A middle-aged man who was white, fat, and full of fat was holding his left shoulder, which was bleeding continuously, while desperately racing forward along the dark alley at his feet.
"Uh...uh...!"
He opened his mouth, wanting to look up to the sky and shout "Help"... However, no matter how wide he opened his mouth or how hard he vibrated his vocal cords, he could only make meaningless moans of "uh" and "uh".
If a third party were present now, they would be surprised to find that the middle-aged man's lips were a strange dark purple color.
The color was so deep... it was as if if you poked a needle into his lips, a large amount of purple paint would splatter out.
In addition to his lips, his eye sockets also showed a very strange color - his two eye sockets were extremely black, as if they had been painted with charcoal.
In stark contrast to his eye sockets, was his skin as white as snow.
No matter who he is, it can be easily seen that this person is poisoned, and the toxin is very powerful.
——Damn! Damn!
The middle-aged man felt that his lips and vocal cords were so numb that he could only moan in a low voice and could not cry out for help.
All he can do now is to curse in his heart and then... run away.
Keep running away.
The further away you can get from those unidentified scary guys, the better!
——Who are those bastards!
The middle-aged man's name is "Shirahara Ginji", and he is a small inspector under the command of the temple community who is responsible for managing temple communities across the country and the residents within the temple community.
The so-called "little inspector" can be understood as the "three chapters" of the observance office, which is responsible for investigating incidents in general temples.
The position is not very high, but the power in his hands is quite large.
After all, they are equivalent to the "police captains" within the temple community. With just one thought, they can greatly influence... and even determine the future lives of countless innocent civilians within the temple community.
Tonight, Shirahara Ginji went to his usual izakaya to drink alone as usual.
After drinking to his heart's content and leaving the wine table with drunken and shaky steps, he took the shortcut home as usual - a shortcut that was only big enough for two people to pass side by side, and very few people came and went here on weekdays.
alley.
Although this alley seems a bit eerie and scary due to the meager amount of traffic every day, if you walk more, you will find that it is just like that and not that scary.
Shirahara Ginji, who was eager to go home easily, has always been a frequent visitor to this alley.
I had a drink as usual, and took this familiar shortcut home as usual... everything was just as usual.
As a result, suddenly...a touch of "unusual" appeared.
When Shirahara Ginji walked to the middle of the alley, four mysterious people wearing masks that covered their entire faces suddenly appeared.
The leaders of these four people were two tall men wearing black cat masks and evil ghost masks respectively.
Although the faces of these two people cannot be seen clearly, they can be seen to have black and white hair and rough skin covered with many wrinkles... They are two middle-aged people who should be at least 40 or 50 years old.
.
As for the other two people standing behind these two middle-aged men, they looked very young.
The two young men were about 20 years old... wearing macaque masks and brown bear masks respectively.
The black cat, the devil, the macaque, and the brown bear—this foursome, consisting of two middle-aged men and two young men, formed a wall of people and blocked Shirahara Ginji's path as soon as they appeared.
Before Shirahara Ginci could ask "Who are you?", the young man wearing a macaque mask suddenly pulled out his knife, swooped in front of Shirahara Ginci, raised his knife and chopped!
Target——Shirahara Ginji’s forehead!
The sudden attack made Shirahara Ginci's pupils shrink suddenly.
There is nothing wrong with the "Macaque Mask"'s footwork, body position, timing and angle of the attack.
If someone who doesn't understand martial arts or is not skilled in martial arts is allowed to attack him, he will definitely end up with his head on the ground.
Shirahara Ginji has a decent attainment in swordsmanship. Although his mind has become dull due to drunkenness, the "martial arts memory" stored in his muscles is not easily affected by alcohol.
He rolled like a donkey and dodged backwards.
Although he successfully saved his head... his left shoulder was still accidentally grazed by the tip of the "Macaque Mask".
The blood dripping from the wound instantly soaked most of Shirahara Ginji's body red.
The severe pain caused Shirahara Ginji to wake up instantly.
Who are these people?! Why did they suddenly attack me?!
Strong fear enveloped Shirahara Ginji.
Although the feeling of fear was very strong, the first emotion that occupied Shirahara Ginji's entire mind and heart was the desire to survive.
There were four people on the other side, but he was alone on his side, and his left shoulder was injured... Shirahara Ginji made an immediate decision: Run away!
The first moment he turned around and ran away, he wanted to shout loudly to wake up the residents living nearby.
As long as they can make a bigger noise and attract as many passers-by as possible, this group of mysterious people might retreat voluntarily out of fear of their identities being exposed.
However, as soon as Shirahara Ginji opened his mouth, he was shocked to find that he had lost the ability to speak.
A strong sense of paralysis clung to his lips and throat... except for the moans that only he could hear clearly, no sound could be made.
The knife of "Macaque Mask" is...poisonous!
Not only did they rush up to him and deliver a fatal blow without saying anything, they also smeared poison on the knife... These people were determined to kill him!
Click, click, click…
Shirahara Ginji only felt the sound of footsteps standing on end, approaching quickly from behind him.
Shirahara Ginji, who didn't even dare to look back, just felt that this was the fastest and hardest time he had ever run in his life.
Finally - a faint "dawn" appeared ahead... from outside the alley!
Shirahara Ginci rushed out of the alley in one breath and came to the spacious road outside the alley. He ran to the nearest private house without hesitation.
He wants to wake up the door of this house and ask for help from the people in this house... Anyone can do it! Even if there is only one beggar appearing in front of him now, it will give him a great sense of peace of mind!
It’s about 6 or 7 steps from the alley entrance to the nearest house.
The distance between them is only a short distance, but it is like a chasm in the sky.
"You run pretty fast..."
A faint, deep voice sounded in Shirahara Ginci's ears.
Immediately afterwards, Shirahara Ginci felt the clothes at the back of his neck being grabbed by a large iron pliers.
Before his body could even begin to struggle, he felt as if a cow had hit his stomach. The severe pain caused Shirahara Ginji to almost lose consciousness, let alone struggle.
He used his last bit of strength and looked back sideways - the person who grabbed his back collar and kicked him hard in the stomach was the young man wearing a brown bear mask.
"Mr. Ebina, Mr. Ichinose." "Brown Bear Mask" turned around and asked the three people who came after him, "Do you want to kill this dog thief right here?"
"No. Not in this place." "Black Cat Mask" said, "This place is still too conspicuous... Take him to a place where no one is around."
"yes."
"Brown Bear Mask" nodded vigorously in response, dragging Shirahara Ginji like a dead dog.
Shirahara Ginci, who had just escaped from the alley, was once again swallowed up by the shadows in the alley...
Four masked men dragged Shirahara Ginji to a deserted river bank somewhere and then threw him to the ground.
"You...who...are you...?"
Shirahara Ginji felt that the numbness in his lips and tongue was slightly relieved, and he was finally able to speak a coherent sentence.
"Are you... patriots against the barbarians...?"
A group that kills people for no reason... The first thing that comes to mind for Shirahara Ginci is that group of "anti-barbarians" whose behavior is extremely extreme!
"I...I have never...had any...correspondence with the barbarians...at home...I have never used...anything from the barbarians...are you...looking for something wrong?"
I’m here...? I am...Shirahara Ginji...the temple official...the subordinate...the little prosecutor..."
Shirahara Ginji begged for mercy, but because he was too scared, tears burst out of his eyes uncontrollably.
But all he got in exchange was a disdainful sneer from "Brown Bear Mask".
"Tch...'anti-barbarian patriots'...don't confuse us with those low-class lunatics. Shirahara Ginci, the person we are looking for is you."
After saying that, "Brown Bear Mask" took out a scythe from his lower back.
"We are the 'Dead Souls of Osaka', people who obey Mr. Oshio's will."
At the moment when the words of "Brown Bear Mask" fell, Shirahara Ginji's eyes widened and his face was filled with incredulity.
"Big...salt...?"
Phew!
Without saying another word... "Brown Bear Mask" raised the scythe high, and then swung it down...
…
…
Edo, somewhere——
It was clear that his feet were firmly on the ground...but Qingdeng had the illusion that he was floating in mid-air.
After hearing Sanako say "thank you" several times to Qingnobo with a dreamy expression on his face, Qingnobo felt as if all his emotions and mind had been exhausted tonight.
Tonight's fireworks show ended successfully.
From the moment they left the performance venue to the time they parted from each other, Aoto and Sanako didn't have any special interactions.
Walking home calmly...saying goodbye calmly.
"Miss Sanako, please go home early." Qingto said to Sanako who returned the rented yukata to the Wufu shop and put on the kendo uniform again.
"Hmm..." Sanako nodded slightly.
Qingdeng: "..."
Sanako: "..."
After that, the two of them didn't say much.
After saying "See you later", the two of them separated and embarked on their own way home.
Although tonight's final farewell was a bit dull... Qingdeng didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
Because there is a strange "sense of security" hidden in this "plainness".
This sense of security caused the corners of Qingdeng's mouth to curl up slightly uncontrollably.
Aoto thought: Sanako must have felt the same way - after all, like Aoto, she had a faint smile on her face from before the fireworks show ended.
call……
A sticky, summery wind blew from the southeast.
The night sky was clearly clear just now, but now it suddenly became gloomy.
A few dark clouds like gauze covered the sky.
Although the field of vision has deteriorated a lot as the night sky suddenly turns dark, for Qingden, who has the talent of "cat's eye", it does not matter whether the sky is bright or dark, and it does not affect his vision.
In a leisurely hurry, Qingdeng passed through a busy city that was particularly popular during the day and came to a deserted neighborhood that he had to pass if he wanted to go back to the imperial examination hall.
Qingdeng continued to walk forward with his normal expression.
However, at this moment——
Pfft...
A small strange sound suddenly reached Qingdeng's ears.
The voice was very soft... If there was no "perceiver of the wind", Qingdeng would definitely miss it.
Qingdeng frowned, turned his face following the sound, and stared deeply at the street entrance to the right, staring at the direction from which the strange noises came.
This kind of voice... Qingdeng couldn't hear it wrong.
This was a sound he was very familiar with.
This is the sound of human flesh and blood and bones being cut open by sharp blades...
Hearing this kind of sound on the streets of Edo shrouded in darkness... was not that surprising.
Reminiscent of the fact that some of the remnants of the anti-barbarian group are still hanging on... Qingdeng turned around without much hesitation, quickened his pace, and chased in the direction of the sound.
The shadows cast by the moonlight on the ground, as well as the houses on both sides of the street... one by one, one by one, passed Qingdeng quickly.
In the blink of an eye, a secluded river bank appeared in front of Qingdeng.
Qingdeng saw four vague figures standing on the river bank from a distance.
After getting closer, Qingdeng could clearly see the appearance of these four figures - these four people were two middle-aged people and two young people. They all wore masks on their faces and only exposed a pair of
Eye mask.
In the middle of them, lying... no, it should be said that there was a pot-bellied corpse!
The death condition of the body was extremely tragic. He died from a stab wound to the forehead.
Judging from his appearance, he must have died not long ago. The blood gurgling from his wounds stained his entire face beyond recognition.
The sound of Qingden's arriving footsteps naturally attracted the attention and attention of the four masked men.
After seeing who the visitor was, the eyes of these four people instantly glowed with surprise.
"...Who are you?" Qingdeng asked in a deep voice, while lowering his body weight and raising his hand to press the hilt of Dingguishen's knife, "Are you...people from the group that suppresses the barbarians?"
Qingdeng's relationship with the anti-barbarian group has long been a life-or-death affair, but he is always looking forward to the remnants of the anti-barbarian group being brought to justice as soon as possible.
Qingdeng heard that the remnants of the anti-barbarian group are still causing chaos everywhere.
He rushed over in such a hurry just to confirm whether the remnants of the anti-barbarian group had appeared again.
The middle-aged man wearing a demon mask among the masked men... Ichinose murmured: "An unexpected guest has come..."
As soon as Ichinose finished speaking, Ebina, who was standing next to him, raised his open hands high.
"Your Majesty Niwang, don't get me wrong. We are not anti-barbarian patriots, let alone members of the anti-barbarian group."
Aomori's brows did not relax at Ebina's words... but instead frowned even tighter.
Before Qingden could continue speaking... the young man wearing the brown bear mask let out a strange laugh.
"Oh, oh...are you the Nioh? Yes...just like the rumors, you are a young samurai whose appearance and figure are far different from the 'Nioh Statue' in the Buddhist temple."
Blah blah blah...
"Brown Bear Mask" said as he reached behind his waist with his right hand and took out a lock sickle.
"Hey, Akutsu." Ichinose's brows jumped sharply and he said quickly, "What do you want to do?"
The young man who was called "Akutsu" responded in a cheerful tone:
"Nothing, I just feel that since we are destined to meet each other tonight... why not take this opportunity to test the strength of the famous Niou!"
After saying that, Akutsu shook the scythe in his hand violently, and the piece of copper as big as a baby's fist drew a straight black line and flew straight to Qingden's head!
Clang!
The sword is unsheathed!
The moment he saw Akutsu suddenly attack him, Qingteng immediately drew his sword in his hand. With a "pong" sound, the sword knocked away the copper.
"Hey..." Akutsu let out a low laugh, then pulled the chain, and the copper that was falling to the ground flew back to his hand as if it was equipped with a remote control device.
"Hey, Akutsu." Ebina's voice was low, "Don't do unnecessary things. It's time to retreat."
"I just had a few moves with Niou. Just a few moves." Akutsu held the sickle in his left hand and the copper-distributing chain in his right hand, whirring like a windmill, "Mr. Ebina, I know that too."
...you should also want to know what Nioh’s true abilities are, right?”
"..." Ebina suddenly stopped talking.
Taking advantage of Ebina's silence, Akutsu spread his legs and threw the copper faster and more powerfully.
"Nioh...I'm on it!"
call--!
The cylindrical black copper is rapidly approaching Qingdeng again!
——The sickle locking technique...
The relaxed mood I felt just after returning from the fireworks display quickly dissipated.
Instead, it is a solemn emotion that enters the state of "gathering the spirit" and fighting!
The so-called lock sickle is a strange weapon developed from the agricultural tool sickle.
It is formed by connecting the bottom of the sickle handle to a chain with a metal weight attached to the end. The metal weight is called "fen copper".
Because it is small and easy to hide, can be cut and smashed, and can be used in close combat or long-range attacks, it has been one of the favorite weapons of ninjas since ancient times.
This was the first time Qingdeng encountered this martial art that he had admired for so long... He suddenly realized that he had many "firsts" today.
In the morning, I had my first spar with a master of the naginata (Sanako), and in the evening I had my first battle with a mysterious warrior who used the shōkama technique.
Since he had no understanding of the fighting style of the Scythe Technique, Qingden first adopted a conservative fighting style.
He swung his sword from bottom to top, and swung his sword again to knock away the copper coins Akutsu threw at him.
The cent copper flew precariously high into the sky... Akutsu calmly tugged on the chain, took the cent copper back, and at the same time used the sickle to attack Qingden.
The same attack method - throwing the sickle heavily and flying towards Qingdeng.
The difference in the shape of the object makes the flight path of the sickle very different from that of the copper.
The sharp sickle blade cuts the air.
If he was hit, Qingdeng would have a big gash in his neck and chest.
Standing like this and being beaten all the time is neither Qingdeng's fighting style nor the way to win.
So this time, Qingden took the initiative and strode forward. He dodged the flying scythe and tried to get close to Akutsu.
At this time, Akutsu's face hidden under the mask... showed a meaningful smile.
Blah blah blah!
The chain shook violently.
Akutsu transferred a special strength and skill into the iron chain in his hand.
In an instant, the sickle that fell behind Qingdeng due to Qingdeng's forward charge suddenly changed direction and made a 180-degree turn!
The sickle was pulled back violently and went straight to the back of Qingdeng's heart.
At the same time, Akutsu threw out the copper in his hand and hit Qingdeng directly in the face.
Sickles and Coppers attacked in tandem!
Qingdeng was attacked from both sides and could not think of any counterattack for the time being.
He rolled to the left and broke away from his original running path.
Qingdeng's active dodge caused the Sickle and Fentong, which had lost their target of attack, to fall into the predicament of "face to face" and about to collide in mid-air.
However, Akutsu once again used a unique skill to shake the chain in his hand.
Immediately afterwards, the two weapons flew back to Akutsu's hands in an arc, like pets with lives at both ends and that would strictly abide by their master's orders.
The skin of the palm had just touched the cold handle of the sickle, and the next moment, it was thrown out again...
Qingden felt as if he was fighting against the two-sword style swordsmanship.
The sickle and the copper are Akutsu's twin swords, and the two weapons launch continuous attacks without interruption.
As soon as the sickle passed by, Fen Tong flew over immediately; as soon as he knocked the Fen Copper away, the sickle flashed with cold light and bared its teeth and claws towards Qingdeng.
As long as the attack is fierce, the most difficult thing is that the "hands" are also good.
The chain in Akutsu's hand is at least 5 meters long.
In other words, his furthest attack distance is about 5 meters... much longer than ordinary naginata and spears.
Judging from Akutsu's actions, it is not difficult to see that this person is also a person who has been in battle for a long time and has extremely rich combat experience.
He remained highly sensitive to "distance" throughout the whole process and never gave Qingden any chance to get close to him.
As long as Qingdeng made any attempt to get close to him, he would immediately retreat or use his sickle to divide the copper and force Qingdeng back.
Qingdeng, who was extremely unfamiliar with weapons like locks and sickles, often had trouble telling whether the next weapon coming at him was a sickle or a copper.
It is quite difficult to dodge the attacks of these two weapons in turn. Because the sickle and the copper are in Akutsu's hands, they work together perfectly, and there is no fault that can be found - at least Qingteng cannot find any fault.
At first glance, the battle situation - Akutsu, who has two major advantages: "the attack range is wider than Aotobo" and "Aotobo is not familiar with the attack method of the Sukama", has already gained the upper hand.
But Qingdeng was neither impatient nor impatient about this.
First, he has confidence in his own strength.
Although he is far from saying that he is invincible... his self-confidence, which has been honed by his victory in countless life-and-death battles, gives Qingdeng the determination to break through no matter what kind of difficult battle situation he encounters.
Secondly, the system in my body also recognized that the enemy in front of me was not that scary.
Because "Lonely" has not been activated!
——"Hand" has no parents...that's okay.
——The main thing is that the sickle and the piece of copper are a big trouble...
These two weapons, which could fly from any direction and from any angle, were the main reason why Aomori was unable to get close to Akutsu.
In order to defend against these two troublesome things flying around, Qingdeng spent a lot of energy and attention.
——That's the case...
After some thought, Qingdeng silently handed the Seikishin to his right hand, and placed his free left hand on the hilt of the rarely used Wakizashi sword——
bass!
Two swords, one long and one short, complement each other in Qingdeng’s hands!
"Two-sword style?" Akutsu made a surprised voice.
Ichinose, Ebina, and the young man wearing a "macaque mask" who were watching the battle on the side also all looked surprised at this time.
"Nioh." Akutsu asked while vigorously shaking the copper in his hand, "Can you still use the two-sword style?"
"..." Qingden ignored Akutsu's inquiry.
There is no need to answer this kind of question to unknown people whose origins are unclear.
Let your opponent not know your true identity - this is also a tactic!
Seeing Qingdeng ignoring him, Akujin grinned.
Blah blah blah!
The swinging sound of the chain sounded loudly again.
But at this moment, Akutsu discovered to his confusion: Ayoto's playing style suddenly became conservative.
No longer waiting for opportunities to get close to him.
She rarely raised her sword to defend against his attacks.
He just stood there, relying only on his footwork to dodge.
Although Akutsu was confused in his heart, he didn't hear the movements in his hands.
Once...and again!
The Sickle and the Copper flew around like two birds of prey, repeatedly disrupting the surrounding atmosphere with their dizzying attack frequency and lightning-fast attack speed.
Just at this time.
Just when Fen Tong, which was drawing an arc from above, was about to hit Qingdeng's chest with lightning... Qingdeng's left flank, which had been lowered lower down, suddenly rose up!
He did not use the blade to knock the copper away.
Instead, use the back of the knife to stick to the iron chain connecting the copper points!
Keng!
Qingdeng first blocked and rolled up. He flipped his left wrist flexibly and rolled the copper chain tightly around the wakizashi's blade!
In the next moment, he successfully wrapped Qingdeng's body tightly with the side of his left hand, and kicked his hind legs like a beast that had been patient and hungry for a long time.
Because Qingdeng started with too much force, Qingdeng's hind feet directly shoveled away a large piece of mud under his feet.
"Ejection start" Aoto... rushes straight towards Akutsu, who only has one sickle left to use!
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