Chapter 37: Devouring Luck!

Clang!

The blade sang.

The wind rose.

Rain splattered.

The Chrysanthemum Tsuba Blade Pattern drew a flash of cold light before the eyes of the three Ronin Guards.

Thud!

Three sounds merged into one.

Three heads soared into the air.

Blood sprayed, gushing like a spring.

The Brothel’s plaque was instantly stained red.

The chaotic, foul Qi immediately turned Yin.

A Nine-Petaled Chrysanthemum flickered faintly beneath the plaque.

The next moment—

Crack!

The plaque split in two, falling to the ground.

Muddy water mixed with blood, bubbling up incessantly.

Ding Xie withdrew his blade and looked back; a rice-grain-sized notch had appeared on the Chrysanthemum Tsuba Blade Pattern.

“Shoddy blade.”

Ding Xie whispered, the blade in his hand already flying out.

The long blade spun, its cold light gleaming.

A Ronin Guard who had heard something amiss had just rushed out from inside when the long blade, edge upward, pierced through his chest, pinning him back and hanging him on the wall.

Blood dripped down along the blade.

The Ronin Guard gripped the blade with both hands, desperately trying not to slide down. His neck twisted, he stared at Ding Xie standing at the entrance holding an umbrella, his widened eyes trembling uncontrollably. With all his might, he roared—

“Enemy attack!”

The cry of “enemy attack” was met with successive responses.

Short blades and long swords, footsteps unceasing.

Twenty men charged out from inside.

Ding Xie tossed his umbrella upward, and twin guns left their holsters.

Bang, bang!

Bang, bang, bang!

The twin guns in his hands were wielded with both arms.

Muzzle flashes bloomed with the swift wind.

In Ding Xie’s hands, the 【MK1-G】 revolvers displayed a speed far beyond reason.

And they were lethally elegant.

Like a dance of death.

The charging Ronin Guards were stunned.

Before setting foot on this land, they had already been Core Disciples of various schools and had secretly undergone six months of special training.

This included daily language training, as well as spy-like shorthand and interrogation training.

But, more of it was… dodging Firearms.

They had endured the harshest treatment on Togakure Mountain.

The slightest mistake meant death.

Disability?

Nonexistent.

On Togakure Mountain, disability also meant death.

In the end, only after they had overcome the fear in their hearts and could perfectly dodge gunfire were they deemed qualified and granted the title of Samurai.

They crossed the oceans.

They were brimming with confidence.

They… died with eyes wide open!

Why?

Why couldn’t they dodge the shots from this person wearing a monkey mask?

The methods taught by their training instructors—watching the wrist, fingers, and muzzle to judge—were utterly useless.

They couldn’t see clearly!

The opponent was too fast!

But,

there was still a chance of victory.

As everyone knows, a revolver only holds six bullets.

With twin guns, that’s only twelve bullets.

Just survive this volley.

The charge continued.

The counting didn’t stop.

Finally!

The twelve bullets were spent!

These Samurai disguised as Ronin Guards roared madly.

“Kill him!”

“Kill!”

The battle cries were deafening, the charge even faster, but the next moment, everything came to an abrupt halt.

Ding Xie shook his garment, and brass bullets jumped out from his pocket.

Raindrops seemed to freeze in that moment, allowing bullet after bullet to shatter them.

The two 【MK1-G】 revolvers broke open in the middle, like bird-catching nets, sweeping past the twelve bullets in mid-air.

Not a single one missed; all entered the cylinders.

The guns snapped back shut, gunfire reappeared.

Bang, bang, bang!

All the Samurai disguised as Ronin Guards were dead.

The one pinned to the wall hadn’t breathed his last yet.

But Ding Xie paid him no mind, merely raising his eyes to look at the roof ridge. Two gunmen lying prone on the eaves met Ding Xie’s gaze.

Whoosh!

A Yin wind blew past the back of his head.

Like a cold hand caressing the skin.

Moving down along the neck.

Reaching the center of the back, it suddenly pierced inward.

The two gunmen trembled all over.

By the time pain registered between their brows, they had already tumbled from the eaves.

The one pinned to the wall was also affected.

Blood, blood gushing like a spring, filled the entire Brothel.

Yet a tall, robust figure bathed within it.

His body stained with blood, crimson all over.

The horn on his forehead pointed straight toward the sky.

The teeth in his mouth were razor-sharp.

A throne piled with skulls.

A demon sat upon it, laughing maniacally.

Wantonly grabbing the bodies of warriors around him, twisting off their heads to drink freely.

“Ahhhh!

Demon! Demon!”

The man roared frantically, as if driven mad.

His hands could no longer grip the blade, and his body lost all balance, sliding down from the blade.

Rip.

One side, one piece.

Not evenly split.

But, no longer noisy.

The entire Brothel fell silent.

Only the slowly descending Oil-Paper Umbrella returned to Ding Xie’s hand.

The rain grew heavier again.

Between heaven and earth, the pitter-patter grew loud.

Dark clouds blotted out the sunlight.

The lights that had been on inside the Brothel had all gone out at some unknown time.

Faint rustling sounds began to be heard.

Like waiting.

Like welcoming.

They were inviting Ding Xie inside.

But the wide-open door was like a pitch-black maw, ready to devour anyone who entered.

Ding Xie turned and walked outward.

Not to leave.

Nor to depart.

Just to fetch something.

When Ding Xie returned, the case was already in his hands.

Unlike before, when it was tightly sealed,

now it was slightly ajar.

A fuse protruded from within.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The fuse ignited, its light dazzling.

Infused with force, he hurled it.

The suitcase filled with Explosives vanished into the darkness.

Shattering one wooden door after another.

Continuing inward.

Until—

“Qin Sang, thank you for your diligence and dedication.”

A woman with pale skin, wearing a black Kimono and her hair tied up, knelt on the Tatami. Looking at the box before her, intense joy welled up in her eyes.

The box was made of Sandalwood.

Lined with Velvet.

But the item inside the box was… a stone!

A seemingly extremely ordinary stone, rectangular in shape, about the size of an arm.

The woman’s fingers touched the stone.

It was as if she had traversed time, witnessing generations of emperors ascending mountains to perform Fengshan sacrifices.

She was captivated by one tall figure after another.

Unconsciously, the woman began to indulge in fantasies.

Devouring the nation’s luck!

Replacing it!

At the thought of the future scenes, the woman couldn’t help but tremble all over.

She was impatient.

But she knew something was still missing.

“The Hakko Ichiu Tower still needs bricks from the Great Wall, stones from Changbai Mountain, stones from Taihang Mountain, stones from Qinling Mountain… For Qin Sang, these

are not difficult.”

The woman listed a series of items.

Qin Long, sitting opposite, remained motionless.

Not difficult?

It was only by relying on his identity as a Chinese that he had managed to infiltrate the Jade Emperor Temple atop Mount Tai’s Jade Emperor Peak, catching those Taoist Priests off guard with Firearms.

With the precedent set at Jade Emperor Peak,

how could the remaining items not be difficult?

Did they really think those Taoist Priests were easy to provoke?

The woman looked at the man opposite her—triangular whites visible in his eyes, a narrow face, and a hairless forehead—and couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.

Greedy!

Stupid!

That was her assessment.

In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that the Luck Dragon on that land still had a breath of life left, causing any Onmyoji, Sorcerer, or Shrine Maiden who approached to lose control, she wouldn’t need him at all, nor would she have to feign cordiality with him.

The contempt in her heart was not shown on her face in the slightest.

On the contrary, the woman smiled like a flower.

“A fair effort for a fair reward.

Qin Sang has brought us the Mount Tai Stone.

Then… I shall naturally offer recompense.”

As she spoke, the woman took out a scroll from her sleeve.

Written in Chinese characters on it were—

Nine Chrysanthemums Secret Manual. Volume One!