Li Banfeng waved his hand and said, "Don't wait for him, send away the irrelevant people, I have something to ask you alone."
The Centipede Woman quickly called in the Wild Pig, "Clear everyone out, let them wait in the rest area, they're not allowed to come over unless called."
The Wild Pig recognized Li Qi, they were acquaintances back then, so he greeted him first and then started clearing the scene.
A Ju Gong, with his hands folded, squatted on the ground and said, "I was just about to set up the lights, why are we not shooting again?"
The Wild Pig said angrily, "Why do you have so much to say? Just do what you're told, you're not losing your pay, hurry up and leave!"
...
After everyone was cleared out, Li Banfeng asked the Centipede Mother and Daughter, "How is Brother Shui doing lately?"
The Centipede Woman didn't know how to start, so the Centipede Daughter said, "Master Shui is quite good."
"How exactly is he good?" Li Banfeng looked at the Centipede Daughter.
"How good, I can't really say..." The Centipede Daughter looked back at her daughter.
The Centipede Woman said, "Master Shui, indeed, is quite good."
Li Banfeng turned to look at the Wild Pig, "Old Pig, you're a straightforward person, what's really going on with Brother Shui?"
The Wild Pig sighed and said, "We don't dare to ask about the Local Deity's affairs. Some say Master Shui is doing well, others say he's not, and some even say he's no longer the Local Deity,
There's an important figure in the territory, with the surname Guo, who says Master Shui is doing well. He's a friend of Master Shui's, so we have to believe whatever he says, but we haven't seen Master Shui for a long time,
A few days ago, some people came to develop the land, but Master Shui didn't send out the examination news, instead, this Master Guo wanted us to give it a try,
We have work in the Shadow Play Company, so we don't really want to get involved in this examination matter, mainly because we're not very familiar with this Master Guo,
You have seen the situation in the village, Seventh Master, our days are quite good, so I think Master Shui shouldn't be in any trouble."
Indeed, Zhengjing Village is prosperous, under the faint Heavenly Light of the New Land, it looks almost no different from Proper Land at a glance.
Is it really as Ni Shangqiu described?
Did this loach really tell the truth?
"Seventh Master, don't listen to their nonsense!" A huge body slithered over, Li Banfeng looked up and saw it was the Straw Moth Lady, Yanzi.
Yanzi wiped her sweat and said, "Seventh Master, I heard you were back, so I quickly came to find you. Something has definitely happened to Master Shui. I searched for him for several days without seeing a trace, Xianxian said she saw that Guo fellow leading people around the territory three days ago, they were definitely after Master Shui!"
This mystery seems to have arrived.
Li Banfeng was silent for a moment and said to the Centipede Woman, "Tell the crew that we're not shooting today, everyone take the day off, and they'll still get paid."
The Centipede Woman didn't dare to say more and quickly notified the cast and crew.
Li Banfeng then instructed Yanzi, "Call on Xianxian and Qiaocui, walk around the street, and tell the villagers to stay home today, not to go out casually."
Yanzi quickly went to find her two sisters.
Once the unrelated people left, Li Banfeng cut his palm and sprinkled some blood by the lake.
This is his territory, he has matters that the Local Deity needs to provide protection for, he wanted to see if this contract was still effective.
A cold wind blew, and a tall, thin man in his fifties, with his hair combed into a 3:7 parting, wearing a white Zhongshan suit, walked up to Li Banfeng.
"Are you Li Qi?"
Li Banfeng nodded and said, "Are you the Local Deity?"
The man said, "My name is Guo Gaoge, I am the Local Deity of the neighboring territory, this territory originally belonged to Brother Shui. Brother Shui recently encountered some issues, so I'm temporarily handling things for him here on the ground."
Li Banfeng asked, "What kind of issues did he encounter?"
Guo Gaoge replied, "This is something I wasn't supposed to tell you, but Brother Shui said that there are only three people in this world he trusts, one's Qiu Luoye, one is you, and one is me,
Someone from Inner State framed Brother Shui, and he suffered a calamity, lost his status, decreased his cultivation level, and is now recovering in the territory,
I didn't dare to spread the news; I could only keep it hidden for Brother Shui while taking care of everything for him,
Inner State is spreading rumors that I want to seize Brother Shui's territory and has even said they would go to Qi Qiu City to inform you and Qiu Luoye, asking you to come to me for revenge on Brother Shui's behalf,
I know you must have misunderstandings about me, but I am upright and not afraid of a crooked shadow. To be honest with you, Brother Shui once wanted to give the territory to me, he even wrote the Contract Book."
As he spoke, Guo Gaoge took out the Contract Book, "Look, isn't this Brother Shui's handwriting."
Li Banfeng took a glance and, indeed, it was Shui Yongquan's handwriting, and it was written in the Contract Book that he wanted to give the entire territory to Guo Gaoge.
Guo Gaoge said: "I don't acknowledge this contract. I would never take advantage of someone in distress.
Li Qi, if you trust me, come with me to see Brother Shui. Brother Shui has been longing to meet you.
If you don't trust me, go ask others and see if I've done anything to wrong Brother Shui's territory!
If you don't even want to ask and just want to fight me, I'll oblige. But if that's the case, I can only tell you that you've fallen for Inner State's treachery. I have a clear conscience regarding Brother Shui."
The puzzle had long been laid out, and Guo Gaoge just repeated the connection of events.
Guo Gaoge's explanation was almost flawless, and what he demanded was for Li Banfeng to see Shui Yongquan.
If Li Banfeng chose to believe Guo Gaoge, and Guo Gaoge was indeed lying, it would count as a failed puzzle solution, and Guo Gaoge's power would greatly increase, putting Li Banfeng at a disadvantage.
If Li Banfeng chose not to believe Guo Gaoge, he must find a reasonable answer to refute Guo Gaoge's puzzle, or else it would also count as a failure to solve the puzzle.
If Li Banfeng didn't solve the puzzle and directly fought Guo Gaoge, it would be deemed unreasonable commotion, and the result would still be a boost in Guo Gaoge's power.
How to respond in such a situation?
Li Banfeng pulled up a chair and invited Guo Gaoge to sit down for a detailed conversation.
"Brother Guo, let me ask you something, why did Brother Shui lose his cultivation level and stature?"
Guo Gaoge replied: "As you probably know, he has half of the contract book in Inner State. There are curse techniques hidden within the contract."
Li Banfeng asked again: "Where is Brother Shui's half of the contract book?"
"Of course, it's buried in the territory."
Li Banfeng said: "Brother Shui has already turned into a Wounded Demon Fiend, why don't we just dig up the contract book and completely destroy it? How about that?"
Li Banfeng set the trap to see if Guo Gaoge would take the bait.
Guo Gaoge didn't take the bait, waving his hands repeatedly: "No, this won't do. Right now, Brother Shui is seriously weakened. If we dig up the contract book, wouldn't it be adding insult to injury?"
Li Banfeng continued pushing: "Brother Shui has lost his stature, the iron deed on this territory is already useless to him. What harm would come from digging it up?"
Guo Gaoge shook his head and said: "I think this approach is inappropriate..."
"You think it's inappropriate because this territory's contract book has your name on it, right?"
Guo Gaoge frowned and said: "How could it have my name on it?"
"The contract book doesn't lie. If you took over this territory, your name would definitely be on it."
Guo Gaoge shook his head: "That's nonsense, I've never thought of taking Brother Shui's territory."
"So did you take it or not?"
"I didn't..."
"If you didn't, then let's dig it up!"
"I won't dig..."
"Refusing to dig means you're afraid. Being afraid means you lied. The evidence is ironclad. What else do you have to argue?"
Guo Gaoge started sweating: "I'm not arguing, I don't know where Brother Shui's contract book is buried."
"You don't know, but I do. Let me ask you again, do you dare?"
Guo Gaoge felt that what Li Banfeng said made a lot of sense.
Though he didn't admit it verbally, he acknowledged it in his heart.
The puzzle had been cracked by Li Banfeng.
...
In a small hut in the village, Old Pig handed out a cigarette to each of the shadow play workers: "Take a break today. Seventh Master has instructed us to resume tomorrow."
One of the shadow play workers asked: "What's the reason for all this?"
Old Pig snorted: "Why do you need to ask so much? Didn't I tell you? Your pay won't be docked!"
The shadow play worker crossed his arms, squatted by the door, and smoked: "What's the big deal? Isn't it just a small matter?
What is an Enigma Cultivator anyway? Treating them like grandsons is already looking up to them!"
PS: He still loves Zhengjing Village, often coming around for a visit.