I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

After supporting Sanako in that position... Aoto immediately felt the delicate body in his arms stiffen slightly.

Then, Qingdeng's body also stiffened.

Sanako's shoulders were small and delicate, with a shoulder-to-width ratio so excellent that it seemed like a masterpiece meticulously crafted by the gods.

Her waist is very slender, without an ounce of excess fat.

Sanako, held in Aoto's arms, twisted her slightly stiff neck, raised her gaze, and stared blankly at Aoto, who was a head taller than her.

At the same time, Qing Deng lowered his chin and looked down at Sanako in his arms with the same blank stare.

Their breaths almost colliding, their blank stares entwined and collided in mid-air...

Then, in the next instant, Qing Deng released Sanako from his arms with a movement as if he had touched something scalding hot, and his body bounced back two steps.

"I'm sorry... I was a little rude..."

In his previous life, Qing Deng had never dated a girl; the only woman he had ever been intimate with was his own mother.

This was the second time, after Kinoshita Mai, that Aoto had engaged in such intimate behavior with a member of the opposite sex who was not a family member...

Even though he had already separated from Sanako, the lingering sensation of that touch still remained on Aoto's palms.

"It's okay... I don't mind."

As if trying to cover up her awkward expression and suppress her bewildered emotions, Sanako straightened her back and raised her hand to gently tidy the hair on her forehead.

Sanako took a deep breath, trying to appear as if she didn't care, just as she had said earlier.

She quickly composed herself. In the blink of an eye, her expression returned to the "aloof young lady" demeanor that Qing Deng was very familiar with.

However... despite her considerable efforts to hide and conceal it, a closer look still reveals the subtle fluctuations of emotion in her eyes.

Her carefully crafted "aloof" demeanor was riddled with flaws; her brows held a calm expression... but a faint, alluring blush graced her beautiful face.

The two vibrant red hues stood out strikingly against her fair complexion.

Although Sanako had said "I don't care," the memories of what had just happened to the two of them wouldn't disappear from their minds just because of Sanako's words.

A slightly awkward atmosphere hung between Aoto and Sanako... but fortunately, this awkward atmosphere was quickly broken by a girl's tearful shout.

“Miss Sanako—!”

Natsume Tsuki, who had been pushed away roughly by Sanako and told to run away, stumbled toward Sanako with tears in her eyes.

Overwhelmed by the intense emotions of surviving the ordeal, Natsume Tsuki couldn't hold back her tears. She sobbed uncontrollably, letting all the negative emotions that had accumulated over the past few days flow out with her tears.

Facing Natsume Tsuki, who was crying and hugging her tightly, Sanako paused briefly before slowly revealing a gentle smile.

"Okay, stop crying." Sanako gently stroked Natsume Tsuki's hair, strand by strand, as if stroking a cat.

Looking at the two women he had finally rescued, Qing Deng couldn't help but feel his lips relax and a joyful smile appear on his face.

He still has quite a few questions he wants to ask Sanako.

For example, the question of "how did you escape to this place?" should be enough to keep Qingdeng and the two women talking for a long time.

But there isn’t enough time right now for Qingdeng to do this kind of thing.

He was in a real hurry...

After smiling happily, Qingdeng quickly stopped smiling.

"Miss Sanako, can you still walk? If you can, please take Miss Natsume and leave this place quickly."

"I can't escort you right now; I need to hurry to the settlement."

At this point, Qingdeng paused.

Then, he smiled calmly:

"I'm off to the next battlefield!"

*******

*******

Yesterday's monthly pass count far exceeded our target... Thank you everyone!

The author is keeping their promise today! Another 1+ words of new content!

Since this chapter is a "monthly ticket reward", it will not be counted in my "unpaid chapters for the Alliance Leader".

To thank everyone for all the monthly votes you cast yesterday, I'll try my best tomorrow and aim for another 1+ votes!

The author asks for nothing more than that everyone should vote for this book with more monthly tickets, considering the quality of today's chapter and the author's hard work! (Like a leopard crying.jpg)

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

By the way—Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!

Don't save your monthly votes for the end of the month! Voting at the end of the month is pointless!

The author's goal is to achieve the highest possible ranking on the monthly ticket charts and maximize exposure. Therefore, voting at the end of the month is completely pointless. What's the use of achieving a high ranking in the last three days of the month? All monthly tickets will be reset to zero at the start of the new month (crying face).

Chapter 180 The "Nioh" riding an ox is heading to the battlefield.

"Residence? Battlefield?"

Sanako, who was still holding Natsume Tsuki, raised her eyes and cast a surprised glance at Aoto.

Qing Deng seemed to have expected Sanako to look at him like that, and smiled faintly.

……

……

Let's rewind to a short time ago—

Seeing that the "Scarred Samurai" still refused to say anything, Qing Deng, without the slightest hesitation, plunged the wakizashi into the nail bed of his toes once more.

This time, Qing Deng used a new stabbing technique.

He no longer plunges the knife tip in one go.

Instead, slowly and gently, with a rather "gentle" motion, the tip of the wakizashi's blade was gradually inserted into the "pockmarked samurai's" toenails, greatly increasing the "pockmarked samurai's" pain.

"Aa ...

Sure enough—the “Scarred Warrior” screamed even more shrilly, another toe became a bloody mess, and his whole body convulsed even more violently.

"Besides Natsume Tsuki, did you also kidnap Chiba Sanako? Where are all the people you kidnapped being held now?"

Like an emotionless robot, Qing Deng repeated his question for the third time, then moved the wakizashi towards the "Scarred Samurai's" third toe.

Given the time constraints and the lack of more sophisticated interrogation tools at hand, "stabbing the nail bed with a knife" was the most painful interrogation method Qing Deng could think of at the moment.

This was the first time Qing Deng had interrogated someone... and he was using such cruel interrogation methods.

Having no prior experience with this topic, Qingdeng inevitably felt somewhat uncomfortable.

However, after briefly recalling the conversation between Natsume Sohachiro and the "pockmarked samurai" that he and Kinoshita Mai had just overheard, the slight unease in his heart quickly dissipated and was replaced by determination and decisiveness.

……

(As you instructed, I have handed over the donkey cart containing the sake ordered by Mr. Bright, which was scheduled to be delivered to the settlement today, to you for your disposal! Now, shouldn't you return Yue to me?)

……

Qing Deng still vividly remembered what Natsume Sohachiro had just said to the "Scarred Samurai".

Qing Deng had heard of this Mr. Bright by name—a few days ago, from Elodie.

According to Elodie, this highly respected old man in the Edo settlement, who is extremely fond of Japanese sake, will be hosting a very lively dance party on his 60th birthday, which will be attended by most of the foreigners in the settlement, including Elodie's family.

And the ball will be held tonight!

Organized and disciplined kidnapping of others and sending people to kill Natsume Sohachiro; such radical methods... This made Qing Deng think of the name of the organization that had recently become basically tied to his life: the Exile Group!

The doctor Hanada Shichiro, whom Qing Deng and others captured a few days ago, and the three archers led by the "bearded middle-aged man" have been detained in the prison for the past few days and are being interrogated by a professional interrogation team: the prison guards.

Under relentless interrogation that gave them no respite, the three archers quickly confessed—they admitted they were members of the Extermination Group!

The anti-barbarian group, which had been dormant since the attack on the foreign documents collection office, has reappeared...

They finally managed to capture members of the Extermination Group after a long time, but unfortunately, these three archers seemed to be just low-level members of the Extermination Group and had not obtained any useful information.

Whether asked "Why do you frequently contact Hanada Shichiro?" or "Where are your bases?", these three people basically knew nothing.

The only piece of information of any value that the three of them revealed was about their most frequently used outpost... Just as Qing Deng had predicted, the outpost they revealed was located not far from the alley where he had encountered the 18 members of the Extermination Group.

Apart from this base they frequently used, they all unanimously stated that they had no idea where the other bases of the Expeditionary Force were located.

The magistrate quickly organized a team and rushed to the stronghold that the three men had exposed. However, when they arrived, the place was deserted and they found nothing. Presumably, they had emptied the stronghold immediately after the "bearded middle-aged man" was captured, leaving the government with nothing of any use.

Overall—aside from knowing that the “bearded middle-aged man” was a member of the Extermination Group, no other useful information was gathered from the three of them.

Compared to the three "bearded middle-aged men," the seemingly weak but surprisingly persistent Dr. Hanada Shichiro was quite remarkable.

The "bearded middle-aged man" and others have all admitted that they are members of the Extermination Group, but he still insists that he is innocent.

It's not hard to understand why Hanada Shichiro is so persistent...

At a time when the Edo Shogunate was cracking down on the "radical anti-foreign faction," if it were confirmed that he had some shady dealings with the anti-foreign group... it wouldn't be impossible for him to be sentenced to death.

Therefore, for the sake of his own life, and driven by wishful thinking, Hanada Shichiro probably wouldn't admit to having any connection with the Extermination Group until all other options were truly exhausted.

Because he had recently come into contact with and even fought with the members of the Exile Group, Qing Deng now has a very sensitive attitude towards anything related to the Exile Group.

The phrases "anti-foreigners group" and "foreigners' settlement" are so evocative that just putting them together sends chills down your spine!

There are just too many questions I urgently need to figure out.

The unease that had been lingering in Qingdeng's mind since this morning was rapidly escalating...

Unable to maintain his patience, Qing Deng had no choice but to resort to such cruel methods to interrogate the "Scarred Warriors" in order to dispel the fog in his mind as soon as possible.

When Qing Deng aimed the tip of the wakizashi at the nail crease of the "Scarred Samurai's" third toe, fear and dread finally began to show on the man's face.

But after his lips moved a few times, they closed again... Seeing this, Qing Deng unhesitatingly peeled off the nail of his third toe.

Qingdeng kept repeating the action of "asking questions - lifting toenails".

After Qing Deng had completely peeled back all the toes of the "Scarred Warrior's" right foot, and was about to remove the sock from his left foot, the "Scarred Warrior" finally seemed to break down, hoarsely shouting:

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything!"