Looking at the Yakuza who all fell to the ground and no longer threatened, Qingto released his fighting posture and said slowly:

"Okay, everyone who is in the way should shut up. Now, Shikizaki Jiyō, let's have a good talk."

After saying that, he turned his head and looked at the position where Shikizaki Shiyuki was just now - as of ten seconds ago, there was still a big living person sitting here.

But now, this place is empty.

The beautiful wandering girl who played the role of "mother" was still huddled in the corner of the room, looking at Qingdeng in horror.

Looking back at Shikisaki Shiyō...his figure has disappeared without a trace.

Looking at the open window, Qingdeng understood everything instantly.

"Tachibana-kun, let that guy escape."

As Boss Kiryu said this, he staggered slightly and moved to Aoto's side.

Qingdeng looked at the old man next to him, then looked at the window that was wide open and allowed cold wind to pour in, and said angrily:

"Boss Kiryu, you must have seen him running away, right? Why didn't you catch him?"

Boss Kiryu shrugged his shoulders and raised the corners of his lips slightly:

"Don't worry, can he still escape from our eyes?"

After saying that, he turned his head and looked at Qingdeng - coincidentally, Qingdeng was also looking at him.

They looked at each other with meaningful smiles on their faces.

…

…

"Whoosh...! Whoosh...! Whoosh...!"

Shikisaki Jiyoshi ran wildly on the street with her bare feet, huffing and puffing.

Because he was in a hurry to run away, when he jumped out of the window, he casually grabbed a piece of clothing and threw it on himself.

It wasn't until he had run a long distance that he realized belatedly that the clothes he was wearing were "mother"... that is, the furisode of the wandering girl.

A man dressed in women's clothing is running on the street - such a scene is naturally particularly eye-catching.

A bunch of strange eyes were shot at him. Feeling ashamed, he covered his face with his sleeves and buried his head low.

If there was a hole in the ground around him, he would be eager to get into it right away.

But... strangely speaking, although the sight of the people around him made him ashamed, at the same time, he actually felt a faint sense of pleasure...

All in all, he didn't care so much in order to escape for his life.

He ran non-stop, first escaping from Yoshihara, and then continued running towards the city.

Without a specific destination, just run wherever there is a road. The so-called "fearing to choose the road" is nothing more than that.

While Zhang Huang was running away, he turned his head and eyes from time to time, scanning around, paying attention to all the movements around him, for fear that someone was following him, like a frightened bird.

His long-distance running ability is only at the level of ordinary people.

Therefore, after a while, strong protests and painful groans came out from all parts of his body.

He had no choice but to stop until his lungs became swollen and his legs felt as heavy as lead.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

While he pressed his hands on his knees and adjusted his breathing, he turned his head and looked behind him - everything he saw was dark and gloomy, and the lights of Yoshihara had been far away by him.

——You have escaped so far, it should be safe...

As soon as he thought about this, he let out a sigh of relief.

At this time, he suddenly noticed a flash of orange light - not far from him, a nighthawk noodle stall was open for business.

[Note: Nighthawk Noodle Stall: A noodle stall that specializes in operating late at night, usually selling soba noodles.]

After running for so long, he happened to feel dry in the mouth, so he walked forward, opened the stall curtain, and said to the boss:

"Boss, is there any water? I would like to ask for a glass of water."

The boss turned his back to him and asked without looking back while packing various kitchen utensils:

"Sir, what's wrong? Why are you out of breath? Is someone chasing you?"

Shikisaki Jiyose smacked her lips:

"Oh, don't ask. I'm really unlucky today. I met two weirdos."

The boss made a move:

"Oh? Does the 'weirdo' you call look like me?"

Having said that, the boss...that is, Qingto, turned around slowly and looked at Shikizaki Shiyō with a smile on his face.

For an instant, Shikisaki Shiyose froze suddenly, and then it was as if he had seen a ghost, the blood in his cheeks disappeared, and his expression was dominated by intense panic.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh-!"

He screamed and retreated sharply, then opened his legs again, stumbled, rolled and crawled away from Qingdeng.

However... his body, which was already on the verge of reaching its limit, really did not allow him to run for any longer.

Within a moment, indescribable fatigue filled every corner of his body, and he could no longer even take a step.

At this time, he happened to see a lit izakaya on the side of the road, so he opened the door curtain and jumped in without thinking.

"Welcome, sir, what do you want?"

An old male voice came from the direction of the counter... It must be the owner of this izakaya, Shikisaki Jiyori thought.

He didn't care to look at the boss, and plunged behind the counter, tightened his body, and stammered:

"Help, help, help!"

"Sir, what's wrong?"

"Someone is chasing me! Let me hide for a moment, please!"

"Oh? Weird? Does he look like me?"

Familiar conversations...familiar sentence patterns...

Shikizaki Jiyong was stiff again.

He turned his head with difficulty and looked around - three steps away, Boss Kiryu looked at him with a smile.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh-!"

This time, he couldn't run anymore and could only scream and fall backwards on all fours.

Seeing the other party's embarrassment, Boss Kiryu smiled helplessly:

"Shikizaki, please calm down. Look clearly, it's me, Kiryu Kazuma from Senshiya."

When Shikisaki Jiji heard this, he was immediately stunned.

With his eyes flashing, he raised his gaze and looked at Boss Kiryu carefully up and down.

"Kiryu...boss...?"

…

…

Edo, a certain izakaya, a certain private room——

Qingden and Boss Kiryu sat side by side.

Directly opposite them...that is, on the other side of the low table, Shikizaki Jiyō grabbed the freshly heated sake and took a big gulp as if to vent his anger:

"Really...Boss Kiryu, you are too mean, aren't you? Why are you trying to scare me like a 'faceless monster'?"

The faceless monster - a classic Japanese ghost story.

To put it simply, someone encounters a "faceless man" in the wild and runs away in fear. When asking for help from everyone he sees along the way, the other person will say "'faceless man'? Does he look like me?"

?", while showing his face without facial features - exactly the same thing as what Shikizaki Shiyuki had just experienced.

Boss Kiryu smiled:

"Sorry for scaring you. We just want to prove to you: you can't escape."

Shikizaki Jiji curled his lips and expressed his dissatisfaction with eyes full of resentment.

"As an apology, you have to buy this drink, okay?"

"Open your belly and drink as much as you want. Even if you don't say it, I just want to treat you to a drink. After all, we haven't seen each other for a while. As an elder, it's my duty to treat you to a drink."

Hearing this, Shikisaki Shiki no longer had any worries. He picked up the freshly warmed sake again and drank it happily.

As the drink went down, his expression gradually regained its clarity.

While he was drinking, Boss Kiryu half-closed his eyes and observed his actions thoughtfully.

Out of the blue, the old man suddenly said:
To be continued...