An official with a look of horror on his face stumbled open the door and threw himself into the room.

Bo Jing originally wanted to reprimand the official and ask him to calm down and stop making noises, but after seeing the unusual look of panic on this man's face, Bo Jing couldn't help but feel a little uneasy in his heart.

The reprimanding words that had come to my mouth were swallowed back into my stomach.

"What's wrong?" Houchuan asked the official first.

"Master Hsui, Master Atsukawa! Something bad is going to happen! Fire breaks out in Nishiyama Town, Tsuki Town, and Wai Town! Fire breaks out in Nishiyama Town, Tsuki Town, and Wai Town! Nishiyama Town, Tsuki Town,

Fire broke out in Huan Town and other places——!"

In a louder tone, the official announced this news three times in a row. Although it was brief...but each word was so heavy that it seemed like it could make a big hole in the ground.

It was as if the magic of "time suspension" had been cast...Bosui and Atsukawa's eyes were as wide as bells, and they froze in place.

Not moving at all...

In other words... I forgot that my body can move...

…

…

Mars flies.

Scattered cherry blossom petals, accompanied by sparks, are scattered in the night sky.

In places such as Edo's Homachi, flashes of red firelight not only brightened the dark night, but also woke up the citizens of Edo who were sleeping.

"Huh? Why is it so bright...ah! It's on fire! It's on fire!"

"It's on fire! Run to an open space!"

"Quick! Call the town fire department to put out the fire!"

…

In Japan's Edo period, there was a common sense - in a castle town, as long as you see a fire somewhere, and the fire is of a level that cannot be put out with a few buckets...then you can do anything.

Don’t think: run away quickly!

If you don't run away quickly, you might not have time to escape.

More and more townspeople were frightened awake by the sudden fires, and then fled the fire scenes in terror.

Because everyone was in a hurry to escape, almost no one noticed that there happened to be a few sneaky figures around each fire location.

Without exception, these sneaky figures are all samurai with swords at their waists.

They all raised their heads proudly, looking at the growing flames and light on the fire field as if they were admiring their own outstanding works of art...

…

…

Qingneng was currently in a castle town called "Keymachi".

Among the more than a thousand castles and towns in Edo, this Keymachi belongs to the most ordinary and unremarkable category.

There are no famous shops or special industries, and no celebrities worth mentioning live here.

But tonight... to be precise, just now, this normally inconspicuous town suddenly became "dazzling".

Because it's on fire.

The fire came suddenly and quickly.

When Aoto led Saito and others on a tour of this key town, he suddenly caught a glimpse of an orange-red light flashing at the left end of his field of vision.

When he moved his eyes away, the orange-red light had condensed into concrete flames, ravaging the surrounding buildings...

Due to its dense population and dense buildings, Edo has always been a city prone to fires. On average, hundreds of large and small fires occur every year. Therefore, the residents of Edo have developed profound experience and experience in how to avoid fires.

Skill.

After discovering the fire, the residents of Kagi-machi screamed and hurriedly took their families and important belongings and fled away from the fire.

The sudden fire stunned Nagakura and Harada.

"Tachibana, Mr. Tachibana!" Toudo stammered and asked urgently, "I, what should we do now?"

Qingdeng was also shocked by the sudden appearance of the fire, but he was only stunned for a moment and quickly regained his composure.

Fires occur - in Edo, where hundreds of fires can occur a year, this is not a rare thing, not to mention that now is the time when the weather is getting warmer and fires are most likely to occur.

But Qingdeng just felt that the fire appeared too coincidental!

Why did the fire break out at this juncture tonight?

Qingden pursed his lips and made a quick judgment after only thinking for a moment.

"Does any of you know where the nearest town fire station is from here?" Qingto asked quickly to the surrounding subordinates.

Nagakura, Saito, and Todo look at me and I look at you.

"I! I know!" Harada raised his hand high at this time, "I have washed the dishes here for a certain noodle restaurant for a while! I know where the nearest Machi fire station is!"

Wash the dishes?

Harada's experience of washing dishes for others made Qingto couldn't help but feel a little concerned, but now was not the time for small talk. He suppressed his curiosity and said to Harada quickly:

"Okay! Harada, go find the nearest fire department immediately and ask them to come and put out the fire quickly! Go quickly!"

"Understood! I'll be back as soon as I go!" Harada put the spear behind him coolly and ran towards the street next to him, his body quickly blending into the night.

With no time to watch Harada go, Qingto turned his sharp gaze towards Nagakura and the others.

"You guys are responsible for following me to the fire scene!"

Without any unnecessary nonsense, after giving the order quickly, Qingdeng turned around decisively and ran straight towards the increasingly bright fire in the distance.

The hem and sleeves of the burgundy feather fabric on his body were blown by the wind pressure as he ran so fast.

…

…

Edo, Tibetan Book Transfer Office, Katsurin Taro’s office——

"Mr. Katsu! Mister Katsu! Stop working! Something big happened! There's a fire in Arijo Town in the west!"

Outside the room, Umegoro's anxious shouting interrupted Katsurin Taro, who was still working overtime on translation work.

"Fire?" Katsurin Taro was startled for a moment, then quickly put down the brush in his hand, ran to the window not far away, and stuck his head out of the window.

The western sky was illuminated by orange-red light.

Although judging from the intensity of the fire, the fire location was far away from Fanshu Tiao, but no one could tell whether the fire would spread.

A small fire eventually turned into a huge fire that burned several surrounding towns, towns, and even most of the city to ashes... This kind of thing happened repeatedly throughout the Edo period.

"Quick! Meigoro! Come with me to transport all these important books and manuscripts! Let those who are still studying and working at the Fanshu Diao Institute come and help!"

With a gloomy face, Katsurin Taro walked towards the bookshelf in the corner of the office and took down some of the books on the shelf one by one.

"Okay, okay!" Meigoro nodded vigorously.

However, suddenly - bursts of hurried footsteps came from the first floor of Fanshu Diao House. Along with these footsteps were the scoldings of the guards, and then the scoldings suddenly turned into exclamations.

The shouts then turned into screams...

Katsurin Taro, who was hurriedly carrying books and manuscripts, suddenly stopped and tensed up. His eyes narrowed and he looked down at the tatami at his feet: "What's going on on the first floor...?"

…

…

The current "wave of opposition to foreigners" is getting more and more intense. In order to prevent lawless people from coming to make trouble, the Fanshu Diao Station has specially increased the number of guards to 6 people.

After Rintaro Katsu took over as the head of the Toshu Coordinating Institute, they originally wanted to further increase the number of guards, but the available operating funds were limited, and hiring six guards was the limit for the Toshu Coordinating Institute.

The first ones to be attacked were the six gatekeepers who were still guarding the gate of Fanshu Diao Institute at this time.

"who?!"

They saw black shadows emerging from the darkness shrouded by night outside the gate of Fanshu Tiaosuo.

The guards shouted warnings and drew their swords.

But somehow the shadows had an absolute numerical advantage.

In the electric light and flint, more than twenty black figures swooped towards the guards, taking advantage of their numerical advantage to divide and surround them.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

The guards fought bravely and performed their duties as guards. While fighting against these "uninvited guests", they raised their voices and shouted warnings to the apprentices and staff who were still in the Fanshu Diao Institute.

.

The sword light danced, and blood splashed.

Under the mass offensive of the shadows, the thin defense line of the gatekeepers was quickly breached.

After all the guards were killed, more black shadows emerged from all directions.
To be continued...