1W]

"Residence? Battlefield?"

Sanako, who was still holding Natsume Yue, raised his eyes and cast a surprised look at Aoden.

Qingden seemed to have expected that Sanako would look at him with such eyes, and smiled faintly.

…

…

Turn back time to a while ago——

Seeing that the "acne scarred warrior" still refused to say anything, Qingto without any hesitation inserted the wakizashi into the nails of his toes again.

This time, Qingdeng used a new stabbing method.

He no longer pierced the tip of the knife in one breath.

But slowly, slowly... with a rather "gentle" movement, he gradually inserted the tip of the wakizashi's knife into the gap between the "acne scar warrior"'s toenails, greatly increasing the "acne scar warrior"'s...

pain.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh-!"

Sure enough - the screams of the "pox scarred warrior" became more miserable, another toe became bloody and bloody, and the whole body spasmed more violently.

"Besides Natsume Yue, did you also kidnap Sanako Chiba? Where are the people you kidnapped now being imprisoned?"

Like an emotionless robot, Aomori repeated his question for the third time, then moved the wakizashi and aimed it at the third toe of the "pox scarred warrior".

In a hurry and without any more powerful interrogation tools at hand, "pricking the cracks of the toenails with a knife" was the interrogation method that Qingdeng could think of that would bring the most pain to people.

This was Qingdeng's first time interrogating someone... and he still used such cruel interrogation methods.

Since he had no relevant experience before, Qingdeng inevitably felt a little uncomfortable.

However, after briefly recalling the conversation that he and Mai Kinoshita had just overheard of the conversation between Natsume Sohachiro and this "pox samurai", the little discomfort in his heart quickly dissipated, and then turned into determination and decisiveness.

…

(I have followed your instructions and handed over to you the donkey cart containing the sake ordered by Mr. Bright that was scheduled to be delivered to the residence today! It’s time to return Ah Yue to me!)

…

What Natsume Sōhachiro just said to the "pox-scarred warrior" was still in Aoto's ears.

Regarding this Mr. Bright, Qingden had heard of his name—from Elodie a few days ago.

According to Elodie, this old man who is highly respected in the Edo Residence and loves Japanese sake is going to hold a very lively dance on the day of his 60th birthday, including Elodie and her family.

Most of the foreigners in the residence will attend the banquet.

And the day of the dance...is tonight!

Organized and disciplined kidnapping of others and sending Tenchu ​​Natsume Sohachiro; such a radical method... This made Qingto couldn't help but think of the organization that has been basically bound to his life in the recent period.

Name: The Yi Group!

The orchid doctor Hanada Shichiro and the three archers led by the "middle-aged man with a beard" who were captured by Seito and others a few days ago have been detained in the prison room for the past few days and are undergoing professional interrogation.

Team: Interrogation of prison guards.

Under a harsh interrogation that did not give them any chance to breathe, the three archers quickly confessed - they admitted that they were members of the anti-barbarian group!

The anti-barbarian group, which had been dormant for a long time since the attack on the Tibetan Book Transfer Center, reappeared...

After a long time, we finally captured the members of the anti-barbarian group, but unfortunately, these three archers seemed to be just grassroots members of the anti-barbarian group, and they did not have any useful information.

Whether they were asked "Why do you have frequent contact with Shichiro Hanada" or "Where are your strongholds?", these three people basically had no idea.

The only valuable information the three of them revealed was a stronghold that the three of them used most often... Just as Qingdeng predicted before, the stronghold that the three of them revealed was located between him and him at that time.

Not far from the alleyway where the 18 members of the anti-barbarian group met in a narrow road.

Except for this stronghold that they often use, they all expressed that they really did not know where the other strongholds of the anti-barbarian group were.

The execution office quickly organized a team and rushed to the stronghold exposed by the three people. When they arrived, the building was deserted and nothing was found... Presumably, they were captured immediately after the "middle-aged man with a beard" was captured.

The stronghold was evacuated in a short time, leaving no useful people or objects for the government.

Overall - apart from knowing that the "bearded middle-aged man" and the others were members of the anti-barbarian group, no useful information was collected from the three of them.

Compared to the three "middle-aged men with beards", Shichiro Hanada, the orchid doctor who had no power to restrain a chicken, was surprisingly perseverant.

The "middle-aged man with a beard" and others admitted that they were members of the anti-barbarian group, but he still insists that he is innocent until now.

The reason why Shichiro Hanada is so perseverant...it's not hard to figure out why.

At a time when the Edo shogunate was severely cracking down on the "radical anti-barbarian faction", if it was really proven that he had some ulterior deal with the anti-barbarian group... it would not be impossible to directly sentence him to death.

Therefore, for the sake of his own life, driven by a sense of luck, Hanada Shichiro would not admit that he had anything to do with the anti-barbarian group until all options were exhausted.

Because he had just recently come into contact with and fought against the people of the anti-barbarian group, Qingden now has a very sensitive mentality towards matters related to the anti-barbarian group.

The anti-barbarian group and foreigner settlement... just the juxtaposition of these two words makes people feel like they can't help but sweat on the back!

There are too many questions that we are anxious to figure out.

The uneasiness that has been swirling in Qingdeng's heart since this morning has rapidly expanded...

Qingden couldn't maintain his patience. In order to dispel the fog in his mind as soon as possible, he had no choice but to use this cruel method to interrogate the "pox scar warriors" and others.

When Ayoto pointed the tip of the wakizashi's sword at the gap between the toenails of the third toe of the "pox scarred samurai", fear and fear finally began to appear on the guy's face.

But after several movements, his lips still closed... Seeing this, Qingdeng opened the nail of his third toe without thinking.

Qingdeng just kept repeating the action of "questioning - lifting toenails".

It wasn't until all the toes of the "acne scar warrior"'s right foot were opened and Qingden was about to take off the socks on his left foot that the "acne scar warrior" finally seemed to have lost his defenses and said in a hoarse voice:

"I said! I said everything!"

"In addition to Natsume Yue, we also kidnapped the Chiba Onimachi of the Chiba Sword Hall!"

"They are all imprisoned by us in Kaimachi 4-chome..."

Qingdeng silently memorized the precise place names that the "pox warrior" quickly reported.

The painstaking surveillance of Natsume Sōhachiro over the past few days has finally yielded results...but Aomori didn't show any signs of joy.

In addition to the whereabouts of Miss Sanako and the others, Qingto also had quite a few equally important questions that he wanted to ask, leaving Qingto no time to make any expressions.

Qing Deng asked a new series of questions without changing his expression:

"You are all members of the anti-barbarian group, right? Why did you kidnap Miss Sanako and Miss Natsume?"

Although he was 70% or 80% convinced that this group of organized, disciplined and radical lunatics were members of the anti-barbarian group, Qingdeng still asked for the time being.

The response from the "Acne Scar Warrior" was not beyond Qingdeng's expectations.

After being tortured by Aoto and telling Sanako where they were being held, the "pox-scarred warrior" seemed to have completely given up on himself.

His face was extremely pale due to the severe pain in his feet, and he nodded gently:

"Well...we are from the anti-barbarian group..."

"We don't want to kidnap Chiba Sanako... Our initial target is Natsume Yue, and we want to use Natsume Yue to blackmail Natsume Chonghachiro... Because when the kidnapping of Natsume Yue was officially carried out, Chiba Sanako

Zizheng was with Natsume Yue, and she also drank the tea we added with 'sleeping pills'... The kidnapping of Chiba Sanako was purely accidental."

Having said this, the "Acne Scar Warrior" paused.

He may have realized that the focus of Qingto's questioning and attention had always been on Sanako, so he heard him add in a hurry:

"Chiba Sanako and Natsume Yue are both well fed and fed by us."

"Our anti-barbarian team only shows its fangs to national traitors, barbarians and those who have to sacrifice their lives for the cause of repelling the barbarians, so she is just as good as Natsume Yue."

As if he heard some funny joke, Qingdeng sneered:

“‘Only show your fangs to national traitors, barbarians, and those who have to sacrifice their lives for the cause of repelling the barbarians’… I’m sorry you can say such high-sounding words.”

At a normal time, Qingdeng might still have the time to refute the self-impressed remarks of the anti-barbarian group.

However, there are still some important questions that I am anxious to continue asking this "pox-scarred young man," so Qingdeng has no choice but to worry more about this guy's ridiculous statement just now.

"Is your threat to Mr. Sohachiro Natsume to have him hand over to you all the sake ordered by Bright and scheduled to be delivered to the residence today? What are you going to do with the wine ordered by Bright?"

When asking this question, Qingdeng's tone and expression became solemn uncontrollably.

Because it was a matter related to the residence, Mai Kinoshita's expression, who was standing next to Aoto, also became serious at the same time.

His best friend: Elodie lives in the settlement...so Kinoshita Mai has always paid a lot of attention to the settlement in Edo.

Hearing this new question asked by Qingteng, the "pox warrior" who had just given up on himself showed hesitation again.

Qingdeng keenly noticed the change in the facial expression of the "acne scar warrior"... He didn't say much, and just silently made another move to take off the left sock of the "acne scar warrior".

Qingdeng's actions frightened the "acne scar warrior" so much that his face changed drastically, and he kept saying "I say! I say!", "I will say anything!".

After another brief psychological struggle, the "Acne Scar Warrior" closed his eyes as if he had resigned himself to his fate.

"Me too... I didn't know the full extent of Mr. Kamino's plan until near the evening..."
To be continued...