Beginning with the Ubume Bird - Chapter 128

Chapter 128: Chapter 27 Earth Endurance

Dawn was breaking, and the night was about to pass.

In front of the Dacheng Gate of the Imperial College,

carved beams and painted rafters adorned the place, with a blue background and golden lettering on the signboard, Confucius’s teaching statue smiled benevolently.

Wushan was sitting on the steps, sipping his stuffy drink sip by sip.

He had walked through the white archway, over the walls where the cypress trees clenched their roots, kicked over the musical chimes of the ancient music workshop, torn down the red prayer tags, and he was just short of removing the legacy plaques of the venerable teacher—yet Wushan still found nothing.

In Ren Ni’s hands, Wushan got hold of the inheritance materials concerning everyone involved in this Yan Fu incident.

It wasn’t expensive, just two thousand Yan Fu points.

Sometimes, even Wushan wondered why someone like Feather Lord would take risks to do such things.

To brazenly sell the personal information of lower Yan Fu Walkers right under the nose of “Human Master,” another of the Ten Masters.

Moreover, the scale was vast, involving many people, including that Ren Ni, the “postman” assisting Feather Lord with this mission; the group numbered no fewer than a hundred.

Of course, such a thought was fleeting.

What Wushan was more concerned about was killing Pei Yunhu, who had clearly planned out this entire incident in advance.

Kui, the constellation that governs the fortunes of literature, would naturally have an interest in a place like the Imperial College.

Regrettably, it seemed that Pei Yunhu had already left, or perhaps, he’d never come at all.

“Pei Yunhu, Li Yan. Both individuals are rated ‘Ten Cities,’ and their Awakening Degree is at the bottleneck value of 39%. Their respective purchase lists from the permissions acquired in the previous two Yan Fu incidents are…”

Wushan looked down the steps, where sunlight spilled onto the court outside, and there was a throng of people waiting to offer the first incense of the day.

His face was expressionless as he calculated his chances of victory against these two individuals.

“Seventy percent, I guess.”

Seventy percent chance of victory?

No, seventy percent of his strength would suffice.

…

In a mechanical factory workers’ dormitory,

Yunhu washed his hands clean, rinsed his factory uniform and placed it at the head of the bed, then picked up the black leather bag on the table and turned to head out.

He wore a washed-out white shirt, bloodshot eyes betraying a sleepless night.

As he reached the door, he exhaled deeply, his eyes glancing into the bag.

[The Multicolored Brocade Jade Scroll Imperial Edict]

Allows for a one-time modification of the Yan Fu incident details, within the bounds of fairness.

Erase no more than twenty characters, add no more than eight characters, syntax must be coherent; otherwise, modification is not possible.

Gain access to the geographical locations of all Yan Fu Walkers, query-able once per hour.

Query the event completion status of all Yan Fu Walkers at any time.

Gain the Earth Endurance shout privilege.

Cannot be placed inside Seal Space.

A desperate gamble indeed.

Pei Yunhu’s lips curled into a slight smile as he stepped out.

…

On the rooftop of an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city,

Li Yan was enveloped in black feathers, his bare arms covered in red marks.

“That’s enough, the money was well spent, and the effect is quite good,” he called out to Nine-Winged Sudu.

A warm white jade bracelet graced Li Yan’s wrist.

[Liang Goods·Carved Snow]

Category: Protective gear

Quality: Rare

The proud work of the ancient jade craftsman Liang Youlin from Rongxingzhai.

Increases a Walker’s life vitality by 50%.

Effective only for ‘Ten Cities’ Walkers and below.

Being able to block the feathers of Nine-Winged Sudu, it boasted the defensive power of ordinary chainmail, and the boost to life vitality significantly aided in wound healing and ensured that exertion wasn’t impeded by injuries.

Of course, the bullets should have been no match.

Nine-Winged Sudu flapped her wings, slowly descending, retracting the knife-like sharp black feathers.

In her hand, she carried a warm-colored red lacquered lantern; despite the howling wind, the flame inside remained perfectly still.

“Dragon Skin Lamp”

This item’s asking price was even higher than Carved Snow’s, and it was specified that it could not be used by those with human bloodlines, and its attributes were indiscernible.

But Nine-Winged Sudu’s expression when she saw this lamp was of great excitement, so after some thought, Li Yan simply bought it.

Hat Zhang even threw in a small bronze artifact, supposedly a burial accompaniment, quite valuable.

This spent both the larger and smaller Pan Gold coins they had.

Li Yan didn’t feel it was a pity, considering that their adversaries were the cunning Esteemed Walkers, and the small Pan Gold coins weren’t of much significance as cannon fodder.

With Sudu birds for scouting and Nine-Winged Sudu and Black Rider Ghost for combat support, the larger Pan Gold coins’ combat abilities also seemed quite superfluous.

It was better to spend the money to enhance their own and Sudu’s combat capabilities.

Among the three great Yin Markets, Panjia Garden’s specialty was the gambling den, staking human lives for wealth: you could either strike it rich overnight or disembowel yourself the same night.

The shops around the Imperial College were mostly full of tricks to cheat customers; finding a good deal was more luck than skill. But with a keen eye, this place was heaven; Li Yan didn’t have that ability.

Main Street Alley had a wide range of goods and clean settlements, but everything was by the book, offering little room to get a good deal.

Of course, you wouldn’t suffer a great loss either.

After witnessing the depth of Main Street Alley’s offerings, Li Yan hadn’t made much of it, but Nine-Winged Sudu couldn’t help but harbor ill intentions.

Li Yan didn’t permit it, or rather, he wanted to watch and wait for a while.

To wait, to test the consequences of crossing the line.

Taking living people to Yin Market was indeed a venomous thought, but Li Yan had to admit he’d entertained the notion himself once upon a time.

After some consideration, he chose not to go through with it.

On the one hand, it was a physiological barrier. Hat Zhang, seemingly normal except for his pale complexion, conjured a revolting image in Li Yan’s mind with his teeth pulling meat into threads.

On the other hand, Yan Fu— or rather, Earth Endurance, had strictly forbidden it, and Li Yan had heard his own Earth Endurance voice a warning in his ear during one of his attempts…

“Esteemed Walker, please be advised that deliberately leading living people into the boiling midnight can trigger a chain reaction in the world of daylight, significantly increasing the workload of ‘Earth Endurance.’ Please cease immediately, or you will bear the consequences.”

Similarly, causing disturbance in Yin Market and not respecting the agreements with the supernatural also garnered a warning from Earth Endurance.

“Esteemed Walker, please be advised that deliberately disrupting the order of neutrally-contained suppression objects can provoke unnecessary retaliation and increase the workload of ‘Earth Endurance.’ Please cease immediately, or you will bear the consequences.”

Li Yan wanted to see what would happen to Pei Yunhu; if the outcome was within his tolerance, he would reconsider his options.

…

Snap!

A stack of documents fanned out on the table as it was tossed down.

These were reports mixed with photographs; in one photo, Li Yan and Uncle Qin sat in the school gate’s guardroom, staring at the bustling entrance while making faces at each other.

Phrases like “bar,” “hoodlum,” and “protection money” were annotated on the side.

A man threw down his peak cap in a fit of anger.

Someone approached him.

“Boss, I think there’s no need to keep at it. We’ve done all we can. If the higher-ups don’t care, what can we do?”

“What have we done? The police station is practically their own front door!”

Remembering the man reeking of alcohol, the cap wearer was still seething with anger.

That day, he had taken two inconsequential case files and escaped through a window. After a brief pursuit, there was no trace of him, and the migrants involved in those cases also disappeared without a trace.

There was certainly something amiss with these outsiders, but further investigation was needed, and without support from the precinct…

“Zhang Jun, come here.”

The door to the office opened, and a man with a square-shaped face called to the wearer of the cap,

Taking a deep breath and reluctant, the cap wearer stood up and walked into the office.

Inside the office,

The seat of honor was occupied by a young man with a genial smile. He gestured to the square-faced man, who nodded and exited, quietly shutting the door behind him.

“Who are you?”

The cap wearer asked hesitantly.

The young man extended his right hand, still smiling warmly.

“Comrade Zhang Jun, is it? Hello, Special Investigation Bureau.”