Ling Tian's attack was sudden. The Rain Woman, who thought she had succeeded and was about to happily absorb Ling Tian's yang energy, was caught off guard by this unexpected assault. Ling Tian struck her directly with a lightning talisman.
Upon contact with the Rain Woman's body, the lightning talisman immediately released a massive amount of electrical energy. Streaks of electricity enveloped the Rain Woman, and the yokai felt her soul about to flee her body from the shock.
Next, Ling Tian swung his Muramasa demon blade, directly severing the Rain Woman's head. The blade was imbued with Ling Tian's flame power. The moment the demon was decapitated, her energy dissipated, and her entire body dissolved into a mist that vanished into the night sky.
A cold smile played on Ling Tian's lips. He found the people of Seimei Shrine rather interesting. Realizing they couldn't defeat him on land, they had moved the battlefield to the water. However, the Shikigami in the water didn't seem much stronger than those on land.
Just then, Ling Tian heard a splashing sound on the lake. He looked closely and saw a large number of water lilies floating on the surface from afar. These water lilies were enormous, several times larger than a washbasin. Ling Tian immediately noticed that something seemed to be hidden beneath them.
At that moment, Ling Tian felt the boat beneath him shake. Following this, the water lilies were suddenly flipped over, and over a dozen figures emerged from the water. These figures immediately latched onto the boat's railing and leaped onto Ling Tian's vessel.
Ling Tian examined these creatures closely. They resembled children, about a meter tall, their bodies covered in black fur. Their faces were enough to make one's hair stand on end; they had beaks like birds, webbed hands and feet, long, sharp claws, and something like a turtle shell on their backs.
"Damn, Kappa!"
Ling Tian suddenly became excited. He recalled how, through the popularization efforts of a certain arctic fox who had transformed into a human, Chinese people had developed a keen interest in Kappa. Today, Ling Tian had encountered real Kappa. In fact, these creatures, known as Kappa, were a type of Shikigami and famous yokai in Japanese legends. They had peculiar appearances, with the beaks of birds, the limbs of frogs, the bodies of monkeys, and the shells of turtles, appearing as composites of various animals. Their favorite pastime was ambushing swimmers in the water, using water plants to entangle their legs from below, exhausting them and causing them to drown. For children, they might even drag them into the water, and the souls of these drowned victims would become their sustenance. It was said that Kappa themselves were formed from the souls of these drowned individuals.
Ling Tian hadn't expected these creatures to be not only agile in the water but also quite nimble on land. They hopped and bounced towards Ling Tian, then suddenly lunged, their sharp claws reaching for him. However, before these monsters could get close, the two Kappa at the forefront were met with a solid spinning kick from Ling Tian! Ling Tian's kicking power, when unleashed at full force, was immense, capable of shattering rocks. The defensive capabilities of Kappa were, to put it mildly, pathetic, not much stronger than ordinary humans. The two Kappa that were kicked emitted sounds of fracturing bones, and their internal organs were ruptured. These two Kappa were sent flying like soccer balls, knocking over several of their companions behind them.
Ling Tian then moved like a blur, darting across the boat's deck. Whenever he spotted a Kappa, he didn't hesitate, kicking them directly into the water. Within minutes, the surroundings fell silent. The Kappa, still hidden cautiously beneath the water lily leaves, watched the boat with expressions of terror. With the corpses of over a dozen companions floating on the water, they knew that the monster on this boat was not someone they could easily provoke.
Suddenly, Ling Tian heard the sound of drumming in the muffled night sky. Following this, Ling Tian noticed a massive shadow rapidly approaching his yacht. Ling Tian released his spiritual power towards the direction of the drumming. What he saw surprised him.
On the calm lake, a large ship was rapidly approaching. This vessel appeared to be made of wood, approximately 30 meters long, 20 meters wide, and nearly 10 meters high. Beneath its broad hull was a three-story wooden structure. Ling Tian had seen such ships in history books and films; they were called Lou Chuan (tower ships). This type of vessel had been developed in China during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Later, the Japanese, who had a penchant for stealing Chinese cultural technologies, also learned the techniques for building Lou Chuan. Initially, Lou Chuan were used as warships, with their tall and large structures designed to accommodate a sufficient number of soldiers, allowing them to attack with arrows from a distance and engage in close combat when alongside. However, after China's unification and a decrease in naval warfare, the purpose of Lou Chuan changed, primarily becoming pleasure boats, or pleasure barges on the water.
The Lou Chuan before Ling Tian was densely packed with dozens of Kappa, and two Rain Women stood on the deck. However, at the bow, in the most prominent position, stood a bizarre-looking figure. This individual wore a long robe and a strange hat. They looked human, but their head was that of a catfish. Ling Tian recalled seeing the Catfish Demon in Journey to the West, and this creature looked exactly like it. This was also a type of Shikigami, known as Umibozu, a yokai that lived in the sea. According to legend, this yokai was powerful, capable of summoning winds and rain, and riding the waves. In Japanese legends, this yokai lived in the sea, extorting large catches from fishermen. If their demands were not met, the Umibozu would manipulate the waves, capsize fishing boats, and drown the fishermen.
Ling Tian now understood. The people of Seimei Shrine were truly malevolent, having thrown him into a place inhabited by water monsters to kill him. This was not entirely unexpected, as humans, being land creatures, would inevitably be at a significant disadvantage fighting in the water. The opposing Lou Chuan stopped about 20 meters away from Ling Tian's boat. Ling Tian could then clearly see that many oars extended from beneath the decks on both sides of the Lou Chuan, and the ones rowing were monsters with frog-like heads, similar in size to Kappa.