I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

In the blink of an eye... really in the blink of an eye, a huge number of onlookers suddenly appeared around Qingdeng.

They stood in three or four circles, eagerly waiting for the street performer who called himself Ujiro to fart.

After completing his preparations, Ujiro leisurely pulled a simple flute from his pocket.

Then, he started playing the flute while simultaneously farting forcefully.

He strained so hard to hold in a fart that his blood rushed to his head and his face turned bright red.

Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!

The fart sound was melodious...

Strangely, the sound of his farts created a bizarre harmony with the sound of the whistle...

The onlookers laughed heartily and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle.

Aoto, who couldn't appreciate this kind of entertainment at all, stared blankly at Ujiro, who was trying his best to fart, and the very supportive Osaka citizens around him.

The performance ended about one minute later.

"Thank you all! Thank you for coming!"

Ujiro stood up, dressed, thanked the onlookers, and then bowed gracefully to Aoto.

Then, without asking Qingdeng for a reward, he simply walked away.

As for the onlookers, they naturally dispersed.

Qingdeng stared blankly at the receding figure of the street performer—he seemed to have simply wanted to express his desire to perform in front of the travelers…

No sooner had this artist left than a new "unexpected situation" entangled Qingdeng.

Five middle-aged women carrying shopping baskets inexplicably approached him and struck up a conversation with him in a very familiar manner:

"Wow, sir! You're so tall!"

"Look! This horse's coat is so shiny! It's been taken such good care of!"

"Oh my! Is this your wife?"

"What a beautiful wife! Her skin is so soft and supple, you could squeeze water out of it!"

"Hooray! I wish my daughter-in-law could be this beautiful!"

"Hey? That old man over there with glasses is quite handsome too!"

……

They chattered away, making a great commotion.

With only five people, they managed to create the effect of "500 ducks quacking in unison".

Qingdeng and the others didn't respond with a single word, but they had already spoken dozens of sentences on their own.

Because they all spoke at the same time, without paying attention to each other, and their voices were loud, Qingdeng couldn't hear what they were saying; he only heard a bunch of noise.

Qingdeng dared to swear on his own soul that he absolutely did not know these five middle-aged women, and had never even seen them before.

Even though they were complete strangers, the other person approached them with ease and struck up a conversation, and they chatted quite enthusiastically without any awkwardness whatsoever.

Even though Qingdeng and the others weren't paying attention to them, they were still able to continue chatting without any hindrance...

If someone who didn't know the situation saw this, they might think that Qingdeng and the others were acquaintances.

Compared to Aoto's bewilderment, Kiryu and Kinoshita Mai were quite calm.

It seems they're quite used to situations where "a complete stranger from Osaka suddenly comes up to them and starts a conversation."

Kiryu the boss smiled reservedly, then switched to his familiar Osaka accent:

"Thank you for the compliment. I never thought that at my age, I would be praised as 'handsome' by a beauty like you. I am truly honored."

"Oh my! Sir, you're so kind! Would you like some grilled squid? I just bought two for my husband, here! Have one for you! Eat it, it's still hot!"

……

The Kiryu boss dismissed the group of middle-aged women with just a few words.

Although the older women had left, Qingdeng remained in shock for a long time.

—Is this what people from Osaka are like...?

—The way people from Osaka try to create a sense of closeness is so strange…!

At this moment, Qingdeng realized once again: sometimes, "regional discrimination" is really just raw big data!

From the time he entered Osaka city center until now, it has only been half an hour.

In this incredibly short period of time, he had already experienced an incredibly strong culture shock!

Looking across Japan, Osaka is one of the regions most susceptible to regional discrimination.

Long ago, Qing Deng had heard about the stereotypes people had about Osaka residents from various sources.

For example, people in Osaka have a very strong sense of pride in their dialect, believing that Osaka dialect is the only true standard Japanese language.

Even if they can speak Kanto dialect, they will stubbornly use Osaka dialect—of course, it is also possible that the "infectiousness" of Osaka dialect is too strong, so they cannot correct it.

Similar stereotypes include "Osaka people are exceptionally enthusiastic, so enthusiastic that it's overwhelming," "Osaka people love to perform jokes," "Aunties especially love to chat," and so on.

Qing Deng has truly had an eye-opening experience today—it turns out that all these stereotypes about Osaka people are true!

As members of the "Confucian cultural sphere," influenced by Confucian culture, the Japanese of the Edo period highly valued subtle and elegant ways of communication.

Having previously lived only in Edo and Kyoto, Aoto was already accustomed to this subtle and tactful way of interacting with people.

Therefore, he naturally felt extremely uncomfortable with the Osaka people's unusually "enthusiastic" attitude towards communication and their strange way of closing the distance between them.

Just as Qingdeng was still in a daze, a sudden shout drew his attention—

"Look! It's the remnants of the 'Big Salt Party'! Run, run!"

*******

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After the "Osaka Arc" ends, the "Marriage Arc" begins. After the "Marriage Arc" ends, the timeline of this book can be moved forward to 1864.

Chapter 772 Paying Homage to the Gourd House! [4700]

Upon hearing the words "Great Salt Party," Qing Deng immediately perked up.

When was the last time I ran into someone from the Big Salt Party?

This happened a very long time ago.

So ancient that it dates back to the time when the Rakshasa were still alive.

Because they were wanted by the shogunate for a long time, the Ōshio Party, like the Hoshū Party, always remained hidden in the shadows, making it extremely difficult to track their whereabouts.

To be fair, Qing Deng doesn't dislike the Big Salt Party.

Rather, he actually admires the Big Salt Party.

Although the Great Salt Party occasionally takes radical actions, such as assassinating corrupt officials with a long history of wrongdoing, Qing Deng has to give high praise to their lofty ideal of "speaking out for the people and creating a peaceful and prosperous world".

Compared to the lunatics in the Choshu Domain, the members of the Ōshio Party were more deserving of the title of "patriots".

As anti-shogunate organizations, the Ōshio Party was far more human-like than the Hōshū Party.

To give a vivid example... the former is "chaotic good" with drastic methods and noble goals; while the latter is the most typical "chaotic evil".

However, despite their admiration, in reality, it's difficult for the Green Party and the Big Salt Party to maintain a friendly relationship on the surface.

The core objective of the Ooshio Party was to overthrow the corrupt Edo Shogunate.

They firmly believed that as long as the Edo Shogunate existed, a utopian society where everyone could live and work in peace and contentment would never arrive.

Thus, from the perspective of "factions" alone, the Ōshio Party and Aoto, a general of the shogunate, were naturally opposed.

—How dare the members of the Ooshio Party be so arrogant? They dare to appear on the streets of Osaka in broad daylight?

As Qingdeng thought this, he turned his head to look.

He had expected to see a man of resolute appearance and unwavering gaze.

Unexpectedly, what came into view was an old monk with a shaved head and wearing a tattered robe.

The old monk was seen holding a string of prayer beads, walking with his head down, muttering to himself, seemingly reciting Buddhist scriptures.

Wherever he went, passersby stepped aside to make way for him.

The passersby looked as if they were fleeing from disaster and disease, avoiding it at all costs.

At this moment, Qingdeng keenly noticed that when the old monk appeared, the passersby all showed complicated expressions.

Some people looked on with pity.

Some people felt sorry for it.

Others made no attempt to hide their mockery.

For example—a young man standing next to Qing Deng muttered to himself:

"Sigh...this old guy really knows how to hold on..."

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng immediately turned to look at the young man and asked:

"Your Excellency, I have a question, please enlighten me."

Qingdeng's sudden conversation startled the man.

He looked Qingdeng up and down, and when he saw the sword at Qingdeng's waist and the fine horse he was riding, his face immediately lit up with a smile:

"Sir, what would you like to ask? I will answer to the best of my ability!"

In the Edo period, samurai who had horses to ride... and who rode such fine horses, were people that ordinary people could not afford to offend.

Qing Deng asked directly:

"Do you know this old monk? I just heard someone say that he is a 'remnant of the Great Salt Party.' Could he be a member of the Great Salt Party?"

"Ah, well..."