Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 198: Chapter 35 Harvesting Shanmukian (Part 2)

Li Yan lowered his head with a smile. Even if he had guessed wrong, it didn’t really matter; it would just mean a little more fighting with firearms and swords, which was his strong suit.

“Tianbao, I’ll take you to the memorial hall—it’s in the original meeting hall.”

“No rush. Everyone’s already on Lantau Island, where could they fly off to?”

Li Yan raised his hand to halt the conversation.

He turned around, ignoring the strange looks from everyone, and whispered in Lady Dan’s ear, “You understand women so well, help me come up with an idea. What do you think Madam Shi liked when she was alive?”

Tianbao’s mind held little memory of personal affairs. That’s why he wanted to ask Lady Dan.

Lady Dan raised her eyebrows, and after a long while, she crossed her arms and said, “The last time you saw her, the decorations in her hair and the patterns on her clothes were all designs of the Shanmukian.”

Li Yan gave a thumbs up.

“Qizai, around Lantau Island, I remember there’s a large area of Shanmukian flowers? Let’s go, take me to see.”

Whether this woman was dead or alive, this would be the last bit of sentiment I could offer on behalf of Tianbao.

With that thought, Li Yan strode forward.

“Li Yan.”

Everyone looked at Lady Dan in surprise.

Li Yan also turned around.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

…

Chaoyi led the Four Flags men halfway when a pirate with ear piercings came toward him, whispering in Chaoyi’s ear, “Chaoyi brother, the person you asked me to find, I’ve found him, a master at his craft.”

Chaoyi glanced at him sideways, “Got it, go on.”

Madam Guo was getting a bit impatient, “Haven’t we arrived yet?”

“It’s just ahead.”

Chaoyi pointed to a loft ahead hung with white lanterns.

The vast memorial hall was empty. In the middle lay a coffin.

“Where’s Xiu’er?”

Xu Longsi furrowed his brow.

Madam Guo echoed his question, “With Madam Shi’s passing, Zheng Xiu’er is the rightful Dragon Head of the Red Flag Gang, and we also …”

His voice trailed off.

Behind the coffin, on the offering table, lay a bloody severed head! The head appeared to have been freshly cut, staining the tablecloth red. Staring at that face with eyes open in death, it was one of the Red Flag Gang’s key members, also known as a Gaoli ghost.

“Chaoyi, what does this mean?”

Madam Guo was both shocked and angered.

Chaoyi bowed respectfully.

“Alliance Hierarch, this man was a traitor of our Red Flag, who leaked our gang’s secrets. I captured him, and An Laogui of the Criminal Hall beheaded him to enforce our code.”

Xu Longsi’s fists clenched with a crunching sound. Of course, he recognized this man. The reason the Four Flags were clued in so quickly to take advantage in the chaos was precisely because there was a spy among the Red Flag’s core members. The severed head on the altar was that spy.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Longsi said darkly, “Chaoyi, it’s been many years, and you’ve gained some abilities.”

“I dare not.”

Chaoyi moved forward, grabbed the head with one hand, and casually tossed it into a nearby charcoal brazier. The head bounced, causing the expressions of several gang leaders to twitch.

“Xiu’er is too grief-stricken and is currently resting. Madam Shi had a will stating that the new Dragon Head of the Red Flag is Tianbao. If the previous Alliance Hierarch and the three gang leaders have any matters, they can wait for the new Dragon Head to return. If you cannot wait, I can also pass on the message.”

“Xu Chaoyi, you must’ve stayed in the Red Flag too long, forgetting your own surname, right?” Xu Longsi growled low.

“Alliance Hierarch, my surname is Xu, a hereditary general of the Xu family. At the age of fifteen, I escorted the lady until she married into the Red Flag. The old Alliance Hierarch said in his lifetime that I only need to listen to the lady.”

“I am Madam Shi’s cousin!”

Chaoyi burst into laughter with his mouth agape, “What kind of cousin, who hasn’t seen you for six years, wants to kick you when you’re down the moment he sees you?”

“You scoundrel!”

Xu Longsi lunged forward to slap Chaoyi’s face but was unexpectedly blocked by Madam Guo’s outstretched hand.

“Move.”

Xu Longsi said angrily.

“Shut up!”

Madam Guo’s scolding stunned Xu Longsi.

Madam Guo’s demeanor toward Xu Longsi had none of the earlier courtesy, and the look he gave Xu Longsi couldn’t have been clearer, “Since you can’t intimidate Xu Chaoyi, you’re of no use.”

Xu Longsi felt both shamed and angry, as if his throat was blocked, and he couldn’t utter a word.

Madam Guo surveyed the scene expressionlessly and said, “Since the Red Flag’s internal affairs have been settled, but unfortunately the Dragon Head is not present, then we will not disturb you any further. We shall visit another time.”

Chaoyi sighed, but slowly shook his head, “All of you have traveled far and wide to get here, and just to leave like this makes us, the Red Flag Gang, seem like we don’t know how to treat guests properly. Why not stay a few more days? That way, we can fulfill our duties as hosts.”

Before Chaoyi’s words had finished echoing, a large group of people rushed out from the back hall, and the doors to the loft were also blocked.

An Laogui from the Criminal Hall, Shi Tuozi of the Firearm Troops, along with the Gaoli ghost and his party consisting of over a hundred skilled fighters, surrounded these ten or so individuals, emanating a murderous aura.

At this, the faces of everyone from the Four Flags changed.

Ba Hai and Shi Tianying were furious but apprehensive, saying things like, “We still have thousands of brothers outside” and “If you dare lay a hand on us, the Four Flags will rise up and attack.”

Chaoyi smiled and said something that sent chills down the leaders’ spines, “This is Lantau Island, where we have twenty thousand brothers from the Red Flag. They don’t know what’s happening here. Serve them wine laced with laxatives, then launch a surprise attack, and they’ll just be driven back. As for the Four Flags’ siege, ha, I’m afraid the loyalty within your ranks isn’t that strong. Keeping you here will surely incite internal strife among your factions as they compete for the new Dragon Head. By the time they can spare attention, the Red Flag Gang will already be to one side, and I’m afraid you all will be left as mere figureheads.”

“Bullshit.” “Naive.”

The leaders of the Blue Flag and White Flag cursed angrily, but inside, they were filled with immense fear, knowing their own affairs all too well, and that what Chaoyi had said was completely accurate.

Madam Guo watched Chaoyi with cold eyes and added, “Once the Four Flags are embroiled in infighting to the point of no return, you could easily let us go. With a fire in their own backyard, they’ll have to clean up the mess first. After they’ve dealt with those turncoats, the Four Flags will be significantly weakened. You, Xu Chaoyi, pulling the strings like a puppeteer, without lifting a weapon or sending a soldier, will have taken the Four Flags entirely. Clever, truly clever.”

Chaoyi raised his cup in a gesture, not saying a word.

Among them all, only Madam Guo’s expression remained composed. He sighed softly, “They say Tianbao from Red Flag is brave and strategic, but few mention the Dual-Gun Chaoyi from Red Flag. Today, I see that we, the South Seas pirates, have underestimated you.”@@novelbin@@

He clicked his tongue, “With such measures in hand, Brother Chaoyi, you wouldn’t possibly concede to being under Tianbao of Red Flag, would you? The battle for the head of the Red Flag will certainly be quite a spectacle.”

Shi Tuozi sneered and remained silent. Many brothers’ gazes suddenly focused on Chaoyi. Unlike the Criminal Hall and Firearm Troops, whose looks were clearly displeased, those of Gaoli ghost’s men were far more complex.

Chaoyi acted as if he had not heard any of it.

“Old Ghost, take a few leaders to the inner room to rest. Elder patriarch, since we share a master-servant relationship, take the ships of the Yellow Flag Gang and leave.”

Xu Longsi’s lips trembled as he looked at Chaoyi seated on the chair. Through him, he faintly sensed the shadow of a cousin he had feared since childhood…

“Hahaha~”

Madam Guo laughed while shaking his head.

“Dual-Gun Chaoyi, you sure are calculative. But do you think Mrs. Shi, a widow, managed to maintain her position as the leader of the Five Flags for two years merely through scheming?”

Madam Guo’s eyes turned fierce.

“It was her iron fist!”

Chaoyi smirked disdainfully, “Black Flag Madam Guo, you’ve practiced hardened Qigong for twenty years, Iron Sand Palm, capable of slashing a six-inch blade aura. Your mastery of Gu techniques is lacking, even though you’ve had the formula to create Gaoli ghosts for years. You’ve driven more than a hundred men mad in the process of making them, and not a single one succeeded.”

He leaned forward slightly, “You think you can compete with me in fisticuffs with just that?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a warm and wet sensation on his neck, a bright red tongue gently licking it.

“Hehehe~”

The tinkling laughter resounded through the spirit hall; in front of the coffins, a graceful, boneless figure pressed itself in front of Chaoyi.

She was clad in black gauze, with a white navel bedecked with a red gem. Her long legs caressed the flowing skirt, with tips of her hair coiling like snakes alongside her flushed cheeks.

This woman appeared no older than twenty, with a black flame mark behind her neck, and a devilishly charming smile on her lips.

An Laogui raised his musket, but his face turned deathly pale, and his hands, usually unfazed even by a knife cut, trembled violently as his firearm fell to the ground.

The woman held something in her lightly clenched hand, laughing heartily, “Old man, your bones are quite hard too.” With that, she exerted force in her hand.

Crack~

An Laogui clenched his teeth, refusing to groan in pain, but his hand twisted into a ghastly shape, clearly broken.

The Red Flag pirates stood at attention with knives and guns, but the woman’s smile remained enchanting.

She looked toward the coffins, her eyes sparking with intrigue.

“I also know a bit of Defying Skill. Mrs. Yan’s remains shouldn’t go to waste like this.”

Chaoyi raised his head and scooped up a brazier, tossing it towards the woman in black gauze. Amid the fluttering of burning paper money, his sleeve released a flintlock pistol, aimed at the woman in black, as the sound of mighty ocean waves suddenly filled the spirit hall.

The woman chuckled, her gaze piercing straight through Chaoyi’s physical form to his frenziedly throbbing heart, and then, she reached out her hand…

Slap~

A hand grasped the black gauze woman’s wrist, causing her to look up in astonishment.

Before her stood a woman with a wan complexion, resembling coiled silver threads, with phoenix eyes but constantly coughing. Her eyes, never leaving the black gauze woman, whispered softly, “You little harlot~”

Bang!

A bullet pierced the black gauze woman’s head, leaving a dark hole devoid of blood.

No, not just her forehead, the black gauze woman’s eyes and mouth had also turned into round, gaping holes at some point, her whole being resembling a horrific doll with hair twisting like snakes.

“I knew you weren’t dead!”

Madam Guo stepped forward, and seven or eight blurry shadows with black flame marks appeared behind him, all bristling with menace.

The black gauze woman’s voice became shrill, “Your time is up; you’re just clinging to life. Do you still think you’re Queen Yan of the South Seas!”

Mrs. Shi’s eyes bristled with murderous intent, “Come and try.”

Turbulent dark currents swirled!

Just then, a jarringly out-of-place question interrupted them.

Li Yan stood at the doorway, holding a bundle of Shanmukian flowers.

“Um, shall I wait and put the flowers down first?”