Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 72: Chapter 26 Reencountering the She Mountain Woman (Part 2)

“Whether it succeeds or not, with this pretext, I can insert a local Wild God identity for you. If anyone asks, hey, what do you think of the title ‘She Mountain Woman’?”

“The idea isn’t bad.”

Yu Shu held a red gourd water bottle in her hand, inside was Diao’s treasured sorghum wine. Weighing the gourd in her hand, she said, “Konishi Yukinaga is quite tempted by Li Rusong’s letter advising him to abandon the city. You don’t have much time, and even if you really manage to muster a team composed of the Ming Army mixed with Joseon Wild Gods, killing Konishi Yukinaga won’t be an easy task.”

After a pause, she continued, “Hideyoshi’s and Tokugawa’s elite troops are hastening to aid during the night, among them not a few who have left bold strokes in the history of the Sengoku era. The situation may change at any moment. Once Pyongyang City falls, Konishi Yukinaga’s troops will have suffered over forty percent losses, and the army’s morale will be scattered. But with over eight thousand soldiers, if he is determined to flee, even you—a Junior Flag Officer commanding just over two hundred men—might be able to ensure your own safety, but I fear you won’t have the capability to interfere with the situation.”

“Do you have a better plan?”

Li Yan wasn’t bothered by Yu Shu’s harbingering words and calmly asked.

Yu Shu’s eyes were fixedly staring at Li Yan.

“I can help you kill Konishi, and in this Yan Fu event, I can increase the awakening degree of the Gu Huo Bird to over 60%. Take it as your reward for helping me this time. Want to consider it?”

Li Yan gave a wry smile, voiceless, and asked, “Weren’t you reduced to only the strength of the Ten Cities now?”

Yu Shu narrowed her eyes without responding to Li Yan’s teasing, “You just tell me whether you agree or not.”

“With such a good deal, where there’s no need for a life or death struggle, why wouldn’t I agree?”

“Good.” Yu Shu nodded, extending her right hand, pinching the little finger with her left, and bending it outward.

Droplets of blood splattered onto Li Yan’s face. Under Li Yan’s incredulous gaze, Yu Shu had broken off her own pinky.

She brought the bloodied little finger to Li Yan’s eyes.

“Eat it.”

The woman’s face was impassive, her long hair disheveled, and though she no longer looked as sharp as she did at the beginning, she had gained a few shades of a cool and detached temperament.

Li Yan swallowed, his eyes falling on the severed finger.

You have acquired some information.

The Dropped Finger of Taishuai!

A Yan Fu Talisman imbued with strong Yan Fu Force. It can be swallowed to assimilate the Yan Fu Force within it.

After the Gu Huo Bird consumes it, it will increase inheritance awakening degree by 50%! And acquire the Taishuai Force · Devour.

The Awakening Degree will automatically bypass the 40% peak and obtain the 40% peak reward.

Please note! The Yan Fu Force has disappeared from the records of Nanyan Futi! Rashly consuming the Taishuai Force can lead to irreversible unknown effects!

Please note! The Yan Fu Force has disappeared from the records of Nanyan Futi! Rashly consuming the Taishuai Force can lead to irreversible unknown effects!

Li Yan fell silent for a while before saying, “If Red Ghost were here, he’d definitely eat it without hesitation.”

He stared at Yu Shu: “The Red Ghost died as an ordinary person, right?”

“Some things I couldn’t understand before, now I do. So, what will it be? Eat, or not?”

Yu Shu’s expression remained unchanging, she was still draped in the leather jacket with bloodstains and did not intend to clean the blood off.

This woman, known as Taishuai, had been presenting Li Yan with multiple-choice questions ever since she arrived—act, or not, eat, or not. Li Yan felt that he had made the right choice last time and this time would not be different.

Li Yan shook his head in refusal, “If it can be reattached, do it quickly. The streaming blood filament is spoiling my appetite.”

Without saying anything more, Yu Shu silently reattached the pinky, and in just a moment, it was as good as new.

“When the time comes, help me delay an opponent you think I’ll definitely struggle against, and consider it returning the favor.”

After pondering, Li Yan said this.

Yu Shu nodded, indicating agreement.

“Lord of the Banner.”

A nimble Junior Flag Officer came over and, with a salute, said to Li Yan, “The horses are ready.”

Fei embraced the neck of a battle horse, his entire body hanging off the horse’s back, his face looking somewhat cramped.

Li Yan approached and said, “Little mage, are you holding up okay?”

“No, no problem.”

The little Taoist reached out to touch the horse’s mane, “She’s very well-behaved.”

“That’s good. Along the way, we will still need the help of the little mage.”

“Just call me Fei, that’s what the people on the mountain call me.”

The little Taoist wore an embarrassed smile on his face.

Yu Shu’s gaze lingered on this exquisitely delicate little Taoist for a long time before he asked, “Pyongyang is so vast, where will you go to find the local deities?”

“The first stop… She Mountain, I suppose.”

…

Wang Sheng held up his thumb, covering his right eye to observe the sun in the sky, then gestured towards the distant hills. Only then did he speak, “My lord, there’s no mistake. It is here that we last encountered Kobayakawa.”

Upon hearing this, Li Yan looked around, the surroundings were a vast expanse of snow.

The group of more than twenty people, carrying bird guns, longbows, banners, leather armor, and the seal they had demanded from Joseon, entered She Mountain. The snow-covered forest was the same as always, but there was no sign of the fence-surrounded farms nor the beautiful, alluring village wives.

They had been wandering in the mountains for two hours, but hadn’t even seen a single wild animal, let alone the She Mountain Woman.

Li Yan sighed and looked towards Fei.

The little Taoist went to an open area and took out a talisman from his bosom. Although Li Yan did not understand, he had by chance learned the name of this talisman spell that night.

The Dugong Searching Mountain Talisman.

Unexpectedly, just as Fei raised his hand, the talisman paper flew away seemingly without wings.

“Huh?”

Fei scratched his head and reached into his bosom to take out another talisman paper, but the result was the same – his hand was empty once again.

Li Yan took a step forward, intending to walk up, while Yu Shu, with his arms crossed, stood to the side and kicked Li Yan’s boot.

“This kid is no simple character, just watch.”

Fei, with a huff, pulled out a third piece of talisman paper, but this time a muffled grunt came from the air.

“Mm~”

The little Taoist reached back to grab and unexpectedly pulled a figure out of the white void.

The figure was dressed in white with black hair, a young and tender face, around fourteen or fifteen years of age, her right hand covered in bright orange flames, in pain to the point of tears welling up in her eyes.

Wang Sheng uttered a sound and couldn’t help but step forward.

Fei waved his sleeve, extinguishing the bright orange flame, and demanded in an irritated tone, “Why did you steal my talisman paper?”

“Mage, please calm your anger,”

A woman wrapped in a blue headscarf stepped out from the air, slowly revealing herself, dressed in a blue short jacket and a long skirt, with two long ribbons tied into a butterfly knot right over her right breast, their long ends fluttering in the wind.

She performed a respectful bow towards Fei and said,

“My sworn sister was overly protective of me; in a moment of urgency, she rashly bumped into the little mage. I hope the little mage will not take offense.”

Fei let go of the girl and took two steps back before he spoke seriously, “Then she should apologize to me.”

The girl floated behind the woman, revealing only her head, and growled lowly at Fei.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The woman turned her gaze to Li Yan, lowered her eyes slightly, and in a soft voice said, “General, we meet again.”