Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 19: Chapter 19 Take It All Away

Editor: Larbre Studio

“`

You’ve encountered a fellow traveller!

You’ve obtained the following information

Name: Zhang Mingyuan

Status: None

Specialty: Ancient Martial Arts 69%/100%

Skill: A Fleeting Glimpse

Inheritance: ???

Fellow traveller: A term used for those who may have conflicting interests but share the same goal while walking the path of Yan Fu. Killing a fellow traveller will not grant any rewards.

Li Yan still had two objectives for this Yan Fu event, one was to reach the seventh arena in Kowloon City, and the other was to awaken the remaining spirit of the Gu Huo Bird from an ancient novel. For the former, Li Yan had already won ten consecutive battles, so winning two more did not pose a great difficulty. The latter, however, was much more troublesome.

Actually, from another perspective, the requirement of the Yan Fu event was to awaken the remaining spirit of the Gu Huo Bird, but it didn’t specify that it had to be done alone. The designation ‘fellow traveller’ had already explained a lot. In principle, Li Yan and Zhang Mingyuan could completely join forces to seek information about the Remaining Pages of the Gu Huo Bird.

However, the content of the Yan Fu event clearly stated that the more remaining pages one obtained, the higher the reward would be, and there were at most only five pages.

So who would take more? Who less?

The incandescent lights in the Fuyi Building never went out, but there were certainly plenty of desolate corners. Li Yan sat on the steps to one side, flipping through the information A Fleeting Glimpse had brought him, thus contemplating.

“Here he comes.”

Li Yan suddenly spoke up.

At his words, Zhang Mingyuan’s footsteps hesitated, then he stood about three meters behind Li Yan.

“Actually, when I heard in the ring that there was someone named Li Yan, I should have guessed it was you.”

Zhang Mingyuan’s voice was very clear.

“Hejian Skinny Tiger.”

Li Yan grinned, always feeling a bit embarrassed hearing such things from someone else.

The martial arts circle in the north wasn’t big, Zhang Mingyuan knew Li Yan, and Li Yan also had some guesses about the youth’s background.

He turned around, controlling his tone, “I’m not one for empty talk, but today’s an exception. We all come here for our reasons, and I won’t ask about your past if you don’t ask about mine. Hand over your remaining page to me, I’ll look for the Gu Huo Bird. You take this time to earn more points and just wait to leave. How about it?”

Zhang Mingyuan shook his head, speaking slowly, “I just saw He Changhong, said I wanted to fight you. He’s not on good terms with that woman who’s backing you, and agreed without hesitation.”

Li Yan raised his eyebrows in surprise at this and remained silent.

The Yan Fu event rules made it clear that once one lost a fistfight, one would return immediately, regardless of the event’s progress, and would no longer be able to interfere with anything that happened during the event.

“I… tend to be straightforward.”

Zhang Mingyuan pondered before saying, “I don’t really want to work with others, can’t trust them. Let’s settle it with a fight in the ring. The loser gets nothing, the winner takes it all.”

Li Yan let out a quiet laugh, stood up, slapping his bottom, and walked towards the elevator.

“So do you agree or not?”

Zhang Mingyuan called after him. In a mixed environment like Kowloon City, the game between the two could be extremely complex. Zhang Mingyuan knew his limitations. At just nineteen years old, although he had been practicing martial arts since childhood, his experience was too limited. He didn’t have the confidence to outwit an old hand like Li Yan who had been famous for a long time; rather, he preferred the straightforwardness of the ring. Thus, he was a bit apprehensive that Li Yan might not accept the challenge.

“See you at the ring tomorrow.”

Li Yan tossed back the words before entering the elevator.

As the elevator doors slowly closed, Li Yan’s eyebrows suddenly knitted together.

“It’s not him.”

Li Yan returned to Judy’s private room door. As his hand touched the handle, the door opened by itself, and a line of people came out, led by a young man with a distorted complexion.

He Changhong sized up Li Yan and then let out a strange laugh, “Yama, right? I’m going to see who meets Yama tomorrow.”

Li Yan was startled, but those people had already walked away. He walked into the room and saw Judy sipping wine impassively and Red Ghost deep in thought beside her.

“Yan, what kind of weapon do you need? I’ll get Red Ghost to prepare it for you right now.”

“Weapon?”

Li Yan probably understood that the man who had just left was He Changhong, the one mentioned by Zhang Mingyuan. When Judy asked him what weapon he wanted, Li Yan immediately recalled the heavy iron-wrapped staff in Zhang Mingyuan’s hand.

“`

Within Bagua Palm, there are many peculiar weapons, but as Taishui Yu Shu said, the Hejian Li Clan is a scattered family; Li Yan is only proficient in one or two types of weapons from the Bagua Sect, yet naturally, within the Li Clan, there are family martial techniques involving various arms.

“Red Ghost, get me a long sword, at least one meter long, one meter three would be best.”

“No problem.” Red Ghost replied with a muffled voice.

…

“Yan.”

At dusk, Red Ghost suddenly called out to Li Yan. He tossed him a cigarette and, as Li Yan lit it, began to speak.

“I asked you to get a health check some time ago, did you go?”

“Red Ghost Bro, you’re not usually so naggy. I know my own body.”

Li Yan responded with a cigarette in his mouth. Whether Red Ghost was sincere or not, he really took good care of him.

“Have you seen Taishuai?”

“I have,” Li Yan nodded.

“When Taishuai saw you practicing boxing, he said you had weak qi and excessive force, possibly suffering from a serious illness. If there’s something you don’t want to tell me, I don’t mind. But you’ve only been in the fortress for a dozen days; I don’t want to be collecting your body so soon. If it’s really bad, take some rest. I’ll talk to Judy.”

Li Yan looked into Red Ghost’s eyes for a long while before shifting his gaze away.

“Red Ghost Bro, with your kind of personality, you’re not suited for making a living in Kowloon City.”

“Taishuai said the same thing.”

Red Ghost laughed a bit self-deprecatingly and turned to Li Yan: “I’m serious, Taishuai said if you continue fighting like this, your body won’t hold up.”

“Red Ghost Bro, will Taishuai come to watch me box tomorrow?”

“Maybe, maybe not. It depends on her schedule. What’s up?”

“Make sure she watches me finish the fight.”

“…Okay.”

By the time Li Yan returned to his apartment on Su Miao Street, it was already after ten at night. Li Yan, holding his nose, opened his apartment door; he still wasn’t accustomed to the smell of the underground fish ball factory behind his building, and he couldn’t shake the feeling it was getting stronger.

Soon, there was a knock on the door. Li Yan opened it to find the young girl with an innocent and slightly shy look on her face.

“Xiu, what’s up so late?”

“Yan Bro, my mom heard that you live alone and specially made you some barbecue pork as thanks for looking after me.”

Xiu held out the food container to Li Yan.

“Thank your mother for me.”

Li Yan didn’t stand on ceremony; sometimes, when he came back late and hadn’t eaten enough, Xiu’s mother would always send him some prepared food, and it tasted quite good.

“By the way Xiu, I noticed your house doesn’t turn on the lights at night recently, always using candles. Is there a short circuit?”

Improperly connected circuits were common in Kowloon City, resulting in frequent contact failures.

“Yes, there has been an electrical fault for a long time.”

Xiu lowered her head, looking a bit hesitant to meet Li Yan’s gaze.

“Let me take a look at your house and see if I can fix it. I haven’t met your mother yet.”

Xiu suddenly looked up, her denial crisp and clear: “No, that’s not necessary.”

“Oh, alright then.”

Li Yan blinked somewhat puzzledly.

“Well, I’ll be leaving then.”

Xiu hopped away cheerfully, much more lively than when Li Yan had first seen her.

Li Yan opened the food container back in his room, and the rice was still steaming. The chopsticks broke the yolk of the egg, releasing a golden red heart, a few tender green vegetables were placed around the edge of the bowl, covered with a large slice of barbecue pork, a sight to whet the appetite.

Li Yan leaned his elbow on the table, gazing at the barbecue pork rice, feeling for a moment that life in the fortress had its own flavor.

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