Late at night, Li Banfeng raced along the railway tracks.
He was running faster than the train.
The main reason for taking the train was to cross the border.
Getting someone to issue a Guide Token and running back directly could also get him across the border.
But the border checkpoints only opened at set times, the location wasn’t fixed, and they were extremely strict with identity verification. Li Banfeng was in a hurry to find the key and didn’t want to waste time on this.
The train had departed at five in the afternoon. Under normal circumstances, it should still be within Black Stone Slope territory. Whether he could catch up or not depended on Li Banfeng’s abilities.
In the past, when traveling back and forth between Greenwater City and Black Stone Slope, he had always taken the train. As a Traveling Cultivator, Li Banfeng was very familiar with the route. After running for over two hours, by ten o’clock, Li Banfeng could vaguely see the shadow of the train.
Adjusting his pace, he silently chanted a mantra, caught up to the train’s tail, and leaped onto the last carriage.
After boarding the train, Li Banfeng continued to chant,
Luck was on his side. The train ran for over an hour, leaving the Black Stone Slope border without any encounter with a train conductor.
「...」
As midnight approached, everyone was still waiting in the Lu Family’s main hall.
Ling Miaoying’s engagement hadn’t ended; after dinner, he accompanied the Border Defense Envoy to the Play Garden to watch a performance.
Tan Fucheng said to Ma Wu, "Master Wu, it looks like there’ll be no action tonight. If Ling Miaoying takes the Border Defense Envoy to visit the brothels, we’d be waiting until dawn for nothing."
Ma Wu nodded and said, "This matter cannot involve the Outside Provinces. As long as the Border Defense Envoy is here, they definitely won’t dare to make a move."
Tan Fucheng had hit the nail on the head. Ling Miaoying did indeed accompany the Border Defense Envoy to the Play Garden, watching until two in the morning, and then they headed to the Floating Life Book Residence.
The Book Residence was a special kind of establishment in Puluo State. In such places, the ladies were called ’Teacher.’ Tea cost three Ocean Dollars, requesting their company for drinks also cost three Ocean Dollars, and staying the night was three Ocean Dollars as well, hence they were also called ’Changsan Book Residences.’
The three Ocean Dollars mentioned here referred to three large Ocean Dollars. In Puluo State, such a fee was far higher than at other establishments, placing it in the most high-end category.
With Ling Miaoying and the Border Defense Envoy entering the Book Residence, it meant there truly wasn’t going to be any action tonight.
Yet Lu Dongtang was not resigned and had his spies continue to gather information.
「...」
Inside the Floating Life Book Residence, Ling Miaoying settled the Border Defense Envoy, changed his clothes, discreetly left through the back door, passed through two alleys, and entered a small building.
Tu Yinghong had been waiting in the small building. She was dressed in a black Sun Yat-sen suit and a flat cap, disguised as a man.
Upon seeing Ling Miaoying, Tu Yinghong lowered her voice and said, "The Lu Family has been keeping an eye on you. Are we still taking action tonight?"
Ling Miaoying scoffed. "Their petty tricks? You think I’m unaware? As long as the Border Defense Envoy is here, all they can do is wait helplessly. Ma Wu has also gone to the Lu Family, leaving only Li Qi at Xiaoyao Lodge. We must retrieve the items tonight! I’ve even prepared two helpers. They’re waiting across the street. I’ll bring them along in a bit."
Tu Yinghong shook her head. "No, the matter of the Iron Ruler cannot be known to others."
Ling Miaoying nodded. "Then let them stay here as backup."
The two left the small building and arrived at Xiaoyao Lodge at half-past three in the morning.
The dance floor had long since cleared out. Most of the support personnel had followed Ma Wu to the Lu Family’s residence, leaving only a few doorkeepers at Xiaoyao Lodge.
Ling Miaoying found a Quiet Place, took out a Music Box, wound it up, and placed it on the ground.
He and Tu Yinghong both covered their ears. The little figure on the tray twirled for a moment as the spring unwound, and then the music box began to play.
It played a Western tune, not very loud, but seemingly imbued with a Spirit Attribute, drifting towards the entrance of Xiaoyao Lodge.
The few doorkeepers, already feeling drowsy, didn’t grow suspicious upon hearing the Music Box. Instead, they fell asleep one after another.
Ling Miaoying put away the Music Box and led Tu Yinghong into Xiaoyao Lodge. They crossed the dance floor and went up to the second floor.
He had spies in Xiaoyao Lodge, so he knew which room Li Qi usually stayed in.
Reaching the door of the room, Ling Miaoying took out a palm-sized Projector, set it by the corridor wall, lit the candle inside, wound it up, and flipped the switch. The Projector began to turn, and an image of Ling Miaoying was projected onto the door.
The image held a key in its hand, gently inserting it into the lock and opening the door.
This image was tangible and could even use a Master Key to unlock doors.
If someone inside sensed something and prepared to ambush from behind the door, they could only harm the image, not Ling Miaoying himself.
The door opened. Ling Miaoying sent the image inside to scout and found the room empty.
He and Tu Yinghong exchanged glances, and both entered the room.
Indeed, Li Qi was not in the room. Ling Miaoying retrieved the Projector from outside, closed the door, and searched the room with Tu Yinghong. After a long search, they found neither the Iron Ruler nor the pistol.
Tu Yinghong said, "Did we come to the wrong room? There are hardly any clothes in here; it doesn’t seem like someone lives here regularly."
Ling Miaoying shook his head. "It’s not the wrong room. I trust my people. I’m just worried that Li Qi took everything with him."
Tu Yinghong replied, "If he’s carrying them on him, all the better. We’ll just wait for him here."
Ling Miaoying frowned. "Could he have gone to the Lu Family as well? Then how long would we have to wait..."
Mid-sentence, Ling Miaoying suddenly halted.
His ears twitched, and he said to Tu Yinghong, "There’s a sound outside!"
「...」
Huffing and puffing, Li Banfeng reached the entrance of Xiaoyao Lodge.
He had run back.
This freight train’s route was very peculiar. After leaving the Black Stone Slope border, it crossed through the Loess Bridge territory, passed the Greenwater Bay border, and went directly to the rail yard for unloading.
Li Banfeng didn’t even wait for the rail yard. As soon as the train crossed the Greenwater Bay border, he immediately jumped off and ran toward Greenwater City. After more than two hours of running, he entered the city and arrived at Xiaoyao Lodge.
His legs were about to give out.
Grandpa Train had always looked down upon the Coachman’s Footwork, but if not for relying on the Coachman’s Footwork, Li Banfeng wouldn’t have such good endurance.
He pushed open the main door and hurriedly walked onto the dance floor.
The few doorkeepers were all asleep. Had Li Banfeng not seen them? He had, but he paid them no mind. It was perfectly normal for doorkeepers to doze off at night.
Halfway up the stairs, the Silk-pulling Earrings suddenly warned him, "Master, there’s someone in your room."
The Silk-pulling Earrings’ perceptive abilities were far inferior to Ling Miaoying’s own. It was only at such a close distance that they could barely hear Tu Yinghong’s breathing.
"How many?"
"One."
High-level Peeping Cultivators had methods to conceal their presence and sounds. The Silk-pulling Earrings could barely detect Lu Xiaolan in the New Land, but here in Xiaoyao Lodge, they couldn’t sense Ling Miaoying at all.
Li Banfeng’s steps didn’t falter; he continued up the stairs.
Ling Miaoying took out a thumb-sized spool from his robes, pulled off a silk strand, attached one end to a corner of the doorframe, and wound the other end around a table leg.
Throughout this process, Ling Miaoying made no sound.
The silk strand was extremely thin and difficult to see. If Li Banfeng were to push the door open and walk straight in, the strand would slice his head in two.
Ling Miaoying and Tu Yinghong stood by the wall, quietly waiting for Li Banfeng to open the door.
The sound of footsteps grew closer, now right outside the door.
Ling Miaoying and Tu Yinghong were both ready to act.
Unless absolutely necessary, they didn’t want to kill Li Qi immediately; they would first try to force the whereabouts of the Iron Ruler and the pistol out of him.
Tu Yinghong carried more than a dozen weapons on her and could make Li Qi’s life a living hell in minutes.
But unexpectedly, Li Qi didn’t open the door. His footsteps headed deeper down the corridor.
RATTLE, RATTLE... CREEEAK...
He seemed to have opened another room’s door.
Tu Yinghong looked towards Ling Miaoying.
Ling Miaoying’s brow furrowed slightly.
There was no way to verify it at the moment. Ling Miaoying signaled Tu Yinghong not to move; he could remain silent, but Tu Yinghong couldn’t.
Ling Miaoying gently pushed the door open and walked alone toward the end of the corridor.
According to the sound he had just heard, the person should have entered the room at the far end.
Ling Miaoying silently reached the door, placed the Projector on the ground, and again had the image open the door.
The image used the Master Key to open the door. Li Banfeng was waiting inside.
The image was so lifelike that Li Banfeng indeed failed to spot any flaws and thought it was truly Ling Miaoying entering the room.
He raised his pistol and fired.
CLICK!
The pistol didn’t fire. In Puluo State, gunpowder was unreliable.
But Ling Miaoying heard the sound.
It was the sound of the hammer striking. Ling Miaoying was all too familiar with this sound; it was the unique strike of his own pistol.
Li Qi was in the room; his judgment had been correct.
If the first shot misfired, Li Qi would normally fire a second time.
The second shot would only hit the image and certainly wouldn’t harm Ling Miaoying.
Ling Miaoying smirked, preparing to have the image engage Li Qi first, then call Tu Yinghong to subdue him completely.
Just as this thought formed, he suddenly heard a yell from inside the room:
A DEAFENING HOWL!
He didn’t fire the second shot.
Against others, Li Banfeng would definitely fire a second shot.
Against Ling Miaoying, Li Banfeng had other methods.
Ling Miaoying was a Peeping Cultivator. Li Banfeng used the Deep House Technique, drawing on a portion of his wife’s power, to unleash the yell.
This kind of yell could damage a person’s hearing, and it was especially harmful to Peeping Cultivators.
This move had been tested on Lu Xiaolan, so Li Banfeng was confident.
In fact, it had also been tested on Ling Miaowen, but Li Banfeng didn’t know that.
Upon hearing this yell, Ling Miaoying’s vision blurred. He clapped his hands over his ears, and blood trickled out.
The bleeding ears weren’t a major concern. Li Banfeng’s voice was weaker than his wife’s, and he hadn’t had the chance to vocalize a complete ’song,’ so Ling Miaoying wasn’t gravely injured this time.
But the blurred vision—that was a problem.
Li Banfeng still hadn’t distinguished the real Ling Miaoying from the image. He drew his Tang Sword and slashed at Ling Miaoying’s image, beheading it in one stroke.
The Tang Sword seemed to hum with satisfaction. Li Banfeng swiftly rushed out of the room to see if Ling Miaoying had any accomplices.
Then he saw another Ling Miaoying crouching outside the door.
Li Banfeng’s hair stood on end. In extreme nervousness, his pupils contracted sharply.
He used his toes to move his ankles, ankles to move his calves, calves to move his thighs—employing the special Footwork taught by Grandpa Train—to rapidly adjust his position and evade Ling Miaoying’s potential ambush.
Li Banfeng moved extremely fast. Ling Miaoying, his vision blurred from the injury, didn’t see Li Banfeng’s movement.
THUD!
Li Banfeng stumbled.
His legs, exhausted from the long run, buckled, and he nearly fell.
SPLAT!
A muffled sound.
Ling Miaoying’s blood spurted out as his belly exploded.
PS: This was the first time he’d used this Technique, and the toll it took was quite significant.