After they introduced themselves to each other, the cross-dressing man who called himself "Five Six" slowly walked towards Ogata.
Because the surrounding environment was dim, Ogata was finally able to see his face clearly only after Wuliu approached.
The first impression that Goroku gave Ogata was that he was young.
Very young.
Judging from his appearance, Goroku should be about the same age as Ogata. Ogata is 21 years old this year, so Goroku should be around 20 years old.
The second impression is that he has a very strange hairstyle in this era.
There are only three types of hairstyles that men can have in this era: topknot, bangs, and bald.
The most fashionable hairstyle is undoubtedly the topknot.
Because the fringe hairstyle is difficult to maintain, the newly grown hair on the top of the head needs to be shaved off almost every day.
Therefore, being able to keep a clean and neat topknot is a symbol of status.
As for the topknot, it can be considered the opposite of the topknot, that is, the hair is not shaved, but only tied into a bun.
Whether it's a topknot or a long hair, you have to at least tie it into a bun.
However, Wuliu didn't even have a bun.
Because he didn't have hair long enough to tie into a bun.
The hairstyle that Wu Liu has is a short hair that is so rare in this era that it is almost unheard of.
This was the first time Ogata had seen a man with short hair since he came to the Edo period.
In modern Earth, this short hair is quite common and no one would find it strange.
But in the Edo period, such a short hairstyle was completely non-mainstream.
A very non-mainstream hairstyle in this era, coupled with the female kimono on his body, makes this person exude a strange aura...
"You..." Ogata hesitated, "Are you a curious person?"
“A person who is curious about strange things?” Wu Liu raised his head and thought for a while, then laughed a few times, “Hahahaha! Let’s just say I am!”
A strange person refers to a person whose dress, behavior, speech and temperament are strange. It also refers to a person who often does strange things that are different from ordinary people.
These curious people were more common during the Warring States Period more than 200 years ago.
After Tokugawa Ieyasu ended the chaos of the Warring States Period and founded the Edo Shogunate, the number of those who were interested in strange things decreased sharply due to the peace in the world.
Izumo Okuni, the founder of Kabuki and a pioneer of a new art of singing and dancing, is considered one of the famous geeks.
Another person who became famous as a geek was Maeda Keiji, a famous military commander in the Warring States Period.
Maeda Keiji was known as "Japan's No. 1 eccentric". He once did something strange by wearing cotton clothes in the middle of summer, which amazed the then head of the Uesugi family, Uesugi Kagekatsu.
Although there have been many eccentrics in history who presented themselves as knights, ordinary people have always kept their distance from those eccentrics who always wore strange clothes, behaved strangely, and acted like psychopaths.
However, this was the first time that Ogata had seen such a curious person, so he did not feel alienated from the cross-dressing man in front of him. Instead, he looked him up and down with curious eyes.
Apart from having a strange hairstyle and wearing a women's kimono, there was nothing else strange about Wuliu.
He had no weapons on him, and wore a pair of black tabi shoes and ordinary straw sandals.
His facial features are fairly regular, and he is considered a handsome man.
If he changes his hairstyle to the most fashionable and popular topknot in this era, he would probably be a handsome young man who could please many women.
"Are you here for pleasure?" Ogata asked.
"No." Wuliu stretched, "I just have some free time tonight, so I came to visit my hometown."
"Hometown?" Ogata raised his eyebrows vigorously.
"You heard it right." Wu Liu pointed to the ground below, "The Rashomon Riverbank is where I was born."
"Mashima Goro-kun, you came to Rashomon Riverbank to support Rashomon Riverbank and maintain the law and order of Rashomon Riverbank, right?"
"Then let's talk while we patrol."
After saying that, without waiting for Ogata to respond, Goroku crossed his hands and put them into the sleeves of his kimono on both sides, then walked towards a path beside him.
Ogata didn't mind if someone came to chat with him while he was on patrol.
Rather, he would welcome someone to chat with him, so that his patrols would not be so boring.
So after Wu Liu walked away on his own, Xu Fang quickly followed.
…
…
at the same time--
Edo, Yoshiwara, somewhere——
Uesugi was leading several of his colleagues on patrol around Yoshiwara.
At the Shirobei Club, Ueyu's main job is to patrol Yoshiwara and maintain public order in Yoshiwara.
Guasheng can't do any of the boring clerical work or the management work that requires a certain amount of wisdom.
Her only strengths are her impressive swordsmanship and her ample physical strength.
Therefore, all she could do was to arrest and punish those who caused trouble in Yoshiwara and protect the prostitutes and guests in Yoshiwara.
On the busiest nights, Uesugi would patrol Yoshiwara aimlessly with a few colleagues or just by himself.
Just as Guasheng was looking around to see if there was anything unusual going on, a familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind him:
"Ms. Guasheng!"
A very young man, holding up the trouser legs of his hakama, ran towards Guasheng panting.
The young man's name is Sukeshi, and he is a new member who just joined their Shirobei Club last month.
"Zhu Si, what's wrong?" Gua Sheng asked.
"I have a piece of news to tell you, I don't know if it is important or not." After running in front of Guasheng, Zhu Si lowered his voice and whispered to Guasheng.
Guasheng frowned his beautiful eyebrows and said:
"Is there another place that needs reinforcements?"
"No." Sukerushi shook his head, "It's the Fire Thief Kai who's here."
"The Fire Thief Kai?" Ueyoshi's expression changed. "What are the Fire Thief Kai doing in Yoshiwara? Could it be that some vicious thief or arsonist has come to our Yoshiwara?"
"I don't know about that." Sukeshi shook his head. "I just saw someone wearing a fire thief's uniform swaggering into our Yoshiwara."
"As for why these officers who are responsible for catching vicious thieves and arsonists showed up in Yoshiwara, I have no idea..."
"Where are the officers of the Fire Thief Kai now?"
"They are in the clubhouse now. Lord Shirobei is negotiating with the fire thieves in the clubhouse."
"...You guys continue patrolling." Uesugi turned to the colleagues who followed her on patrol in Yoshiwara tonight and said, "I'll go back to the club to take a look."
"yes!"
…
…
Edo, Yoshiwara, Shirobei Club.
In the club's most upscale reception room, two distinct groups of people sat facing each other.
Among these two groups of people, one is the "club force" headed by Shirobei.
Sitting behind Shirobei were Kawajiro, Keiemon and other club officials.
The other group of people sitting opposite Shirobei and others were all wearing the same black uniform.
"Master Shirobei."
A young man in his 30s sitting at the front of the group of black-clad men bowed to Shirobei in front of him and said expressionlessly:
"I am the leader of the Fire Thieves Group 6, my name is Yoshinobu."
"I've long heard of your name." Shirobei returned the greeting and echoed.
After the two of them took turns saying some official clichés, Shirobei got straight to the point:
"Sir Natori, what brings you from the Shiranui Thieves to Yoshiwara today?"
"Master Shirobei, do you know the evil villain Kiku-chan?"
"Kiku-chan..." Shirobei pondered for a while, "I have heard a little bit about him. It is said that he is a vicious thief who is currently roaming around Edo. He has committed several murders and robberies, and he especially likes to rob women."
"That's right." Natori nodded slightly, his face still expressionless. "We, the Fire Thief Kai, started tracking Kiku-chan half a month ago."
"According to our informant's report, Kiku-chan fled to Yoshiwara tonight. We cannot rule out the possibility that Kiku-chan intends to harm someone in Yoshiwara tonight."
"What?" The expressions of Kawajiro, Keiemon and others who were sitting behind Shirobei changed one after another.
"Although there is a possibility that the intelligence is wrong, just in case, Lord Hasegawa still sent our 6th Division to Yoshiwara to find Kiku-chan."
"...I understand." Shirobei nodded , "We, the Shirobei Club, will do our best to assist you in capturing Kiku-chan."
"No need."
As soon as Shirobei finished speaking, Natori answered without hesitation.
"Not only is Kiku-chan agile, he is also extremely skilled in the art of small-scale jutsu. He is a very formidable villain."
"It's easy for outsiders to get hurt when dealing with this kind of villain. Let us, who are specialized in dealing with villains, do it."
Hearing what Natori said, Kawajiro, Keimon and others frowned slightly.
After Natori finished his long speech, he picked up the knife beside him and stood up.
As Natori stood up, the rest of his subordinates sitting behind him also stood up.
"Then - I'll take my leave now."
"Okay." Shirobei nodded, "Then I wish you all success in taking down the evil thief Kiku-koseng soon!"
Shirobei led Kawajiro, Keiemon and others to personally escort Natori and others out of the club.
After leaving the club, Natori and his subordinates immediately divided into four teams, dispersed, and began to search for Kiku-kouseng in Yoshiwara.
After Natori and the others left, Kei'emon spat on the ground.
"What's the attitude of those people?" Keiemon said in an extremely unhappy tone, "What do you mean by 'outsiders'? What do you mean by 'leave it to us professionals'? Do they look down on our Shirobei Club?"
Keimon's words immediately resonated with the others who were also present.
Shirobei smiled wryly at Keiemon and the others who were in a state of grief and indignation, and was about to say something when—
"Hmm? Lord Shirobei, have the fire thieves left yet?"
Shirobei and others looked in the direction of the sound.
The person who spoke was Guasheng, who had just learned that the police who were responsible for the fire-breaking thieves had arrived and had rushed over to check the situation.
"Uses." Shirobei asked, "Why are you here?"
"I just heard that the fire thief Kai's officers came to our Yoshiwara, so I came to check the situation."
"Well... the officer who was brought by the fire thief Kai has indeed left." After showing a helpless smile, Shirobei explained the fire thief Kai's purpose to Uesugi.
After Shirobei told the fire thieves about the purpose of the officials' visit, Keiichimon, who still had a look of grief and anger on his face, began to add to his comments.
He added on to what Natori had just said to them.
After hearing Mingdori say, "It's easy for outsiders to get hurt when dealing with this kind of villain, let's let us, who are specialized in dealing with villains, do it Ueyoshi also showed indignation and said:
"Are they looking down on our Shirobei Club? Our Shirobei Club is one of the organizations responsible for maintaining law and order, and we have arrested many vicious thieves. How can we be called outsiders?"
"Humph." Kei'emon sneered, "That guy just now must be the kind of person who thinks our Shirobei Club is nothing special!"
Although their Shirobei Kaishuo is one of the official organizations of the shogunate, its position among the various organizations of the shogunate is actually quite delicate.
This is because the Shirobei Association is an organization specifically responsible for managing Yoshiwara.
This has led many people to preconceived that the officers of the Shirobei Club can only catch petty thieves who steal money from prostitutes or do not pay after having fun.
"Alright." Shirobei sighed softly, "Stop talking, everyone disperse. Do what you need to do."
"Kawajiro, organize the people and pass the order - everyone try to cooperate with the fire thief's search."
"Kiku-chan is a small, bald-headed man who carries a wakizashi with him."
"When you encounter someone who meets these characteristics, do not rush forward to fight him, and notify the nearby fire thieves and officers in time."
"Yes." Kawajiro nodded vigorously.
"Okay!" Keimon suddenly shouted, "I'm excited! I'm going to catch that Kiku-chan before the fire thieves and the officers!"
"I'd like to see what expressions these people who claim to be experts have when they see us 'outsiders' catch the villain they have been tracking for a long time!"
"Don't be silly!" Shirobei frowned and scolded sternly, "Although what that person said just now was a bit unpleasant to hear, it is actually the truth."
"The Fire Thieves Kai is the shogunate's strongest armed security force!"
When saying the word "strongest", Shirobei emphasized the tone.
"It's their job to catch vicious thieves and arsonists."
"In terms of equipment level, the elite level of the team members, and the experience in catching vicious criminals, they are indeed far superior to us."
"So let them handle the matter of capturing Kiku-chan."
"We just need to maintain the law and order in Yoshiwara as usual."
"Everyone, disperse! Go do whatever you need to do!"
…
…
Edo, Yoshiwara, Rashomon Riverbank.
As we got deeper into the Rashomon River, the surrounding scene became a little more lively.
On every road, big or small, there are more or less men of different ages wandering around.
They might stop in front of a prostitute.
Or continue to wander aimlessly, looking for your own goal.
Although these men have different appearances and ages, they have one common characteristic - their clothes are basically tattered, and you can tell at a glance that their family backgrounds are definitely not good.
Earlier, Uesugi and Ogata said that there were more customers visiting Rashomon Riverbank tonight than usual, so the Banfang in charge of the security of Rashomon Riverbank requested to deploy more personnel to support Rashomon Riverbank.
Therefore, the scene currently before Ogata's eyes should be considered a rare prosperous scene on the banks of the Rashomon River.
Although the number of people on the Rashomon Riverbank is quite large compared to the past, its flow of people is still less than a fraction of that on Nakanomachi.
As they entered the central area of ​​Rashomon River, there were more people around, and the targets that the prostitutes could choose from became very diverse.
As a result, the number of people who would come to bother Ogata and Goroku has decreased significantly.
Goroku followed Ogata and said to him with a smile:
"I can hardly recognize the Rashomon Riverbank now."
“There weren’t many intact houses here before.”
"But now it's the other way around, with only a few shabby houses left."
"This is all thanks to Furin-no-Taikoo." Ogata added, "Thanks to Furin-no-Taikoo, this place has become so much more beautiful."
Ogata learned from Uesugi yesterday that after becoming an oiran, Furin-no-Tayu used her own savings to renovate the place where she was born, the banks of the Rashomon Gate.
Ogata was quite impressed by Furin Taifu's heroic feat.
“Yeah.” Goroku let out a long breath, “She’s amazing… Ah, Mashima-kun, did you see that tree?”
Wu Liu raised his hand and pointed towards a big tree not far ahead.
"When I was little, I always played under that tree with other friends."
Speaking of this, memories slowly emerged in Wuliu's eyes.
At this moment, there were two children, a boy and a girl, playing under the big tree.
Looking at the two children, Wuliu said softly:
"Those two children, like me, are probably the children of some prostitute on the banks of the Rashomon River ."
The two children were standing under the big tree at this time, rubbing a bamboo dragonfly vigorously.
The appearance of the bamboo helicopter was quite crude, and the craftsmanship of the person who made it must not be very good.
Because of its crude shape, no matter how the two kids fiddled with it, the bamboo helicopter just couldn't fly.
Upon seeing this, Wu Liu put down his hands that were crossed in his sleeves and walked quickly towards the two children.
Ogata, not knowing what was going on, also followed.
"Give it to me. I'll help you fix your bamboo helicopter." Wu Liu opened his big hands towards the couple.
The man and woman looked at each other for a while at the stranger in front of them.
In the end, the boy handed the bamboo helicopter to Wuliu with some hesitation.
"Mashima-kun, excuse me, can I borrow your wakizashi?"
"Can you repair a bamboo dragonfly?" Ogata asked as he pulled out his Daijizai.
"I once studied and learned how to use bamboo dragonflies in order to appease a noisy guy."
After receiving the Great Freedom from Ogata, Goroku glanced at the blade and exclaimed:
"What a nice sword! Is it made by a famous craftsman?"
"No." Ogata said, "It's just an unmarked sword."
Ogata wasn't lying.
Whether it is Mahāśyapa or Mahāśravaṇa, there are indeed no inscriptions engraved on the blades of their swords.
"An unnamed sword?... How could there be such a beautiful unnamed sword..."
After looking up and down the blade with curious eyes several times, Wuliu picked up the Da Zi Zai and used skillful techniques to carve the bamboo dragonfly in his hand.
After a short while, the bamboo helicopter, which originally looked crudely made, gradually became more presentable.
When it was almost done, he returned the Great Freedom to Ogata five or six times, then held the bamboo dragonfly between his hands and rubbed it hard.
The bamboo dragonfly, which had been unable to fly, instantly flew nearly 1 meter high.
Looking at the bamboo dragonfly flying high in the sky, the boy and girl immediately showed excitement on their faces and trotted all the way to chase the slowly descending bamboo dragonfly.
Wu Liu crossed his hands again and put them into his sleeves, looking at the man and woman who were chasing the bamboo dragonfly with a smile on his face.
No... to be precise... he was looking at the little girl chasing the bamboo dragonfly with a smile on his face.
"You seem to like children very much." Ogata said.
"No." Wu Liu shook his head. "I don't really like kids."
"I just simply prefer little girls...ah, you misunderstood, the 'like' I mentioned is not the kind of liking between men and women!"
Goroku hurriedly explained to Ogata, who had just been silently distancing himself from him and giving him a strange look.
"I was forced to serve a little girl like a servant for some reason."
“Although that period was very tiring, I didn’t feel unhappy.”
"It is also thanks to that little girl that I prefer little girls to little boys."