In my heart, the itching feeling that had finally dissipated for the most part reappeared.

…

…

at this time--

Edo, on a remote road——

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The mysterious man who had caused both Qingto and Kinoshita Mai to suffer so much was currently holding on to a wooden wall beside him out of breath, his shoulders and chest rising and falling violently.

"Ha...I'm really...old..."

The mysterious man raised his hand with a wry smile and wiped the sweat dripping down his face.

"It's only been a few moments...and I'm already breathing like this..."

After gasping for breath for a while, the mysterious man slowly adjusted his breathing rhythm.

After catching his breath, the mysterious man slowly straightened up, raised his head, and looked to the east - this was the direction where he had just encountered Qingdeng and Qingdeng.

"Why did Tachibana-kun's perception suddenly become so powerful...?"

"Obviously they have never discovered me before."

"It seems I have to pay more attention in the future..."

"In addition to the enhanced perception...the strength has also been enhanced a lot."

"Ho ho ho, I can't believe...even I can't figure out what kind of realm this young man will reach and what achievements he will have in the future..."

After laughing at himself a few times, the mysterious man suddenly found that the Western-style cloak on his body was stained with a lot of dust - it should have been accidentally collected from somewhere when he was trying to avoid the pursuit of Qingto and Kinoshita Mai just now.

Bar.

In order to remove the dust more easily, the mysterious man took off his cloak.

The cloak slipped down...the mysterious man's face and figure were finally revealed.

Also emerging from the cover of the cloak was the knife carried behind the mysterious man's back.

A knife with a purple handle and black scabbard.

…

…

There is an unknown group hoarding a large amount of kerosene in Edo City... Such a shocking thing, the Office of the Attorney General naturally pays the highest attention to it.

After Inotani and the others, with the help of Aoto and Mai Kinoshita, arrested Birthmark Face and others, the execution office immediately put them into jail and asked the jail officer who was responsible for interrogation not to be polite - give me a hard slap.

Torture them! Get information from them as quickly as possible.

As a result - the punishment of being held in stone, the punishment of Hai Lao's punishment, the punishment of hanging up... These tortures that make the victim unable to survive or die are all used on the bodies of people with birthmark faces and others.

These punishments and torture methods are indeed the perfect result of the combination of human malice towards the same kind and human imagination.

In less than half a day, Birthmark Face and others, who had been tortured to the point of death, revealed everything they knew.

It turned out that they were not members of the anti-barbarian group at all, nor were they members of any "radical anti-barbarian faction" organization.

They are a group of smugglers.

They accepted a commission from a man who called himself "Saburo" to "help purchase a large amount of kerosene". They purchased a large amount of kerosene from Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and other places in Kansai and transported it to Edo by sea.

The abandoned teahouse that Kinoshita Mai found was the "temporary warehouse" occupied by the Birthmark Faces and others specifically to store their goods.

As a smuggling businessman, Birthmark Face and others have always adhered to the principle of "only focusing on money" and "not asking customers any unnecessary questions".

Therefore, with the birthmark face, he had no idea who Saburo was, nor what he was planning to do with purchasing such a large amount of kerosene - he only knew that Saburo gave too much, so he accepted the "help" without hesitation.

Purchasing kerosene" task.

The delivery method agreed between him and Saburo was to pay and deliver the goods at the foot of a hill in the eastern suburbs of Edo on April 25.

After hearing such important information, the execution office immediately organized a team and rushed to the delivery location agreed upon by Birthmark Face and Saburo.

However... I stayed there until April 27th, but could not catch any suspicious persons...

It must have been that the force that Saburo was relying on got wind of it in time and knew that Birthmark Face and others had been arrested by the execution office. They stopped in time, leaving everyone in the execution station in vain.

Since they failed to catch Saburo at their delivery site...then they can only find another way to hunt him!

The execution office and Huofu Thieves cooperated with each other and quickly made the following arrangements:

1. Investigate all kerosene dealers in Edo and investigate whether anyone has purchased large amounts of kerosene recently.

2. Search the citywide to see if there are any places where kerosene is being hoarded, and encourage the public to report any suspicious places.

Someone is buying a large amount of kerosene... This is the kind of scary news that can make the high-ranking officials in the execution office and fire-paying thieves have trouble sleeping...

Qingteng and the "Three Chapters" warriors were busy again.

Although the execution office and the Huofu Thieves Gai took this "kerosene purchase incident" extremely seriously and invested a lot of energy and resources, the progress of the investigation is still quite slow...

The management of the grassroots level has always been quite poor.

The Edo South and North Administrative Offices had to rely on the assistance of "township residents' self-governing organizations" to manage Edo effectively... Regardless of anything else, this system alone relies on the assistance of other organizations to manage Edo well.

We are already destined to count on the simple and efficient administrative efficiency of the Southern and Northern Fans, so don’t make it too difficult for them...

More than ten days have passed, and we still haven’t found out the flow of kerosene in Edo, and who has purchased large amounts of kerosene...

Although Birthmark Face and others failed to provide much useful information for the practice, they did achieve one thing - they made the names of Mao Xiaoseng and Fox Xiaoseng even more famous.

During the recent period, the common people of Edo have been enthusiastically discussing the pair of phantom thieves who once again punished evil people in a very short period of time and made outstanding contributions to the peace of Edo.

Many people praised Mao Xiaoseng and Fox Xiaoseng for their righteous deeds. If they had not helped find and defeat Birthmark Face and others, with the ability of the practice with extremely poor administrative efficiency, someone might never have been discovered to be hoarding kerosene.

Of course, there are also some people complaining there: Although the cat monk and the fox monk both bear the title of "Phantom Thief", their recent actions include attacking the human-killing group and finding out who is hoarding fire.

Damn... these things have nothing to do with their title of "Phantom Thieves"!

This "kerosene storage incident" is the second time that the name Fox Monk has been spread in the market. It is also the second time that the pair of strange thieves, Cat Monk and Fox Monk, have appeared in the public eye by cooperating with each other.

inside.

Naturally, people paid more attention to the "newcomer" Hu Xiaoseng.

Many people began to speculate enthusiastically: What is the relationship between this little fox monk and the little cat monk?

For a time, various arguments arose.

It is said that the fox monk and the cat monk are master and servant...

Some people say that Fox Monk and Cat Monk are just like-minded comrades...

It is said that Fox Monk and Cat Monk are husband and wife...

Qingdeng only smiled at these random rumors.

Time passes like this bit by bit.

In the blink of an eye, April has passed.

May has arrived.

…

…

The first year of Wanyan (1860), May 5th——

Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Imperial Guard Hall——

Today's trial defense hall is quite lively.

Outside the living room, Okita opened the paper sliding door next to him wider, and then cooperated with Qingto, and the two of them moved a huge shelf into the living room one after another.

Because the width of this shelf is only slightly smaller than the width of the paper sliding door, both Ayoto and Okita moved it very carefully in order not to damage the shelf.

After carefully placing the shelves at the north end of the hall, Okita put his left hand on his hips and raised his right hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead: "Okay... let's put the dolls, armor and weapons now. Tachibana-kun, please wait here.

In a moment, I'll go get the doll."

Before he finished speaking, Okita ran out of the living room and came back after a while carrying a big box.

Inside the box, there are various strange dolls neatly placed, as well as a set of mini armor and a mini tachi.

Okita waved to Qingto, and while gesturing for Qingto to come over and put the items in the box on the shelf one by one, he asked Qingto back with a smile:

"Ji Jun, do you want to go to the kitchen together later to help auntie make rice dumplings?"

"Okay." Qingdeng smiled without thinking, "Anyway, I have a day off today and have a lot of free time."

Today is May 5th, the Dragon Boat Festival.

Japan also celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival. In the Edo period, the Dragon Boat Festival was one of the most important festivals, and together with the People's Day Festival, the Shangsi Festival, the Tanabata Festival, and the Double Ninth Festival, they were collectively called the "Five Festivals".

The Dragon Boat Festival was introduced to Japan from China after the Heian period (794-1192).

As soon as it was introduced, it quickly integrated with the Japanese culture and developed various customs full of Japanese characteristics.
To be continued...