Beginning with the Ubume Bird - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Chapter 32 Ghosts and Tigers!
Editor: Larbre Studio

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“I won’t let him get away with it, definitely not.”

Judy, clad in a high-necked purple robe with traces of wine at her lips, saw that her wine glass was empty.

Li opened her mouth beside her, wanting to say something but unsure what to say. It was incomprehensible to Li why men would not be drawn to Judy like flies, especially those who prospered at dawn but died by dusk.

However, for Judy that was certainly not a bad thing.

“Madam, your phone.” A maid with braided hair came over.

Judy picked up the receiver, her voice low and magnetic.

“Hello? Mr. Charles, it’s so late, what’s the matter? The case? Wasn’t the case closed?”

Judy listened quietly to what the lawyer on the other end was saying.

“Alright, Charles, I’ll consider it. I’m a bit tired; let’s connect some other day.”

Judy hung up the phone with her brows deeply furrowed.

“What’s going on, Judy?” Seeing Judy’s troubled expression, Li asked.

“The auction house that suffered an antique robbery wants a private meeting with that fucker. They said some unique pages from the masterpieces of the Republic of China were missing among the antiques that had been recovered. If he took them, they’re willing to pay a high price to buy them back.”

Li knew she was talking about Li Yan.

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“Why would someone like him have such refined taste, to steal antiques?”

Li couldn’t help but laugh wryly.

“No…” Judy shook her head, as if recalling something, “Once when changing clothes, I saw it on him.”

“You watched him change clothes? Or was it you who was changing?” Li’s eyes widened.

Judy glared at her, thought for a while with her head down, then lifted her gaze.

“Li, contact the auction house later to clarify the provenance of that item. Also, help me find out where these kinds of items have been sold recently. Make it fast.”

…

The thirtieth day of the sixth month of the Year of the Tiger, suitable for burial, Lifespan Wood…

The sky was dim.

The man held a long object in his hands, tightly wrapped in cloth. Bowing his head, he avoided the wastewater at his feet and pushed open the door of the apartment at 22 Su Miao Street. The fragment at his chest was growing hotter, as if it craved something.

The apartment’s walls were covered with chalk graffiti and large patches of cracked plaster. Plaques with numbers passed by Li Yan’s eyes—some rooms were lit, others deserted.

When he stood in front of the door marked with 411, Li Yan clenched his fist and pushed lightly. To his surprise, the door swung open.

An overpowering smell of blood struck him, so strong that not even the stench could mask it!

Li Yan’s pupils contracted as he involuntarily took two steps back.

The cold, faint light spilled in, preventing the room from being pitch black.

The woman sat in a chair, motionless. She faced Li Yan with an indiscernible expression.

“Ha, Auntie, staying up so late?”

Li Yan’s gaze was as sharp as a hawk’s as he strode into the room.

He marched right up to the woman and unceremoniously pulled out a chair to sit on.

“…”

“Auntie?”

Li Yan cocked his head to one side, the woman sitting opposite him remained motionless. Gritting his teeth and enduring the stench, Li Yan walked over and, aided by the dim light of dawn, finally saw the woman’s face clearly.

Huge patches of black putrefaction were shocking to the eye, a few green-headed flies settled on her already decomposing face, and in some areas of her body, putrid fluids had begun to leak out.

“Sss—” Li Yan instinctively held his breath.

Suddenly, the woman’s tightly closed eyelids snapped open, and her withered, stinking claws struck at Li Yan’s neck!

A sword light, like refined steel, flashed across, slicing off a withered, pitch-black arm that soared high into the air, and dark, putrid blood spattered all over the ground.

Li Yan’s eyes were wide open, the gleaming blade spun in the air, drawing a swift arc as it chopped towards the ghastly, horrifying head of the corpse ghost.

The diminutive, emaciated corpse unexpectedly jerked back with no warning, and the blade only grazed its neck, leaving a wisp of dark, sticky blood on the sword tip.

“Die!”

Li Yan showed no intention of shrinking back, leaping like a tiger jumping across a stream, and his blade plunged ferociously into the heart of the corpse ghost, piercing it straight through! With a twist of his wrist, foul black blood gushed out, drenching Li Yan’s chest.

Li Yan attempted to withdraw the Han Sword but found the force in his hand dissipating ineffectively.

The predicament before him was one of bizarre and dangerous nature like never before, the ruthless ferocity was laid bare without any hesitation, as he let go of the sword hilt, kicked the ground with his left leg, and launched a powerful kick onto the sword hilt, pushing the entire Han Sword through the body of the corpse ghost, leaving only the hilt exposed. Then, without any hesitation, he picked up a foldable stool on the side and slammed it onto the head of the corpse ghost!

The folding stool shattered instantly, and wood chips flew everywhere, leaving only a broken plank in Li Yan’s hand, fresh and newly splintered.

It was either Li Yan’s excessive force or the poor quality of the stool, but an unfortunate incident occurred that made Li Yan’s heart sink—an errant splinter of wood shot towards his eye. With Li Yan’s reaction speed, he managed to close his eyelids before the splinter could reach his eyes, but he also lost sight of the corpse ghost.

The wooden splinter cut Li Yan’s eyelid, and when he opened his eyes again, his right eyelid was stained red with blood. The corpse ghost that had been in front of Li Yan had vanished!

Without thinking, Li Yan twisted around, his back twisting like a dragon, his fist-back like a steel whip, hammering towards his rear!

There was nothing behind him…

“Ha… ha…”

Li Yan was panting heavily, looking around the room and seeing no movement. He steadied his breath and shouted:

“Xiu! Are you there? Ah…”

Suddenly, Li Yan felt a sharp pain at his waist—a boning knife pierced into his waist precisely!

The man’s agility was terrifying, as his clothes were touched by the blade, he instinctively reached back to grasp the assailant’s shoulder, but again, he found nothing. Amidst the sudden chill, he could only clench the knife handle, only to discover that the knife was actively burrowing into his waist!

Li Yan had no choice but to pull out the sharp knife, covered the bleeding wound on his waist with his left hand, pressed himself against the corner of the wall and surveyed everything before him cautiously.

The few exchanges did not resemble the overwhelming suppression of a fierce ghost over a mortal but rather seemed like an evenly matched battle between a sharp and ferocious beast and a terrifying, mysterious ghost.

“Heh heh, auntie, it seems you’re even more hot-tempered than me.”

Li Yan could actually still manage a laugh, though the icy coldness in his eyes was almost bursting forth.

“If I’m to die just like that, I’d still be fiercer than you. What do you say, shall we meet again in the underworld?”

“Ting-a-ling ting-a-ling ting-a-ling…”

Pots and pans in the room swayed, Li Yan’s right hand gripping the sharp knife, his eyes unblinking, allowing the blood from his eyelid to paint his vision a bloody red.

The room fell silent as though the corpse ghost had departed.

Ten seconds, thirty seconds, one minute, two minutes…

Li Yan’s eyes were incredibly sore, but he dared not blink. Sweat trickled from his forehead to the tip of his nose, then dripped onto his lips, soaking into his mouth, tasting unbearably salty and fishy.

Finally, Li Yan couldn’t help but blink, and in the less than half a second of darkness, a rotten face oozing black blood abruptly pressed against his nose!

“Pfft!”

Li Yan actually spat out a mouthful of bright red tongue blood, spraying it all over the face of the corpse ghost!