Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 34: Chapter 34 Flaws!

Editor: Larbre Studio

Fuyi Building

Li Yan leaned against the doorway, sucking on a cigarette butt, while Xiu’s hair in the room was dripping wet, having changed into a loose-fitting piece of clothing, borrowed from the Black Swallowtail in the building.

“You’ll stay here for the next few days. After a while, I’ll find a way to get you out of Kowloon City.”

“You don’t need to bother, I don’t want to see you ever again.”

Her voice was hoarse from crying.

Li Yan couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing that.

“Fine, suit yourself.”

He thought to himself, “I won’t be able to stay for many more days either.”

Li Yan had a bandage wrapped around his waist and flipped through the contact list on his phone, his gaze shifting back and forth between the numbers of Li Yaoguang and Judy.

He had a good impression of that half-gray haired police inspector, but that was the extent of it.

In the end, he still set his gaze on Judy’s number. Just then, his phone suddenly vibrated in his hand, and looking at the caller ID, it was actually Judy.

Li Yan’s face showed a complex expression as he pressed the answer button, “Hello?”

There was no sound on the other end of the call.

“Cough cough, how have these days been for you, my prescription…”

“I flushed it down the toilet.” The voice on the other end was indifferent.

“Oh~ as long as you’re blowing off some steam.” Li Yan scratched his eyebrow.

“Really?” Judy’s voice was tinged with sarcasm, “It doesn’t matter to you that I flushed those bizarre scraps of paper down the toilet too?”

Li Yan was startled, “What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“Where did you hear that from?” A shadow crossed Li Yan’s heart; out of the five fragments, he had four in his possession, while the remaining one should be…

“Humph.”

Judy hung up the phone without any hesitation.

Li Yan frowned and dialed back, but no one answered.

He rushed downstairs, asking the people of Fuyi Building to help take care of Xiu, then he left the city fortress and headed for Judy’s usual residence, a small villa.

Judy snapped her phone shut and looked at the man before her with her phoenix eyes.

He wore a dark, striped suit and gold-rimmed glasses, voraciously devouring the cake in front of him.

Nobody could tell that this man was the hot new player in Liansheng circles, referred to on the streets as Yu.

“The money can be given to you anytime; where’s the thing I want?”

Yu looked around, a few female bodyguards, led by Li, were watching him with an indifferent gaze.

The glint of deep crimson in a fleeting glimpse reminded Yu that these women were not only dangerous but also hostile towards him.

Yu licked his lips, “How about we discuss the price first?”

“One hundred thousand, for one.”

Yu didn’t respond, seemingly not satisfied with the offer.

“Two hundred thousand.” Judy didn’t even blink.

“This…” The man hesitated.

Judy let out a cold laugh, “Li, let’s go.”

She stood up and glanced at the man, “You’re from Liansheng, aren’t you, Yu? So greedy, destined to have a promising future as a gangster. I have high hopes for you.”

“Wait, wait,” the man hastily stood up, as though he’d choked on the cake, coughing embarrassingly for a while.

Li watched the man pouring water down his throat in a desperate attempt, a hint of contempt in her eyes.

“Two hundred thousand, then. Two hundred thousand.”

“Give me the stuff, take the money, and leave.”

Judy was not one to dawdle.

“I wouldn’t carry something worth two hundred thousand on my person.”

The man grinned, revealing his stark white teeth.

“So what are you suggesting?”

Judy’s smile bordered on mocking.

“Come to my place to get it.”

The man spoke casually.

Judy sized up Yu for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Alright, no problem.”

If anything happened to her, the entire He Liansheng gang would be dragged down with her. She really didn’t take seriously a triad member who could drop dead in the streets at any moment.

“Lead the way.”

Yu agreed and turned around but was promptly blocked by a tall figure.

“Wow, beauty, I almost bumped into you.”

Yu whistled flirtatiously.

Li, who stood at an impressive one meter seventy-eight, smiled as she wiped the cream from the corner of his mouth and leaned into Yu’s ear.

“Just a reminder, don’t get any funny ideas.”

Yu glanced at the half-exposed gun barrel intentionally revealed at Li’s waist.

A Belgian M1923 Browning, a real man’s gun.

The man swallowed hard.

“Got it, got it.”

…

Before Li Yan obtained the third fragment from Zhang Mingyuan, he had encountered someone who also possessed a fragment. This person had skirmished with him for several days and was always active in the cold streets among the numerous gangs in Kowloon Walled City. Li Yan guessed his disguise must be that of a triad member. During his encounter with Zhang Mingyuan, when two fragments appeared simultaneously at Fuyi Building, the fragment changed hands, and it made sense for his identity to be figured out as a consequence.

Interestingly, after the He Liansheng incident, this person silently left the Kowloon Walled City, exceeding the five-kilometer detection range, and had not reappeared since.

Li Yan had been confident that this person would eventually show up on his own, but now, nearly a month had passed, and the man had vanished without a trace.

He had not expected to hear about this person again until it came through Judy’s phone call.

Li Yan never underestimated his opponents, especially such a patient one.

And now, the point of entry chosen by his opponent indeed posed a tricky situation for Li Yan.

Judy’s day-to-day security was managed by a security firm registered in Singapore. Her female bodyguards were exceptionally skilled; armed with pistols, even he would have to flee. But if someone was plotting with ill intent against one unprepared, the outcome wasn’t easy to predict.

The best he could hope for was that the woman, who would coldly wish to shoot him whenever they held hands, had quality training.

“Sir, the area ahead is private property; taxis can’t go any further.”

The driver turned and said to Li Yan.

“What’s the use of putting on such airs?”

Li Yan threw down a banknote and grumbled as he jogged toward the villa district.

Five minutes later, Li Yan reached the fence’s gate and started buzzing the intercom.

“Hello, sir, who are you looking for?”

The voice from the speaker was polite yet distant.

“Is Miss Judy in?”

“Sorry, we can’t disclose our boss’s whereabouts. That’s our professional ethic.”

Li Yan took a deep breath, “If I remember your voice right, you are called… banana?”

The woman facing the surveillance camera scoffed with her arms crossed.

Of course, she recognized Li Yan, as Judy had almost used his picture for target practice in the last few days.

“Where exactly is she? I have something very important to discuss with her.”

“Sorry, without the boss’s instructions, we can’t reveal anything.”

“I’m not joking, your boss might be in life-threatening danger.”

Despite her professionalism, the woman didn’t laugh out loud.

Men, huh, heh.

“Sir, if you have something to say, you might as well speak up now. I’ll pass on the message.”

Li Yan pursed his lips, looked around, and then grabbed a brick thudding it against the iron bars!

“Security, security.”

Banana screamed in alarm.

Soon, several burly guards approached with fierce expressions, their electric batons sparking incessantly.

Li Yan spat dismissively, his eyebrows beginning to raise sternly.