The Blade-Wielding Legend

The hold was filled with the stench of tung oil and salted fish.

As the oilcloth was lifted, a little girl was curled up in the corner.

Wrapped in tattered clothes, her small body, hair matted and face smudged with coal dust.

She was about seven or eight years old, with arms as thin as reeds and lips cracked and bleeding.

The boat owner, Ping Zhu, was a smuggler, without a shred of kindness. He immediately became furious, "Another stowaway scum!"

As he spoke, he picked up the oar, ready to drive her into the sea, "Get out! I don’t carry freeloaders on this boat—"

"Get out!" Li Yan said gravely, pushing him away.

The Hook Paper in his arms was burning hot, and even through the fabric, he could feel the heat directing him towards the little girl.

Yet strangely, he felt no malevolent intent or hostility.

Sha Lifei crouched down, pulling out half a rice cake from his bosom.

The little girl’s eyes widened as she snatched it up and stuffed it into her mouth, choking as her eyes rolled back.

Lv San handed over a water pouch, which she chugged down several gulps, then continued to wolf down the food, her fingernails filled with black grime.

"Eat slowly."

Kong Shangzhao asked gently in Japanese with a Sakai Port accent, "What’s your name? Where did you come from?"

Her mouth full of food, she mumbled a few syllables: "Ah... Ah Shi."

"Ah Shi?"

Kong Shangzhao frowned, "What about your surname?"

She shook her head blankly, continuing to gnaw on the rice cake.

By the time she started on the third piece, her pace slowed down, and her eyes gradually focused.

Seeing this, Kong Shangzhao changed his approach: "Do you remember the place you stayed before? Did you see... a very large iron cage?"

Ah Shi’s hand trembled slightly.

"A... black house."

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito, "Many people were crying. The iron cage would move... inside were people with horns."

The atmosphere inside the cabin suddenly froze.

The boat owner Ping Zhu couldn’t understand the Han language but knew something was wrong when he saw everyone’s expressions. He backed up two steps against the cabin wall.

Wang Daoxuan said in a low voice, "It’s similar to the demonic Qi residue on the Night Crying Man but more... concealed."

Li Yan recalled those twisted-engraved embryos inside the Black Iron Coffin on Tsushima Island and instantly understood the girl’s identity.

Unexpectedly, what was hidden inside wasn’t some terrifying demon.

"Ask her how she escaped," Li Yan said in a deep voice.

Kong Shangzhao asked a few more questions.

Ah Shi, full of confusion, intermittently said, "I remember... being locked up in a very large mansion... At night, I always heard the sound of metal clashing and wailing... One night, the guards got drunk... I slipped through a broken fence and hid in an alley for three days... Finally sneaked into the dock and climbed onto this boat while the cargo was being loaded..."

Though disjointed, everyone had a vague guess.

This girl was better than the Night Crying Man but still had jumbled memories, multiple memories layered together.

"Where is this mansion?" Kong Shangzhao continued to inquire.

Ah Shi strained to recall, her fingers sketching a vague outline in the air:

"A big gate... with a bird emblem. Inside, there was also... a very tall tower with green lanterns at night."

"Bird emblem?"

Kong Shangzhao furrowed his brows, "Is it a phoenix pattern? Or... a papaya pattern?"

Ah Shi tilted her head and suddenly started drawing on the coal-dust-covered deck.

Her fingers trembled, the lines crude, but it was discernible as a flower with five petals.

Three small petals in the middle, two large petals on the outside.

Beside her, Ping Zhu gasped sharply, "It’s... the Oda Clan’s family crest ’Five-Three Chestnut’!"

Facing the gazes of everyone, he trembled all over and said in a quivering voice, "Though I’m just a smuggler, I’ve heard of the Honnoji Incident, heard that the Oda bloodline was almost slaughtered, with only a few heirs sent to become monks or kept under surveillance in the Capital City."

"Is she... a descendant of the Oda family?" Ping Zhu’s voice quivered, "This, this could cost you your head..."

Before he finished speaking, a low growl came from the other end of the longboat.

The Night Crying Man was chained in the corner, always quietly curled up, but now suddenly started struggling, making wild animal-like grunts.

Wang Daoxuan hurriedly activated the Ruyi Treasure Pearl, the green light enveloping, but the Night Crying Man struggled even more fiercely, the chains taut.

Yet the girl Ah Shi suddenly stood up, wobbling to the edge of the longboat.

She looked at the Night Crying Man from three steps away.

Everyone was about to stop her but then noticed something unusual.

The Night Crying Man’s blood-red eyes met hers, and his struggle gradually subsided.

Ah Shi extended her hand, not to touch, but with her palm open upward, made a "soothing" motion.

Instantly, the Night Crying Man quieted down, the low growls in his throat turning into whimpers.

At that moment, Li Yan also felt the Hook Paper’s scorching heat beginning to fade.

Wang Daoxuan, having realized something, said in a low voice, "She’s using her Qi to harmonize... this girl can calm souls tainted by demonic Qi."

Everyone exchanged glances, all showing delight.

Though they were not entirely sure what this girl was, she was undoubtedly an important clue.

Perhaps she was the tool the pirates used to control those Artificial Demon Gods!

Kong Shangzhao seized the opportunity to ask, "Ah Shi, in the black house, did you see others like him?"

Speaking, pointing at the Night Crying Man, "Do you know where they are held?"

Ah Shi bit her lip.

"The... Capital City."

When she uttered these two words, her body visibly trembled, "The rest, I can’t remember..."

As she spoke, her eyes turned blank again, clutching her head in pain.

Li Yan gave a signal, and Kong Shangzhao hurriedly stepped forward to comfort her.

Others were also in good spirits, not expecting to gain such a discovery after unexpectedly entering Tsushima Island.

At least going to the Capital City wouldn’t be a blind search.

Meanwhile, the boat owner Ping Zhu also stammered, "L-Ladies and gentlemen... this girl, are you really taking her with you?"

"A descendant of the Oda family is a hot potato. The Toyotomi family is watching, the Tokugawa Family is watching too. Which of those Outer Daimyos wouldn’t jump at the chance to make a fuss out of her? Moreover..." He lowered his voice, "In these times, traveling with a little girl draws too much attention."

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