both appeared?
This chapter has been completed!