Chapter 168 The Incident in Kodenma Town! Qingto 'be yourself in the fire'5100
In the second year of Wanyan (1861), January 10 (the day Qingdeng was imprisoned), night——
Edo, Kodenma Town, Jiayashiki——
As night fell, the jailers in the prison finally stopped.
The screams, screams, begging for mercy, the sound of whips hitting the human body, the sound of stones crushing muscles and bones, all disappeared.
Because the environment suddenly became extremely quiet, Qingdeng was not used to it for a while.
The only inmate in the same area as Aoto, Kyoutaro Miyabe, was already asleep.
He slept quite gracefully, neither snoring nor grinding his teeth. He used his hands as a pillow and curled up like a cat, with his chest and shoulders rising and falling regularly.
There was no one left to chat with... A strong sense of loneliness occupied Qingdeng's consciousness.
Although the living environment of Yangyashiki is very good, no matter how good the treatment, it is impossible to provide prisoners with rich entertainment projects.
After all, this is Japan in the Edo period, not some modern "Madonna Country" that provides prisoners with five-star accommodation, refrigerators, color TVs, and game consoles.
Qingdeng is still energetic and doesn't want to sleep yet.
Out of boredom, he poked his head out of the cell, looked around, and observed the big copper lock on the door.
The gaps in the prison fence were very small, only half of Qingdeng's head could barely pass through the two gaps.
——This lock... although it is very big and complicated, it is not impossible to pick open...
"Prying locks" is the key part of Unryu Ninjutsu.
Relying on the powerful understanding ability of "Ghost Heart", the strengthened finger strength brought by "Skilled Hands +1", and Sa Zhong's professional guidance, Qingdeng has grown into a lockpicking master in just a few months.
.
Nowadays, most of the locks on the market are just fake in Qingdeng's eyes, and it only takes a while to pry them all open.
——As long as you give me the tools, I can jailbreak now.
As soon as this thought came to Qingdeng's mind, he was amused by the idea.
Jailbreaking... This is the most stupid behavior for Qingdeng at the moment.
Once he forcibly steps out of the prison door, Qingdeng will instantly change from a "justifiable victim" to an "irrational madman".
The wisest choice for him now is to stay in a prison cell in Kodenma Town and wait for the rescue of his friends outside.
Although saying this is a bit boastful, Qingdeng thinks that his popularity is quite good.
He likes to make friends, and because of his personality, he can get along with no matter who he is with.
You can chat with a playboy like Hijikata Toshizo, and you can also have a good time with a cool and cool guy like Saito Ichi.
The Chiba family, the scholars of the Tibetan Studies Institute headed by Katsu Rintaro... In Qingto's circle of friends, there are really too many friends who can provide him with strong support.
Not to mention that Qingdeng still had two king bombs in his hand:
A business group with unknown strength: Boss Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita who were born in Calabash House.
The current speakers of the Edo shogunate and their mothers: Tokugawa Iemo and Tenshouin.
Qingdeng knows very little about Calabash House, so I won’t comment on it yet.
But what is certain is that Boss Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita will never sit back and watch him fall into trouble.
As for the latter... To be honest, Aoto couldn't promise with a pat on his chest that Tokugawa Iemo and Tenshoin would definitely come to save him.
Although he had just visited Edo incognito with the mother and son a few days ago, and the distance between them had become closer, at the end of the day, the relationship between Qingnobo and these two important figures was that of a monarch and a minister.
We cannot use common sense to speculate on the thoughts of feudal rulers.
The group that attacked Aonto and put him in jail this time was the "Direct Participation Alliance" led by the Akabane family.
The direct shogunate samurai were the foundation of the rule of the Edo shogunate. Although most of them had become rotten and degenerated into mud that could not hold up the wall, the Edo shogunate really could not do without them.
Under the crazy attacks of the Hitotsubashi faction, Tenshouin, who has now semi-retired and can move more freely, will not be mentioned for the moment. If Tokugawa Iemo, who must always stand in front of the stage, wants to deal with the "Direct Participation Alliance" that opposes Aoto,
It's bound to be a rat-proof weapon.
What's more, there were mad dogs from the Hitotsubashi faction watching Tokugawa Iemo's every move.
Whenever Tokugawa Iemo did anything that would lead to criticism, he would be verbally criticized by the Hitotsubashi faction.
Under such a premise with many concerns, whether Tokugawa Iemo and Tenshouin can bring considerable support to Aoto... This really has to be a question mark.
However, no matter what, Qingdeng is not worried about his current situation.
He has full confidence in whether he can get out of prison smoothly...or in other words, whether his friends outside can help him get out of prison.
This is the biggest source of confidence for him to remain calm even if he is imprisoned.
——After being released from prison, how should we deal with the Akabane family...
While Qingdeng was deep in thought, he kept moving his hands and continued to play with the copper lock on the cell door.
The Akabane family's revenge methods were much more intense than Qingto imagined. They actually directly framed him for such a far-fetched reason...
Such an approach is tantamount to directly issuing a "fight to the death" invitation to Qingdeng.
How could Qingto be frightened by the turmoil caused by the Akabane family?
When he was targeted by the anti-barbarian group who dared to directly block the streets and kill people, even burning down Edo, abducting people and other absurd things, Qingden never flinched.
It's just that the Akabane family, the helpers they found, the hatamoto who supported them, and the imperial family members are, after all, a privileged group that controls a large amount of social resources.
Therefore, you need to proceed with caution when fighting them.
As early as this morning, when he learned that he was arrested and the mastermind behind it was the Akabane family, Aomori had already started thinking about how to launch a powerful counterattack against the opponent!
Qingden silently thought about the serious political struggle.
At this moment, he suddenly caught a glimpse of an orange light appearing at the end of his vision on the right.
Turning around, I saw that it was a jailer who was patrolling around.
The orange light that Qingdeng saw came from the lantern in the hand of the jailer.
"Ah, Master Tachibana, are you still awake?"
When the jailer saw Qingdeng, he immediately put on a big smile and greeted him warmly, using respectful words and honorifics in his words.
The terror of the jailers in the Kodenma Town Prison Yashiki will only be shown to the helpless commoners and vagrants who live in low-end prison cells such as the second prison and the common people's prison.
Facing the Hatamoto samurai living in Yangyashiki, they didn't even dare to take a breath.
Prison is one of the most humane and worldly places.
The prison in Kodenma Town is essentially just a large detention center, and the people in charge are all suspects who have not yet been convicted.
In other words, all detainees in prison may be released without charge in the future.
It's okay to bully the common people. Even if they suffer great injustice and pain, what can the common people do to the jailers? They can only swallow the broken teeth in their stomachs.
How dare you disrespect the Hatamoto samurai?
Then, what awaits you in the future will most likely be terrible revenge...
Therefore, Qingden's first intuitive feeling after being sent to the prison room was: The sun was shining in the sky, and the flowers were smiling at me.
Every jailer he met treated him very politely.
"Mr. Orange" is long and "Mr. Orange" is short.
The first sentence is "Mr. Tachibana, have you eaten?", the latter sentence is "Mr. Tachibana, are you used to sleeping on the tatami here?".
If it weren't for the fact that he was in the cell and the guards were outside the cell, Qingdeng would have really thought that he was not in jail, but on inspection as a big leader.
Without reaching out to hit the smiling man, Qingdeng gave the jailer outside the door a dull smile.
"Well, I'm not sleepy yet, so I got up and sat for a while."
Since he still had patrol duties, the jailer exchanged greetings with Qingden and then walked away with a lantern.
Just when the jailer's figure was about to disappear from Qingdeng's sight, Qingdeng suddenly noticed the purple belt around his abdomen.
——Miss Okita...
Thinking about things.
Purple is Souji's favorite color. She only wears purple ribbons to tie her hair on weekdays, and she also wears purple-based clothes in her daily clothes.
When I think of the General Secretary, I can't help but think of everyone in the Imperial Guard Hall, and then all my relatives and friends.
——I don’t know how everyone is doing now... After learning that I was imprisoned, although they shouldn’t be horrified, they will probably be at a loss...
Qingdeng took a long breath.
——Miss Okita, Amu, Elodie, they must be very worried about me now, I feel sorry for them... Will Miss Zuonazi worry about me? Ha, Miss Zuonazi's thoughts are really difficult to guess.
…
A smile gradually emerged between Qingdeng's cheeks.
As long as he thinks of Souji, Kinoshita Mai, and Zuo Nazi's faces, Aoto will involuntarily reveal a peaceful smile.
For Qingteng, Souji and his friends' faces have this kind of strange magic power.
Qingdeng only enjoys this indescribable tenderness.
However, at this moment... Qingdeng once again caught a glimpse of a warm orange light at the end of his right field of vision.
Qingdeng's brows immediately furrowed.
——What's going on? Wasn't there a night guard who just came here? Do the guards at Kodenma Town Prison Yashiki do night patrols so frequently?
Qingdeng was wondering, while squeezing half of his head out of the gap between the prison door fence, and then turned his head to look to the right with difficulty.
Instantly, a sudden feeling surged into Qingdeng's heart.
no the same……
Something different!
The new orange light that appeared at this moment was brighter, more intense, and richer in... dangerous aura than the light of the lantern we just saw.
A cold, disgusting smell, like burning wood, penetrated Qingdeng's nostrils continuously.
——Could you say?!
Qingdeng's heart sounded a fierce alarm, and a hair-raising chill shot up from the soles of his feet to Tianling Gai.
As if to confirm Qingdeng's bad suspicion, the orange light that appeared on the far right side of Qingdeng's cell turned into red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The ever-changing red light stretches across Qingdeng's right field of vision, extending from one end to the other...
…
…
At this moment, if someone could overlook Edo, he would be able to see red dots like sprouts popping up in the ink-black night.
In just a blink of an eye, the red dot turned into a thick pillar of flame.
The fiercely burning flame pillar spits tongues of flames all around.
The flames were like a bottomless mouth that was never full, swallowing up the surrounding houses and streets.
The night is immersed in the poisonous claws of the fire demon.
The night of Edo was lit up in a way that no one wanted to see.
Dang——! Dang——! Dang——! Dang——! Dang——!
The urgent ringing of the bell, reminding the townspeople to evacuate as soon as possible, resounded throughout Edo.
"It's on fire! It's on fire!"
"Where did the fire start?"
"It looks like Kodenma Town!"
"Damn it! Why did the fire happen to happen tonight? It's windy tonight! The fire can spread easily!"
"Don't worry about it! Pack up your belongings and run away! The fire is burning so fast!"
"Has the town fire been activated?"
"We have been dispatched a long time ago! All the fire fighters in Edo are rushing to Kodenma Town!"
…
…
"Cough! Cough! Cough! How come this place is on fire! I don't want to be burned to death! Hey! Jailer! Open the door quickly! Open the door quickly! If you don't let us out quickly, we will turn into steamers.
There's roast chicken in there! Open the door! Ahem...! Open the door quickly!
"
Kyotaro Miyabe, who had just been awakened by the sudden burning smell, was holding the cell door tightly while yelling filial piety frantically outside the cell door.
The current prison house is really a mess.
"Hey! Jailer! Come and save us!"
"Masters! Please open the door for us quickly! The fire is almost coming!"
"Shut up! Didn't we try to save you?"
"No! The fire here is too big, I can't get through it!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhh-! It hurts! It hurts! Get water quickly! Put out the fire on my body!"
Footsteps, roars, shouts, wailings... all kinds of sounds mixed together.
No matter what kind of sound it is, the same emotion lurks deep within it: fear.
Fear of fire is a biological instinct.
How many people are there who can be calm and calm despite being in a fire scene?
The wooden beams licked by the tongues of fire made an uncomfortable "creaking" sound.
Thick smoke from the flames billowed in all directions.
There was an unpleasant heat in the air.
The scorching wind carrying sparks sprayed onto Qingdeng's face.
Suddenly, Qingdeng heard a strong vibration and fierce cracking sound coming from above him - a "boom" - the ceiling tightly wrapped in flames outside the cell collapsed, falling directly on the
In the corridor outside Qingdeng's cell.
The moment the burned ceiling hit the ground, the fireball shattered like glass, and thousands of sparks flew into the sky like blooming flowers.
Along with the sparks dancing, there were also blazing heat waves sweeping in all directions.
Qingden felt a burning sensation coming toward him that seemed to melt him alive, and he subconsciously turned his head to avoid it.
At this time, a Pyro stumbled and fell from the hole in the collapsed ceiling.
From the appearance... he seems to be a jailer.
I saw him raising his hands high, shaking his shoulders, stamping his feet, sometimes running around and bumping around, sometimes lying on the ground rolling around, trying hard to get rid of the "cloak of fire" on his body.
His screams... no longer seemed like sounds that humans could make.
There was no place on his body from head to toe where the flames could not be seen.
Anyone with a little common sense can see that this jailer is hopeless, and rolling on the ground will not help at all.
After a while, the fireman's movements and shouts gradually stopped.
After a while, he lay motionless on the ground. Because his face and body were eroded beyond recognition by the fire demon, it was impossible to tell whether he was lying on his back or prone...
Even a swordsman like Qingden who is used to seeing killing, life and death, after seeing someone burned alive on his face paint, can't help but feel his scalp numb...
——Something's wrong...!
Qingdeng's eyelids suddenly sank, and his face was filled with dark clouds.
——The speed at which the flames spread...is a little too fast!
In Japan during the Edo period, most of the houses and buildings were made of wood, so it was very easy to catch fire, and a large area would be destroyed if it burned.
However, no matter how easy it is to burn, it cannot burn so fast!
Qingdeng instinctively sensed something was wrong.
However, he couldn't think about these twists and turns now.
——We must try to escape quickly...!
Qingdeng originally wanted to wait for the jailers to come and open the cell door, but judging from the current situation...the jailers, who are unable to protect themselves, have no hope!
The burning smell in the air became stronger and stronger, and the carbon monoxide content skyrocketed to the point where it was almost impossible to breathe.
Qingdeng looked around his cell, looking for things that could come in handy.
Soon, he found his water bottle with a few drops of water left.
"Miyabe! Wrap your mouth and nose with a wet cloth, and then lie down on the ground!"
Qingden reminded Miyabe loudly, while "hissing" he pulled off a section of his sleeve, wetted it with the last bit of water left in the water bottle, and put it around his face like a mask.
superior.
At the scene of a fire, you should cover your mouth and nose with a cloth moistened with water to slow down the impact of carbon monoxide on the body, and try to keep your body down and stay in a low place with more oxygen. This is firefighting knowledge that all primary school students in the 21st century understand.
.
However, people in this era certainly do not understand this knowledge.
Kyoutaro Miyabe chatted with him for a long time today, so out of this sentiment, Qingto decided to remind him and let him take some self-rescue measures as soon as possible.
At this critical juncture, the only way Qingdeng could think of to get out of trouble was to use his own lock-picking skills to force open his cell door!
Picking locks and escaping...at first glance, it sounds feasible.
But a cruel real problem loomed before Qingdeng: Where was he going to find a lock-picking tool that could be used instead?
Before being sent to prison, Qingdeng underwent a strict body search, and all his belongings, including his sword, were "kept for safekeeping."
At the moment, except for the clothes on his body, Qingdeng is in a complete "breeze on his sleeves" state.
——Isn’t there anything long and thin...
Qingdeng's eyes glanced back and forth across the three-story cell.
Soon enough, out of the corner of Qingdeng's left eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a black shadow striking his head from above...
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The following plot is the last and longest plot of the second volume. Once this plot is over, the second volume will be successfully concluded, and the third volume can be started!
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