Chapter 426: Chapter 154: Holding the Pass Alone! Copying the Talent [Wind Sensor]_2

Being guarded by four Samurai... both Aoto and Mukiwa were particularly curious about what these two "small mountains" actually were.

"... Just lift and take a look," Aoto said calmly, then quickly stepped forward to lift the burlap on the nearest "small mountain."

As the burlap was lifted, beneath lay stacks upon stacks of wooden crates.

With a slight frown, Aoto lifted the burlap off the other "small mountain" as well—beneath it, there were also stacks of wooden crates...

...

...

Meanwhile—

Outside the tea house—

A middle-aged man with a large birthmark on his face, expressionless, led two attendants through the deserted streets without a lantern, swiftly darting through several intersections before striding into the abandoned tea house where Aoto and Mukiwa were currently infiltrating.

As soon as they pulled open the tea house door and entered the ground floor, two Samurai guarding the entrance quickly approached.

"Prepare everything," the man with the birthmark said coldly to the approaching Samurai without any pleasantries, "Get ready to move the goods to the drop-off point... hmm?"

Before he could finish, his voice suddenly stopped.

He then lifted his head solemnly, looking toward the ceiling above.

"Boss?" The Samurai standing in front of him looked puzzled and was about to ask what was wrong, when the man with the birthmark raised his hand, signaling for silence.

"I need quiet now..." the man with the birthmark said with a deep voice, "The sound from the second floor... there’s something not quite right..."

...

...

These wooden crates stacked into two small mountains roughly numbered over a hundred, all tightly bound with hemp ropes, making them difficult to open.

Gazing at these tightly bound wooden crates, Aoto silently raised the suspicious level of this tea house to the highest.

Without any hesitation, Aoto drew the Wakizashi from his waist and cut through the hemp rope "locking" a nearby crate, then opened it in one swift motion.

Inside the crate... were numerous porcelain bottles.

Casually picking up one of the bottles from the crate, Aoto scrutinized it closely, and upon recognizing its contents, his pupils subtly contracted.

Beside him, Mukiwa also saw what the porcelain bottles contained and was momentarily stunned.

The bottle... contained kerosene commonly seen on the market.

Aoto quickly put the bottle back into its original place, then grabbed the Wakizashi and opened the nearby crates one by one.

Each contained the same thing... all the crates were filled to the brim with kerosene!

——Are all these crates... filled with kerosene?

Aoto stared blankly at the hundred or so wooden crates in the hall...

By his side, Mukiwa’s expression changed even more dramatically; her lips, slightly parted under the face mask, and her eyes wide open, were filled with unstoppable amazement.

Not long ago, on the night the Foreign Language Research Institute was attacked, several city towns in Edo had suffered from rampant fires set by the Anti-foreigner Group.

And now, right after the large-scale arson by the Anti-foreigner Group in Edo, this abandoned tea house stored such an immense quantity of kerosene...

A series of troubling thoughts began to emerge in Aoto’s mind.

As these bad thoughts surged through his mind, Aoto’s gaze intensified, and his expression grew increasingly solemn...

...

...

Regardless of whether he was cutting the ropes on the crates or opening them, Aoto deliberately kept his actions as gentle as possible.

However, what Aoto didn’t know—even though he had been so gentle, the noise still reached the man with the birthmark waiting at the entrance on the first floor.

The man with the birthmark’s face immediately darkened: "What are you guys doing? Someone has broken into the ’warehouse’ on the second floor, and you didn’t even notice?!"

Having said that, the man with the birthmark swiftly flicked his sleeve and strode toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

While rushing directly to the second floor, the man with the birthmark shouted at a volume that covered the entire tea house:

"Someone has broken into the warehouse on the second floor! Everyone, get to the second floor!"

The previously quiet tea house instantly burst into urgent clamors.

...

...

On the second floor, Aoto and Mukiwa immediately heard the commotion from the first floor and the concentrated footsteps heading in their direction.

Even though they weren’t entirely sure how their presence was exposed, both reacted swiftly—barely changing their expressions, they swiftly withdrew from the hall filled with kerosene.

If possible, both Aoto and Mukiwa intended to avoid a direct confrontation with those guarding the tea house until they could fully uncover who truly controlled the kerosene.

However, things in life often don’t go as planned.

Just as Aoto and Mukiwa withdrew from the hall into the corridor, they saw numerous figures emerging ahead.

Almost simultaneously, the rear of the corridor was also blocked by many figures.

The shouts of the man with the birthmark had awakened all the guards in the tea house from chaos, sending them rushing to the "warehouse" on the second floor.

Eight at the front of the corridor, four at the back—these are the guards who hadn’t already been knocked unconscious by Aoto and Mukiwa during their infiltration.

With his eyes slightly narrowed, Aoto, by habit, quickly scanned the guards blocking their path and rear, assessing their positions and distances.