"Is Fuu Ling Taifu doing this... to give back to her hometown?" Ogata asked hesitantly.
"I guess so." Uesugi smiled. "Although Taifu looks a bit cold, people who know her know that she is a kind person."
"I also like gentle ladies."
"From what I know, the Taifu seems to be saving money to build a house specifically for taking in and caring for those prostitutes who are unable to receive guests normally for various reasons."
"But whether this is true or not, I don't know."
"Ms. Uesugi, do you have a good relationship with the lady-in-waiting?" Ogata asked as he recalled what he had encountered in the house today.
Ogata remembered that today in the residence, Fuujiya took out her teacup on her own initiative and spoke to Uesugi in a very familiar tone, asking Uesugi to pour her a cup of tea as well.
"I'm actually very familiar with many of the Yoshiwara girls." Ueyoshi said with a smile, "But I do have a relatively good relationship with the Taifu. She often treats me to all kinds of delicious food."
"Hmm?" Just when Ogata was about to say something to Uesugi, his brows suddenly tightened slightly, and then he turned his head to look at the door, "Someone is coming."
Years of wandering have made Ogata far more alert than other people.
Especially sensitive to footsteps.
After hearing footsteps approaching the room, Ogata immediately frowned, and as he looked towards the door, his body's nerves began to tense up.
Wow.
The paper sliding door was slowly opened.
The person who opened the door was Shirobei, whom he had just met in the house today.
After seeing that the person coming was Shirobei, Ogata's originally tense nerves slowly relaxed.
"Oh! Ueyu-kun, I finally found you. I've been looking for you for a long time."
"Master Shirobei," Ueyoshi said, "what is the matter?"
"It's not a big deal." Shirobei smiled with a hint of helplessness, "It's just that Rongju and Hatsutsuki from the Flower Lantern House had a quarrel."
"It seems that it's because Rong Ju suspected Chu Yue of stealing her money."
"I remember that you and the two of them have a good relationship. Could you please mediate?"
"I understand." Uesugi smiled bitterly, picked up the wooden sword placed on the tatami beside him, and stood up. "Mashima-kun, I'll leave first."
"It's a very time-consuming job to mediate quarrels among prostitutes."
"I probably won't be able to come back for a while."
"You can have a good rest here by yourself for a while."
After saying that, Uesugi picked up her wooden sword and hurriedly left Ogata's sight.
After Uesugi left, Ogata smiled wryly and asked Shirobei who was standing beside him:
"So even the quarrels among prostitutes are something we have to intervene in?"
"Of course." Shirobei sat cross-legged opposite Ogata and smiled bitterly along with him. "To keep the Yoshiwara girls harmonious - this is also one of the responsibilities of our club."
"To me, compared to the samurai who were causing trouble in Yoshiwara, it is these courtesans who were quarreling over all kinds of trivial matters that are more troublesome."
After making a little joke, Shirobei slowly put away the joking expression on his face, moved his eyes, and looked Ogata up and down several times.
"I remember you are Majima Goro-kun, right?"
"Yes." Ogata nodded and bowed to Shirobei in front of him, "I am Izumo Ronin, Majima Goro."
"I never thought that you, who look ordinary, could speak Chinese so fluently, and your accent sounds quite standard." Shirobei said with a smile.
"The teacher at the Terakoya where I studied before could speak Chinese, and I learned Chinese from this teacher." Ogata used the excuse he used to fool Guase today.
Because time was tight during the day today, Ogata didn't have time to take a good look at Shirobei's appearance.
After Ogata proposed to Lin and others last night that he wanted to infiltrate Yoshiwara, Lin told Ogata that the current head of the club, Shirobei, and Genichirō were old acquaintances.
After learning that the current Shirobei and Genichi were old acquaintances, Ogata was surprisingly not surprised...
Although Genichi didn't usually talk about his past, from the words between the lines of his words and his daily actions, Ogata could vaguely feel that Genichi must have been a very romantic person in the past...
Therefore, Ogata was not at all surprised to find that the romantic Genichi and the Yoshiwara administrator were old acquaintances.
Although Shirobei is an old man with gray hair, he is not fat.
The body is of lean type.
Even when he was just sitting there quietly, he continued to exude an aura of majesty.
"It's rare for someone so young to be able to speak Chinese so fluently."
Shirobei continued to smile.
"You left early today, so you didn't see what happened to Takigawa-kun."
"After you, Mashima-kun, and Ueyu left, Takigawa-kun stood there in a daze for a long time before leaving the house with a red face."
"Although what you did today was indeed enjoyable, Mashima-kun, I still suggest that you should be patient when you encounter such things in the future."
"Takigawa-kun is from a hatamoto family after all."
"For such a superior warrior, it is best to avoid provoking him."
Ogata couldn't help but laugh at Shirobei's advice.
Although he now wears a human leather mask, Ogata has never forgotten his true identity - the shogunate's current number one wanted criminal.
As the shogunate's current most wanted criminal, he was already an enemy of the samurai such as the hatamoto and gokenin who reported directly to the shogun.
That's why Ogata didn't worry about offending any enemies - after all, the largest family in Japan: the Tokugawa family and its affiliated families were already his enemies. Ogata had long been a person who didn't feel itchy because of too many lice.
However, Shirobei had good intentions in reminding Ogata, so after Shirobei's warning, Ogata immediately bowed to Shirobei:
"Thank you for your reminder. I will pay more attention in the future."
"Well, just be more careful in the future."
"Mashima-kun, you speak Chinese very well. Have you ever considered teaching Chinese here in our house?"
"Ah?" A look of surprise appeared on Ogata's face.
"If the girls can speak Chinese, it will attract a lot of customers." Shirobei said with a smile, "If Majima-kun is interested in teaching in our Ruya, I will welcome you very much."
"Anyway - you can think about it slowly later."
After saying that, Shirobei stood up from the tatami.
"I have some things to do, so I'll leave first."
"Yes. Please take care. Regarding the matter of teaching in the Ruya - I will consider it carefully in the future."
Shirobei came to this room just to find Ueoka to mediate the quarrel between the two prostitutes.
So after chatting casually with Ogata for a few words, Shirobei left the room.
With Shirobei's departure, Ogata was the only one left in the room.
Without anyone to chat with, Ogata simply leaned against the wall and took a nap.
After sleeping until the sun set and night began to cover the sky, Ogata opened his eyes on time.
After stretching vigorously, Ogata picked up the Daishakuten placed aside, put on the Shirobei Club's special haori, walked out of the room, and headed outside the club.
After exiting the clubhouse, Obe saw that it was almost dark and that lanterns had been lit up in various places in Yoshiwara.
As night fell, Yoshiwara seemed to have been unsealed, and more and more people began to flock to Yoshiwara.
As soon as he walked out of the club's door, Xu Fang saw someone he knew next to the club's door.
"Master Kawajiro." Ogata took the initiative to greet the man, "What are you doing?"
The person Ogata knew was the old man, Kawajiro, who had worked in the club for most of his life and whom he met when he came to the club this morning.
Kawajiro is now standing by the door of the club, stretching his waist and shoulders.
"Oh! It's you." Kawajiro smiled when he saw that it was Ogata. "I've just been processing various documents in the club. I'm a little tired, so I came outside the club to get some fresh air and stretch my muscles."
"Are you here for work? I didn't expect you to be so punctual."
"This is my first job after all," Ogata said half-jokingly, "of course I have to work really hard."
"Kawajiro, tonight is my first day at work, is there any work you want to assign to me?"
"Let me think about it...your job is to maintain the law and order in Yoshiwara, so all you have to do is patrol non-stop."
"Nakano-machi is the place with the largest flow of people, and it is also the place that should be most strictly guarded. Majima-kun, please patrol Nakano-machi now."
"clear."
After responding cheerfully, Ogata held the knife at his waist, left the door of the club, and walked towards Nakanomachi, where the flow of people in front was gradually increasing.
Patrolling Naka-no-machi, which is connected to the Yoshiwara Gate, was exactly what Ogata wanted.
After all, Ogata's real purpose in coming to Yoshiwara was to monitor Gokutaro, who came to Yoshiwara every night for pleasure, and try to get some useful information from him.
Patrolling Naka-no-machi, which is connected to the Yoshiwara Gate, was a good opportunity for Ogata to notice Gokutaro who might come to Yoshiwara at any time.
The haori used exclusively by the Shirobei Club - this piece of clothing is truly a sacred item in Yoshiwara.
Wearing it, not only will you not be bothered by the soliciting agents in the brothels, but some passers-by will also automatically give way to you.
Just as Ogata was wandering aimlessly in the front half of Naka-no-Machi, keeping his attention on the main gate of Yoshiwara——
"Um...Excuse me..."
A strange voice suddenly came from the side.
"Hmm?" Ogata looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person who spoke was a man dressed in a Japanese costume.
Looking at the Kenshiban standing beside him, several black lines immediately appeared on Ogata's face.
"Have you seen the haori I'm wearing?" Ogata shook the haori he was wearing, "You don't want me, a staff member of the club, to go out and have fun at this time, do you?"
"No, no, no!" the man said hastily, "You misunderstood! I'm not here to solicit customers!"
"I'm the Kenseiban from Kenmeiya."
"Excuse me, are you Lord Majima Goro?"
"Hmm?" Ogata raised an eyebrow. "I am. How do you know my name?"
Ogata's left hand subconsciously reached for the saber sheath at his left waist.
"I'm here to tell you that Fuu Ling Taifu wants to see you."
"…Huh? Who wants to see me?"
"Furin Taifu." The kenshiban repeated the name, "Please follow me. I will take you to the Meiwu house."
"Furin-no-Taisho is looking for me?" Ogata's eyes widened. "Why is she looking for me?"
As far as Ogata knew, he and Furin Taifu could only be considered as acquaintances who knew each other by name.
"I don't know the details." The jianseban smiled bitterly, "The lady only told me that she won't take up too much of your time, and she hopes you can go see her. She has something to give you."
"...I understand." Ogata thought for a while and nodded, "Take me there. Hurry up, I want to go there and come back as quickly as possible."
"Yes, please follow me."
…
…
The thing that Guasheng hates most is helping the prostitutes to stop fighting.
Because the prostitutes always quarrel for all kinds of strange reasons.
And reconciling these things often takes a considerable amount of time and energy.
For example, it took Guasheng an unknown amount of time to reconcile Rongju and Chuyue from the Lantern House.
It was still daytime when we entered the lantern house.
It was already evening when we left the Lantern House.
Seeing that it was already dark, Uesugi simply started today's work directly. Together with several colleagues who happened to be patrolling near the Lantern House, he began an aimless carpet patrol in Yoshiwara.
Ueyu led her colleagues on patrol on the roads of Yoshiwara, and her thoughts unconsciously drifted to the newcomer who had not yet started working - Ogata.
——I wonder if Mashima-kun is working hard now...
Just as Uesugi was concerned about whether Ogata had started his first day of work, Uesugi suddenly caught a glimpse of a colleague wearing a special club haori running towards her in a hurry.
"Ms. Ueyu! Something bad has happened! Samurai are seen fighting in front of Umeya's store!"
"Another samurai trouble..." Guasheng frowned and muttered in an extremely unhappy tone.
When he received the news that someone was causing trouble in front of Jianmei's store, Uesugi happened to be patrolling near Jianmei with several of his colleagues.
Holding the wooden sword at her waist and leading several colleagues who had just been patrolling with her, Uesugi quickly arrived in front of the door of Jianmeiwu's shop. She happened to see a group of people making way for a circular open space.
In the center of this circular open space, two warriors were facing each other.
The two warriors were one old and one young.
The younger samurai was about 20 years old, with a childish look on his face, and holding a wooden sword.
The older samurai was believed to be over 40 years old. He was wearing a white haori and holding a spear with the hood still on.
There were already quite a few onlookers around the two warriors, and the number of onlookers was still increasing.
As the only female servant in the Shirobei Club, Ueo is considered one of Yoshiwara's celebrities. It is impossible that there is anyone in the brothel who does not recognize Ueo.
When they saw Uesugi coming, the several Jianshiban who were responsible for attracting customers in Meiya immediately came forward to greet him.
"Ms. Guasheng! Please…"
Before these Jianshiban finished their words, Guasheng raised his hand to signal them not to say anything more.
Even if Uesugi used his butt to think, he knew what these people from the Meiwu family were going to say.
They must have said something like "Please drive these two samurai away."
The two samurai fought in front of their shop, Jianmeiwu, which naturally had a huge impact on their business.
"Please rest assured. We will settle this dispute as soon as possible."
After reassuring the few people who saw Meiwu, Uekusa turned her head and gave orders to the colleagues who had followed her to the scene of the riot:
"You guys go tidy up the road and drive away those onlookers. Then divide the road in half and guide the pedestrians to pass through the other half!"
"Yes!" Guasheng's colleagues responded in unison, picked up the long wooden sticks in their hands, went to clear the road, and drove away the onlookers who were blocking the road one by one.
When Uesugi ordered her colleagues to evacuate the road, the two warriors who had been confronting each other and looking for a suitable opportunity to fight finally took action.
The first to attack was the young warrior holding the wooden sword.
The young warrior raised the wooden sword in his hand high, emitted a powerful Qi He, and rushed towards the middle-aged warrior in front of him at a rapid pace.
Facing the young warrior rushing towards him, the middle-aged warrior with the spear was not afraid at all.
Without even moving a step, he simply swung the spear in his hand, blocking the young warrior's path.
Then he thrust the spear forward again, and the tip of the spear hit the young warrior's chest accurately.
However, because the middle-aged warrior did not remove the holster of his gun, the young warrior would not die even if he was shot in the chest.
But——it just means that I won’t die.
After receiving such a powerful blow to the chest, even if he didn't die, he would definitely not feel good.
The young warrior let out a low cry of pain, took a few steps back and fell heavily to the ground.
Although he tried to get up, after struggling for a few times, his mind was no match for the pain in his chest - he passed out.
After the middle-aged warrior stabbed the young warrior down with a beautiful shot, a young man who had been standing by immediately ran to the middle-aged warrior while cheering.
The young man also carried a spear on his back and wore the same white haori as the middle-aged samurai.
"Master! Great, you won!" The young man shouted in a respectful tone after running to the middle-aged warrior.
Based on the way the young man addressed the middle-aged warrior, as well as their attire and the weapons they used, it is not difficult to infer that the two should be master and disciple.
“Hahaha!” The middle-aged warrior raised his hand and patted the young man on the back, then laughed heartily, “Of course! How could I lose to a young man who hasn’t even swung his sword a few times! Hongzhi, let’s go!”
Just as the middle-aged warrior was about to leave with his spear in one hand and his apprentice on his shoulder in the other,
"Please wait a moment!"
Guasheng, who was standing not far from the master and disciple, called out to them.
"Hmm?" The middle-aged warrior looked towards Guasheng following the voice.
"Private fighting is strictly prohibited in Yoshiwara!" Guasheng said in a deep voice.
"Um...um - who are you?" asked the middle-aged warrior.
"I'm Ueyu Hide from the Shirobei Club!"
"Shirobei Club? What is that?" The middle-aged samurai looked puzzled.
"Master..." The young man, whose shoulders were being hugged by the middle-aged samurai, pulled the sleeve of the middle-aged samurai, "Have you forgotten? Didn't I just introduce it to you? The Shirobei Association is the organization responsible for managing Yoshiwara."
"Oh! Now that you mention it, I remember it!"
The middle-aged warrior cleared his throat and shouted to Guasheng:
"Little girl, the private fight just now was not started by our master and disciple."
"My apprentice and I just wanted to come to Yoshiwara to stroll around and see what the 'City That Never Sleeps in Edo' looks like."
"I was just strolling around and suddenly ran into this guy."
The middle-aged warrior nodded at the young warrior who had fainted and was lying not far away.
"That guy said he was in the process of 'martial arts training'. He had never fought against a master who was good at using a spear in his travels, so he wanted to fight me."
"My apprentice and I are also in the process of 'martial arts training'. Since someone of the same kind has come to challenge us, there is naturally no reason to refuse."
"Then I had a fight with him, and then I shot him down."
"So in the final analysis, it's all that guy's fault. He was the one who started this private fight."
"So if you want to catch someone, just catch that guy."
As soon as the middle-aged warrior finished his explanation, Ueyoshi shook his head without any hesitation:
"The rule in Yoshiwara is that no matter who started the fight, all the people involved will be taken away. The punishment will be determined based on the severity of the fight."
"You didn't kill anyone, so you just need to pay a fine and spend a few days in the jail at our club."
"So please cooperate obediently..."
Before Guasheng finished speaking, the middle-aged warrior said in an extremely unhappy tone:
"Huh? Live in jail? I don't want that!"
"This is our Yoshiwara rule." Ueyoshi said in a much stricter tone than before, "Please cooperate with us!"
After saying that, in order to increase his deterrent power, Uesugi raised his hand and touched the katana on his left waist.
"This is really troublesome..." The middle-aged warrior raised his hand and rubbed his hair, "If I had known that Yoshiwara had so many troublesome rules, I would have fought that guy outside Yoshiwara."
"Anyway, hurry up and come with us to the club." Uesugi said impatiently, "The prison in our Shirobei Club is much cleaner than other prisons. We will lock you up for a few days and then release you."
"Let me confirm this - I think I'm the only one who needs to go to jail, right?"
"That's right." Guasheng nodded expressionlessly, "Because you were the only one involved in the private fight."
"That's easy." The middle-aged warrior stretched vigorously. "My apprentice will have to participate in the 'Imperial Examination' in the future. If being imprisoned affects his participation in the 'Imperial Examination' in the future."
"If I was the only one going to jail, I wouldn't mind staying there for a few days."
Seeing that the middle-aged warrior was easier to talk to than he had imagined, Uesugi's originally tense expression relaxed a little.
"Then please come with us to our club..."
Before Guasheng could finish his words, the middle-aged warrior's next words made Guasheng frown slightly.
"I actually have a question." The middle-aged samurai looked Uesugi up and down several times, "Is Edo such an open place? Can even women be officials?"
"I'm not an official official of the club." Guasheng said seriously, "I was hired by the club with private funds... You can say I'm a thug. My name is not on the official list of the government."
"Oh! I see! You were hired by the club as a thug, so you must be very powerful, right?"
"It's just so-so. I wouldn't call myself 'excellent'."
"Hehe." The middle-aged warrior grinned, "Since I started my martial arts training, I have never fought with a woman with superb skills."
"Little girl, let's have a competition."
"Huh?" Guasheng's frown deepened.
"I just said that, didn't I? I am currently doing 'warrior training' with my apprentice."
"If I meet someone I haven't fought before, it's not my style not to go up and fight him."
"Don't worry, no matter I win or lose, I will go to the prison of your club obediently!"
The middle-aged warrior slowly put down the spear on his shoulder, held it with both hands, and pointed the tip of the spear with a gun cap at Guasheng.
"Hello, I..."
When Guasheng was about to say something——
"Hozoin-ryu spear technique! Ishida Hirotoshi! Come on!"
As the shout came out, the tip of the gun with a gun cap on it rapidly enlarged in Guasheng's field of vision.
…
…
Edo, Yoshiwara, Tachibara-ya (located diagonally opposite Miume-ya).
"Lord Nagano! Lord Nagano!" A young samurai lying by the window shouted to a middle-aged man with a very dignified appearance who was sitting not far away.
"What's wrong?" The middle-aged man called Nagano handed the wine glass to the prostitute beside him and asked her to pour wine for him, and asked the young samurai, "Have you found Kinoshita Genichi?"
"I didn't see Genichi Kinoshita! It just seems like there's a fight going on outside!"
"Oh?" Nagano's face flashed with curiosity. "I remember that fighting on the streets is strictly prohibited in Yoshiwara, right?"
"It seems that the officers from the Shirobei Club got into a fight with others!"
Nagano held a wine glass full of wine, walked slowly to the window and looked down.
They are now on the second floor of Tachibara House, which is located diagonally opposite to Miume House.
Therefore, Nagano and the others only had to look down to see a man and a woman fighting in front of the door of Jianmei's shop.
The petite woman was wearing the haori of the Shirobei Society and wielding a wooden sword, struggling against the spear thrust by the middle-aged samurai opposite her.
After taking a look at the middle-aged warrior holding a spear, Nagano's mouth twitched:
"Although I didn't find Genichi Kinoshita, I did find an old acquaintance."
"Lord Nagano." The young warrior who had just informed Nagano that there was a fight outside asked, "Who is that person?"
"The man holding the spear is called Ishida Hirotoshi, and he is the successor of the Hozoin-ryu spear technique."
"He's a pretty troublesome guy. Whenever he meets a master, or someone using a weapon or martial arts style he's never seen before, he'll want to fight him."
"I have always accepted invitations to fight from others."
"He is a typical person who is obsessed with 'improving his skills'."
"In this respect, he is very similar to Genichi Kinoshita."
"When I was doing 'Martial Arts Training', I once met him and had a duel with him."
"His spear is quite tricky. I only won by a narrow margin in that contest with him."
"After not seeing him for so long, his spear skills must have improved a lot."
"But it's really strange. Why would someone like Ishida come to a place like Yoshiwara?"
"Hmm?" The young samurai standing next to Nagano looked puzzled. "Is there anything wrong with the senior who uses the Hozoin Ryujutsu appearing in Yoshiwara?"
"You don't know what kind of person Ishida is. Once you know what kind of person he is, you will find it very strange that Ishida would appear in Yoshiwara."
After shaking his head with a wry smile, Nagano raised the wine glass in his hand and took a sip of the wine.
"Okay, let's not talk about Ishida anymore, let's just focus on watching the game."
"In my opinion, this should be a very exciting battle."
After saying this, Nagano held the wine glass in his hand and quietly watched the battle between wooden sword and spear under the window.
…
…
When the middle-aged samurai who called himself Ishida Hirotoshi suddenly thrust his spear towards Uesugi, Uesugi immediately drew out the wooden sword from his waist as if by reflex and blocked the tip of Ishida's spear.
"Oh!" Ishida grinned, "Quick reaction! Not bad, not bad!"
"Ms. Guasheng!", "Ms. Guasheng! We are here to help you!", "Hey! You old man! Miss Guasheng hasn't agreed to fight you yet!"...
After Ishida suddenly attacked Ueo with a gun, some officials from the nearby clubs condemned Ishida indignantly and raised the long wooden sticks in their hands, saying that they would lend a helping hand to Ueo.
But Guasheng shouted to them:
"Don't come over here."
"It's too narrow here. If you come here together, it will only backfire."
In order to ensure that the road was not blocked by the crowd, Guasheng had already sent some of his colleagues to drive away the onlookers and divide the road into two halves by building a human wall.
Half of the road is used for passers-by to pass through, and Guasheng and her friends use the other half to resolve disputes.
Because the space for movement was only as wide as half a street, and the weapons used by the officers from other clubs were all long wooden sticks, if they rushed together to deal with Ishida in such a narrow space, they would hinder each other and might even hurt their own people.
After asking the officials around him not to come over and interfere with each other, Guasheng frowned and silently raised the wooden sword in his hand.
"...I hate people like you the most." Guasheng said in a deep voice.
"Oh? Do you hate people like me who use spears?"
"No, I hate people like you who use all kinds of methods to force others to compete with you just for the sake of competing with them."
"It brings back some very unpleasant memories."
"Since you want to fight me, then I will fight you. I can also take this opportunity to gain some experience in facing enemies with long weapons."
After saying that, Guasheng, with a gloomy face, slowly lowered the center of gravity of his body and assumed a right lower section posture.
"I flow! Melon show! Participate!"
The moment he finished speaking, Ueyu used his powerful leg strength to rush towards Ishida at such a speed that he seemed to have disappeared from the spot, and ran straight to Ishida.
The next moment when his wooden sword was about to touch Ishida, Uesugi turned the wooden sword in his hand and stabbed it towards Ishida's chest.
Ishida's pupils suddenly shrank, and he quickly stepped back several steps to distance himself from Uesugi, then swung his spear and used the spear shaft to block Uesugi's wooden sword.
Seeing that his attack did not work, Uesugi made an unhappy "tsk" sound, adjusted his posture, and attacked Ishida in front of him again.
Guasheng is only 1.43 meters tall.
Ishida is about 1.65 meters tall.
There was a height difference of more than 20 centimeters between the two men, and the weapon used by Ishida was a long spear that was much longer than Uesugi's wooden sword.
Ishida's height, which is much taller than Ueoshi's, and the long spear make his attack range several times wider than Ueoshi's.
Guasheng knew that she was at an absolute disadvantage in this competition because of her short arms.
Therefore, the only chance she could think of to win was to stick to Ishida, try to shorten the distance between them to the shortest possible distance, and then look for an opportunity to defeat the enemy with one strike based on this.
And Ishida's various performances revealed that he was not someone who lacked practical experience.
He quickly saw through Guasheng's intention and, relying on his advantage in attack range, prevented Guasheng from getting close.
While preventing Guasheng from getting close to him, he continuously launched various powerful stabs, forcing Guasheng to dodge or struggle to block his gun, thereby consuming Guasheng's physical strength and bullying Guasheng, who had a major weakness in physical strength because of her girl body.
No matter how good a person's swordsmanship is, it's useless if he can't hit the opponent.
Although Uesugi managed to get within striking distance of Ishida with her sword several times, her attacks were always avoided or blocked by Ishida.
While Ueo's attacks were not working, Ishida's attacks were also not hitting Ueo.
Ueoka was like a nimble cat, relying on his extreme agility to dodge every shot stabbed by Ishida.
No one could do anything to the other - the two of them were stuck in such a strange stalemate.
After more than ten rounds of attack and defense with no clear winner, Ishida suddenly and slowly put away his spear.
"Ah, no more fighting!" Ishida waved his hands and shouted while putting away his spear.
"Hmm?" Guasheng, whose breathing was already a little rapid, raised his eyebrows, "Aren't you going to continue fighting?"
"Because I just wanted to experience what it's like to compete with a skilled female swordsman." Ishida grinned, "After the experience, of course I don't want to fight again."
"It's much more boring than I thought!"
"It would be so boring if all female swordsmen were as good at dodging as you are!"
"Compared to someone like you who is good at dodging, I prefer an opponent who can fight me head-on!"
Guasheng didn't care what this guy thought after competing with her.
Seeing that Ishida didn't seem to want to continue fighting, Uesugi slowly put down the wooden sword in his hand.
"Since you don't want to fight anymore, then please keep your promise - after the competition with me, no matter you win or lose, you will follow us to the club."
"That won't work." Ishida shook his head. "I just had a boring fight, and now I feel so depressed."
"I want to fight again! I'll go to the club with you guys after I feel comfortable fighting!"
"Are there any experts in your Shirobei Club who are good at fighting?"
"It's best if you can fight me head-on."
"Hey! Are you done yet?" Guasheng shouted in extreme displeasure, "We at the Shirobei Club are not responsible for being your sparring partner!"
"Can't you pick another expert to fight me?" Ishida said in a nonchalant tone, "If I don't fight Shu Chang, I won't willingly accompany you to the club."
Looking at Ishida who went back on his word, Uesugi's face darkened again.
Just as Guasheng slowly raised the wooden sword in his hand again——
"Um... am I here too early or too late?"
A voice that sounded quite familiar to Guasheng suddenly sounded behind him.
"Mashima-kun?"
Uesugi looked back in the direction of the sound—she saw Ogata, whose breathing was a little rapid, standing not far behind her.
…
…
As Ogata slowly walked towards Uekushi, Uekushi asked Ogata:
"Mashima-kun, why are you here?"
"Um..." Ogata subconsciously glanced at Jian Meiwu who was not far away, "For some reason, I happened to be nearby..."
“After discovering that someone seemed to be causing trouble here, I immediately rushed over.”
"Am I early or late now?"
"Mashima-kun..." Ueyu said helplessly, "Since you were also near Meiwu just now, then your speed is neither too early nor too late. But you should try to come earlier in the future."
"Sorry...I'll try to speed up next time."
"Oh my. Sir, who are you?"
"Hmm?" Ogata looked towards the owner of the strange male voice that suddenly asked his name - Ishida who was standing opposite him and Uesugi.
"My name is Majima Goro."
"I am Ishida Hirotoshi, the master of the Hozoin-ryu spear technique!"
After carrying the spear on his shoulder, Ishida moved his eyes and looked Ogata up and down several times again, and then -
"Since you have a sword on your waist, you must be a samurai!"
After licking his lips, Ishida lowered the spear on his shoulder and pointed the tip of the spear, which still had the hood on, at Ogata.
"Since he is a samurai, he should be stronger than the officers beside him who don't even have swords on their waists, right?"
"Then it's you! Your Excellency, please compete with me!"
"After we have a good fight, I will go to the club with you guys!"
"Hey!" Guasheng gritted his teeth, "Didn't you just say that you would go to the club with us after you fight me? Are you still a warrior if you go back on your word like this?"
Ishida turned a deaf ear to Uesugi's shouting.
While Ogata was still looking at him with confusion, Ishida suddenly shook his hand, thrust the spear in his hand forward, and stabbed Ogata.
This was Ishida's tried-and-tested strategy - when he wanted to compete with someone, he only had to launch a rash attack on him, which would most likely anger the other person, and then he could compete with him.
Osamu took a step back, dodging Ishida's stab, and looked at Ishida opposite him with slightly narrowed eyes.
"Although I don't know what you want to do, I don't have much time to learn from you. If you want to learn from you, please find someone else."
"That won't do!" Ishida shouted, "If I meet the person I like, I won't give up until I have a good fight with him!"
"If you don't fight me, I'll keep annoying you!"
After saying that, Ishida shook his hand and stabbed Ogata with the spear in his hand again.
After dodging Ishida's spear again, Ogata sighed softly.
In fact, Ogata had seen this kind of person several times after leaving Hirose Domain.
Whether it is for the purpose of improving martial arts or simply for the enjoyment of fighting, when they meet someone who seems very strong, they will find various ways to ask the other party to compete with them.
This kind of martial arts fanatic was quite common in the Warring States Period when martial virtues were abundant.
A typical representative is Miyamoto Musashi, who was active in the late Warring States period and early Edo period.
According to various legends and anecdotes, Miyamoto Musashi was such a martial arts fanatic.
He will be like a troublemaker and will use all kinds of means to force others to fight with him.
Of course——this is just the Miyamoto Musashi in the legend.
It is unknown whether Miyamoto Musashi in history was really like this.
When Ogata had just left the Hirose Domain and was wandering aimlessly, he had met a few such unreasonable martial arts fanatics who kept pestering him and demanding that he compete with them.
"……I see."
After letting out another sigh, Ogata raised his right hand and pulled out the Daishikuten from his waist.
"I don't have that much time, so let's make it quick."
Because Ishida did not take off the gun holster, Ogata turned the Daishakuten in his hand and used the back of the blade to face the enemy. He then held the Daishakuten in his right hand and assumed a standard mid-section stance .
"Hmm?" Ishida raised an eyebrow. "Ashita, can't you use your left hand? Why are you holding the knife with one hand?"
"Because this is not a fight to the death," Ogata said calmly, "so if I use two hands, I'm afraid I won't be able to control the strength."
"Hahaha!" Ishida laughed a few times, "Are you worried that you can't control the strength when using both hands? You seem to be a very humorous person! Forget it, it doesn't matter what happens! Let's get started!"
"Hozoin-ryu spearmanship! Ishida Hirotoshi! Come on!"
"Hozoin-ryu spear technique?... I've seen many enemies using long weapons, but this is the first time I've encountered someone using Hozoin-ryu spear technique..." After muttering this in a low voice that only he could hear, Ogata slowly lowered his center of gravity.
"Komu Ittori style, Majima Goro, please join us."
…
…
at the same time--
Not far away, on the second floor of Tachibanahara House——
"Humph." Nagano sneered, "After such a long time, Ishida is still the same, loving to compete with others."
"In order to compete with others, I will do anything."
"He's the same character as that Kinoshita Genichi."
"It's incredible that someone with his personality can still live to this day."
"Master Nagano." The young man standing next to Nagano asked, "That young man actually held the knife with one hand..."
Nagano slowly moved his gaze to Ogata, who was holding a knife with one hand.
"I really don't know if this young man is too arrogant or really confident." Nagano said softly, "He actually holds the knife with one hand..."
At this point, Nagano smiled and shook his head.
"If you use a knife with one hand and don't have enough strength, you can cut the flesh but you can't break the bones."
…
…
Ogata held the knife with his right hand only, in a standard mid-section stance, confronting Ishida opposite him.
Looking at Ogata in front of him, Ishida, who was originally smiling, now slowly saw the smile disappear from his face.
His expression gradually became serious.
Because he discovered that he couldn't find any flaws in Ogata.
Ogata, who held the sword with one hand, should have revealed far more flaws than when he held the sword with both hands.
However, Ogata was like a mountain, rooted in the ground, standing tall without revealing the slightest flaw.
No matter how Ishida waited or how he changed his position, he could not find a chance to attack.
A bead of sweat began to appear on Ishida's forehead and then slid down his cheek.
Compared to Ishida, whose expression changed drastically, Ogata's expression did not change at all.
From the moment he pulled out the Daishakuten until now, Ogata's expression has remained expressionless.
He has been looking at Ishida opposite him with a calm expression.
After realizing that no matter how long he waited, Ogata might not reveal a flaw, Ishida shouted and raised his gun towards Ogata.
Ishida planned to take the initiative to induce Ogata to show a flaw.
Hozoin-ryu spearmanship is one of the most famous spearmanship schools, and has the reputation of "stabbing into a long spear, chopping into a razor, and cutting into a hook and sickle."
Whether it's stabbing or slashing, the Hozoin-ryu spear technique has extremely strong power.
The gun tip drew a beautiful arc and swept towards Ogata's abdomen.
Although the gun holster was not removed, if he was hit in the abdomen by this blow, even if he did not die, he would definitely have to lie in bed for a while.
Ogata did not dodge or evade the gun tip that was aimed at his abdomen, nor did he change his stance.
He just glanced sideways at the position of the gun tip.
Then--
Sakakibara Ittoryu: Water Falls!
Ogata, holding the Daishakuten in his right hand, wielded the sword with one hand and blocked the spear thrown by Ishida.
clang!
A deafening crash was heard.
The tip of Ishida's gun only stayed in the air for a moment before it was heavily bounced off by Ogata's sword.
——!!!
After Ogata deflected Ishida's gun tip with one hand, Ishida himself, Ueo beside him, the officials of the nearby club, and Nagano who was watching the fight on the second floor of Tachibara-ya not far away all looked surprised.
“This guy…” Nagano almost lost his grip on the wine glass, “He can break bones with one hand…!”
After blocking Ishida's gun with a single knife, Osamu took a sudden step forward and rushed towards Ishida like an arrow.
Ishida subconsciously wanted to retract his spear to defend himself.
However - the huge force generated by Ogata's sword blocking his spear just now was transmitted along the spear shaft to the palms of his hands, making his hands numb.
Because of this, Ishida was a little slow and failed to retract the spear in time.
Ogata successfully rushed to Ishida and placed the Daishakuten in his hand around Ishida's neck.
"How is it?" Ogata, who still looked calm, said softly to Ishida who was standing close to him, "Are you feeling better now?"