Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 272 - 12 Thank you for your patronage

Chapter 272: Chapter 12 Thank you for your patronage

That night, Li Yan boarded the train back to Cangzhou.

“You have obtained the inheritance: Blood of Wu Zhiqi – Calamity Spirit.”

“Esteemed Walker, upon accepting this inheritance, you will lose the ‘Chu God Dance Record’.”

“Confirmed.”

“Transaction complete, please verify the specific content of the inheritance in Yan Fu’s trunk (the transitional room and the black pillar hall).”

Tile-roofed houses, woods, telegraph poles. These scenes rapidly receded before Li Yan’s eyes. It was the off-season, and there were not many people in the carriage. Clutching a half-finished bottle of cola, Li Yan suddenly squeezed it hard.

...

The dark brown liquid surged and instantly froze into swirling black ice flowers, which were quite beautiful to look at.

Li Yan shook the bottle vigorously without expression, breaking the ice flowers into fragments, and then twisted off the cap to drink it all in one gulp.

“Huh~” He chuckled leisurely. Zhao Jianzhong said he was well-behaved, but even he himself felt surprised; after gaining power from Yan Fu, why had he become so well-behaved? Those cold gazes, malicious intentions, and even casual contempt that were once so easy for him to muster now hardly stirred any emotion within him.

As a carriage passed by, the window opposite showed a girl with headphones, pretty and delicate. She covered her mouth and laughed while looking at her phone screen, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Perhaps it’s because, compared to others, this era is really not too bad…

Of course, it could be better.

…

“Take this with you.”

“We could buy it when we get there.”

“I like this one.”

Lady Dan was clad in pajamas and slippers, with an old-fashioned vanity case in her hand, engraved with rudimentary Pisces. This was an old object from the house.

“Then take it with you,” Li Yan said, lifting his head from one cardboard box after another. “I’m going to see if the car has arrived.”

After returning from Zhao Jianzhong’s place, Li Yan first started with moving homes. He had several phone calls with Cha Xiaodao and eventually decided to move his home to Jinhai for a while, which was also close to Cha Xiaodao. He had promised Li Yan to make the “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” dish this month.

Moving is a long and painful process. Originally a bachelor, Li Yan had simply locked up his shop in the county town and went back to the old house to buy a bed and bedding from the department store. But now it was different; numerous big and small items filled four or five large boxes. Looking for a house came with higher demands; Li Yan had a dedicated martial arts training field in the old house. Just in the storage room, there were more than a dozen high-quality white wax poles. This was also the reason why he had gone back, and although it might not have too much use now, Li Yan still did not want to slack off.

But to find a place in Jinhai where he could fully stretch out was not so easy.

Even now, if Li Yan wanted to truly stretch out his limbs, he probably would only do so by passing through the gateway back to Lantau Island or Mage Island and facing the endless South Sea.

Let the small details be, what surprised Li Yan was that Lady Dan seemed to be very adaptable to this process.

“Toothbrushes, basins, bedding and such small items don’t really matter, but I have to take this clay pot with me; I had it specially bound, and you can’t buy one like this just anywhere. Let’s take the human-shaped stake from the backyard too, I find it quite rare.”

“It’s too big, isn’t it necessary?”

“But I see you practicing with it every morning, and it’s been used for many years. Moreover, it’s not easy to find, right?”

“Then take it with us.”

“Will we have to go through a checkpoint, considering all your weapons are sharpened?”

“…I’ll figure something out.”

“Isn’t DiDi a bit cheaper?”

“We’re moving, DiDi won’t take this job.”

“Oh.”

After a whole day of hectic activities, the matter was finally settled. Li Yan rented a two-story attic with a basement, quite spacious, enough even for practicing what to Li Yan were “simple” exercises. Unfortunately, the two of them still slept separately.

Well into the night, Li Yan couldn’t fall asleep even when he closed his eyes; he’s not bored enough to experiment whether he needs sleep these days or not. Usually, out of habit, he would wash his face around eleven at night and go to sleep. However, this was the first time he had suffered from insomnia in half a year.

Around three o’clock in the morning, as Li Yan got up to relieve himself, he discovered that Lady Dan was still staring at the fluorescent screen.

Li Yan didn’t know if Wild Gods needed to sleep, but Lady Dan was known to be sleep-loving, whether at ordinary times or inside the six coins.

Li Yan knocked on the wall board and waited for Lady Dan to look over before smiling, “Can’t you sleep either?”

Lady Dan shook her head and pointed at the screen.

Li Yan was startled, the television was repeatedly airing a segment of news. The gist was that a serious assault had occurred at a Jinghai-style restaurant in the downtown area, involving a clash between criminal gangs. Most of the suspects were in custody, with the primary suspect still at large.

On the corner of the screen, for just a fleeting glimpse, was Cha Xiaodao’s indifferent face.

…

“Dudu~”

“Dudu~”

“Hello?”

Cha Xiaodao answered the phone, still groggy with sleep.

“What’s up with the TV?”

Li Yan was peeling an apple for himself; he wasn’t too worried about Cha Xiaodao getting into trouble, he was just asking casually.

“Just a little private matter. No big deal. It’s been taken care of.”

Li Yan raised his eyebrows. Cha Xiaodao was usually much more cautious—indeed, more cowardly—than himself. But just now, there was an inadvertent hint of recklessness in his tone, along with an irrepressible aura of arrogance.

Four words inexplicably flashed through Li Yan’s mind.

“Great vengeance has been exacted.”

“Hmm, alright. See you tomorrow for Chaoshan hotpot.”

“Hey, wait, wait a second.”

Li Yan was about to hang up when Cha Xiaodao stopped him.

“Actually, I wanted to tell you in person tomorrow, but since you called, I might as well tell you over the phone now… For the next Yan Fu incident, you and Lady Dan should go do it together; I have some things to sort out on my own. The requirements state that it must be done by one person.”

“Okay.”

Li Yan agreed, chuckling to himself. He had just agreed to Zhao Jianzhong not to involve Lady Dan in the Yan Fu incidents anymore, and now Cha Xiaodao was dropping out, suddenly making him the sole commander again. He sighed, wondering if his Dragon Tiger Qi had become too overwhelming and if he should let some blood from the little tiger. Perhaps he should call Sudu and inquire about things on their end as well.

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Cha Xiaodao hung up on Li Yan without any hint of sleepiness; he hadn’t been sleeping at all.

He tucked the phone into his underwear and, without lifting his head, asked the person across from him, “You finished eating?”

The table was in disarray, with remains of chicken, duck, goose, bok choy, and carp—all just nibbled on—and there was still a piece of raw red meat on the plate.

“This is known as the ‘coffin banquet.’ Not many know about it these days; it’s a send-off for you.”

The man opposite him was a burly, bald man in his fifties, with a pale, sickly complexion.

“In my life, I’ve done many wrongs. You, just let me die understanding. Are you here on Zhao Baoshun’s orders, for revenge for that watering incident?”

The bald man’s eyes rolled back as he stared at Cha Xiaodao.

Cha Xiaodao shook his head.

“Yufeng Mountain Water’s forced demolition, are you a victim?”

“Heh heh.”

The bald man’s nose was all sweaty, and his face was wrinkled into a ball.

“My son’s affair? That woman, did she take the money and transfer schools or not?”

Cha Xiaodao laughed heartily, and after a long while, managed to spit out from between his clenched teeth, “You’d better die befuddled.”

…

In the wee hours, Cha Xiaodao returned to his rented room and washed off the dust of the day. A text message came through on his phone.

“A flat fee of two thousand, going by the Human Master’s protocol for cleanup, you owe four thousand.”

Cha Xiaodao, with a cold face, replied, “One thousand five, not a penny more.”

Not two minutes passed before his phone buzzed again, with an emoticon of a smiling face and a light, floating message: “Thank you for your patronage.”