The Blade-Wielding Legend

Li Yan looked at Ah Shi.

The little girl was crouching back into the corner, licking the last crumbs of rice cake clean, then hugging her knees, curling herself into a small ball.

On the cuffs of her tattered Wu clothing, traces of embroidery were faintly visible.

It was a Five-Three Chestnut pattern embroidered with golden thread, though heavily worn, the outline could still be discerned.

"Put it on!"

Li Yan said in a deep voice, "Old Sha, find her a clean set of clothes to change into. San’er, release the hawk, scout the waterway ahead."

After speaking, he turned to Ping Zhu:

"Double the fare. Also, after reaching Shimane Prefecture, get us a few outfits to look like a wandering merchant team."

"Either die now or take the money and pretend you never saw us."

Ping Zhu gritted his teeth, "Fine, anyway that monkey doesn’t let us have it easy!"

......

Three days later at dusk, on the remote cape outside Shimane Prefecture.

The waves crashed against the rocks, the salty sea breeze mixed with the smell of rotting seaweed.

Ping Zhu’s smuggling ship docked under the cover of twilight, lowering a boat.

When Li Yan’s group stepped onto the beach, the ground was covered with black sand mixed with shell fragments.

Ah Shi had changed into clean hemp clothing, her hair messily tied into two buns by Sha Lifei, and after the coal dust was washed off, her face appeared thin and her eyes were unusually large.

She closely followed behind Kong Shangzhao, clutching the corner of his clothes.

Ping Zhu dragged a few bundles out from the cabin: "Change of clothes, dry food, straw sandals, and this—"

Then, handed over a tattered sign, with "Yuehou General Goods Mountain Field House" written on it in ink.

"I know a bit of the Yuehou accent."

Kong Shangzhao explained as he took the sign, shook off the dust, "If questioned, we’ll say we’re coming from Niigata, selling needles, medicines, lacquerware along the way, heading to the Capital City to try our luck."

"The Capital City is not peaceful now."

Ping Zhu, having gained benefits, had long decided to leave Japan, explaining without concealment: "Since Lord Taiko fell ill, the Capital has been in chaos. Ishida Mitsunari’s men, Tokugawa Ieyasu’s spies, spies from various daimyo... and those supernatural things."

He paused, lowered his voice, "Gentlemen, if I may speak frankly, these past two years, the villages along the way... something’s off."

"What’s off?" Sha Lifei inquired while changing clothes.

Ping Zhu licked his lips, "Passed by five fishing villages, three were conducting rituals, it’s... a ’ghost festival’."

"I saw one village with my own eyes, placing freshly slaughtered pig and sheep heads at the village entrance, sprinkling salt and rice, and witches dancing tribal dances. Asked who they were worshipping, they said they worship the ’mountain witch that oversees this mountain road’. If not worshipped, those who pass at night will be dragged into the mountains and eaten."

Wang Daoxuan frowned, "Mountain witch? It’s some kind of demon, isn’t it..."

"The lord is right."

Ping Zhu’s voice lowered further, "In another village, I saw that no one goes out at night, and there are inverted raincoats hanging at every house’s entrance."

"There’s a local legend that the inverted raincoats can fend off the ’Two-Mouthed Woman’. Asked the fishermen, they said last month, three women died in the village, all had their necks bitten, like something chewed on them. A monk was invited to recite scriptures, and the monk said it was the doing of the Two-Mouthed Woman, and the whole village needs to worship and appease her..."

"Go on," Li Yan gestured for Ping Zhu to continue.

"The creepiest was a town I passed two days ago."

Ping Zhu swallowed, "The town is by the river, originally worshipped the River Monster."

"But when I went, I found in the shrine by the river... they were worshipping a pitch-black statue, with three heads and six arms, looking like Buddha but not Buddha. Asked the townsfolk, they said the original River Monster God was no longer effective, and seven children drowned last month, so they invited a ’new god’—brought by a wandering monk from Jiuzhou, called ’Blood River Great Bright God’."

"The ritual needs live chickens and ducks and every month on the fifteenth, they draw straws to select a townsfolk to keep vigil by the river as a ’Divine Servant’."

Sha Lifei laughed and cursed, "Isn’t this some damn cult?"

"It is a cult."

Ping Zhu smiled bitterly, "Otherwise, I wouldn’t be sailing on the sea all the time. In these troubled times, something big is bound to happen..."

This person gradually said a lot, and everyone finally understood the current situation in Japan.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was old, and power struggles were rife between the central and local authorities.

Beliefs in resentful spirits, ghosts of battlefield dead, local demon ghosts...

These legends that should have been scattered across various regions were now spreading over Japan like a plague.

After a round of explanations, Ping Zhu hurriedly left, not looking back as he sailed to the sea...

The group wasn’t in a rush to leave. Instead, they sent out Li Dong to scout.

In no time, the hawk swooped down after flapping its wings.

Lv San communicated before looking up and saying, "Ten li ahead, there’s a village, with bonfires at the entrance, seems like they’re holding a festival."

"Go around, don’t engage."

Li Yan said, "We’ll stay in the woods tonight, and continue the journey at dawn!"

......

However, some things are ultimately unavoidable.

At midnight, the group rested by an abandoned temple by the mountain path.

The temple was a deserted Mountain God Temple, with a damaged divine statue, and a thick layer of dust on the offering table.

Wang Daoxuan laid down a simple Blinding Technique at the entrance, while Sha Lifei and Lv San took turns keeping watch.

Li Yan leaned on the wall, closed his eyes and rested, the Hook Paper in his arms gently heating up.

Ever since they set foot on Japanese soil, this burning sensation hadn’t ceased.

It wasn’t directed at a particular place, but rather as if the entire land was soaked in some sort of intangible gloomy Qi...

In the latter half of the night, the mountain winds turned sharp.

A faint song floated in the wind, eerily resembling both a requiem and a nursery rhyme.

Sha Lifei, who was on watch, instantly raised the flintlock gun, while Lv San gripped the short knife at his waist.

Outside the temple door, small trails in the forest lit up with glowing greenish fires.

Not phosphorus fire, more like a glow formed by some kind of Demon Art.

Under the firelight, a procession could be seen approaching slowly.

About twenty people, comprised of men, women, old, and young, dressed in tattered hemp clothes, with faces smeared in white powder and vermillion.

They were carrying a bamboo palanquin, on which sat a wood-carved divine statue, three-headed, six-armed, fiercely hideous.

Exactly as Ping Zhu had described the ’Blood River Great Bright God’.

At the front of the procession was a thin Old Witch, shaking a Bell, chanting incantations.

The villagers behind her sang the eerie melody in unison, their movements stiff and eyes vacant.

"It’s a night parade festival..."

Kong Shangzhao whispered, "According to the information, some places in Japan hold such processions during disaster years, parading the divine statue through the village, said to exorcise evil and pray for blessings..."

Wang Daoxuan frowned and said, "They don’t look like they’re praying for blessings, more like they’re possessed by something."

The group had not intended to pay any attention, but the procession halted as they passed the ruined temple, with the Old Witch suddenly stopping.

Crack!

She suddenly turned her head, her eyes clouded, staring straight at the temple’s entrance.

Despite Wang Daoxuan’s simple Blinding Technique masking them, she seemed able to see through the mist.

She raised the Bell and shook it three times with force.

Then, came a hoarse shrill.

From the six eyes on the wood-carved divine statue on the palanquin, thin wisps of black smoke began to emerge.

Li Yan stopped Wang Daoxuan from rising, and himself walked to the temple entrance, removing the Blinding Technique.

In the moonlight, he was dressed as a Ronin, with a sword at his waist, his expression calm.

"Travelers, seeking shelter for a night."

Kong Shangzhao called out in Japanese, even deliberately adding a Yuehou accent.

The Old Witch squinted, scrutinizing Li Yan, then glanced at the vague figures inside the temple.

Finally, her gaze lingered for a moment on Ah Shi.

The little girl, scared, shrank further behind Kong Shangzhao.

"Outlanders..."

The Old Witch spoke slowly, "Tonight is the night of the Blood River Great Bright God’s parade, all living beings must kneel and offer sacrifices."

"Have you... brought any offerings?"

"No," Kong Shangzhao shook his head.

Upon hearing that, the Old Witch’s expression turned instantly cold.

And behind her, the villagers also turned their heads abruptly.

Over twenty pairs of hollow eyes fixated, mouths continuing to hum the eerie tune.

"Hehe..."

Li Yan chuckled, a murderous gleam in his eyes, "Take action, leave none alive!"

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