Qingto turned his head and thought about it carefully - it seemed that from the night five days ago... that is, the night when Souji's daughter was discovered by him, Souji's mood inexplicably became extremely good.

Why is this happening? The only explanation Qingteng can think of is that something great has happened to her recently.

"Hoho~~"

Responding to Qingteng who suddenly asked her this question, the Souji laughed strangely.

Immediately afterwards, she responded with a leisurely and contented attitude and a tone of voice mixed with a bit of teasing:

"I did encounter a good thing recently...but I won't tell you what it was~~"

After saying that, she closed one eye with a mischievous expression, raised her right index finger in front of her red lips, and her eyes flashed with a childish and cunning look.

Looking at Souji's cheerful and malicious expression, Qingto couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Miss Okita, you are really good at teasing people... Could it be that your sister finally agreed to let you continue to explore the way of the sword?"

The first half of the sentence is a helpless emotion, and the second half is a tentative cliché.

A happy event that makes Souji happy every day these days... The only possibility Qingto can think of is that the conflict between her and her sister has finally been resolved.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, the director-general said:

"No way. I know my sister's character best, and she doesn't change her mind so easily."

Speaking of this, the Souji seemed to have recalled something, his voice paused for a moment, and then continued:

"Speaking of this...Tachibana-kun, do you think my sister has been acting weird lately?"

"Huh? Weird? How do you say it?"

"It's just...she often comes to the dojo to watch me practice swordsmanship in the past few days. She also comes over from time to time and asks me if it's hard to practice and if I drink water and rest well..."

"Isn't this pretty good?" Qingden smiled.

"It's pretty good... but she's so abnormal, which makes me feel weird... Because she opposes me continuing to practice swordsmanship, my sister has never liked to watch me practice swordsmanship."

As Souji spoke, he rubbed his arms alternately as if he felt cold.

"To be honest - my sister suddenly behaved uncharacteristically, which made me feel a little nervous... Could she be having some strange idea..."

"Well... who knows." Qingden smiled and shrugged lightly.

The talent "Trickster" is quietly activated at this moment.

The Souji probably never imagined that Aoto, who was walking side by side with her at this moment, was the only person in the entire Imperial Guard who knew why Okita Hikaru suddenly became so abnormal.

——It seems... Mrs. Aguang has really listened to my suggestion and is more focused on "watching" Miss Okita...

Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on Qingdeng's face unconsciously.

While talking and laughing, Qingto and Souji finally arrived at the gate on the first floor of the Trial Guard Hall.

At the entrance, Shusuke, Abi, Kondo, Hijikata, Inoue, Saito, Nagakura, Harada, Kubei, Okita Hikaru, Okita Rintaro... everyone is ready to go.

Okita Hikaru and Okita Rintaro are the couple who are relatives of the Souji and distinguished guests of the trial defense hall. It is impossible for the Kondo family to forget to invite them to watch today's game.

Faced with the invitation from the Kondo family, Hikaru Okita and his wife agreed without hesitation, saying repeatedly, "They will definitely come to watch the game by then."

After seeing Aoto and Souji finally arriving from a distance, Okita Hikaru first nodded to Souji, then squinted his eyes and looked at Aoto deeply with an intriguing look... Hers

The gaze was fleeting, and in just a moment, she withdrew her gaze from Qingdeng.

"You two are too slow." Hijikata, who has always had a bad temper, curled his lips vigorously, "My butt is almost integrated with the floor."

"That floor is so pitiful, it's even connected to Mr. Hijikata's buttocks." Souji pulled up the corner of his mouth, showing a "sad" expression.

"Hey, it would be an honor for this floor to be connected to my butt." Hijikata grinned, "Do you know how many people who are obsessed with the Way covet my butt?"

"Don't say such dirty words naturally!" Souji switched to the "T-Rex Roaring Mode" of "Ouch, Ouch, Ouch, Ouch".

"Hoo ho ho, okay, okay, if you have any questions, I'll talk to you on the road." Zhou Assistant clapped his hands, "Since everyone is here, let's set off!"

"Brothers, let's go!" Kondo raised his fists with a righteous look on his face, "Let's go defeat the Genbukan!"

…

…

It takes nearly 30 minutes to travel from the trial gymnasium to the competition venue on the outskirts of Edo.

After successfully arriving at the arena, which was adjacent to a spacious river so the air around it was quite cool, Qingdeng and his team were instantly surrounded by sights from all directions.

"Ah, Mr. Kiryu, look! Aomori and the others are here."

Kinoshita Mai's whole face turned a light pink happily.

I saw her with her legs still kneeling on the ground, forcefully straightening her body above the knees. Her plump "peach" left the soles of her overlapping feet, facing Qingdeng, and her right arm raised high like a car wiper.

Swinging from side to side quickly and dramatically.

Kiryu looked at Mai Kinoshita with a complicated expression, who in his mind had never treated him with such a warm attitude since he was over 10 years old, and let out a long, long sigh filled with various emotions...

Aoto immediately noticed Kiryu who was sitting in the "auditorium" on the south side, and Mai Kinoshita, who was waving to him vigorously.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, Kinoshita Mai's behavior of waving her arms like car windshield wipers is quite funny.

But in Qingto's eyes, he only thought that Mai Kinoshita doing this action was so cute.

Qingto, who was amused by Kinoshita Mai's cuteness, felt warm in his heart and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.

He raised his arms and waved towards Kinoshita Mai from a distance, expressing "I see you!" with his movements.

At the same time, Aomori spotted the Chiba Kenkan group sitting directly opposite Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita in the "auditorium" on the north side of the arena.

Chiba Jutaro, Shannan Keisuke and others noticed that Aoto was looking towards them, and they quickly smiled and waved to Aoto.

Sanako sat next to Chiba Jutaro, maintaining her usual "Yamato Nadeshiko" elegant style.

She didn't wave her hands as excitedly as Kinoshita Mai. She just put her eyes with a faint smile on Qingdeng's face and nodded to Qingdeng.

If we say - at this moment, who is receiving the most and densest attention... then there is no doubt that it is Qingdeng.

…

"Hey, look, it's 'Nioh', 'Nioh' is here!"

"Which one is the 'Nioh'?"

"The one who is very tall and doesn't have a shaved head."

"You are as young as the rumors..."

"You have a pretty good physique. You can tell that he is someone who exercises regularly."

"Is he the one who selected 18 disciples of Xiao Qianba Sword Hall a while ago..."

…

In the "main formation" of the Xuanwu Hall, sharp sight lines pierced Qingdeng like arrows.

With very few exceptions, these sights all have one thing in common - they are all tinged with a militant light as strong as flames!

"... Third brother, everyone from the Trial Guard Hall is here... Mr. Ju is here."

Chiba Tamonshiro walked slowly to the bottom of their "handsome flag" and said slowly to a tall young man who was sitting cross-legged under the flagpole with his eyes closed and meditating.

"..." The tall young man sitting like a bell slowly opened his eyes, raised his eyebrows, and looked at Qingdeng opposite him from afar...

…

…

"Young Master, please don't rush over to say hello to Mr. Ju. The game is about to start. If you rush to someone else's 'main formation' as an outsider, you will cause trouble for others."

"I know this kind of thing." Kinoshita Mai lowered her body and returned to a kneeling posture, with "Peach" pressed on her overlapping feet again, "Mr. Kiryu, what time is it now?"

"9:50." Kiryu glanced at his pocket watch.

"Then the game will start soon." Mai Kinoshita put her two little hands on her legs, grabbing them excitedly.

Even if she doesn't talk about her admiration for Aoto, Kinoshita Mai herself likes to watch this kind of martial arts competition where warriors fight fiercely.

"Mr. Kiryu, you just said that Aoto and the others will have a very hard time in today's game...Does this mean that Aoto and the others do not have a high winning rate in this game?"

There was a hint of worry in Kinoshita Mai's tone.

Based on her feelings for Qingdeng, she certainly likes the object of her affection to win.

"...I can't say for sure." Kiryu smiled mysteriously, "There are many masters of Xuanwu Hall, and there are also geniuses like Chiba Doisaburo who are rare in 10 years. Normally speaking, the trial defense hall

The probability of winning is not high.”

"but--"

Kiryu suddenly changed the subject.

"Here at the Trial Guard Hall...there happen to be two 'abnormal' people."

Kiryu squinted his eyes and looked at the "main formation" of the Imperial Guard Hall, and at Aoto and Souji who were standing side by side.

"I can't say how this game will turn out... I can't say."

…
To be continued...