At this moment, a black shadow suddenly fell straight down in mid-air, and fell between Kazama and Liuquan with a thud, and a burst of smoke and dust exploded on the ground because of this violent impact.

The smoke and dust slowly cleared, and the black shadow raised its head.

It's actually Tianwu Jiushou!

One of his hands blocked Kazama's blade, and the other held Yanagizumi's hand.

He slowly lifted his eyes, first glanced at Yanagiquan, and then turned to Kazama.

"That's enough, Kazama!"

Unexpectedly, he came to stop Kazama.

"If you continue to fight, you will leave regrets in the world. ...... Do you want to make one more fake that you hate?!"

Kazama followed the direction of Tenmist's eyes and saw the small bottle containing the water that had fallen on the ground in front of Hijikata.

He let out a fierce "snort", put away the knife, and looked over Willow Spring to the person behind her.

"Your name is Hijikata, isn't it? Another day, we will fight it out. He said coldly, casting an inexplicable glance at Chizuru on the side, and turned to leave.

Tenki followed closely behind, bowing slightly in the direction of Hijikata, Yanagizumi, and Chizuru, and then the figure flashed and disappeared with Kazama.

Almost in the next second, Liu Quan jerked his head to look at the earth.

"Mr. Hijikata!!!How are you—"

Hijikata hissed and inhaled, his face pale from excessive blood loss. He didn't answer Yanagiquan's words, but shouted to Yanagiquan and Chizuru, "...... What about Yamazaki?!What happened to Yamazaki?!"

...... Yamazaki?!

Only then did Ryuizumi remember that after Yamazaki stopped himself from following Hijikata, he volunteered to follow the deputy chief to Yodo Castle to rescue. The situation was urgent just now, and the strong enemy was current, she didn't have time to think about it, and now that the crisis had passed, she suddenly realized that there was indeed no trace of Yamazaki at the scene.

...... Moreover, there is also Gen-san! Gen-san is not there!

Yanagizumi looked at Chizuru in amazement - because the deputy chief had been injured, the only one on the scene who was safe and sound and could properly relay what had happened.

"What about Yamazaki?!What about Gen-san?!...... Where have they gone?!"

Chizuru seemed to be struck down by such a difficult question in an instant. She opened her mouth, a look of grief on her face.

She didn't need to answer anything more, and Liu Quan got an answer that he didn't want to hear.

"Impossible...... How could it be ......," she muttered, feeling a chill run through her body.

Although she couldn't remember when Gen-san died, Yamazaki ...... Yamazaki didn't get his bento now!

She blurted out, "Impossible!!Yamazaki!Yamazaki also...... Is it dead?!"

This roar seemed to wake up Chizuru in an instant because of a series of blows and fright. Her expression, which had been a little dazed before, suddenly changed, and she dropped the earthwork and rushed forward.

Yanagizumi immediately realized that Yamazaki and Gen-san should both be somewhere in that direction. She hesitated a little and glanced at the earthwork.

Hijikata gritted his teeth and supported his body with "Izumi Shoukansei", as if he was about to stagger to his feet.

Liu Quan hurriedly stepped forward to help him. He didn't refuse her help.

After struggling to stand up, Hijikata shook a little. He had to put the weight of his body on the support of Willow Spring.

"Yamazaki...... Yuansang ...... All in front. He gritted his teeth and said word by word, as if it was painful enough for him to say the truth. Then, he stubbornly took steps in that direction.

"Gen-san...... Gen-san had already ......, "With the support of Liu Quan, the two of them slowly moved little by little in the direction where Chizuru was running.

Liu Quan: ......?!

However, although Hijikata was gasping for breath with difficulty, and his voice was almost distorted by the severe pain, he didn't seem to have any intention of stopping.

"I ...... When I arrived...... It's already ...... Like water, the bottle shattered...... No, it's too late to ......."

Liu Quan knew that Shannan had given these cadres the water and told them, "If you still feel unwilling at the last moment, you can choose to drink it and continue to survive." However, at that time, Shannan did not hand over the change to Ruoshui, the acting leader of the Ichiban group.

For some reason, she suddenly remembered the dusk of the day when the oil path changed.

Gen-sang brought her dinner, smiled kindly, and said that before the deputy chief went out to invite Ito, he specially told Gen-sang to stare at Liu Quan and eat all the rice, not like the general secretary who has been sick for a long time and has a poor appetite.

She muttered, "Gensang......"

Although he has experienced many life and death partings in this world, and watched Sannan Heisuke become a Rakshasa in front of his eyes, it is the first time that this kind of experience of someone who is very close to him has really lost his life and cannot become a Rakshasa and then come back to be with everyone.

She suddenly remembered the words that had just passed yesterday, when she decided to go to Longyun Temple alone to reinforce Xiaoyi, and Hijikata shouted behind her.

[Don't die!!Give me back alive!!]

Mr. Hijikata...... I don't want to see any of my important companions die. However, the war had only passed for a day, and an important companion had already been lost.

Liu Quan suddenly felt a wave of sorrow and sentimentality, mixed with sympathy for Hijikata's powerlessness, which prompted her to turn her face slightly to look at Hijikata's face, which was so close to her at the moment.

"Mr. Hijikata......" she cried softly.

"It's not...... Didn't I call you......" Hijikata didn't seem to hear her soft call, his gaze locked on the place in front of him, where Chizuru had already crouched down, and his voice fluttered as if his consciousness was floating in another dimension.

Liu Quan's back stiffened suddenly, and he was choked and paused for a few seconds before he whispered weakly: "Because ...... I'm worried about Mr. Hijikata. ”

Hijikata suddenly chuckled softly.

His breath seemed to carry pain from both his body and his mind, and hearing it in Liu Quan's ears suddenly made her feel terrified.

"Really...... It's because, you're worried about me......" he said slowly, struggling to move forward with the help and support of her.

"Worried about me...... Not as powerful...... will fail...... Will it die here. He chuckled softly.

Liu Quan was shocked, feeling that he seemed to have chosen the wrong choice of dialogue just now, and the deputy director seemed to be about to enter some terrible blackened branch, and immediately spoke out to extinguish the fire.

"No, this has nothing to do with Mr. Hijikata's ability, but even if you are strong, I will still have this stupid impulse......

Hijikata's face was tense, her lips were pursed, and the corners of her lips were pressed downward, as if she hadn't listened to her at all.

"I can't take it anymore...... Whether it's the timid shogunate, or the ghosts who have been making trouble......" he said word by word.

"Even this ...... Even a woman would not trust her own abilities...... Rely on the protection of women...... I was lucky enough to survive—"

"No!!" Liu Quan shouted sharply, feeling that the situation was completely beyond her control, and if she didn't take some drastic medicine, her defeat would come sooner than expected!

“...... Why am I worried about Mr. Hijikata, don't you really know?" she hesitated for a moment, and finally gritted her teeth and said this.

Hijikata's footsteps slammed suddenly, and he turned his head to stare at Liu Quan with a shocked expression!

However, in the next second, he showed a painful expression as this action touched the wound on his shoulder, and a muffled snort came out of his throat.

Liu Quan hurriedly avoided the wound on his shoulder and held him hard.

"Mr. Hijikata......"

After shaking for a while, he was able to stand firmly, and Hijikata lowered his head, and a wry smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Stupid...... Do you know what you're talking about......" he whispered to himself.

"Things have gotten worse to this point...... Not when I say this......" His voice grew softer and softer, and the last note was almost muffled in his mouth.

Liu Quan pricked up his ears, but he didn't hear what he was saying.

But she didn't have a chance to ask questions. Because a familiar cry rose behind them.

"Mr. Hijikata-Gen-san - Yamazaki - where are you-"

It's Shinba's big voice.

Yanagizumi looked back in amazement, and the figures of Shinpachi, Harada, and Saito running towards this side with all their might gradually appeared in the dawn.

They soon caught up with Hijikata and Yanagiquan. As soon as they stopped, they were shocked.

"What's going on?!" Harada asked in a shocked tone, and as he reacted quickly, he immediately came up to help Yanagizumi hold up the injured deputy chief.

Hijikata spoke in a low tone.

"Shinpachi, help take care of Yamazaki. ”

Shinpachi hurriedly walked past them and ran to Chizuru, crouching down to check on Yamazaki's injuries.

Saito, on the other hand, followed without saying a word, and when Shinpachi bent down to help Yamazaki bandage his wounds, he rushed straight to Uncle Inoue, who was lying a few meters away.

However, he only had one look and knew that he was powerless. He couldn't help but look back, and his tone fluctuated.

"Deputy Chief, what the hell is going on here?!" his voice was filled with shock and distress.

Harada vigorously held the pale face of the blood loss, and handed his spear to Yanagizumi to help hold it.

Yanagizumi saw that Chizuru was also busy taking care of Yamazaki's injuries, so he had to speak first.

"When I arrived, I was surrounded by the Satsuma clan soldiers and shot at the deputy chief...... The deputy chief was wounded as a result. At that time, Kazama was also present, saying that he was going to duel with the deputy chief...... But then he left. Yamazaki and Gen-san—" she choked before continuing, "probably before that...... Already ......"

She felt like she couldn't talk anymore.

"I didn't expect it...... I would have sacrificed my soldiers and survived on my own. Hijikata said in a low voice.

Chizuru jerked her head up.

"It's not...... That's not the case!!!Mr. Hijikata arrived here and saved me...... The gates of Yodojo and Yodojo were closed, and when they heard that we were here to ask for help, they also shot at me and Gen-san......" she began to cry and begin to recount the misfortunes that had happened during that long night.

"They...... They wanted to hunt down me and Gen-san, saying that there was a ...... With these heads of the Shinsengumi, the chief can ...... Not to be happy to welcome them!"

"Yuan-san asked me to run first...... And then...... And then ......" she began to cry out loud, but she could not cry.

Hijikata interrupted her with a deep voice.

“...... It was my fault that I didn't arrive in time. There was a deep sigh in his weak, tired voice.

Chizuru sobbed, her eyes wide and argued, "...... If it weren't for Mr. Hijikata, I would have ...... long ago ...... long ago"

Shinhachi finished bandaging Yamazaki's wounds, thought for a while, and said loudly: "No, Yamazaki is seriously injured." Zuozhi, the two of us take turns, we have to carry him back!"

Harada was stunned for a moment, and looked at the earthwork he was holding. "So...... What about the vice-president?"

“...... I can walk on my own. Hijikata said in a weak and unequivocal voice, "Yamazaki was injured trying to stop Kazama from attacking me...... He must not be left here. ”

......

In the end, Saito and Yanagizumi took action and dug a pit on the side of the road and buried Uncle Inoue.

Chizuru held on to the earth and stood by watching them. Harada and Shinpachi left with Yamazaki on their backs.

No one spoke, and there was no sound other than the dull sound of Saito and Yanagizumi digging with wooden sticks.

It wasn't until they carried Uncle Inoue into the shallow pit and watched the loess drown Uncle Inoue's familiar, gentle face little by little, that Chizuru's sobbing was finally heard.

Strangely, Liu Quan didn't feel the urge to cry. She just moved numbly and stiffly to dig the soil at once, and then sprinkled the excavated soil on Uncle Inoue's body and face. Her movements were mechanical and a little sluggish, and the expression on her face was a little stiff, as if her facial features had lost all instinct to move and make expressions at this moment.

Obviously, I was still smiling and reporting the latest battle situation to her yesterday...... When she hurried into the Fushimi Headquarters, Gen-san stood in the hall so faithfully and reliably, smiling with a hint of tolerance and amusement on her face at such a critical moment, watching her be roared by the deputy chief because she almost bumped into the deputy chief......

That kind of scene, if it hadn't happened yesterday, if it hadn't happened in a doomed war, she would have had the illusion that they had experienced countless times together, warm daily life. Because of such and such things when the deputy chief roars and is depressed, Gen-san will come out to persuade him, and he will comfort himself like a reliable and trustworthy elder.

However, Gen-san, who was always smiling kindly, loving and reliable like a father, has been forever left in that past yesterday.

In the end, she and Saito completed the difficult work together. A small grave bag was erected by the side of the road, Gen-san's saber was stuck on the grave with the tip of the knife pointed down as a tombstone, and Chizuru offered a bunch of improvised wildflowers under the knife.

After the ceremonial process was over, the four of them stood there for a while, as if none of them had the intention of leaving.

After a long silence, Saito spoke calmly.

"Deputy Chief, what should we do next?"

Hijikata did not speak.

Liu Quan suddenly chuckled softly, with a hint of choking in his laughter.

"Yesterday...... When I rushed back to the Fushimi Office and found that everyone had already left there and gone their separate ways, Gen-san once said...... There's no point in doing anything if you don't stop those people. ”

She lifted her gaze and turned to the earth.

"So, according to Gensang's words, go and stop those people. That makes sense. Really, Deputy Chief?"

Hijikata's body shook slightly.

After a moment of silence, he replied, "...... Oh, yes. ”

He stared at the knife stuck in the grave.

"Gen-san, we're going to enter Osaka Castle. ”

His voice was still low and weak, but his tone had regained its firmness. It was as if a fiery determination burned in his breasts again.

"There, we won't lose again!"