You've encountered a Fellow Traveler!

You've obtained the following information:

Name: Zhang Mingyuan

Status: None

Expertise: Ancient Martial Arts 69%/100%

Skill: A Fleeting Glance

Legacy: ? ? ?

Fellow Traveler: A term used to refer to other wanderers who may have conflicting interests but share the same goal. Killing a Fellow Traveler yields no rewards.

Li Yan has two objectives left in this Yanfu Incident: one is to win in the Seventh Arena at the Kowloon Fortress Village, and the other is to awaken the Remnant Soul of the Guhuo Bird within the Ancient Novel Sinker. The former has seen Li Yan triumph in ten consecutive battles, and winning two more doesn't seem too difficult. However, the latter is much more troublesome.

Actually, if you think about it from another angle, the requirement of the Yanfu Incident is to awaken the Remnant Soul of the Guhuo Bird, but it doesn't stipulate that it must be done alone. The term Fellow Traveler already suggests much; in principle, Li Yan and Zhang Mingyuan could join forces to seek information about the Fragment of the Guhuo Bird.

However, the content of the Yanfu Incident states that the more Fragmented Manuscripts one obtains, the higher the reward—and there are only five Fragmented Manuscripts at most.

So who gets more? Who gets less?

The incandescent lights of Fuk Yee Mansion blaze day and night, but there are certainly many a desolate corner. Li Yan sits on a step, flipping through the information provided by A Fleeting Glance, pondering these thoughts.

"Here you are."

Li Yan suddenly speaks up.

Zhang Mingyuan hesitates in his steps, then stands still about three meters behind Li Yan .

"When I heard there was someone called Li Yan at the Boxing Ring, I should have guessed it was you."

Zhang Mingyuan 's voice is clear and distinct.

"Hejian Skinny Tiger."

Li Yan grins, feeling somewhat embarrassed to hear such words spoken by someone else.

The Northern Martial Arts Circle isn't large; Zhang Mingyuan knows of Li Yan , and Li Yan has some speculation about the young man's background.

He turns around, modulating his tone, "I'm not one for idle chatter, but I'll make an exception today. Everyone comes here for their own reasons; I won't ask about your past if you don't pry into mine. Hand over that Fragmented Manuscript you have to me. I'll take care of finding the Guhuo Bird. You take this time to earn some more points, then you can just leave when you're ready. How about it?"

Zhang Mingyuan shook his head and said slowly, “I’ve just met with He Changhong. He wants to challenge you to a fight. He doesn’t get along well with The Woman Who Supports You and agreed without hesitation.”

Li Yan raised his eyebrows in surprise but remained silent.

It was clearly stated in the Yanfu Incident: once you lose the boxing match, you must disregard the progress of the incident and return immediately, unable to interfere with anything that happened during the Yanfu Incident ever again.

“I'm someone who prefers to be straightforward,” Zhang Mingyuan pondered. “I don't really want to collaborate with others; I can't trust them. Let’s have a fight in the boxing ring. The loser loses everything, and the winner takes all.”

Li Yan let out a soft chuckle, patted his bottom, and stood up, heading towards the elevator.

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“Are you going to accept or not?” Zhang Mingyuan pressed for an answer. In an environment as chaotic as the Fortress Village of Kowloon, the strategizing between the two could become exceedingly complex. Zhang Mingyuan was self-aware; at only nineteen years old, and despite his martial arts training from a young age, he had limited experience and lacked the confidence to outwit an old hand in the underworld or martial arts world like Li Yan. He felt apprehensive that Li Yan might not take up the challenge, preferring the straightforwardness of a fight in the boxing ring.

“See you in the boxing ring tomorrow,” Li Yan tossed back before entering the elevator.

As the elevator doors slowly closed, Li Yan’s brows suddenly furrowed tightly.

“It’s not him.”

Li Yan returned to Judy’s private room. As his hand touched the doorknob, the door opened on its own, and a group of people emerged, led by a young man with a twisted expression.

He Changhong sized up Li Yan with a strange laugh, “Yama, huh? I want to see who will meet Yama tomorrow.”

Li Yan was taken aback, and the group had already walked away. He stepped into the room and saw Judy nonchalantly sipping red wine and Red Ghost lost in thought.

“Ah Yan, what kind of weapon do you need? I’ll have Red Ghost prepare it for you right away.”

“Weapon?”

Li Yan roughly understood that the person who had just left was He Changhong, the one Zhang Mingyuan had mentioned. When Judy asked him about the weapon, Li Yan immediately recalled the heavy iron-bound smoking pipe in Zhang Mingyuan’s hand.

In the Bagua Palm, there are numerous mysterious door weapons. However, as Taisui once remarked, the Li Clan from Hejian is a scattered family. Among the armaments of the Bagua Sect, Li Yan was only proficient in one or two types. But naturally, within the Li family, there were inherited weaponry tactics.

"Brother Red Ghost, prepare a long sword for me—one that's at least a meter long, but 1.3 meters would be ideal."

"No problem," Red Ghost replied with his deep, resonant voice.

...

"Ah Yan."

In the evening, Red Ghost suddenly called out to Li Yan. He tossed him a cigarette and, while Li Yan was lighting it, he asked, "Did you go for that health check-up I mentioned a while back?"

"Brother Red Ghost, you're being a bit naggy, aren't you? I'm well aware of my own body's condition," Li Yan responded, cigarette in mouth. Regardless of whether Red Ghost's concern was genuine, he indeed took good care of him.

"Have you seen Taisui?"

"I have," Li Yan nodded.

"When Taisui watched you practice your boxing, he said you were short of breath and overly agitated, possibly afflicted by a serious illness. I don't mind if there's something you don't want to tell me, but you've only been in Fortress Village for a little over ten days. I don't want to be collecting your corpse so soon. If it's really too much, take some time off. I'll talk to Judy about it."

Li Yan looked into Red Ghost's eyes for a long while before finally averting his gaze.

"Brother Red Ghost, with your kind of personality, you're not cut out for making a living in Fortress Village."

"Taisui said the same thing."

Red Ghost let out a self-deprecating chuckle, turning his head to face Li Yan. "I'm serious. Taisui said if you keep fighting like this, your body won't hold up."

"Brother Red Ghost, will Taisui watch me practice boxing tomorrow?"

"Maybe, maybe not; it depends on his schedule. What's up?"

"You must make sure he sees me finish this match."

"…Alright."

By the time Li Yan returned to his apartment on Su Temple Street, it was already past ten in the evening. Clutching his nose, he opened the door to his home, still not quite accustomed to the smell from the Underground Fish Ball Processing Factory located behind the building. Li Yan couldn't shake the feeling that the odor was getting stronger.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door. Li Yan opened it to find the pure and slightly shy, youthful face of a girl.

"Ah Xiu, what brings you here so late?"

"Brother Yan, my mom heard you live alone and specially made you some Char Siu as thanks for looking out for me."

Ah Xiu held out a meal box to Li Yan.

"Please thank your mother for me."

Li Yan didn't stand on ceremony. Sometimes he would come home late and hungry, and Ah Xiu's mother would always bring him some cooked food, which tasted quite good.

"By the way, Ah Xiu, I've noticed that your place is always dark at night, always lit by candles. Is there a problem with the light bulbs?"

In Kowloon's Fortress Village, it was common to have serious issues with unauthorized electrical connections, leading to frequent contact failures.

"Yes, there's been an electrical fault for quite some time."

Ah Xiu lowered her head, seeming reluctant to meet Li Yan's gaze.

"How about this, I'll come over and take a look, see if I can fix it. I haven't met your mother yet."

Ah Xiu suddenly looked up, her refusal swift and decisive: "No, that's not necessary."

"Oh, okay then."

Li Yan blinked, a bit puzzled.

"Well, I should get going."

Ah Xiu bounded away, much more lively than when Li Yan had first seen her.

Li Yan went back inside and opened the meal box. The rice was still steaming, and the chopsticks broke the poached egg, releasing a golden-red heart of yolk, with a few tender green vegetables on the side of the bowl, topped with a large slice of Char Siu pork. It was tantalizing.

Resting his elbow on the table, Li Yan examined the Char Siu rice before him and, in a moment of reverie, felt that life in Fortress Village had its own unique flavor.

**********

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