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Edo, in an inconspicuous dark alley——

“Hooah…! Hooah…! Hooah…! Hooah…!”

A middle-aged man who was white, fat, and full of fat was holding his left shoulder, which was bleeding continuously, while desperately racing forward along the dark alley at his feet.

"Uh...uh...!"

He opened his mouth, wanting to look up to the sky and shout "Help"... However, no matter how wide he opened his mouth or how hard he vibrated his vocal cords, he could only make meaningless moans of "uh" and "uh".

If a third party were present now, they would be surprised to find that the middle-aged man's lips were a strange dark purple color.

The color was so deep... it was as if if you poked a needle into his lips, a large amount of purple paint would splatter out.

In addition to his lips, his eye sockets also showed a very strange color - his two eye sockets were extremely black, as if they had been painted with charcoal.

In stark contrast to his eye sockets, was his skin as white as snow.

No matter who he is, it can be easily seen that this person is poisoned, and the toxin is very powerful.

——Damn! Damn!

The middle-aged man felt that his lips and vocal cords were so numb that he could only moan in a low voice and could not cry out for help.

All he can do now is to curse in his heart and then... run away.

Keep running away.

The further away you can get from those unidentified scary guys, the better!

——Who are those bastards!

The middle-aged man's name is "Shirahara Ginji", and he is a small inspector under the command of the temple community who is responsible for managing temple communities across the country and the residents within the temple community.

The so-called "little inspector" can be understood as the "three chapters" of the observance office, which is responsible for investigating incidents in general temples.

The position is not very high, but the power in his hands is quite large.

After all, they are equivalent to the "police captains" within the temple community. With just one thought, they can greatly influence... and even determine the future lives of countless innocent civilians within the temple community.

Tonight, Shirahara Ginji went to his usual izakaya to drink alone as usual.

After drinking to his heart's content and leaving the wine table with drunken and shaky steps, he took the shortcut home as usual - a shortcut that was only big enough for two people to pass side by side, and very few people came and went here on weekdays.

alley.

Although this alley seems a bit eerie and scary due to the meager amount of traffic every day, if you walk more, you will find that it is just like that and not that scary.

Shirahara Ginji, who was eager to go home easily, has always been a frequent visitor to this alley.

I had a drink as usual, and took this familiar shortcut home as usual... everything was just as usual.

As a result, suddenly...a touch of "unusual" appeared.

When Shirahara Ginji walked to the middle of the alley, four mysterious people wearing masks that covered their entire faces suddenly appeared.

The leaders of these four people were two tall men wearing black cat masks and evil ghost masks respectively.

Although the faces of these two people cannot be seen clearly, they can be seen to have black and white hair and rough skin covered with many wrinkles... They are two middle-aged people who should be at least 40 or 50 years old.

.

As for the other two people standing behind these two middle-aged men, they looked very young.

The two young men were about 20 years old... wearing macaque masks and brown bear masks respectively.

The black cat, the devil, the macaque, and the brown bear—this foursome, consisting of two middle-aged men and two young men, formed a wall of people and blocked Shirahara Ginji's path as soon as they appeared.

Before Shirahara Ginci could ask "Who are you?", the young man wearing a macaque mask suddenly pulled out his knife, swooped in front of Shirahara Ginci, raised his knife and chopped!

Target——Shirahara Ginji’s forehead!

The sudden attack made Shirahara Ginci's pupils shrink suddenly.

There is nothing wrong with the "Macaque Mask"'s footwork, body position, timing and angle of the attack.

If someone who doesn't understand martial arts or is not skilled in martial arts is allowed to attack him, he will definitely end up with his head on the ground.

Shirahara Ginji has a decent attainment in swordsmanship. Although his mind has become dull due to drunkenness, the "martial arts memory" stored in his muscles is not easily affected by alcohol.

He rolled like a donkey and dodged backwards.

Although he successfully saved his head... his left shoulder was still accidentally grazed by the tip of the "Macaque Mask".

The blood dripping from the wound instantly soaked most of Shirahara Ginji's body red.

The severe pain caused Shirahara Ginji to wake up instantly.

Who are these people?! Why did they suddenly attack me?!

Strong fear enveloped Shirahara Ginji.

Although the feeling of fear was very strong, the first emotion that occupied Shirahara Ginji's entire mind and heart was the desire to survive.

There were four people on the other side, but he was alone on his side, and his left shoulder was injured... Shirahara Ginji made an immediate decision: Run away!

The first moment he turned around and ran away, he wanted to shout loudly to wake up the residents living nearby.

As long as they can make a bigger noise and attract as many passers-by as possible, this group of mysterious people might retreat voluntarily out of fear of their identities being exposed.

However, as soon as Shirahara Ginji opened his mouth, he was shocked to find that he had lost the ability to speak.

A strong sense of paralysis clung to his lips and throat... except for the moans that only he could hear clearly, no sound could be made.

The knife of "Macaque Mask" is...poisonous!

Not only did they rush up to him and deliver a fatal blow without saying anything, they also smeared poison on the knife... These people were determined to kill him!

Click, click, click…

Shirahara Ginji only felt the sound of footsteps standing on end, approaching quickly from behind him.

Shirahara Ginji, who didn't even dare to look back, just felt that this was the fastest and hardest time he had ever run in his life.

Finally - a faint "dawn" appeared ahead... from outside the alley!

Shirahara Ginci rushed out of the alley in one breath and came to the spacious road outside the alley. He ran to the nearest private house without hesitation.

He wants to wake up the door of this house and ask for help from the people in this house... Anyone can do it! Even if there is only one beggar appearing in front of him now, it will give him a great sense of peace of mind!

It’s about 6 or 7 steps from the alley entrance to the nearest house.

The distance between them is only a short distance, but it is like a chasm in the sky.

"You run pretty fast..."

A faint, deep voice sounded in Shirahara Ginci's ears.

Immediately afterwards, Shirahara Ginci felt the clothes at the back of his neck being grabbed by a large iron pliers.

Before his body could even begin to struggle, he felt as if a cow had hit his stomach. The severe pain caused Shirahara Ginji to almost lose consciousness, let alone struggle.

He used his last bit of strength and looked back sideways - the person who grabbed his back collar and kicked him hard in the stomach was the young man wearing a brown bear mask.

"Mr. Ebina, Mr. Ichinose." "Brown Bear Mask" turned around and asked the three people who came after him, "Do you want to kill this dog thief right here?"

"No. Not in this place." "Black Cat Mask" said, "This place is still too conspicuous... Take him to a place where no one is around."

"yes."

"Brown Bear Mask" nodded vigorously in response, dragging Shirahara Ginji like a dead dog.

Shirahara Ginci, who had just escaped from the alley, was once again swallowed up by the shadows in the alley...

Four masked men dragged Shirahara Ginji to a deserted river bank somewhere and then threw him to the ground.

"You...who...are you...?"

Shirahara Ginji felt that the numbness in his lips and tongue was slightly relieved, and he was finally able to speak a coherent sentence.

"Are you... patriots against the barbarians...?"

A group that kills people for no reason... The first thing that comes to mind for Shirahara Ginci is that group of "anti-barbarians" whose behavior is extremely extreme!

"I...I have never...had any...correspondence with the barbarians...at home...I have never used...anything from the barbarians...are you...looking for something wrong?"

I’m here...? I am...Shirahara Ginji...the temple official...the subordinate...the little prosecutor..."

Shirahara Ginji begged for mercy, but because he was too scared, tears burst out of his eyes uncontrollably.

But all he got in exchange was a disdainful sneer from "Brown Bear Mask".

"Tch...'anti-barbarian patriots'...don't confuse us with those low-class lunatics. Shirahara Ginci, the person we are looking for is you."

After saying that, "Brown Bear Mask" took out a scythe from his lower back.

"We are the 'Dead Souls of Osaka', people who obey Mr. Oshio's will."

At the moment when the words of "Brown Bear Mask" fell, Shirahara Ginji's eyes widened and his face was filled with incredulity.

"Big...salt...?"

Phew!
To be continued...