Chapter 4

As the night deepened, the moon, half-bent, quietly reflected the sun's light. The surroundings gradually fell silent, and soon, the chirping of insects began, tentatively at first, then growing more and more unrestrained—

Suddenly, the nearby insect chirping stopped abruptly. Ouyang Yun's eyelids twitched, and his right ear quivered—“the female ghost” must have returned, and she brought company—

The sound of a heavy object falling, softly; footsteps, even lighter, mixed with other faint sounds moving around the courtyard, gradually stopping outside his room. After a moment of silence, the sound of a door opening, then a man said, “No one?”

“Escaped?” another male voice.

“Shall we enter my room first?”

This was a woman's voice, raspy and magnetic, sounding very distinctive. Ouyang Yun smiled to himself: You were once a beauty, why become a ghost? With such a voice, wouldn't it be more promising to be a singer?

The footsteps grew closer, and the second male voice said, “Could it be the original owner of this house?”

The first male voice: “Unlikely. Apart from the little girl who is still studying, the rest of the Chen family have been scared out of their wits—Phoenix, I hope your kindness hasn't caused too much trouble!”

The three voices started very low, then gradually grew louder, clearly not expecting anyone to be hiding in Phoenix's room. They pushed open the window, one by one jumped into the room, and turned on the electric light.

Ouyang Yun, through the gap between the bed and the floor, saw two pairs of wide-headed men's cloth shoes and a pair of embroidered shoes. The one wearing the embroidered shoes was clearly Phoenix. Thinking of her white hair, he couldn't help but smile, his mouth slightly open, thinking to himself that he would call her "White-Haired Phoenix Female Ghost" in the future. His right hand trembled, and a steel needle slid out from the needle pouch under his arm. He held it between his middle and index fingers, secretly preparing to attack.

The first male voice was Shen Jian. He quickly scanned the room and said, “We don't know who the other person is. It seems impossible to eliminate them now—Phoenix, open the cellar; Xiong Xianzi, call Lao Shu in, we can't stay here.”

Xiong Xianzi responded and leaped out of the window. Phoenix, with her white hair, walked to the wardrobe and opened it. Suddenly, she exclaimed, “Someone has been here.”

“Ah, so that person has been in this room. Quickly, see if anything is missing.”

Several burlap bags were dragged out, followed by wooden boxes. Shen Jian and Phoenix opened them one by one, finding nothing missing, which surprised them. Then, Shen Jian suddenly realized and said, “Not good, he must have called for help. We need to act quickly.”

The two realized the severity of the situation and were re-tying the burlap bags when suddenly, Phoenix stopped her actions and said, “Something's wrong.”

Shen Jian immediately froze, then frowned and said sternly, “It's the Japanese!”

Phoenix lowered her head and said timidly, “Big Brother, I'm sorry, I didn't expect—”

“Never mind, now is not the time to assign blame.”

When Phoenix sensed something was wrong, Ouyang Yun also heard it. A faint cry came from the courtyard, followed by increasingly loud "drip, drip" sounds. Upon hearing that the Japanese had arrived, he understood the "drip, drip" sounds—Japanese wore wooden clogs.

Shen Jian and Phoenix reacted quickly, drawing their weapons and standing guard on either side of the window. They were accustomed to entering and exiting through the window and assumed it was the only entrance and exit, but they were wrong. As the "drip, drip" sounds entered the hall, they realized the intruders might break in through the door. With a "clang," the lock was cut, followed by a "bang" as the door was kicked open.

When the Japanese entered the hall, Ouyang Yun took the opportunity to use his bayonet to make a small hole in the bed. Just as he finished, the Japanese boldly entered. Two of them wore kimonos, each holding a katana, with a short sword at their waist, and wooden clogs on their feet—typical Japanese ronin. The other three were dressed entirely in black, their heads and faces covered, only their eyes visible, their gaze intense—like the legendary ninjas.

He checked his watch—it was 2:30 AM. He thought to himself that these Japanese were fearless, walking in wooden clogs at night without fear of falling—cool, but fearless, impressive!

The Japanese looked around and then at their compatriots. Two of them were dressed in short tunics, blue clothes and pants, the man around thirty years old, with high cheekbones and cold eyes; the woman had white hair, fair skin, large eyes, cherry lips, and a high nose—definitely a beauty, but a scar from her eyebrow to her mouth marred her face, like a splash of ink on a painting, ruining the beauty. He sighed, thinking he couldn't call her "White-Haired Phoenix Female Ghost" anymore, as it would hurt her self-esteem.

Seeing blood on the two katana, Shen Jian knew Xiong Xianzi and Lao Shu were likely dead, and his eyes narrowed in pain.

If he hadn't been sure he had really traveled through time, Ouyang Yun would have thought he was on a TV set.

“Northeast Tiger, I didn't expect to see you so soon,” the ronin with a flesh tumor on his left cheek said, glancing at the burlap bags and wooden boxes, a victorious smile on his lips.

Northeast Tiger was Shen Jian's code name. He stepped in front of Phoenix and said coldly, “Watanabe, you killed my two brothers.”

“As a warrior, dying in a duel is the best outcome. You should be grateful for them.”

“Is that so? Then you must be prepared to die today,” Shen Jian said, suddenly pushing Phoenix and shouting, “Go!” before charging at Watanabe.

As Shen Jian moved, the three ninjas behind Watanabe raised their right hands, each holding a shuriken, the ninjas' unique weapon. Watanabe waved his hand to stop them, coldly saying, “He's mine!” and stepped forward, lifting his katana to slash at Shen Jian's right shoulder.

Shen Jian moved quickly, his actions even faster. His weapon was a curved knife about a foot long. As Watanabe's katana was just about to slash down, Shen Jian's knife already struck the blade.

Watanabe's katana was long and thin, and he feared it would be cut, so he flipped his wrist to meet the blade—

The two engaged in close combat, their movements fast, the white glow of the blades frequently passing over each other's vital points, making the scene extremely dangerous. The sound of metal clashing was continuous, and everyone, except the three ninjas, watched with wide eyes, tense—Phoenix did not leave. She held a short sword in her right hand and a throwing knife in her left, ready to support Shen Jian.

Emotionally, Ouyang Yun naturally hoped the Chinese would win. During his time as a special forces soldier, he had experienced several fights, but they were one-sided, nothing like the intense and thrilling scenes on TV. This was the first time he saw such a life-and-death struggle, and he began to feel as if he were part of it, constantly thinking about how he would handle the situation if he were one of them, gradually understanding the techniques.

The difference in martial arts between Shen Jian and Watanabe was not significant, but due to the narrow room, the saying "an inch longer, an inch stronger; an inch shorter, an inch more dangerous" applied. Watanabe's katana couldn't be swung freely, lacking the space to build momentum for powerful strikes, thus failing to leverage the advantage of a long weapon. Shen Jian's curved knife, in close combat, stabbed, slashed, and cut, gradually putting Watanabe on the defensive. Watanabe realized the problem and tried to switch to his short sword, but Shen Jian saw through his intentions and prevented him from doing so.

After a dozen exchanges, the two got closer, and Shen Jian's advantage became more apparent. The Japanese seemed to respect the rules, or Watanabe was their leader, so the others didn't dare to help without his command. The Japanese onlookers just stood there, until Shen Jian suddenly deflected Watanabe's katana, turned, and leaned back into his chest, delivering an elbow strike to his abdomen. Then, he quickly moved behind Watanabe, grabbed his belt with his left hand, and placed the short sword at his neck.

Shen Jian actually had several opportunities to kill Watanabe, but Ouyang Yun now understood that he wanted to take him hostage. “Put down your weapons!” Shen Jian shouted at the remaining Japanese, then looked at Phoenix and growled, “Why aren't you leaving?!”

Phoenix shook her head, “We leave together.” Her voice was low, but her tone was firm.

The four Japanese looked at Watanabe, seemingly waiting for his instructions, but their faces showed no emotion.

Watanabe smiled, “Northeast Tiger, I didn't expect to be outmatched by you.” His smile turned cruel, and he flipped his hands, driving the katana into his own abdomen.

This move was ruthless, and Ouyang Yun, who wanted to warn him, was too late. He sighed, cursing the damned Bushido code, and with his left hand, he gripped a steel needle, bent his legs, and used his head as a hammer to crash into the bed.

Phoenix cried out, “Big Brother, let—” and threw a throwing knife at Watanabe's chest, leaping forward.

As she moved, the remaining four Japanese also acted, launching numerous shurikens at Phoenix. Another ronin roared, “Bastard!” and stabbed at Shen Jian's head, which was exposed as he leaned over Watanabe's left shoulder.

Shen Jian instinctively pulled with his right hand and pushed with his left, but it was too late. Watanabe's abdominal thrust was powerful, instantly piercing through himself and into Shen Jian's abdomen. Then, his neck was cut, blood spurted, and he fell forward, blocking several shurikens for Phoenix, twitched twice, and fell dead.

Watanabe's stab inflicted severe damage on Shen Jian. The wound wasn't deep, but the force of the fall caused the blade to cut a deep gash in Shen Jian's abdomen, which was fatal. A wave of intense pain hit him, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness, unable to dodge the stab to his head. In Phoenix's scream, the blade pierced his head, and he died instantly.

“I'll fight to the death with you!” Phoenix leaped to avoid the remaining shurikens, shouted in mid-air, and threw her short sword at the ronin who killed Shen Jian.

The ronin tried to dodge but suddenly felt a numbness in his waist, followed by stiffness. He only had time to look at the source of the strange sound before the short sword pierced his heart, and he died.

Ouyang Yun acted. He burst out of the bed, wood chips flying, and threw a steel needle at the short ronin with his right hand and another at the nearest ninja with his left. He had hoped to save Shen Jian, but he was a step too late. The bed, made of some unknown wood, had dazed him.

Ouyang Yun's steel needles were far more powerful than Phoenix's throwing knives or the ninjas' shurikens—ten centimeters long, hollow, coated with anesthetic, and sealed with a rubber stopper. If he wanted to kill, he just needed to remove the stopper. The target, once anesthetized, would bleed to death.

Ouyang Yun's sudden appearance shocked the remaining two ninjas, but they didn't panic. They exchanged a glance and immediately divided their tasks—one threw a large number of shurikens as cover, while the other tried to escape, clearly intending to send a message back.

Ouyang Yun, seeing this, naturally wouldn't let them succeed. He had intended to save bullets and practice his skills, but he immediately drew his gun. With two soft "clicks," the two ninjas' chests were torn apart, and they died on the spot.

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