I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

To an unsuspecting person, it would be impossible to imagine that the bamboo basket on the back of this "cat dancer" does not contain a cat, but a living person!

To be fair, Jiba's tactic of disguising himself as a cat dancer was quite cunning.

He almost succeeded.

Fortunately, even the most meticulous plans can have a flaw.

Despite his painstaking efforts in dressing up, he made a mistake with the most crucial prop—the cat in his arms.

Why pick up a cat that's obviously afraid of people and has a social anxiety disorder?

Whether in his past life or this life, Qingdeng has never owned a cat.

However, he is quite familiar with cats.

The reason for this is that he has a girlfriend who loves cats very much and also owns a big orange cat... namely Kinoshita Mai.

Kinoshita Mai often likes to explain to Aoto the cuteness of cats and their various habits.

According to Kinoshita Mai, a major characteristic of "socially anxious cats" is that when they first arrive in an unfamiliar environment, they will curl up into a ball, stiffen their limbs, and have their eyes wander—which coincides with the behavior of the big orange cat in Jiba's arms just now.

A cat dancer holding a "socially anxious cat"... How is this any different from someone who makes a living based on their looks smearing mud on their face?

To avoid any misunderstanding, Qing Deng even borrowed a shamisen from a passing geisha.

If it's a cat belonging to a cat dancer, then it will definitely show some unusual reaction after hearing the music of the shamisen.

However, after Qing Deng played the shamisen for quite a while, the orange cat in Ji Ba's arms remained unmoved.

At this point, Qing Deng was certain that the "cat dancer" was an imposter!

Why would this person pretend to be a cat dancer? Relying on his "police instincts" accumulated from his past and present lives, Qing Deng instantly realized the moment this thought crossed his mind that the biggest difference between cat dancers and ordinary people was that they always carried huge bamboo baskets that could hide a lot of things!

Qing Deng, who was extremely suspicious of Ji Ba, did not hesitate to capture him.

Unexpectedly, it yielded great results.

Finding white chrysanthemums was a completely unexpected surprise.

Just as Qingdeng had just said, until Guasheng Xiu opened the bamboo basket, he had no idea that what was inside was white chrysanthemum.

Qing Deng apologized for his earlier complaints—his luck wasn't too bad tonight.

To think that Bai Ju could be found in such a way... Qing Deng couldn't help but feel a surge of relief.

After listening quietly to Qing Deng's explanation, Gu Shengxiu looked Qing Deng up and down with a complicated expression.

"...Hanada-kun, you wouldn't happen to be an official who served in the 'Sanhui' of the Magistrate's Office, the Fire and Thief Regiment, the Eight Provinces Expeditionary Officer... or any of these places, would you?"

That's right! You guessed it—Qingdeng, who is currently still hiding his identity, couldn't possibly say that openly.

So he could only smile and remain silent.

Although Qing Deng has rarely dealt with cases that require mental effort since he was transferred to the Fire and Thieves Bureau, and has mostly done fighting and killing, his case-solving skills, which he learned and accumulated in his previous and present lives, are not so easy to lose.

At that moment, Qingdeng heard a series of rapid footsteps approaching from afar.

"Ah! The officials from Shirobei's club have arrived!"

Someone shouted.

Qing Deng looked in the direction of the sound—a group of young men dressed in dark blue haori and carrying wooden sticks were hurrying toward them.

Judging from the attire and weapons of these "guests," they were undoubtedly officials from Shirobei's club.

In name only, Shirobei's office is a government department specifically responsible for managing Yoshiwara, but its core function is to maintain the security of Yoshiwara.

Despite bearing such an important responsibility, the equipment at Shirobei's club is notoriously poor.

The main weapon was a club; even basic catching tools such as jigs and harpoons were not provided.

Besides, the officials working at Shirobei's office were almost all commoners, with virtually no samurai among them.

Therefore, not a single person in the entire guild could carry a sword with them...

—Really…

Qingdeng twitched the corner of his mouth.

Why is it that officials, no matter where they are, always seem to arrive late...?

Just as Qing Deng was pulling Ji Ba up from the ground, preparing to hand over this mentally unstable idiot once the officials from Shirobei's club arrived—

*Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!*

Qingdeng suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind him!

He suddenly turned his head.

Two samurai with their hands on their swords charged towards Uryuu Hide, who was still embracing Shiraki, like arrows released from a bow!

The two warriors were a burly man with broad shoulders and a thick waist, and an ugly man with a birthmark on his face.

bass!

bass!

Two chilling sounds of swords being drawn suddenly rang out!

The two samurai positioned themselves differently as they charged forward, then swiftly swung their swords down towards Uryuu Hideaki's head!

No...that's not right!

Their knives were not aimed at Gu Shengxiu.

Instead, she ran towards the white chrysanthemum in Gu Shengxiu's arms!

Guasheng Xiu was completely caught in the crossfire!

In that instant, Qingdeng's body moved with lightning speed without his conscious control.

"Mother-in-law—!"

He quickly threw away the Jiba in his hand and reached for the new sword at his waist: Echizen Sumitsu Riku no Kami Kaneshige, and at the same time, he charged towards Uryuu Hide!

Qingdeng arrived at the rescue at the fastest speed he could.

But... Uryuu Hideaki is too far away from him.

No matter how fast Qingdeng's footsteps were, they weren't fast enough to teleport.

The moment Qing Deng took a step, the two samurai's swords were already hovering above Uryuu Hide's head...

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

As expected, no one guessed how Qingdeng discovered that Jiba was problematic.

Cat dancers from the Edo period—I stumbled upon this little-known fact while researching. I thought to myself, "This little-known fact might be useful in a novel," so I jotted it down, and it actually came in handy! (Laughing emoji)

However, some readers have quite imaginative ideas. For example, some suggest that the shamisen is made of cat skin, so cats hate the shamisen, and so on.

The plot that uses cats to solve cases, while not exactly dramatic, is cleverly constructed! It's full of foreshadowing and setup.

In the previous chapter, Guasheng Xiu mentioned to Qingdeng that Baiju was as short as her. Most readers, upon reading this, only focused on mocking Guasheng Xiu's height.

However, this plot point is actually a crucial foreshadowing of "Baiju being hidden in the cat cage," which you might not have expected!

As for the feelings between Feng Hua and her lover, that goes without saying. It's basically a blatant warning: Pay attention! This is foreshadowing!

Chapter 384 The Benevolent King Makes His Move! Crushing the Enemy! [5000]

All of this happened too fast.

One second everything was calm, the next two assassins suddenly appeared and charged towards her—this unexpected turn of events left Uryuu Hide speechless.

As for Bai Ju… she didn’t even react.

Her pretty face still held a look of relief at surviving the ordeal.

Just 3 more seconds...

Three seconds later, the two samurai's swords would fall on Uryuu Hide and Hakukiku.

Three seconds later, blood splattered everywhere, and life was lost.

Three seconds later, two corpses, one old and one young, will appear on the ground...

Presumably, everyone would think that way—before witnessing what was about to happen.

At this critical moment, a scene that even Qing Deng couldn't help but be stunned by suddenly happened to Gu Shengxiu.

Uryuu was deeply shocked by the sudden turn of events. However, it only lasted for a moment.

In an instant, Uryuu Hide concealed the astonishment on her face, and at the same time, she took action!

She first pushed the white chrysanthemum in her arms aside, then took the initiative to face the two samurai and the two swords that were only inches away from her!

*Smack!*

The straw sandals, barely the size of an adult's palm, dragged a long trail on the muddy ground, making a loud scraping sound—Guasheng Xiu suddenly took half a step to the right.

This mere "half a step" allowed Uryuu to dodge out of the path of the burly man's sword among the two samurai.

This mere "half a step" separates "life" from "death".

The burly man's katana grazed past Guasheng Xiu's body, the sharp blade striking only the air in vain.

Guasheng Xiu's displacement distance was neither more nor less.

If her step had been even slightly slower or shorter, the outcome would have been very different.

However, dodging the strongman's attack... was not enough.

After all, the people wielding swords and slashing at Gu Shengxiu at this moment were not just the burly man.

Whoosh—!

The ugly guy with a birthmark on his face wielded his katana with a whooshing sound, the cold glint of the blade filling Gu Shengxiu's vision.

Anyone with a basic understanding of martial arts would be able to tell at a glance that even if Gu Shengxiu had the skills of a "sword saint," he would not be able to dodge the slash from the man with the birthmark.

Pushing Bai Ju aside and dodging the burly man's knife—these two actions took a total of 2 seconds.