I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"As you handed the purse back to me with both hands, you said to me in a very gentle tone, 'Sir, you dropped your purse.'"

"From that day... no! From the moment I saw your bright smile, I fell deeply in love with you!"

"White Chrysanthemum, oh White Chrysanthemum! How I long to hold you in my arms! How I long to stay with you forever!"

"Although I'm just an ordinary grocery store clerk and don't have the money to buy your release... it doesn't matter!"

"The human body may be restricted in many ways, but the soul is free!"

"I've long been fed up with this world, which feels like living in a cage!"

"There's always work to be done!"

"I have no money!"

"I have no family!"

"I see no hope of achieving great success!"

"Bai Ju! You have to serve men other than me every night, you must be in a lot of pain too, right?"

"In that case, let us join hands and journey to the Yellow Springs together!"

"After we die together, our souls will surely be inseparable!"

"After we die together, we will surely be reborn as a loving couple!"

"White Chrysanthemum! Look! This place and this moment are exactly the same place and time that Feng Hua and her lover shared back then!"

"I particularly admire that a top star who has no worries about food and drink and whose freedom is only a matter of time before she regains it, dares to pursue the romance in her lover's heart!"

"In order to pay tribute to the great predecessors, I have decided to follow the example of Fuuka and die with you under the bright lights of Akihayama on a windy night!"

"I've been waiting for so long, and finally the stormy night has arrived!"

"But...but...but...!"

"How hateful! How hateful!"

"Just one step away! Just one step away!"

"In just two incense sticks' worth of time, it will be time for Feng Hua and her lover to cross over to the other shore hand in hand!"

"We only needed to hold on for the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn!"

"Because of this beast's appearance! Everything has been ruined!"

"How hateful!"

At this point, the young man... Ji Ba struggled to raise his head and fiercely pierced Qing Deng with his eyes full of deep resentment.

Ji Ba's emotions are quite unstable.

Simply put, he's currently acting like a madman... no, you should say he's always been a madman.

One second he was frantically explaining his "love" to Bai Ju, and the next second he was wailing as if he were dying.

Although Ji Ba was speaking incoherently, and his words were disorganized and difficult to understand, Qing Deng still managed to roughly understand the ins and outs of the whole incident.

"Humph."

Qing Deng snorted coldly.

"After all this time, it turns out to be the 'irrational mind' of a delusional person."

In a fit of irrationality, he forced himself to commit suicide for love.

Even in the 21st century, such absurd things are still common, especially in the current Edo period.

After all, the people under the rule of the shogunate were not enlightened.

The ignorant and backward masses generally have a deep-seated belief in the concepts of "afterlife," "reincarnation," and "the afterlife."

Under the influence of such feudal ideologies, irrational thoughts emerged frequently.

In summary, Baiju's disappearance was a terrible farce from beginning to end.

A delusional, insane man, for the sake of so-called "love" and so-called "escape from the painful world," tries to force an innocent girl to commit suicide with him.

Without Uryuu Hideaki and Aoto, Yoshiwara would likely have lost another tragically wronged soul tonight…

It's terrifying to even think about.

Ji Ba seemed to want to say something more.

But Qing Deng had already lost interest in listening any further.

"Shut up, I've had enough of your stupid talk."

When dealing with villains... especially villains whose every word and action makes people feel extremely uncomfortable, Qing Deng never shows mercy.

He stretched out his large, iron-like hand, grabbed Jiba's chin—crack—and dislocated it.

"Ugh...! Ugh...! Ugh...!"

The world fell silent instantly.

Finally, he no longer had to listen to this madman's incoherent ramblings, and Qing Deng breathed a sigh of relief—he inexplicably felt a sense of relief, as if he had returned from a mental hospital to normal society.

The commotion caused by Ji Ba attracted more and more onlookers.

The human wall surrounding Qing Deng and the others had thickened several layers.

The onlookers cast disdainful glances at Ji Ba beneath Qing Deng.

No sane human being would ever look at a delusional pervert with admiration.

"Ugh...! Granny Guasheng...!"

With her snow-white face, Baiju tried to get up and move away from Jiba, but she stumbled and quickly reached out to grab Gusheng Xiu's shoulder to avoid falling.

Bai Ju was completely terrified at this moment—which is not hard to understand.

To put it nicely: Ji Ba's so-called "love" is far too heavy.

To put it bluntly: who wouldn't be afraid of being entangled with an extreme madman?

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid... Grandma is here. As long as Grandma is here, no one can hurt you."

With a gentle touch, like caressing a baby, Uryu gently patted Shiraki's back.

With Guasheng Xiu's comforting words, Baiju's emotions gradually calmed down, and some color returned to her pretty face.

"Sir Samurai! Please use this!"

A boy dressed as a peddler stepped out from the crowd, glaring indignantly at Jiba as he handed Qingdeng a thick, long hemp rope.

"Quickly tie this beast up!"

"Thank you."

Qingdeng nodded his thanks to the boy and then took the rope from his hand.

Just as Qingdeng was skillfully binding Jiba Wuhua, Guasheng Xiu, who was still comforting Baiju not far away, suddenly spoke up:

"Hanada-kun."

She turned her face and gave Qingdeng a curious, questioning look.

"How did you figure out that it was this guy who kidnapped Bai Ju?"

"I did not discover that he had kidnapped Baiju."

Qing Deng answered without hesitation.

"To be honest, I was also shocked when I found the white chrysanthemum in this rascal's bamboo basket. I simply found that this guy was suspicious, so I became suspicious—that's all."

"There's a problem? How did you figure out this guy was problematic?"

"Because of cats."

"cat?"

Guasheng Xiu tilted his head, looking bewildered.

The big orange cat, still huddled not far away, pouted.

"This beast is dressed like a cat dancer, but he's holding a cat that's afraid of people and can't understand the shamisen."

Upon hearing Qing Deng's words, Gu Shengxiu immediately showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

"So that's how it is... A cat...!"

Cat dancer: As the name suggests, this is an artist who performs cat dances.

The so-called "cat dance" is a very common and long-standing art form in the Edo period—the performer plays the shamisen, and the cats dance to the music.

It seems incredible that cats, known for their aloofness and reluctance to interact with humans, can understand music and even dance. However, the secret is not complicated.

Behind the cat's adorable dance lies a cruel truth...

First, prepare a brazier with burning charcoal. Once the charcoal is burning brightly, place a copper coin on top of the brazier, like a monji-yaki (a type of Japanese shamisen). After the coin is heated, lower the cat, which is tied with hemp rope, from the ceiling and place it on the coin. Because its paws are hot, the cat will quickly and alternately raise its front and hind paws, taking the opportunity to play a shamisen. Initially, the shamisen will play in sync with the cat's movements. After the cat gets used to it, it will dance to the rhythm of the shamisen music on its own. With long-term training, once the shamisen is played, the cat will naturally raise its paws and dance on a normal floor to the music—cat dances are generally trained in this way.

Because they perform in front of people for a long time, the cats used for cat dances are all very brave and fearless.

To facilitate promotion, cat dancers often hold their most trained and adorable cats in their arms.

Because there are often more than one cat used for performances, cat dancers always carry a large bamboo basket that can hold several cats.

Thus, the typical image of a cat dancer is one who holds a zither in one hand, carries a cat used for promotion in the other, and has a large bamboo basket on his back that can hold several cats.

It must be said that although Ji Baren is crazy, he is not stupid.

Because cats look so cute when they dance, this art form is especially popular with women.

As a result, cat dancers can be seen everywhere on the streets of Yoshiwara.

If you were to disguise yourself as a cat dancer in Yoshiwara, it would be like a drop of water falling into the sea or a leaf entering the forest. Whether you were hiding yourself or sneaking into a brothel, it would be much easier.

More importantly, the only people who can openly carry containers that can be used to transport "large creatures" in Yoshiwara are... cat dancers!

While the bamboo baskets used by cat dancers are large, logically speaking, they shouldn't be able to hold a whole person.

However... Bai Ju is precisely that kind of exception that defies common sense.

Because white chrysanthemums are particularly short and petite!

Ji Ba didn't need much effort to stuff her into the bamboo basket.