Witch Wind

Chapter 29 Birth Certificate (Part )

The attic was spacious, and there were four closed dormer windows with padlocked iron bars facing the outside of the staircase. The bright sunlight shone in through the dormer windows, and the attic was bright and even a little dazzling.

In the attic, there was a bed, a table, chairs, and all the basic living utensils, and it was kept very clean. Xing Tianli wiped the light blue sheets, and there was not even a speck of dust on the straight sheets.

In addition to these tables, chairs and other items, there are three huge double-door safes lined up in a row in the corner of the attic.

The three safes are more than one person tall and more than two feet deep. They are made of one-inch thick solid steel plates and are very sturdy. Each safe has six large mechanical password disks, which has a high safety factor.

"My uncle is a bit paranoid and is ready to run away at any time!"

Xing Tianli sighed again.

He walked to the first safe, turned the combination dial, and opened the safe.

A strong smell of gun oil hit me in the face. Inside the safe, there were more than a dozen long and short firearms in their spare parts state. Dozens of small wooden boxes were stacked underneath, filled with yellow bullets.

The second safe was filled with various medical items.

Gauze, bandages, alcohol, scalpels, sutures, etc., as well as a large number of medicines with foreign letters from hundreds of western countries, basically various anti-inflammatory drugs, and some emergency hemostatic, detoxifying, anesthetic and other medicines.

This cabinet of medical items is very valuable. If it were on the market, it would probably cost tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy. But thinking of Li Kuisheng's smuggling route in Xiaolongqiu Town, one of his businesses is smuggling medicines, so it's not surprising to see these things here.

In the third safe, first of all, there was a small box of banknotes, including those of Ingish, Saint-Norman, Saint-Fallus, as well as those of Idlib, Saint-Roch, and the Aimee Federation. There were banknotes issued by the official banks of each country, in varying denominations.

There was also a small box containing some miscellaneous items from the underworld.

For example, there might be a personal business card of a gang elder in Pinghai City, a personal token of a big brother in the underworld, or even identity tokens of some middle- and lower-level gang leaders.

These things may not seem significant on a daily basis, but they can play a big role when things really need to be life-threatening.

The last small box contained more than a dozen passports.

There were passports from England, Saint-Norman, and Faroese, all of the major powers in the Far West. Half of the passports had photos of Li Kuisheng with a bald head and a big beard.

As for the remaining half of the passports, some of the names are "Li Li", "Zhang Li", "Ma Li" and so on. The surnames are different, but the names are the same. The photo area is still blank, but the stamp has been stamped.

By adding recent photos of Xing Tianli to these passports, he could instantly become a citizen of these countries, apply for asylum at the consulate, or even leave through official channels.

"My uncle is ready to run away at any time." Xing Tianli looked at these things, shook his head gently, and smiled coldly: "Yes, these years, he didn't dare to take me to Dalongqiu County to see the world, always afraid that I would be harmed."

He exhaled, took out two pistols and corresponding bullets from the first safe, stuffed some items in the suitcase he carried into the safe, then Xing Tianli closed the three safes, assembled the two pistols very neatly, and filled the twenty-four magazines with bullets.

After thinking for a while, Xing Tianli shook his head and said, "There is no need to bother my uncle's old friends with some things. Let them shine for their ideals. My affairs are just personal grudges."

"Yes, it's just a personal grudge. And..."

"To meet the most earnest expectation of a young mother for her child."

He raised his gun with both hands and aimed at a dormer window. Then, Xing Tianli stuffed the pistol and the magazine into his sleeves and walked out with the bamboo stick. He locked the iron door, walked around the public terrace, admired the flowers and plants on the terrace, looked at the small buildings and row buildings around him for a while, and then went downstairs.

Going down to the third floor, a girl who looked only twelve or thirteen years old, with bright eyes and a very fresh face, wearing a new long dress, was standing at the stairs. She stared at Xing Tianli with a slightly blushing face, and greeted him enthusiastically and proactively.

This should be the daughter of the teacher couple, a little girl named Nan Yu.

Xing Tianli smiled at Nan Yu charmingly, and the little girl's originally slightly red face turned redder. She lowered her head and hurried back to the room. Then, cheerful piano music sounded in the room.

At the second floor staircase, a boy who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, with messy hair and a look of resentment on his face, was looking upstairs furtively. When he saw Xing Tianli coming down, and more importantly, saw his overly handsome face and a muscular body that was more than a head taller than him, the boy's face suddenly became ugly.

The boy muttered something like "the nose is not a nose, the face is not a face", puffed out his chest, and said fiercely to Xing Tianli: "Newcomer, are there any clothes drying on the roof? If you lose one..."

Xing Tianli smiled at the young man and said, "Are you Mr. Ma's son? This house is my uncle's property. I will be in charge of collecting rent and managing it in the future. Mr. Ma, if you think I will steal your clothes, you can move out. Our rent is so low, we don't have to worry about tenants!"

The dimensionality reduction attack came roaring down, and Master Ma turned around and left in shame.

On the first floor, in the courtyard, the young couple were still reciting lines to each other. The man knelt on one knee, holding a ring made of rose branches in both hands: "Oh, my dear, please accept my most sincere love for you!"

Xing Tianli shuddered and muttered "damn sour smell", then hurriedly opened the small door and escaped.

Following another winding inner road, Xing Tianli walked out of Shan De Fang with some difficulty, passing through running children, foreign women standing on the street, old men and women enjoying the cool air, and chickens, ducks, geese and dogs running around. He exhaled, stood on the side of the road, and waved to a rickshaw that happened to pass by.

"How much money does it cost to go to the Royal Bank of England?" When Xing Tianli spoke, he naturally spoke with a strong Pinghai accent.

Shandefang is an old neighborhood with a long history. It is located in the core area of ​​the International Concession. It is very convenient to go anywhere. The rickshaw driver pulled Xing Tianli southeastward, turned two streets, and only walked five or six miles before returning to Yanjiang Avenue.

We walked three miles east along the busy Yanjiang Avenue and stopped in front of a very imposing building.

It is six stories high, with a front width of 20 zhang, a depth of 15 zhang, and a floor height of more than 15 feet. The exterior facade is made entirely of thick granite. The front of the building facing the river has eight thick arched columns on each floor, and the columns are decorated with colorful marble sculptures, all of which are famous saints and wise ministers in the history of the Kingdom of Yingji.

The main entrance of the building was about ten feet high and two feet wide. The copper door was polished to a smooth finish, emitting a golden glow in the sun. In front of the door stood a team of twenty-four British soldiers wearing red uniforms and high round helmets.

The whole building gives people a feeling of grandeur and wealth, and every brick and stone exudes a strong smell of money.

Xing Tianli got off the rickshaw, looked up at the gate, and saw a row of golden cursive characters carved on a huge granite lintel. He nodded slightly, then walked straight to the gate with his head held high.

Twenty-four Yingji soldiers stared at Xing Tianli fiercely.

Just from the appearance, one can tell that Xing Tianli is a standard native of the Dayu Dynasty of the Eastern Kingdom. However, in the soldiers' impression, these natives with yellow skin, black hair and black eyes, except for a few very familiar old faces who can call the shots in the International Concession, very few dare or are willing to come to the Royal Bank of England.

These natives trust their banks and money houses more, and they don’t understand the concept of modern finance at all!
A red-haired man in a black tuxedo, with meticulously groomed hair and beard, came out from behind an arch pillar beside the door. From a distance of more than two meters, the man seemed respectful, but in fact, he bowed slightly to Xing Tianli with a look of scrutiny.

"This, sir?"

Xing Tianli flipped his palm and showed a small, intricately shaped, gold-plated key. The red-haired man's pupils condensed, and he suddenly became extremely respectful, and quickly came to Xing Tian.

Xing Tianli went straight into the bank building. Under the guidance of the red-haired man, he walked through the spacious lobby, the long corridor, and took the elevator down to the underground. After the red-haired man left, Xing Tianli had already arrived at a depth of ten feet underground, a room that was only about five feet long and wide, clean, with only a metal table in the middle.

Behind the dark grey metal table, an old man, also wearing a tuxedo, with sleek hair and beard, and white gloves on his hands, slowly stood up and bowed to Xing Tianli with a smile: "Dear sir, may I help you?"

Xing Tianli came up to the old man and whispered, "Secret number, 'Tongming Wanyu 0715'." The old man examined the gold-plated key that Xing Tianli took out, saluted him with a smile, turned around silently, and walked with Xing Tianli to the wall behind him.

The old man stretched out his hand and knocked hard on the wall. The rhythm of his knocking was long and short, fast and slow. After nearly a hundred times, a dull roar of mechanism came from inside the door. After five full breaths, a very thin crack appeared on the seemingly smooth wall, and a pure steel door that was ten feet high, six feet wide and one foot thick slowly opened outward.

The old man brought Xing Tianli into the gate, and the steel door slowly closed behind him with the same dull sound of mechanisms.

Behind the door was a short corridor. At the end of the corridor was a room guarded by a dozen armed men. There were a dozen uniform steel doors on the left, right, front and back of the room. The old man led Xing Tianli to a steel door and gently opened it.

Inside the door, there was only a small chair in the small space, a fixed metal table in front, and a small window with a heavy curtain on the wall. Xing Tianli walked into the small room, closed the door with his backhand, sat on the chair, reported the secret number again, and gave a series of verification secret signs, as well as reserved seals, etc.

After working for a while, a two-foot square metal box was handed over through the small window.

The small metal box was extremely heavy, and the box was obviously made of some special alloy steel.

Xing Tianli turned the combination lock on the box, entered the password Li Kuisheng told him, inserted the small key into it, and twisted it lightly, and the lid of the box opened silently.

Inside the box, there were half a foot thick documents of various kinds.

The one on top was a birth certificate issued by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the International Concession. On the birth certificate was a photo of the baby, with signatures of more than a dozen people including the attending doctor, the head nurse, the father, the mother, and the invited witnesses.

'This is to certify that at noon on July 15, 1835, in the Dayu Dynasty Fenzu calendar, a male baby named 'Xingtian Li' was born at the Queen Ingish Hospital in the International Concession of Pinghai City, Dayu Dynasty. He is the only legitimate son of His Excellency Xingtian Tongming, Vice Admiral of the Black Borneo Expeditionary Force of the Dayu Dynasty, and is, by right, the only heir to all of His Excellency Xingtian Tongming's property and rights.'

On this birth certificate, there is a photo of Xing Tianli when he was just born, a photo of his father Xing Tiantongming and mother Qing Wanyu holding Xing Tianli, as well as Xing Tianli's palm prints, sole prints, and fingerprints of each finger and toe.

Next to all these seals are the signatures and personal seals of the attending physician, the head nurse, and those witnesses.

Next to the birth certificate, there was a small envelope.

He opened the envelope and found a hastily written note with messy handwriting and blood stains on it. The gist of it was, "I, Xing Tian Tongming, will die in this battle and will never abandon my ship and live. I have specially entrusted my brother Li Kuisheng in the army to take care of my wife Qing Wanyu and my son Xing Tianli for me."

On the note, there was a bloody thumbprint and a bright red private seal.

The envelope also contained a leather-bound, extremely thick certificate. Xing Tianli's fingers trembled slightly as he flipped open the certificate. On the front was a photo of Xing Tian, ​​a handsome and resolute face, with two eyes as sharp as knives, as if they could penetrate the photo and fiercely carve two holes in his face.

In addition to the photo page, the certificate has thirty-six pages, on which are written in neat handwriting the many contributions that Xing Tian Tongming has made since joining the army.

In addition to this certificate, there is also a small personal silk screen print in the envelope.

The seal is not big, only the size of a thumb, but it is oily yellow and shiny like jade, like frozen, clearly a piece of top-quality Tianhuang jelly. On the top of the small seal, a divine beast sitting on the top of a mountain and roaring to the sky is carved with extremely sophisticated techniques. At the bottom of the seal, there are four small ancient seal characters "Xingtian Tongming".

"Xing Tian is omnipresent, omnipresent, omnipresent divine beast!"

"You are a divine beast, but you named me 'Li'... This name is not good, it's not grand enough. You named me Xingtian Yinglong, Xingtian Canglong or something like that. Wouldn't it be majestic and domineering?" Xingtian Li weighed the small seal and complained softly.

"But, yes. Li is just a nickname."

"I haven't completed my coming-of-age ceremony yet, and haven't entered the ancestral temple to choose my name yet?"

Xing Tianli chuckled and shook his head, then stuffed the envelope and the birth certificate into his sleeves.

In the small box, there was a thick stack of documents that made Xing Tianli dumbfounded. These were the property rights certificates of dozens of properties in Black Borneo. Xing Tianli flipped through them and found two gold mines, seven copper and silver mines, fifteen iron mines, as well as a rubber plantation with a total area of ​​more than 500,000 mu, a spice plantation with a total area of ​​more than 100,000 mu, etc.

This is a fortune worth a fortune.

According to these documents, Xing Tian Tongming personally holds a minimum of 7.5% and a maximum of 21% of the shares in these industries.

Xing Tianli couldn't figure out for a moment how much silver such a thick stack of documents and so many properties were worth.

Shaking his head, he stuffed the half-foot thick document into his sleeves.

Now Black Borneo has fallen into the hands of the Dongyun Island Alliance. However, the operators of these industries are all powerful forces in the Kingdom of England. I think these industries should still be operating normally, but if these shares want to be cashed out, I am afraid there will be some disputes.

After packing up these things and handing the empty box back through the small window, Xing Tianli stood up and left the bank the same way he came.

Standing at the door of the bank, looking at the mighty river flowing eastward, Xing Tianli was pondering his next move. Across the street, several priests in black robes, accompanied by a dozen burly men in dark clothes, strode across the road and headed straight for Xing Tianli.

"Lost child, we finally found you."

Xing Tianli frowned, saw the hustle and bustle of traffic on the road, then looked at these aggressive missionaries and the big men behind them, then he turned around and ran away.

The priests immediately ran away, followed by a dozen men.

After chasing for a while, they saw that Xing Tianli was running as fast as a rabbit. The priests were fine, but the strong men began to pant and could not catch up with Xing Tianli. One of the men immediately took out a small whistle and blew it hard.

The sharp whistle sounded in all directions. On Yanjiang Avenue, there were many important institutions in the International Concession, such as the headquarters of the official banks of major powers, such as the General Customs Building of the Great Yu Dynasty, all on this Yanjiang Avenue. Hearing the whistle, many concession policemen in light gray uniforms looked over here.

"Catch him!" The big man who blew the whistle roared loudly: "He is a fugitive from the Kingdom of Saint Norman. Catch him for me, and I will reward him with ten gold coins!"

The eyes of those patrolmen with slightly dark skin or short stature all lit up, blew their whistles one after another, and surrounded them from all directions.

Xing Tianli immediately rushed into the alley where two buildings met, and after passing through the two buildings, there was another road in front of him that ran parallel to the river. But just as he ran here, whistles sounded again all around him.

This time, not only the patrol officers, but also some foreigners who were bored and full of personal heroism were ready to fight and rushed towards Xing Tianli.

More and more people came from all directions. Even though Xing Tianli ran fast, he felt powerless for a moment as if he was trapped in a "human sea war".

Helpless, Xing Tianli looked at the priests chasing him and shouted, "You forced me to do this!"

He took out his pistol and fired fifteen bullets at the priests who were chasing in the front.

All fifteen bullets hit the three priests in the front. However, these priests just shuddered, and a little blood could be seen seeping out, and then they continued to chase as if nothing had happened.

But as soon as the gunshot was heard, chaos broke out all around.

The patrolmen and those who volunteered to capture Xing Tianli were thrown into chaos. Xing Tianli easily blended into the crowd and disappeared without a trace.

(End of this chapter)