Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 62: Chapter 16 Blood Dip and Grade 3 Peacock

Between the thin wind and rain, a headless corpse rushed across the street, pursued closely by a dozen riders.

With a shout from the Ming Army chasing the monstrous corpse, the soldiers guarding the city gate immediately lifted the heavy wrought iron bolts, and the massive gate closed shut like a giant mouth.

The headless corpse was almost entirely stained with blood, its skin displaying a sinister purplish-black hue, fingers broad and joints enlarged, moving swiftly like a tiger or leopard—it was not at all inferior to the horses.

The monstrous corpse snapped the neck of a refugee who failed to dodge in time and threw the body at the pursuers behind it; the corpse tumbled three or four times in the air before smashing into the lead horseman.

The rider didn’t hesitate, channeling all his strength into the long knife in his hand, his tongue pressing against his upper teeth, and with the horse’s momentum, he slashed forward!

The body was cleaved in two by this blade, and the horseman burst through a cloud of blood—it was Shen Heyan!

Shen Heyan was filled with shock and rage.

He had long known that for nearly a hundred years, monsters had been rampant and all sorts of inconceivable events were no longer new.

A few years ago, the White Lotus Sect rebelled, and the traitor Xue Yuying actually possessed the power to summon winds and call forth rain, witnessed by tens of thousands of soldiers, which caused an uproar throughout the court.

However, he never imagined that by beheading a few escaping Japanese pirate captives, he would create such a troublesome headless monster!

“Liver and marrow spread across the wilderness, a thousand miles of red earth, indeed monsters are rampant,” he said.

The old man was not flustered as his hand reached for the long sword at his waist.

“Old sir, lend me your weapon,” Li Yan said as he grabbed the long sword from in front of the old man, stepping forward toward the long street.

“You young…” The old man was initially a bit irritated, but when he saw Li Yan’s composed gaze and the long sword raised to block the street, his displeasure diminished somewhat.

A Fleeting Glimpse

A Night Fiend Corpse, transformed by Shinto secret arts, strong as a tiger and swift as a monkey, extremely difficult to deal with.

Status: Lucid (retains the combat experience from before death)

Specialization: Military Skill 73%

Skills: 1, Resentful Flame

2, Bone-corroding Blood

3, Malice Turns to Ghost

Can be considered as one of the three Exotic Beasts targeted in the Yan Fu event.

Threat Level: Red

Li Yan frowned, considering that this monstrous corpse was not restrained by his Chaos Tattoo; it indeed was the most troublesome opponent in this Yan Fu event.

He flicked the tip of his long sword, while the ghastly corpse suddenly burst forward with astonishing speed, reaching ahead of the sword’s edge, its black claws aiming for Li Yan’s throat.

But at that moment, a drop of fresh red blood silently fell onto the back of the corpse’s neck…

Facing the claw with the thick stench of blood, Li Yan lightly leapt backward, his long sword ringing as it cleaved three twisted slashes through the air.

Hook Star granted Li Yan an attack speed and explosive power of up to 160%, allowing him to nearly seamlessly strike three swords!

If the monstrous corpse was a fleeting glimpse across the horizon, then Li Yan was like a peal of thunderous lightning under the dense dark clouds.

In an instant, the arm of the monstrous corpse was cut into three parts, but Shen Heyan shouted from a distance,

“Back away!”

Even without the command, Li Yan had already been tapping his calves in quick succession, distancing himself at least three to four meters from the corpse.

A drop of black blood fell onto Li Yan’s cotton robe, quickly corroding a large hole through it.

Li Yan’s eyebrows quivered; looking at the long sword in his hand, he discovered that in no time at all, the upper half of the blade had been corroded away. Only two-thirds of the sword remained, and the initially congealing black blood turned into dried-up purplish-black.

“Bone-Eroding Blood… suited for the Fur Class to fight with.”

After thinking about it, Li Yan still felt he was more suited to deal with Kobayakawa, or mages like Serpent.

The monstrous corpse quickly stopped bleeding and pounced like a cheetah.

“Find a way to break his limbs!”

Li Yan thought to himself, he flicked his sword clean, tucked it behind his waist, his eyes flickered fiercely, and he positioned his feet in a buckling step stance, with no intention of retreating.

The purple-bearded elder took a sharp intake of breath, wanting to stop Li Yan, but it was too late,

As the monstrous corpse lunged, Li Yan stepped forward, bracing against its terrible neck, and his right foot kicked at its knee.

The kick landed smoothly on the knee of the monstrous corpse, but Li Yan’s heart sank!

That monstrous corpse changed its embracing hand to a grabbing one and clutched at Li Yan’s garment, its fingers sinking into Li Yan’s chest.

“Sslush.” The monster’s hand held only a piece of cloth, but Li Yan was gone; caught off guard, Li Yan twisted underfoot and slipped through the wound on the monstrous corpse’s chopped right shoulder to its backside, grabbing the shoulder blade with his left hand and the shin with his right. With a forceful flip of his palms, he slammed the entire body of the monstrous corpse onto the ground!

The Night Fiend Corpse staggered, instinctively trying to brace itself with its arms, forgetting that Li Yan, with eyes red, was standing by!

He stepped forward, arched his back, grasped the opponent’s arm with his palm, and hooked his foot underneath.

Twisting his foot, he slid sideways, turning wrong-footed.

Man and corpse pushed against each other’s limbs; Li Yan’s arms and thighs bulged with veins, and the blood vessels in his neck throbbed with cast-iron strength.

“Crack.”

The left arm of the monstrous corpse was twisted off, hanging helplessly, as the Bone-Eroding Blood congested at the fracture site, unable to flow out.

Suddenly, the Night Fiend Corpse’s aura drastically changed to one of burning heat, toxic resentment, and utter danger; Li Yan got goosebumps on his neck and quickly withdrew.

The monstrous corpse shook violently, a blood glow enveloped its body, and from a distance, it looked as though it was on fire!

The fight between the two lasted only seven or eight breaths; the horse had just arrived but retreated repeatedly, spooked by the resentful flames.

In the center of that flame was a red glow surrounded by a purple-black light, quite out of the ordinary.

Wearing a relaxed smile on his face, he pointed his finger at the red glow and made an imperceptible gun-shooting gesture. Pantomiming with his mouth, he said, “Bang!”

The sound of shattering glass rang out, and the monstrous corpse collapsed.

“Blood Dip has reached a lethal point, damage burst. Damage bonus for this attack is 142%, Hook Star status is invalidated for 15 hours.”

“Target is dead.”

“Your Yan Fu event progress has increased.”

Li Yan loosened his waist, drawing the long sword from his back, and sheepishly saluted the elder with his hands.

“In an emergency, drastic measures must be taken, my apologies, elder.”

The elder stared at Li Yan for a while

“Young brother, you truly are… Hmm?”

The elder’s beard and hair bristled, his purple beard fluttering gracefully.

A heat spread across Li Yan’s chest tattoo, his eyes widened as he glimpsed a ghastly figure behind him clutching a bloody seven-holed head, groaning in agony, melting snow and ice.

But Li Yan knew that the ghostly creature hadn’t touched him, and the Fierce state that the Chaos Tattoo could trigger had not been activated.

In the foreground, behind the purple-bearded elder, a Peacock slowly dissipated.

Dragon Tiger Qi, Peacock, a third-rank official of the current dynasty.