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    The repeated pursuits over the past few days had cast a deep shadow on Shinfuku Mitsuko and herpanions, and upon hearing Su Lun''s words, "They''re here," everyone immediately entered a state ofbat readiness. The group of ninja bodyguards instantly drew their weapons and closed in to protect the Princess.


    The atmosphere in the bamboo forest became instantly tense, and everyone could hear each other''s heavy breathing.


    The Princess nced at Senjo, but her gaze actually lingered on Su Lun, conveying an unmistakable meaning: What do we do now?


    Although she knew that Su Lun was certainly strong, he was after all just one person.


    The ghost warriors were fallen warriors who already died in battle. They were numerous and still employed their military formation and encirclement tactics from life, with formidablebat strength. The key issue was their undying nature—that was the most troublesome part. In such a situation, even fifth- or sixth-rank professionals would find no advantage in battle. Otherwise, their group would not have been decimated to this extent.


    If they were to sh head-on as they had in the past couple of days, there would undoubtedly be heavy casualties, and they might not evenst until dawn.


    With a formidable enemy on their heels, Senjo maintained her usual nonchnt demeanor of "indifference to life and death, quick to draw the de". She noticed the Princess''s gaze, shrugged her shoulders, and indicated for her to look at Su Lun at her side.


    Feeling the stares of several eyes on him, Su Lun appeared calm, but he was actually feeling a bit of pressure.


    Just by hearing how the ghost warriors had chased Senjo and the others to this miserable state let him know they were not to be underestimated.


    His original n beforeing here was that, if truly overpowered, he would take Senjo and Lolo Ta with him and flee.


    However, the reality was that the Princess was quite righteous, having urged them several times to split up and escape.


    This actually made Su Lun feel that running away without a fight would be kind of... dishonorable.


    Besides, it seemed Senjo''s intention was to repay a favor by ensuring the safety of the Princess as much as possible.


    Well then, he would give it his all.


    ...


    Senjo''s hands were sealed, and her hand seals were very stiff. What should have been an instant process to release the sixteen sorcerer''s seals on her prosthetic arms became a slow-motion performance, taking nearly half a minute to gather together. Her prosthetic arms were also restricted by anti-magic runes, and she barely conjured up two functioning prosthetic arms. She rested her hand on the hilt of the "Demon de Munemasa", and her entire presence suddenly became foreboding.


    Lolo Ta also drew her long sword, standing earnestly beside Senjo. The girl''s face transformed once the sword was unsheathed, disying fearless resolve on her youthful features.


    Compared to them, Su Lun was the most rxed.


    Having waited in the bamboo forest for nearly an hour in advance, he had already made all necessary preparations, and there was nothing left for him to do.


    Yet, hisck of activity was precisely what caused the leader of the ninja bodyguards protecting the Princess to twitch with anxiety. It was as if he found Su Lun unreliable, having wanted several times to urge his Princess to flee for her life. Still, as a loyal retainer, nobody dared to overstep.


    Without intending to exin himself, Su Lun held the Human Skin Rune Fan in his hand, carefully sensing the chilling spiritual bodies that had abruptly emerged in the bamboo forest.


    The Princess, on the other hand, looked unfazed. Seeing no other tactical arrangements from the "reinforcements", she presumed a head-on fight was inevitable and had mentally prepared herself for it. She gritted her teeth and also drew a longbow, slinging a quiver on her back, ready for closebat.


    However, she was also curious why this Mr. Su Lun could detect the arrival of enemies sooner than herself, a Shinto shrine maiden who was more sensitive to monsters and spirits?


    ...


    It wasn''t long after everyone enteredbat mode that a dense sound of footsteps suddenly filled the gloomy bamboo forest.


    It sounded like hundreds of people were encircling their small party, an utterly chilling sensation.


    A few breathster, they finally saw figures converging toward them.


    Upon closer inspection, they were soldiers d in tattered armor wielding spears and swords. Their eyes zed with blue phosphorescence within their eye sockets, like dried-up corpses.


    "So these are the ''ghost warriors''..."


    Su Lun observed the ghostly figures, having already assessed the details, and had a general sense of the situation.


    These were monsters with characteristics of both zombie and spectral types.


    If that were all, Su Lun didn''t think the problem was too big. After all, these creatures, Senjo said, had only thebat strength of first- or second-rank professionals.


    In the legends of the Mountain Hermit nation, humans and the dead coexist, with daytime being for humans to roam and nightfall belonging to those passed. Night was originally the time when yin energy was most intense, and with the appearance of the ghost warriors, the temperature plunged suddenly, creating an eeriness that seemed to shake one''s soul.


    However, Su Lun didn''t feel much of it. As a descendant of dark sorcerers, he had a high resistance to dark energies.


    The ninja bodyguards were visibly tense, these ghostly creatures having left far too many scars on them.


    The number of ghost warriors was overwhelming, estimated to be over six to seven hundred, and pairs of ghastly blue phosphorescent eyes were particrly unsettling in the pitch-ck bamboo forest.


    The leading monsters had approached to within a hundred meters of Su Lun and hispanions when the ninja bodyguards, with a rub of their hands, threw several shuriken which bore the Wind de Technique. Their attack was swift and razor-sharp, and well-hidden in the dark. Su Lun watched as a sh of light passed by, and the projectiles easily sheared through the bamboo, making a crisp "clink clink clink" as they struck a swath of ghost warriors, piercing through them.


    "Quite strong..."


    Su Lun''s eyes narrowed slightly.


    If the sustainability was not discussed, these elemental shuriken seemed even more lethal than regr alchemy bullets. Explore more adventures at My Virtual Library Empire


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    However, his attention was more focused on those ghost warriors who were struck.


    The guards by the Princess''s side were all master ninja of the highest level with strongbat capabilities, roughly equivalent to the strength of third or fourth-tier alchemy practitioners. As such, it was quite easy for them to y these ghost warriors, who were generally of the first or second tier. Just this round of shuriken had hit about ten or twenty ghost warriors, all of them striking vital points, and a tter of severed limbs and chunks of flesh fell to the ground.


    Surprisingly, as soon as the ghost warriors were killed, their bodies, which were solid, suddenly turned into a cloud of ck sand-like death energy and dissipated into the air.


    In the blink of an eye, that dark energy reformed, bing solid once again.


    Su Lun''s left eye shone brilliantly as he carefully observed the process of their elemental state turning back into corpses, his thoughts growing more active, "The ghost warriors'' transition from death to revival is a transformation from spiritual body to physical body, but their attacks are still physical, not too troublesome. And before they are killed again, they can be physically controlled. Moreover, since they are humanoid monsters, although dead, their body structures are still human... wondering if ''psychic tendrils'' could control them."


    This information was almost the same as what he had obtained from Qiantiao earlier.


    The ck crow on his shoulder cawed once, seemingly quite fond of the death energy. Su Lun narrowed his eyes, but his mind thought of another possibility, "If this could be used in the puppet legion, this property of being undying... a truly splendid thing! But where does their energye from?"


    ....


    Since they could reconstitute after dying, even several master ninja fighting vigorously couldn''t reduce the numbers of the ghost warrior army. Instead, they seemed to be steadily increasing, almost surrounding them in a siege formation.


    With the situation as it was, no one could afford to just watch. Even the Princess of the royal family, Shinfuku Mitsuko, had taken up her longbow and begun shooting arrows with great speed.


    Her arrows were no ordinary projectiles. As a Shinto shrine maiden who also had some mastery of spells, the mana-infused arrows were like beams of flowing light that instantly prated several ghost warriors. Those whose bodies were pierced burned to ash in the blink of an eye. Her speed at drawing arrows was incredibly fast, and her attack was the most lethal among the group.


    "The shrine maiden of Iga Shrine, Amaterasu Omikami, light magic spells..."


    Although the spell systems were different, Su Lun could tell that these were arrows imbued with a spread effect against undead creatures.


    Unfortunately, they were not very powerful.


    Having spent a considerable amount of time among the Dalu n, Su Lun had a full understanding of the capabilities of the divine faithful.


    With Shintoism in decline, all spells based on Shinto were simrly weak.


    This Princess could protect herself, but when it came to killing the enemy, she fell slightly short.


    Su Lun was still observing, watching the dispersed death energy reform without taking any action, "As I thought, there''s a source of death energy..."


    If they wanted to solve this pursuit, the problem wasn''t just with the ghost warriors.


    There was also the root of the problem.


    For instance:


    Why can''t they shake off these monsters?


    Who is controlling them?


    Is someone using some sort of special tracking method, or is the problem internal?


    In the eyes of ordinary people, many phenomena that cannot be exined are attributed to "supernatural events."


    Especially in countries like Mountain Hermit, where theocracy reigns, an air of mystery, untouchability, and ruling over the naiveté of the popce strengthens the power and faith of those in control. To some extent, the residents are "ignorant."


    Therefore, the ghost warriors are also beyondprehension.


    But in the eyes of an alchemist, energy is conserved.


    All seemingly bizarre phenomena have a root cause that can be traced back and understood.


    These ghost warriors are immortal, and there must be a reason for their immortality.@@novelbin@@


    Su Lun was still waiting.


    He felt that he was missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.


    ...


    Su Lun, this "reinforcement," hadn''t made a move but merely watched the situation with an unfazed gaze. This unusual behavior surprised everyone except for Qiantiao.


    But no one really had anything to say about it.


    Currently, they were reliving the nightmare of a few days ago, having no choice but to endure with their flesh and blood.


    Now that the ghost warriors hadpletely surrounded them, ranged attacks were no longer efficient, and everyone had to engage in closebat.


    And at that moment, the leader of the ghost warriors finally appeared!


    In Su Lun''s perception, a very powerful spiritual body emerged.


    Looking closer, a ghost warrior d in crimson warriors'' armor appeared in his vision.


    It wore a blood-red ghost mask, its breastteposed of five dark red steel tes fitted together, with shoulder armor and knee guards crafted from woven crimson dragon scales. This was the famous war armor of Mountain Hermit country, the ''Iron Red Scales Coated Five-te Armor''!


    Su Lun appraised the armor. The material, from the iron sheets to the bindings, was made of extremely rare substances. The breastte was crafted from meteoric iron, and those scales were indeed top-tier materials stripped from a seventh-order sea monster. The armor provided astonishing protection against both physical and magical attacks.


    The shuriken, which had easily dispatched ordinary ghost samurai before, merely sparked off this armor.


    Even the Princess''s arrows, when hitting the mark, only managed to disperse some lingering death qi, barely making an impact.


    With this individual''s arrival, everyone''s expressions became incredibly grave.


    This was the monster that had in too many of theirrades over these two days.


    Several ninjas drew their swords and rushed in, as did Lolohta.


    Before charging in, Senjo turned to Su Lun and said, "This guy''s armor has no weak points in defense, except for an inch behind the head on the left side where there''s a gap that can be exploited. But itsbat instincts are troublesome, making it extremely hard to kill. It only bes somewhat rigid when it is reassembling its body."


    "Hmm,"


    Su Lun nodded. With this intelligence, he could save a lot of effort.


    "I''m going!"


    Having said that, Senjo gave Su Lun a nce and dashed forward with his de drawn.


    In the blink of an eye, Senjo was locked in battle with the ghost samurai leader.


    Sword Qi flew in all directions, kicking up dust and debris, andrge swathes of green bamboo in the forest fell.


    The ghost samurai leader was killed and then revived, again and again...


    Su Lun had almostpletely figured out these monsters'' characteristics.


    Still, he remained inactive, his gaze sharp as he carefully scanned the surroundings of the bamboo forest, searching for something.


    ...


    Though the battle prowess of Senjo and the other top ninjas was strong, despite being at an absolute disadvantage in numbers, they did not fall back.


    But as the battle wore on, more enemies would join the fight, leading to the same oue as the previous days—a fight to the death by attrition.


    Gradually, more ghost samurai emerged around them, and the group struggled to cope with the increasing numbers.


    The Princess Shinfuku Mitsuko''s frequency of drawing the bow and shooting arrows decreased significantly, and the potency of her light arrows also waned.


    Senjo''s situation did not look promising either. Her hands were sealed, making it difficult for her to wield her sword. The Demon de, which had not been tamed, seemed reluctant to be used, and apart from its sharpness, it did not exhibit the might it should have as the third-ranked de of the twelve craftsmanship.


    It didn''t take long for close calls to ur, and several top ninjas also sustained injuries.


    As the "reinforcements" everyone had hoped for, Su Lun''s performance was quite disappointing.


    He did not appear to be protecting Princess Shinfuku Mitsuko; rather, it seemed like she was protecting him.


    He stood by her side, calmly taking shots from a distance. asionally, he would draw his sword, which was not especially skillful, and cut down a few ghost samurai that drew near. After that, he did not take any more astonishing actions.


    Even the little girl Lolohta stole more attention than him when it came to eagerness in battle.


    At least, he was not worth the anticipation everyone had just shown.


    Finally, witnessing the situation turning ever more perilous, without any sign of improvement, the guard leader could no longer contain himself and shouted, "Your Royal Highness Princess, please leave! We will hold off these ghost samurai!"


    In this "reinforcement", they saw no glimmer of hope.


    If they dyed any longer, it would be toote!


    Previously, because he was a guest of Her Royal Highness Princess, the captain of the guards refrained from speaking his mind. But now, with life and death at stake, he could no longer afford the courtesy.


    He even began to doubt the "reinforcement''s" motives... Was he deliberately stalling?


    Hearing this, Princess Shinfuku Mitsuko also looked troubled.


    Although she suspected that Mr. Su Lun by her side was not giving it his all and seemed to be nning something, what could change even if he fought with all his might?


    Su Lun, hearing those words filled with obvious anger, remained expressionless, observing everything indifferently.


    If these people just left, it would save him a lot of trouble.


    After all, the only person he had rushed here to protect was Senjo.


    For outsiders who did not trust him, it was not a matter of whether they were worth saving, but that saving them would lead to furtherplications afterward.


    Moreover, he was not intentionally procrastinating.


    If no one fought desperately, the person controlling everything from behind would likely not show themselves.


    Even if we fend them off tonight, it would reveal our hand to the enemy, rendering many ns ineffective and leading to endless troubles in the future.


    ...


    The atmosphere was somewhat awkward due to distrust and suspicion.


    Chitaba had absolute trust in Su Lun, and she could roughly guess what Su Lun was thinking at that moment, so she didn''t urge him at all.


    But after all, there were outsiders present.


    She was obligated to protect Princess Shinfuku Mitsuko and couldn''t just keep her in the dark. She asked Su Lun, "How about it?"


    Su Lun responded sinctly with three words, "Wait a bit more!"


    Chitaba listened and said no more.


    At this point, those who trusted would wait, and for those who didn''t, it was all that could be done in good faith.


    The entire conversation took ce in front of everyone. Chitaba had already inquired, and Princess Mitsuko realized that the choice rested with her.


    If she chose to leave, perhaps they could fight while retreating,sting until dawn.


    But if they escaped tonight, they might not escape tomorrow.


    Yet if they didn''t leave, considering the current situation, once the guards were exhausted, they would surely perish in this bamboo forest tonight.


    For a moment, Princess Mitsuko was caught in a difficult decision.


    The distant guards were still urging her on.


    "Your Highness, if we don''t leave now, it will be toote!"


    "Quickly, leave!"


    "..."


    She could disregard her own life, but she carried the heavy duties of a Shinto Shrine Maiden and the royal family...


    Intuition told her this might be the most crucial turning point of her life.


    While Shinfuku Mitsuko continued to draw her bow and shoot arrows, she caught sight of Su Lun holding a ck umbre. Inspired by his calm demeanor, a flicker of determination crossed her eyes, and she finally made a decision, biting her silver teeth and trusting him, she eximed, "Let''s follow Mr. Su Lun''s lead and continue the fight!"


    ...


    Su Lun nced at the Princess and thought to himself, "A smart choice."


    Since she had chosen to trust him, he felt it was worth it to make his move.


    And after observing for so long, Su Lun was fairly certain the problem wasn''t internal.


    They were now in a dire situation, yet not one of the ninja guards had shown any sign of a breach.


    Just then, as the ghost warriors seemed to have driven Princess Mitsuko and her people into a "dead end," the mastermind behind the scene decided to show up. Su Lun suddenly sensed an abnormal spiritual fluctuation within one of the ghost warriors, his gaze hardened, "It''s him!"


    The next instant, Su Lun''s hands moved quickly, forming sorcerer''s seals like lightning. Behind him, the ferocious eight-armed spider spear became prominent, and the ground lit up with the Hexagram Array as a massive cross slowly formed in the sky above the bamboo forest.


    He murmured softly, "Secret Technique: Puppet Theater!"


    Chitaba saw him finally make a move and let out a sigh of relief.


    Lolota, who had already experienced several close calls, recognized the formation and murmured excitedly, "Is Mr Su Lun finally going to cast that magician''s spell..."


    In the puzzled gazes of Shinfuku Mitsuko and the ninja guards, Su Lun shed his earlierziness, his gaze sharp and his movements fluid, "Seal·Release!"


    The next moment, spatial ripples exploded all around the bamboo forest.


    Looking again, one saw bizarre puppets hanging eerily in midair, and not far off stood an automaton wielding a Ship-Cutter.


    The puppet army had finally appeared!


    The sudden appearance of hundreds of puppets, seemingly more eerie than the dense ghost warriors.


    Staring at this exaggerated number of puppets, the shock in their eyes reced their confusion, and in that moment, Shinfuku Mitsuko finally understood.


    She understood why Miss Chitaba trusted this Mr. Su Lun so much.


    "This is just too exaggerated..."


    Princess Mitsuko had never expected that this "reinforcement" would save the day in such an unimaginable way!