At the feet of the Son of Heaven and in the Forty-Nine Cities, no matter how wealthy and eunuch families are, even in the Forbidden City of the Imperial Palace, when it comes to the third watch, almost all of them have the rules of turning off the lights and extinguishing the candles, leaving only a few dead wind lamps that illuminate the portal and the passage in the house, so that the people who watch the night can see the path.

Under the constraints of the old rules that have been cultivated for many years, as soon as the bangzi sound of the third watch is heard in the Sijiu City, the whole city will almost be shrouded in darkness.

But in the renovated Changxuan Garden, although it is already the hour after the third watch, it is still brightly lit. The figures running back and forth are even more busy in the garden of Nuoda like a marquee, either cruising around the large and small paths in the garden with a hard fire in their hands, or holding pills, pills, ointments, powders and other medicines in and out of several rooms where the injured are settled.

In some unattractive places in the Chang Yu Garden, either a large incense as thick as a child's arm was lit, or a small pot was boiled with a potion of unknown purpose, and the spicy or sour mist was steaming and lingering, which really made the Chang Yu Garden exude a forest ghost atmosphere.

Ishikawa Ueno, who was resting in the main house of Changwan Garden, who didn't know when or where he entered Changwan Garden, knelt on the freshly paved wooden floor, his hands lightly pressed on his knees, and his eyes half-closed and silent. On the opposite side of Ishikawa Ueno, three half-aged men in kimonos who were not tall were also sitting on their knees without saying a word, as if they were waiting for someone?

I guess I heard the sound of small footsteps outside the house, and the four people kneeling in the room all raised their heads slightly, but they never touched each other's eyes, as if they were all carefully guarding each other.

That is, at the juncture when the four people in the house had just moved. The newly installed sliding door of the main house was suddenly pulled open. With a cold wind swept into the house, four more men in kimonos walked into the room and sat on either side of Ishikawa Ueno and the others. Perhaps because the anger in his heart could not be suppressed, one of them, a short and stout man who was a little stronger than ordinary people, shouted angrily in Japanese: "I was attacked without even seeing the appearance of my opponent, and more than 20 people were slightly injured, and five were seriously injured." Nagawa ...... I'm afraid I won't be able to survive tonight! Ishikawa-kun, is this the absolutely safe residence you promised us?! ”

Without waiting for Ishikawa Ueno to speak, a middle-aged man who was sitting next to the short man who was as thin as a bamboo stick also sneered and said, "I heard that in the chrysanthemum machine, Ishikawa-kun is known as Ishikawa who can't be caught? Originally, I thought that this nickname meant that no one could catch Ishikawa-kun, but now it seems that ...... It's like Ishikawa-kun can't catch the traces of his opponent? ”

Still didn't wait for Ishikawa Ueno to answer, among the three people who had been sitting in the main room with Ishikawa Ueno, the eldest half-aged man had already spoken: "Ishikawa-kun, even if you have the identity of a shinobi. At the same time, you have the chrysanthemum mechanism as your backing, but that shouldn't be a reason for you to slack off, right? The Tokugawa family's royal beast master was originally even more difficult to train than a ninja, and the damage of each beast master would be an unacceptable attrition....... In any case, Ishikawa-kun also has to give us an explanation? ”

As if he hadn't heard the reproaches of the people around him, Ishikawa Ueno only waited for the half-old man's voice to fall for a long time before bowing slightly to the half-old man. He said in a deep voice, "Your Excellency Mitarai, everything that happened tonight. I'm afraid the Ishikawa family can't take the blame, right? ”

Hearing Ishikawa Ueno speak, the short man sitting on the side suddenly jumped up with round eyes, clenched his fists and rushed to Ishikawa Ueno in a few steps, and yelled at Ishikawa Ueno viciously: "Bastard! A guy who doesn't take responsibility like this deserves to say that he is the Shinobi of the Ishikawa family?! ”

Still maintaining a calm appearance, Ishikawa Ueno hedged to the menacing appearance of the short man in front of him, as if he was ignoring it. He just said slowly, "If it is the enemy who attacked the beast masters in the Changwan Garden tonight, then Ishikawa Ueno will naturally bear all the blame!" It's just that....... A swarm of wild bees that came from nowhere made the beast masters, known as the number one in the Japanese Empire, scramble, and even injured many people, if this matter spreads. Should the disgraced person be the ninja of the Ishikawa family, or the number one beast master of the Great Japanese Empire? Not to mention the reputation of the Tokugawa family, I'm afraid it will also be damaged, right? ”

The throat gurgled and his fists were even more exposed, and the short man who rushed in front of Ishikawa Ueno seemed to be holding his throat with anger, his face was blood-red, and even his eyeballs wanted to burst out of his sockets, but he couldn't say a word for a long time......

Lowering his head, Ishikawa Ueno lowered his voice as if in a dream: "Inviting Japan's No. 1 beast master to come to Beiping City, I originally hoped to rely on your skills to completely destroy the fire main gate in Beiping City, which specializes in animal taming, and at the same time take the beast taming technology mastered in the fire main gate in your hands!" I just didn't expect it....... During the day, you just went to the main gate of the fire to show some skills, and at night you were doubled by the people of the main gate of the fire! From this point of view, I'm afraid that the idea of relying on you to destroy the main gate of fire is still too naïve......."

With a cold snort, Mitarai Reya, who was kneeling opposite Ishikawa Ueno, shouted in a deep voice, "Hanbei, there is no need to show your strength in front of Your Excellency Ishikawa!" As a beast master of the Tokugawa family, it is indeed a very shameful thing to be defeated by someone using the means of beast control! If you want to wash away such a shame, you can only use the means of controlling the beast to defeat the opponent in a dignified manner! ”

Although he was still furious, the sturdy half-soldier obediently knelt down and sat back in his position like a tame vicious dog, after hearing Mitarai's low shouts, bowing his head and not saying a word.

Solemnly bowing to Ishikawa Ueno, Mitarai said in a harmonious voice with a bit of humility: "Although this will be a contest between beast masters, it is inseparable from the help of His Excellency Ishikawa, who is extremely familiar with Beiping Castle!" In any case, please also ask Your Excellency Ishikawa to provide us with some necessary things. If you need a proper place to compete, you need to rely on the great help of His Excellency Ishikawa! ”

Towards Mitarai moved back a salute, Ishikawa Ueno also responded seriously: "If you need anything, just ask me to handle it below!" But....... What are you going to do about tonight? ”

Turning his head to look at a half-aged man sitting beside him who only had one eye left, Mitarai asked in a low voice, "Laijima-kun, what do you and Kishiguchi-kun think about tonight's events?" ”

Blinking at his only remaining eye, with a bit of viciousness on his face, Lai Dao seemed to habitually reach out and caress his sunken eye sockets, and responded in a hoarse voice: "Those earth bees that attacked Chang Xuan Garden tonight don't look like they have been domesticated, but they are just temporarily using spirits and some drugs to stimulate the ferocity of the unearthed bees!" But....... I'm really sorry, but neither Kishiguchi-kun nor I were able to figure out why the wild bees only attacked the people in the garden! ”

Nodding slightly, Mitarai pondered for a moment before he opened his mouth towards Ishikawa Ueno and asked, "Your Excellency Ishikawa, from what you know about the Fire Gate, what kind of beast control methods are they good at?" ”

Reaching out and pulling out a half-inch-thick stack of documents from his arms and gently placing them on the floor in front of him, Ishikawa Ueno pushed the stack of documents in front of Mitarai with both hands: "All the information that can be collected about the fire main gate is here, maybe it can have some small effect, right?" Before I came to Beiping City to take charge of the Chrysanthemum Society, the previous director of the Chrysanthemum Society, Sanosuke Katsumasa, had also had some dealings with the people in the Fire Sect, but he didn't even have a record of winning! Judging from the information that can be understood so far, there are eight fighting beasts in the main gate of Huo, which boast of snakes, scorpions, eagles, dogs, monkeys, chickens, rats, and cows, and I am afraid that this is their ultimate reliance, right? ”

"Besides, is there anything else in the Fire Gate that is worth our hands on?"

"I heard....... There is also a map of a strange beast in the main gate of the fire, which records many ways to control the beast......."

Without waiting for Ishikawa Ueno to finish speaking, Mitarai Kanyaku's eyes suddenly opened, staring at Ishikawa Ueno and shouting urgently: "Strange beast diagram? Does this picture really exist?! ”

Nodding slightly, Ishikawa Ueno replied with a little surprise: "There is indeed such a picture, and it has been divided into several pieces, and not all of them are in the hands of the fire main gate!" When Sanosuke Katsumasa-kun was in charge of the Kikusha, he also had the opportunity to collect one of the fragments of the alien beast diagram into the Kikusha, but in the end, he ...... But it's still not much lost! ”

Jumping up from the floor suddenly, Mitarai rebelliously turned his calm and ruthless appearance, jumped to his feet and yelled: "How can there be such a stupid person!? Just to be able to take a look at the alien beast diagram, the Tokugawa family's beast master would rather be a handyman in the fire main gate of the year for a lifetime, but that Sanosuke Katsumasa had already obtained the fragment of the alien beast diagram, but he lost such a precious treasure....... It's just ......."

Looking coldly at the almost crazy Mitarai Sen, and then peeking at the excited looks on the faces of several Tokugawa family's royal beast masters in the house, Ishikawa Ueno's face couldn't help but have a sneer, but it didn't interrupt Mitaraizen's crazy scolding.

Finally, when the scolding Mitarai sat down on the floor again, Ishikawa Ueno said as if unintentionally: "So, the Tokugawa family's beast master was able to agree to the request of the chrysanthemum agency to come to Beiping Castle, and the real purpose is this beast map?" ”

Slightly stunned, Mitarai squinted his eyes at Ishikawa Ueno, who was sitting opposite him, and muttered for a long time and whispered, "It's just....... Each has what he needs......."

"In that case, in order to achieve their respective goals, why don't you ask Your Excellency Mitarai and Kikusha to work together?"

"Naturally, I would like to ask Your Excellency Ishikawa to take care of me!" (To be continued.) )