Beginning with the Ubume Bird - Chapter 52

Chapter 52: A Messy Situation

The man in the fur coat looked at Deng Tianxiong. “Chinese?”

Deng Tianxiong’s head was buzzing

The four men carrying swords in red scabbards also looked lost.

The first to react was Wang Sheng!

The young man doubled over and dashed forward as he gritted his teeth, the faint wisps of a mustache around his lips fluttering. He drew his sword as quick as lightning, sweeping it at the man’s legs.

“Ah!”

“Eh?”

The small hut suddenly fell into chaos. One of the soldiers flipped over the iron pot, sending boiling soup into the air. Deng Tianxiong had his foot on his sword. Kicking outwards with the sole of his foot, the blade shot out of the scabbard, the edge pointing towards the man and his red scabbard guards!

The wind that came from the outside lowered the height of the flames that swayed and flickered. The light in the hut dimmed suddenly, casting long shadows everywhere.

Wang Sheng’s blade had already touched the man’s calf. The red scabbard guard next to the man shouted something he did not understand, waving his long sword in a blur of red. The sword was just stopped by Deng Tianxiong’s flying sword, saving Wang Sheng’s life.

Wang Sheng’s cold face showed no emotion. He simply gripped his sword tighter. Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his neck and creep downwards, spreading across his whole body. He was within reach of executing a deadly blow, but he found that his sword would not budge, no matter what.

The rest of the soldiers in the room stared wide-eyed, for they could clearly see what was going on. A lock of slick black hair had somehow wound itself around Wang Sheng’s neck. The young man’s eyes opened wide as he lost the strength to grip his sword. Before his sword fell to the ground, another blur of red came slashing from above, straight towards the young man’s face!

“Bang!”

The ringing sound from the bullet’s impact on the sword echoed in the air. The warrior staggered backwards, his two hands shaking.

Li Yan held the gun in both hands, the black hole of the gun barrel now pointing at the man in the fur coat. His face lit up by the flare of the gun.

…

“Your bullets have been used up. Why are you still pointing that at me?”

The man’s expression was calm.

“Bang!”

Another flash of gunfire and the man’s eyebrows twitched as he looked ahead in horror.

The bullet grazed his hair. He could even smell his hair burning.

Li Yan’s expression was fierce. “Guess again. Are my bullets used up yet?”

The man lowered his head and laughed suddenly. His clean white hands suddenly clawed towards Wang Sheng.

“Bang! Bang!”

Another two flashes of gunfire. Two bullets grazed the man’s neck. The smell of gunpowder overpowered the smell of food in the hut.

It was not just the man, but even Deng Tianxiong and the rest of them were staring, mouths agape in shock.

Li Yan waved his gun around.

“Want to take another guess?”

Deng Tianxiong rushed over to pull Wang Sheng back, tearing away the strange black hair around his neck and grabbing him by his middle.

“There’s something strange going on with this man. I clearly aimed for his chest.”

Li Yan said nothing but his mind pondered.

The moment he fired his gun, Li Yan had a strange, faint feeling, as though the bullet had passed through a black shadow.

From the first gunshot, Li Yan had aimed for the man’s vitals, but it was blocked by the warrior’s sword. Or to put it more accurately, the bullet had hit the sword on its own.

Even with the boosted abilities he got from Hooked Star, he wasn’t sure he could cut down a bullet.

The other two shots were even stranger. While it looked as though Li Yan was toying with his prey, he had no intention of wasting time. He had simply missed his shots and took the opportunity to act cool.

A Strong Impression, activate.

Red Armors! Special Forces from Kai Province.

Status: Armorless (defense reduced by 70%, agility increased by 40%)

Specializations: Military Combat 77%

Skills: True Kage-ryu sword fighting

The Spirit of Kai

Strengthen Troops (group combat power increased)

Threat Level: Light red

Threat Level 4: Dark red

Kobayakawa Masakazu, scion of Kobayakawa clan

Status: Blood of the Daimyo (user possesses the protection of a spirit; all damage reduced by 10%; damaged caused by a Yanfu Walker reduced by 25%)

Specializations: Traditional Sword Arts 79% (Shindo Munen-ryu)

Skills: Spirit Rearing (Nanako)

Threat Level: Red

Spirit Rearing?

Li Yan moved his finger.

Kobayakawa’s shocked expression lingered on his face. “The Ming Empire’s firearms have advanced to such a stage?!”

“That’s not right!”

Kobayakawa came to the realization quickly enough, because his foe’s companions had the same shocked expression as him.

He turned his eyes to look at the colt with an expression of unparalleled greed.

“Soldiers of the Wanli Emperor, you seem to be a long way off from Pyeongyang.”

He seemed not to mind Li Yan’s gun pointing at him. He took his time as he spoke. “You’re fish that escaped our net. Which army did you belong to?”

Deng Tianxiong spat on the ground. “You little Japanese scum. You’ve learned your Mandarin well, eh?”

“Did you hide in the mountain to evade our search?”

Kobayakawa took two steps forward and Li Yan took a step forward as well, raising his gun barrel just a little higher. The look in his eyes made his intentions clear.

The man showed no fear. He tilted his head and took a look around him. “And your men are rather heavily injured, too.”

Other than Old Diao and Interpreter Song, the remaining seven of the men were all injured and exhausted after travelling for such a long distance. The only few who were at full stamina and could last a few rounds against these Red Armor warriors were probably Deng Tianxiong and two or three others.

“One shot for each of you. It won’t be difficult.”

Li Yan’s face carried a look of disdain.

“Then why don’t you shoot?” Kobayakawa smiled.

“Bang!”

Li Yan shifted his gun, aiming at the warrior the furthest away from Kobayakawa, and fired!

The bullet hit the warrior’s shoulder and sent blood flying.

He howled in pain, but Deng Tianxiong and the rest of them saw it clearly this time. Before the bullet had hit the warrior, a withered hand appeared out of nowhere and blocked the bullet with its palm. The bullet passed through the palm, but its trajectory was shifted.

Li Yan seemed to have understood something, and he shouted, “Step back!” All of the Ming soldiers stayed clear of the Kobayakawa.

At the same time, Kobayakawa’s face darkened as he instructed his warriors to stay closer to him.

The unknown was definitely something that people feared, but Li Yan was an exception here.

Spirit Rearing, Nanako. If he broke it down, it was not much different from the Ba Serpent.

When Li Yan had fired at Kobayakawa, Nanako was so fast that she was practically invisible. But when he fired at a warrior further away, Nanako’s speed suddenly slowed down.

On one side was a strong attack. On the other, some sort of curse.

The situation was suddenly at a standstill.

Kobayakawa glanced imperceptibly at the roof.

On the ceiling beams, a black-haired woman clothed in white with joints turning the wrong way was hanging upside down, crawling slowly towards Li Yan and his men…

“Kobayakawa-sama, let us charge at them together!” said a warrior said in a hushed tone.

Kobayakawa looked at him as though he were looking at an idiot and smiled stiffly. “If he fires that gun wildly, I won’t be the one to die…”

“Commander Li, the Japanese has a ghost on him.”

Interpreter Song also said in a hushed tone.

Li Yan rubbed at his neck without any change in his expression. Without realizing it, that numbing itch had become a stabbing pain.

Nothing good was going right, he cursed to himself silently. He then licked his lips and said, “It’s already dark. Old Diao should have been back long ago.”

At the same time, Kobayakawa also frowned. “Why is Yamamoto taking so long to return?”

The two of them finished practically at the same time and then stared at each other quizzically. The expressions on their faces changed.

…

Nanako had already crawled all the way across the beam of the ceiling, her body sticking to the wall like she was part of it. Like a stalking spider, a pair of venomous-looking eyes peered out from beneath her veil of hair, staring straight at the pale-lipped Wang Sheng who was standing by the wall. A withered claw of a hand reached out slowly towards Wang Sheng…

A smooth white hand clasped on to Nanako’s withered palm, and a beautiful face was plastered against Nanako’s black hair. A woman had blocked Nanako from Wang Sheng.

“Hu, ha.”

This woman in front of Nanako had clear crystal eyes staring right at her.

Nanako opened her mouth in an inaudible roar. Her body was small and skinny, like a young girl of no more than fourteen or fifteen years old. But the woman in front of her looked more mature, like an older sister of around twenty years old, and she was wrapping Nanako in her arms…

…

Crossing the fence, the gaping black doorway was right in front. The fading warmth inside was almost completely blown away by the cold winds.

One step at a time, his feet left footprints in the snow. Blood dripped through his fingers. There was a red katana on his back and his arms were wrapped in bandages that fluttered in the wind. His hair flew about his face. His blurred vision looked outwards.

His purple and cracked lips were pursed together tightly.

“Almost there.”

…

“Wait!” said Kobayakawa, with a strange look in his eyes.

“No more waiting!” Li Yan gripped tightly onto his sword The Ring of Dragon, his teeth clenched together.

“Chaaa…”

The smell of gunpowder was in the air and the sound of shoes grating against the floor was obvious. All of the sudden, this had captured the attention of everyone.

Blind Diao was dripping with blood, his blood-red abdomen heaving as he breathed. His hair was messy and drooped down past his shoulders. His cracked, red fingers were holding onto a braid of hair. Below the braid of hair was a head swaying in the wind, eyes wide open.

The old man stood upright, his only good eye covered in blood.

“Commander Li, the Japanese are on the mountain.”