Breaking free from the beads, Du Wenming wanted to flee, but suddenly a man appeared in front of him.
The man was wearing a white short shirt with frog buttons, black pants, and was rolling a pair of walnuts in his hand, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
Du Wenming recognized him: "Zhang Gunli, haven't you already..."
"You mean to say I'm dead?" Zhang Gunli smiled, "You still owe me a debt, hoping I'm dead; where in the world is such good fortune?"
Li Banfeng observed carefully from the tree, realizing that this was the real Zhang Gunli.
He remembered Ah Se's drawing, which depicted the scene during the explosion involving Fake Zhang Gunli at Fool's City.
So he was the hunting dog that Luo Yanjun mentioned.
Du Wenming said, "Debt can be repaid, but today is not the time."
Zhang Gunli laughed, "Is it up to you to decide? I feel today is just right!"
"That depends on your skills. They say abacus and walnuts are your life-long skills. I've already experienced the abacus, having taken the initial advantage, and it was nothing special." Du Wenming turned his knees outward, lifted his shoulders, and revealed his most skilled Puppet Dance.
"My dear, you're getting it mixed up. The skill is the abacus; it's the walnuts that are my life dependent. Be clearly aware of that." Zhang Gunli flicked his hand, and four abaci floated beside him, each different in style and size.
Du Wenming was startled; could it be that Zhang Gunli hadn't exerted his full force earlier?
Li Banfeng was also perplexed. Even if Zhang Gunli had complete confidence in defeating Du Wenming, facing a rival from Above the Clouds, he shouldn't be so complacent. Having taken the initial advantage, he should have pressed forward without delay.
What was he waiting for?
Was he using Du Wenming to lure someone else out?
Zhang Gunli continued rubbing the walnuts, smiling as he watched Du Wenming: "My dear, I can't bear to kill you. I'm in a good mood today and will have a good play with you."
The two walnuts clinked, and four abaci simultaneously flew towards Du Wenming.
The wooden abacus came at Du Wenming's waist first. He dodged by twisting his joints. As the abacus brushed past his clothes, it suddenly ignited. No matter how he dodged, he couldn't escape the flames. His clothes caught fire.
He had no time to extinguish the fire, not even to remove his clothes, as the Iron Abacus came directly at him. Du Wenming tilted his head back with all his strength, and while the first attempt of the Iron Abacus missed, the second came straight down to hit his face.
Du Wenming kept leaning back, pressing the back of his head against his back, narrowly avoiding the Iron Abacus.
The largest, more than a meter long stone abacus, came crashing down from above. With nowhere to escape, Du Wenming held the abacus up with his hands.
The glass abacus approached and suddenly exploded, shattering glass shards that pierced Du Wenming, leaving him covered in blood.
Most fatally, some glass dust was inhaled by Du Wenming, causing him to cough violently, with bloody phlegm.
The wooden abacus rushed back, starting a fire on Du Wenming's body. The abacus beads of the Iron Abacus turned into sharp blades, slicing a large wound open on Du Wenming.
The stone abacus in his hands felt as though it weighed a thousand pounds, nearly crushing Du Wenming.
He looked up at Zhang Gunli: "Master, your technique isn't all that impressive!"
Zhang Gunli chuckled: "Don't just talk big, show me something real."
Du Wenming slid back and forth, holding the stone abacus, desperately struggling with the Wooden and Iron Abaci.
Zhang Gunli moved his fingers, and the stone abacus suddenly increased its weight, bending Du Wenming's elbow.
Du Wenming staggered, intentionally shifting his balance, making the stone abacus fall from his left shoulder, smashing the wooden abacus and knocking the Iron Abacus flying.
He threw the stone abacus away, spun around to extinguish the fire on his body, and charged toward Zhang Gunli, intending to drag him into a dance.
Zhang Gunli chuckled, making four hundred abaci rise into the air, surrounding Du Wenming.
"My dear, your dad's abaci will never run out!"
The four hundred abaci besieged Du Wenming, and Li Banfeng could no longer see him, only noticing flesh occasionally flying through the gaps of the abaci.
Over a minute later, Du Wenming was still struggling within the abaci, yet refusing to succumb. Zhang Gunli praised: "Young man, I admire you, but debts must be repaid. That's the rule. Do you want an intact corpse, or to turn into minced meat?"
This remark seemed insignificant, but upon hearing it, Du Wenming was utterly disheartened, seemingly resigned to die at Zhang Gunli's hands.
Due to owing Zhang Gunli money, he fell victim to Zhang Gunli's technique, lethally intimidated.
Li Banfeng wasn't very familiar with the Credit Cultivation Technique. He only observed that Du Wenming, originally fiercely resisting, gradually lost his fighting spirit.
Just using one technique to force Du Wenming into this predicament, the real Zhang Gunli's power exceeded Li Banfeng's expectations, leaving Du Wenming seemingly with no way out.
If Du Wenming gets killed and the Peddler still doesn't respond, can it be concluded that the Peddler is dead according to Inner State?
Li Banfeng hesitated about intervening when a laugh suddenly echoed from afar.
"Old Zhang, you're a Grandmaster too, bullying a junior like this isn't right, is it?"
Zhang Gunli neither retracted the abaci nor intended to spare Du Wenming. He only asked, "Who goes there? Come out and speak!"
A flash of golden light, punctuated by crisp snapping sounds, and all the abaci fell to the ground, with frames, rods, and beads scattered everywhere.
From a distance, Li Banfeng watched, noticing a fair number of Copper Coins among the scattered abaci parts.
Using just a handful of Copper Coins to shatter Zhang Gunli's four hundred abaci, the newcomer's skills were quite formidable.
Zhang Gunli looked around but the other party had not yet appeared.
He touched the pair of walnuts in his palm, which emitted a strong light upon contact, lighting up Du Wenming's battered body, thick smoke rising, nearing his demise.