Beginning with the Ubume Bird Chapter 169

Chapter 169: Chapter 6 Hang on for Two More Days

“Why?”

Li Yan could not comprehend Lady Dan's logic at all.

“Trust me, General.”

Lady Dan did not offer an explanation.

After weighing his options for a moment, Li Yan finally responded.

“Yes.”

Madam Shi's eyes narrowed, and her grip on Li Yan's collar tightened, her sleeve dripping blood onto the floor, yet she seemed completely unaware of it.

The woman's face was unreadable, but after what felt like a long time, her smile bloomed like a camellia.

“So you do have your moments of intelligence. I thought you'd be dense for a lifetime.”

She laughed while shaking her head.

“But I know, Zheng Yiguai wasn't killed by you. Firstly, because of your nature–I understand that well enough–and secondly…”

Madam Shi's conversation took a turn, “Don't think you're all high and mighty as Tianbao now. When I was taking hostages, you were still in split-pants. Had you been the one to act, I would've found out long ago.”

Li Yan could not keep up with Madam Shi's line of thought, nor did he understand what the dying woman was really planning.

Madam Shi took two steps back, her gaze on Li Yan conflicted.

Adopted son? Lover? Both and neither.

The lady settled herself gracefully into a seat, elbow on the table, and gestured to Li Yan.

“Bring me a basin of water~”

Li Yan raised an eyebrow, bent down to pick up the copper basin from the floor, and filled it with steaming water from a kettle.

The woman sat there, unbuttoning her clothes to reveal a blood-stained blouse she threw aside. She then began to wipe her body with a wet towel, speaking in a low voice:

“When we first got together, I initiated it. In those days, consumed by our illicit passion, Xiu'er was born and we were both very happy.”

In all honesty, I didn't feel I'd wronged Zheng Yiguai. He was impotent and couldn't have me, that was his incapacity. I, a female pirate to be stripped and brutally executed if caught by the authorities–am I to erect a monument of chastity for him and live a widow's life?”

Her voice became more intense.

“My three hundred Gaoli ghosts take up nearly half of the Five Flags Eight Hundred Ghosts. For the sake of Zheng Yiguai, our Alliance Hierarch, we've been left with a little over a hundred. I managed the gang for him since I was fifteen; out of the tens of thousands in the Red Flag Gang, some can't even recognize him as the Alliance Hierarch in person. But ask around–does anyone not recognize me, the wife of the gang leader?”

“Sharing the bed with different dreams for twenty years, I have been fair to him! But you, you didn't think so.”

The corner of the woman's mouth turned downwards; Li Yan stood with his back to her, not seeing her expression, but he could clearly sense the resentment in Madam Shi's tone.

“I've brought up our marriage a few times over the past two years. You've hemmed and hawed, never agreeing; you've even touched me less and sneaked off to the brothel overnight just to avoid me. I heard you've drunk and cried to yourself at night–a sorry sight.”

Li Yan remained silent.

“You feel you've wronged Zheng Yiguai. Being with me, you've betrayed his nurturing grace. Should I be happy living like a widow? In your eyes, am I just a shameless harlot? You avoid me, what do you think I'm supposed to feel? Outsiders say you, Tianbao, are gallant–a man of integrity. Why do you turn into a coward with me?”

Madam Shi suddenly changed the subject, her lips curving upwards, “But today, your word 'yes' truly soothes my heart.”

Her expression softened:

“It seems you do understand me a bit and are willing to make me happy. Sometimes I think, being with someone brazen enough to kill Zheng Yiguai… wouldn't be half bad.”

The towel moved across her skin; the bloodied flesh beneath was clear and shining.

Li Yan did not speak. He still didn't quite understand. If Tianbao truly had killed Zheng Yiguai, there was nothing for Madam Shi to be happy about.

He asked Lady Dan for an explanation, but she remained vague, simply stating, “You don't understand women.”

Madam Shi wiped the blood from her body, the beautiful upper half of her form marked by long, slender scars.

She faced Li Yan and spoke, chilling to the bone.

“I don't want Xiu'er to inherit the trouble my belongings will cause after my death. After I die, you must take the top six sections of my spine, soak them in a jar of human blood for three days, grind the bones to dust, and drink it mixed with the blood. That way, you can gain half of my Defying Skill,” she said.

Li Yan's eyes were half-closed as if he hadn't heard a word.

It was his first encounter with this woman known as Mrs. Shi. They had no previous connection, but he found himself listening to her recount her life, blaming Zheng Yiguai and Tianbao, murmuring about Zheng Xiu even as she was dying. Li Yan felt deflated, unsatisfied.

He didn't understand Mrs. Shi's thoughts, but that didn't stop him from addressing the problem in his own way.

“I'm not Tianbao. I took your Red Flag Gang, that's all I can do. But I'll make sure you close your eyes without any regrets.”

“Tianbao, you're brave and willing to take risks. I'm at ease leaving the gang to you. I've hung on to life, outraged by your neglect these past two years. Thinking about it now, it seems so trivial. In my next life, I'll need someone I can't dominate, whether it's Zheng Yiguai or you. Due to fate's twist, I've faltered at your hands in this life. Next life, let's forget all this… and also, take good care of–”

Mrs. Shi paused mid-sentence.

Li Yan grabbed the bloodstained towel from her hand and pulled hard until she let go.

With his back to the woman, Li Yan wiped the blood from her body with the towel. The woman's body trembled lightly where the towel passed.

Li Yan spoke in a lowered voice:

“Mrs. Shi, don't rush to close your eyes. Hang on for two more days, okay?”

Li Yan stepped back quietly, closing the door behind him. Outside, about a dozen men with red headbands stood guard–Mrs. Shi's loyal followers.

The leader, Chaoyi, was the same man who'd held a knife to Li Yan's back earlier. He gave Li Yan an apologetic glance, which Li Yan pretended not to notice, and said:

“Mrs. Shi wants you inside.”

The men exchanged glances and stepped aside, letting Li Yan enter the house.

Li Yan glanced at Cha Xiaodao squatting in the corner and walked over to squat down beside him.

“Give me a smoke.”

Cha Xiaodao took a deep drag and chuckled, “Aren't you the one who can turn carrots into anything?”

“Got tired of it, needed a change.”

“Yuxi or Zhonghua?”

“Yuxi.”

“That'll save me some money.”

The two men from Yan Fu squatted in the corner, smoking their rolled cigarettes. After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the men with red headbands emerged. In the brief moment Cha Xiaodao caught sight of them, each bore the appearance of a “Gaoli ghost,” their threatening vibe varying in intensity.

“The lady has spoken, Tianbao, ah, Brother Tianbao,” said Chaoyi, the rugged man in his forties, giving Li Yan a salute without expression.

“The Shi Family's Hundred and Twelve Gaoli ghosts will henceforth devote their lives and fortunes…”

“Brother Chaoyi, can I ask you something?”

Li Yan interrupted what Chaoyi and the others were about to say, stood up, threw away his cigarette butt, and after stomping it out, asked:

“Who led the raid on Lantau Island from the government? Who was in charge?”

That's what Li Yan wanted to know.

Seeing Li Yan's grim expression, Chaoyi's heart sank as he tried to calm him down: “Tianbao, we need to settle the brothers first. If anything truly happens to Mrs. Shi, and you take the role of Dragon Head, they'll need time to adjust. It's not the time for fighting.”

Li Yan's smile didn't quite reach his eyes as he asked, “Who told you something's going to happen to Mrs. Shi?”

Chaoyi replied seriously, “The lady commanded that, from now on, we–”

“Forget about 'from now on,' I'm asking about today–who from the government came?”

Chaoyi hesitated for a moment before answering, “Geliang Tubatulu, the Governor of the Humen Naval Forces, Zhuo Huxing.”

Chapter end