I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

It exploded with a muffled thud, like a watermelon being smashed.

Qingdeng, relying on the muscle memory he had developed from countless practice sessions over the past few days, slammed the knife heavily into the dwarf's forehead.

The blade cleaved into the top of the head, cutting all the way to the root of the nose before finally stopping.

The katana in Qing Deng's hand, and the wakizashi still hanging at his waist, are indeed fine swords that his great-grandfather spent 100 taels of gold to forge.

The hard skull was no different from a fragile piece of wood in front of the blade of this knife. After the head was smashed open, not even a notch appeared on the blade.

He quickly sheathed his sword and glanced behind him to check on Saito's situation—the four "radical anti-foreigners" who had blocked their retreat had been defeated by Saito.

Seeing that his rear was safe and he could focus all his attention on the enemy in front of him, Qingdeng quickly turned his gaze back to the three enemies who were still alive in front of him.

The heart rate is increasing.

Adrenaline is surging.

The "Lone Wolf" is being launched!

Although Qingdeng has only practiced swordsmanship for a few days since he transmigrated, the blessing of his talent as a "sword prodigy" makes his training in those few days equivalent to several months... or even half a year of hard work for an ordinary person!

No longer a "swordsmanship novice," Qing Deng had the fighting experience and police training from his previous life as a foundation.

With the added support of powerful talents such as "Lone Wolf," "Eagle Eye," and "Left-Handed," Qing Deng at this moment is completely different from himself on the first night after his transmigration, when he was helpless in the face of the attack from three "radical anti-foreign faction" members.

A burly man with dark skin thrust his sword at Qingdeng. At first glance, his attack seemed to be full of power, speed and momentum, but Qingdeng, who now had "eagle eyes", had seen through his attack trajectory.

Qing Deng pivoted on her left foot and rotated her body counterclockwise, her wine-red haori and cloak tracing a beautiful semicircle as she turned.

After dodging the burly man's attack by turning around, Qing Deng used centrifugal force to slash the knife horizontally, cutting open the burly man's throat.

Large gushes of blood gushed from the ruptured artery, pouring towards Qing Deng's head.

Seeing the blood about to pour over his head, Qing Deng swiftly reached out with his left hand, which was now as dexterous as his right, grabbed a corner of his cloak, and pulled it in front of him to block the gushing blood.

The black cloak makes it difficult to spot blood splattering.

With a flick of his left hand, Qing Deng threw off the cloak he had used to shield himself from the blood, and once again held the knife in front of him, the tip of the blade aimed at the next enemy, the blade flat.

He assumed the stance of the Natural Rishin-ryu sword technique, which he had just learned from Kondo yesterday: the stance of Mumei-tsu.

Yesterday, when Kondo was teaching Aoto the "Mumei-tsuru" technique, he specifically instructed Aoto that the essence of "Mumei-tsuru" is to always keep the blade flat.

Because the width of the blade is greater than the gap between the ribs, if you thrust the blade upright, it will easily scrape the bone. However, if you lay the blade flat, you can easily insert the blade into the deepest part of the ribs.

chap!

Qingdeng stomped his back foot hard, sending snow flying from his heel. He pushed off the ground with his back foot and then used his waist to transfer the force to his arms. He then thrust the force along the blade into the chest of the enemy in front of him!

The sharp blade easily pierced flesh, passed through the gaps in the ribs, and emerged from behind the enemy.

Droplets of blood, propelled by inertia, flew from the tip of the blade that had pierced the enemy's body, landing on the snow and causing the "plum blossoms" to bloom prematurely on this vast expanse of snow.

Of the four "radical anti-foreigners" who blocked Qing and Zhai's path, only one is still alive.

The sole survivor is now completely stunned.

This is different from what we've heard...?!

They had heard that Tachibana Aoto, this traitor, was mediocre in skill and not good at swordsmanship, making him an easy target to eliminate!

They gathered eight people this time. Shouldn't they have been able to easily win by simply shouting "Heavenly Punishment" and charging forward?

What's the situation now?

Is this what you call mediocre skill?!

Completely stunned by the scene before him, the man stared wide-eyed at his companion, who had fallen to the ground in various elaborate ways to die...

He didn't regain his senses until Qing Deng had withdrawn the knife from his companion, whose chest had been pierced.

After pulling the knife back, Qing Deng swept it towards the last "survivor".

Seeing Qing Deng sweep the blade towards him, the man snapped out of his daze and quickly raised his sword to defend himself.

Unfortunately—it's too late now that I've come to my senses.

The sharp blade swept across his throat.

New plum blossoms have sprouted on the snow.

*******

*******

This is the first time the author has written such a fast-paced fight, with the outcome decided in just a few seconds, since the completion of the previous book, "The Swordsman".

Thankfully, I'm still quite skilled.

Please vote for me! Please vote for me! Please add me to your favorites!

Chapter 57 The Expeditionary Force (Part 1)

"Whirring whirring……"

My gaze rose and fell with the rhythm of my breathing.

—Did we win...?

After scanning the corpses lying around him, Qing Deng swallowed, moistening his throat, which had been slightly dry from focusing on the battle and not having had time to swallow his saliva.

“…Impressive.” Saito’s voice rang out from behind Aoto.

Saito, carrying his still-dripping katana, slowly walked towards Aoto.

"I thought the person I was going to protect this time would be someone who didn't have much strength."

"It seems that's not the case."

In response to Saito's brief praise, Aoto chuckled a few times:

"It's all thanks to the fact that the opponents I encountered this time were all very weak, and also because you helped me protect my back, which allowed me to play so smoothly."

Qingdeng believes the main reason for such a resounding victory in the battle just now was that the enemy was very weak.

The enemy was not strong; their swordsmanship was poor, and even their footwork was far from adequate.

Talents such as "lone wolf" and "eagle eye" have also played a significant role.

With the added advantage of "lone courage," Qing Deng, who was fighting four opponents alone, felt that his physical condition was exceptionally good, with his stamina, strength, speed, and reaction speed all receiving significant improvements.

Saito, who protected his back and allowed him to attack forward with full force, also played a significant role.

After several days of special training, Qing Deng was no longer the "swords novice" he once was. With his combat experience from his previous life as a foundation, as well as the support of these powerful talents... With all these factors combined, it was only natural that he could easily defeat these four weak enemies.

"How's it going on your end? Have you taken care of the enemy?" Qing Deng asked Saito as he took out a piece of paper from his pocket used to wipe his sword.

One ran away.

"One got away... Well, that's within my expectations. It would be surprising if all these lunatics were ruthless and would fight to the death. Here, take it."

Aoto handed one of the pocket papers to Saito.

After wiping away the blood, fat, brain matter, bone fragments, and other miscellaneous debris remaining on the katana, and sheathing it—

"...You seem very calm. Isn't this your first time killing someone?"

Saito asked Aoto this question while wiping his sword.

“Huh? No.” Qing Deng glanced at the corpse at his feet. “This is the first time I’ve killed someone.”

"First time killing someone?" Saito, whose face was usually expressionless, showed a rare expression—his eyes narrowed slightly. "...It's rare to see someone so calm after their first murder. Aren't you scared or uncomfortable?"

"Well... to draw my sword against the person who is about to kill me—I think this is a matter of course and I don't feel uncomfortable about it."

Saito's eyes narrowed even more.

His eyes remained like ancient pools, devoid of sorrow or joy.

But at this moment, upon closer inspection, one can see a hint of a smile deep within his pupils.

Because he was facing away from Saito, Aoto didn't see the slight smile in Saito's eyes. He looked around.

"Saito, please keep an eye on our surroundings for me. If there are any passersby or enemies approaching, please warn them."

"I need to see if these people have any high-value intelligence."

After saying that, Qingdeng lay down on the corpse at his feet and searched his body inside and out.

Qing Deng's goal was to find something that could provide high-quality intelligence from these madmen who were eyeing his head.

For example, documents such as orders or letters given to them by their superiors or colleagues, or lists of organization members.

Qing Deng now strongly suspects that the "radical anti-foreign faction" that has its eyes on his head is a not small organization.

After the previous attack on Qingdeng failed, they were able to immediately organize another assassination attempt on Qingdeng, and on an even larger scale than before, sending out eight people in one go... Qingdeng would never believe that there was no organization directing them behind the scenes.

Saito nodded slightly to Aoto, then tilted his head back and placed his left hand on the hilt of the katana that had just been sheathed, keeping Aoto on guard.

After thoroughly searching the seven bodies on the ground, Qingdeng was disappointed to find that these seven people were frighteningly "clean".

He had nothing on him, not even money or food, let alone anything else to gather intelligence.

If only one person is like this, then it's fine.

But all seven of them were like this... This made Qing Deng start to have doubts.

—Is it a coincidence...?

Qingdeng frowned.

—Or was it done intentionally to prevent these people from leaking information if their assassination attempt failed...?

A variety of questions arose in Qing Deng's mind.

This time and place is ultimately not a good time or place for reflection.

It was now about 3 p.m. Due to the attack by the "radical anti-foreign faction", Qing Deng and his group had already been delayed. If they dawdled any longer, they might not be able to reach the first post station, Shinagawa-juku, before dark.

In this era without streetlights or navigation, walking at night is very dangerous. It is common sense in this day and age not to walk at night in places where there are no villages or shops in sight unless absolutely necessary.

Therefore, Qing Deng had no choice but to suppress his doubts, pick up the straw hat he had just thrown out, and wave to Saito: "Saito, let's go."

……

……