Beginning with the Ubume Bird Chapter 202

Chapter 202: Chapter 39 The New Chapter of Lantau Island

“Regardless, let's have me deal with Chaoyi's affairs.”

Li Yan emptied a pot of wine, his face flushed red. Suddenly, he thought of Judy and Madam Shi, feeling as though he had slipped into some abyss from which he could never return.

Upon hearing this, Madam Shi responded noncommittally, “As you wish, by the way, I would quite like to meet that Heavenly Mother's envoy you encountered at sea.”

“Ah, that woman has an odd background, and her words are not pleasant to hear; it's better not to meet her.”

“Oh? Has she spoken of me? What exactly did she say about me?”

“Nonsense and gibberish, do you really want to hear it?”

“I must hear it.”

“She said you are cruel-hearted,” Li Yan tossed the towel into the basin, “and moreover, a jealous wife.”

After listening, Madam Shi bowed her head, her complexion changing unpredictably, and only after a while did she let out a hum.

“In the waters of the South Seas, for hundreds of years, whether it be the Heavenly Mother, the Emperor Baosheng, or the Ice-Sealed Ancient Buddha, the coastal miracles have long vanished. This woman's origins are unclear; you must be careful of her.”

Li Yan saw clearly that when she first mentioned Lady Dan, her face was pleasant and her tone steady, yet there was a chilling murderous air about her. But after he finished speaking, the chill in Madam Shi's tone had disappeared without a trace.

“Be at ease, I will,” he reassured.

Li Yan nodded, and suddenly Madam Shi's complexion turned pale as she covered her chin with her sleeve and coughed out a glob of clotted blood.

Li Yan hurriedly stood up, poured a pot of hot water, and wiped her neckline with a towel.

“Tianbao, I fear…” Madam Shi said with a wry smile, “I might die a rather unsightly death.”

Li Yan was silently complex in his feelings for Madam Shi. On one hand, unlike with Judy, Li Yan had no emotional foundation with her. Madam Shi's attachment to him stemmed solely from Tianbao, and with her chilly tactics, Li Yan was on his guard.

But on the other hand, this woman truly had his best interests at heart. He was not made of stone and could not help but be moved.

“You, you always look good, no matter what,”

Li Yan hesitated to speak.

Mrs. Shi laughed heartily, yet her left hand's fingers dug into Li Yan's flesh.

“In the future, I can't stop you from finding other women. You are at an age where you will likely have many children. But you must treat Xiu'er well.”

“I promise you,” Li Yan said earnestly.

“That's good, that's good.”

Perhaps it was due to weakness, but Li Yan saw a certain frailty, like that of a young daughter, on Madam Shi's face.

“Tianbao, stay with me for the night.”

“Alright, alright,”

Li Yan consoled.

In the past half-month, the already mysterious and chaotic situation in the South Seas had become like an exploding vortex, growing increasingly tense.

On May 4th of the fourteenth year of the Jiaqing era, to show force against the new Governor, the Guangzhou Naval Forces attacked Lantau Island.

With Zhuo Huxing, the Governor of the Humen Naval Forces, in command, forces from Xiangshan, Shunde, Xinhui, Dapeng, Chixi, Qingyuan, Guanghai, Yongjing, and Nanao Town coordinated, catching the Red Flag Gang off guard with a nearly ten-thousand-man official fleet. Although there were no significant captures, they destroyed numerous ships of the Red Flag Gang.

Additionally, Madam Shi, the leader of the Red Flag Gang, was shot in the lower abdomen.

On the morning of May 6th, Madam Shi's adopted son and lover, Tianbao of the Red Flag Gang, crazily launched a sneak attack on Guangdong and Guangxi, cunningly breached the floodgate to bypass the naval forces, and with a small elite force broke through Humen, killing the Governor of the Humen Naval Forces, Zhuo Huxing, and bringing his head back to hang on a watchtower on Lantau Island. His brazen audacity was shocking to hear about. The court and public were shaken.

On May 7th, Heavenly Mother crossed the sea. On the same day, a woman's face covered the sky above Mage Island (Macau), leased to the Portuguese, for a full twenty-four hours, accompanied by the sound of music and multi-colored auroras.

On May 8th, twelve gunboats from the East India Company pressed into the coastal waters of An Nan, the flag of St. George's Cross flying, a battle between An Nan and Britain on the verge of breaking out.

On May 9th, the General of Guangzhou, Fulin, proclaimed that the newly-appointed Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Lin Yuanfu, had fallen seriously ill and was not receiving visitors. On the same day, the news of Madam Shi, leader of the Red Flag Gang, passing away and the Three Flags Gang Leader being detained by Tianbao while offering condolences spread swiftly.

With the exception of Xu Longsi of the Yellow Flag Gang, who remained silent, the Three Flags formed a temporary alliance, declaring they would attack Lantau Island. The word was sent out the next day, and as if it were certain, the second-in-command of the Blue Flag Gang was assassinated. The Three Flags blamed each other, and their temporary alliance crumbled without coming under attack.

May 10th, the day of Madam Shi's funeral procession.

Although she died two days later than the outside world thought, Madam Shi was indeed dead. She died in Li Yan's arms, her death was extremely tragic. Li Yan strictly forbade anyone from approaching Madam Shi's body, personally prepared her make-up, and placed her in the coffin.

White banners hung on Lantau Island for nine days. During the funeral procession, the Red Flag Gang were all in mourning, and Chaoyi led the entirety of the Gaoli ghosts to kowtow a hundred times in front of Madam Shi's grave. Li Yan stood to the side, leading Xiu'er, whose throat was hoarse from crying.

Madam Shi had once said, soaking her spinal cord in blood to drink would grant someone half her Defying Skill. Li Yan acted as if he did not know this, and buried Madam Shi's skeletal remains in the western part of Lantau Island, amid the red kapok trees.

Queen Yan, the leader of the South Seas' largest pirate force, the Five Flags Alliance, and the only woman.

Whether it was the young man who experienced the strange encounter with the Taiping Document, now the General Governor of An Nan, the Demon Thief Zhang He, or the major boss behind the Thirteen Brokerages in Guangdong, wealthy as a nation with mountains of silver, Cai Qian, as well as Lin Ajin, Madam Guo, and other heroes of the South Seas, had all been firmly suppressed by Madam Shi.

But today, the news of Madam Shi's death spread throughout the South Seas.

“Aside from that, it's also time for the open sea season, since the end of last month, the brothers in the hall have been clamouring that we should set up. It's been delayed until now. Previously, this matter was managed by Chaoyi, but now.”

Zhong Quezi, who was in charge of money and food in the hall, recounted the past few months' events on Lantau Island to Li Yan.

Chaoyi called out from outside and stepped in. Zhong Quezi immediately fell silent.

“Old Zhong, I have something important to discuss with Tianbao. Could you please step out for a moment?”

Zhong Quezi didn't react and instead looked towards Li Yan.

Li Yan slightly nodded, “Chaoyi previously managed this, and let him continue to manage it; he's here, give him the things to look at later. Please step out for now.”

Zhong Quezi hesitated for a moment, then nodded and walked out.

“Tianbao, I don't know if Madam told you before she passed, but she left me a letter to pass on to you.”

Chaoyi handed the intact wax-sealed envelope to Li Yan.

Li Yan snatched it away and immediately threw the letter into the brazier. Whoosh, the envelope ignited.

“Tianbao, you–”

Shock appeared on Chaoyi's face.

“You're well aware of my relationship with Madam Shi; the contents are intimate words that serve no purpose,” Li Yan's face flushed red. “Chaoyi, you're older than me, and I've said before, just calling me Tianbao is fine.”

Chaoyi's mind was a bit scattered and he instinctively didn't want to show too much emotion, “Then, Tianbao, if there's nothing else, I'll step out first.”

“Chaoyi,”

As Li Yan studied the maritime charts, he spoke, “Madam Shi said she owed you from before; she told you to live freely from now on.”

Chaoyi bit his tongue, struggling to smile after a while, “That doesn't sound like Madam's style, it sounds more like you, Tianbao, trying to comfort me.”

“Does it? Haha~”

Li Yan looked up, and Chaoyi was also smiling. Their eyes met and quickly parted, the laughter on their faces carefree and unrestrained.

Chapter end