Edo, western suburbs——

Qingdeng, Zuo Nazi, the general manager, and the old man responsible for leading the way—the four of them walked leisurely on the broad road covered with weeds.

It was almost noon, and the cold wind blew past their ears, with the cold smell of earth.

Not long after, the sound of running water reached the ears of the three of them.

Qingdeng followed the sound and saw a river with a lot of broken ice floating in it.

The river flows quietly, reflecting the clear winter sky, passing through the messy river bed, making a low and monotonous roar, and heading straight to the west.

The shore is covered with dense, withered wild reeds.

As if being pulled by the river, the wild reeds meander naturally in the vast wilderness. Occasionally, they are blocked by scattered bushes or mixed woods.

"Ah! Master Samurai! Have you seen that mountain?"

The old man who was leading the way suddenly stopped and raised his hand to point northwest.

"That mountain is Platycodon Mountain! Just keep walking along the river and you will reach Platycodon Mountain!"

Neither Aoto nor Sonako, the chief general, were very familiar with the western suburbs of Edo.

Platycodon Mountain and so on... Aoto, Zonazi and Souji have never heard of it.

So, Aoto spent money to hire a guide who was very familiar with the western suburbs of Edo...that is, this old man, and asked him to guide them.

Qingdeng raised his gaze and looked in the direction pointed by the old man.

Looking as far as the eye can see, there is a large mountain opposite the vast Weiyuan, with its blue-black crest line exposed.

"Old man, is that the mountain?"

"Yes, yes, that's the mountain! That mountain is Platycodon Mountain!"

At this time, the general manager suddenly interrupted:

"It's so big... much bigger than I imagined..."

As soon as the director-general finished speaking, the old man immediately explained:

"The characteristic of Platycodon Mountain is that it is wide, extremely wide! One mile from north to south and half a mile from east to west. Unfortunately it is not high enough, with only 10 rooms at the highest point. Otherwise, it would have been a battleground for military strategists!"

[Note: One mile in Japan is approximately 924 kilometers. One mile is approximately 818 meters.]

Hearing this, Qingto turned his head and looked at the Edo city behind him, and then nodded slightly.

"Indeed. If this mountain were ten kilometres higher, it would be a perfect fort. Just by setting up a cannon on the top of the mountain, it could directly bombard most of Edo."

This was just Qingdeng's casual remark, but it ended up attracting enthusiastic flattery from the old man.

After flattering him with a flattering "What you said is true!" he hurriedly asked:

"Master Samurai, are you going to enter Mount Kikyo?"

"Well, yes."

"In this case, you must be careful!"

"What? Are there wild boars in the mountains?"

Qingdeng asked back, subconsciously showing a solemn expression.

If there are wild boars in the Platycodon Mountain... then you really need to be extremely careful.

As the saying goes, one pig, two bears and three tigers.

Many people have a deep misunderstanding of this saying, thinking that it ranks the three animals according to their combat effectiveness. It is said that wild boars have the strongest combat effectiveness, followed by bears and tigers.

In fact, this is completely a misunderstanding.

This proverb is based on the ranking of the threats these three large beasts pose to humans.

In other words, wild boar injuries are the most common in the wild, and they are the most dangerous.

Next is the bear.

As for tigers, they often hide in deep mountains and old forests and will never enter human territory unless they are extremely hungry, so they ranked last.

The wild boar is a typical animal capable of both offense and defense.

Anyone with a little common sense knows that in hand-to-hand combat, the party with higher weight has an advantage.

The wild boar can easily weigh hundreds of kilograms. Not only is it big and powerful, but it also has a pair of long and hard tusks in its mouth that will continue to grow with age.

In addition, its bite force is also amazing, which can reach up to more than 400 kilograms.

Wild boars have a very violent temper and are not afraid of anything. Once angered, even gods will attack you.

If you are hit by them, the consequences are no less than that of a car accident. The impact of their running can easily break human bones, and the result is often death or injury.

The famous Japanese idiom: "The pig rushes forward" describes the ferocious momentum and domineering power of the wild boar when it charges.

The attack power is astonishing - this is already very troublesome, but the wild boar's "defense" turns out to be even more troublesome.

The skin of wild boars is very thick, and they have hard and long bristles on their backs. They also like to roll in the mud and get covered in mud. After the mud dries, it turns into a solid lump, which is like wearing a suit.

Armor.

In this way, the defensive power of wild boars is extremely amazing, and ordinary weapons cannot harm them at all.

So far, Qingdeng has never fought against large beasts such as wild boars, bears, and tigers, and he has killed a lot of people.

The difference in strength, speed, and fighting styles between wild boars and humans... may be even greater than the difference in body position preferences between Aomori and Souji.

Qingdeng was really unsure whether he could challenge a wild boar alone.

Under Qingdeng's gaze, the old man shook his head:

"No, there are no wild boars in Platycodon Mountain. At least in the past 10 years, I have not heard of wild boars in Platycodon Mountain."

"Mountain Platycodon is an uninhabited mountain. No one travels there, and no one lives there. It is a veritable barren mountain. The road is extremely difficult to walk, and there is basically no place that can be called a 'road'! You will get injured if you are not careful.

Your feet may even fall down the mountain, so you must not be careless!"

——It turned out to be just a reminder to pay attention to the terrain...

Qingdeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled and said:

"Thank you for your suggestion, we will take note of it."

At this time, the old man seemed to be worried about something, hesitating on his face and tightening his shoulders for a time.

After a moment, he asked in a cautious tone:

"Master Samurai, I just brought you here, do you think so?"

The old man probably thought that traveling back and forth between Edo and Mount Kikyo would take too much time and effort, so he decided to give up.

For Qingto, as long as he can know the specific location of Platycodon Mountain, it doesn't matter whether the old man is willing to continue to lead the way.

So, Qingden nodded slightly.

"Well, thank you for your hard work, old man."

After saying that, Qingdeng took out 20 copper coins from his arms and handed them to the old man.

Feeling the heavy weight in his palm, the old man suddenly smiled and opened his mouth wide, revealing a mouth full of rotten and yellow teeth.

He said a lot of auspicious words such as "Master Samurai, I wish you a safe and smooth journey" and so on. After hearing the good words, he took the money Qingteng gave him and left happily.

"Did you hear everything?"

Qingden turned his head and said to Zuo Nazi and Souji behind him.

"If you walk another mile, you will reach Platycodon Mountain."

"It's still a long way to go..."

Souji flattened his beautiful red lips, then squatted down and hugged his legs.

Her figure is already petite and exquisite, but after posing like this, she looks even smarter and more adorable.

Qingdeng saw this and smiled bitterly.

"Hold on a little longer. If it's really hard, I can carry you."

As soon as Qingdeng said this, before the director had time to say anything, Zuo Nazi was the first to react.

I saw her soft and delicate body bulging forward and backward trembling momentarily.

Then, she raised her gaze, looked at Qingdeng, and then looked at Souji, with long and intriguing glances in her beautiful eyes.

The emotion in his eyes was hard to grasp...it seemed like he was impatient, but also like he was unhappy...

"No need."

The director-general smiled "hehe", stood up, and put his hands on his hips.

"Don't underestimate me! I'm a warrior after all. This journey won't trouble me!"

Qingden looked closely at the General Secretary's face.

After confirming that the General Secretary's expression was as normal, his face was rosy, and there was no trace of fatigue between his brows, Qingden's facial lines slowly relaxed.
To be continued...