Beginning with the Ubume Bird Chapter 151

Chapter 151: Chapter 50: Sifan Like a Wolf, Ten Lords Resemble Tigers

Li Yan's mind was a mess, and with a start, his hand touched the Copper Coin at his chest.

Copper Coin? Hadn't I given my Copper Coin to Xiaodao?

Li Yan abruptly opened his eyes.

He found himself propped on a piece of glazed tile. Lady Dan sat hugging her knees, motionlessly gazing at him.

Li Yan spread his palm open and brought it in front of his eyes.

It was unharmed.

“I asked for the Copper Coin back. Being thrown away by you felt terrible,”

Lady Dan said quietly.

Li Yan stared unblinkingly, his gaze colliding with Lady Dan's.

He sat up abruptly and asked Lady Dan, “How are things?”

Lady Dan glanced in a certain direction and said to Li Yan, “You should see for yourself.”

The grandeur of the once magnificent architectural complex was largely ruined by the aftermath of the battle between the Fierce and his two adversaries, still pervaded by strange pale white marks of death, the air faintly tainted with the smell of blood.

Li Yan looked out, and in the entire Yan Capital City, the only places not eroded by “Sifan” might be parts of the three grand halls of the Forbidden City, perhaps just a few dozen hectares left.

Liang Ye's parents he couldn't forget, Old Qin who guarded the gate at Normal University, the millions in Yan Capital City, along with all sorts of bizarre sights in the dead of night, all turned into endless deathly pale before his eyes.

This fruit had already been battered and bruised.

A storm cloud loomed overhead, and among the ruins, a middle-aged man squatting underneath a toppled massive stone lion, his stubble poignant, his hands buried in his hair. His lips were trembling…

Liang Ye.

Li Yan licked his teeth. At his feet lay a white Sony Walkman, its screen still glowing, displaying hits like “When” and “Green Apple Parlor” that used to be all the rage.

“Brother…”

“Who are you people exactly?”

Liang Ye turned his head fiercely. His hollowed eyes and the despair and fear on his face silenced Li Yan.

Thump~

Li Yan glanced to the side, as Zhao Xin's body spun in mid-air and her head hit a corner, blood streaming freely, the girl completely unconscious.

She knelt on the ground, hands tightly clutching at a pool of blood. Even as her body was thrown away, she curled up as much as possible to cover her chest, preventing the blood in her hands from splattering any further.

The Feather Lord withdrew his index finger from her strip-beaten back, “Feeling more lucid? Can we communicate now?”

His tone was stern.

Zhao Xin huddled up, still saying nothing.

The Feather Lord sighed and slowly closed the distance to Zhao Xin.

Li Yan watched coldly without moving, but Lady Dan stood up beside him and blocked the Feather Lord's path.

The Feather Lord stopped his steps and looked at Lady Dan. Neither of them spoke.

Seeing this, Li Yan buried his head and walked over as well.

The Feather Lord glanced over, “Awake?”

Li Yan cast a glance at the ghastly blood mud on the ground, and then at Zhao Xin, ashen-faced in the corner, his heart understanding the situation mostly already.

“She's just a child, was that necessary?”

The Feather Lord shook his head without a word.

Xiaodao leaned against a broken pillar; he wasn't wounded but was clearly still shaken, smoking one cigarette after another, the ground littered with yellowish-brown butts.

Half of Wushan's body was frozen, one of his eye sockets an empty hole. His chest rose and fell slightly, and he clutched a stone in his hand, making a clicking sound.

Out of the one hundred and sixty-four Yan Fu Walkers dispatched for this event, aside from the aforementioned individuals, no others survived.

“This incident was our oversight,”

Li Yan looked intently at the one speaking, a genial man dressed in a white tracksuit. He clutched a paper cup, his one statement drawing everyone's gaze.

The Insect Master stepped forward, bowing deeply to Li Yan and the others for a full five seconds before straightening up.

“On behalf of all members of the Yan Fu Ten Masters, I assure you all that we will provide ample compensation for the unforeseen incidents that occurred during this event. Besides that, any questions you might have, I will try my best to answer,”

A prolonged silence followed before Wushan was the first to speak.

“Among the Yan Fu, from the Three Pure Ones Walkers to us, the Ten Cities Walkers, there are eight thresholds. The Yan Fu Ten Masters are outstanding figures among the ten classes of Walkers. I wish to ask, which thresholds do you two represent?”

The Jie Master answered calmly, “I am the Five Directions Elder, and this person beside me is one of the Four Emperors.” He paused before continuing, “The suited Feng Yi is probably at the level of a Six Ministries Walker; the masked one, like me, is a Five Directions Elder Walker. Any other questions?”

Wushan listened intently, not wanting to miss a word. After hearing the explanation, he grimaced, unsure whether to cry or laugh: “Such polite explanations from the esteemed Jie Master, what more could I ask for? I really do appreciate you saving my skin.”

“You're welcome,”

The Jie Master nodded and turned to Xiaodao.

Xiaodao waved it off, “No questions from me.”

“What will happen to this fruit after we leave?”

The one asking was Li Yan.

This time, it was Feather Lord who answered, “I will heal the fruit's injuries, and everything will return to its original state. No one will remember the incident of the fruit falling off, the core being shattered, and the fruit's wilt that cannot be reversed, but that's also something for several hundred years in the future.”

Li Yan glanced at Liang Ye and nodded his head, “I have no problems now.”

Zhao Xin said nothing.

Feather Lord took a breath, lifted his foot, and walked towards Zhao Xin. This time, Lady Dan did not stop him.

The man with the bare back squatted down, picking through the rubble, “When a person dies, they are gone.”

His fingers paused.

“Sifan doesn't care about human life, neither do the Ten Masters. The Ten Masters are not philanthropists! They are carrion-eating wolves, we are man-eating tigers!”

“The Ten Masters merely entered Yan Fu a few decades before you, life-and-death grudges, you have to seek out on your own. The world of Yan Fu is very dangerous, if you can't adapt, get the Wishful Stone and leave early. I give you two months, if you want to leave Yan Fu, come to me anytime, I'll cover the cost of the Wishful Stone for you.”

After Feather Lord finished speaking, he stood up and left. As he passed by Li Yan, he suddenly stopped.

“You're Li Yan?”

He asked.

“The genuine article.”

“No one will be laying traps for you in secret anymore.”

After Feather Lord finished speaking, he walked past Li Yan and stood beside Jie Master.

“Everyone's good now, right? Then I'll inform Hou Tu to disconnect you from the fruit. There's still a big project waiting for us afterwards.”

Lady Dan leaned into Li Yan's ear and whispered, “The thing you were biting in your mouth, I've taken care of it.”

Li Yan smiled and nodded at Lady Dan.

Jie Master said to everyone,

“Then, I hope to meet all of you again in the future, walkers of the Ten Cities…”

“Wait—”

Zhao Xin spoke, her voice so hoarse it hardly sounded human, “I want to take care of my brother's remains first.”

“The rest of you go ahead, I'll give you two hours.”

Feather Lord was resolute.

Zhao Xin staggered to her feet and bowed towards Feather Lord.

“Thank you.”

Cha Xiaodao took several drags on his cigarette butt before looking up and saying, “Need fire?”

The locks of hair by Zhao Xin's temple fell, and after a moment of hesitation, she nodded at Cha Xiaodao.

Cha Xiaodao threw away his cigarette butt, walked over to the blood-stained mire, put his hands together, bowed to the ground, then lifted his head, his fingertips igniting with golden flames.

The flames soared.

Zhao Xin unbuttoned her shirt, pulled off the blood-mud-stained garment, and threw it into the sea of flames.

Cha Xiaodao, only in his loose underpants, ripped open a matchbox to light a cigarette, the black smoke squinting his eyes.

Lady Dan walked over to Zhao Xin, patted her shoulder, and handed her a black box.

“Found it in the ruins, you might need it.”

“Thank you.”

Zhao Xin's neck was as white as snow, her complexion delicate, but she still nodded hoarsely at Lady Dan.

The faint glow of halo light drifted away, as the bodies of Li Yan, Cha Xiaodao, and Wushan began to dissipate bit by bit.

Li Yan watched the fiery blaze and said abruptly to Lady Dan, “If I die, just handle it like this, it's pretty good.”

Lady Dan's gaze flickered, “General, there won't be such a day.”

“I don't understand, was this a joint decision by the others?”

Feather Lord inquired.

“Yes, after you left, we reconsidered. Sifan won't let things go so easily. As the spearhead of the Stubborn Five Insects, you can't afford to have any mishaps, but,”

Jie Master pointed at the scene before him.

“To wipe out a Sifan of this scale, you would expend more than fifty years of positive life force and sleep for two years. Our conclusion is to shelve this fruit, to preserve your ess…”

“I don't accept.”

Cao Yuanchao interrupted without hesitation.

Jie Master took another sip from his paper cup and moistened his throat with boiled water, “Alright, I'll pass that along.”

“While I'm gone, don't let Wen Ji get into trouble.”

“Understood.”

Chapter end