Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 84: Chapter 37 The War That Can’t be Lost

Li Yan’s eye sockets were sunken, his lips chapped, and he looked extremely haggard, but the cold, chilling light in his pupils was enough to send a shiver down one’s spine.

“Lord of the Banner~”

“Lord of the Banner~”

Everyone’s spirits lifted, feeling somewhat reassured with a steadfast leader who had been through many battles with them.

“What’s the current situation?”

“We’re encircled. Hideyoshi’s forces have mounted several attacks, but the Lord Governor beat them back.”

Li Yan tilted his head back; though it wasn’t yet dark, he could already see the pale crescent moon in the east.

“Have I been asleep for nearly a day?”

“Yes.”

“This can’t last long, the Japanese pirates are growing impatient.”

Li Yan looked around; the soldiers on the field and even those bizarre demons and Wild Gods were all eagerly awaiting his command.

Seeing no one else speak, he said in a hoarse voice, “We’ve all been through life and death together, there’s nothing we can’t talk about…”

Suddenly, his brow furrowed, and he spoke with a fierce tone, “So I’ll speak plainly. Right now, we’re all grasshoppers on the same string, and if we lose this fight, no one can escape. If we really go to battle, the Japanese’s blades will strike my head first. Anyone who talks behind our backs or sabotages us, will be punished by military law.”

Jin Yanwa spread his hands, “Lord of the Banner, this old toad feels wronged…”

Li Yan waved his hand, “Old Jin Yan, you don’t have to explain. When fighting, you and Niutou Chantan are at the forefront; I’ve seen it with my own eyes. The words I spoke earlier weren’t meant for you.”

Jin Yanwa smacked his lips but said nothing more. Though Li Yan’s response seemed rough and overbearing, Jin Yanwa felt a lot more secure in his heart.

Fighting to this point, looking out for oneself was no longer possible. It was just afraid the Ming Country would disavow them later or treat them as expendables, casting them aside. If the Ming people were all talk, this nearly thousand-year-old Jin Yanwa frog would really consider taking the chaos as a chance to flee, which was far better than throwing away its life for nothing.

Li Yan approached Wang Sheng. The young man before him looked agitated, but one eye was wrapped in gauze, which added to Li Yan’s feeling of oppression.

He thumped Wang Sheng’s chest but said nothing.

Li Yan looked at Yu Shu.

During the last ferocious battle on a rainy night, Yu Shu had carried Li Yan on her back, leading a group of people to retreat. She left Wang Liang and others to cover their rear, but from the beginning to the end, she had not made a move.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“Shall we talk?”

The woman stood up, her black leather shoes clicking crisply on the ground as she walked.

The two of them, one after the other, entered the tent.

…

“I need to thank you for carrying me back.”

Li Yan took out a pale purple ginseng the size of a thumb, holding it between two fingers.

“Get to the point. I don’t like beating around the bush.”

“Very directly, the process of gathering these demons was too rushed. Without you, they probably would have scattered the moment I passed out…”

Yu Shu shrugged noncommittally.

“I killed Konishi Yukinaga, and Yan Fu has signaled that I’ve completed the most crucial part and can return, but I refused. Regardless, this Yan Fu event is drawing to a close, and there are some things I just have to get off my chest.”

Li Yan clenched his fists.

“This is my second Yan Fu event, much harder than the first. Heh, it’s the first time I’ve ever been close to death in a fight…”

Saying that, Li Yan was about to throw the Grass Returning Pill into his mouth.

“You’re not going to die, half is enough for you. Crush the other half and boil it for your men to share.”

Li Yan glanced at her from the corner of his eye, put the Grass Returning Pill away, and couldn’t help coughing twice, his complexion wan.

“Setting aside the difficulty, this Yan Fu event has also given me a strange feeling, like someone bought the wrong model.”

After a pause, Li Yan continued.

“What I say next, you listen. If it makes sense to you, it’s right. If you don’t know, you don’t know.”

Yu Shu looked at Li Yan with some surprise. She had thought about many reasons why Li Yan would seek her out, such as to complain about why she never takes action, or to seek a way to break through from this obviously far more experienced person. It just never occurred to her that Li Yan was only asking her these questions.

“In the records of the previous Yan Fu Fruits, there was a mention of the Dragon Tiger Qi. From the description, it seems that this is something that is required only when the awakening degree of Yan Fu Heritage walkers reaches the bottleneck of 40% or even higher. This also indirectly proves that this Yan Fu Fruit should not come from someone like me who has only experienced one Yan Fu event and entered with a mere 9% awakening degree as a Gu Huo Bird.”

“This is because of me. As a Renegade walker like you, you normally wouldn’t be able to come into contact with Yan Fu Fruits of the sequence before ‘Ding’ and within the first fifty. Accordingly, your permissions haven’t been unlocked either, such as high-status identity matching, world view knowledge purchase permissions, and so on. So often, you wander around like a headless fly, although thinking of collecting Wild Gods as a method is quite clever.”

Yu Shu was very matter-of-fact.

These words reminded Li Yan of the sequence of this world.

Scale-Ding You Twenty-Four.

“I am a Renegade. I don’t have so many scruples. Whatever you want to know, I can tell you frankly, there’s no need to guess.”

With that, Yu Shu sat on the edge of Li Yan’s bed.

“Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, and Yan Fu Fruits within the first fifty of the sequence are recognized to have extremely high upper limits, and the walkers have almost no constraints in the free world. Additionally, each fruit has a high degree of development.”

“What do you mean by ‘degree of development’?”

Li Yan had a faint idea in his mind.

“Within this fruit, the rich Dragon Tiger Qi can suppress all things! Monsters, Wild Gods, demons, and even Taoist magic, in the face of the vast national destiny of the Dragon Tiger, are suppressed to almost nothing. Therefore, the first walkers of Yan Fu thought this was just an ordinary no-demonic plane, and its sequence was ranked quite late.”

“It wasn’t until Yan Fu walkers discovered the secret of this place and took the opportunity to grab a massive amount of Dragon Tiger Qi that the land became rife with abnormalities, and the danger level of the fruit kept rising.”

“Of course, having a lot of Dragon Tiger Qi doesn’t necessarily mean being strong. Take Song Yingchang for example. He ranks high in the Ming Country as a third-rank official, controlling over three hundred moments of Dragon Tiger Qi. No evil can harm him, ghosts retract, and even his body is healthy, destined for a long life. But that’s all there is to it. In principle, a kitchen knife is enough to end his life.”

“And while monsters run rampant, the diluted Dragon Tiger Qi can also be used by some ordinary people, such as the Heavenly Master Taoists who were conferred by the court and who can use Dragon Tiger Qi to draw talismans. These people, well, they’re relatively tricky.”

“Mo says that being a walker is like being a beneficial ladybug, but according to what you say, it doesn’t seem like it.”

Li Yan still had his doubts.

“No, from the perspective of Yan Fu, walkers are indeed developing the world.”

Taishuai spread her hands.

“Heavenly Master Tao outside, talismans inside, Dugong, Five Thunder, Fu Mo, and so on, all the exquisite curses and spells developed based on Dragon Tiger Qi.”

“Creatures like Niutou Chantanner and Nine-Winged Sudu, these kinds of extraordinary monsters.”

“Under the prevalence of demonic forces, villagers join together to protect themselves, and strong warriors are born out of such high-level martial skills.”

“Survival space being compressed by demonic forces, frequent wars between nations lead to the continuous refinement of warfare equipment and military tactics.”

“This is what is known as ‘development’.”

Yu Shu spread her palms.

“Yan Fu is indifferent, using all things as cannon fodder. With monsters running wild and bizarre occurrences, for Yan Fu, this is beneficial.”

Li Yan frowned tightly. He didn’t disagree with Yu Shu’s words, but he suddenly thought of another issue.

“Are you this knowledgeable about all the fruits?”

“At least I am about this one.”

“Coincidence?”

“It’s not.”

Yu Shu appeared very patient.

“The fruit and events that you Renegades walkers enter are decided by a high-ranking walker named Hou Tu. I used some means to ensure that your next entry into the Yan Fu event would be into this fruit, and I took advantage of the loopholes in the compensation mechanism to escape.”

Li Yan’s thoughts spun. He knew Taishuai chose this place for her own reasons, but this had little to do with him. What concerned Li Yan more was something else.

“If a great country like the Ming Country is in a state of emergency due to the loss of Dragon Tiger Qi, and if Joseon’s land has fallen with ghosts plaguing everywhere, then what about the Japanese homeland?”

Japanese pirates who never retreat, Daimyo troops pouring out, Tokugawa and Hideyoshi working closely together—all this made Li Yan more convinced of his thoughts.

“Just as you imagined,”

Yu Shu smiled faintly, her smile somewhat meaningful.

“Once the Land of the Rising Sun, it is now a desolate land overrun by monsters. And so, this Renchen war, for the Japanese, is a battle for their very survival.”