Swallow Return

Liu Yun instinctively grabbed it and decisively drew his sword.

A chilling glint flashed in its eyes!

It sent chills down one's spine and made one's hands and feet tremble.

Even the indoor temperature seemed to drop significantly as a result.

Standing with the knife in hand, a surge of heroic spirit suddenly welled up in my chest.

What to say?

Liu Yun used to be an expert with a knife, but he had never felt this way before.

Holding the "Nagafune Nagamitsu" in my hand feels like an extension of my own arm. With a thought, it can automatically charge at the enemy, as if I don't need to swing it at all.

On the blade, there flowed an invisible and intangible power, yet its existence was undeniable.

It must be the characteristic of "severing all tangible and intangible things".

Chapter 165 The Blade That Cuts Everything

Holding the newly acquired "famous sword," Liu Yun felt an irresistible urge to keep it, and a surge of heroic spirit welled up within him.

Whether it can truly prevent the rebirth of yokai remains to be seen, but just by looking at it, one can tell that this "Nagafune Nagamitsu" is definitely a first-class weapon. The spine is long and thick, but the blade is extremely sharp. There is a clear difference between the width of the blade and the tip. The blade is upright and beautiful, with an extreme curve that is full of tension. It is a typical aesthetic of the Kamakura period.

Liu Yun didn't know much about art appreciation, but subconsciously she felt a powerful and awe-inspiring aura emanating from it.

Furthermore, after the two formed a blood pact, they had a clear sense of spiritual connection. The extra-long katana, with a total length of four feet and two inches, was much easier and more agile to hold than the two-foot-long wakizashi.

The blade gleamed with a sharp, demonic aura, far surpassing the strength of ordinary iron. It was said to be indestructible and capable of cutting through iron like mud.

The only slightly awkward part is—

This is the incarnation of my wife's maternal grandmother.

Just moments ago, she was a white-clad female demon who looked about 70% like Iori; now, she has transformed into a katana.

They also formed a blood pact of master and servant.

When you hold the scabbard, grasp the hilt, and run your fingers over the blade, aren't you essentially touching a part of the other person's body?

Moreover, she was a married female demon who had given birth, and clearly possessed physiological characteristics close to those of humans.

This matter...

All I can say is, don't think about it too much.

With monsters suddenly causing chaos and Kyoto nearly collapsing, this is not the time to consider such issues.

At the very least, you must save your own life and that of your family.

Liu Yun had been fighting continuously and had lost too much blood. He was already very tired, but after holding a new weapon, he felt that he could continue with his fighting spirit.

Calculating the time, it was about time. He carried "Nagafune Nagamitsu," which was the transformation of Iori's maternal grandmother, and strode confidently to the door.

Sure enough, just a moment later, the twenty or thirty monsters that had been driven away twice before gathered together again.

The group was still led by a one-eyed old man with white hair and beard and a hunched back.

This time, Liu Yun deliberately kept track of the time and discovered that the "resurrection cycle" of this group of monsters was about twenty-five minutes.

It's just unknown whether this is only the case for them, or if the whole of Kyoto is like this.

Upon seeing the same enemy appear for the third time, the retainers and guards of the Sasa family were filled with fear and unease. Even though Ryuun was standing at the very front of the door, he could not stop a few of them from letting out desperate cries.

"They're endless! The enemies are monsters that can regenerate! I don't want to die, I haven't even gotten married yet!"

A soldier who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old was almost in tears, his hand holding the pistol trembling.

"Damn it, what nonsense are you talking about! We can beat them twice, we can beat them three times, four times, a hundred times!"

Enraged, Eguchi Sukezaemon struck the soldier on the head with his scabbard.

Unfortunately, this fighting spirit cannot inspire everyone.

Hearing that it would take a hundred more tries, the wailing soldier panicked even more.

"Don't panic! My lord has found a solution and can stop the monster from being reborn immediately!"

Hayami Seibei roared loudly from the other side.

His words clearly grasped the main contradiction better.

However, there are some issues with its credibility, as there is no direct evidence.

Even the retainers of the two yokai, Aotabo and Kurotabo, who knew more about the inside story, were not very confident.

"Hey, Ahei, do you think that if Senior transforms back into a sword and combines it with Lord Liuyun's martial arts, it should be effective?"

The burly and robust Qing Tianfang seemed to need to find confidence in his companions.

"Of course, Senior is very powerful. After all, he is a senior! And with Lord Liuyun on board, what is there to worry about?"

The lean, capable, and low-key Kurotabo was even more composed, but his voice lacked any real depth.

They probably lacked experience and had never seen a magic circle that could make monsters keep coming back to life before.

In contrast, those dozens of one-eyed monsters had already appeared at the entrance of Ichijoji Temple for the third time.

Now that they know they can be resurrected repeatedly, they are completely fearless, swaggering and arrogant to the extreme.

Especially the one-eyed old man who was leading the group.

Although his hair and beard were all white, his back was hunched, and he looked very weak, the man let out a wild laugh without any restraint, his tone full of intimidation: "I told you long ago, you can't kill me today! No matter how powerful Sasaki Ryuun or the sword demon are, they will eventually run out of strength and die! All the grudges I have in my life must be avenged clearly and thoroughly!"

……

At this moment, Liuyun should perhaps say something.

But in the end, he only gave a single, solemn command: "The Sasaki family's followers, fight bravely alongside me!"

After all, he himself was not sure if he could really stop the monster from being resurrected, and the power of words was always weak.

Let's look at the facts and results.

A monster with a horse's head and a human body was the first to rush forward, wielding a huge scythe shrouded in black mist. Without hesitation, it chose the most reckless fighting style and charged straight at the enemy.

Liu Yun swung his sword and cleaved the demon in two.

Iori's grandmother's true form, "Nagafune Nagamitsu," was indeed much sharper than any sword she had ever used before. When she wielded the sword to kill a monster, she felt a sense of exhilaration, like a master butcher carving up an ox.

However, Liu Yun himself was not spared from being slightly affected by the black mist on the scythe on his shoulder.

Having already fought against it before, he knew that the black mist was some kind of deadly poison.

Clearly, the monster, relying on its ability to resurrect infinitely, was employing a strategy of trading injury for injury.

However, the difference is...

This time, after the horse-headed, human-bodied monster was cut down, its corpse did not immediately dissipate and gather in the sky, but instead lay on the ground, flowing with foul-smelling blood.

Liu Yun had already taken note of it and immediately noticed the difference, which greatly pleased him.

Just as they were about to announce it to the public, someone beat them to it.

Hayami Seibei shouted, "Look, everyone! The monsters' corpses are different from the previous two times. They won't come back to life!"

Before he finished speaking, two more sea monsters that looked like octopuses rushed up, yelling loudly.

It was still instantly cut down by the flowing clouds.

Moreover, the corpse did not dissipate into rising demonic energy; like the horse-headed monster from before, it lay on the ground bleeding.

"Oh! It really works!"

Aotabo immediately became excited. Although he was a very rough yokai, he was still a yokai, and his sensitivity to such matters was obviously beyond that of ordinary humans.

"Heh... I knew it, no need to worry."

Kurotabo feigned composure, but in reality, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and a look of joy appeared on his face.

"These mere monsters are no match for the Sasaki Ierou Party!"

Eguchi Sukezaemon seemed to understand nothing, perhaps because he was impressed but didn't, but that didn't stop him from shouting and expressing his emotions. In fact, perhaps his behavior better represented the feelings of ordinary soldiers.

On the other hand, most of the monsters seemed to have some sense. They gradually realized something was wrong and stopped rushing over recklessly like the three fools before them.

Only the one-eyed old man leading the group was different.

The man's arrogant smile froze. His eyes darted around, and he immediately roared angrily, "It's just a bluff! Don't be fooled! Keep going! I guarantee you can still be resurrected!"

Then the one-eyed old man whistled loudly.

Wherever the sound waves reached, the twenty-odd monsters, like bulls seeing a red cloth, forgot all their fears and charged forward recklessly.

The one-eyed old man, after whistling, took the opportunity to quietly retreat...

Chapter 166 Lady Guidie's Decision

"At least two thousand monsters? And they keep coming back to life after being killed? The magistrate's forces have already lost more than half their strength?"

Upon hearing her retainer's reply, Lady Guidie instinctively tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword, her eyes sharpening.

She gathered the "Bathhouse Yokai" army from Seikenji Temple in the suburbs and fought her way to the Kyoto Magistrate's Office in Nijo Castle to provide support, but as soon as she asked, she heard shocking bad news.

"What did the Onmyoji say? And even the high-ranking monks who usually receive offerings are helpless?"

Lady Guidie immediately raised questions.

The retainer in charge of this matter, Murai Sadakatsu, was already in a state of frantic worry and drenched in sweat. Upon hearing this, he quickly bowed and replied, "Reporting to the mistress, what we know now is that a strange magic array has been set up near Kyoto, giving the monsters the ability to regenerate continuously. We haven't found a way to completely break it yet, but we can ascertain that such a massive magic array can only last for three days at most."

"At most three days?" Lady Guidie pondered for a moment, then immediately asked, "How large is the range of the magic array?"

Murai Sadakatsu hurriedly pointed to the northeast and explained in a very fast tone: "Within about 20 cho (2 kilometers) of the Imperial Palace as the core, everything will be affected."

"The area isn't that large..." Lady Guicho muttered to herself, then quickly raised her head and made a decisive decision: "Since we can't break the magic array for the time being, the best way is for everyone to leave Kyoto first and wait until the magic array's effect wears off before fighting the monsters—by the way, where are Nobunaga and the other senior retainers now? At a time like this, they should be the ones giving orders! Wouldn't it be overstepping my bounds for me to issue commands?"

Upon hearing this, Murai Sadamatsu's face immediately turned extremely awkward, as if he found it difficult to speak. After a moment's pause, he said in a hoarse voice, "My lord... he was on his way to the Imperial Palace to visit the court officials with six high-ranking ministers who were about to receive official positions. He was accompanied by only one hundred guards. After seeing the monsters causing trouble, I immediately ordered the magistrate's troops to go, only to find that... the Imperial Palace was where the monsters were most concentrated. The palace gates were completely surrounded, and we were unable to break in..."

"I see!" Lady Kicho finally understood the gravity of the situation. Her eyes widened, her face turned ashen, and she said in a deep voice, "Then we can't retreat. We must bring Nobunaga out! Lord Murai, how many available men do you have?"

Murai Sadakatsu gritted his teeth, his face showing anger and self-reproach, and said helplessly, "The magistrate's office originally had 1,500 soldiers, but now less than 700 are uninjured. Monsters can be resurrected, but our own soldiers cannot. Therefore, the first attack failed to break through, and the subsequent attacks will only become more and more difficult... Now that things have come to this, I have no other thought but to fight to the death to repay my lord!"

At this moment, Lady Kicho pressed her hand to her chest, took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, suppressed her anxiety, and made a rational judgment: "Lord Murai, you must not lose your composure! We failed to defeat the yokai with 1,500 soldiers, and now we only have 700 left. Even with the addition of my bathhouse yokai, we will most likely return empty-handed. We must first gather as much usable strength as possible, and then launch a final attack! As for Lord Nobunaga, I believe he can still hold on!"

Murai Sadayatsu was indeed completely flustered and at a loss. Seeing his mistress's decisive and clear-headed manner, he immediately bowed and accepted the order, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Lady Guidie stood in the courtyard of Nijo Castle, looking around. After a moment's thought, she asked, "I remember that my family has three to five thousand men stationed in the southeastern suburbs, only an hour or two away. Who is in charge there? Have you contacted them?"