Translator: Larbre Studio
Editor: Larbre Studio
Judy was taken aback. She put down her knife and fork, wiped her hands with her napkin, and thought for a minute. Suddenly, she nodded to herself and poured herself a glass of strong wine.
“Although it hurts my pride a little, I do appreciate an honest man.”
Her high heeled shoes hooked around Li Yan’s legs. Her eyes carried a seductive look.
“If you really kidnapped me, would it only be for the money?”
“I don’t know. I’d see where the situation takes me.”
Li Yan had thought tonight’s dinner would be awkward, but it actually wasn’t that hard to deal with.
“It’s your turn now. Will it be the same question you asked just now?”
Li Yan nodded.
“These things differ from person to person.” Judy tilted her head, her cheeks resting in her hands.
“When faced with bloodlust and violence, some people react with fear, or even hatred. But some people are drawn to it. Fists, sweat, blood, flesh… even killing.”
She stabbed a piece of foie gras with her fork and put it into her mouth. Her red lips parted as she chewed, “I belong to the latter.”
“Actually there are many in the fighting rings…”
“Too ugly.”
Judy interrupted.
Li Yan choked mid-sentence and could only reply awkwardly. “Ah, makes sense.”
“In all of Kowloon, I only ever looked forward to seeing Red Ghost fight. That is, until I saw the fight between you and Kido Minami.”
Her face was flushed. She curled her finger towards Li Yan. “Come closer to me.”
Li Yan leaned forward. This woman in front of her had long, curved eyelashes. Her eyes were bright and clear, and from her mouth her fragrant breath was blowing against his face.
Li Yan could not help but swallow. He unconsciously retreated, poured himself a glass of wine, and emptied it. His normally steady hands were trembling.
Judy saw his state and began to laugh.
In all of Li Yan’s twenty-five years, he had never seen a woman as unrestrained and sexy as Judy. He did not see himself as an inexperienced man, but he had lost himself after just a few words from this woman.
“It’s my turn again. What did you do before you came to Hong Kong?” Judy asked. Smiling, she poured herself a glass of wine, as though she had never said anything unusual.
Li Yan drank the wine too quickly and his breath became heavy.
“Me? I lived with my dad when I was young. We never stayed in one place for long, moving all across the North and the South. After my dad died, I worked as security, worked out at sea, taught in a martial arts school… I have even sold pirated software and spent some time selling digital watches.”
Judy reached for her wine. She raised her head and drank it all.
“My turn.”
Li Yan smacked his lips. “What about you Miss Judy. What was your life like before your marriage?”
Judy raised her brows. She replied only after a while.
“I was an orphan. Not long after I was adopted, my foster father passed away. I don’t even remember what he looks like anymore.”
Li Yan quietly listened, not saying a word.
“My mother… treated me well. It was just that she was busy with work and had little time for me.”
Li Yan raised his head to look at Judy, and she too looked back with an unblinking gaze. The two of them stayed like that for a while. There was a certain atmosphere in the air.
After a while, Li Yan flashed his teeth in a smile. He picked up his glass and emptied it.
What was interesting was that Li Yan asked nothing about Judy’s dead husband, and Judy seemed to have no interest in why Li Yan had committed murder and fled to Hong Kong. Of course, even if had she asked, Li Yan would have spun a story on the spot. Until now, he still did not understand how the Mo Tapir, or perhaps it was the Yanfu, could guarantee that his false identity was seamless. To make a person vanish was perhaps not such a difficult thing. However, to make a person appear out of nowhere in another world, without letting anything slip, this power was more terrifying.
“It’s my turn,” Judy continued. “Did you ever like a girl back in the mainland?”
“…No.”
“Oooh.” It wasn’t clear whether she bought that or not, but she still gulped down her glass of wine.
Judy’s drinking capacity was much greater than Li Yan could have imagined, but she was still no match for a true northerner like him. After a few more rounds, Judy was clearly a little drunk. Her arm was resting on Li Yan’s shoulders and her words were slurred. Li Yan looked towards the entrance at the cool-looking female bodyguards, each with sunglasses on. They gave Li Yan unfriendly looks.
Li Yan waved over to them.
“Your boss is drunk. Take her home.”
“Will Mister Li Yan not be leaving with us?”
One of the older female bodyguards asked in a strange tone.
Li Yan looked at her.
“I’ll take a cab back to the Kowloon Walled City.”
“Be careful on your way.”
“I will.”
Li Yan helped Judy into her car and watched as it drove off. He removed his blazer and put it back in his bag, then jogged off to flag down a cab in the thin rented shirt from Repulse Bay.
…
“Li, what do you think of him.”
In the backseat of the car, Judy’s arms were crossed. She no longer seemed the least bit drunk.
“That man has deep secrets,” the female bodyguard at the wheel said without turning around.
“You’re exaggerating. I think he’s cute.”
Judy laughed brightly.
“Judy, he killed four bank robbers with his bare hands. If a man like that goes mad, he’ll be very dangerous. Don’t play with fire.”
Judy switched her posture, her slender left thigh crossing over to rest on her right. She pouted her lips and spoke in an antagonistic tone.
“Whatever that madman can do, I can do too.”
Li rolled her eyes. After a while of silence she said, “Well if he dares to do anything to you, I’ll blow his head off with my gun.”
The car drove on, filled with the sound of women’s laughter.
…
At the entrance of the walled city. A silver metal sign bore the three words “Kowloon Walled City.”
After shaking off a few hookers looking for business and a drug addict pestering him, Li Yan made his way through the cramped alleys of Kowloon, stepping through old newspapers and dirty water.
Li Yan finally calmed down enough to think about matters concerning the Yanfu cases.
Based on what he had initially thought, he should only have activated the Yanfu case after he made it to the walled city’s seventh ring. Little did he expect that after getting his hands on two fragments from He Andong, he would manage to activate it ahead of time.
He could see from this that the whereabouts of the remaining fragments must be linked to He Andong and his gang. Li Yan had searched thoroughly. He Andong and his guys had only two, but the police had said that all five of “The Probe into Ancient Novels” transcripts had been taken by He Andong.
So where were the remaining three?
There were two possibilities. The first was that He Andong had sold them. In actuality, they had indeed sold off a large amount of antiques that were not easy to carry around. The money that Li Yan had seen scattered across the floor was mainly from selling the antiques. They were rushing because the police were after them, and had had the antiques with them before Jin got shot. The police confirmed this too. And after Jin was shot, they came to the Kowloon Walled City to seek treatment. In between, they would have had no time to do such things. Hence, taking all of this into account, it was likely that they must have taken care of the antiques right here in Kowloon!
The other possibility was that the bank employees had taken the items themselves, with the idea that there would be no evidence or witnesses to see the robbers getting away. If Li Yan wanted to find all five fragments, especially the Ubume Bird fragment, he would have to look into these two possibilities. Considering the fact that he would be notified of the location of the five fragments every twenty-four hours, Li Yan felt that it should not be hard to find them all, with two weeks still left to go.
By the roadside was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed sister distributing flyers, most likely spreading the message to go to church to avoid sickness and disaster. She was speaking in awkward Cantonese and Li Yan felt the urge to laugh. He remembered being a child back in Guangdong, when a local child had pointed straight to his nose and said, “If you can’t understand, then go back to your village.” Li Yan later caught him by the scruff of his neck and gave him a good beating.
Li Yan was about to leave when a burning sensation ran across his chest.
“Locations of fragments of ‘The Probe into Ancient Novels’ have been reported. Please take note.”
A 3D map suddenly appeared in front of Li Yan’s eyes. It looked like a plate of shifting sand and showed the entire topography of Kowloon. Four golden red flames appeared around the walled city. The locations of two flames intersected at his own location. However, one flame was only less than a hundred meters away from him, and it was currently on the move!
Li Yan jerked and turned around. Ignoring the old men selling stuff by the street, he jumped over their straw baskets and ran ahead, dashing through the alleyways towards the location of the flame.
“Move aside! Move aside!”
The flame began to increase in speed!