Beginning with the Ubume Bird

“Murder… Hehe.”

Li Yan played with his fingers, remaining silent.

Suddenly, Zhang Mingyuan remembered something and said, “Right, in about an hour or two, my Power of the Enlightened Beast will dissipate, and your right arm will be fine.”

Li Yan’s expression relaxed somewhat; he still had several tough battles to fight in Kowloon Walled City, and if his right arm was disabled, it would become very troublesome.

“One last thing, is it you who’s been playing cat and mouse with me these past few days?”

Zhang Mingyuan shook his head, “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“Alright, that’s it. You can go in peace.”

Li Yan stood up, ready to leave.

“What’s your relationship with my sister?”

Zhang Mingyuan asked, tilting his face upward.

Without a second thought, Li Yan replied with a saucy Beijing-inflected ending, “Old lover, eh.”

“You!”

Zhang Mingyuan was furious and attempted to sit up, but Li Yan had already walked out the door.

After leaving the door, Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

“This kid really can take a beating.”

With punches and kicks being blind, not to mention blades, the fact Zhang Mingyuan survived a pounding from Li Yan right over his heart should have been enough to kill a man. Zhang Mingyuan took Li Yan’s three swords, one claw, one punch and had barely lost his fighting capability, which was a level of physical resilience even Li Yan found troublesome—probably another benefit of the Yan Fu Heritage.

The Ericsson in his pocket started buzzing.

Li Yan glanced at the number and pressed the answer button.

“Red Ghost. What’s up?”

The line was filled with noise, swearing, and shouts blended together, but a pleasant female voice came through clearly, “Is that you, Yan? Come down to the boxing ring, take a young man out the back door of the building, and use the stairs. If anyone dares to stop you, beat them to death.”

Li Yan was startled, “Taishuai?”

The call had already been disconnected, and with thoughts racing, Li Yan quickly headed towards the boxing ring upstairs.

…

“I won’t let anyone leave through this door today without slaughtering this fucker.”

The man had thrown his white suit onto the ground, revealing a body of taut muscle. His tattoo of a demon with wide angry eyes seemed ready to devour someone.

Hua Shanjiu was covered in blood with veins on his face nearly bursting. Several hundred members of the society had the tenth floor of Fuyi Building completely surrounded, each with a defiant expression.

More than fifty armed men in black suits were expressionless, simply standing in the way of Hua Shanjiu and the others, while Taishui Yu Shu was sippping wine leisurely off to the side.

“Hua Shanjiu, you think you’re so great, surrounding us with a few hundred people. We came to Longcheng to watch a fight, not a gang war. What are you trying to do? If you want to make trouble, at least weigh your own capabilities.”

The speaker was a man in his fifties, impeccably dressed in a suit. His hair was perfectly groomed, and he carried an air of inherent authority.

These gamblers were either rich or noble, outnumbering those present, and they showed no fear even against an established society like the association. In the end, the association’s fourteen hitters were also subordinate to Kowloon’s Hua Shanjiu.

“If he doesn’t weigh enough, perhaps Elder Zheng, you could see if I do?”

The surnamed Zheng transferred his gaze to the speaker. A silence fell.

The man had been sitting quietly in the stands not making a sound, just cleaning his glasses, until the elder spoke and then he came forward.

He stood up from the stands and walked in front of Hua Shanjiu, his demeanor rather scholarly.

“From the association, Chang Kaile here. Let me first apologize to Elder Zheng and to all the bosses for the disturbance,”

“Le, there’s no need for such formality. Actually…”

The man raised his hand, and the elder Mr. Zheng, like a duck with its throat seized, abruptly fell silent.

“Ajiu is a bit rough around the edges, speaking hastily in the heat of the moment. I hope no one takes it to heart. If any of the bosses wish to leave, feel free to do so at any time. If any of the bosses wish to stay and watch, Fuyi doesn’t drive anyone away, but after all, this is a private grievance between us and Fuyi. I hope everyone refrains from intervening.”

After he finished speaking, he bowed respectfully to the stands and the private rooms, staying bent over for a full five seconds before straightening up.

Standing in the stands, Old Mr. Zheng was caught between a rock and a hard place, uncertain whether to sit or leave, when Yu Shu finally spoke up, “Mr. Zheng, Taizi Le is also reasonable. Since he has admitted his wrongs, you should let bygones be bygones.”

This exit was handed to him just right, and the older man, seizing the opportunity, stuttered an agreement and hurried off with his people. The other gamblers also got up, eager to stay out of the turmoil.

With most people gone, the Fuyi Building suddenly became much emptier. Yet, some really stayed behind and didn’t leave. These people were the true scions of Hong Kong’s wealthiest families—to them, the society was a novel and exciting, yet not intimidating. Any one of them getting into trouble in Kowloon City would prompt the Hong Kong British Government to seize the opportunity to organize a third military-police operation into the city, tearing down Kowloon City, the eyesore they coveted, and Fuyi could hardly bear the consequences.

It was at this moment that Li Yan arrived.

“What’s the matter? Red Ghost Brother.”

Li Yan asked in a low voice.

“Zhou lost,” said Red Ghost grimly,

Li Yan glanced at the boxing ring, only to see the ground covered in dark brown blood.

“His right hand was chopped off, he took two slashes in the abdomen, and his intestines spilled all over the floor. He was taken by Hua Shanjiu’s men to get medical assistance. Fuyi’s people are causing trouble now.”

Li Yan looked towards the crowd. Besides Taishui Yu Shu and Zhou’s manager Ruan Hongzhi, there was the red-eyed Hua Shanjiu and a young man Li Yan didn’t recognize. Words like “the rules of the Kowloon boxing ring” and “life-and-death agreements” could be heard intermittently.

“That’s Taizi Le, the son of Fuyi’s Dragon Head Chang Shen. Chang Shen is getting too old and is about to retire. He practically runs the whole of Fuyi.”

Hearing the name Taizi Le, which sounded much like a domestic yogurt brand, Li Yan didn’t have time to ask more and simply said, “Taishui has asked me to take a young man away first. Who is it?”

Red Ghost led Li Yan backstage, where a young man with his abdomen wrapped in bandages sat. His body was covered with seven or eight bloodstains, but none were deep, except for the serious knife wound on his stomach which, despite being bandaged, was still oozing blood slowly.

The young man looked relaxed and his eyes lit up when he saw Li Yan enter, “Are you Yama?”

Li Yan ignored him and said to Red Ghost, “Is it him?”

Red Ghost nodded, “Get him safely out of Kowloon City. Even if he dies, he can’t die on our watch.”

The young man seemed oblivious to the coldness in Red Ghost’s words, still smiling carefreely.

“Understood, leave it to me.”

Li Yan looked at the young man, “Can you walk by yourself?”

“Of course.”

“Stick close.”

Li Yan led the way, exiting through the back door of the arena hall, following the stairs down, with the young man chattering non-stop behind him.

“My name is Xu Tianci, what’s yours?”

“If I win against you, it means I will have no more opponents in the ring, right?”

“I’ve been training in martial arts for more than a decade, but haven’t had as much fun as these few days in Kowloon City.”

“That Zhou is quite a fighter, the Nine Rings Broadsword almost made my arms go weak, but unfortunately, I’m faster. Do you know the Eight Chop Sword? Two slashes and I cut open his belly.”

Suddenly, Li Yan came to a stop, his face wearing a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “You practice traditional martial arts, do you believe in martial morality?”

Xu Tianci paused, then after a moment shook his head, “That’s outdated.”

Li Yan burst into loud laughter, charged forward, lifted his leg as if a ferocious dragon raising its head, and fiercely kicked Xu Tianci’s bleeding stomach!

Xu Tianci was kicked a meter away, blood droplets spraying in the air, and his back hit the wall, causing the white plaster to fall in a cascade.

Li Yan stood still, his tone cold, “I think so too.”