"Huh?" Qingden cast a surprised look at Kiryu, "Shall I compete with Nagakura-kun?"
"In the past, when I met such customers who were looking for jobs related to swordsmanship and wanted to test their actual swordsmanship level, I always asked a samurai who lived next door to our store who was very good at swordsmanship to help me."
"But now that you are here, I can save the effort of looking for someone."
"How about it? Can I ask you for a favor?"
Qingto looked at Kiryu, then at Nagakura: "Then... I'll make a fool of myself."
Competing with others... Qingdeng would not reject anyone who came.
Especially for such talented people at such a young age, Qingdeng would be even more willing to compete with them. Maybe he could copy some talent from them.
Seeing Aoto nod in agreement, Kiryu said "Thank you very much" to Aoto with a grateful face, and then stood up from behind the counter unhurriedly.
"Then, please come with me. Behind our store, there happens to be a suitable place for people to practice swordsmanship. Young Master, can you please go to the warehouse and get two bamboo swords?"
…
…
Behind the Thousand Houses, there is a small backyard.
Although this backyard is not large, it is more than enough to accommodate two adults for a sword fight.
Aoto and Nagakura were holding the bamboo sword that Kinoshita Mai had just taken, and stood at the east and west ends of the small courtyard, facing each other. Kiryu, Kinoshita Mai, Okita, and Saito stood on the edge of the courtyard to watch the battle.
Nagakura swung the bamboo sword in his hand vigorously several times, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with his sword, he turned to Boss Kiryu and asked:
"Boss Kiryu, don't you have protective gear?"
"Sorry." Boss Kiryu smiled apologetically, "Our store does not provide its own protective gear."
"I don't have protective gear... that's fine, it doesn't matter." Nagakura grinned and said, "Anyway, he used a bamboo sword, so he can't kill anyone."
After saying that, Nagakura swung the bamboo sword in his palm into the air beside him, and after bringing up a strong wind, he spread his legs and took a mid-position stance towards Qingden: "Are you ready?"
Qingdeng, who had just inspected the bamboo sword, nodded and held the bamboo sword in front of him: "Teach me at any time."
Qingdeng, who has made rapid progress in swordsmanship thanks to his "Excellent Sword Skills", has also developed some discernment now.
As soon as Nagakura raised his bamboo sword and took a stance, Qingden immediately saw that this man was indeed no ordinary person.
The stance, center of gravity, and angle of holding the sword... are all impeccable.
Even Ayoto could tell that Nagakura was very capable, not to mention Okita and Saito who were now standing on the edge of the courtyard with Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita to watch the battle.
"Oh..." Okita made a sound of praise that only he could hear clearly, "It seems that this person really has the strength to avoid Kaden..."
Ayoto and Nagakura, who were both in the middle position, were facing each other in a tense atmosphere, staring at each other closely.
The confrontation between the two lasted only 2 seconds before it was broken by a series of rapid footsteps.
Nagakura took the lead and stepped forward, launching a close approach towards Aoshinobu!
Nagakura is tall, with long arms and legs, so his attack range is naturally very wide. With just one step forward, he can get close enough to where his bamboo sword can hit Qingdeng.
I saw him, Nagakura, swinging his bamboo sword horizontally from left to right, slashing horizontally towards Qingdeng's chest.
Qingdeng's pupils shrank slightly and he quickly retreated.
The tip of the Nagakura Bamboo Sword brushed past Qingden's chest, and Qingden felt a burning sensation coming from his chest.
After narrowly escaping Nagakura's slashing blow, Qingden quickly stood on his feet, then swung his sword to launch a counterattack.
Qingden's bamboo sword drew an arc-shaped line that forced it toward Nagakura's right shoulder.
After Nagakura glanced at Qingdeng's sword in return, he lowered his body's center of gravity slightly. The bamboo sword in his right hand also drew an arc, crossed the air, and struck Qingdeng's bamboo sword, dissolving it. Qingdeng's slashing attack.
"Drink!" Nagakura roared like a wild beast, and quickly retracted the bamboo sword that blocked Qingteng's attack. He then switched to the upper stance and struck Qingteng's sword-holding right arm. " Split Huashan with force."
With just one glance, Qingden immediately judged that he couldn't take Nagakura's blow.
Therefore, Qingteng had no choice but to jump back, jump out of Nagakura's attack range, and widen the distance between him and Nagakura.
Qingdeng jumped back and then landed firmly on the ground. While adjusting his posture, he said quickly in his heart:
——He is worthy of being the holder of the Shinto Mu-Nen-ryu Fusu Kyden. Every attack is full of the style of the Shinto Mu-Nen-ryu...
Shinto Mu-Nen-ryu is a swordsmanship that takes the "strong" route.
Crush the enemy with a violent attack like a torrential rain - this is the swordsmanship style of the Shinto Muken-ryu swordsmen.
As soon as Qingteng opened the distance between him and Nagakura, Nagakura immediately rushed towards Qingteng like a strong wind.
This Nagakura Shinpachi is very strong. In terms of strength, Aoto feels that this Nagakura Shinpachi is much stronger than the Suehiro Moriyuyo he dealt with before - but Aoto is not surprised or panicked by this. .
At the beginning of the sparring session, after seeing Nagakura Shinpachi's posture of being unable to find any mistakes or flaws, Aomori had already predicted that this young man would not be an easy person to deal with.
Qingdeng, who had been mentally prepared for this, let out a breath.
The beating rate of the heart and the flow rate of blood began to soar.
Feeling these changes in his body, Qingdeng knew: his "loneliness" was beginning to take effect!
Qingdeng raised his bamboo sword and faced Nagakura, who was charging towards him again!
Shinto Wu Nian Ryu takes the "strong" route...that's a coincidence.
Ayoto's Natural Rishin-ryu is also a school that takes the "strong" route.
Woo——!
Qingden straightened his sword and stabbed Nagacang, making bursts of whining sounds that shook the air.
Nagagura hurriedly turned his body to the side, watching Qingden's sword passing close to his body, Nagagura's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
He clearly felt that Qingdeng's strength... suddenly became much stronger than before.
Nagakura's eyes narrowed slightly, and he clenched the bamboo sword in his hand...
The two men, who both used "violent" swordsmanship, exchanged offense and defense at high speed in this small courtyard.
Even with the blessing of "Gu Gu"... Qingden's strength is still far inferior to Nagacang.
The difference in strength between the two of them is...probably "28 to 20". Qingden two, Nagacang eight. Nagakura completely suppressed Qingdeng.
Thanks to Qingteng's "Eagle Eyes", thanks to these eyes with extremely amazing dynamic vision, Qingteng was able to keenly see through Nagakura's attacks, and then dodge them in time.
Without "Eagle Eye", Qingden might have been knocked to the ground by Nagakura long ago.
Qingdeng knew that if he and Nagakura started a "head-on fight", he would definitely not be Nagakura's opponent.
So, relying on his "Eagle Eye", he fought Nagakura with the tactics that were most suitable for him who was currently at a disadvantage: "guerrilla tactics."
Continuously dodge Nagakura's attacks, and then wait for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Nagakura and give Nagakura a blow.
Even though he was completely at a disadvantage now, even if he was playing guerrilla, the chance of defeating Nagakura was very slim. Qingden did not show any negative emotions and calmly fought guerrilla with Nagakura, calmly looking for opportunities to turn the tide of the battle.
Nagakura's mentality is also very good.
Qingdeng has always refused to confront him and used "guerrilla tactics" to deal with him. If it were the others, they would probably feel anxious and rush to bring down Qingdeng, this "cowardly" opponent. .
But there was no hint of impatience on Nagakura's face.
I saw him with a straight face, steadily fighting Qingdeng.
Kiryu, who had been standing expressionlessly on the edge of the yard watching the battle, looked at Ao who was clearly at a complete disadvantage, but did not show any signs of frustration or dejection, and used the strategy with the best chance of winning without flinching to fight Nagakura. Deng, a faint smile slowly appeared on his face.
"...Okay, let's stop here first!"
Hearing Kiryu's shout, Ayoto and Nagakura both stopped holding their bamboo swords.
The discussion between Ayoto and Nagakura... lasted less than 3 minutes from beginning to end.
Although the fight only lasted for less than 3 minutes, because it was a fierce battle with a strong enemy like Nagakura, and he did not even dare to breathe, a light sweat broke out on Qingto's body. , breathing also became slightly messy.
Just looking at the state of the two after the battle, we can also see the difference in strength between Ayoto and Nagakura - Nagakura barely sweated, and his breathing was still steady and not messy.
Qingdeng didn't have the time to adjust his breathing or wipe the sweat off his body.
Because after he and Nagakura both put down the bamboo swords in their hands, the cold system sound suddenly sounded in Qingden's mind:
【Ding! Scan to talent]
[Successfully copied talent: "Steel Skeleton"]
[Talent introduction: Bones are extraordinarily tough]
As soon as the system sound fell, waves of warm currents suddenly surged out from everywhere in Qingdeng's body and enveloped Qingdeng's whole body. After a while, these warm currents slowly receded.
——Bones become tough?
Qingden subconsciously looked down at his left hand, and then firmly grasped his left fist a few times - even though he knew that he couldn't see the changes in his bones just by looking with his naked eyes, he still couldn't help but stare. Looking at the bones and joints that were slightly white from clenching the fists.
——Ha... This person has a very powerful talent...
Qingden grinned.
The bones become extra tough... This is a talent that can be used both offensively and defensively in battle.
Because the bones are tough, the power of hitting people with fists and other body parts will be greatly enhanced.
Because bones are tough, your bones will be less susceptible to severe damage when someone else is around you.
Out of the corner of his eye, Qingto caught sight of Kiryu slowly walking towards him and Nagakura.
After seeing Kiryu walking towards them, Qingden quickly put away his faint joy at getting a new high-quality talent.
"It seems that Nagakura-kun, you are indeed very good at swordsmanship." Kiryu smiled faintly at Nagakura, "At your age, it is very rare to have such a level of swordsmanship."
Nagakura, who was tall and tall, showed a reaction that was completely incompatible with his tall image - after hearing Kiryu's ordinary compliment, Nagakura showed a shy and honest smile, laughing so hard Both eyes were narrowed to a slit, and the corners of his mouth were grinning almost to the corners of his mouth.
"Hehe...thank you for the compliment." Nagakura happily exchanged a few words of humility with Kiryu before turning to look at Qingden who was still standing beside him.
"Brother, your strength is very good." Nagakura put the bamboo sword in his hand on his shoulder and grinned boldly at Qingden, "Just now, I was almost hit by your sword several times. .”
"May I have your name?"
"Ah, and - which school of swordsmanship do you study under? The swordsmanship you use is somewhat similar to my Shinto Wu Nian style. They are both schools that focus on attack."
"Naturally Rishin-ryu, Ju Qingden." Qingteng announced his name.
"Ju Qingteng?" Nagakura glared hard, and then quickly swept his eyes to look at Qingteng, "You are the madman who led more than 20 to 30 people to defeat more than 300 'anti-barbarian factions' Is the Orange Qingden?"
Qingden was not surprised that Nagakura recognized his name.
During this time, his name and deeds had already spread throughout the streets and alleys of Edo.
If Nagakura had never heard of his name, Qingto would be surprised.
However... a small part of what Nagakura said just now made Qingto couldn't help but frown.
"You just said how many 'anti-barbarian' thugs I defeated?"
"More than three hundred." Nagakura blinked in confusion, "Huh? Did I say something wrong?"
...When have I defeated so many enemies...?
…
Qingto and Nagakura briefly asked him where he heard the rumor that the number had become exaggerated for no reason.
Nagakura said that he heard about it from several guests at the next table while drinking in a certain izakaya a few days ago.
Because those guests all said so, and they categorically said that Qingdeng defeated a group of three hundred enemies, so Nagakura believed it to be true.
After listening to Nagakura's explanation, the corners of Qingden's mouth twitched uncontrollably...
He couldn't help but recall that after he solved Granny Ping's murder case, the public opinion inexplicably became more and more exaggerated, and everyone said that he was the "reincarnation of Zhuge Kongming"...
Qingdeng speculated: It was probably because when people were spreading his deeds by word of mouth, some people remembered them incorrectly or deliberately added jealousy, making his deeds exaggerated...
——This time, I shouldn’t be said to be the “reincarnation of Guan Yunchang and Lu Fengxian”...?
Qingden, who didn't like the feeling of being overly praised, couldn't help but shrink his neck.
With the mentality of "stop the spread of rumors if you can," Qingto patiently refuted the rumors for Nagakura, saying that he didn't encounter that many enemies that night.
After listening to Qingden's refutation of the rumors, Nagakura grinned: "Actually, it's almost the same! What's the big difference between defeating more than 200 people and defeating more than 300 people?"
After saying that, Nagakura raised his hand and patted Qingden on the shoulder:
"Oh, I didn't expect that I would meet that Tachibana Aoden here!"
"When I heard about your deeds, I felt so happy! Haha! I have long been disgusted by those crazy-looking 'radical anti-barbarians'!"
Facing Nagakura's straightforward and unshakable praise, Qingto smiled politely and modestly.
For no reason, Aomori felt that Nagakura Shinpachi, Isamu Kondo, and Jutaro Chiba would get along very well. They were all the kind of people who had a very forthright temperament, spoke straightforwardly, and did not mince words.
At this moment, Nagakura suddenly recalled that there was a Kiryu boss standing next to him.
"Ah, sorry, sorry." Nagakura grabbed his messy hair and smiled apologetically at Boss Kiryu, "I seem to have been too busy talking to Tachibana..."
"It's okay." Kiryu smiled casually, "Nagakura-kun, with your swordsmanship, you can take on a lot of jobs."
"I happen to have a pretty good job right now."
"The Kimura Sword Hall in Hitou Town is currently looking for sparring partners with high enough sword skills."
"Nagakura-kun, are you interested in trying this job?"
"Oh? Swordsman training partner?" Nagakura's eyes lit up, "Hahaha, it sounds good."
"It seems that you are interested in this job." Kiryu clasped his hands behind his back and turned around, "Then - please follow me. Let's go back to the front desk for now, and I will slowly introduce this job to you in detail. "
…
…
Kiryu led Nagakura back to the front desk.
Under Kiryu's arrangement, the three guests, Aoto, Okita, and Saito, followed Mai Kinoshita into a spacious room on the second floor of Senshiya specially used to entertain guests, and waited for Kiryu to finish entertaining Nagakura.
While waiting quietly for Kiryu to finish dealing with the business matters, Aomori chatted for a while with Kinoshita Mai who was staying with them in the living room.
Kinoshita Mai and Qingto gave a brief introduction to this thousand-story house.
This Thousand Things House is not only the place where she and Kiryu work, but also the home of her and Kiryu.
Chishiya has a total of 2 floors. The first floor is the place for business, and the second floor is the residence of Kiryu and Kinoshita Mai.
After spending about 20 minutes chatting with Kinoshita Mai and Okita, Kiryu finally opened the door and entered the living room.
"Boss Kiryu." Seeing Kiryu coming back, Qingden quickly straightened his sitting posture, "Has Nagakura Shinpachi left?"
Kiryu nodded and sat across from Qingto: "Yes. I recommended many suitable jobs to him, and he has left happily."
"That's it...it'll be good if he finds the job he likes." Qingden smiled.
Although he only had a brief contact with this Nagakura Shinpachi for a while, based on the words and deeds of this person currently displayed in front of him, Qingto felt that this Nagakura Shinpachi was quite interesting.
I feel like he is the kind of person who has a very simple mind and doesn't have too many twists and turns in his mind.
Kiryu, who sat down in front of Aoto, first thanked Aoto for his willingness to help test Nagakura's strength, then briefly exchanged greetings with Aoto, and finally got to the main topic: asking. Qingdeng and the others came suddenly, why?
Qingto and Okita explained their reasons for coming in detail.
"You are going to hold the 'Red and White Battle' together with Chiba Kenkan at the 'Plum Blossom Festival'?" Kiryu's eyebrows showed a bit of surprise.
"Yes!" Okita nodded vigorously, "The holding time is tentatively scheduled to be eight o'clock in the morning (2 p.m.) on the day of the 'Plum Blossom Festival'. The venue has not yet been decided, but I guess it will be at Yushima Tenmangu Shrine. It will be held in the open space in the northeast corner.”
"Mr. Kiryu, if you are free that day, you must come and watch!"
"'Plum Blossom Festival'..." Kiryu lowered his gaze and looked at the tatami in front of his knees, with a thoughtful look on his face.
After a moment, Kiryu slowly raised his eyes and glanced at Qingden with a subtle movement...
"...Okay." Kiryu smiled, "If I have time that day, I will definitely go and take a look."
…
…
At this moment——
With his left hand on his waist and his right hand on his shoulder, Nagakura Shinpachi strutted along the path at his feet towards the distant horizon.
When he reached a corner, he suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at Chishiya, which had almost disappeared from his sight.
"That Tachibana Aoden... is much younger than I thought... he should be a few years younger than me..."
Nagakura spoke to himself in a volume so low that only he could hear it.
"People have achieved great things at such a young age...but I still haven't accomplished anything..."
A bitter smile slowly climbed onto Nagakura's cheeks.
He stared directly at Qianshiwu with envious eyes.
After a long while, he slowly withdrew his sight, turned around, and turned to a small road on the right where he could no longer see the Thousand Things House.
…
…
In the next few days, Qingdeng's life returned to calm.
Held a competition with the Chiba Sword Hall in the "Plum Blossom Festival"... This event has an important "political mission" - to promote the Natural Rishin-ryu.
Therefore, in order to complete this task, only some disciples with acceptable skills in the trial defense hall can participate in this event.
Qingdeng was very lucky - he was successfully selected.
Part of the reason why he was selected is that Qingden's current strength has improved by leaps and bounds with the support of the "Sword Talent", and he is now capable of participating in this competition.
But the main reason... is because there are too few apprentices in the trial guard hall...
According to statistics, there are less than 30 "living people" who often come to the Trial Guard Hall to show their faces.
Eliminate those who do not want to participate in the competition, those who are not available on the day of the "Plum Blossom Festival", and those who are too weak... But the total number of participants is only 15...
Qingto is still looking forward to the upcoming match with Xiao Chiba Kenkan.
Qingdeng found this "red and white battle" very interesting.
Try to break the porcelain bowl on the opponent's general's head with your friends... Qingdeng has always been interested in this kind of "strategic chess" game that requires a battle of wits and courage.
Secondly, participating in this competition will give Qingto the opportunity to copy the talents of the apprentices at the Little Chiba Sword Hall.
The Little Chiba Sword Hall is full of elites, so the chances of someone with special talents appearing there must be very high.
The combination of these two reasons made Qingdeng very looking forward to this game.
In order to be in the best condition to face this competition, Qingdeng has been training his sword skills every day during this period.
If there is anything worth mentioning while waiting for the game to come, it should be that the French Legation sent someone to express gratitude to Qingdeng for "saving their country's businessmen."
The French embassy is located in Yokohama, just next door to Edo. After learning about Aomori's deeds of saving their country's businessmen, after discussion and research, they sent a man who worked in their embassy with a not too low rank. The Japanese came to Edo with gifts of thanks and paid homage to Aoto.
There were two thank-you gifts from the French Embassy: a letter of thanks written in French and 80 taels of money!
These 80 taels of gold really solved the urgent need of Qingdeng, who was now penniless.
After receiving the money, Qingto immediately took out part of the money and gave it to Kondo as food and rent for him, Saito, and Kubei before and after.
Kondo initially said that these were just small amounts of money and was unwilling to accept them. After Aomori tried hard and soft, Kondo finally accepted the money.
After Aoto became rich and could pay for meals and rent, Aobi noticed that Abi's attitude toward him, Saito, and Kubei became much more enthusiastic.
Although he still kept a cold face, his tone obviously improved a lot when talking to Qingdeng and the others.
time flies--
Soon, February 25th, the day of the "Plum Blossom Festival" finally arrived.
…
…
February 25th, around 10 o'clock in the morning——
Edo, Yushima Tenmangu Shrine——
"Wow! It's so beautiful!" Okita looked at the beautiful scenery in front of him with bright eyes.
The competition will be held at 2 p.m. The venue is an open space in the northeast corner of Yushima Tenmangu Shrine.
However, due to the need to prepare the venue in advance and other reasons, at around 9 o'clock in the morning, Aomori and the other apprentices followed Shusuke and Kondo and their son to go to Yushima Tenmangu Shrine in advance.
As soon as he entered Yushima Tenmangu Shrine, Aoto, like Okita standing next to him, was stunned by the beautiful scenery in front of him and became a little dazed.
The plum trees planted in Yushima Tenmangu Shrine are all white plum trees.
Now is the time when the plum blossoms are blooming most beautifully and brilliantly.
After following Kondo and others into Yushima Tenmangu Shrine, Aoden saw patches of gorgeous white plum trees.
Large white plum blossoms are in full bloom on the treetops. Occasionally, the breeze blows, and the sky is filled with colorful flowers and falling flowers.
Pieces of white and light pink petals fell with the wind. Some followed the guidance of the breeze and swayed into the distance. Some fell in the snow under the tree, and some fell on the person who was standing under the tree admiring the plum blossoms. On tourists.
Today is a beautiful day with no clouds in the sky.
The warm sunshine flows down one by one from the gaps in the branches. Under the sunshine, the white plums on the treetops are covered with a holy atmosphere.
The clouds are steaming and the clouds are rising, so beautiful.
This was the first time Qingdeng saw such a large and spectacular white plum tree in full bloom. For a moment, he couldn't help but be stunned.
"Let's go." Kondo smiled at Qingnou and the others, "Hurry and prepare the competition venue, and you will have more time to enjoy the plum blossoms."
They say they need to prepare the competition venue, but there's really not much to do.
Cleaning the floor, preparing porcelain bowls for competitions...these simple menial and tiring tasks have been completed by the shrine maidens in Yushima Tenmangu Shrine.
All Aonto and the others have to do is talk to the priests of Yushima Tenmangu Shrine and confirm today's itinerary and arrangements.
After about half an hour passed and there were no more venue preparation matters to deal with, he smiled and said to Qingdeng and others: There are still nearly two hours before the start of the game. During the period of waiting for the start of the game, , you go and play first, while my father and I stay to handle the last bit of venue preparations.
Okita has been waiting for Kondo's words.
Okita, whose mind had long been distracted by the patches of white plum blossoms, immediately jumped up excitedly after hearing Kondo's words.
Kondo also wanted to stay with Shusuke to prepare some "little tails" for the venue. He couldn't bring Kondo along as a companion. It would be too boring to go out alone, so Okita sent an invitation to Aoto, asking Aoto to come with him. Take a stroll around this shrine that is so beautiful that you just want to stop looking at it.
Aoto was shocked by the beautiful scenery of "white plum blossoms in full bloom" in Yushima Tenmangu Shrine. He had already wanted to go shopping, so after hearing Okita's invitation, Aoto accepted without hesitation.
So - Aoto, Okita, and Aoto's "spirit behind": Saito, the three of them were bathing in the flying petals and the sunlight pouring down from the branches, wandering aimlessly and constantly talking. He glanced left and right, admiring the beautiful scenery around him.
"It smells so good." Okita sniffed his nose vigorously.
Qingden is currently walking in a certain plum blossom forest with Okita.
There are gorgeous white plum trees all around, and the air is filled with the fresh fragrance of white plum trees.
Qingden, who really liked this scent, also began to sniff the air vigorously.
Qingto and Okita couldn't help but feel a little intoxicated when facing the beautiful scenery around them.
But at this moment——
"Why don't you little Qianye Swordsman take up your responsibilities?!"
Not far away... there were angry shouts.
Qingdeng and others were shocked by this angry shout and turned around to look around.
As soon as his eyes turned around, Qingden saw a... familiar figure.
It's Chiba Sanako.
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