I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The two returned to the bustling street.

Just then, Qingdeng suddenly heard an angry shout from behind him:

"That's enough! Lark! How many times do I have to tell you before you understand? Stop doing such stupid things!"

Because the shout was so loud and clear, Qingdeng couldn't help but turn around and look back.

A middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothes, his face flushed red, was scolding a beautiful girl dressed as a prostitute in the street.

The girl who had been verbally abused was about 18 years old. She lowered her head, her beautiful eyes staring blankly at the ground in front of her feet, expressionless and silent.

"Ah, it's a lark..."

Uryuu Hideya turned around when she heard the commotion, and after seeing who was being scolded, she gave a wry smile.

"She must have stolen something again."

"Stealing again?" Qing Deng raised an eyebrow. "Is that girl a habitual thief?"

"No."

While shaking his head, Gu Shengxiu showed a look of bewilderment, as if he were both laughing and crying.

"How should I put it..."

"To put it simply: 10 days ago, a theft occurred at Akane-ya... which is the brothel where Hyakki belongs."

"In order to catch the thief, the owner of Akane-ya summoned the 'three-times' samurai from the Magistrate's Office."

"Among the officials who came to investigate the case, there was a young man who was particularly handsome—Bailing fell in love with him at first sight."

"Because prostitutes who have not been redeemed are not allowed to leave Yoshiwara, in order to see the young man again, Hyakki frequently and deliberately steals things, hoping that her beloved will return to Yoshiwara to investigate the case."

"However, Bailing really had no talent for stealing, and she was always caught red-handed whenever she tried to steal something."

"Fortunately, Bailing's boss is a kind-hearted person who did not pursue Bailing's repeated failures to correct its mistakes."

"If it were anyone else, they would probably have beaten this silly girl half to death for stealing from the store repeatedly just to meet someone."

Upon hearing this, Qingdeng shrank back.

"Is she trying to emulate 'Seven from the Eight Hundred Houses'...?"

Seven of the Eight Hundred Houses – a famous anecdote from the Edo period.

In 1682, a massive fire destroyed more than half of Edo, reducing the city to ashes.

A-Qi, the daughter of a vegetable shop owner, and her family fled to Jixiang Temple to escape the fire, where she fell in love at first sight with the abbot's page. After the fire, A-Qi returned to her home and, hoping to see her beloved again, set fires everywhere, hoping to escape to Jixiang Temple once more. Although she did not cause a major disaster, arson is a serious crime, so A-Qi was still sentenced to be burned at the stake.

Later, because Ah Qi's story spread widely, the "Heavenly Fire" that allowed Ah Qi to meet the pageboy was also popularly known as "Ah Qi's Fire".

Guasheng Xiu heard Qingdeng's murmur and said with a bitter expression:

"Sigh... If it's just stealing, that's fine, as long as she doesn't do anything as outrageous and foolish as Ah Qi..."

……

……

Aoto and Uryuu Hide sped through the streets of Yoshiwara.

In a short while—

Yoshiwara, Akane-ya, Hyakki's room—

The owner of Akane-ya

Bai Ling returned to her bedroom with heavy steps.

"Ugh……"

As soon as the door, adorned with various exquisite patterns, closed, Lark let out a long sigh and then collapsed onto the tatami mat like a lump of mud.

Although she had just been publicly berated by her boss, she still didn't understand the meaning of "repentance."

Lying on her side, she stared blankly at the pattern of the tatami mat, muttering to herself:

"Shimano-kun... I really want to see you again..."

Shimano—the surname of the official who was instantly smitten by the lark.

Feeling dejected, Lark slumped into the tatami mat, remaining there for a long time.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a wanted poster on the wall next to him.

Yoshiwara was the busiest place in Edo, and perhaps only Nihonbashi, the starting point of the "Five Streets", could surpass it.

Therefore, the authorities would often order the owners of brothels to post wanted posters for fugitives in the brothels' rooms.

The wanted poster that Bailing noticed at that moment... the person depicted on it was Qingdeng.

As one of the prime suspects in the "Akabane family massacre," Aoto's wanted posters had long been plastered all over the streets and alleys of Edo.

Bai Ling stared blankly at Qing Deng's wanted poster.

A moment later, as if she had remembered something happy, beams of joy appeared on her cheeks.

Whoosh!

She flung open the door and rushed out of the room.

As she turned a corner of a corridor, she nearly bumped into an elderly woman who was carrying a clothes basket.

"Hey! Lark! Be careful! Why are you walking so fast!"

"Ah! Miss Ze! You've come at the perfect time!"

The old woman, whom Bai Ling called "Miss Ze," was a servant of their Akane House.

"Han-shou" can be understood as a maid in a brothel, whose main job is to supervise, teach, and take care of the brothel girls.

Most of the people who do this kind of work are retired prostitutes who have no skills other than 'pleasing men', so they choose to stay in the prostitute house and work.

"Miss Ze! Please! Please do me a favor!"

"Huh? Help? What kind of help?"

"Please inform the authorities: A person resembling Tachibana Aoto has appeared in Yoshiwara!"

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I've written almost 6000 words today! Please vote with monthly tickets! Please recommend me! (Like a leopard crying.jpg)

To avoid being criticized for being sloppy, the author adds a disclaimer: There's a reason why this chapter details the suicides of Feng Hua and Hong Mei; please see later in the story for more details~

Chapter 382 Do you even understand the value of being number one in the police academy? Qing Deng solves the case in an instant! [5000]

Yoshiwara is not just about brothels.

Grocery stores, rain shops, pharmacies, general stores... Yoshiwara has all the shops you can imagine for daily life.

The people living in Yoshiwara were not only courtesans, but also many ordinary people—most of them were employees who worked odd jobs in the courtesan houses, or officials who served in the Shirobei Club.

The aforementioned shops catered specifically to the courtesans who couldn't leave Yoshiwara, as well as the townspeople who lived in Yoshiwara.

Although Yoshiwara is a city with everything and complete functions, it is essentially just a red-light district.

It's not small, but it's not particularly big either.

In just over half an hour, Qingdeng and Guashengxiu searched all the places Baiju usually went to and might go to—but found nothing.

Since then, Qingdeng and Guasheng have both fallen silent due to their heavy hearts.

Throughout her life, Zhong Guashengxiu regarded "protecting prostitutes" as her responsibility.

The fact that a courtesan... and a courtesan with whom he had a fairly good relationship had disappeared without a trace, and that he couldn't find her anywhere—the impact of this on Uryuu Hide was immense, needless to say.

As for Qingdeng, needless to say.

Bai Ju is the only clue he currently has to track down the gang.

To obtain this line, he was even willing to engage in a direct confrontation with the Fire Thief.

He had gone to great lengths to obtain such a precious clue, only to have it all abruptly and inexplicably cut off... How could Qingdeng possibly accept this? How could he swallow this grievance?

"Hanada-kun, we've arrived. This is the last place I can think of where Shirogane might come to...

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng raised his eyes and looked around—a huge lantern came into view.

"here it is?"

As soon as he asked the question, Qingdeng realized the answer on his own.

Huge lanterns... There is only one place in Yoshiwara with huge lanterns.

Guasheng Xiu's subsequent answer confirmed the correctness of Qingdeng's conjecture.

"This is the Akiha Jotō-mō used to enshrine Akiha Gongen."

Akiha Gongen: A deity born from the fusion of mountain worship and Shugendo (Buddhist monasticism) in Akihayama, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, also known as "Akiha Sanshakubo Daigongen".

Shugendo: A form of traditional Japanese asceticism that combines characteristics of Chinese Buddhism and Japanese Shintoism. It was once very popular in Japan, with believers practicing rigorous asceticism on various sacred mountains.

[Shinto and Buddhism merge: This refers to the fusion of Shinto and Buddhism in Japan into a single belief system. It generally refers to the phenomenon of the unification of Shinto and Buddhism in Japan.]

Akiha Ken is now a household name in Japan, and he is regarded as a "fire-preventing god" who can prevent fires.

Why is Akiha Kengen enshrined in Yoshiwara Village to prevent fires?

The reason is not complicated.

Firstly, the "Kan'ei Fire," which burned the entire "Motoyoshiwara" to the ground two hundred years ago and turned most of the courtesans into human-shaped charred remains, left a very deep psychological shadow on the public.

Secondly, Yoshiwara was one of the areas in Edo where fires were most frequent.

Although according to the rules of Yoshiwara, courtesans can retire at the age of 28, this does not mean that they can rest easy after reaching the age of 28.

First of all, in this era without advanced hygiene concepts, and in this work environment where day and night are reversed and there are no rest days, any woman who can live to the age of 28 is an extremely lucky "chosen one".

Even if one is truly blessed by heaven and manages to reach the retirement age of 28, one must still overcome an insurmountable hurdle before truly embracing freedom—paying off one's debts.

All the courtesans in Yoshiwara are heavily in debt.

Daily expenses such as food, clothing, and other necessities were all recorded in the personal accounts of the courtesans.