Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 114: Chapter 13 Appearance and Encounters

Two ghastly, pale-faced pages emerged from behind the straw platform, carrying a tall and thin man between them,

who was barechested, with a red cloth wrapped around his eyes.

“Fellows! Fellows! Sharpen the blade quickly, grant me a swift end. When I reach the netherworld, I will be thankful for your great kindness.”

The man’s sweat dripped onto the ground, large as beans, as he cried out.

The executioner pulled off the red cloth from his face, revealing a complexion turned blue and purple, and a visage so contorted with fear that it bore an uncanny resemblance to Li Yan!

“Begin the execution!”

Li Yan felt a chill creep up his neck. Before he could react, the black-clothed executioner sprayed bright silver liquor onto the blade, and the Ghost Head Greatsword chopped down, instantly splattering a burst of red light.

The head fell to the ground.

“Plop!”

Li Yan’s vision darkened, as if a steel sword was truly cleaving toward his face, his eyes, mouth, and nose gushing blood simultaneously, a sight horrific in its agony.

In his status bar, a new entry appeared clearly: “Foul Lung (Beheaded)”

Foul Lung, one of the Three Souls and Seven Spirits.

A basin full of yellow soil was thrown over the overflowing blood. The executioner took the towel from the basin and carelessly wiped the Ghost Head Sword, then lifted his chin as two more pale-faced pages dragged out another figure from behind the straw platform, and upon pulling off the red cloth, it was Li Yan yet again!

“Esteemed Walker, please take note!”

“With the Three Souls and Seven Spirits severed, you will die forcibly.”

“Please leave the suppression object range as soon as possible.”

You damn little rabbit…

Li Yan coughed up two large mouthfuls of blood, his vision swimming with stars.

Seizing the moment, the woman leaped forward, crouching low as she rushed at Li Yan, her dagger ablaze with deep red flames stabbing towards his eyes.

The scorching heat wave pressed in. Blinded Li Yan grasped at the wind and swung out with the Ring Dragon Sword. The woman twisted her waist nimbly, dodging Ring Dragon, and her orange-red fist hammered into Li Yan’s chest.

Li Yan took the blow head-on. After forcing the woman back with a feint of the Ring Dragon Sword, he surged towards the straw hut with a push from his feet.

“Wishful thinking!”

Behind the woman, two waves of flames surged, and she hurled herself at Li Yan!

“Begin the execution!”

Calamity did not come singly, as from inside the straw hut, the black-clothed executioner let out a tiger’s roar, and the blade fell again!

Behead the Swallowing Thief.

“Thump”

Li Yan, rushing toward the straw hut, stumbled and collapsed onto the ground, as if sapped of all strength.

Joy turned wild in the woman’s heart, the expression on her face almost running wild.

First to suffer “Beheading Foul Lung,” then her punch laced with flame’s power, and finally “Beheading Swallowing Thief”—a feather-class inheritance would hardly resist.

The thick red flames rolled into a ball, the woman was less than a meter from Li Yan’s back. In her heart, she gleefully thought, “I’ve won!”

Unfortunately, Li Yan had proven one thing all along his path, whether it was Zhang Mingyuan, Xu Tianci, or later ones like Tachibana Muneshige and Honda Tadakatsu,

Li Yan was best at feigning weakness and turning the tables at life-and-death moments.

A sharp pain flashed in Li Yan’s eyes as he bent backwards, forming an exaggerated bridge with his back, his arms raised, his right hand brushing past his chest. Between his loosely clasped hands, a bright white-gold light blazed forth.

Tiger Head Great Spear.

The woman watched in horror as a white-gold Devouring Blade stabbed towards her, her body crashing straight into it.

The spear pierced her heart, bursting out half a meter from her back, killing her instantly.

Such was the capricious reversal between life and death.

As Yu Shu had said, discussing technique alone, Li Yan’s mastery of the arts was indeed “spectacular beyond compare.”

As Li Yan, with the upper half of his body arching backward, watched upside down, the woman’s blood slid down the spear shaft to his hand, scalding like boiling water, while wisps of smoke rose from her wound.

That was really close.

“You have gained the inheritance: Bloodline of Mythical Bird Bifang – Phosphorus Flame.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Esteemed Walker, please take note!”

“With the Three Souls and Seven Spirits severed, you will die forcibly.”

“Please leave the suppression area as quickly as possible.”

The young man with the white face supported the third person out. The executioner wielded the blood-drenched Ghost Head Greatsword in his hand.

Li Yan withdrew and spun around, his foot pushing off from the ground as he hurled the Tiger Head Great Spear into the night. A streak of white and gold brilliance, swift as a startled swan, shot towards the grass platform.

Three meters in length, the Tiger Head Great Spear traced a smooth arc through the air, heading straight for the grass platform, and then…

It passed right through without any resistance.

Red veins spidered through the whites of Li Yan’s eyes, and bulging blue veins stood out on his forehead. With the Ring Dragon Sword hanging low in his grip, he took three steps in place of two and charged into that bloody, savage grass platform!

“Begin the execution!”

The command thundered like a roar.

Li Yan, along with his sword, passed through the grass platform and the executioner as if traversing ripples in water, yet not even a small ripple emerged in the process.

Yet the third head had already fallen to the ground.

Struck as if by lightning, Li Yan tumbled headlong to the dirt, rolling forward twice, then grabbed the Tiger Head Great Spear without looking back and charged onward.

Behind him, the chilling words “Begin the execution” seemed to follow like a shadow.

Li Yan was practically dragging his body along as he ran, turning a corner to leave behind the Market Execution Ground and immediately collapsing on the wooden railing by the roadside, his fingers tightly gripping the handrail, large drops of blood ticking down onto the wood and the ground below.

He finally managed to turn himself over, sitting down on the ground with his lungs tasting sharply of blood. His head felt as if it were being hammered continuously, painful waves assaulting him like a stormy sea.

After a while, he lifted his finger and tore through a piece of talisman paper.

The cool essence of the Sweet Dew Talisman slowly circulated among his organs. Li Yan’s “Swallowing Thief,” “Foul Lung,” and “Remove Filth” spirits had been severed, and even though he had left the perimeter of the Market Execution Ground, these three states still persisted.

He would need to end the Yan Fu incident before spending points to remove them.

Yet, in Li Yan’s eyes, there was a faint glint of excitement.

“You have discovered the secret treasure of Yan Fu.”

…

Wangfujing, Donglai Shun.

Donglai Shun was established in the 29th year of the Guangxu reign, an old Halal brand known for exquisite knife work, where diners can see the pattern on the plate through the thinly sliced mutton.

Cha Xiaodao sat cross-legged on the ground, gasping for breath. With a flip of his hand, the kitchen knife in his hand disappeared as if by magic.

He looked at the body lying on the ground, and after a long while, he stood up with a grimacing smile. Clenching a cigarette between his teeth, he muttered:

“Setting up the place here saves me the trouble.”

Saying this, he walked towards the slightly imposing yellow eaves door of the restaurant.

“About six more days, the 8 buildings of Yan Capital, Big 8 Residences, Four Donglai Shuns, South Soft and North Hard, life won’t be easy~”

The restaurant seemed pitch-black at first glance, yet inside it was brightly lit. Cha Xiaodao hadn’t even entered when a beaming young attendant stopped him at the door.

“Esteemed sir, we are fully booked. Please bear with us.”

Cha Xiaodao glanced at the mostly empty tables and chairs, remaining silent.

Upon closer inspection, all the seated guests were like clay statues or wooden carvings, one even missing half a palm with most of the gold paint scraped off and chalked graffiti in colors on his back, appearing to have writing like “Wang Xiaoming is a little dog.”

“Shopkeeper.”

Cha Xiaodao bowed politely as he entered.

“I’m not here to eat. I’m here to learn.”

…

Outside Chongwenmen to the north, along Grinding Factory street.

The old Er’you Tang.

This ancient bookstore had been around for hundreds of years, first printing the Four Books and Five Classics, plays and novels, as well as some patriotic publications.

Outside the white stone archway, several tables were set up with celadon teapots and lidded bowls, a black and white newspaper pinned underneath.

“Fighting for sovereignty abroad, eliminating traitors within the nation, swearing to struggle to the death and reclaim Qingdao.”

The man sniffled and said to the owner, who was dressed like a Qing dynasty holdover, with a playful grin:

“Old timer, please, I beg you, give me a bowl of wine.”

The elder glanced at him disdainfully, spouting literary flourishes for a good while but the man couldn’t understand. Though he knew this Er’you Tang had some connections, he didn’t care and turned to look at the despairing fat man sitting opposite him.

A black chess piece stood on the table.

The man pulled out a glass bottle emblazoned with “Hesheng Double Star Beer,” focusing on the fat man as he asked, “Decided yet? Admit defeat and concede the piece, or die?”