In the past, the only person in the Jiang Xiang Gang whom He Jiaqing held in high regard was Luo Zhengnan.
He realized that he had been overlooking Xiao Zhenggong all this time.
A Gang Leader becoming a deputy captain in the Dark Star Bureau was suspicious to begin with.
He Jiaqing used to think that Xiao Zhenggong merely wanted to leverage his position in the Outside Provinces to whitewash his identity, given the notorious reputation of the Jiang Xiang Gang.
But now it seemed he had oversimplified the matter.
The current situation had deviated significantly from the plan. They needed to find Red Lotus or Zhao Xiaowan as soon as possible. Any further delays, and once all the major families regained their senses, the efforts made so far would go to waste.
Targeting Xiao Zhenggong was clearly difficult, so he could only seek out an old friend.
He Jiaqing fiddled with the buttons on the hospital gown, found the hook on the button line, and contacted Ling Miaoying.
"How’s the newspaper business going?"
"Not bad. The foundation my brother left is strong. Although we’ve stopped publishing for a while, we’ve managed to win back quite a few regular customers."
"Good," praised He Jiaqing. "I want you to publish a piece of news."
「...」
Li Banfeng sat in his Portable Residence, quietly watching the Phonograph and Hong Ying.
Hong Ying had been fumigated with steam for a long time and had listened to the lady sing two songs.
Li Banfeng found these two songs pleasant to the ear, but for Hong Ying, each lyric was like a whip, lacerating her flesh.
Even so, she refused to say a word more to the lady than necessary.
Hong Ying was not weak-willed. Mere torture would do little to her, something the lady was well aware of.
Li Banfeng’s suggestion was for the Phonograph to swallow Hong Ying’s soul and hand her body over to Red Lotus for Refining.
Red Lotus deeply agreed with this, but the Phonograph refused.
There were some things she absolutely had to get to the bottom of, and this obsession made her extremely irritable, to the point she even refused to be oiled.
Li Banfeng always felt uneasy with Hong Ying in the house. After all, he had lured this woman through special means, and whenever he saw her, he felt a twinge of guilt.
Li Banfeng lived quite comfortably in Iron Gate Fort. All his needs were delivered to his door, and he could also roam the wilderness to complete his Traveling Cultivator practice.
One evening after dinner, while Li Banfeng was reading a novel at home, Wu Yongchao burst in, sweating profusely, "Fortress Lord, I’ve got it."
"Got what?"
"The newspaper, the one you often mention."
Li Banfeng had the habit of reading newspapers, unlike the Home Cultivators of Iron Gate Fort, who didn’t care for matters outside the fort.
Wu Yongchao noticed that Li Banfeng always brought back newspapers to read and thought it was a tedious task. Today he decided to run the errand for Li Banfeng.
Wu Yongchao traveled dozens of miles of mountain road to buy the newspaper. He skipped two meals and got lost several times. Little did he know that for Li Banfeng, this was merely a walk outside.
The favor wasn’t grand, but Li Banfeng appreciated it. He hired Li Zhijuan, a Home Cultivator with exceptional cooking skills, prepared several dishes, boiled two pots of wine, and invited Wu Yongchao to dinner.
Wu Yongchao devoured his meal while Li Banfeng browsed through the newspaper. A particular piece of news caught his eye.
The Ling Family and Ma Family were joining forces to pioneer the New Land.
It was common for major families to pioneer new land, but the photograph accompanying this news made Li Banfeng very concerned.
In the photo, Ling Miaoying and Ma Chunting were standing together on a plot of land. This land was in Qiu Luoye’s territory. Li Banfeng had been there before; it was less than three miles from Zhengjing Village.
If they succeeded in developing this plot, it would be as disgusting as when Lu Xiaolan had pioneered her land.
It might even be more so, since this involved the Ma Family.
Zhengjing Village was an enterprise Li Banfeng had fought hard to establish. He couldn’t tolerate threats from anyone.
Ma Wu once said that the Ling Family was a Peeping Cultivation Family, and none of the three brothers had a cultivation level lower than the Seventh Layer.
Li Banfeng knew that the levels couldn’t be simply added or subtracted, but he had to rush back to Zhengjing Village. Even if he couldn’t beat Ma Chunting and Ling Miaoying, he had to fight.
Even if he lost, Li Banfeng wouldn’t have to worry. In that territory, he had a way out—a backdoor that others could hardly touch.
Before leaving, he split the eight hundred thousand Ocean Dollars into two parts, carrying two hundred thousand with him and leaving the remaining six hundred thousand in Iron Gate Fort for Wu Yongchao to manage.
He trusted Iron Gate Fort, and he trusted this brother.
If something unexpected happened in the future, he could return to Iron Gate Fort for refuge.
If Iron Gate Fort encountered any trouble, they could also use the money for an emergency.
Li Banfeng set off that same evening, which scared Wu Yongchao half to death.
"Fortress Lord, I just went out to buy a newspaper. How come you’re leaving as well? If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone..."
Li Banfeng looked at Wu Yongchao and cautioned, "Remember three things at all times. You must never forget:
Iron Gate Fort has only one Fortress Lord, and his name is Fortress Lord.
No matter where he is, he is your Fortress Lord.
Whether he is dead or alive, he is your Fortress Lord!
Remember that?"
Wu Yongchao remembered, and so did everyone in Iron Gate Fort.
Their Fortress Lord was named Fortress Lord, a fact these Home Cultivators never forgot for the rest of their lives.
「...」
When Li Banfeng arrived at Peach Blossom Lake, he first left his clothes in the Portable Residence and jumped in naked. After wandering at the bottom of the lake for a moment, he emerged from the water and found himself on a barren plain.
Back in the Portable Residence to dry off, Li Banfeng was getting dressed when Hong Ying suddenly spoke up, "Were you naked when you came in just now?"
The Phonograph, taken aback, said, "Bitch, you can see?"
Hong Ying scoffed and retorted, "Couldn’t see. I smelled it."
"You could smell that?" The Phonograph expelled steam and exclaimed sharply, "Are you that desperate for a man?"
"What’s it to you if I desire a man?"
"First tell me why you harmed me in the first place!"
"I refuse to say. Kill me or cut me up, do as you please."
"Bitch, don’t you dare cry when you get your beating later!"
The familiar farce was playing out again. Li Banfeng couldn’t be bothered to watch any longer and quickly returned to the barren plain. Following Elder Yao’s map, he sprinted all the way and arrived in Qiu Luoye’s territory in less than a day.
At the location shown in the news photograph, Li Banfeng saw neither Pioneers nor any glowing from the land plot.
Li Banfeng wasn’t surprised. The newspaper that published this news belonged to the Ling Family.
Standing on the plot of land, he looked around. Lu Xiaolan, hiding on her own plot, had already heard his voice.
"Mom, he’s here."
Zhuo Yuling was hidden in the jungle. Using a hook on her belt, she asked Lu Xiaolan, "Is it a good time to make a move?"
"No rush. He’s heading in your direction. Wait until he walks into the trap before you strike."
As Li Banfeng walked toward Zhengjing Village, after about a hundred paces or so, he suddenly felt spirited and began to sing an old song:
"Beat the drum fast, strike the gong slow, stop the gong and drum, listen to my song. I won’t sing of idle chatter; today I’ll sing of the eighteen..."
The rustic tune reached Lu Xiaolan’s ears, causing her eardrums to ache intensely as blood flowed from her ear canals.
PS: This little ditty is quite rustic. Dear readers, sing along with Shala.