Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 258: Chapter 95 Clean and Tidy!

Early in the morning, Li Yan sent men to dispatch a boat to send Governor Lin Yuanfu back to Guangzhou. Fulin had already sent people to wait at the port early on. Following the business with the Tianbo Division, Zhang Dong was sent away, and this time, the boat was only for Governor Lin.

“Governor Lin, you have suffered some inconveniences on Lantau Island these days,” said Li Yan.

Lin Yuanfu was still in the same black changshan, his beard fluttered in the sea breeze.

“No inconveniences, the craftsmanship of your brother surnamed Cha is quite good.”

Li Yan glanced at the old man, “Today, I shall see you off.”

Lin Yuanfu’s eyebrows twitched twice; he placed his hands in his sleeves and did not speak.

Li Yan said solemnly, “I promised the authorities to deliver you to the port of Guangzhou. The ransom has already been brought, three hundred thousand taels. The most expensive ransom in the history of the South Seas for a century.”

Lin Yuanfu let out a long sigh, “The Red Hair have entered the South Seas, yet it is you Red Flag Gang who have grown fat. In this one month’s time, you’ve earned what normally would take thirty-odd years of business.”

Li Yan didn’t look at him and just kept staring at the water’s surface, “I still stand by what I said, if you don’t bother the Red Flag, the Red Flag will not trouble the authorities.”

Lin Yuanfu gave a faint smile, not believing a half-word. He might have misjudged other things during his month on Lantau Island, but he could not have mistaken Tianbao’s wild ambitions.

However, Li Yan hadn’t lied to him. For the time being, he indeed had no further desire to expand upon this “fruit” he had acquired; after all, he hadn’t yet digested what was already in his mouth.

“Tianbao, you may set sail,” Li Yan called out.

The crew member standing at the bow looked back and said.

This man had a pair of triangular eyes and a knife tucked into his belt, exuding a cold temperament, clearly one who had seen blood.

“Governor Lin, please get on the boat.”

Li Yan made a gesture of invitation.

Lin Yuanfu looked deeply into Li Yan’s eyes, leaned on a wooden stick, and stepped onto the boat, causing it to wobble.

“Set sail,” Li Yan shouted.

The oars moved, and the small boat sliced through the waves.

Lin Yuanfu kept his gaze on Li Yan, who was staying on shore, watching Li Yan’s figure getting smaller and smaller, before finally withdrawing his gaze. The boat wasn’t big, with the crew member with triangular eyes rowing at the front. There were just the two of them on board.

Li Yan turned and left.

…

Behind the cliffs, the tender green slopes stretched among the red kapok trees.

Xiu’er, wearing little embroidered shoes, walked on the dirt path, looking between the mounds, in front of Madam Shi’s gravestone, where a woman in a dan-green Luo skirt sat down on her knees after laying down a bouquet of flowers.

The woman tied up her hair and suddenly turned around, catching sight of Xiu’er, who was carrying a basket.

Their clear black and white eyes met.

“The port is too noisy; it’s quieter here,” Lady Dan tilted her head, “Shall I go somewhere else?”

“No need.”

Xiu’er walked over and, like Lady Dan, hugged her knees and sat down on the grass.

“Then—” Lady Dan opened her mouth.

“I don’t want cake,” Xiu’er interrupted her.

“Oh,” Lady Dan said meekly.

Xiu’er wrinkled her nose. The more sensitive a girl’s mind was, the more cluttered her malicious thoughts became. Yet, sitting beside this woman and smelling her sweet scent, she couldn’t even muster a hint of jealousy.

“Fire Cauldron Lady~” Xiu’er’s eyes sparkled, “They all say you are a divine being manifested in the world, and that your followers’ requests are always fulfilled. Then, can you bring my mother back to life?”

Before Lady Dan could answer, Xiu’er herself shook her head, “I’m being silly. Please pretend I haven’t said anything, my lady.”

Lady Dan placed her hand on Xiu’er’s shoulder and handed her her palm, revealing a golden pill.

“What is this?”

“The Taiping Document. Tianbao has released Zhang He. This was exchanged under that condition. You cried all night yesterday, and he felt bad about it, so he asked me to give this to you,” Lady Dan said.

After a pause, Lady Dan added, “Zhang He cultivated the Yin Pill; this is the Yang Pill. The magic within it can revive life from death and restore white bones to flesh.”

Xiu’er incredulously lifted her head.

“Everyone says I’m a divine being whose followers are granted whatever they pray for, but in reality, I share the same fear and doubts about death as everyone else. Whether the Taiping Document works or not, it’s for you to figure out.”

Xiu’er took the Yang Pill. After all, she was just a child. Upon hearing this news, a dimple appeared on her tender little face.

“Thank you, thank you, my lady,” she said.

With that, she grabbed her basket, bowed three times to Madam Shi’s gravestone, and then ran to her room.

Lady Dan turned to watch the young girl run away and, thinking of something, scratched her head with her little finger and sighed.

…

Clang~

The bronze hammer flew out of his grasp, whizzing past Li Yan’s eye. Xue Ba’s weapon slipped from his grip, and his eyebrows shot up as he lunged forward, trapping Li Yan’s spear shaft under his armpit. Both men bent their knees, thrusting forward simultaneously.

Veins popped out on the back of Li Yan’s hand while Xue Ba’s face turned bright red with effort, as the spear shaft between them tensed into an arc.

“Now!”

Li Yan bellowed, but suddenly let go!

Had his reflex been slower, hearing Li Yan’s shout, one would most certainly press down hard on the spear shaft. That would play right into Li Yan’s ploy. Unexpectedly, Xue Ba also let go, prompting the Tiger Head Great Spear to quiver sharply in midair, and both men’s fists reached the other’s face.

“Not bad.”

A smile tugged at Li Yan’s lips, but his step faltered, and Xue Ba’s punch landed solidly on his mouth. In pain, Li Yan misstepped backwards, tripping the out-of-breath Xue Ba to the ground, while his own fist shifted into a palm, finding leverage on Xue Ba’s shoulder to pull down sharply. His knee shot upward, striking Xue Ba’s nose and leaving him seeing stars.

“Ugh!”

Xue Ba, clutching his nose, staggered back, waving his hand, “No more, no more!”

Li Yan took two steps back and flicked his foot, picking up his great spear. A sense of unspeakable achievement filled his heart.

Name: Xue Ba

Expertise: Naval Battle 87%

Xue Ba was talented and, unlike Li Yan and Zhang Mingyuan who were born in peaceful times, he had seen much life and death, and his combat experience was extremely rich.

Even without the enhancement of a Gaoli ghost, Xue Ba had a 60% chance of defeating the young and brash Li Yan, who had once smashed the signs of Guangzhou’s thirteen martial arts schools.

Besides, Xue Ba was unorthodox, with many details lacking refinement. After Li Yan had personally mentored him for a while, Xue Ba’s close combat skills improved dramatically, and his naval battle expertise also soared by 7%.

“Xiao Ba, when the Lin Family’s people come after a while, you go with them to grow your skills. When you come back, I’ll have Chaoyi find you a caring wife. How about that?”

“Sure, Tianbao, don’t you trick me,” Xue Ba said, grinning from ear to ear, his ruthless and indifferent nature to human life unnoticed by anyone.

In fact, Li Yan himself was not without interest in becoming a guard of the legendary Heavenly Mother. He was also quite envious of Ao Xing’s formidable skills as a wrathful Vajra.

Unlike the Code, physical refinement bestows a permanent status upon one’s movements, such as the Gaoli ghost, Quanlang Type, and the like, essentially akin to the Chaos Tattoo that Li Yan initially had.

Therefore, becoming a Quanlang Sea Ghost doesn’t result in a permanent stagnation penalty for those who walk.

Li Yan chose not to undergo the Lin Family’s refinement, not only because he did not fully trust the Cai-Lin alliance but also to ensure that the top combat power of the Red Flag was secured after his departure. Moreover, based on his experiences from the previous few incidents, there was no reason he couldn’t obtain the purchasing rights for “Quanlang Sea Ghost” given his current evaluation!

As a Yan Fu walker, one captures the essence of the world for personal use.

While Li Yan was pondering these things, Chaoyi furrowed his brows and came over, “Tianbao, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“The person you assigned to Lin Yuanfu to send him back, he’s from the Criminal Hall, right?”

“Mhm.”

“You, you’re planning to kill him on the way?”

For Chaoyi to ask this was somewhat abrupt.

Li Yan rolled his eyes upward, “I seem to have cautioned that kid about something, but what exactly it was, I can’t recall.”

Chaoyi hesitated for a long time, stammering, “Tianbao, the man you assigned, I had him replaced.”

“Oh?”

Li Yan responded indifferently.

Chaoyi’s behavior was undoubtedly overstepping, but Li Yan’s reaction was unusually calm.

“Xiu’er begged me not to let you kill Old Man Lin.” Chaoyi clenched his teeth, “Tianbao, I’ve messed up your plans, so just say how you want to deal with me.”

“…” Li Yan bit his fingernails and thought for a while before suddenly shaking his head, “The change was Xiu’er’s own initiative; she didn’t ask you for help at all. You only just found out about this and came here to take the blame.”

Chaoyi opened his mouth and hung his head even lower.

“Aiyah~” Li Yan said with a smirk, “Xiu’er is only nine years old. It’s impressive she thought of this, especially considering her compassion towards others. It’s a good thing.”

Li Yan began to laugh, patting Chaoyi on the shoulder, “I only told that guy to be wary of storms and to make sure he isn’t caught by the Guangzhou officials after arriving. I never mentioned killing Lin Yuanfu, Xiu’er is overthinking things.”

Chaoyi was startled, Li Yan’s words had exposed his thoughts, and at this point, there was no need to deceive himself anymore.

“Tianbao, you’re really not going to kill Lin Yuanfu?”

“No killing, I’m not killing him.”

…

The next day, just as dawn was beginning to lighten the sky, the boat carrying Lin Yuanfu was about to arrive at the agreed-upon Red Water Port.

The person at the prow threw aside the oar, pulled out the Ox-Ear Pointed Knife from his waist, and lifted the curtain to enter the cabin.

Lin Yuanfu, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened them.

“You’re here to kill me?”

Setting aside Xiu’er’s personal sentiments, Old Man Lin had stayed on Lantau Island for too long. He had a fairly good grasp of the situation on the island. He knew about the Suo Heier incident, he knew about the Fire Cauldron Lady, and he was even more familiar with the Red Flag’s internal power structure.

Not just Li Yan, but Xu Chaoyi had thought about killing Lin several times as well.

Such a person couldn’t become the Black-Robed Strategist of Lantau Island, nor could he be allowed to return to the mountains.

“Originally, I was supposed to kill you.” The man spat out, pointing the tip of his knife at Lin Yuanfu’s nose, “Old man, someone asked me to tell you: ‘Treacherous bones lie beneath the rich entrance, but righteousness dwells among the people.'”

With that, the man plunged the knife tip into the table, turned around, exited the cabin, and jumped into the water.

Splash!

The water splashed in all directions, the boat rocked unsteadily, and drifted towards Red Water Port with the current.

Lin Yuanfu’s lips turned purplish, and it took him a while before his eyes opened again. He rubbed his numb legs, sighed for a short moment, pulled out the pointed knife, and began carving something on the table.

He muttered to himself as he carved.

When the boat hit the dock, there was a long commotion outside before someone hurried onto the boat, lifting the curtain with an anxious voice, “Is, is it Mister Lisou?”

Lin Yuanfu waved his hand, indicating that he didn’t want to be disturbed.

The person waited respectfully. After about the amount of time it would take to drink two or three cups of tea, Lin Yuanfu finally finished the carving. On the table was something resembling a map.

“Mister, what’s this?”

The person asked.

“This is a map of Lantau Island’s defensive layout. I remember about seventy to eighty percent of it. This kind of thing can’t be hidden; it has to be kept in one’s mind.” Lin Yuanfu did not even glance at the person who had come, “Immediately dispatch someone to copy this map…”

Lin Yuanfu’s voice stopped abruptly, incredulous as he lifted his head.

Blood stains spreading slowly across his chest.

“You, who are you?”

Without a word, the intruder pulled out the knife and wiped it across Lin Yuanfu’s throat.

Gurgle~ Gurgle…

The old man fell into the pool of blood, bubbles of blood emerging from the wound on his neck, and he was silent after a moment.

Watching coldly, the assassin sliced off Lin Yuanfu’s head, wrapped it in cloth, and quickly left the cabin.

“The deed is done, signal them!”

…

In the Ryukyu Islands, at the Cai Family Ancestral Hall.

Cai Qian performed the ritual of burning incense and bathing before offering grand bows and kowtows to his ancestors.

“Boss!” Yan Ajiu called respectfully from the outside, “It’s done.”

“Where’s the head?”

“I’ve brought it back.”

“Then that’s good.” Cai Qian nodded, “In the heat of the moment during the Tianbo Division’s assembly, I had a falling out with that Lin, and we need to clean up this mess. Turns out, I inadvertently helped Tianbao.”

Cai Qian’s expression became indescribable as he recalled the banquet with Fulin, where the three major pirates were invited, and Tianbao had Old Man Gu convey a message.

“Dragon Head specifically said, ‘On the eighteenth this month at Red Water Port, Prince, don’t forget to come for the release.'”

“The eighteenth this month… Red Water Port… don’t forget…”

The eighteenth this month, Red Water Port…

Li Yan’s words weren’t meant for Fulin; they were meant for him, Cai Qian!

“That’s fine, as long as Red Flag isn’t troubled by it, neither am I.”

Cai Qian turned and walked out of the ancestral hall.