Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 237 - 74 Breaking the Deadlock (Part 2)
Chapter 237: Chapter 74 Breaking the Deadlock (Part 2)
Cai Qian’s words had barely fallen when Yan Ajiu lifted his gaze, bent his waist to draw his sword and surged forward. His thrust directed a point of cold light towards the old man’s throat.
Cha Xiaodao beside the old man got a fright, luckily he was close by. With his palm reversed, he clutched the Owl Kiss Twin Blades, raising the back of the blade to knock against the long sword, a loud clang reverberated.
Lin Yuanfu was startled, his tobacco pipe knocked onto the ground, scattering ashes everywhere.
Li Yan raised his great spear, slamming it down on Yan Laoda’s head, but only managed to collapse his black felt hat. Trailing wisps of white vapor burst from Yan Laoda’s mouth and nose; the old man wiped the corner of his mouth, completely unharmed.
Yan’s colleagues surged forward, their aggressive demeanor pushing aside others as the tips of their knives all pointed towards Lin Yuanfu.
Behind them, Hu Ji, who had been serving dishes, also flung her tray forward and from her thigh drew out a dagger, stabbing towards Lin Yuanfu’s neck from behind.
...
Li Yan reacted quickly, with his right hand single-handedly holding the Tiger Head Great Spear while with his left, he smashed a wine cup into Hu Ji’s chest.
The Cai Firm’s colleagues who were serving, without any warning, charged at Lin Yuanfu like madmen, their eyes filled with unmasked intent to kill.
The brothers of the Red Flag Gang all stood up, blocking the attacking Cai Firm’s colleagues.
Some fiery-tempered Red Flag Gaoli ghosts, given that Cai Qian had made the first move, showed no mercy under their blades, stabbing into the belly of a Cai Firm’s colleague, aiming to kill a few as an act of intimidation.
Perhaps against those of the Fiery Cauldron Species, the Gaoli ghosts had no advantage, but against these ordinary folks, it was as easy as slicing through vegetables.
However, what the Red Flag pirates did not expect was that their successful strike, instead of dampening the spirit of these men, only fueled their frenzy.
The Gaoli ghost who had struck first hesitated for a moment, feeling pain shoot through his foot. As he glanced down, the colleague of the Cai Clan sprawled on the ground, his guts spilling out, managed to stab a dagger into his calf. The blade of the dagger shone a bluish glow – it was clearly poisoned.
“Damn it!”
The Gaoli ghost kicked the colleague away and rolled into the crowd from Red Flag, binding his own leg with a strip of cloth, cutting open the wound to bleed out the poison. He suffered a significant loss.
The fanatical look in the eyes of that colleague as he died sent chills through him.
The South Seas pirates always said that those who worked for the Cai Clan were hired for money and could not be compared in combat prowess to the ruffians of the Five Flags, Demon Thief, or Yishi. However, they forgot that the Cai Clan’s colleagues had served the Fiery Cauldron Sir and Fiery Cauldron Madam for generations. Beyond their pay from the Cai family, they were also devoted followers of the Fiery Cauldron couple…
Li Yan had brought Lin Yuanfu along as a casual move.
Ever since Cai Qian started the meeting of the Tianbo Division, Li Yan had been pondering that Cai Qian must have come prepared. While he had grown rich playing both sides over the years, the risk was great. The pirates didn’t matter much, but dealing with the government required paying bribes, careful appeasement, it wasn’t so easy to endure.
The government would never tolerate a red-hatted merchant like Cai Qian suddenly becoming a leader of the South Seas pirates.
Pirates were merely roving bandits, but a power like the Cai Clan’s, with enormous influence in both official circles and among the public, and rich enough to rival the state, gathering the South Seas pirates together could shake the nation’s foundation!
Li Yan’s idea was simple, to trouble and disrupt Cai Qian. He wanted to force him to choose whether to become the Alliance Hierarch and give up the business of the Thirteen Brokerages in Guangdong, forsake his interests and arrangements in the legitimate world from over the years, or to step back, to appease the government envoy, Lin Yuanfu:
“I will not be the Alliance Hierarch, Governor Lin, please see clearly that I am a mediator for Fulin and the pirates. Gathering them was with the purpose of ‘saving the nation,’ I have not a hint of self-interest…”
Between two disadvantages, one chooses the lesser. Cai Qian surely understood this principle.
Given the current situation, if Cai Qian softened, declaring he wouldn’t vie for the position of Alliance Hierarch, then Li Yan supporting Zheng Xiu’er to assume the position would be certain. However, Li Yan hadn’t expected his Stark Stroke to so infuriate Cai Qian.
He actually flipped the table.
“You bring an imperial envoy to cause trouble for me? I’ll simply kill him, then spend silver to clean up the mess. After all, it’s far stronger than letting Lin Yuanfu return to Guangdong, becoming the top official of Guangdong and Guangxi, then dealing with me!”
“You, the Five Flags, are all rebels, and I am the Guangxi Candidate. I have fed enough mouths both within and outside the court. Who would believe if you say I killed Lin Yuanfu?”
Could any pirate in the hall speak up in front of a first-rank official of the government? No! Even Zhang Dong would…
It only took two breaths after Cai Qian finished his sentence “died at the hands of chaotic thieves,” and three or four lives were lost in the commotion!
Cai Qian was deep and ruthless in his planning, but Li Yan was wild at heart, having carved out his own territory with a great spear. With decisive action, he forced back Elder Yan and aimed his Tiger Head Great Spear straight for Cai Qian!
Zhang He might be good, and Elder Yan could put up a fight, but against Li Yan, chances weren’t fifty-fifty; they were more like forty-sixty. But one thing was for sure, both of their skills couldn’t keep up with Li Yan’s spear. Yan Ajiu might have a chance, but Cha Xiaodao was tangled up with her at that moment and couldn’t react in time.
In the blink of an eye, the Tiger Head Great Spear was already slashing towards Cai Qian’s face. Li Yan bore no intention to kill, only to capture him.
Li Yan spurred on “Wind Marsh,” stepping with lightning speed, already at Cai Qian’s side!
The Platinum Devouring Blade, carrying the momentum of wind and thunder, thrust towards Cai Qian’s throat.
Cai Qian seemed not to react immediately, his expression remaining quite indifferent until the spear stopped at his throat, and only then did his eyes dart to catch a glimpse of the words “Siji” engraved on the spearhead.
“The number one spear of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Gao Siji, his weapon, last seen during the former dynasty’s Wanli era, who would have thought I would see it today.”
Cai Qian was completely at ease, twirling the spear shaft with his fingers, the ruby ring on his hand shining brightly.
“Tell your men to stop.”
Li Yan said coldly, but the hair on the back of his neck stood up without reason. He suddenly remembered that day when Cai Qian visited Lantau Island without a single bodyguard, even Yan Ajiu was waiting on the boat; it was Cai Qian who went in alone…
With a smile on his lips, Cai Qian locked eyes with Li Yan, “Tianbao, do you know why I call Xiu’er my niece?”
“Oh?”
Li Yan responded with a sound.
Cai Qian pronounced each word clearly, “Because, even when your family’s Queen Yan was supreme over the South Seas, you still had to call me Big Brother Cai.”
The “boss”‘s finger split a crack in the large red ring.
Li Yan instinctively activated “Hidden Flight”!
The Goddess, feathers fluttering in the wind, embraced her arms behind him, with nine lotus pedestals swirling around. Meanwhile, bursts of light surged around Cai Qian.
The level of his danger went from white, to deep red, to the same purple-red as Zhang He, and then to a dark, ominous color—all within a few breaths…
Even though A Fleeting Glimpse didn’t give any hint, Li Yan still decided that this was Nine Luminaries Peak!
A droplet of blood fell from the tip of the Tiger Head Great Spear, dotting onto Cai Qian’s neck…
Li Yan’s hand gripping the spear was steady, revealing no sign of panic, but instead he flashed a toothy grin, “Well then…Uncle-in-law, let your brother-in-law try out your mettle!”
With the spear blade looming overhead, Cai Qian spoke with a chilling tone. He was almost forty years old this year, with a few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. The mild and handsome face exuded a confident demeanor honed by the years:
“Brother Tianbao, in all these years, there have been few things that I absolutely had to have. Today, the position of Alliance Hierarch is one of them. Don’t say that you can bring Governor Lin here, even if you drag the current emperor over, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill. You are a smart man, you should know the times…”
Both men were at loggerheads, a confrontation about to erupt.
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“Boss~ Boss!”
A trembling shout came from outside the Tianbo Division, followed by a Macaw Parrot with a hoarse voice landing.
“The Fiery Cauldron Madam has revealed herself~”
A big flock of Macaw Parrots fluttered through the sky, their noise grating.
“The Fiery Cauldron Madam has revealed herself~”
“The Fiery Cauldron Madam has revealed herself~”
These Macaw Parrots were spiritual creatures, raised by Cai Qian for many years, never known to lie.
Clang~
A colleague’s dagger hit the ground, tears gushing from his eyes. He fell to his knees with a thud, bowing in the direction of the Ryukyu Islands, the thudding of his head against the deck loud and clear.
Along with several colleagues surnamed Yan, they all stopped what they were doing and fell to their knees.
Cai Qian was the most agitated of them all!
He stood up at once, his neck inadvertently leaning towards the spear tip, lucky for him Li Yan reacted quickly. He withdrew the spear, or else blood would have splattered right there and then.
His face went through several changes, with little hesitation, he turned to face the direction of the Ryukyu Islands, lifted his robes and knelt down, with his palms facing the sky he kowtowed three times and nine bows, before standing up. Then he hurriedly addressed the dumbstruck pirates:
“The Cai Clan’s Tianbo Division withdraws from this contest for Alliance Hierarch. I have urgent matters to attend to and cannot be a good host. Brothers, please make yourselves at home, decide on a victor, and just let Cai know the outcome.”
With that said, Cai Qian led a group of colleagues surnamed Yan, disembarked, and headed in the direction of the Ryukyu Islands.
