Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 270: Chapter 10 Zhao Jianzhong

“Oh my, I have always wondered why your cooking never contains any meat or fish.”

Li Yan held a bowl of cornmeal paste with chunks of yam floating on top.

Lady Dan made an “ah” sound and scooped up a spoonful to taste it herself. After swallowing, she asked, “Doesn’t it taste good?”

“That’s not it,” Li Yan scratched his head. “It’s just that, when people come from so far away, serving them this cornmeal porridge with flatbread isn’t quite fitting. Haven’t you noticed they hardly touched their chopsticks?”

Lady Dan covered the pot, rested her elbows on the table, and looked at Li Yan with a smile that was not quite a smile, “You weren’t so picky at first.”

Li Yan placed his bowl down as if it were hot to the touch. “I, I, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that we have a visitor at home.”

“This person, was he sent by your own kind to pass a message?”

Lady Dan suddenly asked this.

Li Yan wiped the corner of his mouth and hummed a response, “I’m going out with him tomorrow. You don’t need to follow this time.”

Lady Dan saw the expression on Li Yan’s face and stopped talking, simply nodding gently.

Li Yan smiled and asked, “No advice for me? My most reliable source of counsel has always been you, a ‘Six Ministries’ level Mountain God.”

Lady Dan shook her head. “I don’t have any advice for you. To tell the truth, compared to you, I’m the one with limited experience.”

After a pause, she added, “You’re usually so cautious, just be careful.”

Her tone was light, and Li Yan grinned widely, swallowing the cornmeal porridge with relish, while feeling strangely exhilarated.

Lady Dan was very pretty, but compared to Judy or even Madam Shi, she might not necessarily stand out more. Yu Shu’s appearance was somewhat less attractive, she had the looks of a pretty girl-next-door, but with a distinctive style that made her unforgettable once seen.

Yet, the sense of ease Li Yan felt when speaking with Lady Dan was something no one else could give him.

Recalling their first encounter in the dilapidated house in the wild mountains, Li Yan had never imagined there would be a today.

“By the way, I mentioned moving house during the day, what are your thoughts on that?”

Once Li Yan mentioned this, Lady Dan picked up her phone and showed him a photo. “I want to learn this instrument, do we need to move to a larger place to find it?”

The phone showed a poster of a performance, and Li Yan originally thought that Lady Dan would be interested in learning a more classical, ethnic instrument, or perhaps the cello, piano, or acoustic guitar. But upon closer inspection, the poster featured a girl with short hair and blue straps tied to the back of her hand, looking cool and decisive with two drumsticks in hand. Surprisingly, Lady Dan wanted to learn the drums.

“There are teachers here, but they aren’t great. If you really want to learn, I’ll find someone to inquire for you,” Li Yan offered.

“Sounds good,” Lady Dan replied, her excitement barely concealed.

Li Yan imagined it for a moment and found the idea amusing, unable to suppress a laugh.

…

The next day was clear and bright.

Counselor Xu came to pick up Li Yan, and they transferred to a helicopter to head north to the capital. Landing on a beach surrounded by the sea and mountains to the west of Capital City, they walked a short distance and arrived at a considerable-sized facility, with a sign over the entrance that read “Northern Industrial Shooting Range” in gold lettering on a black background.

“I won’t accompany you inside, brother,” said Counselor Xu, glancing inside and bidding Li Yan farewell.

A girl in jeans with a ponytail approached them and politely asked, “Hello, are you Li Yan?”

Though dressed casually, her gestures and gaze carried a refined air, indicating her professionalism in reception work.

“I am,” Li Yan nodded.

“Please follow me.”

The girl in jeans led Li Yan forward for a few hundred meters, passing many people on the way. The place seemed to be open for business, not a private venue.

Strikingly, Li Yan even saw someone test-firing a grenade launcher, a tall, fair-skinned woman on her own. She was wearing sunglasses, so her face was not visible.

“Miss, may I ask your surname?” he asked while they walked.

“My family name is also Li, Li Qian,” the girl responded to Li Yan’s inquiry.

Li Yan uttered an “oh”: “Miss, if I may ask, do you work here?”

“Ah, no, I don’t. I came specifically to pick you up. I’m a guest of this shooting range, you could say.”

“And what is your occupation, if you don’t mind disclosing it?”

“There’s nothing secretive about it. I currently work at the Beijing Cultural Hall doing event planning and reception, uh, and I also teach some business etiquette and such. Hey, by your accent, you are from Cangzhou, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Haha, my boyfriend is also from Cangzhou. You two sound very similar,” the girl said cheerfully, but Li Yan raised an eyebrow, aware of the misunderstanding. However, he didn’t say much about it and found himself liking the girl even more.

Pretty and proper — a good upbringing.

These days, finding a pretty girl to greet customers was not too difficult, but finding one who was both proper and sufficiently professional was not as easy.

It wasn’t until they entered a spacious, old house with green tiles that the girl named Li Qian spoke up. “Uncle Zhao, I’ve brought the person for you.”

“Eh, thank you, thank you. Alright, Qian, go have fun. I’ve got serious business to discuss with our guest here,” the person inside replied.

She nodded and backed out of the room. Li Yan stood up straight; inside the room, there was an antique square copper box with nine ears and four legs, emitting a cold aura.

This thing is called the Ice Mirror, and it served as an ancient refrigerator and air conditioner. Of course, ordinary people couldn’t afford to use it.

The speaker was an old man dressed in a black Tang suit, who appeared to be in his seventies or eighties, with sparse white hair and a dark spot on his forehead. He sat on the left side of a square table. Interestingly, though he was clearly alone, there was a set of mahjong tiles neatly stacked on the table, facing down.

“Have a seat.”

“And here I thought you would choose a more secluded private place to meet me.”

As Li Yan said this, his gaze shifted slightly as he looked at the three empty chairs on the table, and chose to sit on the right-hand side of the old man.

“It’s nothing shameful; it’s just a business talk, why need seclusion?” The old man was pleased when Li Yan sat beside him, “That’s better, which little brat would be so oblivious like Cao Yuanchao to just sit directly across from me, what for? To challenge me?”

He asked Li Yan with interest, “Now, I’m curious, you didn’t sit across from me on purpose. But why did you choose the right side?”

Li Yan was a bit embarrassed, “It was right by the door when I came in, closer.”

“…”

The old man blinked, let out a “hmm” sound, looked down at his mahjong tiles, suddenly laughed, shook his head as if he was laughing at himself.

“Old sir, thank you for the trouble of checking in on this matter for me.”

Li Yan said.

The old man didn’t respond but picked up a mahjong tile, talking to himself, “Li Yan, the only inheritances are the Gu Huo Bird and the Nine Luminaries. With the position of Proxy Traveler vacant and his outstanding performance, he has a very high possibility of becoming the new Proxy Traveler. He is associated with Taishuai, and Zhan Yuejin has high hopes for you.”

The old man paused, “You also have a mountain god who smuggled in legally, probably Taishuai’s backup plan.”

Li Yan’s heart tightened.

The old man suddenly looked up at him, appearing a bit surprised, but quickly recovered and nodded, “Ah, right, the spirits of mountains and forests, they carry the essence of purity and clarity. A young man, full of vigor, can’t withstand that.”

Li Yan licked his lips, “May I know your name?”

“Human Master, Zhao Jianzhong.”

Li Yan was prepared for this, he was meeting the third of the Ten Masters he had seen; there was nothing particularly surprising, just a sense of wariness and nervousness.

“I haven’t thanked the old master for helping me out of a tight spot.”

“The matter at Gaoxiangpu wasn’t because of you that I turned a blind eye, no need to thank me.” Zhao Jianzhong softened his tone, then continued, “However, it is indeed because of you that I paid attention to it. So, the villagers at Gaoxiangpu should be thanking you.”

Li Yan understood the old man’s elaborate words. He began to feel a bit more fond of this mysteriously backed old man.

However, Zhao Jianzhong clearly had another implication; his movements and actions were closely watched.

“Deal a tile, let’s see.”

The old man suddenly threw out this line.

Without hesitation, Li Yan flipped open the thirteen mahjong tiles in front of him. They were the directional winds, dragon tiles, and terminal tiles—all that was missing to win with a “Thirteen Orphans” hand was one tile.

“All four players are waiting to win with ‘Thirteen Orphans’, but since the tile can’t be won, it’s not important, continue.”

Li Yan drew a tile and suddenly a flood of information entered his vision.

“Zhang Mingyuan, with Eyes of the Enlightened Beast, from Botou, Cangzhou, lost his mother at a young age, has an elder sister, currently staying at Guangzhou Baiquan Hotel…”

This was a brief text, and each statement unfolded into more detailed annotations, even including images and videos, featuring a young man with a fair face taking a cold shower.

Li Yan put down the mahjong tile, his face not looking too good.

Zhao Jianzhong explained leisurely, “The operation of Yan Fu is exceptionally complex. Thus, those in high positions often bear a part of Yan Fu’s responsibilities like dealing with the comings and goings of fruits, the threads of inheritances, the review and appeals of walkings, and the finishing touches of local fruits, and so on.”

“However, as reptiles, we cannot directly possess the authority of Yan Fu, for that would mean becoming assimilated with Yan Fu. Therefore, walkers choose to seal the authority within artifacts; some pick newspapers, others mahjong, and some old computers, it’s all a matter of personal preference.”

He looked at Li Yan, “I have in my possession the background information of all the walkers within the Heaven Jiazi Nine Fruits, as well as real-time surveillance, domestic and foreign, none can escape. The delay is no more than three hours. Naturally, whether renouncing the fruit to stay put or establishing a channel for permanent travel, these two options are not within the range my authority can record.”

Li Yan was silent for a moment before speaking, “Mo told me to avoid revealing my abilities in public as much as possible, that if there’s trouble, someone will handle it for a fee. This isn’t Yan Fu’s rule, this is your rule.”

“Correct.”

Li Yan narrowed his eyes, “Human Master, truly a Human Master.”

“Hehe, over a hundred years old and still doing this kind of manual labor, do you think I enjoy it?”

Zhao Jianzhong held up an East wind tile, “You’re a good egg, even after becoming a walker, with the power of life and death underfoot, you remained a good egg. I like you. But you have to understand not all walkers are as well-behaved as you.”

Li Yan moved the conversation forward, “If I’m not mistaken, besides sharing responsibilities, the authority of Yan Fu can also be actively set. In plain terms, before you, there was no such thing as surveillance of walkers among Yan Fu’s permissions, right?”

Zhao Jianzhong’s eyes turned cold, “Right, so what?”

“Nothing, elder Wan’an,” Li Yan replied as he placed down the mahjong tile.

“You little scamp.”

Zhao Jianzhong shook his head, without adding much else.

“Old master, if you’ll forgive my bluntness, you didn’t have to tell me all this.”

“I’ve told you, I like you. You, lad…” The old man took a moment to think, “are just right.”

Li Yan smiled, “An old master once said something similar to me.”

Zhao Jianzhong waved his hand, “Enough, let’s get to the point.”

He turned his gaze directly onto Li Yan, “What do you want?”