Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Lin Ning leaped off the pirate ship and swam back to shore. He used his lightness skill to rush towards Yun Xue Mountain. On the way, he spotted Hu Chuanmao, Cheng Yun, and Cong Rong hurrying eastward. When the three saw Lin Ning stop, Hu Chuanmao anxiously asked, "Ning'er, why are you the only one back? Where is Xueing? Where is she now?"
Seeing the three of them, Lin Ning burst into tears and recounted his recent experiences to Hu Chuanmao and Cheng Yun. Upon hearing Lin Ning's story, their expressions changed dramatically. Hu Chuanmao stood there in shock, muttering to himself, "Seventeen years have passed; she has finally appeared. What is meant to come will come."
Lin Ning looked at Hu Chuanmao's dazed expression and suddenly felt an ominous premonition. He urgently asked, "Uncle Hu, what's wrong? I didn't understand what you just said!" Hu Chuanmao's face was heavy with sorrow; he did not answer Lin Ning's question. It seemed as if a great force had drained him of all strength, and he stumbled towards Canghai Tower. Lin Ning shouted after him, "Uncle Hu! Uncle Hu! What's wrong?"
It was as if Hu Chuanmao did not hear Lin Ning's voice. Watching him walk away in a daze, Lin Ning could clearly feel the overwhelming sadness surrounding him.
Cheng Yun sighed deeply, saying, "What a tragedy! I never expected that after seventeen years, she would still be haunting us; she has finally come knocking at our door!" Confused, Lin Ning eagerly asked, "Aunt Yun, what exactly happened? Please tell me quickly! Who is that masked figure? Why did she take Xue Yin's sister? What is her relationship with Xueing?"
Cheng Yun looked distant and spoke without much energy as she gazed into the distance. "The person you encountered earlier is Xueing's biological mother."
Lin Ning was stunned into silence by Cheng Yun's words. He stammered, "Aunt Yun, you must be joking! Xue Yin's sister said her mother was a girl from Diaoyu Island. She said her mother died shortly after giving birth to her! Why would she lie? Why would she deceive me? Why…"
Lin Ning felt a whirlwind of emotions inside him; he did not want to believe what Cheng Yun had said was true. Cheng Yun sighed again and said softly, "What I say is true. Xueing claims her mother is from Diaoyu Island because your Uncle Hu was afraid Xueing could not accept the truth and deliberately deceived her. Xueing's mother is Toyotomi Yoshimi, the biological daughter of Japan's feudal lord Toyotomi Hideyoshi."
Cheng Yun's words struck Lin Ning like a bolt from the blue. He could hear his heart racing wildly and felt a buzzing in his ears. He could not believe what Cheng Yun had said and grew increasingly restless. Lin Ning knew that Japan's invasion of China began during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's era and was marked by piracy; they constantly sent pirates to harass China's coastal islands, with the invasion of Diaoyu Island being a prime example. He never imagined that Hu Xueyan would be the granddaughter of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Lin Ning knew that Hu Xueyan harbored deep resentment towards the Japanese; he could not fathom how she would cope with such a sudden revelation about her heritage. Cheng Yun continued, "It's a long story; your Uncle Hu and I were both born on Diaoyu Island. My father was the island lord, Cheng Haifeng."
Lin Ning nodded slowly; he had heard these stories from Hu Xueyan before. Cheng Yun continued, "Your Uncle Hu lost his parents early and became an orphan. My father took pity on him and adopted him into our family. Your Uncle Hu and I grew up as childhood sweethearts. We practiced martial arts taught by my father together; he always slightly outperformed me. I have always had a competitive spirit and vowed to master martial arts to defeat your Uncle Hu. So I left him a letter and departed without saying goodbye. Disguised as a boy, I took a boat from Diaoyu Island to Zhongyuan and challenged various sects one by one.
I made an agreement with each sect: if I defeated their strongest martial artist, they would teach me their secret techniques; if I lost, I would stay with them for a year as unpaid labor. However, during that year, I secretly observed their martial arts techniques to understand their weaknesses and create counter-techniques."
As Lin Ning listened to Cheng Yun's words, doubts began to arise in his mind: why did Aunt Yun’s words echo those of his grandmother? He glanced into Aunt Yun’s eyes and noticed an uncanny resemblance to his grandmother’s gaze; her figure also bore a striking similarity!
While Lin Ning pondered this, Cheng Yun continued speaking: "In the seventh year after I left Diaoyu Island, your Uncle Hu discovered a girl who had drowned and was unconscious by the seaside. He brought her back home; this girl was Toyotomi Yoshimi. Toyotomi Yoshimi falsely claimed to be an orphan who had been fishing when her boat capsized in a storm; her true identity was that she was Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s daughter.
Japan covets China's territory; when Toyotomi Yoshimi was young, Hideyoshi had people teach her Chinese and traditional Chinese culture while training her in martial arts to develop her survival skills in various complex environments. As she grew up, she became an excellent spy who successfully infiltrated Diaoyu Island and gained my father's and your Uncle Hu’s trust—my father even adopted her as an honorary daughter.
Over time, Toyotomi Yoshimi developed feelings for your Uncle Hu through their daily interactions and expressed her affection for him. However, your Uncle Hu could not let go of me in his heart and rejected Toyotomi Yoshimi.
Ten years later when I returned to Diaoyu Island, seeing how close I was with your Uncle Hu made Toyotomi Yoshimi jealous; she secretly sent spies who infiltrated Diaoyu Island back to Japan to report on our situation and requested that Hideyoshi send pirates to attack Diaoyu Island.
Upon receiving this information, Hideyoshi dispatched over twenty thousand pirates aboard warships to invade Diaoyu Island. My father led the islanders in a desperate resistance against the pirates for three days and nights of bloody battle but ultimately fell due to overwhelming enemy forces; after our defeat, my father refused to surrender and took his own life with his sword."
Though Lin Ning had heard this part of history from Hu Xueyan before, he still felt furious upon hearing it again! Cheng Yun’s eyes brimmed with tears as they streamed down her cheeks; after steadying herself for a moment, she continued: "These Japanese pirates wreaked havoc on Diaoyu Island—burning, killing, looting—leaving destruction everywhere.
The surviving hundreds of us were taken by ship to Japan; it was only upon arriving there that your Uncle Hu and I learned Toyotomi Yoshimi’s true identity—she had completely fallen for your Uncle Hu. To possess him at all costs, she threatened your Uncle Hu that if he did not marry her, she would kill everyone on Diaoyu Island.
To protect those people’s safety, your Uncle Hu was forced to marry Toyotomi Yoshimi. After more than two years of marriage, they had Xueing; she named her Toyotomi Ginzi. Believing that having a daughter would make your Uncle Hu devotedly stay with her in Japan made her let down her guard—she didn’t realize that we were constantly thinking about how to escape Japan.
Finally one moonless night when the wind howled fiercely, I held Xueing while your Uncle Hu led several hundred islanders quietly aboard fishing boats docked by the shore to leave Japan—we dared not return to Diaoyu Island but sailed westward until we discovered Yunshan Island where we settled down for seventeen years.
The past is too painful to recall; today Toyotomi Yoshimi has come knocking at our door—I must make her pay for blood with blood."
Lin Ning returned with Cheng Yun to Yihua Garden where they found everything intact in Book Immortal Pavilion, Azure Blue Tower, and Canghai Tower except for the portrait he painted of Hu Xueyan which was missing from Qingdai Building—it must have been taken by Toyotomi Yoshimi.
He approached Hu Chuanmao who stared blankly at Lin Ning before shifting his gaze away again. Lin Ning felt a pang in his heart; he didn’t know how to comfort Hu Chuanmao at that moment.
Just then Lin Enzhe and Miao Shuyan rushed into Canghai Tower with Liu Mengyuan following closely behind them. Lin Ning detailed everything that happened today to the three of them.
After pondering for a moment, Lin Enzhe said decisively: "There’s no time to waste! Ning'er, you must ride Sweat Blood Horse immediately to Shaolin Temple and Wudang Mountain to invite Abbot Zenzi and Master Chenxu here to Yunshan Island—we will confront Toyotomi Yoshimi together in seven days."
Without wasting another minute, Lin Ning mounted Sweat Blood Horse and set off towards Shaolin Temple and Wudang Mountain day and night without rest. Sweat Blood Horse lived up to its reputation as an exceptional steed—it carried its master swiftly over thousands of miles during the day and eight hundred miles at night.
In just three days’ time, Lin Ning delivered the message to Abbot Zenzi and Master Chenxu! After delivering the news back at Yunshan Island on the third day following his return from Shaolin Temple and Wudang Mountain—tomorrow marked their seven-day appointment with Toyotomi Yoshimi—the time was pressing as everyone boarded a fishing boat heading towards Japan’s territorial waters bordering China.
Comment 0 Comment Count