Beginning with the Ubume Bird
Chapter 709 - Chapter 709 Chapter 17 Stairway to Heaven

Chapter 709: Chapter 17 Stairway to Heaven Chapter 709: Chapter 17 Stairway to Heaven December 22nd, sunny.

Li Yan usually dealt with Yan Fu incidents in the last few days of the month, and time was running short. Cha Xiaodao had not yet returned. If she couldn’t wait any longer, Li Yan would have to use his Second Seat privileges to push back the schedule by a few days.

But today Li Yan wasn’t troubled by these things, as he was going to watch Lady Dan’s first resident performance.

Zhong Shili’s bar had a relatively quiet atmosphere, mainly frequented by regulars, and the resident bands were all professional, without any idle crowd. The bar was originally found by Li Yan, so of course, he wouldn’t choose a place rife with a mixed rabble for Lady Dan to learn drums.

Bar guests were scattered in twos and threes, with the occasional person greeting Lady Dan–after all, a beautiful woman is popular anywhere.

On stage stood a girl wrapped in a blue headscarf, not particularly pretty, but lively, with an infectious laugh. She was the resident singer of the bar and quite popular. She had taken part in a very hot TV show this year and was signed by a music company. Today was her farewell performance, and many people had come from other places specifically to hear her sing.

Of course, Li Yan’s eyes were only on Lady Dan, but to most people, the blue headscarfed girl was the star.

“You’re here.”

Zhong Shili came over, “Get ready quickly. Everyone’s waiting for you, don’t be nervous, just like usual.”

“Okay.”

Lady Dan leaned into Li Yan’s ear and whispered, “I’m off. You sit here.”

This was an up-close view, clearly showing the drummer’s position.

“Hmm.”

Li Yan watched her go on stage, exchange warm greetings with the other band members, the girl in the blue headscarf was even holding Lady Dan’s hand and laughing, clearly, the atmosphere was very harmonious.

Li Yan subconsciously reached for his lighter, but was stopped by Zhong Shili, “This is a non-smoking area. If you want to smoke, go over there.”

She pointed towards a row of high stools at the back.

“Then I won’t smoke,”

Li Yan said helplessly.

About an hour later, more guests gradually arrived.

…

There was one thing Earth Spider Zhao Hongxia got wrong; Mo didn’t eat takeout every day. There was a mutton scorpion hotpot restaurant underneath his home that had a rich and savory taste. Every time Mo made a payment for his work, he would order a full pot from the mutton scorpion restaurant downstairs and then curse the passing couples as he feasted.

However, not everyone was as impatient as her…

Mo hummed a song as he went downstairs. There were many small square tables outside the hotpot restaurant, where customers usually just pulled up a stool to sit, but it was cold now, so customers went inside to eat. There was only one man in a plain-colored suit sitting outside, with a gentle smile on his face and two pots of mutton scorpion on the table. Seeing the man’s face, Mo turned to leave.

In an instant, everything in front of Mo seemed incredibly distant, and it became quiet all around.

“Wasting food will bring divine punishment, could you help me out?”

Mo wiped his face, turned back around, and sat opposite the man, reaching for the chopsticks to grab a piece.

“You’ve got to get hands-on with this thing.”

The man handed Mo a pair of gloves.

Mo’s expression was bitter, “Mr. Gao, please let me off the hook.”

“Hahaha~”

The man laughed heartily, “Don’t be nervous, I just want to chat with you. You’ve retired, I won’t make things difficult for you.”

Gao Hongbo, the regent for Yinglong. A Second Seat representative, a board member of Third Eye Global, he was Cao Yuanchao’s old war buddy, having fought side by side to this day.

In the Second Seat, he was one of the most influential, and even Bu Yang and Wuwei Sanzang from the First Seat had to treat him with respect. As for Yu Shiqie and Jiao Chong, they were just juniors.

“You, you ask, and I’ll pick what I can to answer,”

Mo grimaced through clenched teeth.

“Ah, good,” Gao Hongbo got straight to the point, “How did you kill Muni?”

“…I can’t say.”

Mo’s answer was just as straightforward. He reached out again with his chopsticks only to be blocked by Gao Hongbo’s.

“I have a lot of patience. If we don’t finish this pot today, I’m not letting you leave.”

Mo remained silent.

Yinglong said nothing more, pouring himself a glass of Erguotou and drinking alone.

“Alright.” Mo put on his gloves: “Muni has an incomplete mind, but he has Ben Wu’s bloodline. Although his accumulation is not enough, whether he can get through the ‘Eight Special Nine Ugly’ should be a three-to-seven chance. There’s a thirty percent chance he’ll make it through. But it’s different with me included.”

Gao Hongbo turned his head in thought: “Passing the demon tribulation in one’s heart is indeed scary for fear of a Dream Demon interfering. But I know all this; it’s not just that, right?”

“Because.” Mo snapped his fingers. The previously quiet store suddenly came alive with noise.

Mo shouted inside.

“Little beauty, do me a favor, bring a bottle of cola.”

Not long after, a little girl with a Paul Frank monkey embroidered on her chest and horns braided in her hair carried over a bottle of cola thicker than her thigh and thudded it on the table.

Gao Hongbo furrowed his brows; lifting his head suddenly, the sky was a luxuriant deep red, and swathes of crimson feathers, smooth or curled, stuffed the sky.

“Shh~”

Mo made a silencing gesture to him: “If you wake it up, then we’re all done for.”

“Yuan Chao?”

Gao Hongbo was incredibly surprised.

“Yes and no.”

Mo spoke with his mouth full of grease: “Haven’t you ever wondered why Zhao Jianzhong would let Cao Yuanchao establish Third Eye Global in Heaven Jiazi Nine? Because he is one of the Four Emperors?”

Gao Hongbo kept silent; he knew Mo would continue. To this day, how Cao Yuanchao ascended to be one of the Four Emperors remains a profound secret at Yan Zhao Club, and Gao even suspected that some of the Ten Masters are unaware of the reason behind it.

As expected, Mo said, “This is actually, the cause for the effect.”

He opened the cola, the entire street seemed to ripple like a wave: “Yan Fu walks to explore the worldview of each outcome, but has anyone explored the worldview of Heaven Jiazi Nine? Explored the origins of us walkers? Hmm?”

Gao Hongbo shook his head: “With Zhao Jianzhong’s command, who dares to explore? Who is able to explore?”

“Because the result has already been obtained. The core of Heaven Jiazi Nine was eaten by Cao Yuanchao. And it was for this reason he was promoted to be one of the Four Emperors.”

Gao Hongbo’s eyes widened, his shock beyond measure.

“In a certain sense, Cao Yuanchao is the core of Heaven Jiazi Nine, he is Heaven Jiazi Nine. Aren’t you curious how I killed Muni? Because Cao Yuanchao left his dream with me. If he were just a walker, a dream would just be a dream, but if Cao Yuanchao is a fruit, then his dream is no longer false, it is the real, dark side of the world.

Mo’s voice turned somber: “The so-called ‘yin within yang, not against yang’ is this principle.”

Gao Hongbo was totally engrossed: “What’s the dark side of the world like?”

Mo’s expression turned fervent: “I’m just an observer and can’t conclude yet. In the dark side, sometimes I feel like a god, omnipotent, at other times I feel worthless, unable to change anything. The dark side contains everything similar to the current world, yet completely different. It can be destroyed by me at any moment, restored at any moment, with time and space meaningless. Any character you can name, once they enter the dark side, is at my whim; if I say he is a Yan Fu walker, then he is a Yan Fu walker; if I say she’s mentally ill, then she’s mentally ill. I say he vomits, and he must vomit.

Mo’s expression turned wistful: “But I’m not the law with every word, an indescribable inertia controls me, everything I do needs a reason, a logic. I can feel the omnipresent consciousness, they compel me, tempt me, force me to adhere to… logic. Yet sometimes, there is no logic to speak of, a more compelling force that I can’t resist at all, I can’t call Chengdu ‘Chengdu,’ only ‘Rongcheng’; I can’t call Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou ‘Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou,’ only ‘major cities.’ The world I painstakingly created would occasionally be wiped out as if touched by Sifan’s power–violent, bloody, and even some beautiful illusions. I tried to describe them, but as long as those omnipresent consciousnesses watch over me, I…”

Mo swallowed hard: “Am powerless.”

Gao Hongbo’s eyes flickered; the fat man in front of him seemed not quite sane, yet no other customers paid him any attention.

“Muni was tricked by me, but he’s not wronged, because Cao Yuanchao’s dream can interface with the demon world of all the bubbles on the Yan Fu Tree. I just asked him to believe that I was Se Kong, which was logical, so he died. That spider woman also died deservedly. She was adorably stupid. I simply sealed her abilities, and she collapsed in just a few months.”

Gao Hongbo vaguely felt that these matters were still incomplete, he had many more questions about Zhao Jianzhong, about Cao Yuanchao, about Mo, but a nagging intuition stopped him, telling him not to ask any more, nor listen any further.

“I understand…”

Gao Hongbo stood up: “I’ll keep it to myself. In exchange, I will also share with you, and I hope you too will keep a secret. Actually, the reason I came here is because someone…”

“I don’t want to hear it. Everything you say is only trouble for me!”

“`

Mo gazed at Gao Hongbo with an extremely eerie look, “And there’s no need for that anymore.”

Gao Hongbo obviously sensed the danger, “What are you going to do?”

“You no longer have a way to leave this place,” Mo said as he rubbed his ears. “They have agreed; they think it makes sense.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Who knows?”

Gao Hongbo’s hair flew wildly as he subconsciously felt death closing in.

A blinding golden light erupted in front of Mo.

In the misty golden light, a massive golden dragon, beyond imagination, spread outward: the ancestor of ten thousand dragons, the dragon among dragons. Known as Yinglong, a yellow dragon, also known as the Heavenly Compliance and Regional Guardian Dragon Spirit, it was one of the extremely few lineages in Yan Fu’s recorded history with only two components. It has been the spiritual totem of China for thousands of years. Legend has it, the Yellow Dragon helped the emperor to slay Chi You, and also helped Da Yu capture Wu Zhiqi, Xiang Liu, and other astonishing demons. Within the entire Chu Region Divine System, Yinglong is second only to the primordial deity, Taiyi.

“Nonsensical ramblings! Dreams are false! Since you are so eloquent, try to seal my essence if you can?!”

Within the golden light, Mo’s voice remained clear, “What is true? What is false? Life is hard, and in the eyes of the foolish, isn’t everything just a great dream?”

…

Amidst applause, the bar’s farewell performance finally began.

Soft chords from the acoustic guitar drifted over, intoxicating the listeners.

Li Yan glanced at the bar’s flyer, which was designed simply, with a playlist paired with an old record cover. Zhong Shili seemed very confident about the playlist, but it was a pity that Li Yan hadn’t heard of any of them, such as this opening song: Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven.

The girl with the long blue headscarf finally began to sing:

There’s a lady who’s sure

(There’s a lady who’s sure)

All that glitters is gold

(All that glitters is gold)

And she’s buying a stairway to heaven

(And she’s buying a stairway to heaven)

Li Yan didn’t understand, and he was just looking forward to when Lady Dan would play the drums.

…

Explosions, explosions everywhere; destruction, visible destruction everywhere; the indescribably majestic golden dragon, with just a single whisker filling half a street. The earth cracked from being unable to bear its weight.

In my thoughts, I have seen

(In my thoughts, I have seen)

Rings of smoke through the trees

(Rings of smoke through the trees)

And the voices of those who stand looking

(And the voices of those who stand looking)

The electric guitar, the vegeta, the bass – all joined in.

The golden giant dragon cracked the earth beneath it, devoured the dark clouds, bathed in the ocean, and gave free rein to its majesty.

…

Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow,

(Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow,)

And did you know

“`

(Have you ever known)

Your stairway lies on the whispering wind

(Your stairway to heaven is built upon the whispering wind)

The sound of drums, drums resound, and someone in the bar lets out a soft sigh of admiration.

The red sky collapses, feathers enveloping the world press down, and in front of this shadow, the golden dragon appears so helpless.

Heaven and earth come together…

————————-

“I’ve made the accounts very clear.”

Si Wenji sat behind the office desk, with a two-meter wide painting depicting a grand Peng journey behind her.

She crossed her long legs in a different direction: “I don’t believe I have anything more to say.”

“If that’s the case,” said the brisk woman in the steamed suit sitting opposite her, “I won’t bother you further.”

She nodded toward Si Wenji.

Cao Yuanchao, who had been sitting on the couch rubbing his temples, said without looking up, “No need to see you out. Send my regards to Tao Zhu.”

The woman bowed: “I will.” Then, led by Peacock, she left the high-rise office.

“It’s utterly absurd.”

Si Wenji hugged her shoulders: “Up to today, the October proposal has resulted in an expansion of a hundred thousand Yan Fu walkers. Let’s say I count each person as one Yan Fu incident, that makes the daily revenue easily over a hundred million. How could the slight deficit in the Third Eye Global’s books cause such massive inflation? Clearly, not the numbers, but the content of the proposal is problematic, yet they come to find fault with me?”

“Find fault, did they target you? Every registered institution has to submit their books. Didn’t Wan’an submit too? They even detained a large batch of goods.”

Cao Yuanchao glared at Si Wenji.

Clearly aggravated, Si Wenji’s chest heaved with indignation: “If you ask me, Shanjiu is responsible. He was the one who pushed the October proposal. He is directly responsible. Now look, he turns out to be the good guy, and we’re all worms? He expects us to carry all the blame? That makes no sense!”

Cao Yuanchao rubbed his ear irritably: “You go talk to Shanjiu then, go now, I won’t stop you.”

Si Wenji opened her mouth but then closed it; Zhuo Jiu was known to be irritable and eccentric, he had taken a dislike to her long ago, and Si Wenji indeed lacked the courage to confront Zhuo Jiu.

“The October proposal was unanimously passed by everyone. If there’s responsibility, no one can escape it. By the way, where’s Old Zhan? I haven’t seen him.”

Si Wenji gave him a disdainful glance: “He was only temporarily managing Third Eye Global for you. Now that you, the boss, have returned, of course, he would go back to teaching at school.”

“People are on edge; he thinks he can hide? There’s no such good deal. I think he managed quite well over the past two years. I’ll call him back. From now on, he can look after Third Eye Global’s accounts. I trust him much more than I trust any of you.”

Cao Yuanchao flipped through account books and documents, tapping the papers sharply: “You see for yourself, only in the last two years has Third Eye Global balanced its income and expenses, not taking on further debt, even turning a profit. Someone must think I’m blind. Don’t make me find out, I’ve come to realize none of you are reliable.”

Si Wenji frowned, seemingly affronted. She tossed the documents on the desk toward Cao Yuanchao: “So you’re saying I’m embezzling? Which penny did I use for myself? I was sympathetic to you. And now you’re turning it around on me?”

“You…”

Cao Yuanchao didn’t finish speaking, his expression changed, and a conversation cut in.

“Yuanchao.” The one initiating the conversation was a director of Third Eye Global, Chaos: “Gao Hongbo is dead, Mo brought the body.”

Gao Hongbo, the second seat representative of Yan Zhao Club, a director of Third Eye Global, Yinglong’s representative, God of the Four Fouls, and the keeper of the ninth lore of Yan Zhao Club.

Cao Yuanchao’s expression quickly turned gloomy. Even his usually upright back slumped slightly.

Si Wenji noted Cao Yuanchao’s reaction: “What’s wrong?”

Without a word, Cao Yuanchao closed his eyes, leaned back into the soft sofa, as if trying to sink his body into it to find a bit of warmth.

Si Wenji got up, moved closer to Cao Yuanchao, placed her hand on his shoulder, and asked softly, “Hey, what exactly happened?”

Cao Yuanchao shook his head, and Si Wenji, sensing the mood, shut her mouth and silently watched the man lying on the couch, his face contorted with pain.