Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 91: Chapter 44: Pick Two!

Below the Ming Army’s three brightly fluttering enormous flags.

“Charge!”

Yang Yuan stayed close to Song Yingchang, shooting an arrow from his short crossbow into a Japanese pirate’s throat.

Song Yingchang, clad in light armor, scanned back and forth with his slender eyes. He glanced at the body of a Japanese lying prone under Yang Yuan’s horse and suddenly shouted, “Be careful!”

The fallen Japanese pirate leaped up with a swoosh, stabbing Yang Yuan in the chest with a sparkling katana as blood splattered across the pirate’s face.

Yang Yuan grasped the katana with his fingers, with the figure of a gray bear looming behind him.

Amidst the chaotic cries of battle, one after another corpse of a Japanese pirate sprang up, rolling with long blades towards the crowd.

The shield bearers positioned themselves in front of Song Yingchang and Yi Yu, with spears piercing towards the pirates from all directions, their tips plunging into flesh with unceasing squelching sounds; still, a few nimble Japanese managed to break through, closing within three feet of Song Yingchang.

Song Yingchang’s purple beard flew in disarray as he drew his longsword to stab, but suddenly a violent wind arose, and sharp black feathers sliced through the air like blades. Several blood arrows burst from the bodies of the soldiers, the katanas drooping powerlessly.

On one side of the Nine-Winged Sudu, the feathers were pure black, while on the other side, they were golden yellow.

“Under Commander Li Yan of the Liaodong Town General Flag, Nine-Winged Sudu, at your service, Lord.”

“Old Song, look at what that demoness is holding in her hand.”

Yi Yu shouted in surprise, and following his words, Song Yingchang saw that in the hands of Nine-Winged Sudu was a jade scroll with a black rhino horn, dim and lusterless.

“The Emperor’s edict?”

Song Yingchang was both shocked and furious.

Nine-Winged Sudu (Dragon-Tiger Qi Enhanced)

Status: Intact

Evaluation: Ten Cities

Note: Bathed in the Dragon Tiger Qi of Great Ming, once officially ennobled, it will completely shed the identity of a demon.

…

The surging tide of blue iron finally subsided…

Shattered black blade fragments embedded in Song Yi’s shoulder, his face smeared with globules of blood. His three-meter-long Tiger Head Spear pierced through the chest of a man in gray monk robes, with beads of blood cascading from the edge of the Great Banner.

Song Yi carried the monk on the tip of his spear as his warhorse continued its relentless charge forward.

Nen Enman’s round eyes moved erratically, his hands weakly grasping the spear. Vast amounts of black blood splashed as the two men, locked in a gaze, Nen Enman making a gurgling noise in his throat, his eyes rolled back, his expression a mix of crying and laughter.

The monk’s body quickly dried up and crumbled, turning into a cloud of black ash in the strong wind kicked up by the warhorse’s run, the blood-stained robe falling limply.

The mournful neighing of warhorses rang out one after another as the crazed Honda’s Eastern Army unleashed all their bullets and cannonballs, with the other Daimyo Allied Army troops also joining the fray regardless of everything. Iida Naokage and Morimoto Ikkyu led their cavalry into the vanguard camp. The death of Nen Enman plunged all the Japanese soldiers into madness.

Breaking through Hidetada’s cavalry line, through Honda’s Eastern Army blockade, through nearly ten thousand warriors of the Allied Army, through Kato and Hidetada’s guards, the seemingly ceaseless charge of the blue vanguard finally came to a halt.

The stream of golden fire was broken.

The Tiger Head Great Spear’s tip slammed into the mud. Song Yi pulled a black blade fragment from his face and suddenly looked back to see that fewer than a thousand comrades remained from those who had charged with him.

A few exhausted soldiers from the Ming Army fell from their horses, their patchy armor studded with arrows. They did not rise again.

Song Yi turned his horse around, only then realizing that in his dazed charge through the ranks of ten thousand, he had taken down more than a dozen souls of Sengoku warlords. Only when he stopped did he feel an excruciating pain in his calf. He reached down to touch it, only to find nothing…

Several iron bullets had pierced through his armor, flesh, and bone, leaving gaping holes in his shoulder. Old wounds on his abdomen and chest burst open, and if one looked closely, they could even see the dark red viscera writhing.

Led by the Eastern Army, the Daimyo Allied Army encircled and decimated the vanguard, once so dominating across the fields, now reduced to fading blue smudges.

Honda Tadakatsu charged forward, brandishing his whip and calling Nen Enman’s name until he saw the blood-soaked monk robe on the ground. He stopped his horse, his face flush with rage and his eyebrows furled.

Mounted on his horse, Song Yi angled his steed’s head, leveling his Tiger Head Spear at Honda Tadakatsu as beads of blood rolled off his pale green chin. His body covered in scores of wounds of varying depths, which profusely bled, puddling beneath the horse within mere breaths.

Iida Naokage and Morimoto Ikkyu, each wielding a long spear, charged forward; the Ming vanguard was clearly on their last legs. If not now, when else better to strike?

Song Yi, his eyes cast downward, suddenly lifted his head. His Tiger Head Spear gently touched the long spears before his wrist flipped, the spearhead whirling to knock Morimoto’s spear from his grip, slicing across Morimoto’s throat and then jabbing, flesh and all, into the back of Iida’s hand!

“Ah~”

“Retreat!”

“Come!”

All three men’s eyes were wide with rage—one in pain, one in fury, one in madness.

Honda Tadakatsu arrived on his Flying Horse, his Kachiten clashing with the Tiger Head Great Spear.

“Clang~”

Song Yi, his body soaked in blood, spat out blood as his Tiger Head Spear let out a mournful cry, slipping from his grasp!

Honda’s Kachiten flipped upward, aiming straight for the wavering face of the faltering Song Yi. Suddenly, a crisp sound of a sword’s hum, a pale green sword light streaking through the air, Honda deflected the Biyuan Sword with the butt of his spear, relentlessly swirling his spearhead towards the teetering Song Yi.

A solemn and shocking roar blasted forth, its sound waves spreading out. Honda Tadakatsu’s mount faltered, and his long spear missed its mark, barely skimming past the head of the falling Song Yi, tearing only his headscarf.

“Lord, look at the mountain,” called a soldier from Honda’s Eastern Army.

Honda glanced up to see the battle cries and clanging of weapon collisions intensify on the slope. The banners marked with Chantanner patterns of the Japanese pirates swarmed down the hill. Honda Tadakatsu initially rejoiced, thinking the Ghost Rider had succeeded, only to see Tachibana Muneshige’s disheveled state and feel his heart sink again.

Tachibana Muneshige, covered in blood, fled desperately, his armor in tatters. Behind him, Niutou Chantan, his entire form shrunken yet more formidable with each gold and crimson swirl of his figure, seemed even more vigorous, muscles bulging as if he were a god challenging the heavens.

Niutou Chantan (Dragon-Tiger Qi Enhanced)

Status: Intact

Rating: Ten Cities

His fist smashed down at Tachibana who, pulling on his horse’s reins, dodged it while the mud beside the horse’s hooves exploded outward.

A blue silhouette rode fiercely towards the fray, entangling with Tachibana Muneshige. The two horses fought as they moved, quickly nearing Honda’s line of defense.

Tachibana Muneshige’s Black Mane Warhorse was boosted by the skill “Flying Horse,” while the Blue-Maned Warhorse’s red eyes glared with a wolf’s hunger, far from any equine docility.

It was Li Yan.

Worth noting, Li Yan, who had thrown the Biyuan Sword, was not unarmed; he held the renowned Hatsuyuki Sword in one hand. Tachibana Muneshige, on the other hand, had only an ordinary katana which, within a few exchanges, looked jagged like a saw. Honda shook off the Kachiten, his spearhead quivering with cunning as it vibrated. After several clashes with the Hatsuyuki Sword, which was too short to gain the upper hand, Li Yan decided to throw it at Honda Tadakatsu. As Honda withdrew his spear for a block, Li Yan picked up the Gold-engraved Tiger Head Spear lying on the ground and barred it in front of Song Yi.

Honda blocked the Hatsuyuki Sword’s blade with his spear shaft and with a flick of the spearhead sent the katana flying towards Tachibana Muneshige.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Catch!”

He roared like a tiger, his face flushed with a commanding presence like that of a mighty Vajra. Tachibana Muneshige caught the Hatsuyuki Sword, his face turning shades of blue and red before finally glaring furiously at Li Yan.

Atop his horse, Li Yan’s fingertips lightly touched the whitish-golden spear shaft, his gaze fixed on the large red banner flag adorning it.

Gold-engraved Tiger Head Spear

Category: Weapon

Quality: Rare

Sharpness: 100

Inherent Attributes: Vacant, vacant.

Nine Banners, a Yan Fu Talisman possessing the Power of Yazi, slightly functional. When used, it will increase the awakening degree of any heritage by 20%.

You are not the owner of the Nine Banners, and thus cannot absorb the Power of Yazi contained within.

Li Yan swung the Tiger Head Great Spear and said to Song Yi behind him, “This thing’s not bad, let me use it.”