The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 598 Bloodline

The moon was dim, and in the dark alley, a black cloak blended into the darkness, and beneath the cloak was a similarly black outfit. The few glimmers of light only outlined the corner of a man's mouth.

But it was this corner of his mouth that suddenly made Miyoshi Ryota lose his strength. A sharp pain shot through the wound he had sustained in the battle with the priests, almost causing him to collapse to the ground.

"Hey."

The hand that was on his shoulder grabbed him and lifted him up. Immediately, a warm current flowed from his shoulder into his body, traveled around, and he felt a tingling sensation all over his body. His wounds healed instantly.

The intense battle and the excitement of watching Nanako being kidnapped were all soothed.

"grown ups!"

Lu Wushuang suddenly took a step forward.

"You...have come."

"Oh, little deer."

Li Miao smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

"I've been waiting for days, how did it turn out like this? Where's Nanako? Did she get lost?"

Lu Wushuang was speechless for a moment.

Now that Li Miao had arrived, there was no need to worry about pursuers or ambushes from the Shinto sect anymore. She could finally sort out her thoughts and explain to Li Miao.

"Sir, it is like this."

"Nanako is now in the hands of the Shintoists, but I brought it upon myself because I met her tonight—"

Just as they got to the point, a series of footsteps suddenly came from the alley entrance. First, a pair of wooden clogs appeared, then a pure white priest's robe, and finally a perfectly integrated white mask, and a scarlet dagger with its sheath already drawn.

The Shintoists' pursuers have arrived.

Moreover, it wasn't one of those people who were indiscriminately killed by Lu Wushuang before—because he spoke.

"Corpse, mask, remove."

"You, what?"

The tone was hesitant and awkward, consisting only of fragmented nouns and verbs that formed incoherent questions.

However, for Li Miao, who only had a rudimentary grasp of Japanese, these incredibly slow sentences with few connecting words sounded just right.

He was saying: The mask on the corpse was removed, what did you see?
Just as Lu Wushuang was about to continue the conversation, Li Miao smiled and reached out to stop her, then stepped forward and paused for a moment.

"Cough... Idiot (Baka Yaro)."

Lu Wushuang was taken aback when she heard this.

Unfortunately, Li Miao's Japanese was only half-baked after learning it from Ji Tianrui, and most of it consisted of swear words. If he wanted to show off, he could only squeeze out this one sentence.

"Sigh, I've shown my ignorance."

He smiled and shook his head.

He immediately reached out his hand from afar.

"Forget it, let's just do it."

scoff!

The protective true energy surged forth, directly wrapping around the Shinto priest from the waist, and then tumbling towards Li Miao like a flying arrow.

The priest, still in mid-air, finally reacted. He drew his unsheathed sword and unleashed several strikes at the protective aura binding his waist and abdomen. Amidst the sparks flying, he actually managed to cleave a gap in the aura.

Immediately, his bones crackled and shifted as he used a technique similar to "bone shrinking" to break free from the protective aura. After landing, he dodged several times, avoiding the pursuing protective aura, and retreated back to the alley entrance.

He raised his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through the mask and landing on Li Miao's face.

"Li! Miao!"

He said in a hoarse voice.

He recognized Li Miao's "All Things".

Since Li Miao landed in Japan, he has successively captured Hirado Castle, Izumo Taisha Shrine, Enryaku-ji Temple, and Hachiman-gu Shrine, thoroughly excavating the Shinto Church's assets. The Shinto Church has long been determined to kill him.

The assassination plot at Enryakuji Temple simply failed. The Shintoists must already be well aware of Li Miao's methods and characteristics.

It can be said that from the moment Li Miao arrived in Kyoto, everything was already out in the open. The murderous intentions of the Shinto sect, Li Miao, and Ji Tianrui were all laid bare.

"Don't call me by my name like that."

Li Miao put his hands in his sleeves and squinted as he spoke.

"That's impolite."

"I have a question for you. Where is the Emperor?"

Before the words were even finished, the bladeless sword was already upon him. "Die!"

The priest closed his body and stepped forward, the skin exposed at the cuffs of his sleeves had changed color, clearly indicating that he had activated his visualization technique, transformed into the deity he was visualizing, and begun to fight for his life.

clang!
The bladeless saber struck the protective aura, creating a barely perceptible breach, and the blade was then thrown back by the impact. The priest was not surprised at all; he knew perfectly well how strong Li Miao was.

But the strength of his opponent would not shake his faith.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

The bladeless sword was swung roughly, like a hammer, like forging iron, striking the protective true qi countless times, being bounced back and then smashed down again!

Countless clashes.

As if Amaterasu had answered his prayers, he suddenly unleashed a stroke of divine inspiration.

"Oh."

Even the usually composed Li Miao let out a sigh of admiration at this strike.

clang!
The protective aura was split in half.

Li Miao's true form has been revealed.

Beneath the mask, a hint of joy appeared on the priest's face. The blade suddenly turned and plunged down, aiming straight for Li Miao's heart!

He knew that Li Miao was seriously injured, that Li Miao's physical body was weak, and that he was unable to make a move and could only fight with his protective true energy... Therefore, there was an opportunity!
The priest's gaze followed the blade as it fell, then was held still by two fingers.

"have you had enough?"

Li Miao chuckled.

"You really think the Five Paths Alliance is nothing special? You think you can take it so lightly?"

"Don't even mention that you only suffered a heart injury. Even if I spared your spleen, lungs, kidneys, and two kidneys, it wouldn't take much effort to kill you."

As he spoke, he twisted the fingers holding the blade.

A bang.

The tsuba (sword) broke without a guard.

The priest was about to dodge away when he discovered that his protective aura had already wrapped around his legs and feet without him noticing, and had even spread to his pelvis. Even if he wanted to cut off his tail to save his life, it was already a pipe dream.

Li Miao held half of the blade and slowly stabbed it towards his face.

"You can understand the Central Plains dialect, right?"

"I'll ask you one more time, where is the Emperor?"

The blade struck the mask, and with a crack, the mask shattered, revealing a middle-aged face with features strikingly similar to Nanako's.

"Heavens! Demons!"

He said through gritted teeth.

"Well, what a religious madman."

Li Miao shrugged and stabbed the tip of the knife into his forehead.

"No need for that, I'll go find it myself."

"Go to hell."

puff.

The body fell to the ground.

Li Miao clapped his hands, turned around, and smiled at Lu Wushuang.

"Little Deer, have you discovered that you've attracted the attention of the celestial beings from the Shinto sect and are now hunting you down?"

"tell me the story."

Lu Wushuang had already prepared her answer, but she was suddenly interrupted by the Shinto Sect's pursuers. Now that Li Miao had come to ask, she quickly replied.

"My lord, Nanako is of imperial blood!"

Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

Lu Wushuang quickly started from the beginning, first briefly recounting how the three of them had arrived in Kyoto to investigate the whereabouts of Nanako's family, before speaking in a deep voice.

“I met a sword saint, a sword saint who knew authentic Wudang Tai Chi... He told me some things.”

(End of this chapter)