Chapter 46 The World Has Changed
There is a shrine on the back hill outside the village. When a flagmaster was stationed nearby, he used the shrine as his residence and drove away all the shrine maidens and priests, so the shrine has been abandoned.
However, there was a fire in the shrine at this time. A group of men dismantled some of the shrine's floor, chopped it into firewood, and built a bonfire. They sat around the fire, roasted meat, and talked and laughed loudly.
Looking at the clothes of these people, they all had some simple armor. Although they were already in tatters, they were obviously not as simple as ordinary bandits. They looked like deserters who had become bandits.
People are afraid of evil people, and ghosts are also afraid of evil people. When the murderous aura is strong, ordinary ghosts dare not approach them.
As for zombies, they are not afraid either. Do they really think that the swords and guns in their hands are just decorations?
There is also a girl in the corner of the shrine. She looks pretty, but her clothes are messy, revealing some white skin. Her hands and feet are tied with ropes, and her mouth is stuffed with rags, so she can't move.
While eating meat, these deserters glanced at the girl who looked like a lamb to be slaughtered.
Just then, a figure appeared outside the door.
The deserters immediately became alert, reached out to grab the weapons beside them, and looked out the door together.
The figure walked into the shrine slowly, and the firelight illuminated his face. It turned out to be an Onmyoji.
The Onmyoji looked around and smiled, "Traveler passing by, can we warm ourselves by the fire together?"
The faces of these deserters were a little solemn. In the middle of the night, in a place where hundreds of demons roamed at night, an Onmyoji suddenly appeared, which was a bit weird no matter how you looked at it.
The leading deserter stood up, holding a wild sword on his shoulder, and shouted: "Go somewhere else, you are not welcome here."
The Yin-Yang Master was Qi Xuansu. He ignored the leader of the deserters and said to the back: "Come and see if that is your friend."
The little witch holding the Kagura bell leaned out from behind Qi Xuansu, looked at the girl who helped tie her up, and nodded repeatedly: "It's her."
In an instant, the deserters' eyes were fixed on the little witch. Their already ferocious expressions became even uglier. Their bloodshot eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets, and saliva flowed from the corners of their mouths. This kind of behavior has exceeded the scope of normal people. If nothing unexpected happens, they will become monsters sooner or later.
"That's good." Qi Xuansu nodded, raised his hand and fired a burst.
The deserter leader suddenly opened his eyes wide, a deep blood hole appeared on his forehead, and he fell to the ground with a bang.
In terms of the experience of using fire guns, Zhang Yuelu is not as good as Qi Xuansu. In terms of sneak attack skills using fire guns, the three Taoist masters may not be better than Qi Xuansu.
Qi Xuansu did not give others time to react, and fired repeatedly.
The other deserters fell to the ground instantly, all of them were shot in the middle of their eyebrows, exactly.
Because they used ordinary bullets with low power, they could fire continuously. However, because the "Shenlong Hand Gun" and "Painted Dragon Hand Gun" had to fire the extremely powerful "Dragon Eye" series, it was difficult to fire continuously.
There is also a kind of mechanical gun that can fire continuously, and one gun can achieve the effect of a rain of bullets.
However, there is still a big problem now. If it is fired continuously, the power of the bullet will become smaller. It will not break the defense of the black-clad heavy cavalry, just like scratching an itch. As long as the black-clad heavy cavalry gets close to them, it will be a one-sided massacre, so this mechanical gun, which was formerly the "Thunder Gun", has not been taken seriously.
It was not until this time that the little witch understood what Qi Xuansu meant by "the world has changed". It is indeed different. If she used a sword to kill, she might be in danger. Bows and spells would also consume physical strength. If she used firearms, she only needed to bend her fingers.
If it weren't for the kind-hearted Yin-Yang master who helped her, she might have fallen into the hands of these bandits if she came here rashly.
This Yin-Yang master is really a good person.
By the way, she even forgot to ask the Yin-Yang master's name.
Qi Xuansu put away the fire gun and took the initiative to explain: "I dare to walk alone outside, firstly relying on Yin-Yang magic, and secondly relying on fire guns. Yin-Yang magic drives away demons, and fire guns eliminate evil."
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The little witch murmured: "I also want to save money to buy a fire gun. This thing is much more useful than bows and arrows. No wonder those warriors said that the black-clothed people in the Central Plains are invincible. It's really terrible."
Qi Xuansu reminded: "Your friend is still tied up."
The little witch woke up from her dream and hurried to untie her friend.
After a while, the little witch came with her friends to thank them.
Qi Xuansu was a little impatient with the custom of Feng?????????????????? Linzhou. Half of his sentence was thanks and apology. He waved his hand and said, "Okay, we should go to the shrine."
Qi Xuansu could of course try to break through the heavy blockade of Duoqi County directly, and there was a high probability that he would succeed, but the follow-up would be very troublesome, which meant that he could only hide his head and show his tail like a street rat, and could not enter the city or show his face in front of people. Then it would be meaningless for him to disguise himself as a Harima-ryu Onmyoji.
The key is that Ise Shrine has been prepared after being alarmed by Tsuchimikado Onmyoji, and will take action at the slightest sign of trouble. This is the first of the three major shrines, with the King of Sai personally in charge. With Qi Xuansu's level of Taoism, he dare not confront Ise Shrine head-on, so it is better to get through than to break through.
There is a suspension bridge on the mountain behind the village. After crossing the suspension bridge, you will be in Takei County. Then go down the mountain and walk north for another 100 miles, there is Yoshida Castle, where the shrine of the little witch is located.
Because the merchant's daughter was just an ordinary person, and had been tied up for a long time, her hands and feet were inconvenient to move, and she had to be supported by the little witch to walk. Qi Xuansu could not show his cultivation, so he ran with the two of them, so the three of them walked very slowly. By the time the three of them crossed the suspension bridge and went down the mountain, it was already dawn.
At this moment, a huge shadow passed over the three of them.
The little witch's face changed drastically: "It's the 'Crane Boat'! Hide quickly!"
After saying that, she dived directly into the bushes next to her, and Qi Xuansu and the merchant's daughter had to follow suit.
Speaking of "Crane Boat", Qi Xuansu was quite familiar with it, because it was a product of Taoism, a small flying boat, shaped like a crane flapping its wings and flying high, and Taoists also preferred cranes, so it was named "Crane Boat".
"Crane Boat" can usually only carry two or three people. Its main function, in addition to reconnaissance, is to launch the "Phoenix Eye" series and bomb ground targets from a high position. Because the "Crane Boat" is small in size, its driving core is a dragon ball imitated by the Taoist sect, which has inherent defects and cannot fly long distances. Therefore, it is usually carried on the "Yinglong". After being transported to the designated location by the "Yinglong", it takes off from the deck of the "Yinglong". After completing the mission, it returns to the "Yinglong".
There has been no war in the Central Plains for a long time, and the "Crane Boat" rarely appears in front of the world. Many people have only heard of it but have never seen it. But Fenglinzhou is different. The "Crane Boat" is dispatched in large numbers. When facing the army on the ground, it is like heavy cavalry facing light infantry. It is a completely one-sided massacre. The Zunyang faction in Fenglinzhou has reached the point of changing color when talking about the "Crane Boat".
This is also the reason why the Xiangfu has never betrayed the Taoist sect, because the admiration for strength is engraved in the bones, and the strength of the Taoist sect is obvious to all. The Toyotomi Xiangfu has always believed that as long as the Taoist sect personally launches an attack, everything will be fine.
In fact, it is indeed the case. Qingwei Zhenren quickly cleared the inside and outside of Xiujing. With the combination of the black armor heavy cavalry and the "Crane Boat", they were invincible and almost unstoppable. The people of Toyotomi Xiangfu quickly gathered.
Confidence is the most precious.
To put it bluntly, why did Qingwei Zhenren directly appoint the candidate for the regent without any opposition? It was because the Taoist sect had not lost a series of wars in recent years, which gave Qingwei Zhenren great prestige and confidence.
From another perspective, why did the Sonnong faction have to assassinate? In the final analysis, they could not win on the front battlefield, so they could only take a side path.
Now that the Taoist sect has initially mastered the sky of Fenglinzhou, it can attack at will and be invincible, but the ground army is seriously lacking and cannot achieve effective occupation, so it is necessary to integrate Toyotomi Xiangfu and recruit various local snake forces.
???????????????????Now it seems that the vanguard of the Taoist sect has arrived in Ise, but it has not yet launched a full-scale attack, but mainly harassment.
Qi Xuansu asked, "Where are these 'Crane Boats' going?"
The little witch said with lingering fear, "They should be going to Jiujiu Castle, where there are many samurai. These 'Crane Boats' never target civilians, but only the castles of daimyo and feudal lords, or the shrines under the shrine. Fortunately, we are in the woods. If they see me wearing a shrine maiden's uniform, they will definitely not let me go."
Qi Xuansu thought to himself: Do you know how expensive the "Phoenix Eye" series is? Do you know how much the "Xuanhuang" consumes? How could they target a little witch like you who is confused? That's like using a cannon to kill a mosquito and using a butcher knife to kill a chicken.
While the two were talking, several more "Crane Boats" flew over the sky.
Since the "Crane Boat" has arrived, it means that there will be a "Yinglong" not far away. This is not a "Yinglong" that just meets the threshold of 400 people, but a fully staffed "Yinglong" with all kinds of formations. If the shrine sends out a master of heaven to intercept the "Crane Boat", it will become a living target of the "Yinglong".
Qi Xuansu was somewhat glad that he didn't fly with the wind and didn't die at the hands of the Ise Shrine. If he was killed by a cannon from his own people, it would be too unfair. After all, he didn't have the exiled immortal Qingyun. If he was hit by a cannon head-on, even if he had the indestructible God and the Shinto golden body, it would most likely be torn into pieces. The only thing that could be preserved intact was probably the "Heart of the Stone of Eternal Life".
The three waited for a while, and when they saw no more "Crane Boats" passing by, they came out of their hiding place and continued to head towards Yoshida Castle.
The rest of the journey was smooth, and they didn't encounter any more "Crane Boats". They only encountered a team of samurai belonging to the shrine. However, with the help of the little shrine maiden, Qi Xuansu didn't get embarrassed too much.
When Yoshida Castle was in sight, the little witch suddenly remembered: "Onmyoji, my name is Asai Cang, you can call me A Cang. I haven't asked for your name yet."
"So you are from a noble family." Qi Xuansu said, "I am from a commoner family, I don't have a surname. The founder of our Harima-ryu is called Doman, you can call me Daochang."
Qi Xuansu played a little trick, Daochang is a respectful title for Taoist priests, but the "Chang" here is pronounced as "Chang" in "long and short", not "Chang" in "old and young".