Chapter Ninety-One: Eagle-Style Iaido—The Demise of the Wokou (Please Support and Vote)

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Wang Cheng and Pu Shouying each looked upstream.

Meanwhile, while the Qingyi and Babao ships were engaged in a chase downstream, the allied forces of Japanese pirates and gentry had already been successfully pierced by the flagships of Huang Yuanzhou and Han Zechang.

Perhaps burdened by debts, the merchant Tianqian was incredibly unlucky. A carefully modified 500-ton warship had barely shown its power before being targeted by concentrated fire from the Hailuo and Han Dafu ships.

A prematurely heated incendiary shell coincidentally struck and penetrated its gunpowder magazine, causing an immediate catastrophic explosion.

The 500-ton warship was a later retrofit with a shallow hull, only about 3.5 meters deep, and failed to position the powder magazine fully below the waterline.

With a thunderous blast, the entire warship and over a hundred crew members were blasted into the air.

Broken bodies, twisted swords, charred wooden planks, and even cannons of all sizes were violently hurled skyward in a harrowing spectacle.

Only the sixth-rank merchant Tianqian, who had unlocked the Heart Temple and possessed the ability to act on impulse, managed to leap off the ship early and escape.

“My loyal troops! My warship! Han Zechang, Huang Yuanzhou, you and I, uncle and nephew, are sworn enemies!”

Though he got some names wrong, he never missed the nicknames. Known for his stinginess, Tianqian was now heartbroken, having lost all his trusted men in one fell swoop, wishing he could strike his chest and vomit blood in despair.

Yet sensing the dire situation, he dared not utter another harsh word.

Using the merchant’s signature footwork technique, Lingying’s Divine Walk, he balanced his cargo on one shoulder, gripped the reins with the other hand, and mounted a wooden bench, chanting an incantation:

“Wooden horse as a horse, dustpan soaring clouds, swift as the decree!”

To his astonishment, the bench reared up like a real horse, kicking its front legs, carrying him swiftly over the waves until he vanished from sight.

He sought out Pu Shouying ahead, hoping to find shelter and clutching this last chance at a turnaround against the wind.

Only a string of “clop clop clop” hoofbeats remained on the spot.

“Stay here today. Don’t even think of troubling Madam Yan!”

Han Zechang, the River Rat, immediately flipped into the water with a nimble “racoon turn,” relentlessly pursuing with his skill of river traversal.

Old Man Dong, the monkey tamer, was even less fortunate than Tianqian.

Proud to be a descendant of the Dragon Keeper Dong, he was obsessed with restoring his ancestor’s glory by raising a dragon.

But unwilling to venture into the deep seas to find a flood dragon himself, he had settled for raising a troop of naturally mutated water monkeys for consolation.

Upon learning that Pu Shouying’s mission target was a flood dragon, and after several encounters with the West Lake boat maiden Tang Miaofu, he mostly brought his own provisions to the fight.

Determined to obtain Madam Yan’s dragon blood essence and attempt to breed a few dragons of his own, he was among the most proactive allies, even going into battle bare-chested and losing his family talisman in the process.

Thus, when the clam maiden Shui Rou dangled the Heart-Calming Golden Hoop given by Wang Cheng in front of him as bait, he took the lure and recklessly advanced with his water monkeys, only to be ambushed by dozens of giant mirage clams hidden underwater, trapping them all.

Both the water monkeys and this sixth-rank monkey tamer drowned in their own illusions.

In the end, the realm of the rivers and seas was still dominated by the old sea monsters.

“Old Man Dong has been executed!”

“Kill! Kill! Kill all the Japanese pirates!”

The morale of the Moon Harbor side soared as they unleashed volleys of cannon fire, muskets, and all manner of firearms together.

“Load in swarms. Fire!”

Buckets of barrel-shaped firearms were mounted on the bulwarks, fuses lit, sending forth bursts of flame. Hundreds, even thousands of arrows shot out, turning any Japanese pirate daring to expose themselves on deck into a sieve.

From triple-shot Divine Machine Arrows to hundred-shot Hundred Tiger Charge volleys, these were essentially different variants of swarm attacks.

With a range of up to 300 meters, they compensated for the instability of ordinary rockets through sheer volume.

“Bring out all our Divine Fire Flying Crows. Fire again.”

The flying crows were crafted from reeds and paper, filled with gunpowder, and propelled by side charges, soaring over enemy ships before detonating in a thunderous explosion.

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One by one, the Japanese and gentry faction warships caught fire.

“Run! Run fast!”

“Help—!”

Two large ship captains either fled or were beheaded, causing the remaining Japanese pirates to fall into chaos, their morale collapsing instantly.

Pu Shuyan, the Japanese pirate leader not targeted as the main opponent, dared not linger any longer and turned his ship around, commanding his talisman to pursue his family head desperately.

Huang Yuanzhou stayed back to cover the rear, while the clam maiden led her mirage clams in pursuit.

Pu Shuyan collided head-on with the Qingyi, which appeared to be driven back by Pu Shouying’s pursuit, and immediately rejoiced.

Not knowing the iron chains blocked the river ahead and that the sailing ships could not pass through quickly, he mistook this for his chance.

“Master, I come to assist you!

Board and seize the ship!”

This sailing warship originally had only one Guardian Spirit General aboard, with no official officer—a typical glass cannon. If not for the initial surprise attack, this flaw would have been fatal.

Cooperating with their master to capture this warship was easy—fully staffed with men and led by an eighth-rank captain, the sailing warship was instantly revitalized.

A pack of sea goblins howled and launched their usual reckless charge, slyly circling to attack from the rear, coming in from the stern.

“Charge!”

Wang Cheng lit three dark incense sticks and chanted:

“Three incense pillars bridge the way, Dragon Tower and Phoenix Pavilion shine with auspicious light. Hardships passed, fortune smooth, calamities escaped, carefree once more! Summon shrimp soldiers and crab generals to the altar!”

He stuck the three incense sticks into a bronze incense burner, placing it atop Zhang Wen, the incense craftsman’s head.

From the burner, curling blue smoke intertwined into countless shrimp soldiers and crab generals, leaping onto the ship’s dedicated marines.

Then he shouted: “Marines, drink the magic water!”

A group of carefully selected melee elites each took a gourd from their waist and gulped down a large mouthful of water infused with ash and incense pellets, their bodies immediately glowing with a metallic carapace sheen.

This was the Divine Incense Manual’s “Bridge-Building Summon.”

Before the three sticks burned out, they were possessed by the shrimp soldiers and crab generals from the Shen family’s magic altar, becoming temporary temple ghosts—immensely strong, clad in armor, impervious to sword damage.

This simultaneously solved the vulnerability of unarmored units and the problem of armored units sinking if they fell into the water.

Seeing the clam maiden leading her mirage clam army appearing behind the Japanese pirates, drawing Pu Shouying’s attention, Wang Cheng relaxed and flapped his wings, leaping down from the mast to confront the advancing Pu Shuyan ahead.

“Perfect timing.”

The “Rare Commodity” immediately analyzed him thoroughly.

“Fake Japanese Pu Shuyan is the weakest among the gentry faction captains, usually acting as Pu Shouying’s proxy, merely a common seventh-rank officer.

After all, if he commanded both the Japanese pirate fleet and possessed third-rank strength among the captains, Pu Shouying’s family head position wouldn’t be stable.

Moreover, he is not of the Pu main lineage, with no maternal requirement to be from the Semu ethnic group, appearing no different from real Japanese.”

It’s worth noting that the Yingzhou Japanese, via a golden seal bestowed by the Chinese imperial house bearing the title “King of Han Wei Nu Country,” had entered the tributary system of China and maintained their own divine offices:

Samurai, Ninja, Shaman, Onmyoji, and the peculiar “Farting Bhikkhuni,” among others.

Pu Shuyan was a samurai!

Not only the Japanese, but also the sixty-three tributary states within the Chinese cultural sphere—Champa, Java, Western lands, Nan’an, Bunei, and others—had their own unique official ranks and magic titles.

Though all were specialized and far less comprehensive than the full spectrum of Chinese trades.

Pu Shuyan sneered coldly at the approaching white-headed eagle:

“A Guardian Spirit General is just an eagle?

A furry beast with only claws and beak, no hands—I can kill you with a single sword!”

Slowly placing his hand on the samurai sword’s hilt, he prepared his long-practiced ultimate move: Divine Speed Iaijutsu.

Within seven steps, he could slash a flying swallow the instant he drew his blade!

Man and eagle rapidly closed in over the river’s surface, the deadly intent so intense it seemed to frost the air.

Thirty steps, twenty steps, fifteen steps.

“Breathe—”

Pu Shuyan focused his breathing, heightening his concentration until time seemed to slow, ready to unleash his strongest, fastest strike.

Then suddenly, his eyes widened in shock as Wang Cheng drew two large three-eyed fire muskets hidden by the Tibetan knife technique “Sleeve Dragon,” gripping them in his claws.

For officers, the ability to summon pure fire with the life fire of the sun made matchlock muskets as convenient as flintlocks.

Bang! Bang!

From ten paces away, sizzling iron pellets coated with the venom of a silver-ringed snake enveloped Pu Shuyan’s stunned face.

“What—? Where’s the samurai spirit?!”

His face turned blue-black as he flipped and collapsed, unable to rise.

Japanese Iaijutsu versus Eagle Style Iaijutsu—the latter was the clear victor!

Wang Cheng casually glanced at the “No Capital Business” acquired Divine Speed Iaijutsu and flapped his wings to return.

It was certain that combining the strengths of both schools would let him create a dazzling new style: Zhao Style Iaijutsu!

For example: a sword hilt hiding a gun?

The subsequent battles held no suspense after losing their leader; the charging sea goblins were slaughtered by the shrimp soldiers and crab generals.

The gentry faction was doomed on the frontline.

“We’re not defeated yet.

Even if Moon Harbor and the fleet are lost, there are still ways. As long as the noble one consumes Madam Yan’s flood dragon true form, we have a chance to turn the tide.”

Pu Shouying touched the purple dragon pearl emanating an eerie aura hidden in his sleeve. The official envoy had not arrived, but the “noble one” had come!

Escaping with Tianqian, he did not forget to bring a wooden stake talisman “Repairing the road openly while secretly crossing the river”—the key artifact to ensure no one would remember what he had done after winning this final battle, preserving the Pu family’s spotless image.

For the Pu family, it was far more important than the life of the family head.

If anyone learned of their past deeds—men enslaved, women prostituted—the only fate would be extermination, corpse whipping, bone crushing, and ashes scattered to the wind.

Wang Cheng then achieved his goal, leading the shrimp soldiers and crab generals to capture the Babao sailing warship.

Leaving the main force to clear the rear and front, the elite pressed onward.

“Come on, let’s pursue!”

The clam maiden summoned a group of giant mirage clams, allowing Huang Yuanzhou, Han Zechang, and their elite to enter and dive underwater, easily crossing the iron chains blocking the river.

After a series of battles annihilating all Japanese pirates, time quietly reached the first day of the second lunar month. They still needed to endure one last day.

Meanwhile, Wang Cheng and Yun Xiao had already swum ahead to the Dragon Lock Well at the end of the Jiu River!

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