"I've heard about it." Kinoshita Mai raised her little head and smiled at Qingden, "You won the swordsmanship competition the day before yesterday! Congratulations!"

"Ah, thank you." Qingdeng smiled humbly.

"Tachibana-kun, you are great. I have heard that many masters participated in this competition. You were able to win the first prize in such a competition with so many masters." After saying this, Kinoshita Mai's beautiful eyebrows flashed.

There was a hint of regret, "What a pity... It would be great if I could also see this competition..."

Qingden raised an eyebrow: "Huh? Boss Kiryu, won't he allow you to come to the game?"

"Yes." Kinoshita Mai's red lips pursed slightly, and a look of dissatisfaction visible to the naked eye appeared on her face, "Mr. Kiryu happened to be out on business the day before yesterday and the day before yesterday, and he needed me to stay to look after the store and house, so I was not allowed to

The fake..."

"That's it..." Qingdeng smiled helplessly, "That's really a pity..."

Kinoshita Mai's red lips slightly opened, and after letting out a helpless sigh, the smile returned to her face:

"Forget it, it's all over anyway, let's not talk about it anymore."

"Did you encounter any tough opponents in this competition?" Mai Kinoshita asked Aonto further on the topic of "Swordsmanship Competition".

"Well... my opponent in the final did cause me some trouble."

Regarding the various questions asked by Kinoshita Mai, Ayono adopted the attitude of "knowing everything and saying everything."

After Aoto and Mai Kinoshita chatted about the "Swordsmanship Competition" for a while, the two of them unknowingly turned into a street with few people and a deserted atmosphere.

Kinoshita Mai turned her eyes and scanned the sparse flow of people around her, then suddenly stopped.

Qingto, who was not expecting Kinoshita Mai's sudden stop, took two steps forward according to the inertia, and quickly stopped too, "Miss Kinoshita, what's wrong? Why did you stop suddenly?"

"...Tachibana-kun, I'm sorry." Mai Kinoshita showed an apologetic smile to Ayoto, "I actually lied to you... Mr. Kiryu didn't want to find you."

"Huh?" Qingdeng couldn't help being stunned.

Kinoshita Mai promptly handed over the explanation in a helpless tone:

"I told you such a lie just to get rid of Saito-kun and the others."

"If we don't try to get rid of their words, we won't be able to talk about business with you."

After saying that, Kinoshita Mai took two steps forward and walked to Qingteng. Then she raised her delicate and delicate toes and put her red lips as close to Qingteng's ears as possible.

The audible voice whispered:

"Tangerine-kun, are you free tonight?"

"I found another target that needs Fox Monk's help."

After hearing Kinoshita Mai's concise and concise words... to be precise, after hearing the word "Fox Monk" mentioned by Kinoshita Mai, Qingden's expression condensed slightly.

He lowered his head and eyes, and cast a serious and serious look at Mai Kinoshita, who was still a lot shorter than him even if she stood on tiptoes.

"...Miss Kinoshita." Qingto lowered his voice, just like Kinoshita Mai just now, using a volume that only the two of them could hear clearly, "What other target did you find?"

"Well..." Mai Kinoshita looked around with a wary look at the few passers-by who were still passing by, "It's not convenient to say more here."

"Ju-kun, do you have time tonight? If you do, I would like to wait until tonight to talk to you in detail."

After Qingdeng pondered for less than two breaths, he nodded solemnly: "I understand. I have time after eight o'clock (2 o'clock in the morning). Can we meet again after eight o'clock?"

2 a.m. is the time Qingdeng gets up every day.

"Of course." Kinoshita Mai replied almost without hesitation, "Then at eight o'clock tonight, I will be in the dark alley behind the ramen restaurant next to the trial guard hall... which is where we went before.

That place is waiting for you.”

Qingdeng nodded in agreement.

Then, he showed a helpless smile.

"Ms. Kinoshita, you are very smart. You actually know how to use 'Boss Kiryu wants to see me for something' as an excuse to distract Saito and the others."

Only then did Qingdeng suddenly realize that the girl in front of him who loved to wear red clothes and red button clogs was far more quirky than she seemed.

When Kinoshita Mai solemnly told him, "Boss Kiryu wants to see him for something," her expression, words and deeds were all the same as usual. Qingto didn't find anything unusual in Kinoshita Mai, so Qingto just now really thought that Boss Kiryu was

Something urgent happened and I needed to see him alone immediately.

But if you think about it carefully, it's true - how could a girl who was not big enough as a kid become a great phantom thief at such a young age that has caused headaches for the Edo Office and the villains of Edo to this day?

"I'm sorry..." Mai Kinoshita had a hint of apology on her face again. She twisted the fingers of her folded hands in front of her and apologized to Qingto again. "Besides moving Mr. Kiryu out, I really can't think of anything else.

How can we be alone..."

"It's okay, it's okay." Qingdeng waved his hand, "I don't mean to blame you."

"Rather, I want to praise you for knowing how to use such a clever method to distract Saito and the others, and for taking me to a place with few people like this."

"Then let's meet again tonight."

After saying that, Qingdeng secretly sighed in his heart.

He never expected that after solving the "human beheading incident", Kaitou Cat Monk would send him a new commission so quickly!

…

…

Since "Boss Kiryu came to see him for something" was completely invented by Mai Kinoshita out of thin air, then Aoto naturally doesn't need to go to Chishiya anymore.

After walking with Kinoshita Mai for a while, the two separated at a fork in the road and went back to their respective homes.

Passing through the familiar streets that he had walked through countless times in the past few months, Aoto soon returned to Koishikawa Kohinagayanagi Town.

After climbing up the high slope where the Trial Guard Hall is located, soon the shadow of the Trial Guard Hall came into Qingdeng's sight.

Having lived in the Kaiwei Hall lively with Okita, Kondo and the others for such a long time, Aoto had already developed a "home" feeling towards the Kaiwei Hall.

After seeing the huge shadow of the Trial Guard Hall from a distance, a strange sense of security surged into Qingdeng's heart, making Qingdeng feel that his physical fatigue was relieved.

But at this time, Qingdeng suddenly vaguely saw someone gathering outside the gate of the Trial Guard Hall.

It's already past the closing time of the Trial Guard Hall.

It's already this time, why are there so many people gathering outside the gate of the Trial Guard Hall... Qingdeng frowned slightly and quickened his pace slightly.

After getting closer to the trial defense hall, two voices of conversation reached Qingdeng's ears——

"Excuse me, is Tachibana Aoden here?"

"Huh? Who are you? What do you want from Mr. Ju?"

The last voice was Okita's.

The previous voice... sounded familiar to Qingdeng.

After simply recalling it in his mind, Qingdeng remembered whose voice it was.

Qingdeng's face quickly darkened, and he further accelerated his pace to the trial defense hall.

After a while, the scene outside the gate of the Trial Guard Hall appeared in front of Qingdeng's eyes very clearly and completely.

I saw Okita standing alone behind the gate of the Trial Guard Hall, holding the door with one hand and the other hand on his waist. Under his frown, a pair of vigilant eyes glanced back and forth at the Trial Guard Hall.

The eight young people in front of the gate.

These eight young men were all wearing plain clothes, and there were no weapons on their bodies.

At first glance, you will feel that these eight young people are just ordinary young people who can be seen everywhere on the street.

But after a closer look, you can find that these eight young people basically have ferocious tattoos on their necks, forearms, ankles and other places that cannot be covered by clothes.

In the Edo period... no, it should be said that in the country of Japan, throughout the ages, except for a few weirdos, there was only one type of people who would tattoo dragons and phoenixes on their bodies - Yakuza!

The leader of this group of Yakuzas who suddenly visited the Trial Guard Hall was a very young man.

This young man had a fairly handsome face, but a huge scar on his face that stretched from the base of his left ear to the base of his right ear destroyed the beauty of his face.

Qingto was very familiar with this Scarface - he was a member of the "Shimizu Clan" who came to him to collect his father Tachibana's gambling debt!

I recall that on the first night when Qingdeng traveled to this era, he met this scar-faced man who brought people over to collect debts from him.

"Tachibana-kun?" Okita was startled when he saw Qingden returning, and then cast a more vigilant look at the group of Yakuza in front of him who had just threatened to find Qingden.

Immediately afterwards, Okita was seen taking advantage of the gap where Scarface and others’ attention was on Qingden, and quietly slipped back into the training hall...

Scarface and the others, who were focusing their attention on Qingteng, did not notice Okita leaving, and Qingteng also did not notice that Okita was no longer standing behind the gate of the trial defense hall due to the angle of his sight.

"Oh, Mr. Tachibana." The scarred face raised the corners of his mouth, showed a kind smile to Qingden, and greeted Qingden warmly, "Mr. Tachibana, it's been a long time! You just came from Beiban Institute

Are you coming back there?"

Qingdenli didn't even bother to respond to Scarface's greeting.

"...It's really rare." Qingdeng said solemnly, "You used to come to collect debts when it was dark."

"And now it's still daylight, and you guys are here."

After finishing speaking, Qingden subconsciously glanced at the sky where there was still some afterglow of dusk.

Scarface led a large group of people outside the gate of the Trial Guard Hall...Aside from coming to him to demand the huge gambling debt owed by his father Tachibana Takayuki, Qingden really couldn't think of anything else.

What’s the reason why this bunch of evil-doing scum suddenly appeared here!
To be continued...