Qingden sniffed, trying to distinguish the components in the air.

The musty smell of dampness, the stinky smell of feces and urine, the stench of rotten food... all kinds of disgusting smells were mixed together, making Qingdeng 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 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 Ayoto's first time visiting the only Udo settlement in Edo.

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 mentioned was 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 Mai Kinoshita, 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.

Based on the above reasons, 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. Aoi Nobu 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". Aoto nodded, and after expressing "I understand" to Kinoshita Mai with his movements, he turned around and faced 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 Qingnobo lower his voice, as thin as a mosquito, but just enough for Kinoshita Mai to hear clearly, say:

"On the night when I first met you dressed as a 'cat monk', why did you suddenly show up at the monastery?"

"Ah, this..."

Mai Kinoshita, 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."

"As a result, I just sneaked into the prison 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 heart, 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 related to the 'Radical Anti-Barbarians'?"

Information?"

"No." Kinoshita Mai's red lips slightly opened, she 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 because of 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 prison 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 prison... This time

To this day, the incident is still a hot news topic that has not completely subsided.

At this time, Kinoshita Mai reached into her arms and pulled out a small stack of papers that were 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 leaned over to look 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 izakayas, teahouses and other places with a lot of traffic.

——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, Aoto was ordered to go to Fujisawa Juku to arrest a group of thieves who had committed multiple robberies 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 incident 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 about the appearance of a snitch in Fujisawa-juku."

"At that time, Elodie and the others had not yet arrived at Fujisawa-juku, so I happened to be very free."

"Since I have nothing to do, I will try to see if I can help catch these 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 the cat monk, had been listening carefully.

Finally, after the cat monk 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.

"...Miss 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, Qingdeng changed into a half-joking tone.

"Are you really a female ninja who has learned some ninjutsu?"

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, they all left a deep shock to Ayoto.

Thinking back to the night when he first encountered Kinoshita Mai in the "cat monk form" in the monastic institution, the slap 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 always answered all questions just now, did not immediately answer the questions raised 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 waited quietly for Mai Kinoshita's answer.

Kinoshita Mai didn't keep Aontomo waiting too long.

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."
To be continued...