Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 197: Chapter 34 Harvesting Shanmukian (Part 1)

With his shout, those who were already oppressed by the Red Flag pirates completely lost their will to fight, and their weapons clattered to the ground.

Zhao Xiaoyi held his head high, his eyes bloodshot.

“The Red Flag’s Tianbao is indeed formidable.”

Li Yan moved the Tiger Head Great Spear aside by half an inch and instructed the people of the Red Flag Gang, “Tie them all up and hang them from the mast.”

Having said that, he waved his hand, “Stop the ship, enter the harbor.”

Zhao Xiaoyi lowered his head and offered no further resistance.

At that moment, a small red-sailed boat slipped through the chaos of ships. The people of the Four Flags should have stopped it, but by then, they too had lost their fire.

“Tianbao Brother! Tianbao Brother!”

After rowing for more than a hundred meters, the person propelling the boat shouted upwards towards the Spirit of the Duck with his face raised.

Upon hearing this, Li Yan walked to the edge of the ship. He recognized that the person was a hall leader of the Red Flag Gang and then asked, “Qizai, who allowed the Four Flags’ gunboats to enter the harbor?”

When Li Yan spoke, his tone was not harsh, but Qizai inexplicably felt chills running down his neck.

“It was, it was Brother Chaoyi.”

Li Yan licked his upper teeth with his tongue and nodded slightly.

“Where are they now?”

“At the mourning hall.”

Li Yan glanced at the white streamers fluttering around the dock.

“When did Mrs.Shi… When did she die?”

Qizai’s head drooped, his expression sorrowful, “Last night at dusk.”

As he spoke, he stole a glance at the ship, where Lady Dan stood behind the crowd.

She was impossible to ignore: amid a group of fierce men stood a woman of elegant bearing, naturally drawing the eye.

This requires some explanation.

After the Heavenly Mother crossed the sea, for some reason, six coins could no longer serve as a dwelling for Lady Dan and the Black Rider Ghost. Lady Dan and the Black Rider Ghost could only stay on the ship.

She was considered by many pirates to be an envoy sent by Mazu to save the distressed. Li Yan half-pushed and half-persuaded Lady Dan to pretend they were not acquainted, and the Ghost Rider was her servant. This pretext somehow managed to deceive people.

But for Gu, Mr. Hu, and other middle-ranking members of the Red Flag Gang, there were doubts in their hearts. Gu had watched with his own eyes as Lady Dan emerged from the copper coin on Li Yan’s neck, and this reticent man, with piercing eyes, had long noticed that this mysterious woman’s relationship with their Tianbao was not simple.

At the moment, the Red Flag Gang had many important matters to deal with, and with Li Yan’s authority, Gu remained tactful and refrained from saying more.

It is worth mentioning that during the crossing of the Heavenly Mother, Lady Dan saved many pirate lives. She used her magic on board to detoxify and heal many attacked by sea monsters, and quickly gained the support of many crew members, who virtually worshiped her as a goddess, like Xue Ba.

“Qizai, tell me what happened these past few days while I was away.”

Qizai nodded and began explaining the current situation to Li Yan.

When Tianbao went to sea, the people in the gang all thought it was Mrs.Shi’s instruction. The state of Mrs.Shi’s health was widely known among the leadership of the Red Sails, but not so much among the lower ranks.

The Red Flag Gang had planned to keep her death a secret and wait for Li Yan’s return to decide on the next steps, following Mrs.Shi’s last wishes. Unexpectedly, the Four Flags Bang arrived with a large fleet, seemingly already aware of Mrs.Shi’s critical injuries, amongst them was Xu Longsi, the former patriarch of Chaoyi.

After Tianbao’s departure, Chaoyi became the temporary leader of Lantau Island. However, when faced with Xu Longsi, he just couldn’t stand his ground, leading to the current situation.

Hearing this, Li Yan couldn’t help but feel somewhat stunned.

Had this formidable female pirate really died just like that?

The people of the Four Flags had come under the pretext of mourning Mrs.Shi, but in reality, they were eager to seize the opportunity presented by the crisis.

Firstly, at the time of the alliance, there was an agreement that the Red Flag shall be respected among the Five Flags. On Lantau Island to this day, the ancestral colored flags of the remaining four flags are preserved as a symbol of the Red Flag’s supremacy over the Five Flags.

Furthermore, the Red Flag Gang had in their possession a roster of all the peripheral members of the Five Flags Alliance, excluding their own members. This included those who had washed their hands of the underworld. The ancestors of these individuals were remnants of the Zheng family’s regime, and they are now scattered all along the coast, embracing all walks of life including commerce, fishing, farming, industry, and scholarship, forming the undying foundation of the Five Flags Alliance.

Madam Guo’s aim was nothing more than to take advantage of the Red Flag Gang’s current lack of leadership, compelling the heads of the Red Flag factions to hand over the roster and flag and to renegotiate the selection of the Alliance Hierarch.

In addition, Xu Longsi insisted on taking Zheng Xiu’er and all the Gaoli ghosts with him.

Li Yan just smiled without saying a word, and it was a good while before he pointed at the head hanging on the mast.

“This is the head of Zhuo Huxing, the Governor of Humen and Admiral of the Navy. Qizai, hang it on the watchtower to mourn Mrs. Shi. Everyone else, follow me.”

Lady Dan took a distant glance and turned to board the ship, but Li Yan called her back.

“Lady Dan, there’s a favor I’d like to ask of you. Come with us.”

Lady Dan silently nodded her head, although Li Yan heard her voice by his ear.

“In such a situation, it’s not good for me to go.”

The expressions of those around changed unpredictably, clearly unable to hear the exchange.

Li Yan had also experienced Lady Dan’s capabilities firsthand—she belonged to the category of mountain sprites and water monsters found in the legends of the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the ability to pass through walls, divide water, turn stones into gold, and shift between illusion and reality with endless magical tricks.

As for Lady Dan’s strength, when Li Yan first saw her on She Mountain, her abilities had reached a level so profound that even A Fleeting Glimpse could not recognize them. This level of capability was on par with figures like Mo, Taishuai, and Feng Yi, beyond Li Yan’s ability to gauge.

But after an awkward reunion later, apart from having strength beyond that of ordinary people, Lady Dan’s magical powers seemed to have vanished entirely.

By the time Li Yan returned from the battle in Yan Capital, Lady Dan had gained many advantages from night ghosts akin to her essence and had recovered some of her strength. She even managed to restore Liang Ye’s physical body.

As for how Lady Dan cultivated and what level she has now reached, Li Yan, for various reasons, has never inquired.

“It’s nothing.”

Li Yan’s lips moved slightly.

The Spirit of the Duck docked, and the people of the Four Flags were conflicted about whether to come over to greet them. Not greeting them would mean a loss of face, but greeting them would be awkward since the people of the Black Flag were still hanging from the mast.

However, Li Yan had no intention of paying attention to them and instead walked straight ahead.

Hundreds of Red Flag Gang members lined the shore to welcome Li Yan, each of them greeting him with uplifted spirits. It seemed they were quite irritated by the Four Flags Gang as well.

Li Yan glanced over and noticed that several of the Red Flag Gang’s key leaders, along with about half of their core members, were absent.@@novelbin@@

“Chaoyi, An Laogui, Shi Tuozi, where are they?”

“Tianbao, you’re finally back. They’re all at the memorial hall. We don’t know what they’re doing there. That Xu Chaoyi is such a turncoat; he’s been with the Red Flag Gang for more than twenty years, but the moment he sees the old boss, he goes soft! Damn it.”

A leader spoke with indignation.

Qizai tried to excuse Chaoyi, the temporary head, but by his expression, it was clear he also harbored dissatisfaction toward Chaoyi.

Cha Xiaodao moved closer, angling his face toward Li Yan, “First, they let the gunboat of the Four Flags enter the port. When you return, he pulls away a group of leaders and doesn’t come out to meet you. Isn’t this Chaoyi plotting a rebellion?”

Li Yan shook his head, “Chaoyi is Mrs. Shi’s personal guard. Although he has seniority, he’s not capable of dealing with An Laogui and his people.”

“You sure about that?”

Li Yan didn’t answer but instead asked, “How many people did the leader of the Four Flags bring with him?”

“Altogether, it was just over a dozen personal guards.”

Li Yan snorted coldly, “At least he hasn’t gone completely soft…”

As he said this, a thought flickered through Li Yan’s mind.

Xu Chaoyi was Chaoyi’s former master, and the leader of the Four Flags took only a dozen men to the memorial hall. An Laogui was the leader of the Red Flag Gang’s Criminal Hall, with subordinates who were experts with swords and guns. Shi Tuozi’s men were known for their extraordinary marksmanship, constituting the Red Flag Gang’s Firearm Troops. Together with the Gaoli ghosts, the people Chaoyi took were all adept fighters…

An idea flashed through Li Yan’s head and disappeared just as quickly.