Qin Beiyang was extremely hungry.

The three of them walked out of the bamboo forest, walked with the moonlight, returned to the streets of the suburbs of Kyoto, and sat in an izakaya.

Haneda Taiki actually knew the proprietress here, and ordered Kyoto's local sake, a beef sukiyaki. Qin Beiyang hadn't eaten dinner, he was already hungry, and the sound of his stomach screaming just now was heard by Haneda.

In the middle of the night, only this table of guests remained. Qin Beiyang didn't care about the heat, nor the injury on his forehead, and feasted on the beef. On weekdays, he was reluctant to spend money at school—because every penny was remitted by Anna. In the entire dormitory for international students, he is the most shabby, almost eating balls and occasionally eating school lunches.

The mysterious European finally took off his cap, revealing a pair of eagle-like eyes. Between the ages of thirty and forty, he has a pair of eye-catching big hands, but the knuckles are slender and powerful - only Qin Beiyang can see that this is a pair of skilled craftsmen's hands, which are naturally different from ordinary people. It's a pity that these hands can't control the Oriental chopsticks, and after a few attempts, they can only give up and let the proprietress take the soup spoon instead.

Qin Beiyang asked curiously: "He doesn't understand Japanese?" ”

Haneda replied with a smile, "It's the first time he's been to Japan." ”

"Who is he?"

"Secret!"

Although the Europeans didn't understand, they understood that they were talking about themselves, and looked up and glared at Qin Beiyang.

"Saoli!"

QIN BEIYANG REPLIED WITH A JAPANESE ENGLISH SORRY, THE PRONUNCIATION WAS MISERABLE, BUT IT MADE HANEDA DAIKI AND THE EUROPEANS LAUGH.

After eating and drinking, the Europeans took their leave, and it turned out that he was staying in a small hotel opposite.

Without a third person, Taiki Haneda was finally able to speak freely: "Beiyang, I asked someone to inquire about the language school in Osaka, and sure enough, I found your name. But I just found a school on my front foot and I heard that you had already gone to Kyoto to study...... Third higher school, not bad, right? ”

"Well, I will study hard and enter Kyoto University as soon as possible. Let's talk in Japanese! I'm looking for every opportunity to practice speaking. BY THE WAY, MR. HANEDA, YOU CALL ME HATA BECAUSE YOUR LAST NAME IS ALSO HATA. ”

"But it's not a coincidence, the surname Haneda comes from the surname Qin."

"Are we the family?"

Haneda Taiki poured himself a drink: "In the era of Emperor Ojin, the fifteenth grandson of Qin Shi Huang, Gongyuejun, crossed to Japan from Baekje and became an important branch of the Watarai clan. The Qin clan was reused by the Japanese emperor and exuded famous families such as Weizong, Shimazu, and Chosamune, and the Haneda family was also one of them. ”

Qin Beiyang wanted to get rid of this inexplicable relation: "But I am not the generation of Qin Shi Huang, my family has been a craftsman for generations, and I have never been an emperor or general." ”

"The so-called statement of the first queen of Qin is just far-fetched. Beiyang, do you know the legend of Xu Fu? ”

"Qin Shi Huang asked for the elixir of immortality, and sent Xu Fu to lead three thousand boys and girls to the sea to find Penglai Immortal Mountain, and never returned."

"Not only 3,000 boys and girls, but also soldiers and craftsmen, actually went to Japan to colonize. At that time, the descendants of the tombsmith clan were building a mausoleum and a tomb beast for Qin Shi Huang, and were given the surname Qin. His eldest son stayed behind to inherit the family business, while the second son followed Xu Fu to the sea and became an important craftsman in the fleet, inheriting the Qin bloodline in Japan. ”

Qin Beiyang was surprised in his heart, the Japanese in front of him were the same descendants of the tombsmith clan as himself?

"Mr. Haneda, you will also be a tomb beast?"

"During the Kofun period, there were magnificent imperial tombs in Japan, and it is unknown whether there were tomb beasts. However, in the Heian period, successive emperors were influenced by Buddhism and changed to cremation. The Gravesmith Clan has no place in Japan, and the craft of the Tomb Beast is gradually lost. ”

"Well, both emperors and commoners in China are buried thickly, which is the basis for the existence of the tomb beast."

Haneda ordered another sushi order: "My ancestor changed his surname from the Qin clan to Haneda, and in the Edo period, he became a giant merchant and operated routes between China and Japan. The Haneda family is a branch of the Tombsmith family, while our clan is in China. When I saw you slaying a dragon on Dharma Mountain, the antler-shaped birthmark on the back of your neck, I was convinced that you were the governor of the Qin family, and it was a great honor for me to Haneda Daishu. ”

"You have a birthmark too?"

"It is said that only the main lineage of the Qin family in China has inherited the birthmark, while our Japanese Qin family does not have this mark."

Qin Beiyang thought to himself, the gravesmith clan is about to become extinct in China, and his grandfather has passed on three generations to a single seedling, and he is a single seedling. This time, I fled to Japan in embarrassment, and met a wide relative who separated more than 2,000 years ago.

He wanted to reply: But you are still Japanese after all! But what's the point? couldn't help laughing miserably: "A poor relative like me can't climb up to the noble son of Japan." By the way, can I say it now...... Who is that European? ”

"Logically, it's a secret, I can't tell you." Haneda Taiki's face darkened, but he pushed the frame of his glasses again, "But, since we are both descendants of the Qin family, and you are the best craftsman in China, not to mention that you will suffer again tonight!" ”

"Say......"

"Artisan Alliance!"

"Nani?"

"His surname is Schmidt - the gatekeeper of the Union of Artisans."

"Schmidt?" Qin Beiyang remembers that the German teacher in elementary school was surnamed this, "The original meaning in German is craftsman!" No wonder, people are as their name suggests! By the way, his ancestors must have also been craftsmen by profession, so the surname was Schmidt. For thousands of years, their family's profession has never changed, just like my family! ”

"Correct."

"What is the Artisan Union? What is a gatekeeper? ”

"Don't underestimate the word 'craftsman', in Western civilization, craftsman has a very high religious significance."

Taiki Haneda dipped his fingers in sake and wrote an English word on the table-

mason

"Stonemason?"

Qin Beiyang still remembers this word in the vocabulary list of English class.

"That's what it meant to be, but it's even more powerful."

Haneda added a free in front of the Mason with sake.

Free-Mason

"Liberty stonemasons? What is it? ”

"You'll find out later!"

Qin Beiyang thought to himself, how could this Japanese "relative" be as interested in selling guanzi as the ghost mask teacher of the "Heavenly Academy"?

"What about the gatekeepers?"

"This is an important position in the Craftsman Alliance, also known as the Sword Bearer, who is responsible for guarding the gates of the Alliance, holding a sharp unsheathed sword to ensure that only Alliance members can pass through the gate."

"It's getting more and more wicked!" Qin Beiyang naturally thought of the group of assassins from the Heavenly Kingdom again, "The Europeans also do this? By the way, Mr. Haneda, are you a member of the Artisan Union? ”

"Unfortunately, I don't have the skills to join."

"And what about Professor Yamamoto? He's a master of Japanese mechanics. ”

"No, he's not eligible to join either!"

"How good does it take to be a craftsman to have this qualification?"

Facing the smacking Qin Beiyang, Haneda Taiki pointed to his nose.

"Me?"

"Well, Qin Beiyang, you are the last royal craftsman in China! You should be eligible to join the Artisan Union. ”

"Forget it! I'm a lone star, and I'm not suitable for getting together with people. ”

Qin Beiyang took the last sip of sake, and his face was slightly drunk: "By the way, when the gatekeeper foreign devil hit me with a crossbow, I saw a strange sign on the crossbow machine, which seemed to be an eye, inlaid in the pyramid. ”

This kind of mysterious signs, such as the "comet hitting the moon" luodian pattern on the ivory handle dagger, Qin Beiyang thinks that it is not good!

"It was the hallmark of the Union of Artisans, which began in the thirteenth century."

"Does it belong to Europe?"

"No, the Artisan Alliance belongs to the world."

At the izakaya in the middle of the night in Kyoto, Haneda Taiki was vague, and Qin Beiyang changed the topic: "The gatekeeper of the Craftsman Alliance, who traveled thousands of miles from Europe to Japan, what did he come to see?" Professor Yamamoto's secret experiment? ”

"Soul Machine!"

"Sure enough...... Qin Beiyang clenched his fists and asked in a low voice, "Is it a Chinese tomb beast?" ”

Haneda Taiki shook his head slightly, and his face was mysterious: "This matter must not be revealed!" ”

"Understood!"

"Two and a half months later, on the first day of the first month of the old calendar, I will come to Kyoto to find you again, and I will know then!"

Before he finished speaking, the sound of firecrackers sounded outside the window, startling Haneda to break his glass.

Qin Beiyang vigilantly rushed to the door of the izakaya, only to see a lot of people pouring out of the street, and the Japanese word "banzai" was everywhere......

On this night, a telegram came from Europe - on November 11, 1918, Germany signed the surrender agreement at the Compiègne Forest, and the world war was over!

People cheered: "Japan is among the top five in the world!" ”

Haneda Taiki's expression was extremely complicated, and Qin Beiyang rubbed his reddened eyes and said, "China is barely a victorious country!" ”

"Next, it's the tricky Shandong problem!"