I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qing Deng lightly leaped backward, dodging precisely outside the range of Umehara Junyuki's slash.

Junyuki Umehara sneered:

"Dodged it... You've got some skill after all."

Qingdeng smiled slightly:

"Why do you make it sound like your moves are hard to dodge?"

Junyuki Umehara's face darkened, and he changed his stance.

"Hmph! Then this next move..."

Before Umehara Junyuki could finish speaking, Aoto vanished from his sight.

"Now it's my turn to make a move, you idiot."

Qing Deng, holding the blood-dripping spirit-taming implement, stood coldly to the right of Umehara Junyuki, his eyes devoid of joy or sorrow.

At the same instant, blades flashed!

A silver swallow flew close to the ground, then soared into the sky and disappeared into Junyuki Umehara's body.

Umehara Junyuki's head and arms hung idly, and the knife in his hand clattered to the ground.

puff!

Another fountain of blood erupted.

Qing Deng didn't even glance at Umehara Junji, who had already died and was lying limply on the ground. He left him behind and walked unhurriedly toward the three bastards who were still alive... or rather, still alive.

Their leader, Scarface, and Umehara Junji, whom they relied on deeply, were both killed in quick succession... Such a sudden change naturally threw the three of them into disarray.

These three men are very distinct in terms of physique and appearance; they are respectively an ugly guy, a tall guy, and a short guy.

Ugly guy: "No, no, no, don't come any closer!"

Tall Guy: "Wait, wait a minute!"

Shorty: "Hey! Do you know who we are? We're the Nanmu Group..."

Whoosh!

The air began to hum and vibrate.

A long, thin shadow, like a powerful arrow, flew across the middle of the tall man and the short man standing at the front, like a bird in flight.

With a soft thud, a sharp blade pierced flesh.

The tall man and the short man turned their heads back with mechanical movements, only to see the Ghost God strike the ugly man squarely between the eyebrows, the sharp blade reaching all the way to the hilt.

The ugly guy with the wildly imaginative mind looked utterly incredulous.

The lightning-fast attack left him standing upright before he could react.

In an instant, another shadow flew in—this time, it was a swift figure like a wild goose!

Qing Deng leaped into the air, following the flight path of Ding Guishen, as if being pulled by Ding Guishen, and instantly appeared above the ugly man's head.

With his body half-suspended in the air, he gripped the hilt of the Ghost-Slaying Blade again with his right hand, and with a burst of power from his waist, he pulled the blade horizontally out of the ugly man's head. Then, using centrifugal force, he slashed the tall man on his left away.

As his feet landed back on the ground, he pivoted on his right foot, spun in the opposite direction, and swung his knife at the dwarf on his right.

The dwarf was no weakling. He saw through Qing Deng's sword technique, and his pupils suddenly contracted. Instinctively, he retreated as quickly as if he had pulled himself up from the ground.

His retreat saved his life.

Although he was unable to completely evade Qing Deng's strike, he managed to escape from the killing range at the last second.

With a hiss, the tip of the sword that could subdue ghosts and gods sliced ​​through the skin of his chest. Although blood flowed profusely, it did not kill him on the spot.

Before the dwarf could even feel grateful for his survival, he suddenly noticed the light dimming—a wine-red haori fluttering high above filled his field of vision.

Upon seeing the dwarf retreat, Qingdeng immediately realized that his attack would not kill the opponent on the spot.

Therefore, the talents "Leading the Way +4" and "Divine Speed ​​+6" were activated!

Qingdeng caught up with the dwarf, whose feet had not yet touched the ground and whose body was still suspended in mid-air, without any effort.

All people saw was a flash of light from the blade.

Another good person's head flew out.

At this moment, the ugly guy's body finally lost its support and collapsed.

At the same time, the tall guy who had been slashed away also fell heavily back to the ground.

The three corpses, one after the other, stirred up a light dust on the ground.

In an instant, the entire hall fell silent.

The expressions on everyone's faces were beyond words – one word, "shocked," doesn't even begin to describe it.

The onlookers all paled, their faces filled with shock and astonishment.

You look at me, I look at you… As they stared at each other, they saw intense disbelief on each other's faces.

His infamous reputation, even among the renowned cavalry, was evident in his death.

Such a fact made it hard for the onlookers to believe their eyes.

Qing Deng raised his gaze, scanned the crowd around him, blinked, and pretended to be thinking.

At this moment, his penchant for showing off... ah, no, for maintaining his personal image suddenly flared up.

In this situation, he inexplicably felt the urge to say something to liven things up.

After pondering for a moment, Qingdeng said softly:

"They cut down another boring thing."

After saying that, he forcefully shook the sword, wiping away the remaining bloodstains on the blade, and then sheathed it.

"Woman, come this way."

"what?"

The female boss's delicate body trembled slightly.

Although she had kept her eyes closed the whole time, even the dumbest person would know what had happened just from the sounds she heard.

Upon hearing Qingdeng's order, she fled towards him as if her life depended on it.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now."

The female boss obediently complied and slowly opened her eyes.

As soon as she regained her sight, she found herself splattered with sticky blood. Her face turned pale, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

"Don't turn around, the view behind you is a bit...unseemly. Just walk back to your shop."

"Th-thank you!"

The female boss struggled to support herself, thanked Qingdeng with tears of gratitude, and then staggered back to her teahouse.

At this moment, Sanako and the Komaki couple quickly moved to Aoto's side.

Komaki Goro smiled and lavished praise upon Komaki:

"Clean and efficient, without any hesitation... Tachibana-kun, your swordsmanship has already reached the level of a master."

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng instinctively asked in return:

"Mr. Komaki, do you also know swordsmanship?"

"I know a little bit about swordsmanship. I practiced swordsmanship for a while when I was young, but I haven't touched a sword much since I opened a shop selling wagashi (Japanese sweets)."

Suddenly, a male voice filled with anxiety rang out from behind Qing Deng:

"You'd better run away!"

Qingdeng paused slightly, then turned to look.

A young samurai, around 15 years old—the very same young samurai who had just been arguing with his friend—

"The people you killed were members of the Kusunoki Group!"

"Judging from your accent, you must be a stranger from Kanto, right? You probably don't understand what offending the Kusunoki Group means... Anyway, you'd better run!"

"The Kyoto Magistrate's Office and the Kusunoki Group are in cahoots!"

"You'll be in trouble when those corrupt officials from the Kyoto Magistrate's Office arrive!"

The young samurai's words enlightened the others who were watching.

Immediately, the onlookers all showed worried expressions and began to chatter amongst themselves:

"Yes, young man, you should leave now!"

"Before those corrupt officials from the magistrate's office arrive, let's hurry and fly far away."

"The corrupt officials of the magistrate's office are all a bunch of good-for-nothings. You just need to leave the capital temporarily and wait out the storm, and you will be safe!"

Looking at the Kyoto citizens who were enthusiastically urging them to leave quickly, Sanako couldn't help but mutter:

"It seems that Kyoto isn't just full of arrogant and haughty lunatics after all..."

Then, she lowered her voice—she hadn't forgotten they were still traveling incognito—and whispered:

"Tachibana-kun, let's go."

However, Qing Deng turned a deaf ear.

He pursed his lips, as if he was thinking about something.

Seeing this, Sanako couldn't help but cast a questioning look at him:

"Tachibana-kun?"

This time, Qing Deng finally spoke.

"...No, I'm not leaving. I'm waiting for the officials from the Kyoto Magistrate's Office to come."

Upon hearing this, both Sanako and the Komaki couple wore expressions of bewilderment.

"Upon closer reflection, although I have visited all the important places in Kyoto today, I have not yet been to the Magistrate's Office."

Qingdeng paused, then added in a firm tone: