Qingden sniffed, trying to distinguish the components in the air.
The musty smell of dampness, the stench of feces and urine, the stench of rotten food... all kinds of disgusting smells were mixed together, making Qingden involuntarily slow down his breathing.
Looking down below, the rugged ground is reminiscent of the surface of the moon.
There was a big pit there, and a large rock protruded there. It had just rained heavily this afternoon, so those pits were filled with water that was quite disgusting in color.
From time to time, dead rats, dead insects, and other strange objects can be seen floating in the stagnant water.
There is almost no intact house to be seen here. Wherever you can see, you can only see dilapidated houses that can be knocked down with just a casual kick.
It's eerily quiet, and the cries of rats and insects are one of the only sounds here. Just hearing this sound, people who don't know may think that this is some kind of uninhabited no-man's land.
In a word - this area is really suitable as a filming location for suspense and supernatural films.
This is Aomori's first time in Edo, the only residential area in Judo.
The desolation and filth of this place are shocking, far beyond anything Qingdeng could have imagined before.
"Follow me." Kinoshita Mai said softly, "I know an ideal place to squat, let's go to that place to squat."
Qingto said softly "Yes", and then followed Mai Kinoshita towards the center of this dirty settlement area.
After going deeper into this filthy residential area, Qingdeng finally saw a living person.
Not everyone has a house to live in.
There are many people who have no room to live in, or even a mat, and can only use the sky as their quilt and the earth as their bed.
Along the way, Qingdeng saw many dirty people with their legs tightly closed and their arms tightly hugging each other, nestling in the corners of dirty streets or in the dark alleys between houses.
In order to prevent these people from discovering them, and in order not to disturb their sleep, Qingto and Kinoshita Mai deliberately walked lightly and took only those remote trails that were not easily discovered.
The "place suitable for squatting" that Mai Kinoshita refers to is a large tree located next to a certain intersection.
This tree is nearly 5 meters high, which is considered to be one of the highest altitudes in this Huiduo settlement. At least on the way to this big tree, Qingdeng has never seen a tree taller than this one. tall buildings.
Not only is the altitude very high, but also because it is located next to a crossroads in the center of the settlement, it has a very good view, and there are thick leaves to shield the body.
Moreover, according to Kinoshita Mai, three of the seven bodies she found who were brutally beheaded by Tsuji were found around this intersection, so this place is considered a hot spot for crimes.
For all the reasons mentioned above, this big tree is indeed a very good place to squat.
The trunk of this big tree has many bumpy footholds, so it is not difficult to climb. Qingden and Kinoshita Mai climbed onto the thickest branch of this big tree in a few clicks.
"Tachibana-kun, please pay close attention to the east and north." Kinoshita Mai raised her finger and pointed to the east and north, "I am responsible for paying attention to the west and south."
There was no need to raise any objections to Kinoshita Mai's reasonable "personnel arrangement". Aonto nodded, expressed "I understand" to Kinoshita Mai with his movements, and then turned his body to face the north and east of the intersection.
Because the two men were responsible for guarding in completely opposite directions, Aomori and Mai Kinoshita were sitting with their backs to each other.
Aomori still had many questions that he wanted to ask Kinoshita Mai one by one.
So after a while, I heard Aonto lower his voice and use a volume as thin as a mosquito's moan, but just enough for Kinoshita Mai to hear clearly:
"On the night when I first met you dressed as a 'Cat Monk', why did you suddenly show up at the monastery?"
"Ah, this..."
Kinoshita Mai, who was facing away from Aoden, slowly raised her hand and pulled the scarf slightly higher on her face, covering her face more tightly.
"Also...there is no complicated reason."
"I just met you on the street in the morning and heard that you would be on duty that night."
"So I was just curious to see what you three-time warriors do during the night shift."
"In the end, I just sneaked into the monastery and my whereabouts were discovered by you..."
——It turned out that I just wanted to see how we work the night shift...
After having this secret thought in his mind, Qingdeng joked:
"When we work the night shift, the most common job we do is to 'wait for dawn' with nothing to do."
After making a small joke, Qingdeng brought the topic back to the topic again.
"Ms. Kinoshita, you just said that you have been patrolling the cities and towns of Edo every night during this period, tracking down traces of the 'Radical Anti-Barbarians'. So what have you discovered recently that is worth mentioning about the 'Radical Anti-Barbarians'?" Information?"
"No." Kinoshita opened her red lips slightly, sighed softly, and then responded in the same light tone, "I don't know if it's because I've been having bad luck recently, or it's the 'radical anti-barbarian faction' headed by the anti-barbarian group. 'We don't like to operate late at night, so I haven't gotten any useful information."
"Actually, my night patrols every night do not only focus on tracking down the 'radical anti-barbarians'."
"While I was tracking down the 'radical anti-barbarian faction', I also paid attention to whether there were ordinary criminals in the cities and towns of Edo."
Having said this, Kinoshita Mai tilted her head slightly, a hint of pride rising up on her cheeks.
"A few days ago, I successfully caught two wanted fugitives on the street who were about to commit a crime."
"It was really dangerous at that time. Fortunately, I happened to be passing through that neighborhood at that time, otherwise another girl would have been brutally murdered by these scum."
"Fortunately, the two wanted criminals were very weak, and we knocked them to the ground easily."
After hearing this, Qingdeng couldn't help but raise his eyebrows - Mao Xiaoseng had caught two wanted criminals for the law enforcement office a few days ago who had not yet been arrested and brought them to justice, and threw the two wanted criminals at the door of the law enforcement office... This time To this day, the incident is still hot news that has not completely subsided.
At this time, Kinoshita Mai reached into her arms and pulled out a small pile of paper that was slightly yellowed from being read countless times and the footers were beginning to be chipped.
"In order to easily identify the criminals, I specially found all the wanted posters I could find, memorized every face on them and always carried these wanted posters with me."
Qingto looked over and saw that the stack of papers that Mai Kinoshita had just pulled out of his arms were the wanted posters that can be easily obtained in places with high traffic such as izakayas and teahouses.
——Have you actually memorized all the faces on these wanted posters...
Qingdeng secretly clicked his tongue.
"...Now I finally understand why the cat monk helped arrest criminals in Fujisawa three months ago."
Three months ago, Qingto was ordered to go to Fujisawa Juku to arrest a group of thieves who had committed multiple burglaries in the hotel.
As a result, after arriving at Fujisawa-juku, he found that the group of snitches he was supposed to deal with had been captured by the cat monk.
For Qingto, who didn't know that Kinoshita Mai was the Neko-Seng at that time, this was his first encounter with the Neko-Seng, a great phantom thief.
"Ah, what you said about Fujisawa-juku." Mai Kinoshita smiled, "After arriving at Fujisawa-juku with Mr. Kiryu to meet Elodie and the others, I heard that there was a group of thieves going around. News of the appearance of the snitch in Fujisawa-juku.”
"At that time, Elodie and the others had not yet arrived at Fujisawa-juku, so I happened to be free."
"Since I have nothing to do, I will try to see if I can help catch this group of snitches."
"I'm very lucky. The first night I stayed outside the dormitory, I encountered that group of snitches."
Qingden, who was back to back with Mao Xiaoseng, had been listening carefully.
Finally, after Mao Xiaoseng finished speaking, Qingden smiled:
"Ms. Kinoshita, there are only a handful of phantom thieves like you who, while stealing money from evildoers, also help arrest criminals and stop crimes... regardless of ancient or modern times."
Suddenly, Qingden paused.
"...Ms. Kinoshita, can I ask you another... question that may be very presumptuous?"
"Huh? You ask." After covering her face with a towel, Kinoshita Mai spoke much more freely.
Qingden turned his head and stared directly at Kinoshita Mai with a slightly meaningful look.
"Miss Kinoshita, where did you learn your ability to fly over walls and climb over walls, as well as your superb boxing and kicking skills?"
"There has been a crazy rumor in the market that 'Cat Monk is a female ninja'..."
Having said this, Qingden changed into a half-joking tone.
"You are not really a female ninja who has learned some ninjutsu, are you?"
Cat Monk is a female ninja... This rumor is half right, Cat Monk is indeed a female.
This made Qingden even wonder: could the second half of this rumor be true...
Whether it was Kinoshita Mai's physical skills that allowed her to walk on flat ground on complex terrain such as rooftops, or her boxing and kicking skills, Qingto was deeply shocked.
He recalled the night when he first encountered Kinoshita Mai in the "cat monk form" in the monastic institution. The slap that Kinoshita Mai gave him to force him back was still fresh in Qingto's memory to this day.
To be able to deliver such a powerful palm strike... Aonto concluded that Mai Kinoshita's level of unarmed combat must be very high!
Kinoshita Mai, who had been answering all questions just now, did not immediately answer the questions thrown by Qingto like she did just now.
Her expression changed slightly, she pursed her lips and remained silent.
Qingto was not in a hurry, and quietly waited for Kinoshita Mai to give her answer.
Kinoshita Mai did not keep Aontomo waiting.
Only a moment later, she turned her head slightly and cast an apologetic look at Qingden.
"Ju-kun, I'm sorry...it's not easy for me to answer this question about where I learned all these skills."
"If there is a chance in the future, I will answer you again."
——Not convenient to answer? Why?
Qingdeng couldn't help but be startled.
But he didn't ask any more questions.
After all, this kind of thing involves people's privacy. Since Kinoshita Mai doesn't want to say more, it's not convenient for him to ask more.
"It's okay." Qingdeng said quickly, "If you don't want to say more, I won't force you."
Where did Kinoshita Mai learn these skills from? This question was so quickly ignored.
And Kinoshita Mai... to be precise, various questions related to "Cat Monk" have been answered in this question and answer.
There was only one last question left in Qingto's mind: Where did Kinoshita Mai go with the large amounts of money she had stolen from those evil people?
The Mouse Monk 40 years ago distributed every money he stole directly to the poor.
But for the current Cat Monk, the observance office has not found any record of her directly distributing stolen money to the poor like the Mouse Monk 40 years ago.
Therefore, there is a saying in the market: The cat monk is far different from the mouse monk. Although both of them only steal money from evil people, the latter will give all the stolen money to the poor, but the former only He will keep the stolen money for his own enjoyment.
What did you do with such a large amount of money? Just when Qingdeng wanted to ask this, suddenly...
"...Tachibana-kun."
Mai Kinoshita, who had been playing the "answerer" just now, suddenly changed her identity and became the "asker".
She blinked hard at Qingdeng, a strange emotion that was difficult for outsiders to detect was filled in her eyes.
"The question you just asked me reminds me of something I have always wanted to ask you..."
"Tachibana-kun, on the night when I sneaked into the training center to see how you all worked the night shift, after you found me, you could run very fast when you chased me, but why did you run so slowly in the end?"
"Ah?" Qingdeng opened his eyes, and then his expression gradually turned weird.
——Why are you running so slowly? Because at that time, I had not yet copied the talent of "taking the lead"!
Qingden shouted the answer to this question loudly in his heart.
However, it was impossible for him to tell Mai Kinoshita the true answer...
So, Qingdeng could only hesitate for a moment, then nodded gently: "Well... yes, I did run a little slower on purpose."
"Because...I've told you before, I don't hate the cat monk who only attacks evil people."
"I didn't want to catch him, so I deliberately slowed down."
Qingdeng told a lie that he made up on the spur of the moment...
In order to avoid exposing his secrets, Qingden turned his head away when he was talking about his made-up lies, so that Kinoshita Mai would not see his unnatural expression.
"Did you slow down on purpose... Haha, then I guessed it right."
Qingden heard the sound of Kinoshita Mai jumping for joy behind him.
"Thank you... for deliberately slowing down so that I could escape more easily."
"You're welcome, I just did what I wanted to do." Hearing Kinoshita Mai's words, Qingden breathed a sigh of relief.
I was secretly glad that the lie I just told was effective, and I successfully fooled Kinoshita Mai.
Qingdeng didn't know - his lies were more effective than anything else?
Behind him, Kinoshita Mai whispered "thank you" to Qingto, and stretched out her hand to pull the scarf on her face higher and tighter.
The thick face towel perfectly covered Kinoshita Mai's face, which was constantly snickering, and her cheeks were filled with joyful smiles.
She smiled so hard that her eyes curved into two crescents, as if what she just heard was an unparalleled happy event.
Huhu...
A sudden night breeze brought a slight chill.
At this time, Qingto, who was still secretly feeling lucky that he had successfully fooled Kinoshita Mai, suddenly discovered a strange black shadow moving at the north intersection of the intersection.
"Miss Kinoshita." Qingden looked serious. While calling Kinoshita Mai in a deep voice, he raised his hand and pointed to the north intersection, "Look over there."
Kinoshita Mai quickly put away the smile on her face and looked in the direction pointed by Qingto's finger. Then, like Qingto, her expression quickly became serious.
Because today was a sunny day with the moon hanging high in the sky, under the illumination of the moonlight, Ayoto and Kinoshita Mai quickly saw clearly what the "squirming" black shadows at the north intersection were.
They are 8 samurai who all carry swords.
The figures of these eight warriors kept "squirming" in the shadow of the house at the north intersection.
After only a moment's effort, they could be seen slowly pulling out of the shadows, their bodies gradually condensing into concrete entities, and finally being completely exposed to the moonlight.
The two leaders are twins.
Of the twins, one had two sabers, one long and one short, hanging on his waist. The other had two sabers on his waist and an Odachi on his back.
The appearance of the two people is very similar, their eyes, noses, mouths... are almost exactly the same. There is only one obvious difference between the twins - the one carrying the Odachi has a red birthmark on his left forehead. One person also had a long birthmark, but his birthmark was on the corner of his right eye.
Looking at the twins with distinctive features, Qingden's pupils shrank slightly.
These twins... gave him a very strong sense of familiarity.
Kinoshita Mai on the side also had the same feeling as Qingto.
Like Qingto, Kinoshita Mai felt that the twins were extremely familiar. After blinking in confusion, she reached into her arms, took out the stack of wanted posters that she had always carried with her, and started flipping through them quickly.
"...?! Found it." Kinoshita Mai let out a low exclamation, then handed the two wanted posters she pulled out to Qingdeng's face, "These twins came from Kansai to Kanto. 'Red-faced Brothers'."
Kinoshita Mai's words made Qingden immediately understand why he felt that the twins were familiar to him.
These twins... are the vicious wanted criminals currently being sought: the red-faced brothers!
The one with the Odachi on his back and the red birthmark on his left forehead is the elder brother of the twins - Yoshikawa Ichitaro.
The one who only wears a pair of swords on his waist and has a red birthmark on the corner of his right eye is the younger brother of the twins - Yoshikawa Kojiro.
Six months ago, the brothers committed numerous murders in Osaka, Kansai.
They led their younger brothers and frequently appeared at night, and together with their younger brothers, they killed every passerby on the street as they pleased.
When you kill, you neither rob others of their money nor have a specific killing target - you just kill for the sake of killing!
As many as 18 people were killed at their hands, all of whom were unarmed civilians.
In order to catch this pair of vicious perverted murderers, the Osaka Pension Office mobilized a large amount of manpower and material resources, but unfortunately they still escaped in the end.
According to reliable intelligence, the brothers have fled to Kanto with a group of younger brothers.
Therefore, after confirming that this information was extremely credible, their wanted posters were immediately posted all over the streets of Edo.
Because both men had red birthmarks on their faces, the government gave them an easy-to-remember nickname: the red-faced brothers.
The "treatment" given by the government to these two brothers who committed extremely serious crimes and behaved extremely badly is not very high - the two brothers received a reward of 10 taels each! No matter life or death! As long as you encounter them on the street, you can just hack them to death! Whether you capture them alive or just send them their heads, you can receive a bounty of 10 taels!
Qingdeng looked at the portrait and description on the wanted poster, and the expression on his face slowly became extremely serious.
In the Huiduo settlement, 8 samurai with swords suddenly appeared, and the two leaders of these 8 samurai with swords are currently wanted perverted murderers who like to kill randomly...
What this means is self-evident.
At this time, the group headed by the red-faced brothers had completely walked out of the shadow of the house at the north intersection.
After looking around with vigilant eyes, they walked slowly towards the east intersection.
Qingden and Kinoshita Mai looked at each other, then nodded slightly.
The two quietly jumped down from the tree and followed quietly behind this group of perverted murderers.
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