There is so much filth, try the knife - after hearing these two words, Qingdeng's brows instantly tightened.

This country has always had a terrible bad habit: using people to test the sword.

Some perverted warriors, in order to test the sharpness of their swords, often lurk in the streets late at night, attack and kill passers-by, and test the sword on them.

This kind of behavior of testing swords on people on the street is called "Tsuji Slash".

Tsuji Slash was quite common before the Edo period.

It was not until three hundred years ago, after the Edo shogunate was established, that the Tokugawa family finally legislated to prohibit this kind of crazy behavior. Once discovered, they would be severely punished.

The Edo shogunate's legislative prohibition had a good effect, and this inhumane bad habit was greatly curbed, but the term "Tsuji Slash" was not completely swept into the trash can of history.

After all, no matter when and where, there is never a shortage of lunatics with mental problems.

Even now that the Edo shogunate has ruled this country for nearly three hundred years, even under the emperor's feet like the Edo municipalities, there are still shocking news that "so and so was tested last night" from time to time.

And the person who is most often used as a victim of Tsuji Zan... is Kudo.

Dirty people - to put it simply, they are untouchables.

Japanese society in the Edo period was divided into four levels from top to bottom: scholars, farmers, industry and commerce.

In addition to the "scholars, farmers, industry and commerce", there is also an "invisible class" that is outside these four levels, that is, the "filthy class".

With the name "dirty", just hearing this name is enough to know the status of this group in society.

The origin of this group of people can be traced back thousands of years. Before Japan fully learned the advanced culture and systems of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there was always a class in society that specialized in serving officials: "servants."

Most of the people in the Edo period were descendants of these slaves.

In addition to the slave class from thousands of years ago, the sources of the dirty people are also——

People who specialize in leather, butchering and other occupations related to blood contamination.

A person who was infected with leprosy and was thrown into a ghetto but did not die.

The Ezo people who became prisoners of war.

Etc., etc……

The above-mentioned people and their descendants together constitute the class of "Huduo".

Those who are regarded as untouchables are suffering from discrimination.

The Edo shogunate gathered the fudos in a corner of the city or in some remote rural areas for centralized management.

All filial piety is hereditary. As long as you are filial piety, your descendants will be filial piety for eternity and will never be able to stand up and obtain citizenship.

The Udos were unable to purchase land or engage in agricultural or commercial activities. They could only work as cleaners, undertakers, butchers, leather manufacturers, etc. In the eyes of the people of the Edo period, they were very dirty and unclean jobs.

.

When the dirty people leave the settlement where they live and prepare to go out, they often have to cover their faces because people are worried that they will bring "bad smell" when they speak.

People in some places even require dirty people to walk backwards when passing a certain place, because this way they can wipe their dirty footprints while walking backwards.

With such a humble status, their lives are naturally as worthless as grass in people's eyes.

In the Edo period, there was an unwritten rule: 7 filthy lives are worth the life of a commoner.

Because Hui Duo's life is so cheap, those madmen with brain problems often use Hui Duo to test their swords.

If you use Hui Duo to test the knife, even if you are accidentally caught, you will get a lighter sentence because the person you killed was Hui Duo.

When Ayoto frowned when he heard the words "dirty" and "test knife", Kinoshita Mai continued in a deep voice:

"In the past month, when I was patrolling various parts of Edo, I frequently found victims who were hacked to death on the streets of the Kudo settlement area."

"According to my current statistics, the number of these victims has been as high as 7... The actual number should be higher than what I counted."

"In just one month, so many hacked bodies appeared on the streets. It is basically certain that someone is performing Tsuji beheading."

"Because there were so many knife wounds on each body, I suspect that it was not a single person who committed the crime, but a whole group that was frantically testing people with knives."

"If it's a single person, that's okay, but if it's a large group of sword-wielding samurai... I'm not sure I can subdue them."

"So, Tachibana-kun, I thought of you."

"I want to ask you to help me and go with me to deal with these madmen who wantonly test innocent people."

After listening to Kinoshita Mai's sincere plea, Qingto asked quickly and subconsciously:

"Since you found someone killing Tsuji, why didn't you try to notify the execution office?"

As soon as he asked this question, Qingdeng's expression froze.

Because he reacted quickly - he just asked a stupid question...

As expected, Kinoshita Mai smiled helplessly.

"Ji Jun, you are the 'three chapters' of the execution office. You should know better than me, right? How can the execution institute care about the life and death of Hui Duo..."

Qingdeng pursed his lips and said nothing.

The clinic is always short of manpower.

Even with the "Township Citizens' Self-Government Organization" to help share those civil cases, and the enforcement office to focus on handling criminal cases, the manpower of the enforcement office is still extremely tight.

Regarding the order in which cases are handled, the law enforcement office has always followed an unwritten rule.

First of all - cases related to dignitaries are the highest priority.

Then there is the case of the samurai.

Then there are the cases of ordinary civilians.

Just dealing with the cases of these "normal people", the law enforcement office is often very busy. How can it have the energy and time to accept the cases of these "normal people"?

Normally, I wouldn't care much about Hui Duo's life and death, let alone the current situation when the Zhixian Zhengzheng is devoting most of its energy and resources to encircling and suppressing the "radical anti-barbarian faction".

If Kinoshita Mai had managed to report to the execution office that "a group of lunatics were trying out the swords with Kuda," then her report would have definitely fallen into disgrace.

At most, the execution center only symbolically sent some of its own officers to the scene of the crime and walked around pretending to do so.

After another moment of silence, Qingdeng's frowning brows relaxed slightly.

"...I understand the specific reason."

"But there are still many things I don't understand."

"Miss Kinoshita, when we were at the training hall just now... why did you show up in that form?"

Qingdeng sighed with complicated emotions.

"Suddenly jumped down from the ceiling and landed behind me... To be honest, I was scared by you at the time. I thought you were thinking of a thief who stole from the trial hall, or a thief who wanted to take revenge on me.

Team members.”

"Hahaha..." Kinoshita Mai laughed awkwardly, put her hands behind her back, shrank her right foot behind her left foot, and said coquettishly, "I wanted to scare you and give you a surprise..."

"I originally thought you would be so frightened that you fell to the ground and then crawled back on your hands and feet."

"Unexpectedly, you rushed over and knocked me to the ground..."

After hearing Kinoshita Mai's explanation, Qingden's lips curled up into a helpless smile:

——Miss Kinoshita also has a very childish side...

After having this secret thought in his mind, Qingto added: However, judging from her age, Miss Kinoshita is indeed still a child.

If Qingto remembers correctly, Kinoshita Mai is only 15 years old this year.

Although from the perspective of this era, a 15-year-old girl is already old enough to get married and have children.

But in Aoto's eyes, Kinoshita Mai, who is not even 16 years old yet, is a child whose body has not even grown yet.

"Don't do this kind of thing again."

Qingdeng put his hands on his hips and said seriously in a slightly serious tone.

"Fortunately, my knife was at my feet and not on my waist."

"Otherwise, I might not have thrown you to the ground, but would have just pulled out the knife."

After briefly reprimanding Kinoshita Mai, Qingden fell into silence thoughtfully. After a few breaths, he spoke again and posed a new question to Kinoshita Mai:

"...Miss Kinoshita, why did you ask me for help?"

"Reveal your true identity to me directly... Aren't you afraid that I will arrest you directly, take you to the prison, and exchange you for my merits?"

"Successfully arresting the little cat monk who has been a headache for the enforcement office for a long time... This is an incredible achievement."

As soon as Qingto finished speaking, he immediately saw Kinoshita Mai's cheerful smile rising up on her cheeks hidden under the black scarf.

"Because besides you, I have no one else I can turn to."

"You are the only person who I trust very much and who also has very good skills."

"I believe you will never betray me."

"And... and..."

Kinoshita Mai seemed to want to say something more.
To be continued...