Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 317 Why bother with tactics? The advantage is in my hands, let the whole army charge!

Upon seeing the figure of this elusive demon, even the Wealth-Bringing Boy, a powerful evil spirit with a cultivation level of four, subconsciously lifted his foot to follow it.

Although He soon discovered that He could easily break free from this attraction at any time if He wanted to.

But the boy tilted his head, not resisting the urge, and temporarily stopped his "coin-making" work, lifting his foot to follow.

Then he actively summoned the consciousness of his own Dharma Master, Wang Cheng, to descend.

"It's no coincidence that this slippery ghost appeared on the battlefield littered with corpses, just like the Lucky Boy."

Upon Wang Cheng's arrival, he immediately noticed the anomaly.

After following the Nurarihyon for a while, he realized that the chance encounter between the Lucky Boy and the Nurarihyon was not an accident.

He witnessed firsthand how, from various parts of Sifan Island, where blood flowed like rivers, "slippery ghosts" led varying numbers of ferocious monsters, evil spirits, and ghosts, converging into a vast torrent.

As a result, a chilling wind swept through the ranks, will-o'-the-wisps flickered, and thick, dark clouds gathered overhead.

Once the various teams have converged, these "slippery devils" will immediately merge together.

A quick glance revealed that this was none other than the demonic power "Mirror Flower, Water Moon" of the Nurarihyon, the "King of a Hundred Demons."

It can create at least a hundred clones that are both real and fake, and the main body can switch positions between these clones at will. Attacking one of them is most likely to be a waste of effort.

"If we were to correspond to a three-tiered official rank, the most similar one would be a novelist who possesses spiritual insight [in the realm of illusion and reality] and can travel between the two!"
This slippery demon clearly sent out his shadow clones in advance, attracting evil spirits, monsters, and ghosts that were lingering near various battlefields, and gathering them together.

The Lucky Boy was just one of them, mistaken for an ordinary evil spirit, and blended in with the strange and grotesque creatures without looking out of place at all.

This eventually formed a massive "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons," and it's obvious who their target was.

Upon realizing this, Wang Cheng immediately issued a signal, ordering the entire nation to enter a state of high alert.

Instead of feeling fearful, I felt a sense of relief.

"You've finally arrived."

By the time they reached the beach facing Jiufan Island, the group of evil spirits and monsters had swelled to several hundred, not counting the weak ordinary ghosts, including many powerful figures of the middle third rank.

The claim that Yingzhou is inhabited by eight million gods is clearly not without reason.

A group of Onmyoji and priests wearing the iconic rose rosary worn by the Japanese pirates appeared at the front of the procession.

These people tallied up the Nurarihyon's work and immediately lit incense to report to Amakusa Shiro.

Just by looking at their expressions, you could tell that the high-ranking Yin-Yang Master was not satisfied with the gains here, not only with them, but also with those on the main island.

"Are you sure you didn't miscount? How could there be so few?!"

These people were also baffled:

"Yeah, how could there be so little?"

With so many daimyo and powerful clans empowered by flintlock muskets, bombs, and cannons capable of destroying the nation, the deaths of so many people should have triggered a massive outbreak of evil spirits on the four islands and the main island.

However, the number of evil spirits in these places is far less than one might imagine.

We don't know about the main island, but considering the intensity of the war on the four islands during this period, and given that the Nurarihyon clones specifically follow the battlefield route, their scale should be at least 1,200 to be considered normal.

But now it's only a third of the original amount; it's unbelievable!

Wang Cheng, who was mixed in with the group, thought to himself:

"Nonsense, of course there will be fewer. Whenever a major war breaks out between the feudal lords, either Zhao Cai will take action, or I will personally go to mine immediately."

Not only did those who died in battle fail to become new ghosts or evil spirits, but those who used to wander around were also starving to death.

To be honest, although I am a war contractor, who can deny that I am also a good Samaritan who does good deeds anonymously?
The people of Yingzhou should award me a grand medal! I'm ungrateful! Thumbs down!

No matter how many monsters and evil spirits the "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" collected, the strategic plan already formulated with the Frankish expeditionary force could not be changed.

"The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons begins! Crossing the sea! Target: The Eastern Sea Kingdom!"

At Amakusa Shiro's command, Nurarihyon was the first to step into the sea, followed by the other evil spirits and monsters.

A biting, eerie wind swept up beneath their feet, and a strange wailing sound surrounded the entire group. Grayish-black clouds formed a canopy, allowing them to walk on the water as if on flat ground.

Another team, led by other illusory clones, also set off from the main island.

Once the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons begins, the individual killing rules of the evil spirits must submit to the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

Mountains, oceans, forests, cities—nothing can stop their advance. The collective strength cap depends on the sum of all the evil spirits and monsters in the team.

Each Night Parade of One Hundred Demons not only means that the participants can feast and eat all the living people they encounter along the way.

Moreover, just like the Five-Colored Rat Demon, it was also a "natural disaster" caused by strange phenomena from the sky.

The more people they kill, the more it proves the rulers' moral failings and their continued impact on people's will and the natural order.

In this chaotic Warring States period, countless daimyo and powerful clans lost their rule due to the haunting of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

At this time, Amakusa Shiro had already taken the lead, leading his fleet of Japanese pirates, which had retreated from the Daisho Kingdom, into the Seto Inland Sea north of the Kyushu Islands.

At its peak, his army numbered as many as 30,000, but in the battle against Yu Long and Qi Hu in Minzhou, thousands were killed on the spot and countless were captured.

Later, only half of the main force managed to regroup and not become maritime pirates, but they remained an extremely powerful force in the East China Sea.

"As for tactics?"
Although I strongly disagree with the plan to destroy the Great Zhao Dynasty with only 20,000 people.

But this time their opponents weren't Yu Long and Qi Hu, just a mere child. They didn't need any tactics or disguises; a single spit from each of them would be enough to drown them! Amakusa Shiro and Duke Medina Seri both believed that with the current strength of their combined forces, as long as they marched in from the south and north in a straightforward manner, they could resolve the battle within three hours.

Even with the most conservative and cautious approach, it was merely adopting Amakusa Shiro's strategy of fighting on two fronts, keeping the Tokai Kingdom busy, and sending out the Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons) as a little appetizer.

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Take back Kyushu Island! This is the earthly paradise that God promised us!"

"I promise that I will not sheath my sword for three days after the city falls!"

So, we looked down from high above.

The two groups of demons set off from Shiban Island and the main island respectively, crossed the Seto Inland Sea, and finally merged into an army composed of thousands of main forces and countless ghosts, heading straight for Kuban Island.

Hundreds of warships and troop transports followed closely behind, advancing in a mighty force toward the northern gateway of the East Sea Kingdom!
Unbeknownst to them, amidst their self-satisfaction and high spirits, a figure closely following the "King of a Hundred Demons," Nurarihyon, had silently placed his hand on the "Xuanwu Gate Plaque."

That evening.

The former Ōtomo family's Buzen Province, now the Tokai Province's Buzen Prefecture, the prefectural capital.

Behind several large rocks on the beach, a few Japanese children, who had benefited from the promulgation of the "Wang Hua Zhao Shi Ling" and whose families had actively aligned themselves with the Five Peaks Banner and were thus registered as members of the Outer Five Banners, were playing here.

One child plays the "ghost," blindfolded and squatting in the center of a circle, while the other five children hold hands and form a circle around him.

As they walked counter-clockwise, they sang in unison an old nursery rhyme called "The Caged Bird":
"The cage is sewn, the cage is sewn."

The caged bird always wants to come over.

On that night before dawn, the crane and the tortoise slipped and fell.

Who is facing you from behind?

When the last line of the lyrics is sung, all the children in the circle squat down, and the "ghost," who is the caged bird in the middle, has to guess who is squatting behind him.

Actually, this is a horror game from Japanese folklore. At that moment, the one facing the ghost has to take the place of the caged bird as a "scapegoat"!
It might attract non-existent playmates; only the most daring children would dare to play.

"I guess it's Inukai Ichiro."

The blindfolded child shared his guess, only to hear a strange, playful laugh suddenly ring out.

"If you guess wrong, you'll be punished. Hehehe."

The child dressed as a "ghost" and the other children in the circle turned their heads in astonishment.

They then discovered that the game, which had been for six people, had suddenly expanded to seven, with a child they didn't recognize standing behind the "caged bird."

He was dressed in what looked like ancient clothes from hundreds of years ago, and his face was deathly pale.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the "child" suddenly opened its mouth wider than a washbasin and swallowed the child who had initially been the ghost whole.

"Ah! It's a real ghost! Run!"

When the other children saw that their dangerous game had actually attracted ghosts, they turned and ran towards the city.

They ran behind the reef only to find in despair that the city gates were tightly shut and the prefectural city was already under martial law. The place where they had hidden to play games was too far away, which was why they hadn't heard the alarm bells.

Moreover, the vanguard of the Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons) that landed behind the scenes using the "Caged Bird" game was not just one.

"Delicious, delicious! It's true that the taste of young boys and girls is the best."

In the blink of an eye, only the last little girl was left.

She was the most timid and the first to run away, but being eaten was only a matter of whether it was the second or third breath away.

call out--!
Just then, a bolt of lightning suddenly leaped down from the city wall, and a gleaming blade flashed, instantly severing a ghostly claw that was reaching for the child.

She scooped the child into her arms.

"You dare to offend my Donghai Kingdom? You're courting death!"

With Wang Cheng's help, Tachibana Yukichiyo has already replaced the title of "Samurai" with "Chaofenglang".

The demon Raiki is born with the spiritual ability to "hear thunder," and has an exceptional affinity with the Chaofenglang, allowing this official rank to rapidly catch up with his own level, breaking through to the fifth rank along with the "Steel Rock Ninja" rank.

In other words, a Jonin who has the ability to create cannon fodder Genin.

During this time, she has been diligently studying various business knowledge, especially when researching the half-finished version of "The Wealth of Nations" written by her own prince.

The spells of [Chao Feng Lang] and [Gang Yan Shinobu] have unexpectedly begun to merge, and are about to form a brand new profession.

Yukichiyo gradually realized that, besides liking to use long swords, she seemed to be increasingly fond of scythes.

I like to help the vegetable farmers harvest chives when I have free time.

Wang Cheng saw her potential and, in addition to being the head of the Steel Rock Ninja under his command, he also entrusted her with the "Taxation Office" under the Ministry of Revenue of the East Blue Kingdom, specifically responsible for collecting taxes.

During her tenure, her magical powers advanced by leaps and bounds, and she was on the verge of surpassing her father, Tachibana Dōsetsu, in strength.

Yukichiyo spun around amidst several ghosts and evil spirits, brandishing her treasured sword. The incomparably sharp blade light bloomed like a red lotus, and the heads of the surrounding evil spirits instantly shot into the sky.

The broken edge was charred black, as if struck by lightning.

On the city gate behind them.

Having waited for a long time, Wang Cheng, holding the [Treasure of the Prince of Jinghai], shouted loudly at the dark, cloud-shrouded sea before him:
"Imperial Decree: The Heavenly Gate is Locked!"

Far at sea, Amakusa Shiro and the numerous Japanese pirates from Kiritan, upon hearing this edict that had been etched into their memories, couldn't help but shudder, even though they believed they had the upper hand.

(End of this chapter)