Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 268 Surprise Attack on Meizhou, Shikigami - Basket Snake Tail!

The storm in Meizhou City, Xinghua Prefecture, quickly subsided.

Besides the power of the Heavenly Princess, there was also the contribution of at least several hundred wind lions throughout the city.

Wang Cheng once seized a Fengshiye, a treasure of the county. This kind of upright stone lion is also called a stone lion god. It is mainly placed at the intersection of streets and alleys, on the doors and roofs of buildings, and on high platforms in villages.

It can protect people's homes and villages, ward off evil spirits, suppress disasters, ward off evil spirits, and bring good fortune and blessings.

It is also part of the water god belief.

These measures alone are enough to weaken the aftereffects of the typhoon to the point where Wang Cheng, a mid-level official of the third rank, no longer needs to worry about it, allowing them to focus on city defense.

"My first wife is so beautiful. Both of them are beautiful!"

It transformed into a green dragon over ten feet long, lowered its head, which was about the size of a carriage, and allowed the two sisters, Ah Xiao, who had been dancing the Nuo dance all night and were covered in fragrant sweat, to climb onto its back.

Their red and blue ritual robes, silver bells and pendants, and dark blue ghost masks give them a unique and strange charm.

"You chatterbox! Hurry up, the believers will be crowding around and kneeling in worship soon."

Ah Xiao, holding onto the dragon's horns, gently stepped on her fiancé's foot.

Amidst the envious gazes of all the men and the admiring glances of all the women in the city, Wang Cheng escorted them to the mansion that Old Wang had originally purchased in Meizhou.

The coastal prefecture has properties almost everywhere, so even if he has to go on official business, he doesn't need to stay in an inn.

At this moment, the incense and prayers from all directions continued to converge, forming a trickle of dragon energy that fell onto A Xiao's body.

Becoming the fuel for this dragon girl's advancement to the fourth rank [Dragon's Blood] means that this crucial step could be taken at any time.

After making arrangements for A'xiao, Wang Cheng immediately donned full armor and climbed the city wall, where he found Lu Yunchen, who had taken over the city's defenses.

Following his gaze into the city, one could see many soldiers from the Zhenhai Guard stationed in Meizhou City, including Han Shushu, who was holding two pink warhammers.

Previously, the two of them went to Rongcheng alone to capture You Zhende, while part of the main force of Zhenhaiwei was ordered by the commander-in-chief of the anti-Japanese forces to come to Xinghua Prefecture to provide support.

The defense of Yuegang was entrusted to the Red Flag Gang and General Zheng Shiniang, who was in charge of suppressing the sea.

Although Wang Cheng surprised everyone by successfully summoning the troops of the three Zhenhai Generals and the eight Daohai Generals in accordance with the "military order".

Yu Zhifu still couldn't completely trust these "pirates" who had been granted amnesty, so he sent his spirit out of his body to personally visit Shen Yuting, the "Director of the Mountain and Sea Society," to ask him to take care of them.

The eldest brother Zhang Quan, who had already risen to the fourth rank of "Chaofeng Lang" by plundering the Shijian Silver Mountain, and Zheng Shiniang's Red Flag Gang were arranged to be stationed in Yuegang, right under Shen Yuting's nose, so there was no need to worry about trouble arising.

The two sides essentially swapped defense zones, with the most elite and trusted troops of Zhenhaiwei being transferred to Meizhou, where the risks were greater and the defense pressure was heavier.

This is also the only one of the three candidate prefectures that does not have a rank-three official stationed there, but its regular strength is the strongest, and the other two places combined are not as strong as this one.

Han Shushu was worried about Lu Yunchen, so she secretly followed the Zhenhaiwei warship to Meizhou, carrying her two pink enamel war hammers.

By the time they found her, it was too late to send her back.

They simply assigned this girl with superhuman strength the task of protecting the families of the prefect and his subordinates, making the best use of her.

Wang Cheng noticed that Lu Yunchen kept looking at Han Shushu, so he nudged him with his shoulder.

"If you like her, just tell her directly. Don't be so secretive. You two are mutually attracted, so why are you so hesitant?"

Lu Yunchen covered his mouth with a handkerchief, coughed up another mouthful of blood, and sighed.
"Let's forget it, this is fine as it is."

The reason why the emperor trusts me so much now, almost to the point of being on par with my grandfather, is because a man who has no heir is unlikely to harbor unnecessary ambitions.
However, an emperor cannot completely trust anyone; the closer someone is to him, the more wary he becomes.

The palace inspector who was initially highly trusted but ultimately succeeded in being crowned emperor serves as a cautionary tale.

I need to be extra careful now.

As he spoke, he gave Wang Cheng a deep look, perhaps worried that his top general might "cause him great trouble" in the future.

His expression darkened immediately:
"Besides, I don't have much time left, and I really don't want to delay Shushu's studies."

Accepting her would be tantamount to harming her.

After we defeat the Japanese pirates from Chishidan, we'll go back and...

Before Lu Yunchen could finish speaking, Wang Cheng swiftly reached out and covered his mouth.

"Pah, pah, pah! Children say the darndest things, children say the darndest things!"

They quickly pulled out all the flags he had planted.

Wang Cheng had long wanted to help Lao Lu resolve the backlash from the "Ghostly Jealousy" fate that was plaguing him.

In theory, even someone like Master Shen Yuting, a high-ranking official of the third rank, could at most buy and sell official positions of the lower three ranks at will, despite having the ability to do so.

It is difficult to shake Lu Yunchen's position as a third-rank official, who is blessed with the Three Wonders Destiny.

However, even the Lord of the State cannot do it, but the Four Seas Treasure may be able to do it.

Now there is only one key issue: Lu Yunchen possesses the Three Wonders, which give rise to two, three, and all things. His greatest obsession right now is to become an all-rounder who excels in everything.

As long as his obsession persists, it will be difficult to force the buying and selling of official positions and posts.

The only chance is that many people's obsessions are constantly being adjusted.

The most obvious example: A sign of maturity is that you no longer want the things you couldn't have as a child.

What you are so attached to now may one day seem childish.

Wang Cheng felt that this day would come very soon.

He has to choose between the great cause of overthrowing the Nine-Rank System and having a happy family; he should be able to save his life in the end.

"Hey, here it comes!"

Looking down, he saw a group of disheveled soldiers outside the city, as if they had just suffered a defeat, raising their command tokens and rushing to the gates of Meizhou. "Urgent military news! Pinghaiwei has been attacked by Japanese pirates and suffered heavy losses. Brothers, please come to our aid immediately."

Pinghaiwei is located in Pinghai Town, not far away. It is backed by mountains and faces the sea, with the sea on three sides, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

At its peak, it had a full complement of about 5600 officers and soldiers, and was the core pillar of Xinghua Prefecture's coastal defense, serving as the first line of defense.

The garrison system is now in disarray, with less than a third of the troops remaining. This attack here clearly indicates a major incident.

Wang Cheng peeked out, his gaze sweeping over everyone before he nodded.

"come in."

At a command, the city gates were opened, allowing them to enter the barbican, and then quickly closed behind them.

However, the city gate leading from the barbican to the inner city remained closed for a long time.

The leading officer felt a sudden unease.

'The coded messages from the inside agent all matched, so how did this unexpected turn of events occur?'

He didn't show it on his face, but hurriedly called out:

"Brother, let us in quickly to pay our respects to the prefect. The military situation is urgent and cannot be delayed."

But they saw no one again, only a cold laugh coming from the city wall:
"You damned Japanese pirates, who says you're brothers?"

"Fire! Fire arrows! Leave no one alive!"

boom!boom!boom!boom!
Once they mistakenly entered the fortified city, how could they possibly survive?

A hail of arrows and lead bullets rained down, riddling them with holes.

The ordinary soldiers remained unchanged after death, but the leader's face had a piece of human skin peel off, and his body shrank instantly, revealing an ugly, short Japanese man.

These are the ninja of the Japanese pirates, the Numizu Ninja, who are skilled in transformation techniques, specifically the "Ninja Art: Painted Skin and Disappearing Face".

Officials can be like the "Second Cobbler," who can peel off other people's faces, steal their unique skills and techniques, and imitate them perfectly.

The attack on Pinghaiwei was real, and the commander's command token was also real.

But the real soldiers had obviously been ambushed and killed halfway, and replaced by a group of elite samurai and ninjas who were trying to trick the city gates open.

While gunfire erupted at the city gates, riots broke out throughout the city.

The fake Japanese and ninjas who had been allowed in by You Zhen beforehand launched a fierce attack on the city gates from the inside, while the rest created chaos in the city.

Near the city wall, a group of Japanese pirates dressed as ordinary civilians suddenly rushed out of the cellar of an inn.

He threw out the torches he had prepared beforehand and set them on fire everywhere. When he saw any women, his eyes would light up and he would pounce on them.

"Hahaha, the women of Dazhao are the most beautiful. This one is mine!"

A Japanese pirate kicked open a nearby gate and saw a young girl learning to embroider under the eaves. He leered and rushed over, reaching out to grab her breast.

A dark shadow flashed by, a barely perceptible bloodstain appeared between his brows, and he collapsed to the ground, dead.

However, Dog Commander had been lying in wait nearby. As soon as the Japanese pirates launched their attack, he immediately took action, killing one and then rushing towards the others like the wind.
On the main street, Japanese pirates were holding torches and about to throw them at the granary.

An arrow pierced his left temple and exited from the other side, embedding itself in the chest of another Japanese pirate beside him.

"what!"

"There's an ambush!"

Wang Cheng shot arrow after arrow, each arrow killing at least one Japanese pirate.

He obtained the Ogasawara-ryu archery technique from Yoshishige Otomo, which contains the three essential techniques of archery: "the yūbō-machi" (a type of archery technique), "ken-zuki-mono" (another type of archery technique), and "kasa-kake" (another type of archery technique).

Now, Lord Wang is the overlord of the Nine Feudatories and the number one archer in the Western Sea Route. His already superb archery skills have reached an even higher level.

Standing atop the city wall, every shot within three kilometers was accurate.

The information about the inside agent that You Zhende provided was not entirely useless.

They had already thoroughly searched the entire city and identified their targets in advance, including the ninjas who had infiltrated, the fake Japanese, and the official informants that You Zhen had prepared in advance.

The reason for not taking action in advance was to avoid alerting the enemy and ruining the overall situation in Minzhou. Once an attack is launched, they will be wiped out immediately.

It did not cause much damage from beginning to end.

At the same time, they also received news that Amakusa Shiro had appeared in Citong Port.

Everyone had full confidence in Qi Yuanjing; the only question was how many victories he would achieve.

But before Wang Cheng and his group could even breathe a sigh of relief...

"Wow—!"

The bald eagle, Ah Ji, sent out to scout, let out a high-pitched alarm cry that pierced through the air.

Looking up, everyone discovered that a small Japanese pirate fleet had appeared in the waters opposite Meizhou Bay.

There was a monk named Kōmu, wearing a hat-like "heavenly canopy," standing at the bow of the boat, playing a flute-like instrument called a "shakuhachi."

beep--!
As the chaotic flute music began.

A colossal creature, as large as a small mountain, slowly rose from the seabed.

The whole thing looks like a fleshy flower, with a thick skin covered in granules growing in the center of its body, and a petal-shaped mouth that is open as if leading to hell.

It has no scales on its body, and five arms, each of which branches into two smaller arms. Each smaller arm then grows countless branches, and the arms and branches intertwine to resemble an indescribable deep-sea monster.

A roar sent chills down everyone's spines, as if they had seen another living ghost or god!
(End of this chapter)