Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 498 - 12 The Breakdown

The helicopter soared over the vast grass sea, where the strong wind whipped up waves of grass on the ground as if wiping with silk. A tawny sika deer raised its neck, its wet eyes staring blankly at the helicopter under the moonlight.

In the cabin, Sun Yu’s brows were furrowed as he stared intently at Li Yan, who was sitting opposite him.

Since his clothes had been torn in a fierce fight, the man was draped in a Third Eye Global work jacket; the battered shirt underneath was stained dark red with blood. He was gazing at the drifting clouds and the earth below, his hair occasionally blowing upwards from the airflow through the cracks of the cabin door,

Suddenly, Li Yan noticed Sun Yu’s gaze and turned his head to look at him.

Their eyes met, and Sun Yu instinctively lowered his head.

But soon, Sun Yu noticed his own short breath and, feeling a bit annoyed, looked up again, only to find Li Yan had already turned away to continue enjoying the scenery below, his chiseled features serene with a touch of languor.

Sun Yu quietly clenched his teeth.

It was completely imperceptible that this man had just experienced a fight with disproportionate consequences and that he was under the scrutiny and covetous gaze of an enormous organization he knew he had no power to resist. The oppressiveness and demeanor he carried seemed innate, like...

At that thought, Sun Yu curled up a corner of his mouth, suppressing the ridiculous comparison in his mind.

In Li Yan’s palm was a bronze knuckle, one of Liu Zhen’s treasured weapons. He held it openly, but no one had the guts or the face to demand it back from him.

[Fire Rakshasa]

Quality: Rare

Category: Knuckle duster

Special ability:

[Hungry Ghost Path]: Striking the ground will summon the hungry ghosts that feed on fire; transcendent flames will call forth higher-level hungry ghosts.

Li Yan half-opened and half-closed his eyes, indifferently putting away the item.

The helicopter soon arrived over an exquisitely beautiful mansion. Someone whistled to signal the helicopter to land, and Sun Yu jumped out first, with Li Yan following behind lightly.

The mansion in front of them spanned over two hundred acres, including a water restaurant, leisure villas, orchards, farms, and a man-made lake—a suitable place to live. But tied to a behemoth like Third Eye Global and serving as a temporary abode for a person like Cao Zhan, such a place could hardly be considered extravagant.

The walkie-talkie on Sun Yu’s shoulder blinked twice. He picked it up and listened for a while before turning back to Li Yan and said, "I don’t know if it’s your good fortune or Liu Zhen’s, but he didn’t die. However, Long Night won’t let this matter rest easily."

Li Yan heard what Sun Yu said and didn’t seem to care, but just smiled and said, "Aren’t you going to introduce it to me?"

Sun Yu licked his lips: "Third Eye Global doesn’t have much of a foundation in the country; the only decent training facility they have is this one. It’s called Long Night and is one of the sixty-two training facilities of Third Eye Global. The person in charge is Peacock acting for Gu Yue. Publicly, it’s claimed to be Third Eye Global’s Red Mountain Hunting Ground, spanning about 150,000 acres. It has official government approval."

The two walked and talked, with people nodding at Sun Yu from time to time. Soon, Sun Yu led Li Yan into a wine estate.

"Sixty-two training facilities, and only one in the country?"

Li Yan asked casually.

"There are two training facilities. The other one is in Hubei; it’s quite small and the equipment is somewhat outdated. Besides that, the Asian headquarters of Third Eye Global is located in Kaohsiung."

Sun Yu appeared very patient.

"Oh."

Li Yan responded with a sound.

"At the outset of establishing Third Eye Global, their focus was on international expansion. Initially, the forerunner of Third Eye was a consortium of overseas Chinese financial groups. Having few training facilities in the country is normal. In fact, the establishment of Long Night Base has only been in the last few years."

As they talked, Sun Yu suddenly stopped: "I can only take you this far; you’ll have to go up yourself."

Li Yan didn’t ask any more questions and passed Sun Yu to walk up the stairs directly.

The dark red floor creaked with every step, reflecting Li Yan’s figure. First to catch his eye in the spacious hall was a thirty-meter-long wine cabinet with a display of various fine drinks, and a rococo-style gramophone emitting a soft hum.

Si Wenji was sitting behind her desk, and the first glance she threw at Li Yan made her furrow her brows: "Couldn’t anyone tell you to change your clothes and take a shower before coming to see me?"

Coming straight from a fiery battleground, Li Yan brought with him a smell of blood and a scent of scorching. It could be smelled from afar.

Li Yan surveyed the surroundings, his gaze immediately drawn to the phonograph by Fazioli; he answered carelessly: "Maybe your people forgot."

He raised his head: "May I sit?"

"..."

Si Wenji remained silent for a moment before lifting her slender palm, "Whatever, you can take anything you like."

"Thank you."

Li Yan nodded politely, picked up a bottle of deep red wine from the liquor cabinet with 1946 written on the yellow paper label, tore off the seal and cork, and poured it into a nearby glass, fishing out two ice cubes from the ice bucket.

"Care for a drink?"

"No, thanks." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Without further ado, Li Yan downed the glass in one gulp.

"Have you ever met an old man named Yang Sanjing?"

"I have. I even learned swordsmanship from him. And yes, he’s dead."

Li Yan spoke with nonchalance.

Si Wenji visibly clenched her fists, showing some emotion, but quickly calmed down and asked indifferently, "Just at the level shown in the videos?"

Li Yan picked up a bottle of wine, which was certainly expensive though its price was unclear, and replied without looking up, "What else?"

"100% swordsmanship specialization?"

Li Yan kept pouring his drink, neither confirming nor denying.

"Dragon Tiger Qi, Heavenly Master Tao, a fruit of the sequence beyond the twentieth, a Mountain Spirit that can move freely in Yan Fu, even Taishuai, Third Eye Global could turn a blind eye. Yet, not Yang Sanjing."

As the wine spilled over the edge of the glass, Li Yan narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.

"Yang Sanjing’s swordsmanship specialization was at least 130%, you have no idea what that means, nor do you understand what you have squandered."

Undoubtedly, Si Wenji was an extremely beautiful and domineering woman, her voice carried a unique magnetism, irresistible to linger in, but the content of her words were not so friendly, even filled with unpleasant arrogance:

"Originally, I intended to have someone else fetch the old man’s specialization, but you beat them to it, which saved me the effort. Here’s what we’ll do, you process the employment formalities for Third Eye Global and have Yan Fu notarize a contract. Work for Third Eye Global for twenty years, and I will not treat you badly. Stay at Long Night, enjoy the treatment of a core reservist, under the management of Gu Yue. All your actions and enhancements during this period will be directed by the company. I will notify the others in the Yan Zhao Club to no longer take issue with your actions at Scale-Ding Yin 24. However, if you breach the contract, you will owe Third Eye Global a million Yan Fu points as compensation."

Li Yan was chugging his drink when he suddenly started to cough loudly, prompting Si Wenji to turn her gaze toward him.

After a while, Li Yan wiped the corner of his mouth and looked at Si Wenji with an odd expression, "I also have a few questions I’d like to ask Si...er, Boss Si."

"Just ask whatever you want. Is it about the treatment at Third Eye Global?"

Si Wenji spoke breezily.

"When I was fleeing the assassination in Yan Capital?"

"That was my doing. Someone mentioned you to me before, said you interfered with Taishuai’s escape, so I just mentioned it in passing. I can’t recall who exactly was handling it at the moment."

"The ones who ambushed me earlier."

"They were also reserves I arranged. How was I to know whether you would tell the truth or not?"

Si Wenji appeared quite candid.

Li Yan tilted his head, his gaze on Si Wenji growing even more peculiar.

"What do you think of the offer?"

"Of course, there’s no problem," Li Yan agreed instantly but then looked a bit embarrassed, "However, I do have one more condition."

Si Wenji curved her lips into a smile, "Out with it. The power of Third Eye Global will surely exceed your expectations."

Li Yan rubbed his palms together, "Ah! Then I’ll just speak plainly. You see, I don’t have many vices, but when I see a beautiful woman, I just can’t keep walking. Particularly, young and charming widows. Having seen Boss Si’s beauty today, I really, truly, oh my! If you would be willing to have dinner with me tonight and engage in prolonged conversation, we can easily discuss the terms of the contract."

The entire second floor hall suddenly grew cold; Si Wenji stared intently at Li Yan before asking hoarsely after a long pause, "You’re making a joke you can’t afford."

Li Yan’s smile persisted, and his tone deepened, "We’re all in the same boat."