Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 521 - 17 Moonlight Promise

"Red Lantern Association and Hesheng, what do you plan to do with them? Are you going to run them just like you did in the South Seas?"

Cha Xiaodao asked.

Li Yan shook his head.

"So, what about Zhen Lian and Liang Hui? Are you just going to ignore them when the time comes?"

Li Yan laughed wryly, "Do you really think I’m Buddha? Saving all sentient beings?"

He set the wine bottle aside and said to Cha Xiaodao, "Zhen Lian was born on the docks. At the age of eight, she was sold into a brothel. With nothing more than a half-true, half-fake ’Taiyin Secret Tome’, she caused a ruckus and became the Fairy Maiden everyone fears. In her case, six parts are bluffing with borrowed authority, and the other four parts are just cruelty. When she’s serving you rum, she might seem gentle and respectful, but do you know how many people she’s killed over the years to serve ’Great Yog’?"

Pausing for a moment, Li Yan continued, "And there’s Liang Hui. When he was young, he shared a shack smaller than fifty square meters with six fellow townsmen from Chaoshan, fighting his way to where Hesheng is today. Do you think they’re like Chinese toon sprouts in a greenhouse that’ll perish without us? The Azure Emperor isn’t the sun. Life goes on, with or without him."

At this point, Li Yan’s smile faded, "I’ll look for the riverbed fissure, but I need a favor from you."

"What is it? Just tell me."

"That old man Carl said that Chamos was called ’madman’ because he had a heretical book that preached against steam doctrines, which later fell into the hands of Enfield Company. Aren’t you at Cupid Tower? Find a way to get the book and, while you’re at it, bring me a Tri-Orb Device."

———————————————— 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The Mississippi River, ranking alongside the Yangtze, the Nile, and the Amazon as one of the four great rivers of the world, originates in Minnesota and flows into the Gulf of Mexico, crossing the Great Central Plain. Including its tributaries, it traverses nearly thirty states in the United States.

On the river banks, countless white oak trees, thick enough to require two men’s embrace, emerged from the water. Beneath the wild grapevines, a woodpecker flapped its wings and settled on the swampy leaves, only to be startled into flight by a gaping maw bursting from the mud.

It was a pale golden crocodile, three meters long. Opening its slit-like pupils indifferently, it glanced at the fleeing bird, then turned over and swam directly toward the bottom of the river.

The riverbed was dark and murky, and amidst it sat Li Yan. Fish of all colors danced around him, creating a fantastical and splendid scene.

Apparently, the Water Lord of the Huai River couldn’t control the ocean on the other side of the world, as Wu Zhiqi’s "Calamity Faction" effect was much weaker than usual. It could intimidate the less intelligent fish, but the bigger ones, or those with more spiritual essence, avoided him from afar, not giving the Calamity Faction a chance to exert its fearsome influence.

This resulted in Li Yan’s attempts to use the Calamity Faction’s intimidation to explore the mysterious fissures on the riverbed via the fish being incredibly inefficient.

Boom!

A massive red shadow approached Li Yan, its scales glistening, with a dragon’s body and short claws, and golden horns on its head—it was the Pig Dragon King.

The Pig Dragon King opened its wide mouth, and a school of a hundred sturgeons were swallowed into its belly. Thick bubbles mixed with blood rose high into the water, and two slightly smaller Pig Dragons wove through the various schools of fish, not picky in the slightest, swallowing small groups of fish whole and killing larger ones, like whales, before the smaller Pig Dragons dissembled and devoured them. Soon, the riverbed was a scene of complete disarray.

"Lord Governor, give me three days, and I swear I’ll turn this riverbed upside down and definitely find that accursed place for you."

The Pig Dragon King stretched out its mountainous body, its eyes full of greed and fierceness.

In these days at the Water Lord Palace, the Pig Dragon King’s descendants had multiplied into the hundreds. Now, Li Yan had released them all. These Pig Dragons were cruel and voracious, eating in large groups. Combined with their ability to churn rivers and seas, if left unchecked, they would cause chaos.

"I’m giving you five days. Try not to make it too ugly. Also, the riverbed fissure I want you to find is a bit tricky; don’t act rashly. Wait for me once you find it."

Overjoyed, the Pig Dragon King promised repeatedly, churning up countless ripples with a turn of its body, as the other Pig Dragons scattered as well.

Knowing there would be no quick results, Li Yan surfaced and, after changing his clothes, headed toward the theatre by the railway.

————————————————

The performance at the Black Rose Theatre was as popular as ever. Half an hour before the show, the audience entered the theatre eagerly with cards from the fairy tale "Giant Lake."

Luckily, there had been no witnesses to yesterday’s violent police attack in the financial district, and Li Yan didn’t encounter any difficulties, smoothly entering the venue.

The red curtain rose, revealing once again the limbless, despondent poet.

"The princess from a distant kingdom had mastered advanced steam technology. She defeated all the warriors in the arena, and before the king and his subjects announced as she lifted her helmet..."

His voice was magnetic, and in the blink of an eye that Li Yan took, the scenery around him changed rapidly, and his clothes turned into a reddish-brown hemp garment.

The princess named Jane, clad in a hefty steam-powered exoskeleton, removed her helmet in front of her father and subjects.

"Absolutely not, Jane. This isn’t what you should be doing," the king, adorned with silk and jade, flatly refused.

"Why not? My self-modified exoskeleton ’Unicorn’ can operate six Tri-Orb Devices at the same time. This feat even astonished the dean of the Royal Academy of Engineering."

"If you insist, I can agree to let your future husband wear the armor you crafted and slay the Cyclops. That’s my final compromise."

"Is that so?"

Jane turned her head, her proud gaze sweeping over the defeated warriors below.

"But I defeated them by myself. The Unicorn wouldn’t accept any mediocre drunkard."

"Nonsense! Guards! Lock her in the palace, stop her from spouting nonsense," The old king said, his temples throbbing with veins.

The guards, steeling themselves, approached Jane and whispered, "I’m sorry, Princess. The king is furious. You better say less and come with us for now."

"That’s alright, Jack. I didn’t intend to make it hard for you."

Jane smiled at the guards before turning back to address the old king, "Father, one day, you’ll change your mind."

After these words, she allowed herself to be escorted away by the guards.

[In a rage, the old king had locked up the princess and confiscated the Unicorn exoskeleton she had tailored. The king held a grand banquet, preparing to select an elite force from the defeated warriors to set off for Giant Lake. But unexpectedly to the king, the rebellious Jane stole back her Unicorn and, clad in it, broke out of the palace, ready to rely on her own strength to embark on a quest to Giant Lake...]

Li Yan touched his face, ready to leave, when he saw a short-statured, Irish-descended man in a butler’s tailcoat rushing over to the noble knight played by St. Yves and whispering, "Good news! My lord! The old king invites you to the banquet tonight. He intends for you to wear the Unicorn armor and lead the eradication team as its captain."

Apart from him, a few other people were pulled aside by the guards and whispered to in secret. Evidently, these were warriors the king had his eye on, ready to be recruited into the giant’s eradication team.

Of course, Li Yan was not among them.

He shrugged indifferently. It was, in fact, easy to understand that the identity on everyone’s card at the start of the fairy tale was inevitably ranked in terms of high or low, noble or humble.

In real life, St. Yves was a former director of Enfield and one of San Francisco’s top armament dealers—how could his role be treated the same as Li Yan, the "apprentice at a watch store"?

However, God always gives a little opportunity to those who are prepared.

With that thought, Li Yan turned and left without another word.

St. Yves, who was much more robust and handsome in reality than he appeared, couldn’t help but be overjoyed at the butler’s words. Yet his eyes swiveled, and he immediately shook his head, "This beautiful princess is a rose with thorns, also a steam prodigy known far and wide. It’s not the Cyclops’s head I desire, but the princess’s body and soul, and the fertile lands of the kingdom stretching far and wide. Tell me, if I were to take away the armor she loves, how could I possibly become her husband?"

"Then, what do you mean, young master?"

"I have a better idea."

————————————————

Jane had a sleepless night.

Since childhood, she had studied at the Royal Engineering Academy, endured rigorous training in individual piloting skills, and even accompanied the navy far across the ocean to witness cannons and crossbows kill the sea demons of the Scandinavian Peninsula.

In the steam era, the surging power of technology unveiled the mysteries of nature, and countless mythical creatures from legend perished under smoke and gunpowder. Adventurers who killed monsters terrorizing the common folk became the heroes everyone looked up to, rescuing princesses in high towers. This was the hottest legend of the times.

Yet Jane was an anomaly.

"I certainly don’t want people thinking all my troubles are solved by men."

Jane sighed, speaking to the polar bear plushie she had cherished since childhood on her bedside.

The old King took away her prized unicorn armor and had her locked up. She heard that the giant hunting party would set off tomorrow, Jane once again lost the chance to prove herself.

"Did I mess up again?"

Jane said with a sigh.

"Princess, perhaps not yet."

A man’s voice came from outside the window.

Looking down from the window, Jane saw a tall man in rust-red hemp clothes, with thick black hair, his features starkly different from the people of this continent.

"Who are you? I don’t know you."

Jane asked coldly.

"Who I am is not important. What matters is that I can find a way to help you retrieve your unicorn."

Li Yan said.

Jane stared at Li Yan from a distance, suddenly remembering something; after all, Li Yan was the first to be eliminated from the entire steam convention.

"I admire your courage, sir. But it’s far too dangerous for you. With your identity, if caught, you will be hanged on the spot."

"In my kingdom, it’s often said that birds ultimately die on the hunt, and humans eventually die pursuing love and wealth."

Jane chuckled, the dimples on her face bright as moonlight, "You want to marry me? Why? We are complete strangers. You’re just coveting my beauty and my father’s kingdom."

"You’re right, but there is no shame in that. Neither wealth nor beauty is eternal, and feelings are certainly not immortal. Love arises from the trials of time, and what sparks that love may not be important. People are sentimental and impure. Please give me a chance, Your Highness."

Jane shook her head, "Your theory is realistic but superficial. However, I appreciate your candor; I like candid people."

Jane pondered for a while before raising her head to say to Li Yan, "I only acknowledge men with courage. If you can retrieve my armor and are willing to hunt the Cyclops with me, I might consider it."

"I am willing to risk being hanged to bring back your unicorn and am not afraid of the infamously brutal Cyclops. But I have one condition: on the way to Giant Lake, it must be just you and me."

Li Yan pointed at Jane and then at himself.

Jane felt displeased upon hearing this, her eyebrows knitting tightly, "Foreigner, I really don’t like your narrow-mindedness and shortsightedness. The Cyclops is not a trivial matter that can be dealt with by just one or two people."

"If I were just a shameless scoundrel, then the gods should decree that I be hanged by your father’s guards, don’t you think?"

Li Yan asked with a smile.

Jane’s slender fingers tightly clutched the railing, she bit her lower lip, and once again fell into an internal struggle.

After a long time, she finally exhaled, "Fine! I agree with you, as long as you can bring back my unicorn, we will fight the Cyclops together. Just you and me."

Li Yan whistled, raising his hand, "Wait for my good news, Your Highness."

————————————————

"Mr. Cha, the person you’re looking for is right here, please take a seat. Shall I call him over for you?"

The Hesheng fan-bearer bowed and scraped before Cha Xiaodao, treating him almost like a deity.

If Li Yan was the Emperor in Liang Hui’s eyes, a divine figure bestowing life from afar, then Cha Xiaodao, who single-handedly destroyed Odonk’s lair, was regarded by Hesheng and his brothers as Lord Guan incarnate.

"No need, you go about your business,"

Cha Xiaodao told him.

Cha Xiaodao was there to find Chang Yu, after all, in Cupid Tower, he was just a chef, and the Tri-Orb Device was something he did not have easy access to.

"Hey, little girl, come over and play a bit."

A portly man with a hooked nose waved a wad of greenbacks in his hand.

In the distance, Yanzi pinched a hookah in her hand, deliberately turning her face to avoid the greedy gaze of the hooked-nose man.

"Hey! Girl."

The hooked-nose man shouted loudly.

Yanzi continued to ignore him.

"..."

The hooked-nose man pursed his lips, pushed the prostitute beside him away, and swaggered over to Yanzi. Yanzi instinctively stood up to leave but was grabbed by the wrist by the hooked-nose man.

"Little girl, what about playing with me? Don’t be so unfriendly, I’ll pay."

Yanzi kept dodging the greasy face of the hooked-nose man, her disgust clearly showing.

A hand landed on the hooked-nose man’s shoulder, and Chang Yu spoke with a somber expression, using a standard English accent, "Sir, I think she’s not too keen to take your money. Please let her go."