Qingden subconsciously looked down at his left hand, and then firmly grasped his left fist a few times - even though he knew that he couldn't see the changes in his bones just by looking with his naked eyes, he still couldn't help but stare.

He looked at the bones and joints that were slightly white from clenching his fists.

——Ha... This person has a very powerful talent...

Qingden grinned.

The bones become extra tough... This is a talent that can be used both offensively and defensively in battle.

Because the bones are tough, the power of hitting people with fists and other body parts will be greatly enhanced.

Because bones are tough, your bones will not be easily damaged when others touch you.

Out of the corner of his eye, Qingto caught sight of Kiryu slowly walking towards him and Nagakura.

After seeing Kiryu walking towards them, Qingden quickly put away his faint joy at receiving a new high-quality talent.

"It seems that Nagakura-kun, you are indeed very good at swordsmanship." Kiryu smiled faintly at Nagakura, "At your age, it is very rare to have such a level of swordsmanship."

Nagakura, who was tall and tall, showed a reaction that was completely incompatible with his tall image - after hearing Kiryu's ordinary compliment, Nagakura showed a shy and honest smile, laughing so hard

Both eyes were narrowed to a slit, and the corners of his mouth were grinning almost to the corners of his mouth.

"Hey...thank you for the compliment." Nagakura happily exchanged a few words of humility with Kiryu, then turned to look at Qingto who was still standing beside him.

"Brother, your strength is very good." Nagakura put the bamboo sword in his hand on his shoulder and grinned boldly at Qingden, "Just now, I was almost hit by your sword several times.

.”

"May I have your name?"

"Ah, one more thing - which school of swordsmanship did you learn from? The swordsmanship you use is somewhat similar to my Shinto Muken-ryu. They are both schools that focus on attack."

"Naturally Rishin-ryu, Tachibana Aoden." Aoden announced his name.

"Ju Qingden?" Nagakura glared hard, and then quickly swept his eyes to look at Qingteng, "You are the madman who led more than 20 to 30 people to defeat more than 300 'anti-barbarian factions'

Is the Orange Qingden?"

Qingden was not surprised that Nagakura recognized his name.

During this period, his name and deeds had already spread throughout the streets and alleys of Edo.

If Nagakura had never heard of his name, Qingto would be surprised.

However... a small part of what Nagakura said just now made Qingto couldn't help but frown.

"You just said how many 'anti-barbarian' thugs I defeated?"

"More than three hundred." Nagakura blinked in confusion, "Huh? Did I say something wrong?"

...When have I defeated so many enemies...?

…

Qingneng and Nagakura briefly asked him where he heard the rumor that the number had become exaggerated for no reason.

Nagakura said that he heard about it from several guests at the next table while drinking in a certain izakaya a few days ago.

Because those guests all said so, and they said with certainty that Qingdeng defeated a group of three hundred enemies, Nagakura believed it to be true.

After listening to Nagakura's explanation, Qingdeng's mouth twitched uncontrollably...

He couldn't help but recall that after he solved Granny Ping's murder case, the public opinion inexplicably became more and more exaggerated, and people even reported that he was the "reincarnation of Zhuge Kongming"...

Qingdeng speculated: It was probably because when people were spreading his deeds by word of mouth, some people remembered them incorrectly or deliberately added jealousy, making his deeds exaggerated...

——This time, I shouldn’t be told that I’m “Guan Yunchang, the reincarnation of Lu Fengxian”...?

Qingden, who didn't like the feeling of being overly praised, couldn't help but shrink his neck.

With the mentality of "stop the spread of rumors if you can," Qingto patiently refuted the rumors for Nagakura, saying that he didn't encounter that many enemies that night.

After listening to Qingden's refutation of the rumors, Nagakura grinned: "Actually, it's almost the same! What's the big difference between defeating more than 200 people and defeating more than 300 people?"

After saying that, Nagakura raised his hand and patted Qingden on the shoulder:

"Oh, I didn't expect that I would meet that Tachibana Aoden here!"

"When I heard about your deeds, I felt so happy! Haha! I have long been disgusted with those crazy-looking 'radical anti-barbarians'!"

Facing Nagakura's straightforward and unshakable praise, Qingto smiled politely and modestly.

For no reason, Aomori felt that Nagakura Shinpachi, Kondo Isamu, and Chiba Jutaro would get along very well. They are both the kind of people who have a very forthright temperament, speak straightforwardly, and don't mince words.

At this moment, Nagakura suddenly remembered - there was a Kiryu boss standing next to him.

"Ah, sorry, sorry." Nagakura grabbed his messy hair and smiled apologetically at Boss Kiryu, "I seem to have been too busy talking to Tachibana..."

"It's okay." Kiryu smiled casually, "Nagakura-kun, with your swordsmanship, you can take on a lot of jobs."

"I happen to have a very good job at the moment."

"The Kimura Sword Hall in Hitou Town is currently looking for sparring partners with high enough swordsmanship skills."

"Nagakura-kun, are you interested in trying this job?"

"Oh? Swordsman training partner?" Nagakura's eyes lit up, "Hahaha, it sounds good."

"It seems that you are interested in this job." Kiryu clasped his hands behind his back and turned around, "Then - please follow me. Let's go back to the front desk for now, and I will slowly introduce this job to you in detail.

"

…

…

Kiryu led Nagakura back to the front desk.

Under Kiryu's arrangement, the three guests, Aoto, Okita, and Saito, followed Mai Kinoshita into a spacious room on the second floor of Chishiya specially used to entertain guests, and waited for Kiryu to finish entertaining Nagakura.

While waiting quietly for Kiryu to finish dealing with the business matters, Aomori chatted for a while with Mai Kinoshita, who was staying with them in the living room.

Kinoshita Mai and Qingto gave a brief introduction to this thousand-story house.

This Thousand Things House is not only the place where she and Kiryu work, but also the home of her and Kiryu.

Chishiya has a total of 2 floors. The first floor is the business place, and the second floor is the residence of Kiryu and Kinoshita Mai.

After spending about 20 minutes chatting with Kinoshita Mai and Okita, Kiryu finally saw Kiryu opening the door and entering the living room.

"Boss Kiryu." Seeing Kiryu coming back, Qingto quickly straightened his sitting posture, "Has Nagakura Shinpachi left?"

Kiryu nodded and sat across from Qingto: "Yes. I recommended a lot of suitable jobs to him, and he has left happily."

"That's it...it'll be good if he finds the job he likes." Qingdeng smiled.

Although he only had a brief contact with Nagakura Shinpachi for a while, based on the words and deeds of this person so far shown to him, Qingto felt that Nagakura Shinpachi was quite interesting.

I feel like he is the kind of person who has a very simple mind and doesn't have too many twists and turns in his mind.

Kiryu, who sat down in front of Aoto, first thanked Aoto for his willingness to help test Nagakura's strength, then briefly exchanged greetings with Aoto, and finally got to the point: asking.

Qingdeng and the others came suddenly, why?

Ayoto and Okita explained their reasons for coming in detail.

"You are going to hold the 'Red and White Battle' with Chiba Kenkan at the 'Plum Blossom Festival'?" Kiryu's eyebrows showed a bit of surprise.

"Yes!" Okita nodded vigorously, "The holding time is tentatively scheduled to be eight o'clock in the morning (2 p.m.) on the day of the 'Plum Blossom Festival'. The venue has not yet been decided, but I guess it will be at Yushima Tenmangu Shrine.

It will be held in the open space in the northeast corner."

"Mr. Kiryu, if you are free that day, you must come and watch!"

"'Plum Blossom Festival'..." Kiryu lowered his gaze and looked at the tatami in front of his knees, with a thoughtful look on his face.

After a moment, Kiryu slowly raised his eyes and glanced at Qingden with a subtle movement...

"...Okay." Kiryu smiled, "If I have time that day, I will definitely go and take a look."

…

…

At this moment——

With his left hand on his waist and his right hand holding his own sword on his shoulder, Nagakura Shinpachi strutted along the path at his feet towards the distant horizon.

When he reached a corner, he suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at Qianshiwu, which had almost disappeared from his sight.

"That Tachibana Aoden... is much younger than I thought... he should be a few years younger than me..."

Nagakura spoke to himself in a volume so low that only he could hear it clearly.

"People have already achieved great things at such a young age...but I still haven't accomplished anything..."

A bitter smile slowly climbed up Nagakura's cheeks.

He stared directly at Qianshiwu with envious eyes.

After a long while, he slowly withdrew his sight, turned around, and turned into a small road on the right where he could no longer see the Thousand Things House.

…
To be continued...