Republic of China era: A hundred-year-old still practicing martial arts? Is that right?

The sky gradually darkened over the dense forest.

The dark, heavy clouds made it hard to breathe, and everyone in the dense forest felt suffocated.

That sinister aura continued to linger behind them like a leech, neither too fast nor too slow.

"You just mentioned the Emperor of Japan? What's going on?" Lin Ji kept walking and turned his head to look at Li Shuwen on the stretcher.

Li Shuwen leaned against the makeshift stretcher, pondered for a few seconds after hearing this, and then spoke:

"This story was widely circulated in Southeast Asia in the past, but few people took it seriously."

"You know that the current Emperor of Japan is frail and sickly, and is nearing his end, right?"

Seeing everyone nod, Li Shuwen tried hard to recall the contents of the rumor:

"Rumor has it that the succession of the Japanese emperors is not a normal bloodline inheritance at all, but rather the soul of each emperor is forcibly sewn into the soul of the successor."

"What?" Gu Hu gasped. "How could there possibly be a way to sew souls together? This rumor certainly sounds like a rumor."

"Yes, I thought so at first too." Li Shuwen coughed twice and continued:

"But after I learned that every emperor has been in poor health, and according to rumors, this is because the human body is ultimately limited and cannot withstand the pressure of so many souls."

"Senior Li, this doesn't seem to have anything to do with that strange guy behind us, does it? Shouldn't we be thinking about how to deal with him right now?"

Su Wanning murmured, the faint aura behind her still lingering in her mind along with the stench, and even her usually gentle tone revealed a hint of anxiety.

"Miss Su is right, it was indeed inappropriate for me to bring this up. However, the key to the rumor lies ahead," Li Shuwen said, admitting his mistake.

"Legend has it that in the early years, an emperor in Japan traveled all over the West, Southeast Asia, and every hidden corner of our world. He finally found a way to make the body carry more and more souls. From then on, Japanese martial arts changed completely."

"What method?" Gu Hu asked, engrossed in the conversation.

"Blood transfusion!" Li Shuwen simply uttered two words.

"Blood transfusion?" Gu Hu asked again.

"Hmm...changing the blood of martial arts grandmasters and evil cultivators." Li Shuwen explained the secret behind it:

"Japan is a tiny island nation with very few people possessing extraordinary talent. It's extremely difficult to achieve anything significant in martial arts..."

"For this reason, however, they have found another way, using the methods of evil cultivators to quickly improve their martial arts level, which has led to the emergence of all sorts of deformed monsters in recent years."

As he spoke, he chuckled to himself:

"However, I am a materialist and do not believe in these gods and ghosts. I suspect that the Japanese imperial lineage has some rare hereditary disease. In order to consolidate their throne and prevent their subjects from thinking of them as short-lived, they created this legend to bolster their courage."

"To put it bluntly, blood transfusion is a normal Western medical treatment. Moreover, the blood of a Grandmaster of the Transformation Realm is full of qi and blood, so it can naturally temporarily relieve the pain caused by the disease. As for evil cultivators, it is probably just a special medicine."

"Materialism?" Gu Hu was taken aback and asked.

"Senior Li, what is materialism?"

Li Shuwen was clearly taken aback, but did not explain. He glanced at Lin Ji, who always surprised him, knowing that Lin Ji must know the meaning of the word.

but.

Lin Ji did not comply with his wishes this time.

His brows furrowed, and the presence behind him grew ever closer.

His senses were the sharpest, yet he dared not withdraw them at this critical moment when a formidable enemy was at hand.

He sensed that the putrid stench behind him was almost filling his nostrils, making his throat churn.

He looked at Li Shuwen and asked thoughtfully:

"So, the monster's weakness is its deformed body, is that what you mean?"

"You could say that," Li Shuwen replied without hesitation.

"Hmm...I understand." Lin Ji composed himself, his voice muffled by the stench of decay.

"It seems the Emperor of Japan has his eye on you this time?"

Li Shuwen nodded and gave an awkward smile: "No, the provincial government's liaison point was exposed, and I just happened to walk into a trap set by the Japanese."

"I was just about to hand over the armor plating when, as soon as I left the contact point, I stepped into something like a spider web. I was stuck to it and couldn't shake it off no matter what I did. Then, I was hit head-on by a mortar shell..."

Just as they were thinking this, a muffled "thump" suddenly came from deep in the dense forest.

The sound was exceptionally clear as it traveled through the dense, somber forest.

As the sound fell silently.

The entire dense forest fell completely silent; apart from the breathing of the few people, there was no sound from the surrounding birds or insects.

Everyone fell silent instantly, gripping their knives tightly and turning to look in the direction from which the sound came.

The wind stopped.

A light rain began to fall.

The stench in the rainwater grew stronger and stronger, so strong that it made one's stomach churn.

At the end of the line, a young member of the Gu family started clenching his teeth.

He was originally from a collateral branch of the Gu family and had never seen much of a battle. After enduring this unseen and intangible terror all the way, the string in his heart finally snapped.

"Waaah..."

A faint sob rose up, unusually clear in the deathly silent forest.

"Stop crying!" Gu Hu muttered, "You spineless coward! He's just a pretentious charlatan. When he comes out, I'll chop him down with one stroke!"

The more fiercely he cursed, the louder his sobs became, and he cried out, "Brother Tiger... I'm scared... I dreamt about my mother yesterday... she told me to go home..."

"You!" Gu Hu was so angry that he raised his hand to hit him, but Lin Ji stopped him.

"It's no use." Lin Ji stared intently into the depths of the dense forest. "This thing is doing it on purpose, suppressing us all the way. If we don't make a move, our morale will eventually be crushed. When we start to panic, that will be the time for it to strike."

This monster is using psychological warfare!

That monster wasn't as stupid as it looked; in fact, it was quite intelligent, at least as good as an ordinary person!

"If this drags on, our team will collapse on its own before the other side even has to make a move."

"You all stay here and guard Senior Li." Lin Ji picked up the Mountain and River Stabilizing Spear and poked the tip into the ground: "I'll go and have a go at it."

"No!" Su Wanning immediately spoke up, standing up to block Lin Ji: "Grandpa Lin, it's too dangerous! That thing is hiding in the shadows, who knows what underhanded tricks it might have..."

"Don't worry, it's just a test." Lin Jichong nodded to Su Wanning, his firm gaze making Su Wanning breathe a sigh of relief and step aside from him.