Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 110: Chapter 9 Porcelain!

Li Yan didn’t look, he just pressed play casually.

A deep drumbeat resonated from his walkman, followed by the clear ringing of suspended cymbals.

The rhythmic percussion accompanied by drum beats intensified as the horde of corpses drew even nearer.

The man sang in a low voice, sharp yet somewhat melodious.

“Beans are boiled with their stalks~”

“Inside the pot, they weep~”

“Born of the same root~”

“Why be so hasty to fry each other~”

Li Yan crouched low on his legs and with a burst of power, charged into the looming mass of corpses!

On him, a trench coat, in his hand, the Ring Dragon. Nothing else.

But to deal with these things, it was enough.

The drumbeats exploded, and a hoarse male voice shouted:

“Grab a handful of dirt, roll a big ball, you spit! Spit~, I shed a couple of tears!”

“Mix it, mix it, thin mud is made! All set! All set!”

The voice was rough.

The style was strange.

It had a hint of old folk tunes, with a touch of scoffing and cursing characteristic of Beijing’s local accent.

And on Li Yan’s chest, the previously dormant Chaos Tattoo came back to life!

Two elliptical golden coins were tossed by Li Yan into the air, spinning as they transformed into two black Ashigaru, both with 68% Wakizashi expertise.

The Ring Dragon thrust through the back of a zombie. Li Yan, using the momentum, bent his knees in a bow stance and launched a coiled ninety-degree kick off the ground, pulling the sword from its sheath and twisting his body, as the Ring Dragon emitted a shrill cry and traced a bright arc in the air!

The four zombies in front of him were bisected at the waist by the Ring Dragon, their sections falling to the ground, devoid of any fleshy substance. Instead, black bamboo sticks and tattered paper were revealed.

Paper figures?!

Using the old momentum, the Ring Dragon swung and plunged into a female zombie’s throat. Li Yan gently lifted the hilt of the sword, the tip piercing through the female zombie’s chin and exitting through the skull.

Seeing that the female zombie stopped moving, Li Yan looked closely at its face.

White paper skin, black dot eyes, red corners of the mouth, blush on the cheeks.

Wasn’t it a paper figure?

Two sinister black Ashigaru stood behind Li Yan, their cold eyes staring at the roughly hundred-strong horde of paper zombies.

A formidable fierce aura spread from Li Yan, causing the paper figures to hesitate in advancing or retreating,

All ghosts retreat at the presence of the Fierce.

The suppressing effects didn’t work at all.

An irate, piercing engine noise tore through the night, leaving Li Yan startled.

Like boiling water on a snowball, the zombies hastily made way to both sides.

The glaring headlights forced Li Yan to shut his eyes as a white van, painted blue with the words “Park Anywhere,” careened wildly, flipping several paper zombies and who knew how many others crushed beneath, the sliding tires flinging bamboo shards and paper scraps over two meters high.

The blue spray paint that read “Park Anywhere” was especially jarring.

The sound of the straining engine and skidding tires made Li Yan frown, his finger pressed and held on the Sony Walkman’s “+” button.

“All set with the mud! All set! All set!”

The voice of the listless man roared louder.

Seventeen or eighteen muscular, decaying brutes hopped out of the van. They were short and sturdy, each wielding a shovel, a pickaxe, and even bricks. Their blood red eyes were filled with cruelty and ferocity.

Without a second thought, Li Yan pulled out an RPK light machine gun he’d snatched from the skull-tattooed man and fired a burst.

Casings clinked as they hit the ground, multitude of brute figures advancing despite a hail of bullets, their torn flesh also revealing red bamboo frames and attached paper scraps,

Also paper figures.

[Night Wanderer]

Suppress all flesh and blood creatures.

Suppression effects: Reduce attack speed by 50%, reduce movement speed by 50% when the enemy is fleeing

Chzzzzchzzzzchzzzzchzzzz~

The sound of a bloodied iron shovel dragging across the ground cut distinctly through the dense drumbeats and bass. The middle-aged man was singing with gusto:

“Comrades and brothers~”

“Comrades and brothers~”

“Comrades and brothers~”

“Comrades and brothers~”

Amid the melodious and slick voice of the middle-aged man, all the suppression effects Yan Fu offered were turned into ??? symbols!

The middle-aged man, no, Liang Ye, cleared his throat twice, striking a pose, as if mimicking a factory leader’s speech at a large meeting.

“This comrade, essentially, is not bad at all.”

At the front, a defiant and stocky brute roared furiously, swinging an iron spade caked with brain matter and fresh blood at Li Yan’s shoulder with crushing force!

“But! Because I wasn’t strict enough with myself, which led to… this bourgeois, decadent~declining~ way of thinking… always exerting a subtle influence in my head…”

Li Yan stepped forward, the Ring Dragon long sword aiming for the stocky brute’s wrist, the blade successfully piercing through. Before Li Yan could relax, an unstoppable force transmitted to his arm, his body went heavy as the iron spade, now with much of its force dissipated, smacked into his left ribs, almost making Li Yan spurt out a mouthful of old blood!

Well, I’ll be?!

“But, ah, we still need to, ah, unite with him~”

Li Yan, suppressing the churning of his lifeblood, withdrew his Ring Dragon long sword.

“Help him~”

His hand flicked and flipped, the Tiger Head Great Spear thrusting out like a platinum meteor, puncturing the brute’s head into a pulpy mess.

“Educate him~”

The brute’s body swayed for a moment, then slumped down limply.

“Care about him~”

Many brutes roared and surged forward.

“We’re friends, aren’t we, we’re brothers, aren’t we, we’re pottery, aren’t we!”

Amongst the thunderous sounds of the drum set and bass, this song also reached its climax.

“We are yellow!”

“We are big!”

“We are long!”

“We are black!”

“If you pull me up, I’ll give you a hand~”

“If you play me, I’ll fight you to the death~”

Bloodied iron hoes, ferocious muscles, blue-painted license plates, rustic Han Swords, stern eyes, and the flickering lights of a million stars…

In the sky, the yellow faces contorted, this eerie and frightful, bizarrely twisted midnight, set ablaze by the hoarse voice of a decadent middle-aged man.

Two Ashigaru warriors clad in black were lost among the brutes, as Li Yan’s Tiger Head Devouring Blade emitted a dazzling light, shattering the iron shovels and pointed hoes that collided with the spearhead.

Gun Lance Fang.

Some brutes even threw iron hammers and even red bricks, but before they could hit Li Yan, they shattered upon impact with the platinum armor plates that appeared out of nowhere around the spear shaft.

Sturdy Body.

The bass drum and tom-toms beat rhythmically, four short and one long, striking forcefully and swiftly.

Li Yan flicked the spear shaft, repelling the horde of ghastly figures, stepped forward in a goose step, and danced the long spear with his wrists down. In an instant, the Tiger Head Devouring Blade whirled chaotically! For a time, black paper scraps fluttered all around, and the crisp snapping of bamboo frames was incessant.

Li Yan took a deep breath, swung out in a round arc, and the Tiger Head Great Spear was unstoppable, striking several brutes’ knees.

The rhythm of the cymbals and triangles buzzed together, and a brute’s head smashed downward onto the ground, bursting their face open.

Thump~

The spearhead smashed into the ground, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Ignoring his aching body, Li Yan pulled out the Ring Dragon from the Seal Space and charged at several brutes armed with scrap metal.

A brute wearing a wide-brimmed hat opened his arms to grab at Li Yan’s Ring Dragon, severing several fingers but blocking all of Li Yan’s potential sword moves!

“Comrade brother~”

Liang Ye shouted out.

Li Yan, as if guided by whimsical inspiration, let go of the sword handle. He ducked down and rolled forward, attacking with a Bagua Palm technique that caught his opponent off guard, and kicked between the brute’s legs, using the force to spring between them, his back rubbing against the oily patch on the ground, leaving a long trail as he caught the freely falling hilt in mid-roll and, with one hand supporting himself off the ground, rose with the sword casting a wide arc of light.

Main Frame of Combat Sword! The Fire Scorching the Plains stance!

“Companion brother~”

A bloody, bashed-in paper bamboo head rolled and hit Li Yan’s foot.

Li Yan rose gracefully. There were two more brutes in front of him, tearing at the legs and arms of two black Ashigaru warriors until the warriors were mangled beyond recognition.

The three of them stood in a T-shape, silent for a moment.

The drumbeat in the Walkman slowly softened, as the cowbell rang out, sounding like the footfalls of a giant, and the drumbeats surged once more!

Li Yan took a deep breath as the two brutes lunged at him together.

The man in the Walkman let out a long howl.

“Pottery~”

…

Round beads of blood dribbled down.

Li Yan knelt there, torso lined with severed limbs and mutilated remains behind him. He wiped the corner of his mouth and stood up, the fatigue and injuries all over his body undeniable.

Yet around him, not a single living dead stood.

And the repressive object church in front of him had turned into a [?????] sign.

The Walkman hissed softly.

“Er, brother, what do you think. How did I sing?”Nôv(el)B\\jnn