The Blade-Wielding Legend

The mountain wind, carrying the scent of scorched earth and blood, swept over the desolate forests outside the Capital City.

Li Yan and his group hid deep within a wind-sheltered cave, its entrance cleverly obscured by Long Yan’er with vines and dead branches.

The cave was dimly lit, the air stagnant, accompanied only by the occasional weak, painful murmurs from the Night Crying Man and the crackling of the campfire.

Since the earth-shattering upheaval at the ruins of the Monk Soldier Hall on Anma Mountain and the ensuing Hundred Ghosts Night Parade in Kyoto, they swiftly retreated from that chaotic place to hide among these vast mountains.

Li Yan leaned against the cold rock wall, the Duan Chen Blade resting on his knee, his fingers unconsciously stroking the cord wrapped around its hilt.

His gaze was calm, but a shadow lingered between his brows.

Wang Daoxuan sat cross-legged nearby, meditating with closed eyes. His complexion was still somewhat pale, not yet fully recovered from the successive depletion and Divine Soul impact at the Yellow Springs Cave and High Heaven.

It was Li Yan’s decision to hide here.

Though he suspected that the Hai Cang Team was unlikely to survive, he still held onto a faint hope.

Even if there was just one survivor, he must find a way to rescue them.

Moreover, the journey back to the Divine State was long and perilous, and the Night Crying Man, having forcibly had his Demonic Qi source stripped away and his Divine Soul severely injured by the magical sound of the Stone Tower Forest, was now utterly weak.

He urgently needed calm recuperation to regain a bit of Primordial Energy to withstand the long journey and any possible ambushes.

As for news from Kyoto, it was not difficult to gather.

Tanui Nagashige, that guy, since leaving the ruins of the Monk Soldier Hall that day, vanished without a trace.

Clearly, his conspiracy had succeeded, and for Li Yan and his companions, they were of no use to him anymore, perhaps even becoming insiders needing elimination.

But such a cataclysmic disaster as the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade was bound to cause ripples across all of Japan.

By having Sha Lifei accompanied by Kong Shangzhao occasionally sneak down the mountains to the towns, post stations, or tea lodges, they could gather some intelligence from those still haunted travelers, woodcutters, and even fallen ronin.

The fragmented news gathered tells the story:

On that night, the "Hundred Ghosts Parade" saw the Yakawa Kappa capsize boats and drag people underwater; Resentful Spirits in Jule Mansion shrieked as they passed through walls and devoured Life Souls; Iron Rats swarmed, gnawing at granaries and biting living people...

Numerous old spirit monsters awakened under the nurturing of Resentful Evil, such as the Tang Umbrella Monk spinning and floating, the Wheel Wheeling Path burning with ghostly flames, and the ominously crying Onmoraki emerging to wreak havoc.

The entire Ancient City had completely turned into a Purgatory.

Fires ignited simultaneously at various locations, the wind aiding the flames, the flames borrowing the power of the wind, the raging fire consuming countless townhouses, shops, and even parts of the Minister’s Mansions.

Initially, Kyoto’s defense forces nearly collapsed under the attack.

But the deep-rooted powers of the Japan Mystical Sect eventually reacted, albeit belatedly yet with swift ferocity.

Under the leadership of Kamo Tadayuki, the remnants of the Yin Yang Hall quickly regrouped after the initial chaos, using the Observatory as the core, they laid boundaries upon layers, repelling the approaching Evil Spirits.

The forces of Shintoism swarmed out from all directions, the elite Shen Guan and Witches from Ise Shrine, Chuyun Grand Shrine, and Atsuta Shrine carrying Divine Artifacts passed down through generations, rushed to assist.

The Witches from Ise twirled the Shenle Bell, chanting ancient hymns, purifying the foul air; the Shen Guan from Chuyun allied to perform a powerful exorcism technique, attempting to quell the Earth Vein’s Resentful Spirit.

The replica shards of the Sky Cloud Sword enshrined at Atsuta Shrine were once again summoned, the fierce Sword Qi sweeping across an area, annihilating ghosts.

The high monks from Biwei Mountain Yannli Temple sounded colossal Buddhist bells, their chanting resonated like mighty bells, with golden Buddha’s light cascading down from the mountain peak, suppressing the city’s evil Qi.

Monk Soldiers and Magic Monks from the Tiantai Sect, True Word Sect, and other temples also descended the mountain, wielding Demon-Subduing Pestles and Vajra Stakes, forming formations to combat rampant demon ghosts.

Even some ancient swordsmanship schools, such as the Sword Master School and Katori Shinto-ryu, their Grandmasters led disciples with swords into the city to quell the chaos.

After a huge toll, this sudden "Hundred Ghosts Night Parade" was finally somewhat suppressed, the situation gradually began to stabilize.

However, the cost was devastating.

Nearly half of Kyoto City had turned to ruins, black smoke billowing forth, the air filled with a pungent mix of scorched and corpse stench.

The casualties were innumerable, the streets littered with unclaimed bodies, and those who survived mostly wore numb expressions, their eyes vacant, akin to Walking Corpses.

The once-prosperous Kyoto, had suffered heavily overnight.

Yet, there was no positive news regarding the Hai Cang Team.

Only sporadic rumors mentioned a cataclysmic explosion near the Vermilion Bird Gate, how during the collapse of the Yin Yang Hall’s secret storage, a monk’s figure was seen in the firelight being swallowed by an eerie shadow, and some eyewitnesses reported a brief but fierce battle near the Sky Cloud Sword replica’s location, with a mysterious old woman wielding Southern Barbarian Witchcraft and a mightily strong man falling...

All information indicated that none from the Hai Cang Team survived.

"Enough..."

Li Yan’s voice resounded in the silent cave.

He opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping over his companions, "This vengeance, the Divine Land Mysterious Sect will certainly repay. Our immediate priority is to take the Night Crying Man and return alive."

Under Lv San’s care, the Night Crying Man’s breathing finally became more stable, though still weak, the high fever had subsided, and occasionally he could open his bewildered eyes.

Li Yan knew they could wait no longer.

However, Kyoto’s chaos had not ended with the quelling of the Hundred Ghosts, rather it had triggered a chain reaction, brewing an even greater storm.

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