I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

……

The first year of Wanyan (1860), December 10th——

Today is the day Qing Deng goes to the Moon Palace Shrine to learn the Cloud Flow Ninjutsu.

As soon as Aoto entered the shrine, he ran into the Sae and Yae sisters, who were sweeping the floor.

"Junior! You're here early today too!"

"Good morning, Mr. Tachibana. You've come at the perfect time. Lord Utsu just instructed us: if we see you at the shrine, we should immediately take you to the archery range to see her."

"Archery range?" Qing Deng was taken aback.

“Ah, speaking of which…” Yae slapped her forehead, “Junior, it seems you haven’t been to our Moon Palace Shrine’s archery range yet.”

"Do we still have an archery range around here?" Qingdeng asked.

Satsuki nodded: "It's in the woods behind the shrine, but since our new Oniwaban doesn't require its soldiers to be skilled in archery, that archery range is usually only used by Lord Utsu."

"Does His Highness Prince Tianzhang know how to use a bow?"

At the Tsukimiya Shrine, both "Lord Utsu" and "Lord Tenshōin" are acceptable titles, so Aoto chose the latter, which he was more familiar with and accustomed to.

Saeshige nodded again: "Archery is His Highness Tenshōin's forte. Alright, let's not chat any longer, Mr. Tachibana, please come with me. It would be bad if we kept Lord Utsu waiting."

Unaware of what was going on, Aoto followed the "Double" sisters and walked quickly toward the back of the shrine.

After passing through an entire shrine and then through a dense forest of layers, Qing Deng suddenly heard a series of crisp bow-drawing sounds.

Walking along a path so worn down by footsteps that no grass grows, until it reaches its deepest point, a breathtakingly spacious archery range suddenly comes into view.

On the north side of the archery range, there are targets placed at varying distances from the "archery area".

On the south side of the archery range is the "archery area" where people can stop and draw their bows.

At this very moment, in the center of the "archery area" stood a captivating and alluring figure—Tenshōin, dressed as a shrine maiden in white robes and purple hakama, holding a beautiful Japanese bow over two meters long with a purple bow body, her eyes fixed intently on the target in front of her.

Just as Qingdeng arrived at the archery range, Tenshōin raised his bow and pulled a practice arrow from the quiver behind his waist—an arrow with no arrowhead and only a bare shaft.

Tenshōin stood sideways with his left foot forward and his right foot back.

With a solemn and serious gaze, he stared straight ahead at a straw target 50 meters away, raised the bow above his head, and slowly lowered it while drawing back the bowstring.

Hold your breath and concentrate.

No distractions.

In the next instant, the arrow flew out.

The sharp sound of the arrow cutting through the air followed a long trailing sound.

The arrow without a cluster made a small hole in the air.

This small, transparent hole leads straight to the target—the arrow hits the bullseye.

--sharp!

Looking at the arrow that had hit the bullseye, Qingdeng couldn't help but secretly praise it.

Although Qingdeng had never systematically studied archery, he had played with bows and arrows a few times in places like "archery clubs" and "archery experience centers" in his previous life.

Anyone who has ever handled a bow and arrow knows how difficult it is to "make an arrow fly along the desired trajectory".

For beginners who have never been exposed to archery, it is already quite difficult to score 6 or 7 rings on a target 10 meters away.

To hit the bullseye of a target 50 meters away with pinpoint accuracy... This skill of Tenshōin could never be performed without rigorous training in archery.

"Oh, Tachibana-kun, you're here! Good morning!"

Qingdeng looked in the direction of the pleasant female voice.

Tenshōin's radiant smile seemed to brighten the surrounding light.

*******

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Qingdeng gets to see different beauties in different places every day... It's so awesome! I really want to write a restricted side story to criticize this kind of behavior! (Angry Leopard.jpg)

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the timeline in the novel will be advanced to November 1st tomorrow… meaning Qing Deng will finally be facing all the intrigue and treachery within the Fire-Fulfilled Thieves' Reorganization! The Fire-Fulfilled Thieves' Reorganization is an army specifically tasked with handling major cases and heinous criminals… you can all imagine what Qing Deng will encounter next. (Laughing emoji)

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

I'd like to recommend a book to everyone! "I Was Hermione's Little Puppy at Hogwarts"

Dumbledore: "Lovell, you should know the consequences of your actions, shouldn't you?"

Lovell Grindelwald: "Lovell is just a little wolf, Lovell doesn't know that!"

This is the story of a wolf cub raised by Dumbledore, but surnamed Grindelwald, and who has a pact with Hermione. He is the last Forbidden Forest wolf in the Hogwarts Forest.

Although its body is wolf-like, its intelligence is no less than that of a human. What will happen if this little wolf unintentionally transforms into a human? What changes will it bring to the magical world?

Lovell Grindelwald: "Malfoy, listen up! My dad was the first Dark Lord, my mom was the most powerful white wizard, the Headmaster of Gryffindor caught mice with me, I can poop in other professors' arms, and you're talking about Snape? He's my poop scooper—you think you can compare your background to mine?"

Professors: (艹皿艹)

Lovell Grindelwald: Hermione, save me!

Chapter 271 One Month Later! A Brand New Legend Begins! [5600]

After successfully leading Qingdeng to the archery range, the "Nijō" sisters gave Tenshōin a slight bow, then conspicuously withdrew and returned to their work.

With the departure of Sae and Yae, only a pretty widow holding a beautiful purple bow and Aoto remained in the vast archery range.

"Your Highness, Prince Tianzhang."

Qingdeng bowed politely to Tianzhangyuan, then got straight to the point:

"What is the purpose of summoning me in such a hurry?"

"Kid Orange, it's just the two of us here, there's no need to be so formal."

Tensho-in smiled sweetly.

"There is no special reason why I suddenly summoned you here—I simply want to teach you archery."

"Archery?" Qing Deng raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Doesn't the new Imperial Guard not require its soldiers to master archery?"

Tenshōin did not immediately answer Seidō's question.

She waved to Qingdeng, signaling him to come over.

Unaware of what was going on, Qingdeng hesitated for a moment before bracing himself and heading towards Tianzhang Courtyard.

Before even approaching Tianzhang Courtyard, when he was still two or three steps away from the pretty widow, a pleasant fragrance wafted into Qingdeng's nostrils.

The source of this fragrance... needs no further explanation.

At first glance, he didn't have this feeling, but as he spent more time with Tenshōin, Seidō felt more and more that: this woman really does look like a real shrine maiden.

The white-on-top, purple-on-bottom shrine maiden outfit suited her perfectly. And Tenshōin's various expressions and small gestures were very much in the style of a priest.

Qing Deng only just learned that Tenshōin was skilled with a bow, and quite well at that—after knowing this, Qing Deng felt even more that Tenshōin was a perfect match for the position of shrine maiden.

"Bow and arrow" and "shrine maiden"... these two can be considered to be semi-bound together.

Let alone in the modern 21st century, even in the Edo period, people would always associate shrine maidens with bows and arrows.

This is because bows and arrows hold a very special place in Shintoism.

Even now, Japan has a ritual called "Tamamo no Jutsu" to exorcise evil spirits.

This is an exorcism technique in Shintoism. Originally, it involved pulling a bowstring without releasing an arrow to drive away evil spirits with the sound of the string. Later, it evolved into an exorcism technique that uses arrows that emit a high-pitched sound to shoot at evil spirits.

Almost every shrine sells protective items for warding off evil spirits in the home, such as the Demon-Slaying Arrow and the Demon-Slaying Bow, around the Lunar New Year.

These two religious artifacts have always been popular items at the shrine.

In conclusion, the bow and arrow is a weapon that is inextricably linked to priestesses like shrine maidens.

Perhaps because the priestess symbolizes the sacred duty of praying for blessings and exorcising evil spirits, Tenshōin's demeanor became different from usual after putting on this priestess outfit.

It has gained a touch of... a sacred aura that makes one feel "only to be admired from afar and not to be profaned".

This was the first time Qingdeng had ever sensed a sense of "sacredness" from someone else.

Originally, due to factors such as her appearance and figure, Tenshōin's every smile and gesture always exuded a charming temperament.

The "holiness" of the shrine maiden's outfit partially concealed this "allure".

But it only covered up "a part" of it...

If Tenshōin's usual charm is a perfect 10, then after changing into this white robe and purple hakama and dressing up as a shrine maiden, her charm becomes 4 parts holy and 6 parts charming.

Both holy and alluring...

She is like both an immaculate, chaste saint and a passionate, wild woman who loves to wear tank tops and hot pants to dance in nightclubs late at night.

It's quite a sight that these two completely opposite attributes can appear in the same woman...

"Tachibana-kun, come stand over here."

Tenshōin pointed to his left while turning around and taking a Japanese bow, about 2 meters long with a red bow, from the bow rack next to him.

"Here you go. This bow is brand new, so handle it carefully!"

Qingdeng accepted the red ribbon and bow handed to him by Tianzhangyuan.

As soon as he got his hands on the bow, Qingdeng's arms were pulled straight down to the ground by the weight of the bow.

—So heavy!

Whether in his past life or this one, this is the first time Qingdeng has ever held and touched a bow—it is much heavier than Qingdeng had imagined.

However, this is to be expected, since the total length of the bow is over 2 meters.

A length like that would inevitably have a certain weight.

Having underestimated the weight of the bow, Qingdeng quickly tensed the muscles in his arms and managed to steady the bow before it fell to the ground.

"Your Highness, what exactly is going on? Why are you suddenly going to teach me archery?"

Qing Deng asked the question again.

This time, however, Tenshōin finally provided an answer.