Volume 2 Return to the Continent Chapter 71: Spiritual Master

  It's been a long time, Cai Lingyu's demeanor remains the same, her long hair fluttering, black clothes wrapped around her body, and her eyes still filled with disdain, only now mixed with a hint of playfulness and charm. Perhaps it's because I've caught her before, but proud women don't like to be restrained.

  "Long time no see." I stared at the cold, icy gun barrels surrounding me, making sure I wasn't dreaming.

  We were surrounded by Cai Lingyu's Submerged Dragon Squad. The old eunuch was now mad, hugging the Life and Death Stone and laughing foolishly. I couldn't help but shake my head in bitter amusement - if this old eunuch with superhuman hearing hadn't suddenly gone crazy, how could Cai Lingyu and his men have snuck up on us undetected?

  "Alright, Kouhei, it's finally over." Sakai Ryuusuke jumped out of the crowd, his face wrapped in a white bandage and looking gloomy.

  My heart skipped a beat, and I immediately calmed down, humming a cold laugh: "At the beginning, your bones were all broken, but now you're still alive and kicking. Hmph, not bad. This bone-breaking regenerative power reminds me of a four-legged animal that goes 'wang wang', what's it called again?"

  "Bastard! Japanese bastard!"

  "Ah, you scoundrel! Take this!" Sakai Ryōsuke was enraged, shaking off the supporting hands of his attendants, and with a dizzy head and brandishing his spear, he charged at my chest.

  "Idiot, I've been waiting for this moment!" My eyes narrowed, and I had already prepared myself. Pretending to retreat, I accidentally tripped and fell. Sakai Takaaki saw an opportunity and quickly stabbed his sword downwards from above.

  "Stop!" Cai Lingyu called out softly, but Sakai Ryūkō didn't respond, his face twisted in a scowl.

  As I see the white-flashing dagger-like electricity coming towards me, I don't dodge or evade because I know someone will help block it for me.

  "Little Japan, come and get it!" In an instant, Balza roared with anger, not knowing when he had already rushed to my front. A powerful old fist struck the bayonet with a loud crash, sending it flying out. Sakai Ryūichi's empty right hand trembled with shock: "What great strength!"

  Ba Erzha didn't waste any words with him, and the old fist that was thrown out quickly changed, from bottom to top, transforming into a claw, grasping the stunned Sakai Ryūkō's vital point like a dragon rising to heaven.

  "Ahh!" A heart-wrenching scream.

  The crowd of subordinates were afraid to shoot, and Balza sneered as he swung out his left fist. The massive force heavily hit the heart of Sakai Ryūkō, whose eyes bulged out, and blood continuously seeped from his mouth, leaving him with less than a breath of air.

  This series of changes happened too quickly, and Sakai Ryuichi, who was still wounded and slow to react, was caught off guard by the skilled Barza.

  "Anyone who comes over, I'll strangle him to death!" Balzac threatened, holding the gasping Sakai Ryūichi by the neck like a small chicken, his legs dangling in mid-air and struggling non-stop. The two-meter-tall giant was holding the one-meter-six Japanese man, not much different from bullying a little kid.

  Those people from the Dragon Squad were all frightened out of their wits, one by one forgetting to shout and scold.

  "Dongzi, how's Laozi's trick?" Barzahahaha burst into laughter, as if he had returned to the passionate years of capturing and killing devils.

  "I'll treat you to a big meal when we get back!" I was extremely pleased with Barza's performance. Glancing at Cai Lingyu, who had turned pale, I thought to myself that the situation had reversed and it wasn't them capturing us anymore. Smiling, I said: "Captain Cai, no, Miss Cai, hehe, shouldn't we be negotiating on equal terms now?"

  Cai Lingyu's eyebrows were pinched into a line, and she gritted her teeth, saying: "Useless thing, what use do you have?" As soon as the words fell, she raised her sleeve, and a flying knife flew out silently. By the time we came back to our senses, Sakai Ryūkō was already clutching his chest in pain, with blood flowing freely, staring at Cai Lingyu in disbelief, trembling: "You... you're so cruel...... Ah......" His neck slumped, and he died with his eyes wide open.

  "Your bargaining chip is gone." Cai Lingyu said calmly.

  Ba Erzha angrily threw the corpse of Wine Well Long into the distance like trash, and said gloomily: "Damn it, indeed a woman's heart is the most poisonous."

  I was shocked by Cai Lingyu's calm judgment, or rather, cold-bloodedness. In order to avoid being coerced, he could easily take down even his own people with this decisiveness; it's a pity he didn't become an agent. "Aren't you afraid of your superiors questioning you?" I asked.

  Tsai Ing-wen: "I don't like Japanese people, they all deserve to die."

  As soon as this was said, several people from the Hidden Dragon Squad looked at her with a glance, and then they were all stared back by Cai Lingyu's murderous gaze, and they seemed to be humble. Needless to say, these subordinates should also be genuine little Japanese. This gave me a new understanding of Cai Lingyu's position in the Hidden Dragon Squad.

  A dozen or so guns were pointed at us, the atmosphere was even more tense, and the situation was worse than when we first started. After all, our hands had already been stained with their people's blood.

  At this moment, Tian Wenliang, who had been unresponsive all along, suddenly burst out laughing loudly and abruptly.

  "Have you gone mad too?" I asked in surprise.

  "Friend behind the stone, don't hide your head and show your tail. Why not come out and meet?" Tian Wenliang made a please gesture with his hands towards the old eunuch holding the big stone.

  "There's someone behind!" I was shocked and didn't notice any breath at all.

  Just as we were watching with wide eyes, the sound of footsteps moving was heard, and a frail young man with his mouth covered with tattered cloth was pushed out.

  "Thank you!"

  He was actually caught by the Dragon Squad, no wonder he wasn't seen anywhere.

  Then, a young man wearing strange tight-fitting clothes slowly walked out from behind the big stone.

  All he saw was a common face, short stature, holding a Japanese samurai sword in his hand, staring at Tian Wenliang with sharp eyes.

  "Japanese samurai?" Tian Wenliang asked.

  "Shinto priest, great swordsman, Kitagawa Kami." The Japanese warrior introduced himself with a tone that sounded like he had a sugar cube in his mouth, which was unpleasant to hear. This is my general impression of the way Japanese men speak, whereas Japanese women are much softer.

  "You're not bad, are you interested in a duel? If I win, we cooperate and leave this place, then each of us will do our own tasks. But if you lose, you'll be my captive, how about it?" Beikuan Shen said confidently.

  "Leave this place? What does that mean?" Tian Wen's eyebrows moved, and it seemed like there was another deeper meaning behind Beichuan Shen's words. However, since the other party had challenged him to a fight, Tian Wen did not show any signs of fear.

  "Alright, let's have a fight. However, I'm good at naval battles." Tian Wenliang said.

  Kitagawa shook his head: "There is no water here, it won't work."

  "You little Japanese, you were just pretending to be dignified, hypocrite!" I cursed loudly.

  However, Kitakawa no Kami then took the beautifully decorated tachi and stuck it in the ground, gazing at it with a look of pity. "The famous sword Kikukaze, I won't use this one either." He then removed the Saya no Usumi from his waist and said, "Saya no Usumi, I won't use this one either."

  Xian Ting walked up to Tian Wenliang, both of them spread out their hands, each with a string of purple Buddhist beads on their wrists, which were engraved with inscriptions that caught the eye. Ah, with a loud shout, the veins on his neck bulged, and he smiled with a curved mouth: "I'll defeat you with just these two hands, how about it?"

  Tian Wenliang's face was extremely solemn, and he calmly said: "Good!"

  I quickly opened up a few meters of distance with Balza. At the same time, I was uneasy in my heart, reasonably speaking Tian Wenliang's skills were impressive and some of his moves were unpredictable, but just as he said, he was best at naval battles, and land battles weren't even as solid as Balza's. What made my eyelids twitch was this Japanese warrior who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, one look at him and you could tell he was a top-notch expert. It would be great if there was a Huo Yuanjia or Han Muzha by my side.

  "Be careful, Lao Tian, this guy is no good!" Balza warned.

  Tian Wenliang solemnly nodded his head.

  "Hehe, you go first, let me experience Chinese Kung Fu." said Kitagawa Jin, bowing his hands.

  Tian Wenliang's forehead was sweating, he took a step forward, his body shifted half a position to the left, and immediately let out a loud shout, his fist swept across, making a whooshing sound. Kitagawa Kaito neatly dodged it with a quick backstep, Tian Wenliang spun around and flew in with a kick, the latter slapped his palm and caught it, the enormous force sending Kitagawa Kaito flying three meters away.

  Bei Chuan Shen barely stood firm, and suddenly let out a strange laugh. Tian Wen Liang's moves didn't stop, one move followed another, swift and fierce, each move more powerful than the last, combining real and fake, causing Bei Chuan Shen to retreat step by step.

  It made me, a martial arts fool, secretly praise him. "If I hadn't used brute force to pin him down at the beginning, it's not certain that I would have been able to beat him." Balza thought back to when he subdued Tian Wenliang and still felt a lingering fear.

  Just then, the old eunuch who had gone mad suddenly shouted loudly and regained a bit of his senses, warning loudly: "Be careful, don't be deceived by him, this little Japanese is... a spiritual medium!"

  "What?" Tian Wenliang was startled, his movements slowed down for a moment, and Kitagawa took advantage of the opening to escape from Tian Wenliang's attack range. Suddenly, he clasped his hands together and muttered a mysterious Japanese phrase, the Buddhist beads on his wrist glowing purple, and with a loud smack, like a toad, he slapped the ground forcefully.

  An incredible scene unfolded. Suddenly, a white ghostly figure emerged from under Tian Wenliang's feet and silently merged into his back. He stiffened all over, maintaining the motion of throwing a punch, unable to move except for his rolling eyeballs.

  Bei Chuan Shen walked up to Tian Wen Liang's stunned face, his finger lightly pushed forward, and Tian Wen Liang crashed to the ground.

  I stood there with Balza, staring at Hokuto Shin in a ghostly manner. This guy is going to cast a spell!

  Kitagawa bowed respectfully to Tadashi, saying "I apologize" in a hypocritical tone. He then clapped his hands and two of his subordinates tied up Tadashi. Just a few seconds later, he came to, looking at the Japanese medium with a shocked and angry expression, and said "Fine, this time I admit defeat."

  Kitagawa Kojuro politely replied: "I yield." He walked back to his original position, picked up his sword and scabbard.

  I exchanged a wry glance with Balza, and with this sudden appearance of Cheng Yaojin, we abandoned any thought of escape. Not to mention the numerous rifles trained on our heads nearby.

  Their backpacks were taken away one by one, and under Cai Lingyu's orders, we were thoroughly searched. Even the sheepskin paper that Balza had hidden in his crotch was seized by Cai Lingyu. My treasured notebook, which I had obtained from the underground base on the deserted island, was also confiscated by Cai Lingyu and carefully kept close to her body, leaving me deeply regretful. If only I had left it hidden in Taiwan and not brought it out, the secrets contained within seemed unlikely to be revealed again.

  The old eunuch was also caught, it seems he wasn't a match for that little Japanese guy either.

  This time, the four of us plus Xie Ba have all fallen into the hands of the Qianlong Troop, and it's almost a complete defeat. The Diyan Action Team can be said to have failed before even starting. Now we can only hope that Cai Lingchen and Xie Qi can save us, oh right, and also that big wolf dog that nearly killed me. However, I don't hold too much hope, after all, apart from Balza, Tian Wenliang, and me, there may still be traitors among the remaining people.

  Just as we were worried about how Cai Lingyu and his men would dispose of us, they marched us a long way under pressure.

  After more than an hour of fear and trepidation, we returned again to the site where the plane had crashed, on the edge of that life-and-death rock.

  "Hagane, we're back again! We can't get out of here at all!" Kitakawa said in dismay: "This is already the eighth time we've walked back to the starting point!"

  Cai Lingyu's face was filled with worry and doubt as he said, "Reincarnation is inevitable, the cycle of fate is inescapable. Can this legendary Stone of Rebirth really lock away everyone who passes through it?"