Beginning with the Ubume Bird - chapter 59

Chapter 59: The Return
A thick layer of clouds covered the moon and fogged over the entire hill.

Li Yan stood at the top of the hill and removed his armor to look down.

The aftermath of the battle had left fragments of corpses thrown around the battlefield, flags trampled and covered in mud. The acidic smell of nitre rocks filled the air.

The dead bodies of both armies formed a whirlpool. In the middle of which a ghost about seven meters tall with sharp ears suddenly appeared. It was swinging around two horse corpses.

The ghost had white hair, red skin, and a huge belly. Its body was burned by gunpowder.

“Bows!” Riding a horse from Dayuan, the general shouted to initiate the step by step attack.

The soldiers in black leather armor raised their bows and aimed their arrows together at the ghost.

“Aim!”

The archers collectively pulled their bows tight.

“Destroy!”

The black arrows shot towards the ghost at the same time.

The ghost was about to run towards the general commander when the arrows lodged into it like a hedgehog. It screamed, knelt down, and slowly closed its eyes.

“What even is that thing? Did its skin just recover from bazooka attacks?”

“I heard that it escaped from a corpse.”

“No, I heard that it transformed from the general commander of the Japanese army.”

“Bullshit!”

“It’s true! He tore his head down and jumped out from his neck.”

“The ghost was about seven meters tall! That’s impossible!”

The infantries gossiped.

“General, do you want me to check it out?” The soldier holding a red flag asked the general commander.

“No, I’ll go.” The general commander rode his horse towards the ghost. He had to look up to see the ghost’s face, even elevated by the horse’s height.

All of the sudden, the ghost, whose face was shot by countless arrows, opened its eyes!

The commander was alert and threw his spear at the chest of the ghost, which pierced through it.

The ghost screamed in pain. Its giant body leaned backwards, lifting up piles of dusts.

Li Yan had just initiated ‘A Strong Impression’ when he saw from the top of the hill that a giant bear with sharp claws had appeared at his back before the general commander raised his spear.

How interesting…

Li Yan was excited by what he had just seen.

The commander was breathing heavily as he cursed, “Holy cow, that was scary.”

He raised his hand and said, “Set up the pot and kill a pig.”

…

A man was sitting in front of his desk next to a stove, listening to his subordinate read the reports submitted. His mustache made him look calm and peaceful rather than intimidating.

“The opponents are trying to recruit more sailors from the Hitachi Province, Shikoku, Kyushu, Akita, Shiga-ken, and even China. At least ten sailors have been recruited per clan, from over a hundred clans. The remaining were sent to Osaka to build more new vessels. The expenses for this are listed in the table as such…”

“Ok, stop,” the man interrupted. He thought for a while then asked, “What is the situation with the Tokugawa clan?”

“They are actively preparing for war. Sakai Tadatsugu is their general commander, and Honda Tadakatsu is the deputy commander. The clan has about twenty thousand sailors and ten vessels.”

The man mocked the news he heard, “The spies have been saying for two years that the Tokugawa clan is not completely loyal to the Japanese. Why are they contributing so passionately to Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s army?”

The man reading the report didn’t know how to respond. Another man suddenly laughed at his question.

“It’s hard to know everyone’s intentions. No one knows what Tokugawa plans to do except for himself. I heard that in Japan, a man will call himself a general if he is leading seven or eight farmers. Commander Li shouldn’t worry so much about those clowns.”

The handsome man speaking was about twenty years old and dressed like a Taoist monk with a lotus crown and floral embroidered gown. He carried a golden bell and a while flag with him.

The commander looked down and said, “You’re right, Monk Yi.”

His name was Li Rusong, and he was the general of the army assigned by the Wanli Emperor. He was the head of all foreign troops fighting in Joseon.

Li Rusong surely knew that things were not as simple as what Monk Yi had mentioned just now. He could tell from the reports that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was gathering all the national forces for this war, which meant that more than ten thousand soldiers were included. Moreso, Japanese soldiers were very well trained from fighting their endless civil wars. They were indeed strong opponents.

“Damn, that was good! Uncle~”

A young man rushed in and shouted as he removed his wristbands. He immediately bowed when he saw Li Rusong’s straight face and the young Taoist monk sitting in front of him.

“Commander Li.”

“What is going on?”

“We have killed most of the Japanese soldiers hiding in the hill.”

“Did you capture any Prisoners of War?”

“Um…”

The young man hesitated and said, “Commander Li, we met some alliances before we attacked. They were Commander Cha’s subordinates from Pyongyang. They were extremely skilful and capable. I saw that merely eight of them managed to break the line of defense set up by the Japanese. They are now here awaiting your order. Furthermore, their leader asked me to hand this in to you.”

Upon hearing this news, Monk Yi raised his brows as he sipped on his tea.

Li Rusong looked at the red magatama passed to him by his nephew.

…

Li Yan was wiping his face with a wet towel. He was half naked, showing that some of his wounds had become scabby.

“It was like a dream. I thought that we wouldn’t make it back.”

Deng Tianxiong’s chest was wrapped in bandages. He walked over to Li Yan and smiled, “General, what awards do you think we’ll receive from the commander?”

“What do you think?”

Deng Tianxiong showed five fingers, “We killed five members from the red-armor troops and the son of a general officer. The rewards should be decent.”

“If all soldiers were like Commander Li, the war would have been ended long ago,” said Interpreter Song while hiding in a blanket.

Wang Sheng commented, “I think the deputy commander will promote commander Li.”

“Who was that man we met today?” someone asked.

“Shen Heyan. He is the leader of the vanguard and the nephew of our general commander.” Wang Sheng said in a low voice.

Blind Diao was also interested in the discussion, “Commander Li is one of the most famous commanders in our era!”

Li Yan laughed and was about to say something. Someone suddenly entered their tent and the cold wind caused Blind Diao to choke.

“Who is named Song Joongki here?” the man asked in an indifferent, almost barbaric tone.

Li Yan turned his head and saw that a man in flared trousers and army boots had entered their tent and was staring at all of them.

“Who?”

Li Yan turned around to face him. Water droplets dripped from his hair to his neck. Li’s black tattoo made him look even scarier.

“What are you looking for?”

“Do you want to fight?”

The atmosphere suddenly became intense.

“That’s me! I am Song Joongki.”

Interpreter Song, also known as Song Joongki, came to separate them.

The man stared at Li Yan for quite a while before addressing Interpreter Song. “Commander Li wants to see you.”

“Sure, sure,” Interpreter Song answered quickly. He looked towards Li Yan who didn’t even look back at him.

Interpreter Song then turned to the young man and said, “Master, please lead the way.”

“I am not a master. I deal with flags only.”

The man was nice enough to Interpreter Song.

The two of them walked out of the tent one after another.

“What does that mean? The commander asked for a Joseon man and not you?” Deng Tianxiong yelled.

Li Yan then saw a small-framed male standing at the entrance of the tent.

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He was wearing a white Taoist gown and his hair was tied into a bun. He was about thirteen or fourteen years old and looked horrified by Deng’s loud voice.

“Excuse me, is this Li…”

“That was rude!” Deng Tianxiong yelled again, and the boy was so frightened that he fell on the ground.

“Oh, who are you?” Deng Tianxiong then noticed the little boy, staring at him with his big eyes.

“I, I…” The little boy suddenly cried, “Lord…”