Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 14: Chapter 14: The Whereabouts of the Fragment
Editor: Larbre Studio

Judy’s expression faltered for a moment; she set down her knife and fork, wiped her hands with a napkin, thought for a short while, then suddenly nodded and poured herself a glass of fortified wine.

“Although it injures my pride, I like honest people,” she said.

Her high heels hooked onto Li Yan’s pant leg with a magnetic allure in her eyes.

“If you really kidnapped me, would it be just for money, that simple?”

“I don’t know; we’ll see when it happens,” he answered.

Li Yan originally thought that today’s dinner would be very awkward, but, pushed into a corner, he found it not so hard to accept.

“Your turn, is it the same question as before?” she asked.

Li Yan nodded.

“These kinds of things actually vary from person to person,” said Judy, tilting her head and resting her palm against her cheek.

“Bloodlust and violence, some people face these with fear or even disgust, yet there are those who find them deeply fascinating. Fists, sweat, flesh, and even killing.”

She speared a piece of foie gras, chewed it thoughtfully, and with slightly parted crimson lips, she said, “I am the latter.”

“Actually, there are many on the Longcheng arena…”

“Too ugly.”

Judy interrupted Li Yan.

Li Yan was taken aback, and could only awkwardly reply, “Ah, that’s reasonable.”

“In all of Longcheng, I only had expectations for Red Ghost, until I saw your fight with Cheng Hunan.”

Her cheeks flushed, she beckoned Li Yan closer with a curl of her finger, “Come closer to me.”

Li Yan leaned in, facing a woman with long, curved eyelashes and eyes deep as autumn waters as she spoke, her fragrant breath wafting onto Li Yan’s face.

Li Yan swallowed uncontrollably, instinctively recoiling, and he picked up his wine glass to pour himself another, then drained it. His usually steady wrist was trembling.

Judy watched and chuckled softly.

In twenty-five years, Li Yan had never met a woman as unrestrained and sensual as Judy. He did not consider himself inexperienced, yet this woman’s few words had unsettled him deeply.

“My turn again, what did you do before coming to Hong Kong?” Judy asked while pouring herself another drink and laughing as if she had said nothing before.

Because he had drunk too hastily, Li Yan’s breathing had grown heavy.

“Me? I wandered with my dad from a young age, going many places, north to south. After my dad passed away, I worked as a security guard, did business on the sea for a while, taught students in a martial arts school, and even sold pirated, er, electronic watches for a time.”

Judy reached for the wine bottle and drank directly from it.

“My turn to ask.”

Li Yan smacked his lips, “Then Miss Judy, what was your life like before you got married?”

Judy raised her eyebrows slightly and took a while to respond.

“I was an orphan. Not long after my adoption, my father died, and to this day, I can’t clearly remember what he looked like,” she said.

Li Yan listened quietly, not saying a word.

“My mother… she was very good to me. Just too busy with work to spend time with me.”

Suddenly, Li Yan looked up at Judy, and she, unblinking, stared back at him; the two held each other’s gaze for a while, and the atmosphere became subtly charged.

After a long moment, Li Yan grinned, showing his teeth, and raised his glass to finish off the wine.

Interestingly, Li Yan completely refrained from mentioning Judy’s deceased husband, while Judy showed no interest in probing why Li Yan had killed someone and fled the country. Of course, even if she asked, at most Li Yan would make something up on the spot. To this day, he still couldn’t understand how Mo, or rather Yan Fu, managed to ensure his false identity was flawless. It’s not difficult to make someone disappear without a trace, but to make someone appear in another world silently and without the slightest slip-up, that power was truly terrifying.

“My turn,” Judy interjected, “Did you have a girl you liked back on the mainland?”

“…No.”

“Oh~” Judy didn’t know whether to believe him or not. But she drank with gusto.

Judy’s capacity for liquor was much greater than Li Yan had imagined, but ultimately she was no match for a pure Northman like Li Yan. After a few rounds, Judy was clearly inebriated. She leaned on Li Yan’s shoulder, her speech already slurred, while Li Yan glanced towards the door. Standing there were several female bodyguards, looking dashing in sunglasses, now fixing him with an unfriendly stare.

Li Yan waved his hand.

“Your boss is drunk. Take her home.”

“Mr. Li Yan isn’t coming with us?”

An older female bodyguard asked in a peculiar tone.

Li Yan looked at her.

“I’m taking a taxi back to Kowloon City.”

“Then please be careful on your way.”

“I will.”

Li Yan supported Judy and got her into the car, watching the vehicle pull away. He then undid the buttons, put the suit back into the bag, and wearing the thin shirt he had rented from the photo studio, he jogged off to hail a cab.

…

“Li, what do you think of him?”

In the back seat of the car, Judy crossed her arms, not exhibiting the slightest sign of drunkenness.

“This man is a deep schemer.”

The female driver didn’t even turn her head as she spoke.

“Isn’t that a bit exaggerated? I think he’s quite cute.”

Judy laughed heartily,

“Judy, he single-handedly killed four Mafia members barehanded. Such a man can be very dangerous when provoked; don’t play with fire.”

Judy changed her posture, crossing her long left leg over the right. She pursed her lips, her tone hinting at a desire to win.

“What that crazy woman can do, I can do as well.”

Li rolled her eyes and after a moment of silence, said, “Anyway, if he dares have any malicious intentions towards you, I’ll blow his head off with a single shot.”

The car sped on, carrying the sounds of the woman’s carefree laughter.

…

At the entrance of Kowloon City, a silver metal plate bore the words Kowloon City.

Shaking off several hookers and junkies who had approached him, he walked through the cramped alleyways, stepping over piles of old newspapers and filthy water.

It was at this moment that Li Yan finally found the energy to spare a moment’s thought for the Yan Fu incident.

Originally, according to Li Yan’s plan, he should have been able to trigger the Yan Fu incident by fighting to the seventh ring in Kowloon City’s arena. Unexpectedly, an unforeseen coincidence led him to get two fragments from He Andong, achieving this point ahead of time.

It was clear that the whereabouts of the other fragments were also inextricably linked to He Andong and his group. Li Yan had searched thoroughly at the time and found that He Andong and his group had only two fragments; the police had stated that all five fragments of the antique novel, the Sink Hook Record Book, had been taken by He Andong.

So, where were the remaining three?

There were two possibilities: one was that He Andong disposed of them. Indeed, He Andong and his group had cashed in a large number of antiques that were not easy to carry. The piles of Hong Kong dollars that Li Yan had seen were partly the cash from these sales. Considering their hurried flight from the police and that the antiques were still in their possession before Jin got shot – which had been confirmed by the police – it was very likely that they had disposed of these antiques within Kowloon City!

The other possibility was an inside job by the bank staff, who might pilfer the items if they failed to catch the Mafia and there were no witnesses to prove anything; they could quietly pocket the goods. This possibility also existed. If Li Yan wanted to find the five fragments, especially the Gu Huo Bird fragment, he would have to start from these two points. Considering that the locations of the five fragments were reported to him every 24 hours, Li Yan felt that it wasn’t too difficult to find them in the remaining half a month.

On the roadside, a blonde, blue-eyed middle-aged nun was distributing papers, probably about attending church services for disaster relief and healing. She spoke tortuous Cantonese, making Li Yan want to laugh. He remembered being a child in Guangdong, when a local kid had pointed at his nose and said, “If you can’t understand, then go back to the countryside,” which led him to give the kid a beating while clutching at his collar.

Li Yan was about to walk away when he suddenly felt a searing pain in his chest!

“The location of the Sink Hook Record Fragment has been reported. Please pay attention to receive it.”

Before Li Yan’s eyes, a three-dimensional map suddenly appeared, showing the entire geography of Kowloon City, resembling a sand table. Four gold-red flame icons were spread throughout Kowloon City, two merging together at his location and one of the flames less than a hundred meters away from him, was moving!

Li Yan abruptly turned around, ignoring the old man selling things on the street, stepping directly over the woven basket, and went through the intricate network of streets toward the location of the flame.

“Out of the way! Out of the way!”

Strangely, the speed of that flame also began to increase suddenly!