Beginning with the Ubume Bird Chapter 168

Chapter 168: Chapter 5: Was it you who did it?

“I'm about to die, will you, just call me 'godmother'?”

When Madam Shi spoke, she had a naturally husky, slightly hoarse voice that trailed off without her realizing it, not unpleasant to listen to. In terms of modern aesthetics, it might even be considered sexy. However, in this era, a woman with a voice like a screech owl couldn't escape a bad reputation.

Technically, Li Yan's way of addressing her wasn't incorrect.

In Tianbao's memories, there were snippets of the large naval battles where the Red Flag Gang clashed with government forces. Amidst the gunfire, Tianbao had indeed called Madam Shi “godmother.”

But Madam Shi's tone was oddly emphatic.

Li Yan muttered to himself, what does this mean, does she mind that I'm being too formal? That's right, this woman had raised Tianbao for twelve years, perhaps it was time to drop that formal address. Damn it, it's just a title, if it's what she wants…

Just as Li Yan was about to correct himself, he hesitated. The word “mother” that reached his lips was swallowed back down.

He straightened his neck and lowered his eyelids, his tone both heavy and swift, “Godmother is blessed with great fortune, a few bullets from the authorities are merely a scratch on the skin.”

As for the title, Li Yan tactfully avoided the issue.

Madam Shi scoffed coldly:

“Li! When Zheng Yiguai was alive, he tried several times to get you to change your surname, and you weren't happy about it. Now he's dead, and you keep calling me 'godmother' as if your life depends on it. Hah! That's not bad at all.”

She leaned forward slightly, her gaze fierce like a she-wolf, “Tianbao, do you not know why I had someone point a gun at you?”

During this descent, Li Yan had his hair shaved to a buzz-cut, which made him look fierce, and having just been in a bloody battle, he couldn't suppress the formidable aura that seemed to rise from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Just standing there, he exuded an intense sense of oppression.

A man and a woman, rather than the harmonious godmother and adopted son, appeared more like a python confronting a starving tiger.

Li Yan pursed his lips and pushed aside a Bird Gun, his nearly 1.8 meters frame almost reaching the ceiling beams. He stared at Madam Shi, shaking his head slightly.

Madam Shi flipped over a copper basin on the stool, spilling blood all over the floor. Li Yan saw it clearly; when she moved her hand, her wound cracked open, and the blood wouldn't stop crawling out of her sleeve cuff, staining an entire sheet red.

“… Good! Good!”

Madam Shi spoke these words through gritted teeth, glaring at Li Yan before saying:

“Those people in the room, they accompanied me when I got married, followed me for twenty years, back and forth. Tianbao, no one else will know what you say today. I… want to hear a few words from your heart.”

After a pause, she softened her tone, somewhat falteringly.

“Between us, is there anything that can't be said?”

Li Yan pondered for a moment, his behaviour becoming a bit presumptuous as he tested the waters.

He took two steps forward, coming very close to Madam Shi. Since no one in the room moved, Li Yan simply sat down on a chair next to the round table, his back to Madam Shi, and drank all the cool water from the pot in one gulp; after this display, he let out a long, leisurely breath.

From the moment Li Yan started walking, to fiddling with the gun, to finally sitting down beside Madam Shi, his actions progressively seemed to violate the expected roles of a “sinister foster mother” and a “daring and bold godson.” But everyone in the room, including Madam Shi, wore expressions as if this was all perfectly normal.

Since entering the underworld, the words and expressions of those around him and Madam Shi's behaviour had been tumbling in Li Yan's mind. He made up his mind and, with some difficulty, managed his tone to say, “You, ask them to leave first.”

Madam Shi took her handkerchief, wiping the blood from her sleeve cuff calmly, and waved for them to leave.

“Ask whatever you want to know, I will spare no words.”

Li Yan simply omitted any title.

Madam Shi didn't speak, instead she began to undo the horn buttons on her blouse. Li Yan knew that if he turned his head now, he'd likely expose a vulnerability. So he remained impassive, not even blinking.

The woman before him opened her light blue robe, revealing a sight that made Li Yan's temples throb.

Her original skin was no longer visible, her fair flesh filled with intertwined red and black veins.

The disheveled Evil Ghost, the dignified Buddha, the vines covered in thorns, the golden heart with white wings fanned out behind it. The dripping locks of flesh and blood, the ghastly-faced gorgons; Madam Shi's body was like an alluring Eastern grotesque painting.

What was terrifying, however, was that these weren't tattoos. Every line was made up of Madam Shi's twitching and twisting blood vessels and muscles.

And at that moment, every inch of her skin was oozing blood. The living tissue-like contortions seemed to be trying to break free from her body, stirring up a bloody, grisly mess around the woman – a sight too dreadful to behold.

Madam Shi repeated the words she began with.

“Tianbao, I'm about to die.”

Li Yan suddenly stood up, his facial muscles twitching, afraid his eyes would give him away, he deliberately lowered his head. His voice was dry.

“How could this be?”

The woman closed her floral jacket, her complexion calm.

“An old ailment from years of abusing the Defying Skill, aggravated by an assault from the officials, it all flared up at once. I won't make it through this time.”

Madam Shi's expression softened, then she dropped a bombshell,

“Tianbao, I don't have many days left. Before I die, will you marry me?”

As expected.

Li Yan didn't know whether to cry or laugh. Tianbao and Madam Shi were indeed having an affair.

What a thrilling drama!

The South Seas are rich in products, but they're also remote, rugged places, with many islands even home to uncivilized savages.

And as for a pirate's den where lives are risked at the edge of a knife, what can one say about ethics or morals? Tianbao is now a rising star within the Red Flag Gang, and Madam Shi, a widow, might seem to have the upper hand for the moment, but she won't hold out long. She wants her old age to be comfortable, but she cannot rely on the affection between mother and son.

But it's not known whether Tianbao and Madam Shi got together before or after Zheng Yiguai's death…

“Yiguai is dead, and the gang can't survive without a decisive man. Our wedding, clear and simple, wouldn't stir any gossip in the gang.”

Seeing that Li Yan remained silent, she felt somewhat disappointed, but still managed a strained smile.

“That's true. Xiu'er has called you 'brother' since she was young, it wouldn't be right to change that now. But, if Xiu'er can't call you 'dad,' I can't rest easy.”

Great! They got together before Yiguai's death. He was the one who couldn't rest.

“I'm a faded flower, if you're unwilling, let it be.”

“Madam Shi, I didn't mean it like that.”

Li Yan replied very decisively; he had no interest in Madam Shi but thought that making a woman say such things was rather despicable.

“It doesn't matter, we've been sneaking around for six years, been open for two, I understand your temper. It's just that…”

The woman grasped Li Yan's collar with one hand. Her lips almost touched Li Yan's neck, her words piercing.

“It's just that there's something I've been holding in my chest for a long time, and I can't hold it back any longer.”

Despite the gentleness on Madam Shi's face, there was a flicker of cold light, “Did you have a hand in Yiguai's death?”

One hand held Li Yan's collar, the other hidden in her sleeve, clutching a short blade with a darkened edge.

Rumours said Zheng Yiguai died in a naval accident, but given the current circumstances, it made complete sense to say Tianbao, out of jealousy, committed the act, especially since Tianbao benefited the most from Yiguai's death.

As for the truth, Li Yan didn't know, nor did he care.

Whether Tianbao, Li Yan, was crazed and guilty, or innocent, it had nothing to do with Hejian Skinny Tiger, Li Yan,

But he had to clean up this mess and shoulder the blame.

Putting aside his cunning and strategies, before Li Yan stood just a dying woman.

At least let her pass on with some peace of mind.

Li Yan thought.

After all, no woman would want her lover to be the killer of her husband.

“General!”

Just as Li Yan was about to speak, a woman's voice reached his ears.

It was Lady Dan.

“Answer her, 'yes.'”

Chapter end