Without saying another word... "Brown Bear Mask" raised the scythe high, and then swung it down...

…

…

Edo, somewhere——

It was clear that his feet were firmly on the ground...but Qingdeng had the illusion that he was floating in mid-air.

After hearing Sanako say "thank you" several times to Qingnobo with a dreamy expression on his face, Qingnobo felt as if all his emotions and mind had been exhausted tonight.

Tonight's fireworks show ended successfully.

From the moment they left the performance venue to the time they parted from each other, Aoto and Sanako didn't have any special interactions.

Walking home calmly...saying goodbye calmly.

"Miss Sanako, please go home early." Qingto said to Sanako who returned the rented yukata to the Wufu shop and put on the kendo uniform again.

"Hmm..." Sanako nodded slightly.

Qingdeng: "..."

Sanako: "..."

After that, the two of them didn't say much.

After saying "See you later", the two of them separated and embarked on their own way home.

Although tonight's final farewell was a bit dull... Qingdeng didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Because there is a strange "sense of security" hidden in this "plainness".

This sense of security caused the corners of Qingdeng's mouth to curl up slightly uncontrollably.

Aoto thought: Sanako must have felt the same way - after all, like Aoto, she had a faint smile on her face from before the fireworks show ended.

call……

A sticky, summery wind blew from the southeast.

The night sky was clearly clear just now, but now it suddenly became gloomy.

A few dark clouds like gauze covered the sky.

Although the field of vision has deteriorated a lot as the night sky suddenly turns dark, for Qingden, who has the talent of "cat's eye", it does not matter whether the sky is bright or dark, and it does not affect his vision.

In a leisurely hurry, Qingdeng passed through a busy city that was particularly popular during the day and came to a deserted neighborhood that he had to pass if he wanted to go back to the imperial examination hall.

Qingdeng continued to walk forward with his normal expression.

However, at this moment——

Pfft...

A small strange sound suddenly reached Qingdeng's ears.

The voice was very soft... If there was no "perceiver of the wind", Qingdeng would definitely miss it.

Qingdeng frowned, turned his face following the sound, and stared deeply at the street entrance to the right, staring at the direction from which the strange noises came.

This kind of voice... Qingdeng couldn't hear it wrong.

This was a sound he was very familiar with.

This is the sound of human flesh and blood and bones being cut open by sharp blades...

Hearing this kind of sound on the streets of Edo shrouded in darkness... was not that surprising.

Reminiscent of the fact that some of the remnants of the anti-barbarian group are still hanging on... Qingdeng turned around without much hesitation, quickened his pace, and chased in the direction of the sound.

The shadows cast by the moonlight on the ground, as well as the houses on both sides of the street... one by one, one by one, passed Qingdeng quickly.

In the blink of an eye, a secluded river bank appeared in front of Qingdeng.

Qingdeng saw four vague figures standing on the river bank from a distance.

After getting closer, Qingdeng could clearly see the appearance of these four figures - these four people were two middle-aged people and two young people. They all wore masks on their faces and only exposed a pair of

Eye mask.

In the middle of them, lying... no, it should be said that there was a pot-bellied corpse!

The death condition of the body was extremely tragic. He died from a stab wound to the forehead.

Judging from his appearance, he must have died not long ago. The blood gurgling from his wounds stained his entire face beyond recognition.

The sound of Qingden's arriving footsteps naturally attracted the attention and attention of the four masked men.

After seeing who the visitor was, the eyes of these four people instantly glowed with surprise.

"...Who are you?" Qingdeng asked in a deep voice, while lowering his body weight and raising his hand to press the hilt of Dingguishen's knife, "Are you...people from the group that suppresses the barbarians?"

Qingdeng's relationship with the anti-barbarian group has long been a life-or-death affair, but he is always looking forward to the remnants of the anti-barbarian group being brought to justice as soon as possible.

Qingdeng heard that the remnants of the anti-barbarian group are still causing chaos everywhere.

He rushed over in such a hurry just to confirm whether the remnants of the anti-barbarian group had appeared again.

The middle-aged man wearing a demon mask among the masked men... Ichinose murmured: "An unexpected guest has come..."

As soon as Ichinose finished speaking, Ebina, who was standing next to him, raised his open hands high.

"Your Majesty Niwang, don't get me wrong. We are not anti-barbarian patriots, let alone members of the anti-barbarian group."

Aomori's brows did not relax at Ebina's words... but instead frowned even tighter.

Before Qingden could continue speaking... the young man wearing the brown bear mask let out a strange laugh.

"Oh, oh...are you the Nioh? Yes...just like the rumors, you are a young samurai whose appearance and figure are far different from the 'Nioh Statue' in the Buddhist temple."

Blah blah blah...

"Brown Bear Mask" said as he reached behind his waist with his right hand and took out a lock sickle.

"Hey, Akutsu." Ichinose's brows jumped sharply and he said quickly, "What do you want to do?"

The young man who was called "Akutsu" responded in a cheerful tone:

"Nothing, I just feel that since we are destined to meet each other tonight... why not take this opportunity to test the strength of the famous Niou!"

After saying that, Akutsu shook the scythe in his hand violently, and the piece of copper as big as a baby's fist drew a straight black line and flew straight to Qingden's head!

Clang!

The sword is unsheathed!

The moment he saw Akutsu suddenly attack him, Qingteng immediately drew his sword in his hand. With a "pong" sound, the sword knocked away the copper.

"Hey..." Akutsu let out a low laugh, then pulled the chain, and the copper that was falling to the ground flew back to his hand as if it was equipped with a remote control device.

"Hey, Akutsu." Ebina's voice was low, "Don't do unnecessary things. It's time to retreat."

"I just had a few moves with Niou. Just a few moves." Akutsu held the sickle in his left hand and the copper-distributing chain in his right hand, whirring like a windmill, "Mr. Ebina, I know that too."

...you should also want to know what Nioh’s true abilities are, right?”

"..." Ebina suddenly stopped talking.

Taking advantage of Ebina's silence, Akutsu spread his legs and threw the copper faster and more powerfully.

"Nioh...I'm on it!"

call--!

The cylindrical black copper is rapidly approaching Qingdeng again!

——The sickle locking technique...

The relaxed mood I felt just after returning from the fireworks display quickly dissipated.

Instead, it is a solemn emotion that enters the state of "gathering the spirit" and fighting!

The so-called lock sickle is a strange weapon developed from the agricultural tool sickle.

It is formed by connecting the bottom of the sickle handle to a chain with a metal weight attached to the end. The metal weight is called "fen copper".

Because it is small and easy to hide, can be cut and smashed, and can be used in close combat or long-range attacks, it has been one of the favorite weapons of ninjas since ancient times.

This was the first time Qingdeng encountered this martial art that he had admired for so long... He suddenly realized that he had many "firsts" today.

In the morning, I had my first spar with a master of the naginata (Sanako), and in the evening I had my first battle with a mysterious warrior who used the shōkama technique.

Since he had no understanding of the fighting style of the Scythe Technique, Qingden first adopted a conservative fighting style.

He swung his sword from bottom to top, and swung his sword again to knock away the copper coins Akutsu threw at him.

The cent copper flew precariously high into the sky... Akutsu calmly tugged on the chain, took the cent copper back, and at the same time used the sickle to attack Qingden.

The same attack method - throwing the sickle heavily and flying towards Qingdeng.

The difference in the shape of the object makes the flight path of the sickle very different from that of the copper.

The sharp sickle blade cuts the air.
To be continued...