Beginning with the Ubume Bird
Chapter 639 - Chapter 639 Chapter 25 Entrustment

Chapter 639: Chapter 25 Entrustment Chapter 639: Chapter 25 Entrustment In the tranquil room, dozens of bronze-colored Water Tiger Fish floated out of thin air, with scraps of paper scattered all over the floor. Jin Boqing silently pulled out a photo album, flipped open a page, and nodded to Li Yan, “This old man is about to make a fool of himself.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the flat black-and-white patterned face on the album suddenly opened its eyes, and an ink-like humanoid figure rose up from the album ground. The leisurely swimming R’lyeh Water Tigers, as if they smelled blood, rushed towards the face simultaneously, entangling it without end.

“Cough~ Cough~”

Sitting opposite Li Yan, Jin Boqing coughed while he explained, “Our ancestor, Jin Chongwen, was the chief coordinator of the Hongci Palace pilgrimage during the fifth year of Emperor Yongzheng. He was responsible for overseeing the creation of Nether Instruments for sacrifices and supplying all the essentials for the divine retribution plays. This was the precursor to Jinmen Mingzha. Our ancestor Chongwen left these eight Mingzha Masks; they were worn on the face by ‘Incense Bearers’ during the sacrificial worship and divine retribution plays, to communicate with spirits and bring disaster relief.”

In just the few moments of this conversation, the ink-figure was pulled hither and thither, torn and bitten into several large gaps.

“This mask is called ‘Zhong Zi Bian’. The more cunning and evil the person who wears it, the greater its power. However, it won’t have that chance anymore.”

No sooner had Jin Boqing’s words fallen, the “Zhong Zi Bian” mask let out a bestial roar and fled towards the window. Li Yan glanced sideways, and a mass of spirited Disaster Water, shadow-like, crashed onto Zhong Zi Bian, instantly exploding into a cloud of black mist.

The Water Tiger Fish followed in a swarm, devouring “Zhong Zi Bian” without leaving a trace.

Jin Boqing’s face turned ashen, and he hurriedly covered his lips with a handkerchief. Black blood dripped onto the tatami mats from the stark white cloth. But Jin Boqing’s eyes shone eerily bright: “Good! Good!”

He flipped to another page of the album, where a clown mask with tofu-white makeup over the nose opened its eyes and abruptly leaped to the ceiling, its body tenderly pink. The Water Tiger Fish, still not sated, saw the bloodbait before them and, without waiting for Li Yan’s command, eagerly charged at the second mask.

“This Mingzha is called ‘Yili Wealth’. The greedier and more shameless the person holding it, the more powerful it becomes.”

“Yili Wealth” let out a terrified screech, its mouth revealing monkey-like sharp teeth as it dove towards Li Yan’s face, but it was stopped mid-air by a huge vermillion Dragon Head the size of a truck’s hood. Immediately afterward, it was torn apart and devoured by the Water Tiger Fish.

With the situation under control, the vermillion Dragon Head swayed its whiskers before retracting back into the black vortex.

“Cough cough cough cough cough~”

Jin Boqing visibly withered and wasted away, and as Li Yan was about to say something, he was stopped.

He flipped to the last page of the album, where the face of a powdered and charming female role jumped off the page.

“This one is called ‘Shi Jian Wu’, and it must never fall into the hands of a shameless hypocrite; otherwise, it would be the most troublesome of all eight Mingzha Masks.”

The female role opened her seductive, watery eyes, which whirled around. Far from jumping out of the album, it retracted slightly.

Jin Boqing snorted coldly and reached out with a withered palm towards “Shi Jian Wu”. The role let out a wail of despair as a flutter of blue sleeve emerged from the album, wrapping around Jin Boqing’s neck like a mighty python from the dense forest, in a stance determined to drag him down with it.

Li Yan was taken aback and struck out like a knife at the water sleeve, but to his surprise, it felt slippery and tough, completely impossible to pierce. The Disaster Water saw a flaw and, like a snake following a stick, wrapped around Li Yan’s arm, followed by countless water sleeves dancing wildly and spewing forth, entangling Li Yan tightly, wrapping him up airtight like a zongzi.

Jin Boqing was shocked and dismayed, but before he could react, the figure of a girl with red eyebrows and white feathers – a bird-bodied maiden, emerged from behind Li Yan. In a moment, she had transformed into Li Yan’s likeness, and the Tiger Head Great Spear barely pierced through the water sleeve. Disaster Water let out a dreadful cry as its wrinkled mask was hooked onto the spearhead. The R’lyeh Water Tigers hastily gathered around the spearhead of the Tiger Head Spear, forming a bronze-colored fish ball and began tearing at the mask.

All this happened too quickly, and with Jin Boqing’s old and dim-sighted eyes, he couldn’t comprehend in time that “Disaster Water” had been completely consumed. He no longer weakened or coughed up blood, his face reflecting a returning brightness with a hint of color.

“Good, excellent technique.”

He praised Li Yan, his face a mix of relief, gratitude, and defeat.

“It’s embarrassing.”

Li Yan’s hand had not been able to rip through the water sleeve of Disaster Water, and though it was no serious loss, it made him miss the days when the Ring Dragon was still useful. However, nowadays, it was hard for him to find a cold weapon that caught his eye.

The R’lyeh Water Tigers, even after devouring three masks from Jinmen, were not satisfied but grew more irritable. When Li Yan collected them into the Water Lord Palace, they seemed somewhat unwilling.

The room was a mess, with only the lonely ancestral banner of Jin Chongwen, the Jinmen ancestor, in the middle. Jin Boqing wore an indescribable expression, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

He was born in a time of war, and spent the first half of his life drifting from place to place until he eventually restored his family honor. Then, in his sixties, he devised the “Skill of Painting Eyes” by following an unorthodox path, only to be harmed by it. Today, it was easily broken by someone else, leaving his emotions indescribably complex.

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Li Yan helped Jin Boqing out of the room, and Jin Boqing took hold of Li Yan’s hand: “Comrade Xiao Li, I don’t know what your taste is, so I specifically asked the Master to prepare authentic Huaiyang cuisine, which I used to serve to comrades from the mainland. Won’t you stay and eat today?”

“Old master, I’ve got some urgent matters to attend to, it’s really not convenient. Please understand.”

Seeing that Li Yan didn’t seem to be making excuses, Jin Boqing offered, “Can I help with anything? Whether it’s financial or something else, just ask.”

“That won’t be necessary. As long as you don’t blame me for not staying for the meal, that’s enough.”

“A woman?”

Li Yan twitched his lips and silently cursed Jin Boqing for being an old fox.

“Ha ha ha ha, alright then, I won’t keep you any longer.”

Jin Lu, who had once met Li Yan at the Zhongxing Baode office, was lingering at the entrance to the courtyard. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Jin Boqing come out, but became tense again at the sight of Li Yan.

“Grandfather.”

Jin Boqing nodded and then said to Li Yan, “Comrade Li, I’ll have the driver take you.”

“No need, I can go down the mountain myself. You should rest more, elder.”

After speaking, Li Yan did not exchange any more courtesies with Jin Boqing and went straight towards the direction of the Jin Mansion’s main gate.

“Grandfather, are you alright?”

Jin Lu noticed the bloodstain on Jin Boqing’s collar and asked anxiously.

“It’s nothing serious. What are you doing here?”

Jin Boqing smiled kindly.

“Nothing, just calling you for dinner.”

Jin Lu put on a coquettish front for Jin Boqing.

“Alright, let’s go eat. By the way, has that rascal Ah Zhong come back?”

“Of course, he came back a changed person this time, finally realizing there are people out there who are his betters.”

As she spoke, Jin Lu glanced in the direction that Li Yan had left.

Jin Boqing suddenly became serious, “Ah Lu, listen well. No matter what happens in the future, don’t seek help from the people of Zhongxing Baode on your own initiative, especially this Comrade Li Yan. You are not allowed to contact him again. Even a slight brush with their troubles could spell doom for the Jin family.”

Jin Lu blinked and nodded, “Understood, Grandfather.”

“… But, if they come to us asking for help, try your best by all means to assist, do you hear me clearly?”

“Yes, I hear you clearly.”

“Among all the grandchildren, you are the smartest and most talented. Ah Zhong and Ah Hua are disappointing; I reckon all of the Jin family’s assets will sooner or later be yours.”

“Grandfather, I haven’t thought about these things.”

“Heh heh.”

The grandfather and granddaughter entered the main hall, where Jin Boqing’s eldest son Jin Longhai and his wife, the youngest son Jin Longyang and his wife, as well as the grandchildren Jin Lu and Jin Zhong, plus the youngest, Jinhua, were all gathered together. All eight members of the Jin family were present.

“Dad, that Mr. Li…”

Jin Longyang swallowed and lowered his voice, changing the subject to ask, “Is it taken care of?”

Jin Boqing ignored Jin Longyang and took his seat at the head of the table, looking around at the Jin family gathered there, and began, “I’ve already briefed you all about the matters that need to be passed down. I have never repeated myself a second time in my life. But there is one thing I am not at ease about, so I will say it again today. If you are disobedient and unfilial, I will rest in my grave with eyes wide open in anger.”

“Dad, you~”

“Keep quiet.”

The eldest son, Jin Longhai, didn’t finish his sentence before Jin Boqing sharply cut him off.

“I am going to take the last five Mingzha masks left by our ancestors with me into the coffin. This is for your own good. Seeing the current state of the Jin family over three generations, I don’t see any of you capable of suppressing the power of these hereditary Mingzha. This is a temporary measure. I will keep the Mingzha in the coffin for fifty years in the hope that, after fifty years, the Jin family will have a competent descendant to inherit them. The rest, the eldest and the second, I’ve already spoken to you, and I reckon you wouldn’t dare to make any cuts, but even if you wanted to, the other shareholders in the foundation wouldn’t allow it. Do you understand?”

Jin Longhai and Jin Longyang nodded silently.

“Ah Lu, Ah Zhong, Ah Hua, raise your heads. What your fathers have promised me today, you’ve all heard. Ah Lu, you’re the eldest, from now on you have to take responsibility and look after your two younger brothers, do you hear me?”

“Understood, Grandfather.”

Jin Lu answered crisply.

Jin Boqing nodded, then suddenly let out a long sigh, covering his forehead with his hand, his face showing utter exhaustion.

For a long moment, no one spoke, the dishes grew cold, and nobody dared to pick up their chopsticks.

“Dad, the food’s gotten cold.”

Jin Longhai’s face changed as he gently touched Jin Boqing’s arm.

But there was no response from Jin Boqing; his complexion was ashen, and he seemed to be entirely breathless.