Li Banfeng lay in the Portable Residence for most of the day before he finally recovered. Throughout this time, the Phonograph held him tightly.
This was why Li Banfeng had returned to the Portable Residence. He knew that after the onset of his condition, he might completely lose control.
He possessed a Fifth Layer cultivation. If he were to let loose and start killing, not a single soul in the inn would be left alive. Fortunately, his wife could still restrain him.
He sat on the edge of the bed and calmly asked the Phonograph, "My dear, there’s a technique... you push someone, and they fly off. You can fly, and others can fly too. What’s that technique called?"
Li Banfeng’s speech was slurred, and he sounded somewhat confused. His wife gently soothed him, "My dear, why do you ask this?"
"It’s my enemy’s technique! I’m going to find him and take revenge!" Li Banfeng stood up to leave but was embraced by the Phonograph.
"My dear, you can’t go."
"Why can’t I go!" Li Banfeng truly wanted to return to the Outside Provinces to understand things clearly.
Hong Ying sneered. "What you just described is the Traveling Craftsman Nine-Tier Technique, ’Thousand Mile In A Step.’ If your enemy is a Ninth Layer Traveling Cultivator, with your current cultivation level, how could you possibly be his match? Going would be tantamount to seeking death, wouldn’t it?"
After thinking for a moment, Li Banfeng understood.
Li Banfeng still couldn’t figure out He Jiaqing’s intentions, but some subsequent events were becoming somewhat clearer.
The most important of these involved the Ling Family.
The Ling Family, despite their high status, was constantly targeting me. Purely from the Ling Family’s perspective, this made no sense. However, if He Jiaqing was behind the Ling Family, it all seemed to become much clearer.
Li Banfeng brought the Red Lotus to the main room and spoke softly, "Ah Lian, I want to ask you something. What’s your plan with He Jiaqing? Why couldn’t the two of you return to Puluo State together?"
The Red Lotus remained silent.
Li Banfeng turned to the Phonograph. "My dear, did Ah Lian say anything?"
TSK TSK.
"Oh, my dear," the Phonograph replied, "this vile creature hasn’t spoken. But I, your humble servant, would like to ask: who exactly is He Jiaqing?"
"Oh, my dear, He Jiaqing is my good friend. He said that back then, I was his only good friend. And now, I’ve found out he seems to be scheming against me! You have no idea what it feels like to be schemed against by a good friend!"
HMM.
The Phonograph hummed thoughtfully for a moment but didn’t speak.
Hong Ying said angrily, "You faithless man! If you have something to say, just say it directly. There’s no need to beat around the bush!"
Li Banfeng ignored Hong Ying and continued caressing the Red Lotus. "Don’t want to talk, right? It doesn’t matter. We have plenty of time. If you don’t speak today, you’ll have to sooner or later!"
After resting in the house for half a day, Li Banfeng’s mood improved.
Li Banfeng wandered around Guangming Town, treating it as part of his cultivation.
Arriving at the town center, Li Banfeng saw a crowd gathered before a Western-style building. He initially thought there might be a big sale. As he got closer, he realized it was a group of people buying movie tickets.
Guangming Town had a cinema, but why were so many people coming to watch a movie?
A movie ticket cost five Huan Country Banknotes. By Puluo State’s living standards, this was not cheap. Even in Greenwater City, going to the movies was considered a luxury for an average family.
So many people had come today that it nearly rivaled the New Year film rush in Yuezhou City.
Li Banfeng approached and saw two film posters hanging in front of the cinema.
Movie posters in Puluo State differed from those in the Outside Provinces. Instead of large photographs, they featured Puluo State’s unique poster art.
One poster depicted the silhouette of a man with a Short Knife, walking alone in the wind. Ahead of him lay a trail of blood, and several menacing figures appeared to be conspiring.
On the right side of the poster, four large characters read: "Blood Blade Detective".
Li Banfeng looked at the other poster. It also depicted a man walking alone among flowers, where several women stood, blushing and casting yearning glances at him.
In the center of the poster were four large characters: "Blood Gun Detective".
"Blood Blade Detective" was produced by the Ling Family Film Company. Li Banfeng had once visited the shooting site and even set fire to the film reels. Zhou Changhong had said on the train that they needed to wrap up filming for the movie as soon as possible. Li Banfeng had thought it was just a trick to get him to disembark at Wuqin Village. But now it seemed Zhou Changhong had been telling the truth!
The other movie, "Blood Gun Detective," was clearly Ma Wu’s work. Ma Wu was quick; he had managed to rush out a film in such a short time.
Ma Wu had done a good job. This movie would make Ling Miaoying uncomfortable, and consequently, He Jiaqing, who was behind her, would suffer too.
He decided to watch and compare. Li Banfeng called Xiao Yeci and the entire group, buying two movie tickets for each of them.
They started with the Ling Family’s "Blood Blade Detective."
The cinema wasn’t small, boasting two floors. The tickets Li Banfeng bought were all for the upper level. Everyone sat together. Before the movie started, a vendor selling melon seeds came by, and Li Banfeng bought a pack for each of them.
After a while, the soda vendor came by. Li Banfeng told everyone, "Pick whatever flavor you like."
Some chose orange flavor, others honeydew. Xiao Yeci, knowing the rules, reminded the others, "Listen, after you finish your soda, don’t just throw the bottles away. You can get a refund for them."
They waited a bit longer. When about sixty percent of the seats were filled, two attendants drew the curtains on both sides and extinguished all the gas lamps. A young man carrying two large boxes of film reels went into the projection room, and the movie began.
"Blood Blade Detective" ran for an hour and eight minutes. It told the story of Detective Liang Chunjie. While investigating a murder, he faced significant obstacles from Lu Guina, the leader of a mysterious organization. After a fierce struggle, he gradually began to uncover the truth.
The male lead was played by star Sheng Xijun; Zhou Changhong indeed did not star in it.
The female lead was still Xiao Xiufei. In this movie, her character had a seemingly ambiguous yet actually hostile relationship with the male lead, a nuance depicted with great subtlety.
In Puluo State’s film industry, Ling Miaoying was a top figure. Her grasp of the film’s scope and pacing was exceptionally accurate.
The movie’s ending didn’t reveal the true murderer. Detective Liang Chunjie fell into a trap and was surrounded by members of the mysterious organization. His fate was left uncertain, leaving the audience in suspense and wanting more.
This was Ling Miaoying’s deliberate arrangement, creating suspense for the sequel.
As for Li Banfeng, he quite liked the movie.
But some people around him were not satisfied.
One audience member complained, "What kind of movie is this? The ending wasn’t clear at all. It was confusing."
Another remarked, "Weren’t we here to see Xiao Xiufei? Everyone said her performance this time was very profound."
"Profound? All we saw was her back the entire time! We didn’t see anything else!"
"You see the back in this one; the next one will show the front!"
"Watch the next one? I don’t think it’s interesting."
"Anyway, the tickets were free. Just watch it. Why complain so much?"
Hearing this, Li Banfeng grew uneasy. He turned to look at the audience member behind him. "Your tickets were free?"
The audience member looked surprised. "Don’t tell me you actually bought yours?"
"I really did!" Li Banfeng was annoyed.
Someone nearby tried to placate him, "Brother, don’t be angry. The ticket wasn’t exactly free. Is this your first time watching a movie here?"
"You have to watch three movies at this cinema within a month. Only then can you exchange the ticket stubs for a ’Blood Blade Detective’ ticket. It’s a new rule the cinema introduced this month."
Li Banfeng understood now.
So, "Blood Blade Detective" had actually become a promotional giveaway for the cinema.
Or perhaps it was a special marketing strategy.
"So you watch three movies, get one ticket free, and it can only be exchanged for ’Blood Blade Detective’?"
"You can exchange them for other movies too, but not ’Blood Gun Detective.’ That one’s special. You have to buy a ticket if you want to see it!"
Li Banfeng then asked, "Apart from ’Blood Gun Detective,’ are there any other good movies?"
The audience member shook his head. "I don’t know about that."
"Didn’t you watch three movies? Didn’t you exchange your ticket stub?"
The audience member nodded. "Yes, I watched three movies, but I only watched ’Blood Gun Detective’."
"You only watched ’Blood Gun Detective’? You watched it three times?"
The audience member, with a serious face, replied, "Three times isn’t enough! I’m going to watch it again later!"
Li Banfeng was stunned for a moment. Then, he bought sodas for everyone and waited for the next movie to begin.
「Half an hour later」
"Blood Gun Detective" started playing.
The audience in the cinema had doubled. It was a full house, with people even buying standing-room-only tickets!
In Ma Wu’s film, the protagonist, Song Chunjie, encounters obstruction from Zhang Guina, the leader of a mysterious organization, while investigating a murder.
To uncover the truth, Song Chunjie chooses to use his ’gun’ to ’conquer’ Zhang Guina.
The primary leader of the mysterious organization was thus ’conquered,’ but the second-in-command refused to yield and began a new round of confrontation with Song Chunjie.
After the second leader was ’conquered,’ the third leader appeared...
The scenes and plot grew increasingly explicit.
"Oh my, they’re really going for it!" Xiao Yeci blushed, too embarrassed to watch, and covered her eyes with her hands.
Lu Chunying said, "Mom, if you don’t want to watch, that’s fine, but cover your own eyes, not mine."
Niu Guangda was thrilled; it was his first movie. He said to his companion, "The people of Greenwater Bay sure are bold!"
Fang Lianfu nodded. "Bold, very bold indeed!"
An elderly man nearby cursed, "Scandalous! Utterly scandalous! This is corrupting public morals!"
A young man beside him quickly tried to soothe him, "Old Sir, please calm down. You were very upset at yesterday’s show and still felt unwell when you got home."
「...」
"This film is truly distressing!" He Cunshou, the elder of the He Family, shook his head in anger as he watched. "How can they show such things so openly? How could Ma Wu’s Old Five have become so depraved!"
He Yuxiu said to He Haiqin beside her, "Uncle is genuinely angry. He was quite upset after the last show, and even more so after the one before that."
He Haiqin nodded. "He was angriest during the first show. That one infuriated Uncle so much he almost walked out halfway through!"
"Blood Gun Detective" was a huge hit, but Ma Wu only made one film.
He didn’t want to make a second one.
At the dinner table, Ma Wu looked gravely at Lu Yuanshan and Lu Yuanhai. "Brothers, the three of us partnered to make this film. I can’t be the only one shouldering this reputation!"