Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Blood, with its intense metallic smell, splashed all over the walls, causing Kobayakawa to involuntarily look up to the ceiling before crashing down abruptly.

“Thud…”

His vision was awash in red, filled with horrifically contorted and wailing evil spirits lunging at him. Kobayakawa blinked hard, his gaze finally settling into darkness.

“Target is in a state of backlash; probability of discovering its weak point has increased by 500%.”

“You have discovered the target’s weak point! The speed of your next attack has increased by 100%, and the damage dealt is deepened by 100%.”

“Target deceased.”

“You have triggered Blood Dip, causing additional damage of 0%. Hook Star status temporary loss for one hour.”

No time to glance at these notifications, nor to ponder whose voice the woman’s was, Li Yan moved swiftly, Ring Dragon sword glistening. His eyes scanned the scene in a flash as he hurried away.

“Lord Kobayakawa!”

An eagle-eyed member of the Red Guards cried out upon seeing the severed head of Kobayakawa, eyes about to burst.

His heart in disarray, he made a sloppy move with his wakizashi, severing the arm of a soldier, only to have the man tackle him down.

“Splurch!”

Deng Tianxiong leaped up, twisted his waist to dodge a strike to the face, his sword describing a semi-circle in the air. With a forceful slash, the wound in his abdomen tore open, splattering blood alongside the sharp blade onto the Red Guard who was clutched at him!

In A Fleeting Glimpse, the red light emanating from the wounded Red Guard quickly faded, while the remaining two Red Guards’ glow intensified!

Soul of Kai (3): With less than five people, only the most basic status enhancement can be provided.

Soul Sucking: Fallen Red Guards provide their comrades with offensive and defensive enhancements, the specific values determined by the fallen one’s abilities.

Another Red Guard, his katana stained with blood, did not hesitate to impale the fallen Red Guard along with the Ming soldier clinging on to life, then made a backward jump to avoid being encircled by the Ming Army.

The last Red Guard took advantage of the moment Deng Tianxiong’s sword momentum was spent, stabbing toward his shoulder, while the Ring Dragon Sword was already cleaving down!

The Red Guard fearlessly counterattacked, and the sharp clangs of weapon clashes rang out. Suddenly, the Ring Dragon Stab broke through the encirclement, aiming for that shoulder. The Red Guard pushed off the ground, retreating backward to stand back to back with his companion, both eyes coldly watching the four blood-soaked, silent as mountains, weary Ming soldiers surrounding them.

In this chaotic battle, several people moved with precision, their weapons flowing between pairs or trios, blades crisscrossing each other. Bloodlight and swordlight twirled together.

Within the confines of the small tile-roofed house lay no fewer than five corpses. The fate of Diao Xiaye was unknown, Wang Sheng could barely stand.

Li Yan, looking at the two breathless Ming soldiers fallen before the Red Guards, said softly:

“All fall back, cover my formation.”

Deng Tianxiong’s face twitched, but he stepped back with the others. He then saw Li Yan wink at him…

Li Yan took off the net scarf from his head, his toes wriggling inside his brown boots, the broad blade of the Ring Dragon Sword pointed directly at the two men.

In Li Yan’s eyes, one Red Guard was a mild shade of red, while Kobayakawa was bright red.

But to the Red Guards, Kobayakawa Masakazu’s threat level was undoubtedly pitch black!

His swordsmanship was in no way inferior to the average Red Guard’s, with Nanako’s Hair that drained one’s ability to resist the moment they were touched, and all sorts of bizarre, toxic Ghost Skills.

Unless more than five Red Guards together initiated the Soul of Kai to suppress most of Kobayakawa’s ghosts, even the remaining three Red Guards combined would not match Kobayakawa.

Having just exchanged a few moves with this Ming military commander, it was clear he was stronger, but there was no way he could kill Lord Kobayakawa with the help of a fierce ghost.

“There’s no way you could kill Lord Kobayakawa. You must have used some trick!”

The two Red Guards stood shoulder to shoulder, the one on the left shouting loudly.

Li Yan couldn’t understand what he was saying. He thought for a moment, then jerked his chin at the man, speaking in Japanese he had learned from a ronin before heading up the mountain.

“Are you an idiot?”

The two Red Guards exchanged glances and then charged at Li Yan.

“Throw your swords!”

All of a sudden, Li Yan shouted. The others were taken aback, but Deng Tianxiong had the fastest reaction, throwing his Goose Feather Sword at the two Red Guards. Amidst the whistling of the blades, the others snapped out of their daze and threw their weapons as well.

Song Translator, who had been eagerly watching, saw the situation unfold and, as if finally finding an opportunity to let off steam, flung his wooden plank with all his might.

Such a trick might not work on someone with sharp reflexes, let alone battle-hardened Red Guards.

With a deft movement, they parried the incoming weapons with their katanas, the most ridiculous being a rotting wooden plank that flew in from god knows where. One of the Red Guards snickered and sliced diagonally with a red blade glow, shredding the plank into tiny pieces that filled the sky.

It was when the shattered plank obscured their vision that they felt a sinking feeling.

Cunning Ming Army, they cursed, bracing for Li Yan’s ambush beneath the debris.

But as the pieces hit the ground, Li Yan hadn’t moved.

They were met with the dark muzzles of guns.

“Bang! Bang!”

…

Li Yan examined the wounds on Diao Xiayan’s body, silent and thoughtful.

The old soldier had two through-and-through wounds to the chest, a fifty-centimeter wound on the right thigh. But the most fatal was the gap in the abdomen where a long section of intestine had been severed, the blood loss was shocking. In the icy snow, this was an inevitably fatal situation.

“My lord,” Deng Tianxiong looked hopeful but found himself unable to speak.

“He can be saved.”

Li Yan nodded slightly, gesturing for the ecstatic Deng Tianxiong to step aside, his gaze landing on the Gift of Mo that had refreshed on its own.

“Mo’s Gift 0/1”

1. Divine Blood

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Type: Consumable, coating material.

Quality: Rare

Applied to cold weapons, it can break through a certain degree of National Destiny Dragon and Tiger Qi blessing or the Demonic Strength protection of a Daimyo. Ineffective against officials of the Ming Dynasty of the third rank or above.

One hundred Yan Fu points per bottle, up to three bottles.

2, False Qiong Qi Blood

Type: Consumable

Quality: Common

After being fed to warhorses, it will temporarily increase the horse’s speed and endurance, and ignore the effects of gunfire, high-level exotic beasts, and shadowy entities.

Ten Yan Fu points per serving. No limit (Overconsumption will lead to the death of the warhorse).

3, Grass Returning Pill

Type: Consumable

Quality: Rare

Used at the brink of death, it will heal all wounds within five breaths! And plunge the user into a severe weakness for three days, losing the ability to move.

Two hundred Yan Fu points per pill, up to two pills.

After exchanging for hand grenades, Li Yan had about a thousand and some Yan Fu points left, enough to buy everything available in the purchase permissions.

The Grass Returning Pill was a pale purple ginseng, only the size of a thumb, cool and smooth to the touch. The ginseng melted in the mouth, and not long after, it slid down Diao’s throat into his stomach.

The wounds on the old soldier’s body healed at a visible rate, even the injuries in his abdominal cavity stopped bleeding.

The surrounding soldiers looked on in amazement, their gazes toward Li Yan were as if he were a deity.

“When I was young, I encountered a wandering Taoist. Three big pancakes in exchange for a set of sword techniques, a pill, and a spell, that’s what you all saw earlier.”

Li Yan casually explained.

Tales of the wondrous and supernatural have existed since ancient times.

Such stories of young lads encountering wandering Taoists are marketable even in later times, let alone in the entertainment-scarce Ming Dynasty.

A group of soldiers listened with shining eyes, both respecting and envying the Lord of the Banner.

“That woman has disappeared!”

Song Translator came over, his face a picture of shock and uncertainty.

“Is that so…”

Li Yan was silent for a moment before he spoke, “Don’t think too much, let’s rest for the night. We’ll bury the brothers’ bodies first thing tomorrow morning.”

Song Translator nodded with a complex expression. Thinking from another perspective, with two groups of people fighting in their own home, perhaps the woman was scared and took the chance to flee when no one was paying attention.

The night deepened, and the people took turns to keep watch, while the rest gradually fell into slumber.

Li Yan, pillow a bone bowl, had his eyelids twitch slightly. He had to hit the road early the next morning, but the itchy pain on his neck tormented him for most of the night, only allowing him to lightly sleep in the second half of the night.

This itchiness might not affect Li Yan’s combat effectiveness, but it was certainly not a long-term solution.

In a daze, he smelled a rich fragrance; he felt as though he was bathing in a sea of flowers, with the clear laughter of a woman in his ears.

Suddenly, he felt a cool, sweet touch on his lips, that moistness slid down all the way to his neck.

That moistness lingered on his neck for a while, and he distinctly felt the pain in his neck gradually fade away and finally disappear, leaving only a soft sensation.

“Ah…”

Li Yan exhaled comfortably, the weariness and pain between his brows eased a lot.

“General, sweet dreams.”

…

“Damn, actually saw a ghost.”

Deng Tianxiong gasped in shock; at that moment, the many Ming Army soldiers were sleeping on a vast expanse of white snow, with rooftops, beams, houses, and fences all gone without a trace!

If it weren’t for the bodies of Kobayakawa and others lying on one side, Deng Tianxiong would have almost thought he was dreaming.

Only a pot hung over the fire pit, with flames licking the bottom of the pot, and taro bobbing up and down in the rich soup…

“Maybe a deity has revealed themselves…”

Wang Sheng marveled.

“You were half-dead yesterday, how come you’re so lively today? Why are you smiling so happily, did you have a wet dream or something?”

Wang Sheng’s face flushed red, suddenly remembering the girl in white with black hair from his dream the night before, who shyly apologized to him, and he stutteringly denied it repeatedly.

Li Yan opened his eyes, feeling refreshed and rid of all fatigue and pain.

“How long have I slept?”

“Just past the fourth watch. Sir, She Mountain truly has ghosts.”

Deng Tianxiong gestured and described to Li Yan with an exaggerated tone.

Li Yan, unperturbed, listened quietly, and then called over a soldier, pointing to the cooked food in the iron pot.

“Serve me a bowl to taste.”

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