Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 16: Acquiring the es Hematopoietic Cell Enhancer

Editor: Larbre Studio

In Lixing Daya, Li Yan found nothing useful. He heard that an old Taoist, hooked on drugs, had sold an item at a low price because of its questionable origin. Its description resembled a fragment of the “Sink Hook Chen Record Book” from an ancient novel, but it had already been sold. The shop owner couldn’t remember the specifics clearly, and Li Yan’s indirect inquiries yielded no results.

In the following days, Li Yan experienced several reactions, one of which was a fragment that remained stationary. It was only after some inquiries that he learned it was located where the Longcheng Committee held its meetings, accessible only to a few members of the Executive Committee and their close associates.

Another fragment seemed rather cheeky, moving away when Li Yan approached and sneakily coming closer when he ignored it.

After several encounters, Li Yan was almost certain that the person holding that fragment was aware of his existence!

Perhaps, he was just like Li Yan.

At first, Li Yan hadn’t considered this possibility, but after repeatedly pondering his encounter with Mo, he was almost certain he wasn’t the only one walking as a Yan Fu.

Over the past few days, the two hadn’t met. Compared to Li Yan’s aggressive nature, the other party was more cautious. Yet Li Yan could feel that his patience was wearing thin and a confrontation with this potential adversary was imminent.

It was late in the evening, and Li Yan sat on his apartment bed, gently rubbing the pale yellow piece of the record book in his hands.

While it looked brittle, it felt exceptionally tough. The two fragments in his hands each depicted a monster.

One looked like a sheep but not quite, like a pig but not quite, with eyes of pale red lines that were particularly enchanting. In the bottom left corner was the character “Ao.”

Li Yan flipped the paper over to reveal tiny, dense text.

“During the time of Duke Mu of Qin, a man from Chen Cang unearthed a strange object; it resembled neither dog nor sheep, and no one could identify it. While presenting it to Duke Mu, they encountered two young boys. The boys said, ‘This is called Ao, usually found underground consuming the brains of the dead. To kill it, you must pierce its head with cypress.’ Ao then said, ‘Those two boys, named Chen Bao; whoever captures the male shall become king, the female shall become a hegemon.’ The Chen Cang man released Ao and pursued the two boys, who transformed into pheasants and flew into Pinglin. The man reported this to Duke Mu, who organized a large hunt and indeed captured the female.”

Li Yan turned to look at another fragment, depicting a strange person with five eyes and flowing hair and beard. In the bottom right corner were the words “Qi Gong Tribe.”

On the back, it read, “Qi Gong Tribe, skilled in wondrous craftsmanship, could make flying vehicles to travel far with the wind.”

“Quite interesting.”

Li Yan frowned; the fragments of the record book exuded an air of ancient mystery and elegance. Unfortunately, despite being twenty-five years old, he wasn’t familiar with these ancient Chinese myths and legends and found it difficult to discern any secrets within them.

Gu Huo Bird, Ao, Qi Gong Tribe, and even the creature that the fat man claimed to be—Mo, these were supernatural beings found in Chinese mythological texts, merely fictional tales. Yet the fat man had indeed brought Li Yan to Kowloon City.

In his fight with He Andong, Li Yan personally experienced the supernatural effects of “A Fleeting Glimpse.” The hoarse and deep voice that called him an Esteemed Walker, Yan Fu, but then, what exactly is Yan Fu?

“I’ll consider these issues when I get back.”

Li Yan decided not to dwell on it any further and converted his Hong Kong dollars into Yan Fu points, leaving a little over two thousand on him.

Today was the tenth day. Li Yan had been victorious in consecutive fights, accumulating just over one hundred eighty thousand in cash, equating to eighteen Yan Fu points. To gather three hundred Yan Fu points within a month at this rate seemed unlikely, but Li Yan had his ideas.

He had figured out that only legitimately earned Hong Kong dollars could be converted into Yan Fu points. Either through contractual forms of income, like earnings from the ring or even a construction worker’s wages, or problematic funds from illegal activities like robbery, which had to wait forty-eight hours before being eligible for conversion.

Li Yan had hidden some Hong Kong dollars robbed by He Andong and his men to confirm this. Of course, with the police around, it wasn’t much money.

Besides, borrowed money, no matter how long you held onto it, could never be converted into Yan Fu points, even if you had no intention of repaying it.

“You have spent ten Yan Fu points to purchase the es Hematopoietic Cell Enhancer. This item can only be bought once during this Yan Fu event.”

es Hematopoietic Cell Enhancer: Slightly useful.

Usage instructions are as follows:

1. When treating various blood diseases, including abnormal hematopoietic cells, it has a strong soporific effect; please use it in a safe area.

2. Esteemed Walkers with bloodline abilities or those with blood mutations due to inheritance may experience unpredictable results upon injecting this product; use with caution.

3. This product does not cure blood diseases; if your condition is serious, Esteemed Walkers should purchase the ES Cell Supplement.

In recent days, Li Yan’s condition had become increasingly dire. Originally, he only had a few months to live, and with continuous brutal fights in the ring, he increasingly felt he couldn’t hold on. Once, after a match that ended in the blink of an eye, he couldn’t stop the nosebleed afterward.

Even Red Ghost noticed something was off with Li Yan and urged him to take a break. So, he decided to use the enhancer immediately, fearing the worst.

He was faced with a syringe that looked like a metallic handgun, filled with a sense of futuristic technology. Interestingly, when Li Yan injected the content into his body, the used syringe turned into a black data stream and vanished.

The enhancer worked wonders; soon, Li Yan felt his eyelids grow heavy, his body heated up, and after securing the two fragments, he fell into a deep sleep.

He slept straight through to the next afternoon at four o’clock!

When Li Yan opened his eyes again, the world seemed brand new!

Every breath he took was full of a thrilling sensation!

Fever, bleeding, and the most dreadful bone pain—many times Li Yan had endured, sweating coldly in secret.

Onlookers saw him dominate the boxing ring, and not a single opponent could last more than fifteen breaths in front of him, Yama’s reputation was becoming more and more prominent of late.

But only he knew that a quick victory was his only path to success; in that state, he simply didn’t have the stamina for a long fight.

Li Yan stood up, palms turning inward and outward, feet shuffling and hooking, left elbow bent, right hand covering the elbow, knees together, twisting his waist, wrapping his hips—a set of Single Change Palm techniques flowed like passing clouds, smooth without a hint of stiffness. But only Li Yan knew the subtle changes in his power flow. For a moment, he even felt as if he had completely recovered!

The Ericsson phone on the bed suddenly rang. Li Yan picked it up and answered; it was Judy’s voice on the other end.

“Yan, are you free tonight?”

“I don’t have a boxing match tonight, so of course, I am. What’s up? Judy, do you need someone to carry your shopping bags again?”

The woman on the other end giggled, “I bought a bit more, and you’re still making fun of me. I’m so bored. Come with me to Fuyi tonight to watch the fights. There’s a new fierce blood on the sixth ring, you come and see if he’s an opponent.”

“Of course, there’s no problem with Judy’s instructions.”

Li Yan groped around on the bed, grabbed his jacket, and draped it over himself.

“What time in the evening?”

“I’ll be there around eight. Don’t make me wait.”

“Alright.”

Li Yan hung up the phone with Judy.

The wall was lined with shopping bags, filled with clothes, a watch, ties, and even cologne that Judy had bought for Li Yan. He had neatly arranged and placed them to one side.

His expression changing unpredictably, he glanced at these items, his thoughts inscrutable.

…

Fuyi Building

“Brother Yan, what brings you here? You don’t have a boxing match today.”

Black Swallowtail greeted Li Yan with a smile. These days, they had become quite familiar with Li Yan’s face. After all, compared to those fugitive killers from Vietnam and Myanmar, Li Yan was much more approachable.

“Zhen, can you go to the kitchen and get me a bowl of char siu? I’m really hungry.”

Li Yan said to the Black Swallowtail waiter.

“There’s no char siu in the kitchen. I’ll get you something else.”

“Alright, make it quick. I’ll wait for you here.”

Li Yan leaned against the red brick wall on the second floor, pulled out a stool from behind the curtain, and sat down. Although the stands in front were spacious, they were full, and Li Yan didn’t want to join the crowd. He chose to sit by the curtain, overlooking the boxing ring.

“Okay, wait for me,” Zhen said, hurrying away.

The boxer on the stage was his acquaintance Zhou; his opponent was a veteran from Vietnam, holding a tri-edged military spike, while Zhou had a pair of brass knuckles.

“Weapons fight?”

Li Yan muttered to himself, having never fought with weapons since he arrived in Kowloon City. He looked on with extra interest.

Compared to the tri-edged military spike, Zhou’s brass knuckles were at a disadvantage. Li Yan had once held a Chinese Type 56 military spike and knew quite well of such a weapon. The round puncture it caused couldn’t heal easily, extremely venomous in nature. Even if it struck non-vital areas like the arm or leg, it could still be fatal due to excessive blood loss.

However, looking at the situation on the field, it seemed that Zhou had the upper hand.

“Buddy, don’t mind me sitting next to you?”

Li Yan looked up and saw a woman dressed in sportswear. Her features were soft, her eyes elongated, and her long ponytail reached her waist.

“Not at all,” Li Yan replied, pulling out a chair for her. She thanked him and took a seat, taking a palm-sized porcelain jar from her pocket, uncorking it to reveal a strong smell of alcohol.

The woman took a swig and glanced up to find Li Yan looking at her.

“Baijiu?”