I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qingdeng only acquired a new talent this morning: Leading the Way. He hasn't fully gotten used to the increased lower body explosiveness yet.

The Unknown Sword that Qing Deng is now using is powered by taking a forward step.

The powerful explosive force of his lower limbs made Qing Deng's Wuming Sword strike incredibly powerful and fast, so fast that the tall man didn't even have time to react.

The flattened blade pierced the man's left chest cavity along the gap between his ribs.

The tall man's body twitched a few times, and then in the blink of an eye, there was no sign of life on his face. His body collapsed like a shadow puppet with its strings pulled out, hanging on Qing Deng's knife.

He drew his blade, flung away the tall man hanging on it, and readied his sword again to face the next enemy.

While facing each enemy in front of him, Qing Deng also kept an eye on the battles of the others around him.

Aoto's thoughtfulness was actually unnecessary—Saito and the others didn't need Aoto's concern at all.

Saito, Nagakura, and Harada were each worth ten men.

Saito needs no introduction; he's a long-time comrade-in-arms of Aoto, and Aoto knows his strength perfectly well.

The power unleashed by Nagakura and Harada surprised Aoto.

Having fought against both of them, Qing Deng knew that they were both formidable opponents, but he now realized that he seemed to have underestimated them.

Nagakura and Harada fought with extreme bravery and momentum, making everyone who tried to get close to them unable to lift their heads.

Although Todo's performance was a bit lacking, he was more than capable of defending himself, despite his lack of offensive prowess.

Of course, their ability to fight ten against one is also related to the equipment they are wearing.

Having armor for protection was one of the biggest advantages that allowed Qing Deng to charge at the thirty-odd members of the anti-barbarian group who were surrounding the Fanshu Dialogue Office with only five of them.

In this kind of battle with cold weapons, unless the difference in strength between the two sides is too great, the difference in combat power between those with armor and those without armor is like an insurmountable chasm.

Qing Deng and his companions were all wearing chainmail, gauntlets, leg guards, and other protective gear, so ordinary slashes were completely ineffective against their protective gear.

If the members of the Extermination Group wanted to inflict effective damage on Qing Deng and his group, they could only attack a few places such as the face, neck, and upper arms.

Confident in their armor, Nagakura and his companions sometimes didn't even bother to dodge when faced with attacks from certain enemies, simply opening their chests and letting the enemies hack at them.

After going through countless hardships and finally managing to strike the group of officials, they discovered that these men were all wearing thick armor, making it difficult to break through their defenses. The attacks that finally managed to hit them only managed to tear their clothes... This kind of thing is quite demoralizing and demoralizing.

Standing back to back, forming a circle, Qing Deng and the others cooperated and looked after each other, protecting each other's backs.

Less than two minutes have passed since the start of the melee, and the number of corpses lying at their feet has already approached twenty.

Compared to Qing Deng and his group, the Extermination Group did indeed have a significant numerical advantage.

However, they misjudged Qing Deng and his team's equipment and strength.

Those who hadn't yet been cut down by Qing Deng and his men dared not go any further.

They took a few steps back, looking at each other with fear in their eyes.

They maintained their encirclement of Qingdeng and his men, but no one launched another attack.

At this moment, Qingdeng suddenly heard the sounds of fighting and screams coming from the top floor of the nearby Tibetan Confucian Office.

Amidst the sounds of fighting, there were also the occasional sounds of gunfire.

Harada raised his head and looked towards the top floor of the Bureau of Investigation: "Mr. Tachibana, it seems there are still living people inside the bureau..."

"Hmm..." Qingdeng nodded expressionlessly. "I heard you."

……

……

Jinno was unaware of the changes that had occurred outside the detention center.

The "encirclement team" had not yet had time to inform Kamino, who was fighting on the top floor of the detention center, that "the magistrate's officers have arrived."

At this moment, Kanno was focusing all his attention on attacking Katsura Rintaro.

After breaking through the first "wall" built by Katsura Rintaro and his men, Kanna pressed on and continued the attack, breaking through the second "wall" as well.

Katsurin Taro and his men had no choice but to retreat to the rear of the third and final "wall".

If this last "wall" is also breached... then Katsura Rintarou and his men will have no safe place to defend and no way to retreat!

Perhaps because they knew they had nowhere left to retreat and would die if they didn't fight, their will to survive was unleashed. In the battle to defend the last "wall," Katsu Rintaro and his men fought with extraordinary ferocity and tenacity.

However, spiritual strength can never overcome the gap in material wealth.

Katsura Rintarou had already emptied his revolver while defending the second "wall".

Judging from the results, the outcome was quite impressive—Katsu Rintaro shot down a total of 6 members of the Extermination Group.

However, this small victory has no impact on the overall situation, and these casualties are not enough to cripple or damage the morale of Jinye and his men.

And could it be said that Katsura Rintaro was just unlucky? He didn't hit a commander-level figure like Kanna.

Jinno, who personally led the charge, is still safe and sound.

The last "wall"... was ultimately pushed aside by Kamino and his group, who had an absolute advantage in numbers and combat strength.

Like demons unleashed from Pandora's box, Jinno and his companions mocked and roared as they leaped over the collapsed "walls" and pounced on the innocent people, whose faces were now deathly pale and who were fleeing in panic.

After fighting for so long, the aging Katsura Rintaro felt his strength beginning to give out.

His revolver was no longer usable, and he was so exhausted that he could barely breathe... But even so, Katsura Rintarou gritted his teeth, raised his knife, and tried to stop the thugs who were rushing towards him.

There were no words spoken – Kamino didn't want to waste any more words on these traitors; he had nothing to say to them.

Kanna charged straight toward Katsura Rintarou, who had been causing them a lot of trouble with that revolver since earlier.

He raised his sword and slashed down—Kano mechanically performed the aforementioned actions.

Katsura Rintaro hurriedly raised his sword, trying to defend against Kanna's slash.

But his speed... is nowhere near that of Kamino.

His knife had barely reached his chest when Jinno's blade was already close to his forehead...

Just then, a draft suddenly came in through a window next to it.

clang!

The sound of sharp blades clashing was deafening.

Both Jinno and Katsura Rintaro felt the light beside them dim.

The two, both looking surprised, turned to look at the window next to them.

A young man dressed in the "Three Returns" style was half-squatting on the windowsill. The night wind blowing into the room from outside made his hair, the hem of his wine-red haori, and the magistrate's incense burner on his right waist sway wildly.

He held his sword straight forward, using the broad back of the blade to block Jinno's attack while glaring at Jinno.

His gaze was like lightning, his eyes like piercing light.

*******

*******

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets!

The author has started a book club on Tencent! Anyone interested is welcome to join and chat about Big Bear.

Group number: 1162513690. Simply answer one question that anyone who has carefully read this book will know the answer to to join the book club.

The author occasionally appears in the group chat.

Chapter 123 Qingdeng vs. Jinye! Copying Talent

——Katsurin Taro?

Upon discovering that the middle-aged man he had just saved was none other than Katsura Rintaro, whom he had bumped into on the street at noon, Aoto's expression subtly changed.

In just one day, I actually ran into this Katsura Rintarou twice. What a coincidence... Although the timing and occasion of this second encounter were a little subtle.

There was no time to look at this old man any longer—Qing Deng quickly pulled his attention away from Katsura Rintaro and then, with a swift movement, deflected Jinno's sword with a clang.

By this time, Jinno had recovered from the shock of "there was another person at the window".

With a stern face, he jumped back several steps, widening the distance between himself and Qingdeng.

Taking advantage of the moment when Kanna took the initiative to retreat, Aoto gracefully leaped down from the windowsill and landed between Kanna and Katsura Rintaro.

"Finally made it up..." Harada huffed and puffed as he climbed in through another window next to him.

Saito, Nagakura, and Todo also jumped out of the window into the corridor one after another and stood behind Aoto.

Suddenly, a group of people of unknown identity appeared, startling the members of the Extermination Group.

Having already crossed the third collapsed "wall," they were about to pursue the "traitors" who had retreated to the far end of the corridor. Out of caution, they all stopped and, like Jinno, retreated a few steps to create a safe distance between themselves and Qing Deng and the others.

Jinno first noticed the magistrate's seal on Aoto's right waist and the jitte with a red tassel, recognizing the group as officers of the magistrate's office.

Then, he felt that Qingdeng's face looked somewhat familiar.

After briefly examining Aoto's face for a moment, Shinno's expression darkened:

"Ju Qing Deng...?"

Jinno will probably never forget the face that caused their Expeditionary Force to suffer such a humiliating defeat.

The man in front of him actually recognized him—Qing Deng didn't show any surprise at this.

After all, he is now considered a semi-celebrity in Edo, and many townspeople recognize him when he walks down the street.

But what he heard next made Qing Deng raise an eyebrow.

He heard hurried footsteps and shouts behind Shinno:

"Mr. Kamino! Mr. Kamino!"

A young samurai pushed through the crowd and ran to the back of the temple.

——Kamino?

Qing Deng focused his gaze on Jin Ye.

The young samurai, panting, ran up to Jinno's back. Just as he was about to say something to Jinno, he suddenly noticed Qing Deng and the others who were now "facing off" against Jinno. His expression froze, and he opened his mouth, looking as if he "couldn't say what he was about to say."

Although he hesitated to speak, he finally mustered the courage to say dejectedly to Jinno:

“Mr. Jinno…a group of magistrate’s officers have arrived.”