I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Then, "extraordinary poetic talent" became "like Cao Zhi, possessing the ability to compose a poem in seven steps".

That's not all! The latest version has already touted Qingdeng as an even more amazing "zero-step poetry composer" than Cao Zhi! He's a "ruthless poetry-producing machine" that can continuously generate excellent poems regardless of time and place!

Perhaps it was because Aoto held such a high position in the hearts of the people of Edo that the common people of Edo were happy to attribute all sorts of outrageous settings and deeds to him, and actually believed them, thinking, "Although this kind of thing is outrageous, if it was done by Niou, then it is not impossible."

Of course, those familiar with Aoto know that these are nothing but laughable nonsense—except for Kinoshita Mai, Souji, and Elodie.

Kinoshita Mai, blinded by love, places unconditional trust in Aoto. She subconsciously believes any rumor praising Aoto, no matter how exaggerated the details.

Souji doesn't understand poetry, and she can't even recognize all the Chinese characters. She has no idea what the concept of "X steps to compose a poem" means.

As for Elodie, she was simply innocent and naive.

It took Qing Deng a great deal of effort to finally convince the three of them that he really didn't have the ability to "compose a poem in five steps," "compose a poem in three steps," or even "compose a poem in zero steps."

Although these rumors are outrageous and laughable.

But as time went on, the two poems that Aoto created... or rather, that he copied, gradually spread widely through word of mouth. The wise men of Edo all gave them high praise and sincerely believed that "Niou" Tachibana Aoto was indeed quite skilled at writing poetry.

The ever-growing and increasingly popular reputation of him as a "genius poet" brought Qingdeng many benefits.

The most obvious benefit is, of course, to further enhance its reputation.

Of course, it's not entirely true that there are no negative effects whatsoever.

In short: those who already liked and respected him liked and respected him even more; those who already disliked and envied him disliked and envied him even more.

Qing Deng didn't take it to heart.

He was deeply grateful to the former.

As for the latter... let them be.

If you don't like me, then bring it on!

Ever since he became enemies with the Fa-Zhu Party, Qing Deng has always been in a state of combat readiness.

……

……

In the second year of Wenjiu (1862), December 27——

"Radish, let's go!"

"Moo moo moo~~"

As usual, the man and the ox sped along the road leading to Edo Castle.

The New Year is just a few days away.

While the streets and alleys of Edo were filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year, they also became quite desolate.

People hurried by, some busy buying New Year's goods, others rushing to find work, hoping to earn a little more money in these last few days and have a good New Year.

Upon entering the bustling downtown area he passed through on his way to work, Qing Deng was already accustomed to the scene—people who held him in high esteem flocked to his vicinity—and the scene arrived as expected.

"Lord Niou!"

"Good morning, Lord Tachibana!"

"Tachibana-sama!"

……

Qingdeng smiled and waved to the enthusiastic crowd around him.

He didn't notice... or rather, in such a setting, it was impossible to notice—a samurai wearing a low-brimmed straw hat that concealed his face and carrying a black cloth bag, hiding in the dense crowd.

This person's gaze was fixed on Qing Deng's figure, and he kept changing his position as Qing Deng moved.

This is a bustling downtown area, crowded with people everywhere.

For this reason, Qingdeng could not ride the ox at full speed, and its speed had to be slowed down.

At this moment, the radish was moving as slowly as an old lady taking a walk.

A short while later, Qingdeng and Luobo arrived at the most crowded part of the place.

The streets here are lined with small vendors who either have a handcart or simply display their goods on the ground.

The once wide street, wide enough for at least six horses to run side by side, has been reduced to half its original width and is now extremely narrow due to the crowding of these peddlers and laborers.

As a result, the area inevitably became densely populated.

The radish, which was already moving very slowly, slowed down even further.

Upon seeing this, the samurai immediately turned his head and scanned his surroundings.

After confirming that no one was paying attention to him, he quietly took out a box of Western matches from his pocket.

Take out two matches.

With a "snap," the sparks were lit.

Stuff the burning match into the cloth bag.

Immediately afterwards, countless sparks flew out of the cloth bag.

The samurai's entire sequence of movements was executed in one smooth, fluid motion.

This shows that he must have practiced countless times.

Beneath the straw hat, a cold smile appeared on a face shrouded in shadow.

In the next instant, he suddenly threw the cloth bag in his hand!

The high-speed flying cloth bag traced a beautiful parabola... and crashed precisely onto Qingdeng's head!

At the very moment the samurai threw the cloth bag, Qing Deng, whose hearing was enhanced by "Wind Perception +1", heard the strange noise.

He quickly turned his head to look in the direction of the sound.

Although the bag fell at an astonishing speed, it still couldn't escape the range of the "Eagle Eye +3" and "Sharp Eyes +5" abilities.

Qingdeng could clearly see the flickering, dim light inside the cloth bag...

In an instant, his pupils shrank to the size of pinholes.

Driven by instinct, he pulled his feet out of the stirrups, leaped up, and landed steadily on the saddle, drawing the sword from his waist, sheath and all.

At this moment, the black cloth bag had already fallen to a position 5 inches above his head.

At this critical moment, Qing Deng calmly assumed a baseball-like stance—aiming, swinging his sword—and the scabbard of the sword, which could extinguish ghosts and gods, struck the black cloth bag squarely.

A beautiful home run.

The cloth bag, which was originally falling downwards, began to fly upwards, soaring into the deep blue sky.

However, it flew for less than two seconds before its "wandering journey" came to an end.

Boom—!!

The cloth bag exploded.

The bursts of flame filled Qingdeng's field of vision.

Sparks rained down, exploding around Qingdeng.

The air became pungent and acrid due to the thick smoke from the gunpowder.

Because he managed to deflect the explosive charge in time and protect his head with his arms before the fire rain fell, Qing Deng was not seriously injured; he only suffered minor burns to his arms.

Such a crisis was nothing to a dignified and benevolent king.

However... looking at the entire scene, the only person who could remain calm was probably Qing Deng.

"Aa ...

"What's going on? What happened?!"

"Ahhh! It's so hot! It's so hot!"

Something exploded!

"Hey! Don't step on it! Don't step on it! Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

"Don't push! Don't push! If you keep pushing, something terrible will happen!"

……

In the blink of an eye, the once peaceful and tranquil street became chaotic and disorderly.

Terrified screams could be heard everywhere.

People were fleeing everywhere.

Everywhere you look, there are pitiful people who have accidentally fallen to the ground, then been swallowed up by hundreds of feet, and soon fell silent...

"Moo moo moo moo—! Moo moo! Moo moo moo—!"

The startled radish reared up on its forelegs as if in a frenzy.

No matter how human-like it may seem, it is still just a cow.

Even humans would feel terrified and uneasy after encountering such an anomaly, let alone a cow's carrot?

Qingdeng, who was standing on the back of the radish, was almost thrown off.

Fortunately, he has "Cat Turn +1".

After barely managing to steady himself, he immediately crouched down, stroked the bull's head, and shouted:

"Radish! Calm down!"

Perhaps sensing its owner's body temperature, Radish gradually calmed down.

Although its eyes were still filled with fear, at least it stopped howling and moving around.

After calming Luo Bo down, Qing Deng quickly scanned the scene to check on the situation.

Then, his expression immediately darkened.

This place is not modern America, and the locals are not familiar with the sounds of gunfire.

Without television, without the internet... people in Edo at that time probably didn't even know what the concept of "explosion" was.

The most violent explosives they've ever seen are probably fireworks.