From Earthbound Spirit to Tokyo Evil

The rosary in the priest's hand suddenly vibrated, and a shadow appeared around his body, blocking Xia Chuan's attack. At the same time, the young priest chanted the Holy Name loudly, holding a cross dagger in his left hand and drawing a musket in his right hand, and bravely rushed towards him.

Xia Chuan could not sense any supernatural powers from them, but they were fearless and well-trained when facing aliens like Xia Chuan.

This made him think of Akasaka in later generations.

In a sense, they may all be the same kind of people.

He was not going to kill them here, but wanted to knock them out and take them to a place where they would not be disturbed for interrogation. At this time, the young priest suddenly shot him continuously.

Xia Chuan dodged the first bullet easily, but he was totally unprepared for the subsequent attack. The bullet penetrated the epidermis and got stuck in the body, leaving both of them stunned.

Hey!

Only then did Xia Chuan see clearly that the young priest was holding a revolver.

Because the Edo in the illusion presented the style of a completely mythological era, in his concept, this era was still quite primitive, and the muskets he seized from the captain of the merchant ship further strengthened this impression, making him feel that the weapons in this world were still quite primitive.

But the revolver in the young priest's hand finally made him realize that the era of the end of the shogunate was actually the mid-nineteenth century, which was not that far away from the time when he lived.

He came to his senses earlier than the young priest and snatched the empty revolver.

The young priest had obviously received good training in close combat, and he immediately attacked him with the magic dagger in his hand. However, the gap in strength between the two sides was too great to be made up by simple techniques.

Even with the interference of the older priest, Xia Chuan was able to control him immediately.

He must have been carrying some kind of protective item on him, which prevented Xia Chuan from knocking him out with the first blow. However, this only delayed his unconsciousness by a few seconds. A moment later, he fell to the ground, leaving the elderly priest alone to face Xia Chuan.

"You devil!" The old priest finally showed a desperate expression on his face, but he also realized that it was impossible to cause any substantial harm to Xia Chuan with his own ability. "During this sensitive period, aren't you afraid of starting a war?! Both the United States and the shogunate will regard you as..."

With a clang, the Bible in his hand fell to the deck and he fainted.

"I'm sorry, but this world has nothing to do with me. Besides, after I leave, this place should disappear, and there will be no so-called war."

The sailor who remained on the boat had been knocked unconscious by Xia Chuan's raven. He simply packed up the belongings of the two priests, and after making sure that nothing was left out, he jumped onto the boat, picking one up in each hand, and quietly took them away from the area in the dark.

"Master, do you need my help?"

Paul's voice suddenly rang out.

"You're awake?" Xia Chuan was a little surprised, but this was good news for him. "Then please take the boat to a farther place."

The shadow of a giant octopus appeared out of nowhere, dragging the boat forward quickly underwater. Xia Chuan suddenly felt relieved and began to study the revolver seized from the young priest.

It was almost the same as the revolvers used by the cowboys in movies and TV shows that he remembered, but it used paper bullets instead of metal bullets. However, it was far more advanced than the musket he had seized from the captain of a merchant ship.

This weapon was probably just invented and has not yet been widely used?

As for metal fixed bullets, they probably haven't been invented yet? However, judging from this, it shouldn't be too far away.

Xia Chuan suddenly realized that this era might be the last glory of the aliens.

After the appearance of breech-loading automatic weapons, equipped with bullets that can kill spirits, except for a few individuals like himself who possess powerful strength, ordinary monsters and evil spirits actually no longer have an overwhelming advantage when facing an organized army.

They may still be able to rely on spells and their own special abilities to maintain their dominance over humans in unexpected situations, and this cannot be completely avoided even in modern times. But no matter what, after these weapons have appeared one after another, humans are no longer lambs to be slaughtered in front of them.

The war to overthrow the Qing Dynasty may be a battle between humans and aliens. Unfortunately, he probably has no chance to stay in this world and witness this historical process as a bystander.

The boat soon left the port area, and Xiachuan simply woke up the older missionary on the boat and began to ask him about things that interested him.

"You will get no information from me, devil!" replied the elder priest contemptuously.

"Don't force me to torture this poor young man." Xia Chuan sighed. "He still has a lot of time left in his life, but in the future he will most likely only have one hand and one foot, or even nothing at all... Do you really want to watch him suffer this fate because of your stubbornness?"

"You devil!" His words made the old priest roar in despair.

"I don't really want to do that." Xia Chuan sighed. "What I want to know is not some great secret. With your status, it's impossible for you to know anything too important. As long as you answer my questions honestly, I will let you go unharmed. Do you really want to consider it?"

He picked up the magic dagger he had taken from the young priest earlier and began to use it on him.

The elder priest's body finally began to tremble.

Chapter 239: The Edge of War

Xia Chuan actually did not intend to use such means against the young priest. He was just gambling whether the older priest who claimed to be on the side of justice would believe his threats.

In the end, he won.

However, his question was completely beyond the elder priest's expectations, because he was not asking about the British and American coalition's upcoming military retaliation against the Satsuma Domain for the violent incident last year, nor was he asking about the secret extermination war plans made by the major branches of Christianity against Japan's native religions and aliens, nor was he even asking about the true intentions of the American gunboats currently anchored in Yokohama Port. Instead, he was asking about those "secrets" that, in his opinion, were of almost no value to a "devils" like Natsukawa.

How to make holy water? What secrets are there in the Bible? What is the principle of driving power by reciting scriptures? What secrets are there in the cross amulet?

Why would this devil in front of him ask for knowledge that any qualified priest would know? Such power is far inferior to the spells and innate abilities of the monsters, and the aliens who lack faith and divine grace cannot use this knowledge at all.

Their only use and value is to help humans deal with the threats of demons and aliens. Could it be that the devil in front of us still wants to find a way to deal with the church from these "secrets"?

How naive!

This method has been around for hundreds of years, and the priests and clergy who have gained power from it have already killed countless aliens. During these hundreds of years, many powerful demons have tried to use and resist the power of the church, but none of them succeeded.

Of course, the church's progress was not always smooth sailing. It had experienced great failures and even paid a tragic price. But it was precisely because this method was easy to learn and use that batches of missionaries came forward without fear of life and death, and because of various conspiracies and calculations to create divisions and civil strife within the enemy, it finally conquered almost the entire world in a few hundred years.

With the footsteps of multiple Russo-Turkish wars and the conquest of the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia by England and Russia, the most powerful enemy of the church in thousands of years has in fact fallen. Except for those remote and desolate corners scattered around the world, the only unconquered part of the world is the land centered on the great Eastern country.

With contempt and ridicule for Xia Chuan, the older priest told Xia Chuan everything he knew almost without reservation. The reason why it was "almost without reservation" was that he was not very clear about some of the principles. However, even these contents were enough reference value for Xia Chuan.

Next, as long as we can find a shrine outside the control of the shogunate and get a complete system of gods from there, by comparing and referring to the knowledge of the East and the West, we should be able to piece together a system of Natsukawa Daimyojin that can be used in modern society.

After Xia Chuan confirmed that he could not get any more knowledge from the older priest, he knocked him unconscious, then woke up the young priest and repeated the same thing to confirm the knowledge from him again.

The young priest knew even less, but it was enough to compare and verify whether both parties were lying.

Seeing the two of them cooperate so well, Xiachuan felt embarrassed to sink them into Edo Bay. He asked Paul to send the boat back to the vicinity of Yokohama Port. At this time, the merchant ship and patrol team had been attacked. All the gunboats had already lit fire and raised sails to leave the port, apparently preparing to sail to Edo. Most of the Western merchant ships also began to raise sails in a panic, preparing to leave the port and escape to the safe sea before the war broke out between the two sides.

Sakai Shinzaemon, the shogunate's magistrate in Yokohama Port, was extremely anxious. Japan was certainly not afraid of these four gunboats, but behind them were the powerful churches and several powerful countries. Such power had been verified in the great Eastern country to the west of Japan, and it was definitely not something that small Japan could withstand.

The key point is that the Sonjo faction is now eyeing the shogunate in various parts of Japan, creating trouble everywhere and inciting dissatisfaction. If the incident here in Yokohama causes gunboats to invade Edo, or even leads to a direct armed confrontation between the two sides, no matter what the result is, it will definitely be used by them as a weapon to attack the shogunate!

"Who on earth dares to attack the Western barbarians despite repeated warnings from the shogunate!" Sakai Shinzaemon hurriedly sent someone to Edo to report the matter, while leading his subordinates to search everywhere for the whereabouts of the missing missionaries.

The water tiger warriors of the Tatebayashi domain have already gone into the water to search for possible bodies, while he himself leads the dog demon warriors of his own domain to search for suspicious clues.

The dog demon warriors had already boarded the merchant ship that was attacked and noted the scent of the two missing missionaries and the suspected attacker. With their sense of smell, they should have quickly discovered the traces left by the attacker, but they could not find any clues around Yokohama Port. The only possibility was that the attacker had already taken the two missionaries away by water.

At this time, a water tiger warrior suddenly shouted loudly by the water: "Found it! Found it!"

"Have you found the body?" The knife in Sakai Shinzaemon's heart finally fell. At this point, his only way out was probably to commit seppuku to apologize. However, although this method was effective for the Japanese, he didn't know if it could calm the anger of the Western people.

"No, they are still alive! Both of the southern barbarian monks are still alive!"

How can it be?

Sakai Shinzaemon's heart instantly went from great sorrow to great joy, but it was no longer important. He immediately shouted, "Quickly prepare the ship! We must tell the commander of the Western Barbarian Fleet this news immediately!"

Xiachuan had already reached the shore at this moment. While looking at the chaotic scene of Yokohama Port in the dark, he felt satisfied with his decision.

The war should not be fought?

If he had really sunk the two missionaries in Edo Bay just now, no matter what happened later, both the shogunate and the US military would have tried their best to find the murderer who killed them.

In that case, although it may not be possible to find out the truth about him who has disguised himself again, it will definitely have a great impact on his goal of obtaining the shrine's inheritance and lifting the seal.

So……

He quickly disappeared into a secluded corner, but a moment later, a dog demon warrior came to his previous location, sniffing repeatedly and exploring around.

"You guys! Who was here just now?!" He grabbed a nearby civilian and asked loudly.

Most people were so busy watching the excitement in front of them that they didn't notice who was behind the crowd and they knelt down to beg for mercy.

But the dog-demon warrior attracted a large number of samurai and foot soldiers, who were separated and interrogated, and finally a witness was found.

"I saw a ronin looking around in the crowd, but then he suddenly disappeared."

"What does he look like? What kind of clothes does he wear?" the warriors continued to ask. The witness could not remember the details of what he saw in his quick glance, but soon a warrior skilled in witchcraft came and killed him, and recorded the appearance used by Xiachuan from his spiritual consciousness.

Height, appearance, and...clothes and sword.

"Even if we have to dig deep into the ground, we must find this man!" The shogunate official in charge of contacting the US fleet quickly issued a strict order. "No matter if his backers are Mito, Nagasu, Satsuma or Tosa, we must find him and his accomplices and kill them without mercy to serve as a warning to others!"

Chapter 240 Accidentally Becoming a Patriot

"Lord Toshisada, we have asked around, but no one knows about Kinoshita Takaya."

This result made Koshiro Fujita a little confused.

The so-called ronin are samurai who have left the lord they serve and abandoned their feudal lords.

In the past, desertion was a serious crime, and those caught would be beheaded. But in this era, the control of the shogunate has gradually weakened. Moreover, with the rise and spread of the idea of ​​respecting the emperor and expelling the barbarians, more and more patriots have chosen to desert their domains and go to Kyoto and Edo to find ways to save the country and the people. The lords of each domain and the shogunate have gradually relaxed their accountability for deserters, making this a tacit rule tacitly accepted by each domain.

Of course, there is another situation. That is, when the patriots decided to take harsh measures to realize the justice and ideals in their hearts, they would also take the initiative to leave the domain to avoid bringing trouble to the domain.

This was the case with the 17 ronin who escaped from the Mito domain and assassinated Ii Naosuke outside Sakurada Gate three years ago. At that time, it was Fujita Koshiro who personally sent them off in Mito and drank the last glass of wine with them.

The Ronin were always brought together by common ideals and beliefs, discussing all night long how to save the country from decline and difficulties. It was through such channels and methods that they could obtain more knowledge and information that they could not get by staying in the domain, make more connections, and accumulate more energy to practice their own ideas.

In this era, it is absolutely unreasonable for a ronin to live alone and away from the crowd.

In that case, what is the point of leaving the clan and going to Kyoto?

Even the so-called aloof swordsmen and swordsmen need to make friends and build good relationships widely so that their deeds and reputation can be spread widely, become the topic of conversation after dinner, and eventually reach the ears of daimyos and nobles.

This Kinoshita Takaya had clearly arrived in Edo but did not contact other ronin. This was extremely abnormal no matter how you looked at it.

Did he come here with some secret mission? Or did he have some unspeakable secret?

Koshiro Fujita tried hard to recall the details of his contact with Takaya Kinoshita. His swordsmanship was not a style that Koshiro Fujita knew, but his strength far exceeded all the swordsmanship masters that Koshiro Fujita knew.

He didn't seem to be praying to a certain god for power? Then what about his power... could he be the legendary Onimusha?

Such a person suddenly came to Edo at this time...

Just as Fujita Koshiro was lost in thought, there was a sudden commotion outside the inn. He grabbed the katana placed aside and just as he stood up, he saw several dog-demon hatamoto from the Echizen domain, bringing seven or eight demon warriors, fully armed and forcing their way in.

"Don't you know who lives here?" a Tengu party ronin loudly asked. "Duke Donghu's legitimate son is here!"

Following his shout, all the ronin of Mito Domain ran out of the house with weapons in hand.

The numbers of both sides were equal, but the samurai were all wearing armor, and as demons, they could exert their power directly without any rituals. The situation was clearly unfavorable to the Mito Domain Ronin.

"I am the son of Fujita Touko..."

Koshiro Fujita decided not to suffer a loss in the short term and to rely on his identity to solve the problem as he had done in the past.

But at this moment, the leading dog demon warrior sniffed at him, then stepped back, drew his sword, and shouted loudly: "That's right, it's them!"

"Catch them all!" the dog demon flag said immediately. "If anyone resists, kill them without mercy!"

The ronin had no idea what was going on, but their plan all along was to overthrow the shogun and install Tokugawa Yoshinobu from Mito in the throne. When the samurai from the shogunate arrived, they thought that their plan was exposed. Several of them immediately drew their swords and began to pray for strength from the Daitengu Hoinbo on Mount Tsukuba. The dog demons' bodies also began to swell and their hair stood up.

"Stop!" Fujita Koshiro shouted hurriedly, putting down his sword and walking between the ronin and the samurai. "Put down your swords!"

The tense atmosphere finally eased a little.

"Why are you arresting us? There must be an explanation, right?" He was confident that even the hatamoto of the Echizen Domain would not dare to use force against him. "If not, when Lord Keito and Lord Keiki hold Lord Keiyori of your Domain accountable, will you be able to take on that responsibility?!"

His words and attitude finally made the dog demon hatamoto hesitate for a moment, but attacking the southern barbarian monks without authorization was an extremely serious crime. If it really triggered a war, the consequences would be disastrous. If the perpetrators were indeed this group of notorious Mito Ronin, even Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who was the shogun's deputy, might not cover up for them.

As a result, the dog demon hatamoto's attitude softened a little, but he still asked Fujita Koshiro and others to lay down their weapons and follow them to the magistrate's office for interrogation.

Fujita Koshiro is considered one of the leaders of the Tengu Party. Although he is still very young, as the son of Fujita Toko, a famous figure of the Sonjo faction, he has frequent contacts with ronin from all over the place, and has a special relationship with the feudal lord Tokugawa Yoshiaki. This makes him believe that he will not be inexplicably involved in an incident in which he has not participated, nor will he be tortured like ordinary ronin.

"No problem, I'll go with you."

His attitude did change the dog demon warrior's mind a little. Seeing this, the other ronin also put down their weapons and allowed the dog demon warrior to come over and confirm the smell on them. In the end, they only took away the three people who had passed by Xiachuan and had his unique aura on them.

#####

"Attacking the southern barbarian monk?" When Fujita Koshiro heard the news, his first reaction was whether someone had taken unauthorized action again, just like the previous assassination of the senior councilor Ando Nobumasa.

"It has absolutely nothing to do with me, Mito Roshi!" he said immediately.

"Who did this? Why do you have his scent on you?" Sakai Shinzaemon asked immediately.

"I don't know." Although Fujita Koshiro had already made up his mind, he shook his head repeatedly. "I have been wandering around Edo Castle for many days. Maybe the other party deliberately approached us in order to frame us."

In fact, he had just recently accompanied the Mito Domain Lord Tokugawa Yoshiaki and the Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu back to Edo from Kyoto, and was very clear about the actions of the anti-foreignization faction in Kyoto.

Since last year, the imperial court in Kyoto has been determined to drive out the foreign enemies under the strong support of the Choshu, Satsuma, Tosa and other domains and the Sonnōjō faction.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu was able to get the post of Shogun because he was born in Mito, the birthplace of the Sonnōjō faction, and was considered the hope of the cause of expelling the barbarians. But what disappointed people was that Tokugawa Yoshinobu did not include any content about expelling the barbarians in the series of reforms after he took office. Instead, he continued to strengthen the authority of the shogunate, even appointing the lord of Aizu Domain, Matsudaira Yoshiyasu, as the guardian of Kyoto, and arresting and suppressing the Ronin of the anti-barbarians faction.