Beginning with the Ubume Bird Chapter 164

Chapter 164: Chapter 1 Tianbao

[Esteemed Walker, you are about to initiate the Yan Fu Incident!]

“Sacrifice.”

Li Yan responded.

[You have sacrificed Patriarch Lv's Notes, and you will obtain a higher status in this Yan Fu Incident.]

He opened his eyes!

Damp and moldy, the creaking ship planks leaked water from above. Torches of varying heights blazed fiercely, and behind a thin plank of wood riddled with insect holes were groans and heavy breathing.

Li Yan, lying in bed, rolled his eyes left and right. His upper body was bare, with symmetrical muscles stained by damp liquor spills. Half-eaten chicken bones were tossed on the floor, and overturned black wine jars littered the ground.

Li Yan turned his head to the side, his expression instantly becoming lively.

Draped over his right arm was a petite girl who appeared to be eighteen or nineteen years old, tender as a lamb. Her arms and legs were wrapped around Li Yan's arm like a tailless koala.

The girl slept soundly, her face still streaked with tear marks. A red satin quilt enveloped them both.

Li Yan slowly withdrew his arm, feeling a cool and slippery touch on his skin. The yelping from next door, in unison with the creaking planks, made it clear that this was a brothel. More precisely, a floating brothel beside the docks.

As Li Yan's fingers slipped away from the girl's collarbone, her body suddenly shivered, and she woke up, rubbing her eyes with tiny fists.

“Master~”

Her voice was timid.

Li Yan watched the girl; her body hidden beneath the red satin quilt, her eyes large, her chin pointed. Her shoulders were white and round, and her belly bulged beneath her red knot-top, charming and lively.

“Master, you're awake…”

After a while, Li Yan managed to say, “Tired?”

The girl didn't dare to speak, simply nodded, then quickly shook her head.

“If you're tired, sleep a bit more,” Li Yan said as he looked at her.

“Ah?”

“Sleep,” he said, nodding his chin.

“Eh~”

The girl agreed with a soft voice and lay down gently.

Li Yan threw back the covers, his feet touching the floor, and indeed he didn't have a stitch on.

He snatched up trousers and a jacket from the head of the bed, putting them on with a rustling sound, secured his belt, and from the pocket of a long coat in the space, he pulled out a carrot and began to munch on it sitting at the bed's edge.

The chicken bones thrown all over the floor moved silently, forming words.

“Time: 1809

Location: South Seas, between 114 degrees east longitude to 124 degrees east, and 10 degrees north latitude to 26 degrees north.

Bloody, prosperous, fierce, elegant.

Governance on the verge of collapse, the Five Flags Pirates' influence sky-high, the East India Company lurking covetously, the Portuguese Navy undefeated.

Rapid-fire cannons, crossbows, the unstoppable Vasco warship.

Defying Skill, Taiping Document, Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea.

Offspring of the South Sea, mermaid, Fiery Cauldron Couple, Quanlang Sea Ghost, Black Tea Tide.

Cunning and cruelty, betrayal and submission, ambition and tactics.

Amidst the rotting officials, the greed of the Red Hair Devils, the shortsightedness of the Five Flags Pirates, there is much to be done in this world.

Requirements for this Yan Fu Incident are as follows,

To obtain goods worth over one hundred thousand taels of silver to sacrifice to the Lord of the Xiang River, whose followers are dwindling.

Li Yan stretched, his mind still holding some remnants of memory gained from sacrificing Patriarch Lv's Notes.

Firstly, this is the early 19th century South Seas; governance is waning, the Red Hair Devils (initially referring to Dutch colonists, later used for any Western opportunist or colonist) are full of ambition. And amongst the entire South Seas region, it's not the Red Hair who have the widest influence, but the rampant Five Flags Pirates.

Li Yan is now one of the Five Flags Pirates, a member of the Red Flag Gang. His nickname is Tianbao, a confidante of the Red Flag Gang's leader, Madam Shi.

Aside from this identity, Li Yan had also acquired 75% specialization in naval battles, truly embodying the seasoned and shrewd fisherman.

Each completion of a Yan Fu event would grant a special reward, and among these prizes, there might appear an inheritance scroll pertaining to the content of that event.

Last time in Renchen, Li Yan completed two Yan Fu events, offering him two chances to obtain the Yuzi inheritance. Although unsuccessful, it inspired the method he'd use to pursue the inheritance he wanted.

That was to seek out as many additional Yan Fu events as possible.

Without any hesitation, Li Yan used Patriarch Lv's Notes, clearly intent on making a hefty profit, with his sights set on definitively obtaining the Lord of the Xiang River inheritance.

After swiftly munching down the carrot, Li Yan glanced at the bronze mirror on the table and saw his greenish scalp.

His hair was cut so short, barely different from being bald – after the founding of the country, that style was the mark of a released convict.

“Still better than leaving a single braid.” Li Yan muttered to himself as two delicate arms wrapped around his neck from behind.

“Master, what's on your mind?”

The young woman's face nestled affectionately against Li Yan's neck, her eyes brimming with tenderness.

Li Yan chuckled lightly, pulled the girl's shoulders towards him, and brought her into his embrace, lifting her up with his left hand wrapping around her waist.

With a cry of surprise, the girl felt the world spin. The effects of last night's wine rushed to her cheeks, turning them rosy, and her eyelashes were so heavy with moisture they seemed about to drip.

With a loud bang, Li Yan tossed her onto the bed, turned around to tie on a red headscarf, and took strides toward the door.

The young woman lay in a daze; Li Yan was already far away.

“Master~”

She instinctively called out to Li Yan, who was fastening his coat and turned his head back.

“Did I not pay you?”

Li Yan nodded, “Then that means I did.”

He pushed open the hatch – beyond lay darkness, under the firelight the water gleamed, lanterns of various colors hung all over, dazzlingly red in their glow.

Beyond the laughter of men and women, there came the melodious singing of Bai character plays from the deck, nothing serious. Dragon-Phoenix, Jade Pillar, Peach Blossom Cave, and such. Li Yan didn't listen closely.

Cha Xiaodao sat on the deck, smoking and vigorously wiping his neck.

He hadn't used Patriarch Lv's Notes and entered as a trusted follower of Tianbao Li Yan. He had no subordinates, a far cry from Tianbao Li Yan who managed dozens of great ships.

As the largest among the Five Flags Pirates of the South Seas, the Red Flag Gang had several hundred ships, over sixty thousand brothers ashore and at sea, thousands of matchlock guns, and countless blades. Among them, Tianbao Li Yan was a notable figure, known to some extent by the Five Flags Pirates.

“How does it feel?” Li Yan asked.

With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Cha Xiaodao replied, “Waking up to see a thirty-something madame hugging your neck and calling you master, I almost lost it! And you?”

Li Yan sat down beside Cha Xiaodao.

“About the same.”

Both paused at the same moment, an icy look in Cha Xiaodao's eyes, while Li Yan broke into a wide grin:

“What a strong fishy smell…”

Whiz!

Li Yan fell backwards, grabbing an iron-bound arrow shaft as it flew by, the arrowhead grazing the tip of his nose, its feathers still quivering.

Arrows poured down like a tidal wave!

Those drinking on the deck, singing, and even those wrestling, didn't get the chance to groan; dull sounds of fleshly impact rang out as one by one, like blood bags, they collapsed into the spreading pool of blood.

“Ahhhhhh!”

The pitiful screams of women echoed throughout the entire ship.

“That red headscarf, that's Tianbao!”

Li Yan's ears twitched, he pressed his feet against the deck, and like a swift sparrowhawk, he leapt up, bounding swiftly to climb two levels of the cabin to face a dozen or so fierce men holding longbows in the night. The one calling out was an old man with a mouth full of rotting teeth and a dark complexion.

The pupils of the old man's eyes shuddered as the iron-bound arrow shaft in Li Yan's hand plunged into his eye socket. It was not the sharp iron arrowhead, but rather the rough, barbed shaft that burst out from the back of the old man's head.

Ring Dragon sang out as it was drawn, and the night sky lit up with the swift sweep of Bright Sword's edge, amidst roars and shrieks; it shattered bow bodies and severed strings, blood sprayed in the darkness. Around ten breaths' time passed, and then all went silent in the shadowy confines.

The atmosphere turned ice-cold in a moment; in the silent darkness, only a pair of sharp, glittering eyes remained.

Chapter end