A man appeared in the night and took Du Wenming aside.
Zhang Gunli carefully looked at this person. The other was dressed in white, with golden copper coins embroidered all over the clothes. He wore a bamboo hat, with tassels hanging below, and copper coins dangling from the ends. The copper coins swayed back and forth, and Zhang Gunli couldn't see the man's face clearly.
The man pulled a folding fan out of his wide sleeve, with a copper coin hanging from the end of it.
Zhang Gunli laughed: "You're Mr. Kong Fang?"
He could have killed Du Wenming long ago, but he delayed for so long just to wait for this person to show up.
"I wouldn't dare, just call me Brother Kong Fang. The copper coins on the ground are yours; we settle our accounts in money and goods."
Hearing the phrase 'money and goods are settled,' Zhang Gunli hurriedly checked Du Wenming's IOU.
Business Cultivators have a Technique called 'Money and Goods are Settled.' If the Technique takes effect, the IOU left by Du Wenming would be burned.
But for the 'Money and Goods are Settled' Technique to take effect, there are conditions. Either the money and goods are roughly equal in value, or Zhang Gunli recognizes the debt voluntarily, or the cultivation level difference is so vast that the Business Cultivator can forcibly settle the account.
Seeing the IOU wasn't burned, Zhang Gunli felt a bit relieved, at least proving the cultivation level gap wasn't too large.
Mr. Kong Fang shook his folding fan and said, "Old Zhang, no need to worry. Snowflake Beach does things by the rules, and if you don't acknowledge the debt, I won't force it."
Zhang Gunli put away the IOU and smiled: "Why should I acknowledge the debt? How much are these few copper coins worth?"
"These copper coins have been around for years, Brother Zhang. I definitely don't intend to let you take a loss."
"What years? Tell me, and we'll calculate it carefully." Zhang Gunli waved his hand, and the scattered abacuses on the ground floated into the air.
The frames reassembled, the rods reset one by one, and the beads threaded onto the slots, and soon, more than four hundred abacuses were fully restored.
Mr. Kong Fang sighed: "Brother Zhang, if you quibble like this, it will hurt harmony!"
Zhang Gunli sneered: "What harmony do I have with you? Do I even know who you are?"
Four hundred abacuses flew towards Mr. Kong Fang. Mr. Kong Fang grabbed a stone abacus from them, swung it in his hand, and blocked and smashed all the attacking abacuses.
The broken abacuses reformed again and continued to besiege Mr. Kong Fang.
This style of fighting truly opened Li Banfeng's eyes. No wonder Senior Brother Sun had said that if one didn't see Zhang Gunli using the abacus, then Zhang Gunli wasn't real.
The abacus was Zhang Gunli's unique skill, with more than four hundred abacuses, each capable of attacking, ready to reform whenever broken. If trapped by the abacus, it seemed like no one could win.
Mr. Kong Fang didn't panic at all. He dismantled the stone abacus, sprinkling the abacus beads out. The peach-sized beads darted through the dense abacus net, aiming straight at Zhang Gunli.
Zhang Gunli never expected his own stone abacus could strike him. The speed was quick, and the angle was tricky. Caught off guard, Zhang Gunli took a bead to his chest, and it pierced his body.
To someone of his level, this injury wasn't severe, but taking that hit undermined Zhang Gunli's prestige.
Credit Cultivation fears undermining one's prestige most. Once the momentum wanes, the Technique falters, and the broken abacus can't reform quickly.
Amid the abacus, Mr. Kong Fang maneuvered skillfully, pulling out an Iron Abacus, rapidly creating a path, and soon approached Zhang Gunli.
Zhang Gunli took out dozens of Silver Yuan from his pocket, tossing them toward Mr. Kong Fang. This was the Credit Cultivation Technique, Money Offering Treasure.
If Mr. Kong Fang got hit by the Silver Yuan, it would count as borrowing money from Zhang Gunli. Once in debt to Credit Cultivation, one would suffer greatly in a confrontation.
In theory, he should dodge, and avoid even a slight touch with the Silver Yuan.
But Mr. Kong Fang didn't dodge. Instead, he caught all the Silver Yuan with his hand and then hurled them back at Zhang Gunli's face.
Zhang Gunli had no time to finish his Technique, quickly dodging the Silver Yuan. Despite his efforts, he couldn't evade three Silver Yuan. One struck his forehead, one embedded in his chin, and one lodged into his cheekbone.
Mr. Kong Fang laughed: "Old Zhang, what were you thinking? Using Silver Yuan to hit me? These Silver Yuan were minted by our Snowflake Beach; of course, they'll obey our command."
Zhang Gunli exerted considerable effort to pull the Silver Yuan out of his face.
Mr. Kong Fang shook his folding fan: "Old Zhang, I've already given you enough face. My junior apprentice brother was beaten like this by you. If this account can't be settled, then we'll have to fight to the death today!"
Zhang Gunli hesitated. In the past, when faced with such ruthless individuals, he would let things go. He wasn't short on money, and after years in Jianghu, there were plenty of accounts he couldn't recover. He never gambled with his life.
But today's situation was a bit special. He wasn't here to collect debts; he came with a mission. Inner State wanted him to kill Mr. Kong Fang if possible, and if not, he had to wait for reinforcements from Inner State to arrive.
Two walnuts spun in his palm, and Zhang Gunli seemed about to use a Magical Treasure.
Mr. Kong Fang glanced at the walnuts and said: "You don't have many Magical Treasures left; all the good ones were given to the fake Zhang Gunli. Now that the fake is dead, the treasures went to Gui Jianchou and Mu Yuejuan."
These things were told to Mr. Kong Fang by Feng Chongli, but until today, they didn't realize Zhang Gunli was actually a fake.
Zhang Gunli rubbed the two walnuts vigorously: "I may not know who you are, but you should know me. If you've heard of Zhang Gunli, you should know I never make unprofitable trades."
"I've given away plenty of good things, but I've also earned a lot of good things back. Do you dare to gamble with me once?"
"If you have good stuff, bring it out and let me see," Mr. Kong Fang picked up a wooden abacus, lightly flicking the beads. "Let me calculate for you, see if your life is worth more, or the good things are worth more."
Zhang Gunli hesitated, still unwilling to act.
Mr. Kong Fang looked up and said: "Are you stalling for time? Are you waiting for reinforcements from Inner State? Or...have Inner State's reinforcements already arrived?"
As he spoke, Mr. Kong Fang glanced at the banyan tree behind him.
Although Li Banfeng has the gift of being overlooked, Mr. Kong Fang's level was too high. If he wasn't suspicious, he could hide, but if he actively investigated, it would be hard for Li Banfeng to escape his perception.
"Who's the person in the tree? Your helper?" Mr. Kong Fang stared fixedly at the banyan tree.
Zhang Gunli believed the reinforcements from Inner State wouldn't arrive so quickly. If reinforcements did come, they would at least give him a signal.
He had made countless enemies in his life, and he suspected it might be one of them arriving.
Mr. Kong Fang stepped towards the banyan tree, unable to see the person's true appearance but still needing to be wary of Zhang Gunli behind him.
Perched in the banyan tree, Li Banfeng drew his weapon from his waist.
The bloodied Du Wenming stood up from the ground, heavily injured but prepared for battle.
The jungle was silent.
Mr. Kong Fang drew closer to the banyan tree.
Clang clang clang!
The sound of a rattle reverberated.
Du Wenming exclaimed joyously: "The Head of the family is here!"
Zhang Gunli paused for a second and pulled out Du Wenming's IOU, burning it on the spot: "Consider the money paid back."
With that, Zhang Gunli bolted away.
The Peddler had arrived.
He ran as fast as possible; running even a step slower would mean certain death.
Du Wenming stumbled towards the banyan tree: "Head of the family, head..."
Mr. Kong Fang grabbed Du Wenming from behind, leaping out of the forest.
Confused, Du Wenming asked: "Senior Brother, the Head of the family is here, why are we leaving?"
Mr. Kong Fang replied: "Have you forgotten our depot's rule? Outside the depot, we don't speak of depot matters. Let's not meet the Head of the family."
The drum sounded, the Peddler came, it was inevitable.
Li Banfeng sat atop the tree, clutching the rattle, wiping the sweat off his face.
PS: The rattle was bought at the night market, originally intended as a gift for the Portable Residence.