I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

No response.

……

……

That evening—

Aoto and Saito returned to their current home, Shieikan, as dusk fell.

When Qing Deng and the others returned, it was already the time for the Shiwei Hall to close for the season.

After passing through the gate and entering the dojo, Qing Deng saw Okita sitting alone cross-legged on the floor of the dojo, wiping the bamboo swords in the sword barrel next to him one by one with a rag.

"Okita-kun, we're back!"

"Tachibana-kun, Saito-kun, come back... Hmm? Tachibana-kun, what's with that sword in your hand?"

Upon noticing the spirit-stabilizing weapon in Qing Deng's hand, Okita's eyes lit up immediately. He threw away the rag and bamboo sword in his hand and hurried towards Qing Deng.

"Oh, this..." Qing Deng smiled and held the Ding Gui Shen in front of him, then briefly told Okita about what had happened that day.

Okita wasn't particularly interested in the assessment meeting that Aoto had experienced that day, nor in Ii Naosuke.

He was only interested in the Ghost-Stabilizing Device in Qing Deng's hands.

"Tachibana-kun, may I take a look at your new sword?"

“Of course.” Qing Deng handed the Ding Gui Shen to Okita’s palm.

Okita wiped his palms on his hakama to clean the sweat from his hands before taking the sword with both hands.

As soon as he drew the blade a fraction of an inch from its sheath, a look of surprise immediately lit up Okita's eyes.

After fully drawing the sword, Okita vigorously waved it a few times in the air in front of him. Then he raised the sword, tilted his head back, and carefully examined the blade while blinking his eyes, which were gleaming with surprise.

"This knife is amazing!"

—Ah, here it comes… Okita-kun's “Wow, that’s amazing”…

Qing Deng silently complained in his heart once again about Okita's extremely limited vocabulary, which meant that he could only use "Wow, that's amazing!" to describe anyone or anything.

"The quality of the iron, its sharpness, its center of gravity... everything about it is amazing."

As Okita continued speaking, he turned the blade and carefully examined the extremely curved back of the sword, the "Sadakijin".

"This sword has a greater curve than a regular sword, but the blade isn't overly curved... It's a very suitable sword for performing a draw sword technique..."

The principle of sword drawing technique is to use the curvature of the blade and scabbard when drawing the sword to create an instantaneous burst of force, thereby delivering a more powerful and faster slash than swinging the sword directly in the air.

Therefore, using a sword with a slightly larger curve makes it easier to unleash a powerful sword draw technique.

"A sword-drawing technique..." Qing Deng chuckled, "It's a pity that our Natural Rishin-ryu doesn't have a sword-drawing technique."

Okita thoroughly enjoyed the sword for a while before reluctantly handing it back to Aoto.

“That’s wonderful…” Okita sighed, looking enviously at the sword he had just returned, “When will I ever have such a fine sword…”

After a slight smile, Qingdeng said in a gentle voice, "There will be such a day. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, you will obtain a great sword that is many times better than mine, the sword that can pacify ghosts and gods."

After speaking, Qing Deng raised his head and glanced at the pile of bamboo swords that Okita had just wiped.

"Okita-kun, are there still many people coming to learn swordsmanship today?"

Okita grinned, "Eight more people have come to our door today wanting to learn our Natural Rishin-ryu style!"

"So many?" Qing Deng couldn't help but exclaim softly, then smiled and said, "Wouldn't Master's wife be overjoyed?"

“Yeah.” Okita put his hands on his hips and remarked, “My aunt has been so gentle these past few days that I’m almost not used to it…”

These past few days, the Shiwei Hall has been very busy—people have been flocking here to learn swordsmanship, making it a bit overwhelming for everyone at the Shiwei Hall.

"To become famous overnight"—this idiom perfectly encapsulates the state of Shieikan these past few days.

A few days ago at the "Plum Blossom Festival," under a sky full of fluttering plum blossom petals, the little-known Shieikan, witnessed by hundreds of spectators, brilliantly defeated the renowned Kochiba Kenkan... This victory made Shieikan instantly famous!

Countless people know that in Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi-cho, there is a Shieikan that teaches the Tennen Rishin-ryu style of swordsmanship. This swordsmanship school defeated the Kochiba Swordsmanship School in the "Red and White Battle".

The most direct impact of increased fame is the increase in the number of apprentices.

Countless people came from far and wide, wanting to become disciples of the Shieikan and learn the Tennen Rishin-ryu style, which defeated the Chiba Kenkan.

An increase in apprentices means an increase in the income of the testing center.

These past few days, Ah Bi, who usually has a sour face, has been unusually gentle...

Especially when dealing with Qing Deng, the biggest contributor to their victory in that match, Abi showed a tenderness that even Qing Deng found extremely uncomfortable...

*******

*******

It's been a while since I asked for monthly votes. Please vote for me! Please recommend me! (Like a leopard crying.jpg)

Just wanted to let you all know that I might have to take a day off tomorrow. Because as you read this, I'm on my way to an important appointment that could potentially change my life forever. I probably won't have time to write tomorrow's chapter today (crying face).

The author will try to write more the day after tomorrow!

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Please don't withhold votes just because the author is taking a day off tomorrow! QAQ

Chapter 103: The 103-Year-Old Virgin Widow Makes Her Debut! [7000]

After observing for more than a month since moving into the Shiweiguan, Qingdeng has gained a certain understanding of his teacher's wife, Abi's, personality.

In short—she is a rather strong-willed and feisty female owner of a sword-fighting club.

He was a rather serious person. Thinking about it carefully, Qing Deng had lived in Shiwei Hall for so long, but it seemed that he had only seen A Bi smile happily less than 10 times.

I forget exactly when, but Qing Deng heard a little about Abi's past from Okita.

Abi comes from a wealthy martial arts family, and can be considered a young lady of high birth. Her strong personality may be a result of her family background.

Abi's excellent background allowed her to receive an excellent education from a young age.

In terms of knowledge alone, Abi, who had been well-versed in poetry and literature since childhood, was far superior to Zhou Zhu, who was merely a warrior and could not even recognize all the Chinese characters.

Therefore, after the completion of the test hall, the financial work of the hall was handled by Abi.

Zhou Zhu managed the operation of the sword-making school, while A Bi managed the school's finances and also took care of the food, drink, and daily needs of their entire family. The couple had a clear division of labor.

Therefore, once you know what kind of work Abi does at the Shieikan, it's not hard to understand why Abi has become so gentle these past few days after seeing the Shieikan's "revenue" steadily increase.

“Oh, right, speaking of Auntie… Tachibana-kun, I need to tell you about this quickly.” Okita suddenly said, “Master, Auntie, and Kondo-nii went out just now, and they probably won’t be back until 8 pm.”

"Master and the others have gone out?" A hint of confusion crept onto Qingdeng's face. "What are they doing out at this time?"

“It’s nothing,” Okita replied. “This morning, one of Master’s relatives, who lives in the northern suburbs of Edo, accidentally broke his leg, so Master and the others went to visit this relative.”

"Oh, so you're going to visit relatives. They won't be back until 4 PM... That means it'll be up to the four of us—me, you, Saito, and Kyubei—tonight to figure out what to eat."

After Okita nodded vigorously, he said excitedly, "Tachibana-kun, how about we skip cooking at home tonight and go out for soba noodles?"

"Hmm? Okita-kun, would you like to eat out?"

"Yes!" Okita nodded vigorously again. "It's been so long since I've had soba noodles. I'd like to go and have some again. What do you think, Tachibana-kun?"

"Buckwheat noodles..."

—Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've had noodles...

Remembering that he hadn't tasted noodles for a while, Qing Deng pondered for a moment before nodding slightly:

"I'm fine."

……

……

Aoto asked Kyubei and Saito for their opinions.

Kyubei, the old and loyal servant of the Tachibana family, said without hesitation that he had no objection to what they ate, as long as they didn't go to dangerous areas with poor security.

And Saito goes without saying.

No matter what Qingdeng asked him—what he wanted to eat, what he wanted to eat, or whether he wanted to go somewhere to eat with him—this man would only answer with a blank expression: “Whatever.”

Now that it had passed unanimously, there was no time to lose. Qing Deng and his group of four closed the Shieikan and headed towards a noodle shop not far from the Shieikan, which Okita had heard was very delicious.

It's lunchtime now.

After lifting the curtain with a large character for "noodles" written on it and entering the noodle shop, the aroma of sauces, the smell of sweat, the sounds of slurping noodles, and the murmur of conversation... all these smells and sounds created a surging "wave" that crashed over Qingdeng and his companions.

"Welcome!" A young girl wearing an apron and a handbag greeted Qing Deng and the others warmly in a heavy Kyoto accent as she placed a bowl of noodles she was holding on the table of a customer next to her.

“Four!” Okita held up four fingers to Teshiro. “Are there any seats left?”

"Yes, yes! Please follow me!"

Teshiro led Aoto and the others to an empty table in a corner of the noodle shop that could seat six people.

After everyone sat down around the empty dining table, Qingdeng raised his gaze to the menu hanging on the wall.

This noodle shop may not be big, but it offers a wide variety of dishes.

Clear broth soba noodles, 16 coins. Soba noodles with miso, 18 coins. Tempura soba noodles, 32 coins... Qing Deng quickly scanned the menu list one by one.

This menu is written very carefully.

Some of the noodles even have a line of small print on the back describing their characteristics.

For example, the phrase "more sauce" is often followed by "soybean paste buckwheat noodles".

Qingdeng has always had a strong palate and loves dishes that are loaded with salt and soy sauce.

Therefore, he ordered a "soybean paste soba" without hesitation.

Saito also ordered food without hesitation.

Saito didn't even look at the menu before ordering the most basic and cheapest clear broth soba noodles for 16 mon.

After glancing at the menu, Kyubei also ordered the cheapest clear broth soba noodles.

After everyone else had ordered their noodles, Okita, who had been scanning the menu, turned to Tedai beside him and asked:

"May I order a bowl of miso soba noodles with tempura?"