Beginning with the Ubume Bird - Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Ghost in the Mountains

Northeastern Ban-zutsu

Type: Hinawaju (Matchlock gun)

Quality: Normal

Fire rate: 1 shot/minute

Firing distance: 200m

Requirements: Military Combat Specialization of at least 50%, or Firearms Specialization of at least 65%

Li Yan fiddled with the long matchlock gun, and his fingers brushed past the curved hook that held the match and acted as a trigger. He tossed the gun to Wang Sheng.

“Sir, this…”

Wang Sheng, with his babyface, wrung his hands uneasily.

“You’re the youngest of all of us. Keep it for self-defense.”

Deng Tianxiong strode into the room, wisps of hair flying about his face. He carried a gust of cold wind with him as he came indoors.

“Commander, the two bodies have been dumped into the river. No loose ends.”

Li Yan picked up the uchigatana of one of the Ronins and put it upright in front of him. His brows furrowed as he said, “We shouldn’t stay long either way…”

He looked towards Deng Tianxiong. “That Japanese’s katana is’nt bad. Are you alright with handling it?”

Deng Tianxiong shook his head and smiled apologetically. “I’m still more used to our own Ming swords.”

“I see.”

Li Yan didn’t push further. Although this sword was well-made, if one wasn’t used to it, there was no point forcing it.

“I can use it.”

A voice came from the fireside.

The one who spoke had deep wrinkles lining his face and his left eye was blind. His face was dark and tough like tree bark, and his stomach was wrapped in layer after layer of cloth bandages, making him look rather bloated.

They called him Blind Diao. He was one of Deng Tianxiong’s old acquaintances.

“When I was in General Qi Jiguang’s army, I practiced with the katana in his camp.”

“Old Diao, you’re heavily injured. Will you be alright?”

Li Yan asked.

It was not that he couldn’t bear to part with the sword. It was because the nine of them, excluding Li Yan, had only six swords between them. If anything happened, those with swords in hand would have to charge in the front.

This man was one of three members among the ten that were heavily injured. His belly had been pierced by a spear, leaving a large gaping hole, and he was in no shape to rush into the fray of battle.

“No problem.”

With that, he fell silent and didn’t speak further.

Li Yan handed the knife over. He took it and wiped it with his sleeve. After examining it for a while, he suddenly spoke.

“Commander, that Ronin was not of a low status…”

“How can you tell?”

Old Diao bit down onto a piece of broken skin on his dark purplish lips and said, “In the battlefield, the most basic foot soldiers wield long spears, and the same goes for the Japanese. Many conscripted farmers would rather use a long branch with a dagger tied to the end than to use a much shorter sword. Such a finely crafted uchigatana is usually used by the higher ranking members of the Japanese military, like the ‘ashigaru’ or even the ‘hatamoto’.”

“Whoa Uncle Diao, I didn’t know you were so knowledgeable about the Japanese.”

Wang Sheng said jokingly.

Old Diao turned to stare at him with his single eye.

“When I was single-handedly killing Japanese pirates, you were still a baby in your diapers.”

“Braggart…” added Wang Sheng, doubtful of Old Diao’s claims.

Old Diao chuckled oddly and then said casually, “But compared to Commander Li’s clean, swift swordplay, my skills are indeed not worth mentioning.”

Li Yan knew that this one-eyed old man wasn’t lying. His Military Combat Specialization was only 63%, just within the average among the group, but he possessed a Skill.

Innumerable Murders (92/100)

Unlike He Andong, this man was living in the era of cold weapons. Like that matchlock gun earlier, having a firing rate of one shot per minute was already not bad for this era. When a fight started, one still had to rely on the cold weapon in one’s hand.

That meant that this old soldier must have pulled off most of his 92 kills with either a blade or his bare hands!

Wang Sheng was young, but he had the makings of a good detective.

Deng Tianxiong had broken past the 70% ceiling that even Zhang Mingyuan could not exceed.

And then there was Blind Diao…

All these people that Li Yan had saved, in addition to having a unique talent, were strong soldiers of the Liaodong army and even members of the legendary Qi Jiguang’s army.

Even though they were misinformed and had rushed in underestimating the enemy, it was still quite a feat for their enemy to have completely defeated an army like that. It was clear that the Japanese troops who had been through a hundred years of their Sengoku Period (Warring States Period) were impressive in their own right.

Li Yan wasn’t too familiar with the Sengoku Period that many Japanese loved and studied. He only remembered one famous name: Heihachiro the Demon.

Honda Tadakatsu…

Li Yan’s mouth curved into a cold smile.

The Zhang Fei of Japan?

Li Yan spoke, “Interpreter Song…”

The man wiping grease from the table alone raised his head. After Li Yan had said those words to him, he had become more obedient. He had stopped putting up the act of trembling in fear, and replaced it with a constant cold expression.

“We want to avoid the Japanese and head towards Yalu River. What’s the best way to go there?”

Interpreter Song grabbed a handful of soil and rubbed his finger in it. Not long after, he managed to draw a rather decent looking map.

“Go this way, circling around the mountain here, and you will reach a small fort. When the Imperial Court set up a defense there, there were roughly twenty men. I don’t know what the Japanese have arranged here, but there is sure to only be a few of them. If you can avoid them, you are halfway to success.”

“It’s too far,” said Li Yan, shaking his head.

“Wouldn’t it be faster to follow the river?” Deng Tianxiong interrupted.

“The riverside is full of Japanese. If you want to die, don’t drag me along.”

Interpreter Song laughed coldly. His attitude was much tougher than before.

Deng Tianxiong didn’t get angry. This man was a local and a learned person, who clearly knew better than he did. That was the good thing about muscle-headed soldiers… they were easy to convince.

“It seems that Haengju Mountain isn’t very dangerous. Couldn’t we just go through there?”

Li Yan asked.

Interpreter Song considered for a long while before replying tentatively, “It’s possible to try, but it is dangerous. The chances of being discovered are high.”

“The longer we take, the more problems there will be.”

Li Yan had his own ideas about the situation. The long route was not the only problem with circling around Haengju Mountain. The areas that Interpreter Song had indicated were surrounded by wide open areas. Although the chances of being found by the Japanese weren’t high, if they did run into them and they had cavalry, there would be no chance of escape.

Going through Haengju Mountain was not only faster, but if they were discovered, the mountain paths would be rugged and would prevent cavalry from coming in. Li Yan would still have a fighting chance if they were discovered.

While Li Yan and the rest of them huddled together, pointing at the drawn map, the little girl who had brought them a bowl of hot soup from her mother had stayed by their side. Seeing the bunch of them pointing and muttering at a mound of soil, she suddenly opened her mouth and said something.

“What did she say?”

Interpreter Song’s expression was strange. “Nothing,” he said. “Children just say whatever they think.”

Li Yan rubbed his neck in a frustrated manner. The numbing itch there still hadn’t gone away. “I asked you, so just say it.”

Interpreter Song replied in an annoyed tone, “This young lady says there are ghosts on Haengju Mountain. Do you want to take a child’s word seriously?”

“Ghosts? I’ve lived for over thirty years and never seen one. If it’s a male ghost, we can make it. But if it’s a female ghost, hehe…”

Deng Tianxiong ignored him.

But Blind Diao continued on.

“The existence of ghosts might be a baseless thing. But as they say, during the death of a country, evil is bound to appear. There are dead people everywhere right now. Who knows if there really is some evil thing there.”

Interpreter Song bit his lip. He wasn’ offended by the statement about the death of a country, but that part about dead people everywhere hit him deep in his heart.

After the Japanese had invaded, they had performed massacres. The Jinju area alone had over sixty thousand deaths. When Li Yan and his men had made their way here, they saw countless people starved to death and corpses hanging from trees feeding the crows.

“If there are ghosts.”

Li Yan felt the tattoo on his chest.

“That will make it all the better…”

…

West of the Pyeongyang City walls, within the tiled village huts.

Into the night, more than twelve hours after Li Yan and the rest had made their move.

“So, Chikaha and his partner said they would catch up to us afterwards and then… they just died. How am I supposed to explain this to Sir Kuroda?”

The man was dressed in a white kimono. There were pale clouds embroidered onto his clothes.

His smooth white skin and long fingers carried the scent of sake on them. He looked at the two bloated corpses that had been fished out of the water, and his elegant face looked uneasy.

“They drifted over from the river. It must have been done by some Joseon freedom fighters or something like that,” said the warrior next to him with a shrug of his shoulders.

“The wound was made with such a clean cut. This clearly wasn’t done by a bunch of riff-raff,” said the man gently, shaking his head. “This was done by trained soldiers.”

“Should we pursue them, then?” the warrior asked.

“Of course, I will go myself. Prepare five of the Red Armors to follow me. Their numbers must be few, or we would have run into them on our way here.

The brown pail splashed into the well water.

The already frayed rope made splitting sounds under the heavy weight of the pail. The clear well water spilled from the side of the pail.

The man grabbed a scoop and drank from it. The water was cool and refreshing.

He showed an expression of satisfaction and then waved his hands. Two Japanese were holding a young child less than ten years old. They tossed the child into the well.

“Fill it up.”

The man turned around after he spoke. Behind him was a raging fire.

He bent down, running his index finger along the throat of the dead body before putting it into his mouth.

His clean nails now had specks of cold blood on it, which gave a sharp taste in his mouth.

He looked surprised.

“What a fast sword.”