Chapter 144: Willow Catkins

Princess Yunluo looked at the diary on the table, looking left and right. It looked like an ordinary book, but unfortunately, no one else could see it except her. She couldn't even tell anyone.

After returning from the Emperor's visit, Princess Yunluo had asked the palace maids and eunuchs around her, but they couldn't see anything. She couldn't tell them anything about the diary, not even a single word.

So, Princess Yunluo was truly curious about it.

"Could this be the artifact belonging to the protagonist in those storybooks? An artifact that only I can see, no one else can?"

"But this diary doesn't seem to have any other functions besides reading the diary? I can't even write a single word in it."

"Or does this diary have other uses and functions that I haven't discovered yet?"

"The last entry in the diary says that the writer is in Nanjing. I don't know when the last entry was written, or if that person is still in Nanjing. If he is, I'd like to go there and look for him. Once I find him, I can find out what's going on with this diary." "

I've decided. I'm going to Nanjing!"

Princess Yunluo slammed the table and shouted.

The palace maids who had watched Princess Yunluo slumped over the table, lost in thought, were stunned to see her suddenly slam the table and announce she was going to Nanjing.

However, Princess Yunluo was also known for her playful nature within the palace. She often acted on impulse, and suddenly shouting about going to Nanjing was very typical of her.

However, Princess Yunluo's decision to leave the capital for Nanjing was no small matter. As soon as Princess Yunluo shouted this, a young eunuch had already rushed to report it to the Emperor.

After all, this time, Princess Yunluo wasn't simply seeking to leave the palace for fun. If Princess Yunluo were to actually sneak off to Nanjing, given her personality and experience, she'd likely be gone once she left the capital.

...

Liu Sheng Piaoxu eyed the diary that had suddenly appeared before her warily. Simultaneously, her internal Qi circulated, her vigilance reaching extreme levels. While seemingly focused on the diary, she was actually scanning the room from the corner of her eye, searching for any discrepancies.

After all, Japan was home to ninjas, skilled in concealment and assassination.

While ninjas often exploited their potential to rapidly increase their attack power, often employing unorthodox methods, their assassination tactics were undoubtedly formidable.

And yet, the sudden placement of the diary before her went unnoticed, even though she hadn't initially paid attention. But a ninja capable of such feats, Liu Sheng Piao Xu felt, must be something extraordinary.

However, despite exhausting her observations and perceptions, she still couldn't detect any trace of the ninja.

This left Liu Sheng Piao Xu perplexed.

If a ninja she couldn't detect had malicious intent and wanted to assassinate her, she would be completely defenseless. Therefore, there was no need for them to resort to such tactics. A direct attack on her would surely kill her.

Liu Sheng Piao Xu was perplexed as to what the ninja was up to. Was it simply to deliver the black notebook to her?

What was the purpose of such an action?

Liu Sheng Piao Xu waited quietly for a long time, still not noticing anything unusual. Then, Liu Sheng Piao Xu reached out and slowly grabbed the diary.

Even so, Liu Sheng Piao Xu remained poised, ready to strike if anyone appeared at this moment.

To Liu Sheng Piao Xu's surprise, while she held the diary in her hand, no one appeared.

Liu Sheng Piaoxu opened the diary—

"Huh? Just a diary?" Liu Sheng Piaoxu's attention remained partially on the diary, while the majority remained vigilant of her surroundings.

Gradually, Liu Sheng Piaoxu noticed something a little different about the contents of the diary.

More precisely, the diary itself contained the entries in a way that was not quite right. In many places, the diary's owner wrote from a perspective of the future, as if the writer possessed foresight and knew what would happen.

Meanwhile, Liu Sheng Piaoxu showed little interest in martial arts mentioned in the diary, such as the Exorcism Sword Manual and the Star-Absorbing Art.

To be more precise, in Japan, unorthodox martial arts like the Exorcism Sword Manual, which required physical harm to practice, were quite common.

Some martial arts involved blinding one's eyes in order to achieve the state of the mind's eye, or piercing one's ears to prevent any noise from entering. There were even martial arts that involved amputating limbs and replacing them with weapons.

So Liu Sheng Piaoxu thought it was normal to think about the martial arts such as the Sword Manual of Exorcism, which requires cutting off one's little brother to practice.

As Liu Sheng Piaoxu continued to read the diary, she originally only put 30% of her energy into the diary, but gradually began to put more energy into the diary, and her vigilance towards the surroundings gradually began to fade a lot.

"This diary looks ordinary but not ordinary..." Liu Sheng Piaoxu commented as she read the diary.

There are many secrets recorded in the diary, which made Liu Sheng Piaoxu unable to help but write them down silently. But when Ye Xiu mentioned the part about Lin Xian'er, Liu Sheng Piaoxu's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Lin Xian'er! She's completely different in private than she appears. She's also vicious, using her beauty to seduce the men of the Ming Dynasty's underworld. She's even transformed into the Plum Blossom Bandits, committing crimes everywhere—what a perfect target! Perhaps I can use this information to strike a deal with Lin Xian'er, or even gain control of her." "

Although Lin Xian'er is vicious and has recruited so many experts, strength still reigns supreme in this underworld."

Liu Sheng Piaoxu had already identified Lin Xian'er as her next target. Liu Sheng Piaoxu

was deeply concerned about a woman like Lin Xian'er who was restless and even malicious.

The thought of this brightened her mood.

"Long Xiaoyun is a hypocrite, a sinister villain. Perhaps he could be used."

"Lin Shiyin, Li Xunhuan—"

Liu Sheng Piaoxu was already starting to lose track of the situation. She took out a pen and paper and began to silently write down the information. She needed to sort through the information.

"Huh? Iron-hearted Divine Marquis Zhu Wusi is injured?" Liu Sheng Piaoxu's eyes suddenly lit up.

Although she and her father had already pledged their allegiance to the Iron-Hearted Divine Marquis Zhu Wusi, they also had their own agenda. They hoped to leverage Zhu Wusi's power to elevate their status in Japan, reclaim the territories lost to the Tokugawa clan due to their family's decline, and even secure a place within the Ming Empire. These were among their demands for joining the Iron-Hearted Divine Marquis.

However, to claim that Liu Sheng Piaoxu and her father were absolutely and utterly loyal to the Iron-Hearted Divine Marquis was clearly impossible.

Although they had now taken refuge with the Iron-hearted Divine Marquis, they could retaliate against him if necessary or possible. Therefore, the news of the Iron-hearted Divine Marquis's injury was also worthy of her attention.

Conversely, Liu Sheng Piaoxu simply glanced over the incidents of the diary writer being raped by Dongfang Bubai and Yao Yue.

Romance, the likes of which were of no importance to Liu Sheng Piaoxu, who had never developed such feelings for anyone.

In fact, in the original novel of "Number One Under Heaven," Liu Sheng Piaoxu initially felt only a slight curiosity about Duan Tianya, not aversion.

Her true feelings for Duan Tianya didn't develop until they married and had a child.

"Rama's internal energy, repairing defects, regenerating severed limbs—" Upon seeing this martial art, Liu Sheng Piaoxu's eyes lit up.

Within the Ming Empire, eunuchs and some special individuals held special interest in this martial art.

However, in Japan, this martial art holds even greater appeal.

As mentioned before, Japan is home to many extreme martial arts, with techniques like piercing one's own eyes, piercing one's own ears, and even amputating limbs, among other bizarre requirements.

Many people, driven by the pursuit of strength, choose these side-effects.

However, many others cultivate these martial arts on impulse.

Therefore, if the Rama Internal Art were brought back to Japan, it would undoubtedly attract countless warriors. She could even use it to establish a formidable power there.

At this thought, a spark of ambition welled up in Liu Sheng Piao Xu's heart.

Snap—

after reading the diary, Liu Sheng Piao Xu realized that she had been focusing all her energy on it, leaving her with insufficient attention to the outside world. A wave of fear washed over her.

After all, as a Japanese warrior, she had been trained since childhood to remain vigilant to the outside world, no matter the circumstances. But now, she had lost her vigilance over a single diary.

Fortunately, no outsiders had appeared beforehand. She was even thankful that no one had attacked her while she was concentrating entirely on the diary. Otherwise, she would have been in great danger.

Liu Sheng Piaoxu silently reflected on her previous behavior.

It even diminished the surprise she felt when she received the diary.

"But who gave me this diary? And how true or false are its contents?" Liu Sheng Piaoxu frowned.

"Next, I'm going to thoroughly investigate the authenticity of the information in this diary."

"If it's fake, then someone is just trying to trick me. If it's true, then—"

"But, I still don't understand. If it's true, why did they leave the diary in my room?"

"What's their plan? Why did they do this?"

"Does they know my identity?"

"If it's true, then is there any use for all the information in this diary? How much did they leave for me?"

One question after another kept popping up in Liu Sheng Piaoxu's mind. Finally, Liu Sheng Piaoxu took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She temporarily blocked out some questions.

Next, she needed to collect information and intelligence to determine the authenticity of the contents recorded in the diary.

However, there was no way for her to conduct a detailed investigation of a lot of information in the diary for the time being, but she could ask someone about some information, such as Rama's internal strength, no, it should be said that there was a reward for Rama's remains.

If someone really offered a reward for Rama's remains, then no matter how long it had been, someone should have left some impression.

So, Liu Sheng Piaoxu hid the diary, left her room, and found some members of the Giant Whale Gang to ask for some information about Rama's remains.

"Huh? You mean, Zhang Dajing offered a reward for Rama's remains in Nanjing City almost a month ago, and no one has come to claim Zhang Dajing's reward yet?" Liu Sheng Piaoxu couldn't help but ask after hearing the news from a gang member.

"Yes, Miss Liu Sheng, it is said that no one has claimed the bounty offered to Zhang Dajing so far."

Liu Sheng Piaoxu's eyes flickered. She noticed that the contents of the diary didn't seem to be too far away from her current location.

At least, the Kongtong Twin Swords mentioned in the diary didn't seem to have appeared yet.

And Rama's remains had still not been collected. Rama's inner strength had still not been obtained.

Liu Sheng Piaoxu's eyes flickered, and she suddenly felt the urge to go to Nanjing City.

Liu Sheng Piaoxu was quite capable of execution. After she had this idea, she immediately went to find her father, Liu Sheng Tajima no Mori.

"Father, I want to go to Nanjing City," Liu Sheng Piaoxu said directly to Liu Sheng Tajima no Mori.

"Huh? Piaoxu? Why do you want to go to Nanjing City? You know, Tiedan Shenhou asked us to secretly control the Giant Whale Gang. We have just started the operation. If you leave now, it will likely affect our plan." Liu Sheng Tajima no Mori frowned.

"Father, I wonder if you've heard of Rama's remains?"

"Rama's remains?" Yagyu Tajima no Kami frowned.

"Father, Rama's remains are..." Yagyu Piaoxu relayed the information about Rama's remains.

After hearing what Yagyu Piaoxu said, Yagyu Tajima no Kami's eyes suddenly lit up. "Piaoxu, if this Rama inner energy is truly so effective, then it's incredibly important to us. We could even rely solely on Rama's inner energy to reclaim the territories granted to us by the Tokugawa family, and even more. We wouldn't even need to be subordinate to the Iron-Hearted God Marquis. We wouldn't need his help at all." Yagyu Tajima no Kami was also very excited.

"Father, I think so too, which is why I want to go to Nanjing." Yagyu Piaoxu nodded.

"If that's the case, then I'll go to Nanjing with you—" Yagyu Tajima no Kami was eager to make a move, even wanting to leave right away.

"No, Father! Let me go to Nanjing City on my own. After all, Rama's inner power is such a miraculous martial art that I'm afraid many people are watching. Even if we all go, we may not be able to seize Rama's body. On the contrary, our Japanese identity may arouse the hostility and siege of many forces. If we fail, our Yagyu family will no longer have any hope." Yagyu Piaoxu said very rationally.

Hearing what Yagyu Piaoxu said, Yagyu Tajima no Kami also calmed down.

"Piaoxu, you are right. If we leave the Giant Whale Gang now and go to Nanjing City, if we get Rama's body, it will be fine. We can rely on Rama's inner power to regain the territory taken back by the Tokugawa family. But if we fail, then we will really have nothing. That's why I brought people to stay and continue to lurk under the command of Iron-hearted Divine Marquis Zhu Wusi. And you secretly went to Nanjing to snatch Rama's body." Yagyu Tajima no Kami understood Yagyu Piaoxu's thoughts.

"That's right, we have to make preparations for both situations. At least I have no way to seize Rama's body, and we can continue to rely on the power of Tiedan Shenhou." Liu Sheng Piaoxu nodded.

"Piaoxu, you are worthy of being my daughter. Not only are you intelligent, but your strength has long surpassed that of your father. From now on, our Yagyu family will depend on you." A look of satisfaction crossed Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami's eyes as he looked at her, yet within that satisfaction, a hint of regret lingered.

Yagyu Piaoxu was arguably the most talented member of the Yagyu family in years. In her early twenties, she had already reached the seventh level of Grandmaster Realm. Her true combat power even surpassed that of Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami, also at the seventh level. With Yagyu Piaoxu's talent, given enough time and resources, she could definitely become a Grandmaster.

Unfortunately, the Yagyu family had fallen into decline over the years. Not only had the Tokugawa Clan reclaimed the territory originally granted to them, but many of the family's martial arts traditions had also been lost. Without this legacy, Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami had no idea if Yagyu Piaoxu could become a Grandmaster.

As a result, Yagyu Tadama no Kami decided to join forces with Tiedan Shenhou. On the one hand, he hoped to leverage his power to reclaim the territory granted to the Tokugawa family. On the other hand, he also hoped to obtain a Grandmaster-level inheritance from Tiedan Shenhou.

Currently, Tiedan Shenhou was only a marquis and might not possess the Grandmaster-level inheritance, but if Tiedan Shenhou Zhu Wusi became emperor, the Grandmaster-level inheritance would be of little use to Zhu Wusi.

It was for this reason that Yagyu Tadama no Kami led the Yagyu clan to join Tiedan Shenhou Zhu Wusi.

Unbeknownst to outsiders, Yagyu Piaoxu quietly left the Giant Whale Gang and headed straight for Nanjing.

She also changed her name to conceal her Japanese origin, claiming to be Liuxu.

However, despite her Japanese origin, Yagyu Piaoxu had studied the language, writing, and even culture of the Ming Dynasty since childhood. Her disguise as a Ming Dynasty citizen was surprisingly easy to detect.

"

They're here, finally here. The Kongtong Swords have finally arrived." Ye Xiu braced himself, hiding somewhere in Zhang Dajing's mansion with Dongfang Bubai and Yao Yue. Truth be told, Zhang Dajing's mansion was overflowing with people.

Nearly every tree on the grounds held a person. Many were hiding on the rooftops, too. People were also hiding in various rooms . 

Some of Zhang Dajing's servants had been killed and their bodies hidden, while others had been tied up and dumped in corners. 

It could be said that Zhang Dajing's mansion, while seemingly normal at this point, had long since become a sieve riddled with holes. 

Ye Xiu even witnessed two groups nearly come to blows over a single tree to hide in. To avoid disturbing Zhang Dajing by making unnecessary noise, the two groups ultimately compromised and hid in the same tree. 

It's safe to say that Zhang Dajing's mansion at this moment made many people burst into laughter, finding it simply too amusing and hilarious. 

Fortunately, Qu Feiyan and Huang Rong weren't allowed in due to their lack of strength, otherwise they would have been unable to control their laughter. 

Finally, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, a man and a woman finally entered Zhang Dajing's mansion. 

They were dressed in green and purple, respectively. The man looked older, around fifty, while the woman was much younger, appearing to be in her twenties. 

Standing together, they resembled a father and daughter, but in reality, they were a couple. 

Of course, this couple had their own dirty deeds. The man was originally the woman's master, and the woman and her senior brother were a couple. However, in order to possess the woman, their master killed her senior brother and then took her body, which led to the couple's nickname, the Kongtong Twin Swords. 

The reputation of the Kongtong Twin Swords was naturally very poor. If it weren't for the old man's high seniority in the Kongtong Sect, he would have been expelled from the sect long ago. 

But even if he hadn't been expelled, his situation was not good. 

That's why he thought of taking advantage of Zhang Dajing's bounty on Rama's body to create a fake one, make a fortune from Zhang Dajing, and then take the Kongtong Purple Swords into seclusion. 

However, the old man was too shallow, or perhaps his mind was focused on women. He had no idea how big the vortex of Rama's body was, and he rushed in recklessly, simply seeking death. 

Kongtong Purple Sword had a cold expression, and her beautiful face was slightly frosted, which made her look even more beautiful. Kongtong Purple Sword was also extremely beautiful, otherwise her master would not have monopolized her. 

After she followed Kongtong Qingjian into Zhang Dajing's mansion, she felt a little uneasy in her heart. It was like stepping into a tiger's abyss. 

This feeling made her feel like she was back to the time when her master Kongtong Qingjian killed her senior brother and then took over her body. 

A trace of fear flashed in Kongtong Zijian's eyes, but when she looked at Kongtong Qingjian's figure, a trace of hatred flashed in her eyes, and she stepped forward to follow him, and walked into Zhang Dajing's mansion with Kongtong Qingjian. 

The moment she stepped into Zhang Dajing's mansion, Kongtong Zijian's eyes revealed a bit of determination.