Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 272 - 193: A Huge Blessing (Returning to Three Updates Tomorrow)

Ono Ken shouted a warning, but it was too late. The two criminal police officers hadn’t reacted in time and were knocked to the ground. In an instant, their bodies were wrapped in tendrils, lying motionless.

At that moment, Minamoto Tamako turned her head, planning to capture the leader first, but unexpectedly, the murderer had already turned off the flashlight, vanishing into the darkness, hiding in some unknown corner.

Minamoto Tamako’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly sped up.

Rainwater drifted in through the main door, swirling with dense fog. The night sky was thick with dark clouds, and lightning suddenly pierced the darkness, leaving a few frames on their retinas.

In that moment, Minamoto Tamako could clearly see, on both sides, the two tree people sucking the brains of the criminal officers, and Fukuyama Toshin stood between them. He held a flashlight in his left hand, bent down to pick up the officer’s gun, and his shadow elongated with the thunder.

’It’s over.’

Minamoto Tamako’s mind went blank, having no time to ponder why Fukuyama Toshin wanted to kill. No one had opened the door earlier, indicating that these two officers had likely climbed over the wall. How unlucky, for them to break in at this moment...

To die is one thing, but why did they have to carry a gun with them?

She raised the gun barrel, with no time to aim, when the lightning vanished, followed by a long stretch of darkness. From the hall came the sound of slurping and the crisp clicking of a gun being cocked.

At this moment, Ono Ken circled to Minamoto Tamako’s right side, continuing to support Mrs. Nakako as they hurriedly moved forward. The latter had lost too much blood, falling into a semi-conscious state, occasionally muttering incoherently.

Minamoto Tamako’s left was the wall, and she was about to turn into the hallway. She knew Ono Ken was deliberately blocking bullets — Fukuyama Toshin had tree people for camouflage, and she intended to use her own body as a shield.

Minamoto Tamako couldn’t afford to worry about anything else. She held her breath, concentrated, and moved cautiously, ready to return fire at any moment.

It seemed Fukuyama Toshin anticipated her counterattack and didn’t fire immediately. Four or five seconds passed, the slurping sound stopped, followed by footsteps, sending a chill down Minamoto Tamako’s spine. The mental pressure was mounting.

She had only one bullet left, whereas the opponent had two police guns with full magazines.

With every step, Minamoto Tamako’s heart pounded with fear, her shirt damp with cold sweat. In the darkness, it felt like countless eyes were watching them. The closer they got to the hallway, the more tense she felt, until at the turn, her heart seemed to leap into her throat.

— Bang!

Fukuyama Toshin fired, a flash igniting briefly as Minamoto Tamako lifted her weapon and shot back, her nerves stretched to the limit. Blood trickled from her nose, pupils dilated, and she even caught sight of the bullet’s trajectory slicing through the mist.

The sweat and effort poured out in shooting practice had not been in vain. A painful cry echoed in the dark, followed by a thud as a body hit the ground. Minamoto Tamako’s blood surged with joy; she was about to shout ’I hit him!’ when she saw Ono Ken collapse to the ground.

"I’m fine..."

Ono Ken grasped his abdomen, his face twisted in pain, but in the darkness, they couldn’t see each other’s faces. He took a deep breath and continued, "Go quickly, don’t stop..."

"We’ll leave together!"

Minamoto Tamako supported him, dragging with all her might: "It’s okay! The culprit is hurt, maybe even dead. Hurry upstairs, both you and Mrs. Nakako can survive..."

Logically, they should stop now to treat Ono Ken’s wound. But Minamoto Tamako dared not gamble. Should Fukuyama Toshin still be alive, he could empty his magazine at them anytime. Keeping moving was the best option.

Upon hearing this, Ono Ken leaned on his long sword, staggering to follow.

The two of them struggled up the stairs, just about to turn the hallway’s corner when a light suddenly turned on behind them. Looking back, they saw Fukuyama Toshin had turned on the flashlight, illuminating their pale faces.

"Keep running."

Fukuyama Toshin raised another handgun, aiming at them: "Why did you stop?"

The previous shot hit his hand. He had fallen as expected, torn off a piece of his clothing, wrapping it several times to stop the bleeding, hastily treating the wound. With his other hand, he held the gun, while the injured hand clamped the flashlight.

Minamoto Tamako’s legs were trembling. She took a deep breath, forced calmness, and tried to persuade Fukuyama Toshin, reminding him that murder was a grave crime and urging him not to act rashly — after all, there was still a witness upstairs! If he fired now, he wouldn’t escape legal accountability later!

Fukuyama Toshin sneered. With a gun in hand, was he afraid of an unarmed person? He had already calculated, knowing there was only one gun among all the guests, with only five bullets in the police gun. In other words, no one could threaten him anymore.

Seeing Minamoto Tamako could not convince him, Ono Ken immediately spoke up: "The Family Head has treated you well in the past, and Mistress has never offended you. Why do you insist on this? What good will it do for you to kill us?"

"None."

Fukuyama Toshin replied: "But there’s no harm either."

Throughout his life, he had heard this question many times before. People always asked, ’What good does it do for you to do this?’ He always answered ’None’... But no benefit didn’t mean he couldn’t do what he wanted.

The Fukuyama family had been secluded in Arashiyama for generations, wholeheartedly developing the so-called ’Elixir of Immortality.’ They failed time and again, until in his grandfather’s generation, someone got wise and realized that staying behind closed doors wasn’t the way. Thus, they sent their children out to study medicine, intending to cultivate Ye Tea with modern medical knowledge.

By the time Fukuyama Toshin was born, his parents had already planned his life: six years of elementary school, six years of junior and senior high, then finish six years at a medical university, and he could return to Arashiyama to plant tea... If Fukuyama Toshin had good grades, he could further study for a master’s degree for two years, delaying his return.

To Fukuyama Toshin, his family was utterly insane: his mother was addicted to tea, muttering to the tree people every day, helping them water, fertilize, and remove pests; his father had never drunk tea but often lured travelers to stay temporarily, taking the opportunity to test the tea on them. If they died, he buried them in the backyard, planting them as tea bushes.

In elementary school, he never dared bring classmates home, so everyone said he was a weirdo; by junior and senior high, he finally made a couple of friends, only to be prohibited by his parents from contacting outsiders using the excuse of impeding studies — even during breaks, he had to attend cram school, only passing Tokyo Medical University would fulfill his parents’ wishes.

Fukuyama Toshin was talented and successfully entered Tokyo Medical University.

But after graduation, he didn’t want to return to Arashiyama. His parents were anxious, calling to falsely claim illness, tricking him back home, then locking him inside, forbidding him to leave.

Fukuyama Toshin struggled, went on hunger strike, but it was useless. His parents were determined to keep him, even forcibly making him drink Ye Tea.

"Now you are one of them, too. If you want to survive, join everyone in developing Forbidden Garden Mist Tea."

His parents smiled as they looked at him and said: "This is a great blessing. Perhaps in the future, you’ll be immortal and be able to give us a burial."