Chapter 106: Chapter 5 Ganhua Alley

“`

Li Yan’s sleeve was soaked through with blood. He found some clean water and gauze in the shop to treat his wound and clean his dirtied overcoat.

The sound of water and the tearing of clothes reached her ears; the gaping glass door whistled with cold wind, yet her palms and face, hidden in the interlayer, were covered in sweat.

Mud- and blood-stained leather shoes were less than ten centimeters from her chin, and leftover carrot greens brushed past her face before falling to the ground.

The woman curled up tight as a quail, her fingers digging into her own arms, not even daring to breathe heavily.

“A few more hours and it’ll be light.”

Li Yan seemed to be talking to himself.

Chk~

The Ring Dragon with its blood groove dark as a black line stood inserted in the marble floor; a few strands of hair floated down. The woman swallowed a big gulp of saliva, feeling utterly disheartened.

“If you don’t want to die a claustrophobic death in there, come out.”

Li Yan took two steps back, his overcoat dripping wet.

“Heh~ha, uhm…”

The woman, as if she’d been holding back for a long time, gasped for breath, her sobs barely concealed.

Li Yan remained unmoved. His cold gaze bore into the woman as she inched out from the interlayer, barely larger than two basins put together.

She wore a faded mechanic’s uniform splattered with black and brown spots—some from oil, others from blood.

Her right hand was forcefully broken, her left leg smeared with blood, limping as she walked. A deep gash clawed by a beast’s paw stretched across her lower abdomen, pinkish blood foam dripping to the floor with her staggering steps.

“Don’t kill me, please, I beg you, don’t kill me.”

Her eyes were red-rimmed, her sobs choked out while she spoke, her body dirty and reeking of gasoline fumes. Yet her figure was still graceful, the swollen eyes and hoarse voice eliciting pity.

“If the tables were turned, would you spare me?”

“I’ve never killed anyone, really…”

The woman frantically defended herself.

“I don’t like killing either; it feels awful, like intentionally catering to someone’s disgusting moral standards.”

Li Yan shrugged his shoulders, suddenly flipped his wrist and stabbed forward fiercely, the Ring Dragon targeting the woman’s neck.

“So I try to make it quick. If there really is karma for killing, I’ll bear it.”

The thoughts raced through Li Yan’s mind, his sword even faster.

The woman looked utterly resigned to her fate, yet her reaction was unexpectedly agile; she twisted her waist and dodged Li Yan’s Ring Dragon, sustaining only a deep cut on her shoulder.

She staggered backwards, bumping into two rows of iron shelves, coughing out a mouthful of blood. The eerie beauty of her plight was harrowing.

“Feather Class…”

“I’ll give you my inheritance, please, don’t kill me, I don’t want to die.”

Seeing the woman on the ground begging incessantly, Li Yan took two steps forward, the sword’s blade resting on her neck.

“Let’s hear it?”

“There’s something in my pocket.”

Li Yan slashed open the woman’s pocket on her chest with his sword, and a black go piece fell out.

[Inkstone Go Piece]

A consumable, for use exclusively in Free Hunting mode.

For a cost of 100 Yan Fu points, you can choose to concede by dropping the piece and actively strip away one of your inheritances, transmuting it into an inheritance scroll.

“If you kill me, there’s only a 20% chance you’ll get my inheritance. Spare my life, and I guarantee you’ll get it.”

Li Yan narrowed his eyes, placed the Ring Dragon on the table, turned around to prop up the fallen iron shelves, leaving his entire side exposed to the woman!

The woman’s gaze flitted to the long sword on the table, her throat bobbing.

Li Yan crouched down to right the iron shelves, musing leisurely: I still have to kill six more people for the Yan Fu event; you really make things difficult for me…

His back to the woman for quite a while, there was no movement from her.

“Is it okay now…?”

The woman asked,

“…”

Li Yan stood up: “Without the enhancement of the inheritance, you’re back to being a normal person. This Yan Fu event has no notion of companions; if you don’t kill six people, you’ll be stuck in this godforsaken place for life.”

A bitter look spread across the bloodstained face of the woman: “But that’s better than dying here now, wouldn’t you say?”

Li Yan thought for a moment and said:

“Your inheritance, along with all the items of excellent quality or above on your person, and I won’t kill you.”

“Okay~”

The woman nodded as quickly as a pecking chicken.

…

[Star-Patterned Bullets]*3

Quality: Excellent, causes damage only to Yin bodies, detonates on contact.

[Shu Silk]

Quality: Excellent, luxuriant silk fabric.

[Witch’s Love Potion]*8

Quality: Excellent, sacrifice twelve hours of life span to halt aging for one year.

[Wind Lian’s Hair]

Quality: Rare, use to randomly comprehend one active status skill, requires Feather Class inheritance, Awakening Degree above 40%.

“Is that all?”

“`

“That’s all.”

Li Yan sized up the woman from head to toe.

Her authority didn’t reach Ten Cities, something Li Yan had confirmed with A Fleeting Glimpse, so the item must be hidden on her person.

The woman was dressed in a tight sweater and thin jeans, with her hands wrapped around her shoulders, looking pitiful.

Forget it…

Li Yan tossed back the uniform stained with gasoline and blood spots to the woman. She caught it, her eyes dim.

In Li Yan’s hand was a piece of sky-blue paper. He casually pinched it, and little specks of blue light fell.

[Legacy: Bright Bird’s Pupil – Wind Pan]

Awakening Degree 9% (stripped automatic restoration to initial value)

Wind Pan: Enhances the holder’s ability to leap, run, and dodge by 90%, and adds 45% strength.

When actively triggering Wind Pan, you can freely allocate a total of 135% enhancement in a certain time,

with the enhancement options including leaping, running, dodging, and strength.

Esteemed Walker, please take note!

You can choose to use it to replace your existing legacy, and afterward, the Chongming Bird will inherit the Gu Huo Bird’s Awakening Degree.

Blood Dip (Nine Phoenix Enhancement) cannot compensate, so please choose wisely, Esteemed Walker,

or you can choose to consume it as a common Yan Fu Talisman, gaining 9% Awakening Degree.

“Very flexible, a decent legacy.”

Of course, Li Yan would not choose to replace it.

“You, you promised to let me go.”

The woman’s voice was somewhat longing, and within the Yan Fu incident, there had been the matter of killing six people, yet she really had no choice.

Li Yan pocketed the paper and stared intently at the woman’s face.

“You promised me…”

Li Yan took a step forward, and the woman subconsciously grabbed the screwdriver from the table. A bunch of stuff clattered from the tabletop to the floor.

“You’re not keeping your word!”

You really aren’t suited for Yan Fu.

Li Yan thought to himself and extended his right hand.

“There are still four hours until dawn, and in your current state, you’re as good as dead if you encounter anything. Guanlai Garden’s Guanyin Temple is only a few hundred meters from here; it’s an orderly suppressive item, I’ll help you get there.”

Li Yan’s voice was soft, and not particularly sincere.

“Forget it if you don’t need it.”

The woman’s breathing, which was like bellows, gradually calmed down. She looked dazedly at Li Yan, her eyes full of despair and shimmering with tears.

…

The wind rustled the leaves, creating a whispering sound in the night.

Li Yan, with his elbow supporting the woman’s arm, stepped out of the store step by step.

The woman’s hair was disheveled, and she hobbled after Li Yan, dragging her feet; after a while, she murmured a low “Thank you.”

Li Yan shook his head.

“I robbed you of your legacy, you’re out of your mind.”

“It’s good enough to keep my life. Who would want to help me under those circumstances?”

The woman tipped her head back to sniff, and perhaps because she had been under great stress for so long, once she was certain Li Yan truly had no intention of killing her, she became much more talkative.

“I really didn’t expect it to turn out like this initially. I just needed the money; if only I had known…”

Warm and clammy flesh splattered blood onto Li Yan’s face and torso; the woman beside him collapsed with a thud, a hole the size of a head blown through her chest. As the ruptured vessels twitched, drops of blood sprayed everywhere.

Li Yan’s hair stood on end, and he glared with eyes wide open, instinctively tightening his grip on her palm. The woman looked up as if trying to say something, but then blood overflowed from her throat, and her eyes quickly lost their luster. And then, she slowly slumped to the ground.

“Damn, didn’t get it…”

The light-colored man with a light sniper rifle at the street corner said.

“No worries, there’s another one.”

Several figures materialized, surrounding Li Yan.

Leading them was a girl in a baseball cap, her eyes fixed on the man beneath the telegraph pole.

…

Without a word, Li Yan withdrew his hand, wiping his cheek with the back of it. He muttered a curse under his breath and then laughed at himself mockingly.

The wind wailed. Leaves swayed.

All around were birch trees and buildings paved with red bricks, enclosed by thick iron fences.

Before the liberation, this place had a reformatory school that educated many delinquent youths.

So, the name of this place is Ganhua Alley…

“You can still laugh in this situation?”

The woman said coldly.

“It’s not so bad, actually. I handle situations like this pretty well.”

The faint smile on Li Yan’s face disappeared, replaced by an endless gloom and malice.

“To slaughter you lot…”