After running for so long and jumping up and down, Qingden finally felt a little exhausted. His legs were gifted with "strengthening muscles", so he didn't feel very tired, but his lungs felt like they were about to explode.

.

After gasping for air for a while, Qingden finally regained his breath a little, pushed away the black fox mask on his face, and smiled at Kinoshita Mai beside him in a half-joking tone:

"Tonight is really...a night of ups and downs..."

Qingdeng thought about it and found that there was no other better word to describe today's night except "up and down".

Discovered the true identity of the famous monster thief Cat Monk...

Go with Cat Monk to jointly investigate the "Tsuji Killing Incident" in the Hudo settlement...

I was very lucky to bump into the murderers who were about to commit the crime...

Unfortunately, after solving the murderers, they encountered a large group of officials who were mainly robbers and thieves, and started a fierce chase...

All kinds of accidents and events come one after another, overwhelming.

Kinoshita Mai, who had also straightened out her breath now, smiled with mixed emotions:

"Yeah...it was indeed a night of quite ups and downs."

"Although I successfully eliminated the murderers who took pleasure in Tsuji's killing on the first night of guarding the Kudo settlement, in the end I encountered official agents... and they were mainly members of the fire-fighting thieves reform team.

Their pursuit..."

"I don't know whether we are lucky or unlucky tonight."

After saying that, Kinoshita Mai's voice suddenly paused.

She remained silent for a moment, stood up straight after a moment of silence, and put the scarf back on her face.

"Tangerine-kun... I really want to thank you tonight..."

Kinoshita Mai folded her hands in front of her body, bowed slightly to Qingden, pursed her lips, and continued to say in a sincere and grateful tone:

"Without your help, it would be impossible for me to deal with the red-faced brothers alone."

Looking at Kinoshita Mai who thanked him with a very solemn tone and movements, Qingto was stunned for a moment, then smiled and waved his hand.

"Miss Kinoshita, it doesn't have to be like this."

"I didn't choose to help you tonight just to get someone's praise or to get any substantial material reward."

Qingdeng put down his hands holding the wall and put the black fox mask back on.

"Okay, we've almost rested. Let's get out of here quickly."

"Although the possibility is very small, if you continue to stay here, there is still a possibility of being discovered by the officials again."

"Yeah." Kinoshita Mai nodded, "Let's go."

Kinoshita took the lead and poked her head out of the alley. After confirming that there was no one outside, she waved to Aoto and rushed out of the alley with Aoto. Their bodies merged once again.

Entering the Edo night.

The current time... is probably past four in the morning, approaching five in the morning.

Looking at the night sky, which would be dawning in a while, Qingden suddenly thought of a question related to Kinoshita Mai. After raising his eyebrows, he asked Kinoshita Mai who was running in front of him:

"Ms. Kinoshita, you work normally at Chishiya during the day, and at night you transform into a monster thief, a cat monk...don't you get enough sleep?"

"I get enough sleep." Mai Kinoshita smiled, "I'm the kind of person who doesn't need to sleep for a long time. Two hours of sleep a day is enough for me."

"I usually go to bed at 4pm (8pm) every day and get up between 5pm (10pm) and 9pm (12pm)."

"After completing my daily 'night patrol' and returning to Qianshiwu, I will catch up on some sleep depending on the situation."

——You only need about 2 hours of sleep every day to regain your energy... Then Ms. Kinoshita should have a talent similar to the "Sleep God"...

After feeling this silently in his heart, Qingdeng couldn't help but feel a little...depressed.

Judging from Kinoshita Mai's performances so far...she must have a lot of high-quality talents in her body, including speed talents.

As a result, he could only copy this... such a subtle talent of "milk" from Mai Kinoshita.

This made Qingdeng couldn't help but feel depressed.

After raising this small question to Kinoshita Mai and starting a conversation, Qingto took advantage of the situation and asked Kinoshita Mai another question.

"Miss Kinoshita, how come you are so familiar with that leased land? That leased land is not very close to Chishiya where you live."

"Because Elodie lives on that leased land."

Kinoshita Mai smiled.

"After Elodie and her family moved to Edo, I frequently went to Elodie's house to play with Elodie."

"So after going back and forth, I became very familiar with the leased land."

"Miss Elodie? No wonder..." Qingden nodded lightly.

Since Elodie and her family live in that rented land... then it makes sense why Kinoshita Mai, who is a close friend with Elodie, is so familiar with this place.

At this moment, Aoto suddenly pursed his lips because he remembered something - while still squatting on the big tree with Mai Kinoshita, waiting for the suspect of the "Tsuji Zan Incident" to appear, Aoto had a very serious look on his face.

I want to ask Mai Kinoshita a question.

However, due to the sudden appearance of the "red-faced brothers" and others, Qingdeng's question was ultimately not successfully asked.

And now - a good time to ask questions appeared in front of Qingdeng again.

After Qingdeng hesitated for a while, he cleared his throat:

"Ms. Kinoshita, can I ask you a... maybe more serious question?"

"Serious question?" Kinoshita Mai turned her head and winked at Qingdeng - she signaled Qingdeng with her eyes: Just ask.

"Miss Kinoshita, after you became active as the cat monk... where did you take the money you stole from those evil people?"

"Aren't you just like that little rat monk 40 years ago, who just distributed the stolen money to the poor?"

"Ah, well..."

Kinoshita Mai pursed her red lips, and then showed a smile that made her eyes look like crescent moons towards Qingden.

"It might be a bit difficult to say it directly like this."

"Ju-kun, do you still have time now? I'll take you directly to see where I spent all the money I stole from the villains."

Qingdeng was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

"Then...come with me."

Kinoshita Mai turned her body and turned into a path on the right.

She led Qingdeng on one street after another, twists and turns on the paths, and finally arrived at the Thousand Things House.

When Aoto looked at the very familiar employment agency in front of him with confused eyes, Kinoshita Mai waved to Aoto.

"Follow me, be careful, don't wake up Mr. Kiryu." Kinoshita Mai whispered.

"Boss Kiryu...Miss Kinoshita, doesn't Boss Kiryu know that you are the cat monk?"

"Of course he doesn't know." Kinoshita put her hands on her hips, "Based on what I know about Mr. Kiryu, if he learns that I am the cat monk... he will definitely be shocked first, and then strongly oppose the job I am insisting on now.

The Phantom Thief Business."

"So I have been hiding it from him, being careful not to let him find out that I am the Cat Monk."

"Okay, come with me quickly."

Kinoshita Mai led Qingto, tiptoeing around to the side of Qianshi House, climbed over a wooden wall, and jumped into the backyard of Qianshi House.

Immediately afterwards, Kinoshita Mai walked slowly to the big tree growing in the corner of the backyard, squatted on the ground, stretched out her hand to point to an inconspicuous tree hole at the root of the tree, and said with a smile:

"I put all the money I stole...in this tree hole."

"You put all your money here?" Qingdeng's eyes opened in surprise, he walked quickly to Kinoshita Wu's side, stretched his neck and looked into the tree hole.

The tree hole was very deep, and in the darkness, Qingdeng could only vaguely see a piece of dark cloth.

At this moment, Kinoshita Mai reached out her hand at the right time, reached into the hole, and lifted up the dark cloth - under the cloth, there were layers upon layers of coins, like a mountain... gold, silver, and copper.

have.

“My grandma has taught me since I was a child: giving money directly to people is worse than teaching them how to make money.”

While Kinoshita Mai looked at the pile of money hidden in the tree hole, a hint of memories appeared in her brows, she took off the scarf on her face.

"When I first started stealing money from notorious villains as the Cat Monk, I also thought about whether to follow the example of the Mouse Monk and distribute the money directly to the poor."

"But after thinking about it, I felt that doing so was just to stop the boiling water."

"Sending money directly to poor people can indeed make their lives better temporarily, but it cannot make their lives better all the time."

"So I decided to save all the stolen money and build a school with low tuition fees that all poor people can afford to attend, specializing in teaching literacy, abacus, clothing making and other skills.

"

"Only education can make everyone's life better."

"I have always been responsible for taking care of the backyard of Qianshiwu. Mr. Kiryu never manages the yard, so I can safely hide the money in this deep tree hole without worrying about being discovered by Mr. Kiryu.
To be continued...