"She said her name was Atake, she was from Osaka, and she was the daughter of an ordinary craftsman."

"She cried over and over again, begging me to let her go and let her go home..."

"I really couldn't stand this kind of torture on my conscience... so not long ago, I secretly let the girl go while my father was not at home."

"However... as soon as I let the girl go, my father came back. After discovering that the girl had escaped, my father took me to chase him. I thought that Edo was so big that my father might not be able to find the girl, but I don't know

Was it because God was attached to my father or something, but in the end, my father really got the girl back..."

"When I saw that my father had actually found the girl, I... I wanted to stop my father and give the girl time to escape..."

"but I……"

A look of explicit guilt quickly appeared on Yoshitomo's face.

"I didn't have the courage to stop my father... In the end I could only watch my father capture the girl again..."

"...It's not your fault." Mamiya said softly, "You have tried your best to do what you can."

After hearing Mamiya's words of comfort, Yoshitomo's expression improved slightly.

"After my father captured the girl again, I was thinking of new ways to help the girl get out of trouble."

"That girl was not familiar with the people and places of Edo. If she was allowed to escape alone, she would not be able to escape at all."

"So if we want the girl to escape from here, the best way is to let a reliable person take her away."

At this time, Yoshitomo raised his eyes and looked at Mamiya.

"...I see." Mamiya said softly, "That's what you meant when you just said, 'I am the best person to take that child out of here now'..."

Yichao nodded gently:

"It wasn't until you mentioned Rendanwan just now that I thought of the best person to take that girl to escape, and now he's right in front of me."

"He has a trustworthy character and the ability to lead people out of Edo."

"Brother, you came just in time."

Yoshitomo's face slowly turned serious at this time.

"Brother...I really hope that girl can escape from here as soon as possible..."

"So can you please take that child out of here?"

…

…

late that night

Yamada Asemon's Residence, Yoshitomo's Room

"Nii-sama, it's almost time." Yoshitomo, who was neatly dressed and had his sleeves tied up with cuffs on both sides of his kimono, looked in front of him, Mamiya Masashiki, who had also tied up his sleeves with cuffs.

road.

"Yeah." Mamiya grabbed the saber placed at his side, "Let's go."

The plan drawn up by Mamiya and Yoshitomo was quite simple and crude. They took action late at night, entered the basement, and brought the girl out.

It was for this purpose that during the day today, Mamiya asked Yoshitomo to go to Wenxian and panicked that he would spend the night here in order to chat with his brother for a while, and then stayed in Yoshitomo's room, waiting for the arrival of night.

The current time, converted into modern earth time units, is approximately 11 p.m.

At this time, everyone in the Yamada Asemon family, from the head of the family, Fumaki, to the ordinary attendants, were all asleep.

After Yoshitomo and Mamiya came out of the room one after another, they walked towards the basement with silent steps.

Yamada Asaemon is a family that often deals with corpses, so people who don’t know much about the Yamada Asaemon family have made up many urban legends related to Yamada Asaemon.

For example: In order to train the younger generation's "patience" with corpses, Yamada Asaemon would force the younger members of the clan to eat in front of corpses since childhood.

Another example: Yamada Asemon's house was filled with mountains of corpses.

These urban legends are basically nonsense.

For example, "The Yamada Asaemon family will force the younger generation of the family to eat in front of corpses" is pure nonsense.

But it is neither right nor wrong to “pile mountains of corpses at home”.

Yamada Senemon would indeed bring back the corpses that had just been executed at the execution ground and place them at home, but he would not store a mountain of corpses.

Because these corpses are consumed very quickly, the "knife test" business has always been very prosperous, and there is no shortage of customers. The corpses brought home in the morning may be dragged to others for knife testing in the afternoon.

Because corpses are consumed quickly, there is no need to worry about the corpses being stored for too long and causing them to stink.

If a corpse really stinks, it will be cleaned up promptly. Yamada Asaemon is not a noseless pervert, and the corpse will feel disgusting if it stinks.

The place where the body is stored is the basement.

There is a very spacious basement below the Yamada Asemon family's mansion. The basement is relatively cool, so the corpses are stored in the basement to prevent them from rotting easily.

The basement below the mansion is also a pharmacy for refining human gallbladder pills.

Yoshitomo: "We're here..."

Mamiya and Yoshitomo were standing in a remote corner of the corridor of the mansion.

This place is empty, nothing.

In the corner of the empty corridor, Yichao squatted down, took out an iron key, and inserted the key into an inconspicuous hole at his feet. After turning it a few times, the corridor under his feet made a "click" sound.

"A soft sound.

"Brother, let's go." Yoshitaka said, holding the key and pulling it out.

Squeak...

Just like the door being opened, the key still inserted in the hole is the door handle. Holding the "door handle" and lifting it up, Yoshitomo easily lifted up a large wooden board in the corridor under his feet.

Behind the wooden board is a staircase extending underground. Because the light is too dim, you can only see the stairs leading to ink-like darkness.

Mamiya took out the oil lamp he had prepared in advance and lit it.

"Let's go." Mamiya took the lead and walked down the stairs towards the basement.

Only two people have the key to the basement door, the head of the family, Wen Xian, and Yoshitomo, who has been confirmed to be the next head of the family.

Because the light was dim and the stairs were very narrow, both Mamiya and Yoshitomo walked very slowly.

When both of them were walking slowly down, Yoshitaka, who was walking behind Mamiya, suddenly said coldly:

"Brother...thank you..."

"no need thank me?"

"Thank you for being willing to help me set that girl free..."

"I have nothing to thank you for," Mamiya said calmly, "I just don't want my father... Yamada Asemon Fumiaki to continue to do such cruel and inhumane things."

"And the girl's tragic experience made it really hard for me to turn a blind eye."

In fact, Mamiya hid a reason from Yoshinori. The reason why he was willing to save the Osaka girl named Atake was also because this girl might have something related to "immortality" that their Calabash House had been investigating for a long time.

clue.

After all, injuries heal very quickly, and even internal organs can repair themselves. These are consistent with the characteristics of the "immortal body" that Mamiya and the others believe.

Therefore, no matter whether it was public or private, Mamiya could not abandon the girl.

"Speaking of which," Mamiya turned his head at this time and looked at Yoshitomo behind him, "Since you and Wen Xian are the only two people who know about the existence of the girl and also have the key to the basement, then what did you do secretly last time?

Didn't Wen Xian question you about anything after letting the girl go?"

"No..." Yichao shook his head, "After I released the girl privately last time... my father must have doubted whether it was me."

A complicated smile appeared on Yichao's face.

"After all, no matter how you look at it, I have the highest suspicion."

"But my father hasn't said anything to me until now."

"He probably... wants to let me go..."

"...After successfully rescuing the girl this time, Wen Xian may not let you go again." Mamiya turned his gaze back to the front, "Are you ready to wake up?"

"Yes." Yoshitomo's eyes were firm, "I have already made up my mind. At most, I will only get a severe beating from my father."

During the conversation, the two of them had reached the bottom of the stairs.

The air in the basement was filled with the smell of blood.

Although the basement is designed with ventilation holes so that corpses will be disposed of immediately if they stink, this place is always a place where corpses are piled, so the smell will naturally not be bad.

"Brother, here." Yoshitaka walked to the front of Mamiya and led the way.

While following Yi towards the corner of the basement, Mamiya used an oil lamp to light the candles hanging on the walls along the way.

The originally dark basement slowly became brighter as candles were illuminated one after another.

Corpses are often piled up haphazardly, but until now I haven't seen a single corpse, probably because the corpses have been used up, which is also a common thing.

The basement was not spacious. After a while, Mamiya saw a girl tied by an iron chain sitting in the corner of the basement in front of her.
To be continued...