Swallow Return

Of course, despite not understanding it, I was secretly quite pleased...

Seeing this, the masked clown dwarf sneered: "Good daughter, if you want to get married, you should at least get your father's permission first!"

The red-clad female swordsman then assumed a stance of fighting alongside Ryuun, saying from the side, "Lord Sasaki Ryuun! If you were someone as open-minded and fearless as yourself, perhaps you could have killed this demon in the illusion!"

The masked clown dwarf roared, "Unfilial daughter, I am your father!"

The red-clad female swordsman scoffed, "Using my soul as a conduit to cast such an evil illusion, you are not worthy of being a father!"

The masked clown dwarf roared again, "You know that the Pivot is your soul. If you kill me, the illusion will be broken, and you will be annihilated!"

The red-clad swordswoman showed no fear, but instead revealed a happy smile: "After three lifetimes, I finally feel what it's like to be accepted. I would rather die now than see you, you demon, every day!"

Liu Yun hesitated for a moment, then asked the girl, "You will die too?"

The red-clad female swordsman looked directly at him with bright eyes, a slight blush on her face, and boldly said, "Lord Sasaki Ryuun, I hope that in the future you will remember me as a woman. If that is the case, it will be a hundred times happier than living such a sinful life."

Liu Yun pondered for a moment and nodded.

Now that it exists as a conduit for evil illusions, it might actually be better for the girl to be dead.

Then Liuyun gripped the hilt of the sword with his right hand.

Seeing this, the masked clown dwarf neither dodged nor fought back, but simply shook his head confidently and said loudly, "I don't believe there are truly honest people in this world! Everyone does evil in secret, and everyone tries their best to hide their evil! By controlling this obsession, I control the entire world. No matter how powerful a person is, whether they are a sword saint, a high monk, or a warrior capable of defeating ten thousand men, once they enter my magic circle, they will only gradually become puppets..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because Liu Yun's sword was already drawn.

A blinding white light flashed, and the masked clown dwarf's head and body were separated.

Immediately afterwards, a magnificent radiance appeared, and all the illusions vanished without a trace.

Saito Asanobu remained rooted to the spot.

The red-clad female swordsman seemed to have disappeared—but it also felt as if she still retained some trace of herself, which Liu Yun found hard to understand.

The true situation of "Poison Island" has finally been revealed.

It's just a small island in a swamp.

There are some flowers, plants, and trees on it, but they are not lush.

Few animals are seen, only a few flying insects are relatively abundant.

The island was filled with an extremely strong stench of blood.

Following the scent, one can discover three large square pits, each about twenty paces in length and width, dug in the ground.

The bottom of the pit was very flat, about five feet high.

The pit recently was packed with people—or perhaps they could no longer be called "people".

Everyone was skin and bones, dazed and unconscious, like walking corpses.

In a slightly further pit, half of the people inside still retained their human form, while the other half were stark white skeletons.

In the farthest pit, only skeletons remained, many of them already reduced to dust.

In the very center of the three large pits, a flag was planted, bearing the four-diamond crest of the Takeda family.

Upon seeing this, Liu Yun gasped, feeling a chill run down his spine.

Although I don't understand magic, I can tell at a glance that it does look like some kind of magic array that extracts the life force of living people to prolong their lives.

Liu Yun pulled several people who seemed salvageable from the pit and tried to awaken them with his "healing power".

But all attempts failed.

It seems that the victims of this life-extending formation cannot be saved.

Then the only option is to prevent more people from being harmed.

Liu Yun took out a talisman from his pocket.

That was a "Fire Release Talisman" obtained from the Oda clan.

Tearing open the talisman, a raging fire burst forth from nowhere, following Liu Yun's will, burning down the flags on the island and spreading into three large pits filled with the bones of innocent people.

Soon, the smell of blood gradually dissipated, and the intense demonic aura vanished.

Instead, you get the smell of soil and humus that are typical of the countryside.

The magic array that allowed Takeda Shingen to prolong his life was probably destroyed in this way.

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Chapter Ninety: The Uesugi Clan's Destructive Acts

Seeing the raging flames, Liu Yun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

What appeared before my eyes was the original scene of the swamp.

It's around midnight now, so it seems like they've been tossing and turning in the illusion all night.

It doesn't feel like it's been that long...

The weather was cold, with a biting wind blowing. The ground was covered in mud and humus, and there was a naturally occurring yellow toxic smog in the air. The environment was far from pleasant and had nothing to do with beauty.

But Liu Yun found it quite pleasing to the eye.

The mission was a success!

How much reward I get after I go back is secondary; the key is that my conscience feels very comfortable.

The magic circle that used living people as sacrifices has been destroyed.

The three layers of illusion used to conceal this magic circle also completely vanished without a trace.

The mastermind behind these spells, the masked clown dwarf, should have been eliminated.

These evil things no longer exist and can no longer harm people.

The only regrettable thing is that the young swordswoman in red... She was actually just an innocent victim, yet she also perished along with the fragrant smoke.

It's heartbreaking that such a beautiful woman died young.

As he thought about this, Liu Yun suddenly seemed to hear a faint voice speaking to him, but he couldn't hear it when he focused his mind. He shook his head and rubbed his temples, thinking that it was probably just a hallucination caused by a series of tiring journeys.

But since it was just a chance encounter, Liuyun didn't dwell on it for too long.

In any case, although there were some twists and turns and it wasn't perfect, the incident was eventually resolved smoothly, and I can now return home safely and comfortably.

At this moment, Saito Asanobu, who had been under the influence of the illusion, finally woke up. Before he could say anything, he bent over and coughed incessantly.

He coughed for a while before straightening up, patting his chest and breathing heavily.

After a while, Saito Asanobu recovered his senses, bowed deeply to Ryuun, and said with lingering fear, "Fortunately, Lord Sasaki was here! Otherwise, let alone destroying the Takeda clan's magic array, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to save my... cough cough... my life."

Liu Yun smiled and waved his hand, saying, "After all, we're teammates, it's alright."

Saito Asanobu bowed again with a sincere expression and said, "Lord Sasaki, please rest assured that when we return to Echigo, the Uesugi family will... cough cough... will do everything in our power to repay your great kindness."

Ryuun shook his head: "No need! I've already studied the map and plan to go east to Hitachi, then take a boat back from the south. It won't delay anything."

Saito Asanobu was immediately alarmed: "Aren't you going to go back the way you came?"

Liu Yun smiled and politely declined, saying, "I rarely have the opportunity to travel far from home, and I'd like to take this opportunity to visit more places."

Saito Asanobu paused, a look of regret on his face, and sighed, "What you just destroyed was very likely Takeda Shingen's longevity formation. If word gets out now, there are tens of thousands... cough cough... tens of thousands of people in Echigo who will thank you for avenging their relatives. If you don't go..."

Liu Yun shook his head again: "I'm sorry, my mind is made up."

Saito Asanobu said "Oh," pondered for a moment, and then said, "Then I'll see you off. It will take about two more days to get out of the mountains if we head east from here."

Liu Yun nodded with an indifferent expression and said, "Then thank you very much."

……

So the two of them set off on foot eastward.

After walking for a while, Saito Asanobu couldn't help but ask, "Lord Sasaki, are you really not going to Echigo? The entire Uesugi family... cough cough... they'll definitely line up to welcome you."

Liu Yun smiled and said, "This issue has already been addressed."

Saito Asanobu asked suspiciously, "Could it be that you had some... cough cough... bad memories that day in Naoezu?"

Liu Yun shook his head: "No. I just wanted to take a stroll around Guandong."

Saito Asanobu remained silent.

……

After a while, Saito Asanobu suddenly spoke up again: "Actually, what the Oda family can give you, our Uesugi family... cough cough... our Uesugi family may be able to give even more."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yun laughed and replied, "That's a good joke."

Saito Asanobu replied seriously, "You should have noticed these past few days that I don't like... cough cough... I don't like joking."

Liu Yun disagreed: "Maybe it's because we need to relax after the big battle."

Saito Asanobu insisted, "What if I told you that this really isn't a joke?"

Liu Yun shook his head and said meaningfully, "Let's leave this as a joke."

Saito Asanobu sighed and remained silent.

……

Saito Asahin was preoccupied with many things on his mind, his brows furrowed. After about half an hour, he couldn't help but say, "Actually, the Uesugi clan of Echigo is no worse than the Oda clan."

Liu Yun said helplessly, "This isn't about who's worse than whom."

Saito Asanobu persisted, saying, "Our Uesugi family has just conquered... cough cough... conquered hundreds of thousands of koku of land in Etchu, but we lack enough people to manage it."

Liu Yun remained unmoved and shook his head, saying, "Unfortunately, I am not suited for governing."

Saito Tomonobu added, “The people of Echigo are straightforward by nature and admire warriors. If you come, you will be in your element.”

Liu Yun chuckled and didn't reply.

Saito Asanobu knew that further discussion was pointless, so he kept quiet.

……

A quarter of an hour later, still in the middle of nowhere, Saito Asanobu suddenly stopped and asked again, still unwilling to give up, "Lord Sasaki, are you really not going to consider it?"

This time, Liu Yun was too lazy to waste any more words and simply replied, "Yes."