Aoyama

Chapter 475 Helping in times of need
The hunters, upon seeing the ethereal spirit of the bright rabbit, stopped at a distance, whispering bird whistles as they discussed their strategy, unwilling to rush forward.

In the darkness, black smoke billowed around the Yin spirit of the Divine Rabbit. This was not the first time Xiaoman had seen a "Yin spirit," but this time, upon closer inspection, she discovered that within the billowing black smoke, there seemed to be a small, golden outline.

It appears and disappears intermittently, like a golden body about to be reborn, or like a scorching sun hidden within.

Princess Liyang, being well-informed, asked, "The Yang God is about to be formed... Are you Chen Ji's subordinates?"

Jiao Tu smiled and said, "It's not just subordinates, Lord Chen and I almost drank the nuptial wine together."

Xiaoman clutched the wound on her shoulder and said in a low voice, "Don't you dare ruin my young master's reputation outside!"

Jiao Tu glanced at her sideways and said, "I know, I know."

Xiaoman asked in confusion, "What are you all doing here?"

At this moment, five people from the hunters' group stepped forward to probe the true nature of the Jade Rabbit.

Jiao Tu, holding her crescent-shaped blade upside down, approached the hunters: "On the third day of the fourth month, your young master specifically instructed the two of us to wait here at the military market outside Chongli Pass to rescue him. We've been waiting here for over twenty days, practically crawling with lice, but we haven't seen him. Instead, we've encountered you. But it's alright. Your young master is loyal and righteous; he'll take responsibility for whoever he saves. We're determined to claim the great credit for his return to the zodiac position this time."

Xiaoman turned to look at her: "There are many captured generals, more than thirty in total, and you..."

The rabbit turned its head, and the black shadow said mischievously, "Xiaoman, you don't think we became the zodiac animals by luck, do you? Let me show you my skills."

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiao Tu leaped up, holding her crescent blade upside down.

His body felt as light as a feather, and he leaped several feet high.

The crescent blade, longer than the body of a white rabbit, slashed down at the hunter, like wielding a black banner, creating a buzzing sound as it rubbed against the air.

The first to be attacked did not dodge, but instead raised his hand and fired three arrows in quick succession, trying to exchange his life for the strange black shadow.

Three arrows shot towards Jiao Tu's head, heart, and lungs in a triangular formation, but Jiao Tu did not dodge. The crescent blade in his hand swirled with air currents, causing the arrows to swirl around the blade, like planets orbiting the sun.

In an instant, Jiao Tu's blade struck the shoulder of the hunter.

The domineering and unparalleled crescent blade, with its sheer force, cut open the opponent's chest, the tough and rough black leather armor, and blood splattered onto the ground like a torrential downpour.

Jiao Tu drew her crescent blade from the opponent's shoulder and continued to charge into the battle formation of the capture general.

Princess Liyang watched the fierce battle between the two rabbits from afar: "Her Yin spirit won't last long and won't be enough to deal with more than thirty hunters."

The next moment, Yun Yang passed by her and chuckled, "Don't you still have me?"

He pulled a shadow puppet from his pocket; it was a majestic door god clad in red armor and wearing a red scarf.

Yun Yang squatted in front of the dead Zhuo Sheng Jiang, reached into the other's chest cavity, dug hard, and pulled out a heart.

He clutched his heart in his hand, turned to Princess Liyang and smiled, "The official system of shadow puppetry is no secret. In the Jing Dynasty, there is the Wei School, also known as small shadow puppetry. I practice the Ning Dynasty's Door God School, also known as large shadow puppetry. I wonder if Your Highness has ever seen it?"

Yun Yang took out a silver needle, drew two drops of blood from the heart, and dripped them onto the eyes of the door god shadow puppet: "Some people call this 'applying color,' while others call it 'dotting the eyes,' but it doesn't matter what it's called, as long as it works."

He attached the shadow puppet, its design meticulously crafted with his own blood, to the corpse's back. The wound that had been cleaved open by the crescent blade miraculously healed in an instant, and the corpse stood up expressionlessly.

Yun Yang also stood up and patted Zhuo Sheng Jiang on the shoulder: "Go and protect Jiao Tu."

The hunter, carrying his horned bow, walked expressionlessly to the side of the seated figure of the Jade Rabbit, his gaze sweeping around like that of a hawk.

Yun Yang warned with a half-smile, "Don't get close to Jiao Tu. Shadow Puppet is ruthless and will kill you all."

Having said that, he walked to the next corpse of the hunter and repeated the same trick.

This time, the hunter stood up, immediately drew his bow and shot an arrow, covering the Yin Spirit of the Jade Rabbit as he charged towards the other hunters. The hunter had been at the Innate Realm in life, and the shadow puppet Yun Yang was also at the Innate Realm, even his archery skills were as superb as they had been in life.

A hunter shot an arrow at the shadow puppet, but the puppet neither dodged nor flinched, letting the arrow pierce its body without feeling any pain.

The two officers looked at each other, unsure of what to do with these "living dead."

Yun Yang followed behind Zhuosheng Jiang and Jiao Tu. Every time Jiao Tu and Zhuosheng Jiang killed someone, he would repeat the same trick.

In the short span of a few dozen breaths, Jiao Tu had killed thirteen people, while Yun Yang had created thirteen shadow puppets. One shadow puppet stood guard beside Jiao Tu's main body, while the remaining twelve people firmly protected Yun Yang in the center.

There are more and more shadow puppeteers.

A hunter named Chao Yunyang drew his bow and shot an arrow, but before the arrow reached him, a shadow puppet blocked it with its body. The next moment, all twelve shadow puppets turned their heads in unison to look in the direction from which the arrow had come.

The twelve shadow puppets simultaneously drew their bows and fired arrows, a barrage that blocked all possible escape routes for their opponent. The hunter lunged to the left, only to be struck by three arrows at once and sent flying.

By this time, Yun Yang no longer needed Jiao Tu. Like a noble young master, he strolled leisurely through the mountains and forests, surrounded by his hunting companions.

Wherever they went, more than ten arrows rained down, forcing the hunters to retreat step by step.
Princess Liyang exclaimed, "If this man were to fight alone, with his skills, he probably wouldn't even be able to kill a single capture general. But paired with this woman who cultivates the Yangshen Dao, they have turned the impossible into the possible. Two officers at the Innate Realm have actually gained the upper hand against more than thirty capture generals... Are they really Chen Ji's subordinates?"

At this moment, the young monk climbed down from the Taotie and approached Xiaoman with a worried expression. Looking at her shoulder, pierced by an arrow, he said, "You..."

Xiaoman's face was pale: "Don't be afraid, I won't drink your blood."

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” the young monk placed his palm on her shoulder and began to chant a sutra softly: “…Compassionate cause, accumulating good deeds, vowing to save all sentient beings. The golden staff in hand, shakes open the gates of hell. The bright pearl in the palm, its light encompasses the entire world. In the sound of wisdom, in the clouds of auspiciousness. For the suffering sentient beings of Jambudvipa, I am the great witness and benefactor. Great compassion, great vow, great holiness, great mercy. The original deity, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Maha…”

Xiaoman recited the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra over and over again. She looked down at the hand covering her shoulder and felt a warm breath coming from her palm, which greatly reduced the pain.

Xiaoman looked up.

But this time, the young monk instinctively averted his eyes.

Xiaoman said in surprise, "So your cultivation method can cure diseases and save people... But this is too slow. Go back and recite the scriptures properly. If you slack off again, I'll hang you from the roof beam."

The young monk ignored him and continued chanting in a low voice. It wasn't until he chanted the first chapter of the "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra, Chapter on the Supernatural Powers of the Trayastrimsa Heaven" for the twelfth time that the bleeding from Xiaoman's wound stopped.

The young monk stopped chanting, looked at the teeth marks on his wrist, hesitated for a moment, and then held out his hand to Xiaoman's mouth: "...How about a couple more sips? It's not that I'm stingy, I'm just a little afraid of the pain."

Xiaoman slapped his wrist away impatiently: "Forget it, you won't die."

At this moment, the Yin spirit of the Jade Rabbit was exhausted, and after unleashing its final strike, it vanished into thin air.

Her true form opened her eyes. There were still more than ten people left to capture, but she no longer needed to worry about them, as Yun Yang would clean up the battlefield.

Jiao Tu patted her bottom and stood up, smiling at Xiao Man, and said, "Miss Xiao Man, hurry back to Chongli Pass. You can't afford to get into trouble, otherwise who will testify to your young master about our achievements?"

"I will tell you everything that happened today, young master," Xiaoman said, pulling the little monk and Princess Liyang along as she turned and ran south.

Jiao Tu stood on the hilltop watching them depart. Yun Yang came to her side and whispered, "The remaining nine hunters have escaped. What do we do now?"

Jiao Tu looked up at the moon's position: "It's midnight. Your shadow puppet won't last much longer. Escort us back to Chongli Pass."

Yun Yang, dressed in a black robe with his hands tucked into his sleeves, turned to look at her: "Will that boy keep his promise?"

The Jade Rabbit smiled slightly: "Of course. That Lord Chen is very clever. He can't do what he wants without us two loyal subordinates. This time, we can finally regain our position in the zodiac."

Yun Yang asked curiously, "What happens after we return to the Zodiac? Should we still cooperate with him?"

After a moment's thought, Jiao Tu said, "Cooperate."

Yun Yang was puzzled: "He's just a gyrfalcon. We've all returned to the zodiac, why should we listen to him?"

Jiao Tu smiled and said, "After the position of Sick Tiger became vacant, Xuan She and Bao Hou fought like madmen for credit, each thinking it was theirs for the taking. As a result, the Grand Chancellor has left the top three positions vacant for so long, and he hasn't chosen either Xuan She or Bao Hou. This shows that in his heart, neither of them is suitable. If they were suitable, why would it have taken so long?"

Yun Yang raised an eyebrow: "You don't actually think Chen Ji is a good fit, do you?"

Jiao Tu pulled out her hairpin and gathered her disheveled hair: "Yun Yang, I never want to go back to Wunian Mountain again in this life. I need to find a big tree to shelter under, but you are not that big tree. Although Bai Long is powerful, he has been acting strangely lately... Moreover, he already has Xuan She and Bao Hou under his command. If we go, we will only be adding flowers to brocade, and we will be ostracized by that treacherous Xuan She. The Inner Minister taught us that anyone can add flowers to brocade, but the real skill is to provide charcoal in the snow."

Yun Yang frowned: "But he's only eighteen."

“So what if he’s eighteen? When you and I were eighteen, we hadn’t killed a fraction of the people he’s killed. He just looks kind, so many people overlook how many people he’s actually killed…” Jiao Tu re-inserted her hairpin and walked towards Chongli Pass: “Moreover, the Inner Minister is very fair in his rewards and punishments. If you perform a great service, he can grant you a wish, either by giving you gold or by granting you a path to cultivation. In short, he will make you grateful and willing to risk your life for him. If you make a big mistake, the Inner Minister will make you suffer so much that you can’t sleep at night, the pain will be to your very bones.”

Jiao Tu turned to look at Yun Yang: "But after Chen Ji became a gyrfalcon, he made many great contributions. Has the Inner Minister ever rewarded him? His position has not changed at all, nor has he received any reward. This is not in accordance with the rules of our Secret Service, nor is it in the Inner Minister's nature."

Yun Yang pondered, "That seems to be the case. It seems the Inner Minister has forgotten all his contributions."

Jiao Tu smiled and said, "What do you think the Grand Chancellor is waiting for?"

Yun Yang was taken aback.

Jiao Tu said meaningfully, "The Inner Minister is waiting for him to reach the Dao Seeking Realm, and when he is no longer afraid of the Xuan Snake and the Treasure Monkey, he will give him a position among the Three Zodiac Animals."

(End of this chapter)