Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 44: Chapter 2 Tattoo!

Editor: Larbre Studio

Exotic Item Class, Hongmen Tattoo Enhancement!

First to catch the eye was a blue dragon with four claws running across the shoulder, signifying the Azure Dragon Coiling Arm. Ever heard of Chen Haonan?

Effect: Grants an exemption from stray bullet damage of 5%. Speeds up wound healing by 5%.

Costs 20 Yan Fu points.

Besides that, there were two black flood dragons intertwined across the chest, signifying the Double Dragons Churning the River.

Effect: Grants an exemption from stray bullet damage of 10%, speeds up wound healing by 10%, and has a slight deterrence effect on common shade entities.

Costs 50 Yan Fu points.

Li Yan flipped through roughly seven or eight tattoos, Koi, Zhong Kui, Yasha Fighting Tiger, Fight Yama, Evil Ghost Prajna, and many others, including a black dragon that almost covered the entire body, capable of providing a 40% exemption from stray bullet damage. However, it had no other attributes.

After looking through them, Li Yan finally set his sights on three patterns.

The first was four three-clawed blue imps with fierce expressions carrying a dark coffin, locked up tightly by a dozen black chains.

Four Ghosts Carrying the Coffin!

Effect: Grants an exemption from stray bullet damage of 25%, speeds up wound healing by 25%, with the added status: Strong Fortune and life reduction.

Costs 500 Yan Fu points. Requires a purchase authority of 120% or higher.

The second was a pool of bewitching black lotuses, nine in total, some blooming brightly while others were buds about to unfurl.

Effect: Grants an exemption from stray bullet damage of 25%, speeds up wound healing by 25%, exempts from the Shade Erosion state that continuously drains vitality and lifespan when coming into contact with shade entities, and adds the status: Attraction to Spirits (affinity with shade entities).

Costs 800 Yan Fu points, requires purchase authority of 150% or higher.

The third was a strange fierce beast, bleeding from its seven orifices, with wings and four legs, its body resembling a wolf and its head a bear.

Effect: Grants an exemption from stray bullet damage of 30%, speeds up wound healing by 20%, with the added status: Fierce! (makes all ghosts retreat)

Costs 1100 Yan Fu points, requires purchase authority of 180% or higher.

Only one Hongmen Tattoo can be active at a time.

These three tattoos were the most expensive of all the tattoos, and they all came with a fixed status, but even the cheapest Four Ghosts Carrying the Coffin cost five hundred points.

And before this, the essence of combat along with the handgun had cost him just over 400 points.

However, Li Yan had briefly scanned earlier and was confident that his more than three thousand Yan Fu points were a substantial sum. There was no need to worry about not having enough.

The description of Strong Fortune from the Four Ghosts Carrying the Coffin felt too abstract, and Li Yan didn’t find it reliable. The Dark Lotus Tattoo was clearly not suitable for someone of the martial combat type like himself, so he chose the last tattoo.

That beast was called Chaos.

Skill Scroll Category

[A Fleeting Glimpse], omitted

[Yellow Turban Talisman: Qi Healing]

After cleansing the wound, this can be released on moderate or lesser injuries that don’t cause disability, causing wounds to heal slowly. For moderate and above injuries, it prevents them from worsening (exceptions such as special attribute bullets, lead shot, steel balls, etc. are expelled from the body through flesh movements).

Cannot be used in battle and requires 300 Yan Fu points.

Reminder: Since this skill scroll was obtained as an additional privilege from killing a Predator, and the Predator had also purchased a limited-use defective product, this skill can only be used 20 times during each Yan Fu event, even after purchase.

What resonated deeply with Li Yan was the Yellow Turban Talisman: Healing Charm that Li Jiangyu used, which was shamelessly effective, equivalent to forcefully pulling life back from the brink. Unfortunately, it seemed he couldn’t buy it for himself.

Even so, Li Yan felt that this item was very practical. Although it was described as slow recovery, being able to ensure the wound didn’t worsen was already life-saving. In many environments without modern medical conditions, people could die from minor wounds due to infections. In a protracted battle, this item was akin to carrying a combat nurse, one that didn’t even need bandages or antibiotics.

[Cold Killer: 87/100 (Unlocked)]

Mission-based skill. Unlocking it grants a clue to some legacy.

Costs 200 Yan Fu points.

Special Category:

[Yan Fu Story Jar]: “Upper Auspicious” or above evaluation can make the purchase. Costs 50 Yan Fu points. Limited to one time only.

Description: Daqian Yanfu contains everything under the heavens. All that is heard within Yan Fu is true; smash it, and you will obtain an item of fantasy that exists only within stories.

The above items are all the purchase permissions for this time, and these permissions will remain until the start of the next Yan Fu event. Mo’s gift will be refreshed at the next Yan Fu event.

That’s all? Li Yan looked over the displayed purchase permissions and glanced at his Yan Fu points. It seemed that even if he bought everything he wanted, there would still be a lot left over…

Having points to spare? Now that’s a happy problem to have.

Li Yan hadn’t considered that his Upper Auspicious rating was just 500 points, and according to the recent settlement, even the top-tier Gold rating was only 600 points (base plus 200%).

The 59% from the Predator’s purchase overflow of 5% was the major contributor, which was hard to replicate. This meant that for quite a while, the points Li Yan gained from rating overflow would not be enough. He had met all the requirements for the Yan Fu event, and his rating was exceptionally high, but even so, after spending on pits and winning streaks, and the use of the ES Cell Supplement, he only had 1204 points, just barely enough to get by.

And Judy’s golden gift to Li Yan was worth a staggering 2,000 points!

Only with great wealth can one have an imposing presence.

After enhancements, Li Yan’s personal information wasn’t that shabby anymore.

Name: Li Yan

Status: Hook Star, Fierce!

Specialty: Ancient Martial Arts: 89%+4%

Hot Weapon Skills: 38%

Skills: 1, A Fleeting Glimpse

2, Yellow Turban Talisman: Qi Healing

3, Cold Killer: 87/100 (unlocked)

Inheritance: Gu Huo Bird Spirit: Hook Star

At a glance, Li Yan, who had just experienced a Yan Fu event, had already overwhelmed Li Jiangyu on paper. Considering that Zhang Mingyuan, aside from the basic reward, had gained nothing, it could be said that even if he unleashed the full Power of the Enlightened Beast, he would certainly not be a match for Li Yan.

Li Jiangyu was too passive, with his highest rating in several Yan Fu events being only moderately satisfactory. He had obtained the identity of the Predator through a special item, thinking it was a sure thing and would at least earn him an excellent rating; unexpectedly, he lost his life.

All these had cost Li Yan just over 2,000 points, meaning there were about 1,200 points left. Frankly, even completing just one Yan Fu event wouldn’t necessarily yield that much.

Li Yan flipped back to the hot weapon category. In fact, these items were value for money; a pistol was so cheap it didn’t cost twenty points, and the most expensive ones were under a hundred points, yet they were surprisingly powerful. A thousand-plus points worth of tattoos couldn’t withstand them…

On the other hand, these items were quite bulky and extremely inconvenient to carry. How much ammunition could a fully armed soldier carry without resupply? How many guns could he carry? Was he supposed to walk around with an RPG on his back?

That said, Li Yan still decided to purchase as many hot weapons as possible before the next Yan Fu event started. The more confident one was in their physical abilities, the more they would understand the advantages of firearms.

Just as he was about to leave, Li Yan remembered the exaggeratedly described Yan Fu Story Jar.

To acquire an item that only existed in tales, would it be the Purple Green Flying Sword from the Legend of Sword and Fairy or the Cloth from Saint Seiya? 50 points?

Buy!

“You have acquired the Yan Fu Story Jar.”

What he saw was an oval cylindrical object similar to a tea tin, well-sealed. Li Yan gently pinched it with his finger, and the jar cracked open, spilling fragments to reveal a gentle glow floating in the air. First, it expanded, then contracted back, and finally, it landed in Li Yan’s hand—a half-torn page smeared with dried blood, completely obscuring the original text.

[Blood-soaked Black Magic Torn Page]: Wearing it will slightly reduce black magic resistance.

Note: Zhazha four, zhazha four, Nast Nada zhazha four…

What kind of crap is this!?

Li Yan stuffed the item into his pocket in a slightly disordered manner, opened the half-closed door, and revealed a long staircase.

He stepped into the shadowy stairway, surrounded by silence.

“Thud, thud, thud.”

His footsteps echoed on the metal staircase, one step at a time. Through the obstructions, Li Yan could see a messy scene below: an overturned sofa, spilled water, a TV left on, playing Zhou Xiaoou’s “Legend of the Hungry Wolf,” changed by someone unknown.

Li Yan paused the screen with the remote, propped up the sofa, tidied up the clutter around him. The sky was already faintly bright, the glass door of the store was open, and a cool breeze blew in.

He lay on the sofa, everything feeling like a dream.

“Beep~”

The CD was swallowed by the DVD player, and after a black and white image appeared, a lively keyboard sound mixed with drumming and bass followed, and Zhou Xiaoou’s voice, tinged with roughness, resonated out.

I don’t know where I was born

Whether I’ll cry when I come into this world

I don’t know where I’m going

I’m singing a song without a country

I don’t know where you were born

Whether anyone cried when you died

I don’t know where you’re going

Your gravestone points to the desolate sky

Li Yan rested his elbow on the table, his nose on the back of his hand, as the increasingly intense and even hoarse voice stimulated his inner ear, but he listened with relish.

Suddenly, he started to laugh, laughing more and more unrestrained.

It was the feeling of being vividly, powerfully alive.