Chapter 86 Gaining 3 talents in a row: Skillful Hands, Strong Tongue, and Iron Waist [6700 words]
After moving into the Trial Guard Hall, Qingdeng’s days became leisurely for a long time.
Qingdeng originally thought that if something as serious as "the anti-barbarian thugs gradually gained momentum and openly attacked foreign businessmen" happened, someone from the upper echelons would summon him, who was... arguably the most important party, within a few days.
Ask him for detailed information about that "snowy night battle".
But who would have known: the government office was... extremely quiet.
Qingdeng has not been summoned for a long time, nor has he made any big moves.
There has been no official response to the public, which has already spread throughout Edo.
Everything is going according to plan...as usual.
Although he didn't know why the government was so quiet, since the government hadn't summoned him for a long time, Qingdeng was happy to be at ease.
February is the month when the Nanban Office is responsible for managing Edo. The officials of the Northern Office do not need to go to work this month. As long as nothing unexpected happens, Aonto and the others can spend one month of paid leave leisurely.
, will not resume work until March.
When the time came to February 1st, Qingdeng's body was finally completely healed with the blessing of the gift of "physical fitness".
All the wounds on his body had healed, leaving only shallow scars.
The injury has healed and he is on paid leave. He no longer needs to be disturbed by official matters for the time being - Qingdeng can finally concentrate on practicing and improving his current strength.
The destruction of his own mansion... This incident was a wake-up call for Qingdeng: the "mysterious force" who failed to murder Anthony and others would definitely not let him off so lightly.
The fat man who was captured by Aoshito and Okita was taken to the prison and imprisoned in a prison cell. The Ginmi side officials immediately began to severely torture and interrogate him.
Ginweifang: The department responsible for the investigation and review of referees.
No matter which country or period they are in, all feudal regimes have one thing in common: they have outstanding imagination in designing methods of "how to torture human beings".
The Fengxing Institute has a large number of torture methods that can make people unable to survive or die.
In just a few days, the fat man's appearance changed to that of his own mother, and she might not even be able to recognize him.
However, even though he had been tortured to the point where he looked like a human being or a ghost, the fat man still kept his mouth shut and refused to let go. He actually had a bit of backbone.
The officials at Yinweifang were not anxious or annoyed - they had seen too many prisoners with such a bit of backbone.
They have extremely abundant means and time, and extremely sufficient confidence, and they gradually wear away the fat man's fighting spirit.
Although the fat man still refused to say anything until now, Qingdeng concluded that this fat man was most likely a member of the "mysterious force" who came here specifically to retaliate against him and burn down his home.
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? As soon as Seito returned to Edo, several arsonists immediately appeared and burned down his house.
What is the name of this "mysterious force", who are its members, and who is its leader... Qingdeng and others currently know almost nothing about this "mysterious force".
However - Qingdeng guessed: this "mysterious force" is most likely a group of lunatics who regard him as a "national traitor" and have assassinated him three times.
That night, when fighting Suehiro Moriyo, Suehiro Moriyo recognized him, called him by name, and called him a "national thief"... If we talk about this "mysterious force" and the one who holds the head of Aoden
Those lunatics have nothing to do with each other, Qingdeng will never believe it.
All in all - regardless of whether the two parties are in the same group or not, there is no doubt that Qingdeng has completely offended this "mysterious force".
On the night when Aotobo returned to Edo, he impatiently set fire to his home... This "mysterious force" told Aotobo through actions: We will not let you go!
Since the other party has issued a "war declaration", Qingdeng naturally has no reason to remain indifferent.
In order to better cope with the retaliatory actions that the "mysterious forces" would most likely launch again in the future, Qingdeng immediately restarted his swordsmanship practice and physical exercise after recovering from his physical injuries.
Now that he has moved into the Imperial Guard Hall and lives under the same roof as Kondo and others, Aoto's sword training has become more convenient.
There is a very spacious dojo available for use.
There are a lot of practice tools.
If you encounter any swordsmanship theory or swordsmanship technique that you don't understand, you can immediately ask Zhou Zhu and others for advice.
After restarting his practice, Qingdeng immediately told Zhou Zhu and others that he needed less sleep, so he was used to getting up before dawn to practice, so he asked Zhou Zhu to allow him to use the trial gym in the early morning.
of dojo.
After learning that Qingden also had such a characteristic of "short sleep time", Zhousuke waved his hand very proudly: You can enter the dojo to practice swordsmanship anytime you want! Anyway, the door connecting the dojo to their home is never locked.
These days, Qingden spends most of his time in the dojo.
Practicing swordsmanship and training your body hard, although it is hard work, you will never get tired of it.
While concentrating on practicing, Qingdeng did not forget to make full use of his system - Qingdeng took advantage of this great opportunity that he could stay in the training hall for a long time, and went to the dojo to practice swordsmanship with everyone. He had also done it before
Those who have not sparred with him have all competed again.
The result was a bit dismal... I couldn't successfully copy the talent from any of my senior brothers.
Although the teaching staff of the Trial Guard Hall is strong, Shusuke, Kondo, and Okita all possess extremely powerful talents.
But the quality of the apprenticeship...is a little bit poor.
Qingdeng has now competed with almost all the apprentices who often come to the training hall, and it turns out that no one has special talents...
However - although he was unable to copy the talents from the apprentices at the Trial Guard Hall, Qingdeng was able to copy three brand-new talents from three visitors in the past few days.
These three visitors are none other than Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama.
All the officials at the Beifan Office are now on paid leave - horses, pigs, and oxen are no exception.
The three of them happened to have no urgent cases on hand, so the three of them were able to have enough time to visit Qingdeng, who now had no home and could only live in the trial defense hall.
The three of them came to visit Qingdeng together on February 2.
This day happens to be an important festival in Japan: Setsubun.
Setsubun, as the name suggests, is the day that distinguishes the seasons. The day before the beginning of spring, the beginning of summer, the beginning of autumn, and the beginning of winter are all called "setsubun". Spring is the first of the year, which is especially important. Therefore, in Japan, "setsubun" specifically refers to the beginning of spring.
the day before.
In ancient Japan, people believed that evil spirits were most vulnerable to invasion during the changing seasons, so in order to drive away evil spirits, the traditional activity of "throwing beans to drive away ghosts" was gradually born.
On Setsubun, people take out fried beans and scatter them everywhere inside and outside the house according to specific rules.
On the day of Setsubun, Aomori and others also participated in the "beans-throwing" activity.
Qingden followed Zhou Zhu and others, shouting "Ghosts out, blessings in" and scattering fried beans everywhere in the trial defense hall.
At the beginning, everyone was still "spreading beans" as usual.
But at the end of the activity, Okita, who was becoming more and more playful, grabbed the fried beans that had not yet been scattered in his hands, and led Aoto and Kondo to play a "bean throwing contest" to see who could throw the beans farther.
.
Seeing this, Shusuke not only did not stop Okita, but he also joined the game despite his somewhat naughty temperament.
As expected, Qingdeng and the others were severely punished by Abi.
"Who do you think worked hard to fry these beans?! Don't use them as toys! Pick them all up for me!"
Abi's roar made Qingdeng's eardrums feel a little painful even now...
After the "beans-throwing" was held and the time came in the afternoon, the horse, pig, and cow came to the trial defense hall to visit Qingdeng and see how Qingdeng was living in the trial defense hall.
Qingdeng was very happy when he saw the horse, pig and cow coming.
First, he was happy that the elders cared so much about him and were so attentive to his affairs.
The second is that they are happy that they have finally encountered the opportunity to test whether they have talents.
Qingdeng has already "coveted" these three elders.
He had long wanted to try to see if he could copy any talents from them.
But it's a pity - they had to go to work and everyone was very busy, so it was only now that Qingden finally had the opportunity to copy the talents of these three people.
If he directly said to Arima and others: I want to learn swordsmanship with you, it would be very abrupt and would make Arima and others feel very strange.
Because horses, pigs, and oxen don't know much about swordsmanship. If they suddenly tell them that they don't know swordsmanship and want to learn swordsmanship with them, they will definitely be confused. They don't know what Qingdeng is doing and why he is looking for them.
Someone who knows nothing about swordsmanship practices swordsmanship?
So Aoto used the same trick he used to "deal with" Saito -
Snap! Snap!
Qingden pulled hard on the hemp rope in his hand several times.
"Master Arima, Mr. Inoya, Mr. Ushiyama, you are here just in time. I have recently practiced a new rope-catching technique. Can you be my sparring partner and help point out the shortcomings of my new technique?"
It was natural and reasonable to come to Arima and the others to “discuss” with him on the pretext of “helping teach him new rope-catching techniques”.
Arima and the others, as official envoys from the Sadauchi dynasty, have good attainments in the rope-catching technique. Aonto asked them to "practice the rope-catching technique", and Arima and the others would not be surprised or confused.
Qingdeng was actually not lying - he had indeed learned some new rope-catching techniques.
He incorporated some grappling techniques from his previous life into the rope-catching technique, and Qingden also intentionally found someone to test the power of his new technique.
The horses, pigs, and cows happily agreed to Qingdeng's request to "practice the rope-catching technique" and "discussed" with Qingdeng one by one.
Judging from the results...the results are quite gratifying.
Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama all have talents. After competing with the three of them, Qingden got three new talents in one breath!
It's just that...the three new talents Qingden received...are all a little subtle...
Qingden first competed with Inotani, and then copied the talent from Inotani: "Skilled Hands".
[Talent Introduction: Fingers are far more flexible and powerful than ordinary people]
When he copied this talent from Zhugu...Qingden was actually not surprised.
He had actually made corresponding mental preparations beforehand.
After all, he also knew... Inotani and Ushiyama were nicknamed "Silver Finger" and "Golden Mouth" respectively in the flower town of Edo.
With just his hands, Inotani made countless women in Flower Street fall in love with him.
Niushan, who is usually taciturn, but is actually very good at saying all kinds of nice things, can often coax the women in Huajie to the point where they even give them a discount or free of charge for their bed.
After copying the "skillful hands" from Inodani and having better psychological expectations, when competing with Ushiyama, Qingden originally thought that he would most likely be able to copy talents such as "better eloquence".
But unexpectedly, the talent copied from Niu Shan... its name is "Strong Tongue".
[Talent introduction: The tongue is far more flexible and powerful than ordinary people]
The tongue has become more flexible and powerful... which can be regarded as a disguised improvement in eloquence.
After acquiring this talent, Qingdeng clearly felt that his enunciation was clearer and more powerful.
As for the last Arima... when he was tying him up with a hemp rope... ah, when he wasn't sparring with him, Qingden felt a little nervous and expectant.
Because he had no idea what talent he could copy from Arima, who always straightened his back, only turned 90-degree turns, never squinted, and had a very strange eating posture...
In the end - the talent copied from Arima was both beyond Ayoto's expectations and at the same time reasonable.
The talent copied from Arima is "Iron Waist".
[Introduction to talent: waist is less prone to strain, injury, and fatigue]
The waist is less susceptible to strain, fatigue and injury... When he acquired this talent, Qingto finally understood why Arima could always straighten his waist as if he was not tired.
This talent is quite useful. Anyone who has studied martial arts knows that no matter what kind of martial arts, it attaches great importance to the waist.
As a central part that connects the upper and lower parts, maintains body posture and transmits gravity, the importance of the waist is self-evident.
Having such a waist-related talent is naturally a great benefit to Qingdeng, who is currently stepping up his efforts to improve his strength.
Generally speaking, the effects of these three talents copied from horses, pigs, and cows are not considered useless, and they are all quite useful.
But afterwards, when he thought carefully about the effectiveness of these three new talents... Qingdeng's mood was a little subtle.
Fingers and tongues become flexible and strong, and the waist is less prone to strain, injury, and fatigue... If you think about it carefully, aren't these the skills that some "Flower Street Daredevils" most desire to possess?
Qingdeng felt that if he went to Flower Street now, he would be able to make many wandering girls remember him in a very short time.
The visit from Arima and others can be regarded as a small episode in Qingto's time.
Apart from that, Qingdeng didn't encounter any major events these days, and his life was quite peaceful and peaceful.
…
…
February 10——
Around 8pm——
Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Imperial Guard Hall——
Aoto, wearing a full set of armor, holding a bamboo sword in a mid-level stance, faced off against Haruka Kondo, who was also fully armed and in a mid-level stance.
Because it was already evening and the closing time had long passed, there were only Aoto and Kondo in the dojo, and there were no other apprentices.
Qingto felt more and more that it was so nice to live in the Trial Guard Hall. Even after the closing time, he could still stay in the hall to practice swordsmanship, and he could still invite Kondo and others to accompany him for morning exercises like now.
Or practice at night.
"Ha..." Qingden exhaled a breath, then held his breath suddenly, exerted all his strength, and then let out a loud Qiai, stepped forward, and rushed forward with his own knife, which was able to cut Kondo's...
Once within range, he slashed at Kondo's face with his sword.
Snapped!
The sound of bamboo swords clashing was heard.
When Aoto's bamboo sword was about to hit Kondo's face, Kondo put the bamboo sword in his palm across his head in time, deflecting Aoto's attack.
Seeing that his previous attack was ineffective, Qingto quickly took a few steps back and distanced himself from Kondo.
The first round of offense and defense between the two ended in a deadlock.
Looking at Kondo who had rearranged his mid-section posture in front of him, Aoto adjusted his breathing and thought to himself:
——He is worthy of being the future fourth-generation head of the Tennirishin-ryu clan... There is no flaw at all...
Still unable to find Kondo's flaw... Qingteng thought for a moment, then adjusted his sword-holding posture - Qingteng slowly raised the bamboo sword in his hand above his head.
Looking at Aoto who changed his stance from the mid-level stance that was both offensive and defensive to the upper stance of "heavy attack and light defense", Kondo narrowed his eyes slightly, and then also changed his sword-holding stance - he put his bamboo sword away.
Low, the tip of the sword pointed diagonally at the floor in front of him.
Qingden moved his feet, slowly closing the distance between himself and Kondo.
And Kondo did not deliberately avoid it. He allowed Qingto to approach and allowed the distance between the two to slowly close.
The next moment the distance between the two of them was so close that their swords could touch each other——
The sound of Qingden's Qi combined with the sound of swinging his sword burst out together.
The slashes delivered from the above stance, both in terms of momentum and power, are incomparable to the slash Qingden had just delivered.
This time, Kondo did not directly receive Aoto's attack, but quickly took two steps back to avoid Aoto's slash.
The moment he dodged Aoto's slash, Kondo suddenly raised the bamboo sword that had been lowered down! He stabbed Aoto's chest sharply!
Ayoto's eyes kept up with the speed of Kondo's sword - but his body failed to keep up.
Aoto could only watch helplessly as Kondo's bamboo sword stabbed his chest, and he took two steps back before regaining his balance.
Because he wore armor and used a bamboo sword that was not easy to hurt, Aoto would not feel any pain even if he was stabbed by Kondo.
After looking down at the place where he had just been stabbed, Qingto put down the bamboo sword in his hand and smiled bitterly at Kondo:
"Alas...I still can't keep up with Kondo-kun, your sword..."
"Tachibana-kun, I am the one who should sigh." Kondo also put down the sword in his hand at this time, smiling bitterly like Aoto, "The speed of your progress... is so fast that I feel a little psychologically unbalanced.
"
"Compared with your current movements and strength compared to a month ago, when you first entered our training hall, there is a huge difference."
Hearing Kondo's compliment, Aoto smiled, and then said in a half-joking tone:
"This is all thanks to the chaotic life-and-death battle with the 'radical expulsion faction'. It gave me a lot of experience."
As the saying goes: Actual combat is the best training.
Practicing against a dead object thousands of times is not as good as practicing against a living person once.
In that "snowy night battle", Aoto and Saito first fought left and right in the enemy group, and then started a life-and-death fight with Suehiro Moriyoshi. If he was distracted for a moment, his life would be lost.
…
Qingdeng has the talent of "swordsmanship talent increased 50 times the average level of ordinary people". After such a fierce battle, with the blessing of the "Sword Talent", Qingdeng learned from this battle
Nutrients... so much that Qingden couldn't help but feel surprised.
These days, while practicing swordplay in the trial guard hall, Qingdeng clearly felt that his strength had skyrocketed.
Qingdeng feels that the current self can easily compare to the self who just traveled to this era a month ago.
After fighting a fierce battle to the death, his strength has made such an exaggerated jump... Qingdeng couldn't help but think: If he fought this kind of life-threatening battle ten or eight times, then he would be
Isn't it possible to become a great swordsman in a very short time?
"Hahahaha." Kondo smiled, "Tachibana-kun, your talent...is indeed the same as Souji's, which is very enviable."
"How about it? Mr. Tachibana, do you want to continue practicing?"
"Of course!" Qingden put the bamboo sword back in front of him and got into a good posture, "Come on, Kondo-kun, let's continue!"
"Not bad momentum." Kondo grinned his big mouth, and then readjusted his sword like Aoto.
…
…
While Aotobu and Kondo were having a lively "night practice"——
Edo, on a certain street——
"Gu... drink more... I want... a few more drinks..."
"You've started talking nonsense, and you're still drinking..."
A young man who was still conscious was supporting a drunk man next to him who was already drunk. The two of them staggered forward inch by inch.
"Who said I was drunk...? I can still drink...I can drink...!"
"Okay, okay." The young man soothed his completely drunk friend in a tone like soothing a child, "You're not drunk, you're not drunk. Follow me obediently and go back to your home. I'll wait until I get back to your home."
Once you get home, you will have new wine to drink.”
"Really...? Hiccup...!"
"Of course it's true. When I get back to your home, you can drink as much as you want."
After being coaxed by the young man, the drunk man immediately became much better behaved and allowed the young man to help him go home without any resistance.
At this moment - in front of the two of them, there was a young samurai with a sword on his waist and a young woman, walking side by side towards them.
When they heard footsteps coming from ahead, the young man and the drunkard both raised their heads and looked forward.
After their eyes swept across the man and woman... they showed completely different expressions.
The young man looked shocked and looked at the man and woman with surprised eyes.
The drunk man had a dazed look on his face... He seemed to have lost his soul and stared blankly at the woman in the pair.
The pace of this man and woman was very fast, and in just a moment, they passed by the young man and the drunkard.
Even after he passed by the man and woman, the drunk man still looked like he hadn't woken up, staring blankly at the woman's back.
"Ichiro...that girl is so beautiful..." the drunkard muttered to the young man who was supporting him.
"Ha..." The young man laughed dumbly, "Juro, don't you recognize the man and woman just now?"
"Ah...? I don't know... who were those two people just now...?" the drunkard asked blankly.
The young man turned his head and looked at the man and woman who had walked away a little bit:
"Ah... it's normal that you don't recognize them. After all, you are not like me. You work in a teahouse next to the Little Chiba Sword Hall and can see people from the Little Chiba Sword Hall every day."
"That couple is the famous brother and sister from Chiba Sword Hall: Chiba Jutaro and Chiba Sanako."
The drunkard didn't care at all about the Little Chiba Kenkan, Chiba Jutaro or anything like that - he only cared about that woman.
"Chiba... Sanako...?" The drunk man laughed obscenely, "Hehehehe...it's really...a beauty deserves a beautiful name..."
The drunk man turned his head again, reluctantly looking at the back of the woman who had almost disappeared from his sight.
"She's so beautiful... It's the first time I've seen such a beautiful woman... Much prettier than the girls in Tamadaya..."
The young man couldn't help laughing: "Of course. Chiba Sanako is the 'Chiba Onimachi' and 'the most beautiful woman in Edo'. How can she be compared to those wandering girls in the flower street?"
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