Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 559 - 55 Night Owl

By the time Liang Hui and the other merchants and gentlemen hurried back to Chinatown, the massive fire had already spread throughout the entire area, leaving many places burned to the ground, with no sign of the sanitation department’s bulldozers or the firefighters.

An old man beside Liang Hui, with white hair and beard and wearing a melon rind hat, caught sight of the sky-high flames, uttered a short, strangled cry, and fainted, his eyes rolling back. Liang Hui quickly supported him and called out to his subordinates, "Take several of the chairmen to rest, quick!"

The other merchants were either beating their chests and wailing or cursing loudly, completely losing their composure. But the fire was merciless, and each was escorted away by their own people.

Liang Hui wore a grim expression as he ordered his men not to conflict with the foreigners, to evacuate the residents, and to minimize casualties.

Zhen Lian’s eyes were reddened by the sight of the fire as well. All the wealth and ill-gotten gains she had amassed were consumed in the blaze.

She felt as if the skies had collapsed, and in her delirium, she tried to rush into the raging inferno to retrieve her savings. Liang Hui yanked her back, and during the struggle, he slapped Zhen Lian hard twice to calm her down. Then he just stared darkly at the fire with his eyes.

"Just a few rundown houses, it doesn’t matter if they’re gone, it’s good that you’re still alive."

Liang Hui whispered emotionlessly.

He saw several charred bodies under the collapsed beams, and his eyes twitched. Calling his men over, he questioned, "Where’s that Cha fellow?"

His subordinates shook their heads blankly, "No idea where he went after the fire started."

Upon hearing this, Zhen Lian’s eyes lit up, and she also asked, "Have you seen Mr. Li?"

The subordinates shook their heads again.

Liang Hui heaved a long sigh, "It’s useless to have anyone here now."

"What are we going to do now?"

Zhen Lian grew agitated again.

Liang Hui glanced at her, "Did you also cry and pester others about what to do in the past? They haven’t been here for a few days, and you can’t even get by?"

Then he turned towards the fire, "Just endure it for now."

Hey?

Suddenly, Liang Hui let out a surprised exclamation. He saw a young man clad in thick leather and iron gear, his eyes red, charging into the fire,

"Young man? Young man?"

Liang Hui thought the young man looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before, and called out to him twice. But the young man was swallowed by the flames in an instant.

Flames, thick smoke, Chang Yu’s tears streaming down his face. The high temperatures seared his back through the iron and leather, but he just continued to move forward, his eyes bloodshot.

With steampunk weapons retrofitted from the parts of a steam carriage, Chang Yu brutally forged a path ahead. The mist and the blaze mingled, creating vast clouds of steam. He burst through the fiercest perimeter of the fire, and all that was left was thick smoke that couldn’t be cleared away.

Guided by memory, Chang Yu traveled a path he had walked countless times; all he could hear were the crackling sounds of flames consuming the beams. He couldn’t even hear the sound of his own voice calling for Yanzi.

The apartment in his memory was almost gutted by the fire, making the air smell indescribable. Jets of flame fell from the sky one after another. Chang Yu used his mechanical arm to push away charred beams, his throat so raw that it cracked when he screamed. One after another, horrifyingly unrecognizable charred bodies were uncovered by Chang Yu. Perhaps Yanzi wasn’t there, perhaps she was among them... but Chang Yu just knelt on the ground, frantic as he sifted through the bodies.

Unintentionally, he uncovered a damaged cartridge case from the rubble. The original shape of the cartridge was indiscernible, but a white slash and the English letters "Enf" were faintly visible. Chang Yu was momentarily stunned. Then a surge of blood rushed to his head, and before he could react, a ball of fire hurtling through the air struck Chang Yu’s face. In agony, he lost consciousness.

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Chang Yu had a long dream, where he had traveled across the ocean and dazzled everyone at the World Fair. Wearing a sharp suit, he moved among the high society gatherings, refuting those who scorned the Chinese with arrogance. He made a fortune through his patents, and with the most expensive and luxurious fireworks, holding two train tickets back to Yuandu and a check for five hundred thousand US dollars. He planned to use this money to fund education in his hometown. The corrupt Qing Government could only nurture mediocre slaves and exquisite bureaucrats, but he believed that the future of this land was surely more than just that.

On the train back to his home country, he tenderly wrapped his arms around a beautifully dressed lady, as if they had endless affectionate words to say to each other.

Chang Yu passionately kissed her, when suddenly, the beautiful girl before his eyes erupted in thick smoke and intense flames, her flesh quickly rotting and charring black, flames licking out from the hollows of her eye sockets. Chang Yu felt an excruciating pain sear his face. Then, he opened his eyes.

He was still alive.

He lay in a tent at the Chinese Guild Hall, where they were treating the wounded, the smell of sweat, medicinal soup, and the sharp odor of alcohol assaulted his nostrils.

"I’ve seen you before, you’re Chang Yu."

Liang Hui sat on the ground, as the moaning in the tent continued without pause.

"You were looking for your girl before, weren’t you? But I guess you didn’t succeed. After all, no one could identify any of those charred bodies. Think of it this way, maybe the girl is still alive."

Liang Hui offered dry consolation, even though he inwardly scoffed at his own words.

"Did you save me?"

It was only when Chang Yu spoke that he was amazed to discover that his throat had been burned, his voice sounded like a cat scratching glass.

"You were worth saving, you are a young man with a promising future."

"What about Li Yan?"

Liang Hui shook his head: "My people have been looking all over for the two of them, but there’s been no result."

Chang Yu groaned and sat up.

"You’ve probably heard of Hesheng; if you ever need anything in the future, you can come to me any time."

Chang Yu paid him no attention, found a basin of water, and looked at his own reflection.

His nasal bridge had collapsed, several large holes had been burned through his cheeks, revealing his gums and even his tongue. The festering scars across his neck made Chang Yu’s face look like that of an Evil Ghost.

"Medicine is in short supply in Chinatown, I’ve already had someone tend to your wounds, but, I’m sorry."

"No, thank you, I must be going."

Chang Yu stood up.

"Wait, take a look at this first."

Liang Hui handed Chang Yu a thick book with a black cover and a golden stone: "These two items were found in the fire, somehow they weren’t destroyed. That man Cha, before he disappeared, never let go of these two things. I’ve had someone look at them, besides the strange characters, there’s a lot of diagrams of apparatuses, they might be useful. Here, they’re yours. If you find them, you can return them to him for me."

Chang Yu stared blankly for a while at the book and stone in Liang Hui’s hand.

Liang Hui looked at Chang Yu meaningfully: "Young man, you have a long road ahead, don’t do anything foolish."

Chang Yu gave Liang Hui a gloomy look, took the items from his hand, and turned to leave.

In the tent filled with the relentless sound of moaning, only one sentence was left behind, spoken in a voice as harsh and shrill as an owl’s.

"I’ve been smart for over twenty years now, sir."