I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

He was framed and imprisoned by the "Direct Assistance Alliance" organized by the Akabane family. In order to kill him while he was imprisoned and his movements were restricted, the Akabane family sent assassins to kill him and silence him—this chain of logic is clear and reasonable.

However, while this conjecture is logically consistent, it raises a difficult question: would the Akabane family really go to such lengths to kill him?

It should be noted that because Japanese buildings were extremely vulnerable to fire, arson was a top-priority crime with zero tolerance under the laws of the Edo Shogunate!

All arsonists, regardless of gender or background, are sentenced to be burned alive.

Would the Akabane family really commit arson, a crime that would lead to the annihilation of the entire family if discovered, just to kill him?

"Red Feather? The Extermination Group? Hahahaha!"

The mysterious man laughed loudly, looking up at the sky.

The laughter was so loud and intense that it sounded like a very funny joke.

After the laughter subsided, he said quietly:

"Tachibana Aoto, you have more enemies than you think!"

Qingdeng heard the mysterious man's last few words suddenly become louder.

This wasn't because the mysterious man amplified his voice, but because he instantly closed the distance between himself and Qingdeng!

"Die, Tachibana Aoto!"

A flash of white light streaked through the air, and the raised blade slashed down towards Qing Deng's forehead!

The blade is straight and has great cutting power.

If the cut is solid, Qingdeng's entire head will definitely split in two like a watermelon.

Qing Deng instinctively wanted to draw the sword at his waist to fight back, but he suddenly remembered that he was currently unarmed! Not to mention the sword at his waist, he didn't have a single thing on his body that could be used as a weapon!

"Tsk." Qing Deng clicked his tongue, took a step to the right, and dodged the mysterious man's slash.

Qingdeng's dodging steps concealed a forward lunge and potential energy.

The next moment, Qing Deng lowered his body, slid forward, and intended to subdue the mysterious man by capturing him.

Unexpectedly, the mysterious man was no pushover either. He had already seen through Qing Deng's intentions. Almost at the same time as Qing Deng pounced, he sheathed his katana in front of his chest to protect his body, and leaped backward, not giving Qing Deng a chance to get close.

Qingdeng's counterattack failed, and the mysterious man seized the opportunity to launch a new attack.

The blade, whistling through the air, grazed the ground as it hurtled towards Qing Deng's chest.

Qingdeng dodged. The mysterious man relentlessly delivered a second, a third...

—Damn it, I'm getting more and more dizzy…!

For Qing Deng right now, having no weapons and having to fight the mysterious man's katana with his bare hands is not the most difficult situation.

If we were to pinpoint the most difficult situation Qingdeng is currently facing, it would undoubtedly be that his body is becoming increasingly unable to bear the strain!

The prolonged stay at the fire site had already put Qingdeng's body in a state of extreme discomfort due to lack of oxygen.

The adverse consequences of physical discomfort are manifested in many ways.

For example: decreased strength, slower reaction time, lack of stamina...

Fighting against someone greatly increases the body's demand for oxygen, which further aggravates physical discomfort and makes it increasingly difficult to cope with the mysterious person's fierce attacks.

The inability to subdue the mysterious figure prolonged the battle; the longer the battle dragged on, the more his body began to lose control, making the fight with Kamino even more difficult…

A vicious cycle that's giving us a headache...

—No... If this continues... I'm doomed to lose...

As Qingdeng wiped the sweat from his chin, he pondered a secret plan for counterattack.

"What's wrong, Tachibana Aoto? You look really tired."

The mysterious man noticed Qingdeng's fatigue and decline, and seemed to be playing a game of cat and mouse, so he slowed down his attack on Qingdeng.

He walked slowly toward Qingdeng while carrying his knife, mocking Qingdeng without restraint.

Qingdeng ignored the mysterious man's taunts and focused all his attention on figuring out how to turn the situation around.

At this moment, Qingdeng suddenly noticed a long stick at his feet, which must have been part of the roof beam.

This long stick, with one end intact and the other end burning, was hidden deep in the shadows.

From the mysterious man's perspective, he shouldn't be able to see this stick...

"..." Qing Deng pondered for a moment, then—

"Cough! Cough! Cough cough!"

Suddenly, Qingdeng knelt down on one knee, supporting himself with his hands on the ground, and coughed rapidly as if he were about to vomit his lungs out.

Upon seeing this, the mysterious man raised an eyebrow and said in a tone of regret and pity:

"Is it over already...? No matter how skilled a swordsman is, he becomes weak and vulnerable once he loses his sword. What a pity, I was hoping to experience Niou's power a little longer..."

The mysterious man let out a long, affected sigh.

Then, he strode forward and charged straight toward Qingdeng!

Crackling sounds—!

The lower part of the knife tip dragged on the ground, making a series of piercing, sharp sounds.

It seems the mysterious man intends to finish the job in one fell swoop and eliminate Qingdeng!

The mysterious man was charging towards them, while Qing Deng remained on his hands, coughing painfully.

"Die, Ju Qingdeng!" The mysterious man's voice was high-pitched and almost hoarse. "Blood for blood!"

The katana swept diagonally upwards across Qing Deng's head.

In that split second, Qingdeng, who had been coughing painfully, suddenly stopped coughing.

In an instant, Qingdeng suddenly bent and stretched his upper body like a spring! At the same time, he reached out and pulled out the wooden stick that was lying quietly at his feet, and put it on his waist.

Using the momentum of his forward lunge, Qingdeng dodged the mysterious man's knife and passed by him.

In the instant the two figures overlapped and then separated, Qing Deng swung his wooden stick horizontally! The stick struck the mysterious man squarely in the waist and abdomen.

"Puwa!"

The mysterious man's backward flight resembled a baseball hit with a home run.

His body had just hit the ground...

Bang!

It sounded just like a watermelon being smashed, echoing throughout the fire.

Qingdeng didn't even give the other party a chance to say his last words. As soon as the mysterious man fell from the sky, he rushed forward and swung his stick repeatedly at the mysterious man's face.

He kept hitting it seven times in a row... until the mysterious man's head was almost reduced from three-dimensional to two-dimensional before he finally stopped.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully replicated talent: "Iron Lungs"]

[Talent Introduction: Stronger cardiopulmonary function than the average person]

[Ding! Detected that the host already possesses a talent of the same type]

[Ding! Initiating talent fusion]

[Ding! "Iron Lung" and "Iron Lung +1" have begun to fuse.]

[Please wait, host... Please wait, host...]

[Ding! Talent fusion successful]

[Upgrade from "Iron Lungs +1" to "Iron Lungs +2"]

[“Iron Lung +2” Talent Description: The talent effect is enhanced on top of its original effect. “+9” is the highest level.]

"Have you experienced the power of Niou now?"

*******

*******

Please vote for me! Please recommend me! (Like a leopard crying.jpg)

Can anyone guess which faction wants to take Qingdeng's name?

Chapter 364 Si Zuo Wu Qi Saves Qing Deng [5100]

"Huff...! Huff...! Huff...!"

Qingdeng tossed the blood-stained wooden stick in his hand far into the fire behind him.

"Who exactly is this guy...?"

That was close... Qing Deng breathed a sigh of relief.

He had just taken a completely risky gamble! He was betting that the mysterious man hadn't noticed the wooden stick at his feet; he was deliberately practicing, betting that the mysterious man would be careless and underestimate him; he was betting that his body could still dodge the mysterious man's blade and launch a counterattack.

If any link in this whole process goes wrong... then the person who has lost their life now is probably not the mysterious person, but Qing Deng.

Who exactly is this person...?

Qingdeng removed the mysterious man's straw hat.

Although the guy's face was beaten bloody and mangled, his features still retained their general outline, and if you looked closely, you could still make out his face with difficulty.

Small eyes, square mouth, flat nose...

An unremarkable face.

A face that Qingdeng didn't recognize at all.

(Akabane? The Extermination Group? Hahahaha! Tachibana Aoto! Your enemies... are far more numerous than you imagine!)

(Die, Tachibana Aoto! Pay for your blood debt!)

The words the mysterious man had just shouted echoed in Qing Deng's ears again and again, lingering for a long time.

—A blood debt...?

Qingdeng's brows furrowed into a deep frown.