Time is tight and information is scarce...

Under such circumstances, if you hope to extract information from those die-hard prisoners, you will most likely be doomed.

As a result, Aoshinobu had to go back to his old profession - before he became known as the "nioh", he was a member of the Edo Hokuban sect of the town!

Right now, we can only rely on reasoning and intuition to determine where Yoshida Minoru and others set the fire!

Although the last time Qingdeng investigated and solved the case, it had to be traced back to the "outlawing of Huanfu Lake" 4 years ago, and his skills are probably a lot rusty, but... he can't care about so much now!

It’s better to give it a try than sit back and wait for death!

After secretly making up his mind, Qingdeng lowered his eyelids and concentrated on thinking.

First of all, it needs to be made clear that setting fire is a technical job.

Kyoto is no ordinary town, its area is quite large.

If it could be destroyed by setting a fire casually, then this thousand-year-old capital would have been reduced to ashes countless times.

——Those lunatics will definitely choose to set fire upwind!

There is a saying that "the wind borrows the power of the fire, and the fire assists the power of the wind."

If you want to burn the city, you can only light a fire upwind to maximize the intensity of the fire.

When Qingdeng rushed to the warehouse at full speed, he carefully observed the wind direction tonight - it was southeasterly.

In this case, Yoshida Minoru would probably set fire to the southeast.

In addition to the wind direction, the specific location of the fire is also important.

In order for the fire to burn quickly and burn vigorously, it cannot be achieved without suitable "materials".

Just like Edo, samurai lands and temple lands occupy nearly 70% of Kyoto's area.

The smallest number of warriors and clergy owned the most land. For this reason, the land of warriors and temples was generally vast and sparsely populated, with wide roads and well-proportioned houses.

On the other hand, the town's narrow roads and staggering building density make the firefighters' scalp numb!

Throughout all major fires in Japanese history, the townspeople suffered the most.

Aomori combined all the above ideas and came up with the answer - the place where Yoshida Minoru and others set the fire was most likely a town in the southeast of Kyoto!

If a handful of fire and gunpowder were thrown into this place, Kyoto would be in danger!

However... despite this, the range is still very large.

Even if the search area is narrowed from "all of Kyoto" to "the town area southeast of Kyoto", it is just changing "looking for a needle in a haystack" to "looking for a needle in a big lake."

——Are there any other clues...!

Qingden frowned even more tightly.

While he looked around, hoping that what he saw could bring him some inspiration, he delved into every detail in his memory, looking for clues and information that he had overlooked.

The Zunbo Sect, the Great Fire of Kyoto, the kidnapping of the Emperor, the Gion Festival...words emerged from Aonto's mind one by one.

At this moment, he suddenly realized something.

He realized belatedly that there seemed to be something wrong with his thinking!

Why did the lunatics of the Zunhuang sect burn down Kyoto?

What they did was not just violence, but an attempt to take advantage of the chaos to kidnap the emperor and regain control of the imperial court!

"Burning Kyoto" and so on are just means to realize this plan.

In this case, their real purpose is not to "burn down the entire Kyoto", but to "make Kyoto as chaotic as possible"!

After realizing this, Qingdeng immediately changed his mind.

Instead of thinking about "the best place to set fire", we started thinking about "how to make Kyoto the most chaotic."

Within a moment, a flash of inspiration appeared in Qingdeng's mind.

"Wait...I may know where Yoshida Minoru went."

As soon as these words came out, a bunch of surprised and suspicious eyes immediately fell on Qingdeng.

Miss Sumire blinked her beautiful eyes hard, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Aki, do you know the location of Yoshida Minoru?"

Qingdeng didn't hesitate and immediately told everything about his thoughts.

After hearing this, Miss Sumire and others looked at each other... without exception, they all looked shocked and thoughtful at the same time.

Ebina Ye Zong opened his eyes wide and murmured:

"This, this...this is really...will Yoshida Minoru really be there?"

Qingdeng said calmly:

"This is just my personal conjecture and cannot be guaranteed to be correct. However, I think it is very likely that my conjecture will come true."

Before he finished speaking, Toucho Shintaro beside him chuckled a few times with "hehe".

"Mr. Orange, although your conjecture is very bold, it is not boundless nonsense."

"I think...Mr. Tachibana's conjecture is worth adopting!"

Shintaro Tojo bluntly expressed his support for Aoto.

Miss Sumire expressed a different opinion at this time.

"An Yi, although your conjecture is very reasonable, but... the conjecture is just a conjecture after all."

She sighed as she spoke, her face full of sorrow and her expression struggling.

"Taking action without waiting to confirm whether the 'guess' is correct... This is really too imprudent and too risky!"

"If your guess is wrong, it means that we have failed again, and the consequences will be disastrous!"

Ebina Ye Zong showed hesitation on his face.

For a moment, he followed Miss Sumire and cast worried glances at Qingden.

It seems that he is on Miss Sumire's side.

Faced with the question raised by Miss Sumire, Qingto smiled.

"Miss Sumire, you are very cautious."

Miss Sumire raised her head slightly and answered loudly:

"This is a character I'm proud of!"

"It is precisely thanks to this prudence of 'taking one step, thinking three steps' that I have repeatedly saved myself from danger."

Qingden chuckled a few more times.

"Miss Sumire, your concerns are not unreasonable."

"As you said, my conjecture is just a conjecture after all. No one can guarantee that it is correct."

"Unfortunately, time is tight right now and we don't have the opportunity to slowly try and make mistakes."

"Whether you want to keep scratching your head here or just take a gamble - it's a difficult choice."

"In my opinion, we have no other options now anyway, so why not just take a gamble!"

"Maybe we really got the bet right?"

"As for the final result, let's leave it to 'fate'."

"We just have to do our best."

Having said this, Qingdeng paused.

Then, he changed into a firm tone:

"Sometimes, you have to have the determination to jump off a cliff!"

Qingdeng turned his head and glanced at the sky outside:

"Time is running out."

"I've made up my mind - I'll take the gamble!"

He said, steadying the sword at his waist.

"Whoever wants to go with me, please follow me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shintaro Tojo grasped the spear on his shoulder and silently moved to his side.

The hesitation on Ebina Ye Zong's face became even more intense.

He carefully squinted his eyes and looked at Miss Sumire.

After listening to Qingden's words just now, Miss Sumire was stunned and speechless.

But...she didn't make any move.

He just stood upright, neither speaking nor moving, looking at Aoto and Tojo Shintaro who were running outside without blinking, until the two figures disappeared from his sight...

…

…

Kyoto, Sanjo Bridge (west of Kamogawa River), Ikedaya——

"Ahhhhhhhhh-!"

Matsuda Shigesuke shouted, raised his sword upwards, and with the soles of his feet sticking to the ground, he rushed towards Nagakura Shinpachi as if gliding.

Before the shouting ends, the blade has arrived!
To be continued...