I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

“Mr. Tachibana.” The scarred man ignored the fierce gaze Qing Deng cast at him and smiled calmly. “Our leader, Shimizu Eiichi, has always valued heroes and valiant men the most.”

"Your recent outstanding achievements, including the severe blows dealt to the 'radical anti-foreign faction' with your sword, have earned the leader's great admiration."

"To show your respect, the chief personally ordered that all of your father's gambling debts be written off."

"At the same time, all your previous repayments will be refunded in full."

After saying that, Scarface gave a wink to one of his subordinates behind him.

After noticing the signal look from Scarface, the subordinate quickly handed over a cloth bag he was carrying.

With a clattering sound, as Scarface took the bag from his subordinate, a crisp, clinking sound came from inside—the sound of coins clinking together.

"Mr. Ju, please count the money." Scarface lowered his head and respectfully handed the bag of money to Qingdeng with both hands.

*******

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Chapter 154 Two-on-One House Infiltration! Qing Deng and Wu's Unparalleled Infiltration

Qingdeng's brow hadn't relaxed since the scarred man handed over the IOU for the gambling debt.

This scarred man was eloquent and articulate, speaking fluently and logically, using various honorifics with ease. Coupled with the subtle yet elegant aura emanating from him, if it weren't for the hideous tattoos visible on his collarbone, forearm, and other places not covered by his clothes, one might easily mistake him for a private school teacher.

He returned the gambling debt IOU and the hundreds of taels of silver that Qingdeng and his family had previously paid to Qingdeng with both hands. Then, he used the most honorific language to say some words of praise to Qingdeng, such as "Our leader, Shimizu Eiichi, truly admires you." After that, the scarred man bowed slightly to Qingdeng.

"I have delivered the IOU and the money."

"I apologize for disturbing you and your esteemed establishment."

Scarface turned around and bowed to Zhou Zhu and the others who were standing at the entrance of the Examination Hall.

"Now that the matter is settled, please excuse me for taking my leave."

"Oh, right. I almost forgot to mention that."

"Lord Shimizu never hesitates to help a young hero like you."

"Mr. Ju, if you ever need any help in the future, please feel free to come to us."

"We're happy to help with things like collecting clues when we're handling a case."

"We, the 'Qingshui Clan,' dare not make any other boasts."

"But in the Edo, Yokohama, and Kanagawa region... for certain people and certain things, the words of the 'Shimizu clan' may be more useful than those of the Emperor and the Shogun."

Scarface said this in a rather flat tone.

But beneath this calm tone lies a subtle pride and confidence!

After saying "farewell" to Qing Deng and the others, Scarface led his men away, disappearing beneath the high slope where the Examination Hall was located.

After Scarface and the others left, Zhou Zhu and the others walked out of the gate of the Examination Hall and gathered around Qing Deng, who was still standing outside the gate.

"What are those people doing?" Harada scratched his head, looking bewildered. "I thought they were coming to cause trouble... I even brought my spear."

Harada shook the spear he was carrying on his shoulder, and then continued.

"So it turns out they were just here to repay Mr. Tachibana's father's gambling debts and previous payments... When did the Yakuza of the 'Shimizu Clan' become so kind? They actually took the initiative to forgive someone's debts."

As soon as Harada finished speaking, Tsuchibō said in a nonchalant tone, "You're hoping that Yakuza will have a change of heart and reason with you, but you'd be better off hoping that the apprentices at the Claymore Hall will stop being so arrogant. At least the latter is probably more likely."

Zhou Zhu, who was over sixty years old and had seen more of life than Qing Deng and the others, slightly opened his squinty eyes and stared in the direction where Scarface and the others had left: "They probably saw that Ju Jun is now rising rapidly in his career, so they want to get on good terms with him."

"Hmm." As soon as Zhou Zhu finished speaking, Qing Deng nodded slightly. "I guessed so..."

It's hardly a secret that the Yakuza cultivated close ties with government officials.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that the Yakuza were able to live so comfortably precisely because they ingratiated themselves with government officials and won their favor.

Trying to win over rising political stars... this is a common tactic among the Yakuza.

Given that Aoto has recently achieved one great feat after another at an astonishing speed, and considering that he comes from the "Sanhui" who is in charge of Edo's security, it is not hard to infer that Aoto now has extremely high value in the eyes of the "Shimizu Clan" in terms of winning him over.

Aside from wanting to build a good relationship with him and preparing to win him over in the future, Qing Deng really couldn't think of any other reason that could make these ruthless bastards suddenly have a "change of heart" and forgive all of their Ju family's debts and return all the money their Ju family had previously paid.

"...If they're thinking of currying favor with me by forgiving our family's debts, they're really overthinking it." Qing Deng turned his gaze back to the IOU in his hand, his tone indifferent and flat.

Qingdeng felt only disgust, not goodwill, towards the Yakuza, who committed all sorts of sordid and brutal acts that normal people wouldn't even dare to imagine.

No matter what the Shimizu clan did for him or what benefits they gave him, Qing Deng would not have any goodwill towards the Shimizu clan.

Therefore, out of his aversion to the Yakuza, even though the Shimizu clan had now wiped out the Tachibana family's debts, Aoto felt no sense of gratitude whatsoever.

Moreover, it's ridiculous to talk about personal favors or debts of gratitude with the Yakuza, who have absolutely no concept of the rule of law or morality and whose bottom line is nonexistent.

When someone is determined to do something to you, it doesn't matter whether you owe them a favor or they owe you one—whether they acknowledge it or not depends entirely on their mood.

The "Qingshui Clan" directly wrote off the Ju family's debt of over 500 taels of gold, demonstrating their intention to cultivate a good relationship with him.

In this way, whether Qingdeng accepts their offer to "clear the debt" or not, the outcome will be the same.

It's clear that the "Shimizu Clan" wouldn't stop trying to win over Aoto just because he didn't accept their overtures.

Since that's the case, we might as well just accept their returned IOU and payment.

Harada pursed his lips and looked up at the sky.

He seemed to be pondering what Qingdeng, Zhouzhu, and the others had just been saying.

But it's clear that—because he doesn't have the habit of using his brain, his brain automatically triggered a resistance mechanism.

After only about five seconds, Harada shook his head wearily and said, "Although I didn't quite understand what you guys were saying, this should be considered a good thing, right? We don't have to pay those guys back anymore."

After saying that, Harada chuckled and put his arm around Aoto's shoulder.

"Mr. Ju, congratulations! Your family's gambling debts are all cleared!"

"Hmm..." Qing Deng's lips curled into a wistful smile.

Because he had never met his father, Tachibana Takayuki, who had died of illness since he transmigrated, Aoto's deepest impression of Tachibana Takayuki was that "he left behind a rather troublesome debt."

And now, this big problem has finally been resolved in an unexpected way.

Qingdeng folded the IOU in his hand and put it back into his pocket with a clear conscience.

The unexpected gift from the "Qingshui Clan" has relieved Qingdeng of one of the two "mountains" that were weighing on his shoulders.

With the threat of "owing gambling debts to the 'Shimizu Clan'" gone, the only threat weighing on Qing Deng's shoulders now is the Extermination Group, which has been unusually quiet and inactive lately, and wants to take his life!

……

……

Nagakura and Harada, who checked into Shieikan as diners, added a lot of popularity to the spacious "diners' room," which is large enough to sleep 10 people.

Although Nagakura and Harada were both big and burly, they were surprisingly quiet when they slept. They didn't snore, so their arrival didn't disrupt the peace and tranquility of the "diners' quarters".

Even though they both have terrible sleeping habits and snore like thunder, it doesn't affect Qingdeng's sleep schedule at all.

With the "God of Sleep" around, no matter how noisy the outside environment is, Qingdeng can close his eyes and fall asleep peacefully.

At 2 a.m., Qingdeng, who had developed a stable biological clock, opened his eyes on time, full of energy.

As soon as Qingdeng opened his eyes, he heard the steady breathing of the others in the room.

Qing Deng quietly climbed out of bed, picked up the orange juice from the knife rack on the bedside table so he wouldn't be recognized by others, and then took out the "Fox Monk Set" he had secretly hidden from the storage cabinet: black clothes and a black fox mask. He then pretended to be going to the dojo to practice swordsmanship and left "between the diners".

After descending the stairs to the first floor of the Shiwei Hall, Qingdeng immediately left the Shiwei Hall and headed straight for the back alley of the ramen shop not far from the Shiwei Hall.

Upon entering the alley, Qingdeng saw nothing but the dim moonlight and dust on the ground.

Just as Qing Deng thought he was too early, he heard footsteps coming from the rooftops on the left side of the alley, followed by Kinoshita Mai's voice: "Ah, it seems I'm late."

Following the sound, Qing Deng looked up and saw Kinoshita Mai, dressed in the "Cat Monk Set" and carrying a black cloth bag on her back, sitting on the roof of the house like a cat.

Qingdeng shook his head: "You're not late, I just arrived too."

"I see, that's good then." Kinoshita Mai flipped over, like a diver from her past life, swiftly performing a series of movements from the rooftop to the ground, adjusting her posture, and landing silently.

"Good evening, Tachibana-kun."

"Okay, good evening."

The reason I met with Kinoshita Mai late at night wasn't just to chat with her.

So after exchanging a few brief pleasantries with Kinoshita Mai, Aoto got straight to the point: "Ms. Kinoshita, have you found another target who needs my help?"

Kinoshita Mai didn't mince words either. Seeing that Aoto had gotten straight to the point, she nodded slightly:

"Yes. But this time, my target isn't a criminal gang like last time."

"I need your help to investigate a place."

“Tachibana-kun, do you remember what I said last time? In order to get rid of the 'radical anti-foreign faction' as soon as possible, I have been patrolling various places in Edo almost every night to look for clues and whereabouts of the 'radical anti-foreign faction'.”

“Just last night, I found a rather suspicious place that appeared to be a hideout for the ‘radical anti-foreign faction’.”

The combination of the terms "nest" and "radical anti-foreign faction" made Qing Deng's gaze freeze instantly.

Qing Deng gestured with his eyes for Kinoshita Mai to explain in detail.

Having understood the meaning behind Qing Deng's gaze, Kinoshita Mai quickly composed some words and phrases, and said slowly:

"Just last night, while I was patrolling the eastern outskirts of Edo, I inadvertently discovered three samurai sneaking into an abandoned teahouse that had been abandoned due to lack of operation."