Wu Yongchao led Li Banfeng to the residence of Fortress Lord Zhou.
Nestled deep within a valley, the stronghold of Fortress Lord Zhou was significantly larger than those of other Home Cultivators, featuring a five-story vermilion building flanked by two three-story auxiliary buildings. Together, these formed a spacious courtyard bordered by numerous smaller courtyards and Western-style houses.
Wu Yongchao said, "Every year, we contribute money and manpower to build the Fortress Lord’s home. Ma Dingfu and the others always say that the bigger the Fortress Lord’s mansion, the higher his cultivation level, and the better life in Iron Gate Fort gets."
Li Banfeng laughed. "Ma Dingfu really is an excellent subordinate."
Lights turned on inside the main building, and Wu Yongchao lowered his voice. "This must be the Fortress Lord’s family."
Looking at the number of lights, Li Banfeng asked, "Isn’t your Fortress Lord a Home Cultivator? He sure has a lot of family members. Can the House Spirit tolerate so many outsiders?"
Wu Yongchao replied, "The Fortress Lord also once cautioned us, saying that it is not suitable for Home Cultivators to start a family, as it would hinder cultivation progress. He established a rule that Home Cultivators in Iron Gate Fort must not marry, yet he himself has married over thirty wives. Many people can’t make sense of this, but Ma Dingfu and others have said that we should not apply the Fortress Lord’s rules to the Fortress Lord himself. The Fortress Lord and we are different. He set those rules for our own good; we shouldn’t worry about his affairs."
Li Banfeng lamented again, "This Ma Dingfu is really quite a..."
He heard Ma Dingfu’s shouting through the Silk-pulling Earrings.
At least five others were shouting with him, their voices sounding as if they were on a battlefield at the climactic moment of a decisive battle—one against five.
Li Banfeng looked at Wu Yongchao and asked, "How many wives did you say the Fortress Lord has?"
"Thirty-two or thirty-five, I think. Some say it’s thirty-eight. I can’t remember clearly."
Li Banfeng had Wu Yongchao keep watch nearby while he quietly sneaked into the main building.
He wasn’t familiar with the layout of the main building, but bringing Wu Yongchao would have been useless, as Wu Yongchao was equally unfamiliar with it, aside from his own residence.
According to Li Banfeng’s speculation, confidential matters were often hidden on the top floor, as far fewer people would have visited the top floor compared to the ground floor.
The thing Li Banfeng was most worried about now was that Fortress Lord Zhou hadn’t died, or hadn’t died completely.
He was still puzzled; Luo Dagui had been conversing with Zhou Anju just before dying. Even if Luo Dagui could use a Voice-Changing Technique, the two voices had different origins.
Luo Dagui’s voice came from his own Big Horn.
Zhou Anju’s voice came from deep within the valley.
After searching three rooms on the top floor, Li Banfeng found the answer.
In the third room, there was a huge Bellows Phonograph.
A stack of records was placed beside it.
The horn of this Bellows Phonograph, over a meter in diameter, was usually hidden behind curtains. Coupled with some decorations employing a Blinding Technique, it was completely invisible from the outside.
Li Banfeng took the stack of records back to the Portable Residence and had his wife play them one by one.
"Cannon Head Luo, for what purpose have you come to Iron Gate Fort?"
"We are all poor folks here. You ask for ten thousand Ocean Dollars, which we cannot produce!"
"Cannon Head Luo, you are ruthless. I, Zhou, am afraid of you..."
Li Banfeng understood everything. It all made sense now.
No wonder the last sentence didn’t quite fit the situation at the time; despite Luo Dagui not having done anything, Fortress Lord Zhou still said he was afraid of him.
Fortress Lord Zhou used this Bellows Phonograph to pre-record his own voice and then, using the Voice-Changing Technique, he impersonated Cannon Head Luo outside the valley, completing a self-answering dialogue.
One reason was that the Bellows Phonograph was bigger than the Big Horn and not convenient to move.
Another reason was that the situation outside the valley was complex, and if he wasn’t there himself, it would be difficult to deal with any unexpected situations.
Charlatan’s tricks, all of them.
It didn’t sound very clever, but it had managed to fool a group of Home Cultivators of considerable cultivation levels for decades.
The voices of Fortress Lord Zhou and Cannon Head Luo didn’t sound the least bit alike.
Li Banfeng wondered if he was being overly cautious, but whenever he encountered Spiritual Objects that could manipulate voice and shadow, he always thought of the Ling Family.
Whenever he thought of the Ling Family, he thought of hooks.
Li Banfeng pushed the Windmill Phonograph out of his Portable Residence, turned the volume to its lowest setting, and played a tune called "Pretense."
TING!
A crisp sound rang out, and the hook broke.
This was an extremely delicate hook, completely different from Lu Xiaolan’s crude ones. If one of Lu Xiaolan’s hooks had broken, the noise would have been louder than a gunshot.
After cutting the hook, Li Banfeng felt much more at ease.
He found many blank records in Zhou Anju’s room and brought them back to his Portable Residence. "My dear, could you possibly record a few more for me using his voice?"
"My dear husband, that’s easily done! I have two trays!"
Li Banfeng placed a record on each of the two trays, and his wife, mimicking Zhou Anju’s voice and following Li Banfeng’s instructions, engraved a few more records.
「...」
Ma Dingfu finished his business and called over the Fortress Lord’s steward.
"Old He, tell the other ladies not to worry. I assure you I will treat them well," he ordered.
The steward repeatedly agreed.
"Furthermore, I’m planning to pick two to send over to you. These aren’t my rejects; I’ve seen two ladies who really seem to match your temperament," he added.
The steward quickly bowed. "Thank you, Master Ma, for your generous favor."
"People from Flying Eagle Mountain will be here in a couple of days. Don’t say what shouldn’t be said, and don’t ask what shouldn’t be asked. You are the Fortress Lord’s steward; the affairs of Flying Eagle Mountain have nothing to do with you."
"I understand that; Fortress Lord Zhou had already instructed me before..." The steward inadvertently mentioned Fortress Lord Zhou and, fearing the displeasure of the newly appointed Master Ma, quickly shut his mouth.
Seeing this, Ma Dingfu laughed and said, "Old He, you’re overthinking things. I’m not that petty. At tomorrow’s banquet, I’ll even make a special toast to Fortress Lord Zhou.
"Despite his lack of significant personal cultivation, the cultivation in his heart is incredibly profound. Over the years, he slowly guided me!
"I’m telling you, the cultivation of one’s body truly can’t compare to the cultivation of one’s heart. Old He, with your Fifth Layer Cultivation, would you dare show the slightest temper in front of Fortress Lord Zhou?
"It doesn’t matter if someone is a Fifth Layer or even an Eighth Layer Cultivator; in front of our Fortress Lord Zhou, they have to bow their heads, be humble, and obey without question!
"My respect for Fortress Lord Zhou comes from the bottom of my heart!"
Steward He nodded repeatedly. "Master Ma hasn’t forgotten old affections. Having a Fortress Lord like you is a blessing for our Iron Gate Fort!"
Ma Dingfu laughed. "You can’t say that yet. My position isn’t legitimate yet, so things aren’t quite right. At the banquet three days from now, make sure the guest list is well prepared. Record who comes, who doesn’t, and how significant their tokens of goodwill are. Remember it all clearly. I’m not one to hold grudges, but some matters need to be kept in mind..."
Li Banfeng crouched on the rooftop, wearing the Silk-pulling Earrings, hearing every single word loud and clear.
Li Banfeng found himself admiring the methods of Deceiver Cultivators more and more...
According to Wu Yongchao, Fortress Lord Zhou set the rule more than a decade ago: no Home Cultivators above the Fourth Layer in Iron Gate Fort.
「...」
Three days later, as Iron Gate Fort’s banquet began, Steward He stood at the entrance collecting gifts, recording those worth more than one Silver Yuan in one book, and those worth less in another.
Those who didn’t show up were checked off one by one from Iron Gate Fort’s register. Once Ma Dingfu’s status as Fortress Lord was solidified, he would deal with them individually.
It was thought Wu Yongchao wouldn’t come, but he actually did.
He presented a gift worth two Ocean Dollars, and the steward specifically reported this to Ma Dingfu.
Ma Dingfu sneered, "Now he knows to be afraid? Too late. Are two Ocean Dollars enough to buy his life?"
"You mean to act today?" Steward He asked.
Ma Dingfu shook his head. "Today is such a fine day; we can’t let him ruin the mood. Let’s wait two more days."
Old He kept agreeing, "As the Fortress Lord commands."
The banquet started, and Ma Dingfu raised his cup for a toast.
The first toast was to the late Fortress Lord Zhou.
"Fortress Lord Zhou toiled for Iron Gate Fort his entire life, suffered his entire life. For us, he even gave his life. Without Fortress Lord Zhou, there would be no Iron Gate Fort. But now, we haven’t even found all of his remains. Thinking of this, my heart is heavy..."
Speaking to this point, Ma Dingfu choked up, tears streaming down his face, and he couldn’t speak for a while. "I, every time I think of this, I, I just..."
"You just took my house, slept with my wives, and damn it, you slept with five at a time!" Fortress Lord Zhou’s voice suddenly rang out, echoing through the entire building, reverberating throughout Iron Gate Fort.
Ma Dingfu’s hand trembled, and his wine glass dropped to the floor.
All eyes focused on Ma Dingfu.
The young Home Cultivators found it inconceivable; Fortress Lord Zhou’s body wasn’t even cold yet!
The older Home Cultivators, however, were more indifferent, feeling it was reasonable for a new Fortress Lord to take over the assets of the former one.
"Who, who dares impersonate Fortress Lord Zhou! You, you’re framing me..." Ma Dingfu regained his composure and hurried to defend himself.
Fortress Lord Zhou’s voice rang out again. "Little Mazi, I sent you to the mountain to call for reinforcements, why didn’t you go? We’ve fought for Flying Eagle Mountain our whole lives. Now that I’m in trouble, you rush to seize my position. Do you not care about the rules of the mountain?"
"Who! Who entered our fortress?! Who is trying to frame me? Old He, go upstairs and check!"
Steward He went upstairs.
Ma Dingfu was terrified. No matter how he defended himself, all eyes remained fixed on him.
No longer indifferent, both young and old Home Cultivators grew alarmed.
Ma Dingfu sleeping with the former Fortress Lord’s wives could be overlooked.
But them collaborating with Flying Eagle Mountain to conspire against Iron Gate Fort was something they could not ignore.
Li Banfeng was on the top floor of the building, operating the Bellows Phonograph.
Zhou Anju was someone from Flying Eagle Mountain; of this, Li Banfeng was certain.
Ma Dingfu was also from Flying Eagle Mountain; this was Li Banfeng’s speculation.
The idea that Ma Dingfu was planning to collude with Flying Eagle Mountain and strike ruthlessly tonight was a story Li Banfeng had concocted.
But this fabrication was plausible.
Separated by a great iron gate, Zhou Anju had used a gang of Grass Bandits from Flying Eagle Mountain to intimidate Iron Gate Fort for decades.
"Zhou Anju’s" voice continued, "Little Mazi, the Fort Masters have arrived, and you’ve gathered all these Home Cultivators too. It’s time for us to make our move. Now is your chance to redeem yourself. If this is handled well, I’ll overlook your past misconduct!"
Ma Dingfu looked at the crowd of Home Cultivators, shaking his head repeatedly. "This is a rumor, can’t you tell?"
The Home Cultivators didn’t know if it was a rumor or not.
They had heard Fortress Lord Zhou’s voice.
They were afraid.
They were conflicted.
They were angry.