bookbashuk Page 49
Page 49
The battle became increasingly fierce due to Lü Ren's sacrifice. Although the masters from the three temples and four families fought bravely, the reckless and mad dog-like spirit of the Bihe Ninja Clan kept the battle at a stalemate.
Every moment, someone falls, their blood staining the ground beneath their feet.
Enraged by his brother's death, Lü Ci unleashed his Ruyi Force to its fullest extent, his arms transforming into hundreds of twisted afterimages, each move a desperate struggle, relentlessly entangled with the ninja leader.
However, the opponent's movements were unpredictable, like a slippery eel, always managing to evade fatal attacks by the slightest margin, while simultaneously directing other ninjas to continuously deplete Lü Ci's stamina.
In this tense and suffocating moment, no one noticed that behind the Japanese army camp, in the area responsible for supplies, weapons, and stables, another silent war was quietly unfolding.
"Hey, Lao Yuan, is this thing of yours really going to work?"
A skinny man with shifty eyes crouched in a dark corner, lowering his voice and looking suspicious.
Beside him, a hunched old man with a sinister face was carefully fiddling with several bamboo tubes and some strange things that looked like insect eggs or pills.
Upon hearing this, the old man let out a disdainful snort, his voice hoarse as if two pieces of sandpaper were rubbing together.
"When has my Yuan Jingui's methods ever failed?"
This old man was none other than Yuan Jingui, a veteran of the Quanxing Sect renowned for his mechanical and poisonous techniques.
What he brought this time wasn't some deadly poison that could kill instantly, but rather some carefully concocted "fun."
He unscrewed the lid of a bamboo tube, and a faint, colorless and odorless wisp of smoke drifted out, silently merging into the night breeze and floating towards a row of large water vats not far away.
That was the Japanese army's drinking water source.
"This 'midnight diarrhea' is colorless and odorless. It's fine for a while after drinking it, but after half an hour..."
Yuan Jingui revealed a mischievous, sinister smile. "I guarantee they'll be so weak they won't even have the strength to hold a gun."
He then took out several walnut-sized ceramic balls covered with fine holes and handed them to the thin man next to him.
“Go, throw these ‘skyrockets’ into their ammunition depot.”
Remember, don't throw too many; place one at intervals.
The skinny man took the clay ball and curiously weighed it in his hand: "What's this now?"
"nice one."
Yuan Jingui explained, "It spontaneously combusts when heated, does not explode, but will emit a large amount of thick smoke mixed with phosphorus powder, which is choking and spicy, and can also stick to the gunpowder, causing their bullets to become damp."
If we're lucky, we might even let them experience the taste of an explosion.
After doing all that, he took out a small oil paper packet containing some grass powder that emitted a strange, sweet smell.
"This, mix it into the horse feed."
Don't worry, it's not poison. If the horse eats it, it'll just be too excited to sleep, and its mind will be filled with only one thought—running.
The skinny man listened, stunned, and finally couldn't help but give a thumbs up:
"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Old Yuan, you're just born for this!"
These seemingly underhanded tactics, however, had an unexpected and remarkable effect on the chaotic battlefield.
Half an hour later.
Behind the Japanese army lines that were fighting the disciples of Longhu Mountain, suddenly came a series of heart-wrenching screams and groans.
Hundreds of soldiers clutched their stomachs, their faces turning blue, rolling on the ground in agony; the scene was quite spectacular.
Immediately afterwards, an indescribable stench began to permeate the military camp, with a lethality comparable to poison gas.
"what happened?!"
A Japanese colonel who was in command was filled with shock and anger.
Before he finished speaking, thick smoke suddenly billowed from the direction of the ammunition depot. The choking smoke, accompanied by violent coughing, threw the soldiers on guard into chaos.
The soldiers on the front lines soon discovered that seven or eight out of ten of the bullets they had just received misfired, and some rifles even exploded on the spot, leaving the users covered in blood and gore.
Panic began to spread like a plague.
The final straw that broke the camel's back came from the stable.
Dozens of warhorses, as if driven mad, with bloodshot eyes, broke their reins and charged out of the stables, neighing loudly.
They rampaged through the area, knocking over tents, campfires, and even soldiers who couldn't dodge in time.
The entire logistics area of the Japanese army camp was plunged into apocalyptic chaos.
"Reporting, General! The water source has been contaminated, causing a large number of soldiers to vomit and have diarrhea, rendering them incapable of fighting!"
"Report! Ammunition depot under attack, gunpowder dampened, supply interrupted!"
"Report! The stables are out of control! Warhorses have charged into the barracks, causing heavy casualties!"
Urgent military reports kept pouring in like snowflakes onto the Japanese commander's desk, driving him to the brink of madness.
He finally realized that the enemy's target was not just that group of ninjas.
Their real killer move is in the rear!
"Retreat! Quickly! Send a portion of the troops back to defend the logistics immediately! Stabilize the position!"
Under the commander's desperate orders, the Japanese army, which had originally surrounded the masters of the three temples and four families, had to divert most of its forces to turn back and deal with the fire in its own backyard.
A huge gap suddenly appeared in the encirclement.
Zhang Yunyuan and his group, who were engaged in a fierce battle with the Hira Ninja, keenly noticed this change.
"What happened? Why did the Japanese army retreat?"
Tian Jinzhong sent a ninja flying with a single punch, his face full of confusion.
Zhang Zhiwei's lightning spell sent three ninjas twitching uncontrollably. He glanced lazily at the towering flames and chaos behind the Japanese army camp, a playful smile playing on his lips.
"Heh, interesting."
He seemed to have guessed something, but didn't say anything.
In the mountains and forests, Wugensheng looked at the masterpiece before him and nodded in satisfaction.
Several Quanxing masters quietly appeared beside him.
"Sect Leader, the main force of the Japanese army has been transferred away, and now only that group of ninjas are left."
Yuan Jingui's figure appeared behind him like a ghost.
Wugensheng smiled, a smile that appeared exceptionally clear in the firelight, yet also carried a hint of cunning.
"No rush, the real show is just beginning."
He turned to look at the Quanxing masters beside him, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Frontal fighting and killing is the business of respectable sects."
"We, the Quanxing, should do what the Quanxing should do. Let's go, give these guests from Japan some more spice!"
Chapter 57 The Vengeful Ghost Takes Life
With the main force of the Japanese army transferred away, the Hirai Ninja Clan was completely isolated.
Having lost rear support in terms of firearms and troop cover, they could only engage in the most primitive and bloody hand-to-hand combat with the masters of the Three Temples and Four Families.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Ren Tou feigned an attack to force back the crazed Lü Ci, and let out a sharp whistle, actually trying to lead the remaining troops to break through the encirclement.
But would the masters of the three temples and four families let them have their way?
The crowd, already bloodthirsty, formed a battle formation, trapping them firmly in place, and a fierce, all-out annihilation battle ensued.
Outside the main battlefield, another war, unseen by gunfire, was raging in the Japanese-occupied territory.
Late at night, in a county town occupied by Japanese troops, a patrol of soldiers yawned as they walked down an empty street.
"Damn it, I can't even find a pretty girl in this godforsaken place."
A soldier muttered a curse under his breath.
"Shut up! Be careful the squad leader hears you!"
Another soldier looked around warily.
Just then, a cold wind blew by without warning.
The lantern on the street corner flickered eerily twice before suddenly going out.
"what happened?"
The soldiers tensed up instantly and raised their guns.
In the darkness, a wind chime hanging under the eaves began to sway gently on its own, emitting a crisp yet eerie "ding-a-ling" sound.
Immediately afterwards, a patrolman's rifle broke free from his hand and slowly floated into the air, turning its muzzle to point at his forehead.
"Ah—! A ghost!"
The soldier was so terrified that he let out a scream that was not human, collapsed to the ground, and soiled himself.
The other soldiers were also terrified by this completely illogical scene and frantically fired at the suspended rifle.
boom! boom! boom!
The gunshots were particularly jarring in the quiet night, igniting panic throughout the entire county.
The Quanxing master, hiding in the shadows, looked at the masterpiece before him and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
He twitched his finger slightly, and the suspended rifle spun in the air before falling to the ground with a thud.
He then flickered and vanished silently into the deeper darkness.
Similar incidents occurred repeatedly in various Japanese-occupied areas.
Sometimes, officers' samurai swords would spontaneously unsheathe in the middle of the night and carve the words "a life for a life" in blood on the wall;
Sometimes, the flags in the barracks would flutter wildly on windless nights, as if being pulled by invisible, wronged spirits.
These terrifying incidents of "vengeful ghosts claiming lives," coupled with some nursery rhymes deliberately spread by members of the Quanxing sect, quickly spread among the Japanese army.
"At the third watch, the night is filled with weeping; wronged spirits knock on the door, demanding lives..."
Meanwhile, in some of the mountains and forests that the Japanese army had to pass through, legends of "man-eating monsters" began to spread.
Several members of the Quanxing sect, skilled in illusion, created various terrifying illusions in the mountains: