Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: The End (Part Two)

Editor: Larbre Studio

“Clang!”

“Crash.”

“Now that’s exhilarating.”

The grating sound of blades clashing one after another was enough to make one’s ears hurt, as the Mandarin Duck Halberd hooked onto the Butterfly Dual Blades. The sharp weapons shifted back and forth between the two fighters, one moment the halberd lingering near Xu Tianci’s throat, the next the dual blades grazing Li Yan’s heart, both moves highly dangerous. Sweat beaded at the tip of both their noses.

After about four or five exchanges, Li Yan found himself at a disadvantage. His wrist had been injured, and his movements with the circular blade became increasingly stiff.

The Mandarin Duck Halberd, with its long and large hooked shape, excels at entangling and locking swords and other bladed weapons. Although it wasn’t at a disadvantage against the Butterfly Dual Blades, it couldn’t be considered to have the upper hand either.

Li Yan might not have been unfamiliar with the principles of the Entangling Knife, Binding Knife, Plowing Knife, and Eight Chop Sword, but encountering them in combat proved to be a major setback.

The Gold Thread Entangling Hand gave him an edge over the rashly advancing Xu Tianci, but when it came to the exchange between the Eight Chop Sword and the Mandarin Duck Halberd, Li Yan had to admit that he was outclassed using the halberd single-handedly.

Both were unfamiliar with the nuances of their opponents’ weapons. Even though Li Yan wielded the halberd with one hand and Xu Tianci was half-blind, the adaptation speed of the young man to the tricky weapon fight was faster than his own.

Nineteen years old, truly a force to be reckoned with.

Moreover, Li Yan’s wrist had been slashed, and anyone with experience knew that a horizontal cut to the wrist isn’t fatal — it’s not a lethal wound.

But in such a state, agilely using the Mandarin Duck Halberd, which demanded a great deal of finger strength and wrist power and could easily injure oneself, was unrealistic.

After another collision of force and blade, Li Yan barely managed to push Xu Tianci back. Before the young man could close in again, Li Yan threw away the Zi Wu Mandarin Duck Axes to face the sharp Butterfly Dual Blades with his bare hands.

Li Yan’s action was stunningly unexpected. Despite the ghastly wounds on his body, the audience thought the outcome was still uncertain with Xu Tianci’s eyes one blind and one injured. Discarding his weapon at such a moment was tantamount to severing one’s own lifeline.

Xu Tianci crouched and charged forward, the half-blinded pain in his eyelids reflecting Li Yan’s face.

He slashed downwards, aiming for Li Yan’s abdomen.

With nothing in his hands, Li Yan couldn’t simply block; that would be a joke. He was forced to retreat repeatedly as the Butterfly Dual Blades licked at his blood, fast as a startled swan, cutting so close that Li Yan teetered on the brink of peril.

“Why discard the halberd?”

Red Ghost turned to ask Taishuai.

“Fighting…” Yu Shu twisted his face, “requires brains.”

Soon, new cuts appeared on Li Yan’s body; coupled with the continual bleeding from his chest, the intense movement caused blood to spray out like water from a faucet, making one wonder if he would bleed to death if the fight continued.

Xu Tianci showed no signs of slowing down his blade work. Despite the throbbing, exploding pain from his eyes to his skull, his attacks remained ferociously sharp and swift.

“Let’s see who gives in first!”

A young man’s lone courage.

Li Yan was gradually forced into a dead corner of the leitai, where avoiding the Butterfly Dual Blades became impossible. Xu Tianci remained relentless, his twin blades ever swift.

“Tss…”

Li Yan’s feet slipped to the edge of the leitai, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, and seizing the moment the young man’s blade swung down, he charged at Xu Tianci.

With the dual blades firmly in his grasp, Xu Tianci was blind to Li Yan’s approaching hands. Incapable of seeing Li Yan’s hands, Xu Tianci instantly drew back his blades to defend, blade against palm; Li Yan dared not force the confrontation.

The Butterfly Blade came slashing back, aiming for Li Yan’s right arm.

That was not all; the other blade followed suit, slashing at Li Yan’s lower body, seemingly aimless but tracking every possible move Li Yan might make with his feet.

Zhang Mingyuan had lost to Li Yan’s unique foot jabbing skill before.

“I won’t lose where Wu Erlang lost!”

Li Yan’s weight shifted to the left, his right arm swinging back to dodge the blade while his left hand, unbeknownst to when, already touched the back of Xu Tianci’s hand!

“Discard the halberd to wager on grappling?”

Xu Tianci’s thoughts flashed like lightning; ready to take a blade to his thigh if it meant breaking his own wrist. Xu Tianci didn’t bend his wrist, and even if Li Yan was skilled at grappling, it wasn’t certain that he could immediately snap it. But a knife wound to the thigh was imminent.

Then a flash of insight struck him; he leaped backward, seeming willing to forego his strike rather than have his wrist seized. But as Xu Tianci leaned back, he suddenly raised his leg!

Li Yan was already cornered in the dead end of the leitai. With his left foot having twisted to avoid the Butterfly Blades, his center of gravity was already unstable. And Xu Tianci’s high whip kick, utterly foreign to Southern Fist styles, sent Li Yan flying off the leitai!

This kick, returned to you!

Astonishment rippled through the crowd above and below the leitai.

“That’s wrong!”

The moment Xu Tianci’s kick landed on Li Yan’s chest, a chilling realization struck his heart.

“I’ve been had!”

That kick had no force behind it; Li Yan hadn’t been sent flying, but had leaped up on his own power!

Li Yan’s legs coiled around Xu Tianci’s neck like two steel whips, twisting and pulling Xu Tianci into the air with a powerful twist of his waist!

Arched upper body, somersaulting, a knee ready to ram against Xu Tianci’s head. The bandaged right hand caught the Butterfly Blades dancing in the air!

Xu Tianci’s eyes reddened with exertion, the only blade left in his hand stabbing upward! But right after the strike, a torrent of regret flooded over him.

What am I doing?

Both men fell to the ground, one after the other!

Xu Tianci hit the ground first.

The two Butterfly Blades clashed against each other.

Li Yan hovered above, his eyes blazing like bright flames, a vigor not seen since his illness long ago.

He smiled, “You’re no fun at all, not sticking to the rules.”

Xu Tianci’s face was covered in blood, his eye sockets blurry and shut.

When he was lifted into the air by Li Yan, he resisted, his neck would snap; if he didn’t resist, he would be thrown off the platform. To die or to lose was his choice, and although the youth was fierce, he still followed his instinct to live. Yet, in mid-air, out of anger and indignation, he had lashed out with his knife, attacking his opponent even though he knew he had already lost.

“I lost.”

“Go to the hospital now. You can still save your other eye. You’re young, and being blind would ruin you.”

Li Yan stood up and hobbled back.

Behind him, Xu Tianci still lay there.

A group of young men and women suddenly jumped off the platform, rushing toward Xu Tianci, their expressions filled with sorrow.

“Jing,” the old man’s eyes were red and swollen.

The middle-aged man by his side quickly responded.

“Master.”

“Take Tianci to the hospital. Also, starting today, no one from the Shangtian Wing Chun National Art Gym, from top to bottom, is allowed to set foot in Kowloon City. Did you hear me clearly when I said this?”

The middle-aged man stared deeply at the limping Li Yan leaving the scene, unwilling to speak.

“I’m asking you, did you hear me clearly!”

The old man’s hair and beard were bristling, like an angry lion.

“I heard you clearly, master.”

The man answered bitterly, his teeth clenched.

…

“You have completed all the requirements for the Yan Fu event.”

“You will settle and return in ten minutes.”

Li Yan refused the doctor who came to treat his wounds, simply bandaged himself up, and headed to his room. Xiu had gone to enroll at school today, she’d return to find him gone. Would she be unhappy?

Judy, she didn’t seem to be in the suite…

Red Ghost, forget it.

Thinking this, Li Yan encountered Yu Shu on the way; they passed by each other without a glance…

Actually, when you think about it, Mo, Gu Huo Bird, Serpent, Taishuai, they all fit together, don’t they?

Li Yan entered his room and first saw the box on the bed. He reached out but found the box was locked, requiring a code.

There was a note on top.

“Here’s a hint. What I told you the first time we went to Victoria Harbour.”

There was a lipstick mark on the paper.

Li Yan frowned and thought for a long while.

One minute, three minutes, five minutes.

Li Yan picked up the Mandarin Duck Halberd and smashed it against the box, prising it open.

The box burst open.

Full of bricks of glowing yellow gold.

“Gold, a valuable material, each brick can be exchanged for a hundred Yan Fu points, no upper limit.”

A whole box, twenty bricks.

Two thousand points!

Under the gold bricks, there was also a piece of light gold rice paper!

It was blank of any exotic beast, only a bold and unrestrained handwriting.

“You are the White Elephant, ah White Elephant.”

“You have discovered the Yan Fu Talisman!”

“You may choose to use this talisman to initiate a Yan Fu event or to enhance your initial status during any Yan Fu event.”

(Regarding the phrase on the paper, you can Google Lu Xun, Lin Yutang, White Elephant)

Li Yan glanced out of the corner of his eye and noticed a meal box on the table, still steaming.

Wonton noodles.

“Heh.”

Li Yan reached for it, but his body, including the hand he had extended, began to dissipate into the air bit by bit.

Like specks of dust, fading into nothingness…

“You have completed this Yan Fu event. Total number of Yan Fu events completed: 1.”

“Your evaluation for this Yan Fu event is: Upper Auspicious (Evaluations are divided into six levels: Great Auspicious, Upper Auspicious, Below Auspicious, Most Auspicious, Middle Auspicious, Least Auspicious).”

“Settlement begins!”

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