The next morning, at the Private Hogunhara Academy.

Guardrails have been set up outside the school gate, and more than a dozen excavators have rumbled into the campus, digging continuously in front of the ruins of the teaching building.

Outside the guardrail, students wearing the school uniforms of Suiqunyuan College were crowded there, vying to look at the notice board posted in front of the school gate, and enthusiastically discussing the sudden collapse of the teaching building.

At the street corner behind the crowd, Toosaka Rin was standing there with her schoolbag, next to her was a handsome boy with blue curly hair.

"I've already informed the church," Toosaka Rin whispered, "They will work with the media and the authorities to help us cover up the traces of the Heroic Spirits' battle both in public opinion and in reality."

"How to cover it up?"

Tong Shen raised his eyebrows: "Let me guess, gas explosion?"

Toosaka Rin was slightly startled: "How do you know?"

Tong Shen: “…”

As we all know, the Holy Grail War is conducted in secret, so this is a gas explosion!

Seeing that Tong Shen did not answer, Toosaka Rin frowned, and then whispered: "You left the Matou family when you were young, so you may not be very familiar with the rules of the Holy Grail War. Fortunately, I know someone who was the Master of the previous Holy Grail War and knows more about the Holy Grail War than others. If you are willing, I can take you to meet him."

Tong Shen chuckled and said, "You mean Kotomine Kirei?"

Toosaka Rin was a little surprised: "You know him?"

Tong Shen shook his head and said, "I don't know him, but I've heard of him."

After saying that, Tong Shen paused and continued, "I can go to the church, but before that, I need you and Archer to accompany me to the territory of the Matou family..."

“…”

Toosaka Rin was stunned for a moment when she heard this, and couldn't help but said in surprise: "You want me to help you deal with Matou Zouken?!"

Tong Shen did not answer, but glanced at Toosaka Rin and said, "Go back and ask your Heroic Spirit. He will suggest that you agree to it."

After saying that, Tong Shen ignored Toosaka Rin's stunned expression and turned around and left.

"This guy is going to be trouble."

Hong A's voice suddenly sounded in Toosaka Rin's ears, waking her from her trance.

Toosaka Rin sighed: "Then he is also a troublesome person who possesses great power... Archer, although I don't know why, he asked me to seek your advice on this matter. What do you think, should I help him?"

“…”

Hong A fell silent for a long time, then slowly said, "Go ahead. At least now, you are still allies, right?"

…

…

At the same time, on his way out, Tong Shen saw a familiar figure in the crowd.

The man was wearing the school uniform of Hokunhara Academy, had short brown hair, and a stubborn and straightforward look in his eyes. From his appearance, he looked like a very classic partner of justice.

There is no doubt that this person is the protagonist of this world, Shirou Emiya.

Tong Shen noticed that at this moment, on the back of Shirou Emiya's hand, there were three red command seals representing the master's identity...

"Emiya Shirou has become the seventh Master..."

"So what happened after he escaped from campus last night?"

Tong Shen frowned and thought, but soon he put it behind him and continued to move forward.

In any case, the current development of the plot is very much in his interest.

Even if Shirou Emiya had not become the Master last night, he would have found a way to help him become the seventh person in the Holy Grail War.

Of course, there was a reason why he did this.

According to his understanding of the plot, in addition to the seven Masters and Heroic Spirits who participated in the Fifth Holy Grail War, there was also an enthusiastic citizen, Mr. Jin, who survived the previous Holy Grail War.

This guy is extremely powerful and can be considered the final boss of the Fifth Holy Grail War.

Tong Shen is not sure whether Lu Bu is a match for Gilgamesh, so he wants to rely on the power of Shirou Emiya.

After all, in the original story, it was Shirou Emiya who defeated Gilgamesh with the help of "Infinite Blade Works".

However, due to the immaturity of Shirou Emiya at that time and the peculiarities of the Infinite Sword System, he could basically only restrain Gilgamesh.

Tong Shen plans to use Shirou Emiya to defeat Gilgamesh first, and then let Lu Bu kill them and finally win the Holy Grail War.

Tong Shen walked towards the familiar street in his memory while thinking about his future plans.

Not long after, a pair of hurried footsteps were heard from behind.

Tong Shen stopped and turned around, and it was indeed Toosaka Rin.

"Have you made your decision?"

“…”

Toosaka Rin nodded silently, took a step forward and said: "Let's go, I also want to know what happened back then, why did you and Sakura leave so far away and never come back once in ten years..."

Tong Shen smiled slightly: "You will know."

…

…

The Matou family's residence is located in Kitano, Kobe, a fifteen-minute walk from Kobe's Sannomiya Station.

The mansion here is very gorgeously decorated, with a Western style with a hint of Japanese influence. From the outside, the Matou family's mansion is even more dazzling than the Tousaka family's, but for some reason, it is shrouded in a cold, damp and dark atmosphere, so that ordinary people are unwilling to get close.

That evening, the sun set and darkness gradually enveloped the sky.

A thin figure walked out from the woods and stopped in front of the gloomy and empty mansion.

Looking at the mansion before him that only existed in distant memories, Tong Shen felt a complicated emotion in his heart.

Suddenly, a strange laugh came from the gate of the mansion in front, awakening Tong Shen from his distant memories.

"I thought we had a distinguished guest, but it turned out to be you, Shinji!"

Along with the sound of the wooden cane hitting the ground, an old figure walked out of the door and stopped in the shadow of the eaves. He looked at Tong Shen with a sinister look and said, "My rebellious grandson..."

“…”

Tong Shen silently looked at the old man who was nominally his grandfather.

The guy's appearance had not changed significantly from what he remembered.

His hair had long since fallen out due to old age. He was short and slightly hunchbacked. His limbs were as skinny as a mummy, and his deep eye sockets revealed a bright gleam.

At this moment, he was wearing a kimono that was a combination of ultramarine and dark gray, holding a wooden brown cane in his hand, and there was an unpleasant smell of corruption around his body. Both his appearance and behavior were indescribably weird.

After walking out of the door, Matou Zōken looked Tong Shen up and down.

"...You have become the Master?"

Tong Shen didn't reply, but just looked at him silently.

Matou Zouken laughed strangely: "It seems that there will be a day when I am wrong."

"You were the one who caused the battle at Hokunhara Academy, right?"

"It seems that you have summoned an extraordinary heroic spirit!"

"How about returning to the Matou family?"

“As long as you are willing to return to the family, I will forgive all the crimes you have committed and make you the sole heir of the Matou family. The Matou family will also fully support you in winning the Holy Grail War…”

Matou Zouken stared at Tong Shen with fiery eyes, chattering to himself.

Tong Shen listened for a while and suddenly couldn't help laughing.

Matou Zouken frowned, "What are you laughing at..."

Tong Shen shook his head: "Before I came back, I had imagined countless times the scene of our reunion, which included you scolding me, me cursing you, and the possibility of fighting if we disagreed."

"But among all the scenes, there is no scene like this - you actually want me to return to the Matou family?"

Tong Shen seemed to have heard something extremely funny and couldn't help laughing.

The loud laughter soon turned into wild laughter, which made Matou Zouken frown and his old face look even gloomier.

Soon, the laughter stopped, Tong Shen's face returned to calm, and he glanced at Matou Zōken and asked seriously.

"Do you know why I came here at night?"

"……Why?"

Matou Zouken looked at Tong Shen with a gloomy expression.

Tong Shen's mouth cracked open, and a cheerful smile hung on his handsome face that was also slightly gloomy: "Because you, a dirty bug from the sewer, can only come out to see me on a sunless night!"

“Puff——”

Before he could finish his words, the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh was heard.

Matou Zouken was slightly stunned and couldn't help but look down at his chest.

I saw a pitch-black halberd blade piercing through his chest and coming out from the bloodless, skinny flesh.

Behind him, a tall devil-like figure appeared quietly, holding a pitch-black Fang Tian Huaji, looking down at Matou Zouyan in front of him with extremely disgusted eyes.

“What a terrible smell…”

Before he finished speaking, black and red air currents burst out from the painted halberd, squeezing the body of Matou Zouken from the inside out, causing his flesh and blood, along with the kimono, to explode.

The next second, Matou Zouken's body turned into countless insects huddled together, falling densely from the black and red airflow.

All the bugs that came into contact with the black and red airflow exploded into a disgusting ball of meat paste under the pressure of the airflow, and a foul smell spread in the wind as the bugs exploded.

Lu Bu was startled and quickly jumped away, looking at the large group of densely crawling insects with disgust on his face.

"...Boy, I finally understand why you call him an old bug."

"Uncle Bu, don't be careless!" Tong Shen said hurriedly, "This old guy is not dead yet!"

"I know." Lu Bu frowned, "But this old guy is too disgusting - Archer, do you have any long-range means? I really don't want him to dirty my Fang Tian Hua Ji."

"I do have some remote means."

A sudden voice came from the road behind Tong Shen.

Hong A and Toosaka Rin walked out slowly, looking at the pile of bugs in front of the Matou family's residence and frowning: "However, just killing these bugs will not really kill him. This guy's real body is not here..."

Before he finished speaking, countless insects twisted and gathered into human shapes, looking grimly at the people at the door of the mansion.

"Rider, is this how you protect your master?"

“…”

Tong Shen and others couldn't help but be stunned when they heard the strange sound made by Matou Zouken, which sounded like the gathering of countless insects.

Then, a whistling sound of breaking through the air came from behind. Hong A was startled and immediately grabbed Toosaka Rin's waist and jumped up, avoiding the sudden attack from behind.

“Bang!”

The invisible weapon hit the ground, creating a fist-sized hole in the ground.

Hong A condensed a black dagger and slashed at the invisible weapon that broke through the air.

Looking at Red A who was constantly colliding with the invisible weapon, Tong Shen suddenly realized that the Rider the old man was talking about was not Lu Bu, but another heroic spirit who obeyed his orders.

...But if this guy is Rider, then who is Lu Bu?

Tong Shen suddenly woke up, turned his neck stiffly, and looked at Lu Bu who was silent beside him.