I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The extremely high population density leads to an extremely high building density.

Ancient Japanese architecture and furniture were made of wood and paper, making them extremely flammable.

A fire often reduces several buildings, or even an entire block or a large part of a city to ashes.

As for the frequent fighting incidents in Edo... there are mainly two reasons.

One reason is that, due to the influence of the "sankin-kotai" system, a large number of foreigners from various feudal domains would flood into Edo every year.

These outsiders who flocked to Edo generally differed significantly from the locals in terms of culture and customs.

The samurai of remote regions like Satsuma and Matsumae were not only very different from the people of Edo in terms of culture and customs, but they also did not understand each other's languages.

For the people of Edo, the local dialects such as Satsuma and Matsumae were no different from the languages ​​of overseas countries such as English and French; they were all incomprehensible gibberish.

If people's cultures, customs, and lifestyles are incompatible, then it is only natural that conflicts are more likely to arise.

Arguments between Edo locals and outsiders in the streets were a common sight in Edo.

Another reason is the influence of the local customs of Edo.

People in Edo were notoriously concerned with saving face, vain, and risking their lives for their reputation.

Disputes arising from jealousy and envy of talent were commonplace in the streets and alleys of Edo.

Even the smallest, most trivial matter can become the trigger for a fight between the two sides.

Under the corrupting influence of the distorted Bushido system reformed by the Edo Shogunate, the samurai community generally regarded so-called honor as something above all else.

Confucianism, influenced by the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties shaped by Zhu Xi and other noble figures, advocated "preserving heavenly principles and eliminating human desires" and "starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's integrity is a great matter."

Edo people + samurai + Confucian scholars... This group of pedantic scholars in front of Qing Deng has almost stacked up all their buffs!

If these idiots can remain calm and composed after being subjected to his insults, which are practically like stabbing them in the back, and engage in a peaceful verbal debate with him without resorting to violence... then Qing Deng would be quite surprised!

Judging from the current situation, the anger of these pedantic scholars has truly been ignited.

Although they were very unwilling to accept it, Qing Deng's comments were indeed very insightful!

They are just jealous and afraid.

Jealous of Tachibana Aoto and Katsura Rintaro, who, despite being ignorant of the teachings of sages, were able to gain favor with the shogunate and rise rapidly in rank.

He feared that the shogunate would no longer value Confucian scholars, and that the classics he had studied for many years would become worthless paper that could no longer help them embark on an official career.

This jealousy and fear are the root causes of their hostility towards successful individuals like Seido and their resentment towards the shogunate for "burying talent."

The pedantic scholars were utterly swayed by Qing Deng's words... their emotions completely collapsed, and they were so indignant that they could hardly contain themselves.

This deep-seated grief and indignation cannot be quelled by a few innocuous words.

Qingdeng, realizing this, silently breathed a sigh of relief.

—Today's incognito visit was truly full of unexpected events...

At that moment, Qing Deng suddenly heard the voice of Tian Zhang Yuan behind him.

"Sheng Qing!"

Qing Deng turned his head and looked back. Tenshōin, with a faint smile on his cheek, met his gaze with calm eyes.

"Do you need me to send Sae and Yae to help you?"

Qingdeng chuckled to himself:

"No need. You can just order some fresh tea and some new snacks, eat and drink on the side, and quietly watch from the side."

After saying that, Qingdeng turned his gaze back to the front, looked into the eyes of the freckled face, and said:

"Let's go outside."

Qing Deng, adjusting the low-brimmed straw hat on his head, strode out of the teahouse first.

Just as he was about to pass through the shop door, he suddenly remembered something, turned around, and faced Miss Shoudai.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Teshiro, the commotion we cause later might affect your shop's business. This is just a small compensation, nothing more."

Qingdeng reached into his pocket, pulled out a small gold coin, tossed it to Miss Shoudai, and then turned and left the teahouse without looking back.

As soon as the group left the teahouse, they immediately attracted a lot of curious glances.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Why are those people so menacing?"

"I don't know... Judging from this, it seems like these two groups are about to fight?"

"A fight? Wow! I didn't expect such a good show to happen on the first day of the new year! Let's go join the fun!"

"Hiss...! Hey, hey, hey, aren't the numbers of these two groups a bit different?"

"Tsk! Is that samurai in the straw hat planning to take on 14 people by himself? Isn't that a bit too brave? Does he think he's Niou Tachibana Aoto?"

In the blink of an eye, Qing Deng and the Confucian scholars were surrounded by layers upon layers of people.

In the blink of an eye, the street where Qing Deng and the others were located was packed with onlookers and Tokugawa Iemochi and his entourage who came out of the teahouse.

"Boy!" The freckled-faced man drew his sword in a flash. "State your name! We don't fight nobodies!"

"You are not qualified to let me give my name."

As he said this, Qing Deng opened the scabbard at his waist, relaxed his arms, steadied his feet, and regulated his breathing—just watching as the pedantic scholars, who had been further enraged by his words, watched him.

"Fine!" The freckled man, his face flushed red, gritted his teeth. "If that's how it is, then take this!"

whoosh whoosh whoosh...

The clanging sound of a sword being drawn echoed throughout the street, which was neither too big nor too small.

The 14 Confucian scholars, who had all drawn their swords, dispersed, creating enough space that would not hinder each other's movements, and surrounded Qingdeng in a fan-shaped formation.

Although the Confucian scholars all drew their swords, as if by prior agreement, none of them held the swords upright. Instead, they all turned their swords around so that the back of the blades faced Qing Deng.

It is clear that they have not completely lost their rationality; they know that fighting is one thing, but injuring someone and killing someone are two completely different things.

If it is the former, the officials of the magistrate's office, who are overwhelmed by mountains of government affairs every day and are mostly unwilling to offend the sons of the shogunate retainers, will most likely try to downplay the matter.

But if it's the latter... then the trouble would be much bigger.

Although the Confucian scholars did not know Qing Deng's true identity, based on Qing Deng's traveler's attire, they guessed that Qing Deng was a traveler from some domain or other shogunate territory, and was definitely not a bandit or ronin who didn't care about dying.

Killing a registered samurai... committing such an offense could result in losing one's samurai title and being demoted to a commoner.

For these arrogant and conceited Confucian scholars, this was an unbearable pain.

Therefore, despite being furious, these pedantic scholars still maintained basic restraint.

The corrupt scholars, who had already drawn their swords and were ready for battle, and Qing Deng, who remained standing naturally—the confrontation between the two sides at opposite ends of the street made the air at the scene seem humidified and heavy.

The tense atmosphere, on the verge of exploding, made many people at the scene feel breathless and find it difficult to breathe.

"Hey, what's that guy doing? Why isn't he drawing his sword? Why is he just standing there like that?"

"Who knows... could he have been scared out of his wits?"

Similar discussions could be heard from various parts of the surrounding crowd.

It's no wonder they had this question, since Qing Deng's current appearance certainly didn't look like that of a swordsman preparing for a big battle.

His upright posture makes him look more like a general preparing to inspect his troops.

The battle erupted at an extremely unexpected moment!

"Waaaaaahh ...

Fourteen Confucian scholars poured out of the city and charged towards Qingdeng with great momentum!

Among them, the freckled-faced scholar and the Confucian scholar located on his left and right sides ran the fastest.

The distance between the two sides—less than 20 meters—was shortened in one go.

Just as the freckled-faced man's half-foot stepped into Qing Deng's blade circle—

Bang!

A flash of energy and a sword!

The freckled man flew backward and crashed hard into the outer wall of a shop.

With a ferocious expression still on his face, he had no idea what had happened before he fainted.

In an instant, the Confucian scholars and most of the onlookers froze.

Qing Deng drew his katana from his waist without anyone noticing.

The instant he drew his sword, he struck the freckled man squarely in the waist and abdomen with lightning speed, sending him flying.

Not finished yet.

Qingdeng's offensive has not stopped!

He took a half step back with his right foot, and his body and hands tilted to the left and right respectively.

The blade that had knocked the freckled face away returned and swung back towards the scholars who had just charged to the left and right of the freckled face.

The first strike was delivered from the upper right to the lower left, aimed at the scholar on the right.

There was a tactile sensation of being struck by a knife—the scholar who had been stabbed cried out in surprise, his body instantly going limp to the ground as if he had lost all his bones.

The next strike was a vertical slash from the lower left to the upper right, aimed at the scholar on the left.

This scholar is quite capable; he actually kept up with Qing Deng's sword speed.

He looked like a complete novice holding a knife for the first time, awkwardly raising his sword to parry—clang—although he successfully blocked Qing Deng's attack, he was in a sorry state, clutching the sword that had been deflected, and staggered back several steps before barely managing to stop his retreat and steady himself.

From the start of the battle until now, less than 7 seconds have passed at most.

In such a short time, Qingdeng had already temporarily rendered two of the Confucian scholars incapable of fighting.

These guys were just stupid and didn't do anything heinous, so Qingdeng showed them mercy. Like the Confucian scholars, he only used the back of his sword against his enemies, and at the same time, he restrained his movements, controlling the force of his attacks to a level that would not cause injury or death.

In the next instant, an unbelievable scene unfolded before the eyes of the scholars who were still able to stand properly.

Qingdeng suddenly vanished from his spot, leaving only a fleeting afterimage.

A moment later, a scream startled everyone.

Everyone turned to look at the sound—and saw one of their companions flying through the air with a contorted expression on his face.

Qing Deng, who had appeared before this person at some unknown time, remained in a sword-drawing stance.