Chapter 1671 - 847: Demon of Tsushima Island (Part 2)

"It’s a cannon!"

Kong Shangzhao lowered his voice, "They are assembling cannons, preparing to transport them to Korea."

Wang Daoxuan’s Turtle Shell Compass trembled slightly, its pointer directing towards the depths of the military camp.

He furrowed his brows slightly and said in a low voice, "There’s a heavy presence of Sha Qi there, and... remnants of incense fire wish power."

The group concentrated and looked closely, noticing in the deepest part of the camp, a tent draped in black cloth was faintly visible.

Outside the tent were Taoist cultivators, dressed in hunting clothes and wearing black hats, guarding it.

These cultivators held Shenle Bells and exorcism charms, their expressions solemn, periodically bowing towards the tent.

"Doesn’t look like a typical military camp." Wang Daoxuan mused thoughtfully.

During their observation, noise arose from down the mountain.

Only to see a group of ronin pouring into the valley from the western mountain path.

The ronin were in tattered clothing, but each had a sword at their waist, and some carried iron cannons on their backs.

They were not regular army, but unemployed samurai who lost their masters during the chaotic Warring States period, known as ronin.

At that moment, at least a hundred ronin gathered outside the camp’s fence, quarreling with the gatekeeping foot soldiers.

"Why aren’t we allowed in!"

"We want to see Lord Governor!"

The ronin’s emotions were agitated, with someone starting to push the fence.

Fortunately, with Kong Shangzhao translating, Li Yan and the others could understand.

The gatekeeping foot soldiers nervously raised their long spears, and the archers in the arrow towers drew their bowstrings.

After a brief stalemate, a samurai walked out of the camp.

That person wore an Array Feather Weave, with a tachi at his waist, followed by two flag bearers.

The ronin’s voices lowered upon seeing this.

"By order of the governor,"

the samurai swept his gaze around with raised eyebrows and said coldly, "The camp is a restricted area, no unauthorized personnel allowed. If you wish to enlist, register at the ronin camp to the west; arrangements will be made."

"Arrangements? We’ve waited seven days at the camp, haven’t even had a bowl of porridge!"

"Exactly! We heard soldiers inside the camp are being paid, why aren’t we?"

The ronin began to stir again.

The samurai’s face darkened, his hand on the sword hilt, and the atmosphere turned tense.

At that moment, a low moan suddenly came from the direction of the black-cloth tent deep in the camp.

The sound was unlike a human voice, more like something growling deep in its throat.

After the moan, there was the rattling sound of chains dragging on the ground, followed by a heavy banging noise.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

It was as if something was hitting against a cage.

The ronin instantly quieted down.

Everyone, including the gatekeeping foot soldiers, the archers on the towers, and even the samurai, subconsciously glanced towards the tent, a flash of barely noticeable fear crossing their faces.

The moan ceased.

The samurai cleared his throat, his voice somewhat dry, "Disperse! Anyone causing trouble will be dealt with according to military law!"

This time, the ronin didn’t argue back, exchanging glances and reluctantly withdrawing, heading towards the western mountain path.

Li Yan and his companions exchanged a glance, quietly retreating down the high slope.

An hour later, they regrouped in the lowland.

The news brought back by Sha Lifei and Lv San was even more shocking.

"Three miles to the west, there’s a ronin camp."

After taking a swig of water, Sha Lifei continued, "At least four to five hundred ronin are gathered there, along with merchants, prostitutes, and gambling dens, a chaotic scene like a marketplace. We bribed a Liuqiu merchant there and gathered some information—"

Lv San took over, "Firstly, there are now three major camps on Tsushima Island: the main valley camp we saw, with a stationed force of at least five thousand; a navy camp in the north, with over thirty customs ships anchored; and a cannon battery camp in the south, which sank our ship."

"Secondly, it’s rumored in the ronin camp that Toyotomi Hideyoshi has opened the door to the Yellow Springs Country."

"Yellow Springs Country?"

Kong Shangzhao frowned, "I checked, that’s the Land of the Dead in Japanese mythology, the Netherworld ruled by Izunaami."

"Yes, it’s said that Hideyoshi summoned ’ghosts’ from the Yellow Springs Country using evil techniques to aid in the war against Korea. Now throughout Japan, people are worshipping ghosts, afraid of being haunted."

Li Yan recalled the moan from deep within the military camp, "The commotion inside the camp, are those the ’ghosts’?"

Sha Lifei nodded, "The ronin say that ’ghost soldiers’ summoned from the Yellow Springs Country are confined in the camp, with strange noises often heard at night. Some even claim to have witnessed cultivators in hunting clothes performing live sacrifices to those things."

Wang Daoxuan calculated with his fingers, his expression grave: "If it truly is a Netherworld entity, the Sha Qi is extremely heavy, and ordinary people who contact it for long will face backlash. For the cultivators of Japan to act in such a way, they must be either insane or..."

"Or they have external support."

Li Yan’s eyes became sharp as he slowly said, "Jianmu Organization, fake Yin Constables!"

The atmosphere grew tense.

Kong Shangzhao pondered for a moment and said, "We must infiltrate and ascertain what is true. The Ranger Camp is a mixed bag and can serve as a breakthrough point. When I was young, I came to Japan with a merchant ship. I know some Japanese and can pretend to be a merchant."

"This... is too dangerous." Wang Daoxuan shook his head.

"There’s no other way, but fortunately, I’ve prepared well in advance."

Kong Shangzhao rummaged through his bag and took out a somewhat old Chitose (traditional Japanese clothing), and used a charcoal stick to draw a few wrinkles on his face, explaining, "Japan is in chaos, with great movement of wandering samurai, merchants, and monks. Outside the military camp, it’s just as chaotic, so blending in isn’t difficult. The key is to find out clearly—what exactly those ’Ghost Soldiers’ are and where they are being transported."

Li Yan was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Sha Lifei will provide secret support, Lv San will use Beast Taming Skills to monitor the military camp’s movements. The Daoist and I will provide support from outside the camp. Mr. Kong, be sure to be cautious."

The Ranger Camp was more chaotic than expected.

This camp was located beside a mountain stream, with no fences, just roughly built straw huts, tents, or even just straw mats spread on the ground.

The camp was permeated with the smell of sweat, bad alcohol, and cooking grains.

Wandering samurai gathered in threes and fives, some gambling, some polishing their swords, some blankly staring at the sky.

Kong Shangzhao disguised himself as a medicinal merchant from Sakai Port, carrying a pouch, using halting Japanese to talk to people.

He first sat down at a small stall selling grilled fish, bought a fish, and took the opportunity to chat with the owner.

The owner was a one-eyed wanderer, formerly a foot soldier for a certain daimyo in Jiuzhou, who lost an arm in the war and became a ronin.

"Business is hard."

Kong Shangzhao sighed, "I intended to trade some ginseng from Korea, but the strait has been blocked."

The one-eyed wanderer scoffed, "With the situation, there’s still more fighting to come."

"Oh?"

"You’ve heard about those things in the camp, right?"

The one-eyed wanderer gestured toward Chao Valley’s direction, "The ’Ghost Soldiers’ locked in cages. I have a fellow villager working as a foot soldier in the camp. He says those things are impervious to swords and bullets, needing human blood to feed them. The Lord Governor plans to ship them to the Korean front to break through the Ming Army’s defenses in one swoop."

Kong Shangzhao feigned surprise, "Is there really such a thing?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

The wanderer looked around, lowering his voice, "But it’s very sinister. My fellow villager said that the night watchmen often hear talking in the cages—not in Japanese or Korean, but resembling... words of the Netherworld."

"Last month, three foot soldiers went mad for no reason, muttering ’Yellow Springs’ ’Yellow Springs’ all day long."

Just then, a commotion came from the west end of the camp.

A group of ronin formed a circle, with a drunken samurai in the middle.

The samurai’s clothes were in disarray, waving a Tachi, hoarsely shouting: "I saw it! I saw it! Tentacles... pulled people into the ground..."

The surrounding ronin burst into laughter.

"Drunk again!"

"Last time, he said he saw a River Monster dragging him into the water!"

The drunken samurai staggered a few steps, suddenly widening his eyes, pointing toward the direction of the Valley Camp: "They’re coming! They smell humans!"

Everyone instinctively turned around.

In the deep of the camp, in the direction of the black-cloth shed, a few ghastly green lanterns lit up.

In the halo of the lanterns, vaguely discernible tall figures moved.

They were humanoid, but their movements were rigid and twisted, as if their joints grew backwards.

The lantern’s light flickered on and off, reflecting that the figures seemed to wear tattered armor, from the gaps of which oozed a viscous black liquid.

A wailing sounded once more.

This time clearer, as if countless souls groaned simultaneously from deep within their throats.

The sound pierced the night, reaching into everyone’s ears in the camp.

The laughter abruptly stopped.

Wanderers turned pale, some instinctively gripped the hilts of their swords, others slowly retreated. The drunken samurai collapsed on the ground, curling up and trembling.

Fortunately, the green lanterns only swayed a bit before quickly extinguishing.

The direction of the shed returned to darkness, leaving only a few torches burning at the main camp.

The site fell into a deathly silence.

At the same time, Li Yan and others on the hillside had noticed it too.

"Howl!"

The sealed Night Crying Man seemed to sense something, starting to howl desperately...