An hour later, having secured all his money, Feng Chongli returned to his room, slept through the night, and at daybreak, he headed straight for the train station.
Halfway there, he suddenly heard someone calling from behind, "Stop! Where do you think you’re going?"
Feng Chongli turned around and saw a Coachman, who had chased after him with his carriage.
"Oh, you’re back," Feng Chongli quickly greeted.
"Nonsense, how could I not come back? Didn’t we agree to wait until tonight? Why are you leaving early?"
"Sorry, my business here is done."
The Coachman was taken aback, "Business done? What does that mean?"
"It’s that item, it’s been sold."
"To whom?"
"That, I’m afraid I cannot tell you."
BANG!
The Coachman threw his rickshaw on the ground. "How can you be like this! Didn’t we agree? I went back to raise the money! I brought you one million Ocean Dollars!"
Feng Chongli smiled. "There was nothing I could do. You didn’t put down a down payment, and no Contract Book was made. The customer brought cash, so naturally I had to conclude the transaction."
The Coachman’s eyebrows shot up. "Are you playing me?"
Feng Chongli also put away his smile. "Where does that come from? I’m a businessman, and that’s simply how business is done. It’s your own fault for being one step too late."
The two looked at each other for a long time, then the Coachman picked up his cart again. "I’ll remember this grudge."
Feng Chongli said, "Why spoil our relationship? You’ll still have big things to do here; we must interact more in the future. Moreover, you shouldn’t keep throwing that carriage; it contains something very valuable. If you break it, where will you find a replacement?"
「...」
Arriving in Medicine King Valley, Shopkeeper Feng returned to the grocery store, and Li Banfeng hid the key and entered the Portable Residence. He stared at the bag of bloodstained soil, cast aside all other thoughts, and just kept looking at it.
His eyes held the bloodstains, his mind held the bloodstains, and Li Banfeng was searching for the next bloodstain.
The next bloodstain wouldn’t be the same shape, the surrounding environment would also differ, the deviation might be significant.
With two more rails added, it was time to see what the Portable Residence could do!
A few minutes passed, and the sound of a train whistle reached his ears.
Li Banfeng was just about to walk out with a shovel when his wife called out, "My beloved husband, wait a moment!"
A cloud of steam enveloped the soil as two phonograph needles whirled above and below it.
Minutes later, the wife had picked all the bloodstained earth out, leaving the non-bloody soil back in the bag.
"Beloved husband, after digging out the bloodstains, refill the pit properly. Don’t arouse suspicion from Deathgate Star!"
"Darling, you’re so thoughtful!" Li Banfeng shouldered the bag of bloody earth.
The Phonograph cautioned, "Blood-Thirsty sister, help my husband with some camouflage. There are over a hundred blood-drop points, so Deathgate Star won’t inspect them too closely. Mix the new soil with the Old Land, and help my husband make it look authentic!"
The Blood-Thirsty Pendulum assured, "Don’t worry, Lady!"
"Two Blades, prop the door open; it must not close until the husband returns."
The Tang Sword shouted, "Understood!"
"Husband, Two Blades can’t hold it for long. Go and come back quickly!"
Indeed, the Tang Sword could not hold out, as the Portable Residence only recognized Li Banfeng.
With one foot outside and one inside the door, Li Banfeng dug furiously.
After a dozen minutes or so, Li Banfeng returned with a bag of bloodstained soil.
"Now to find the next one!"
「...」
At Qiu’s Pharmacy, Luo Zhengnan and his Servants were ready. Today, they were going to take a gamble, trying to take a Grieving Cultivator out of Medicine King Valley.
Qiu Zhiheng was in the Medicine Shop choosing someone, selecting someone whose cultivation level wasn’t too high and whose martial skills weren’t too great, to prevent escape during transit.
After a long selection, no choice was made, and Qiu Zhiheng began to sweat.
Luo Zhengnan stepped forward to investigate, "Master Qiu, what’s the situation?"
"Hall Master Luo, we caught thirteen Grieving Cultivators in total. How are there fourteen people here now?"
"What are you talking about, Master Qiu? With so few people, can you not keep count?"
Luo Zhengnan also counted them and was stunned.
"Master Qiu, this is no joking matter!"
"I’m not joking, there really is an extra person!"
"Master Qiu, these people have been with you all along. Can’t you figure out who the extra one is?"
Qiu Zhiheng was stunned for a long time; he truly couldn’t tell.
He knew all fourteen people!
Luo Zhengnan shouted, "Bring the roster, check them one by one!"
Before the roster could be brought, they saw an elderly person reveal a slight smile.
Luo Zhengnan whispered, "Who is this old geezer?"
Qiu Zhiheng was at a loss; he couldn’t name the person.
"Go for it!" In a flash, Qiu Zhiheng rushed in front of the elder, slamming his shoulder. The old man’s veins bulged alarmingly.
His blood surged upward, his vessels threatening to burst at any moment.
But the elder remained unflustered, even offering praise, "Impressive Lust Cultivation, Eighth Layer, right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Qiu Zhiheng slipped and fell hard to the ground.
A hailstorm a few days prior had damaged some tiles, leaving puddles on the floor hidden within the gaps of the tiles, undetectable until Qiu Zhiheng stepped squarely on one.
The elder ignored Qiu Zhiheng and casually pushed a Grieving Cultivator, who staggered into a pillar and died on impact.
The collision was severe; roof tiles fell, killing two more Grieving Cultivators.
Just as the elder was about to strike again, he suddenly felt a numbness spreading over his body. He turned to see Luo Zhengnan’s fingers sparking, and those sparks were hitting him.
The elder was astonished. Such Cultivators were rare in Puluo State. "What Taoist Sect is this? Electric Cultivation? Does Puluo State even have this Taoist Sect?"
Qiu Zhiheng made another move, but the elder leaped up and broke through the roof.
Tiles fell in all directions, and the Grieving Cultivators scrambled to escape.
The falling tiles, sharp edges down, struck the heads of the Grieving Cultivators.
It was just so coincidental, so perfectly timed, so utterly disastrous.
The remaining eleven Grieving Cultivators, none spared, were all killed by the falling tiles.
This was the power of the Deathgate Star.
Qiu Zhiheng was covered in blood, but thankfully, his Zhongshan suit, a Magical Treasure, took the brunt of what would have been fatal injuries.
Luo Zhengnan dodged the falling tiles but was drenched by water pooling on the roof, convulsing as he electrocuted himself.
Standing on the rooftop, the elder said to the two men, "You’ve held me up for so many days; you lot deserve to die. I will come to deal with you later!"
The elder vanished from sight, and Luo Zhengnan noticed a change inside the room.
He donned a pair of Glasses and charged them with sparks from his fingers.
With the Glasses on, he saw a host of Lost Souls following the elder as they flew out through the roof.
Luo Zhengnan wanted to stop them, but he couldn’t.
Whoever killed the Grieving Cultivators would be haunted by their Lost Souls; that was the nature of the Grieving Cultivators.
Everything happened so fast that Luo Zhengnan was taken aback.
Qiu Zhiheng snapped to his senses. "The Deathgate Formation!"
A dense and dark energy enveloped the area, and even White Lamb, who was not a Cultivator, could sense something was amiss in Medicine King Valley.
Thirteen Grieving Cultivators had been killed, and the Deathgate Formation would bring unimaginable disaster.
Qiu Zhiheng stumbled to his feet, pulled out a piece of Yellow Paper, and immediately burnt it to send a message to Elder Yao.
Deathgate Star would certainly go after Elder Yao, and if Elder Yao managed to kill Deathgate Star, there might be a chance to turn things around.
But Luo Zhengnan shook his head; he knew more about the Deathgate Formation. "Killing Deathgate Star is useless. Even if the one who set the formation dies, the Deathgate Formation will not stop. It’s over. Medicine King Valley is finished."
Stunned for a long moment, Qiu Zhiheng quickly rushed out of the Medicine Shop. "We must break the Deathgate Formation now!"
"How do we break it?" Luo Zhengnan was at a loss.
「...」
Li Banfeng returned to his Portable Residence, exhausted and covered in mud.
He had dug out one hundred seventy bloodstains, his back so sore he couldn’t straighten up.
The Phonograph had sifted the blood from the mud and after some calculations, said, "Beloved husband, just three more spots and the Formation will be inevitably broken!"
"Good! Darling, give me some strength!"
BOOM! BOOM!
The Phonograph beat the war drum, and the resounding sound helped Li Banfeng forget his fatigue.
HOOOONK!
Amidst the drumbeats, the steam whistle sounded even louder than before!
Li Banfeng walked out of the Portable Residence once again.
Hong Ying could hardly believe it. "Did he really break the Deathgate Formation?"
"Hey, wretch, that’s my man!" The Phonograph’s singing was loud and clear.
"Don’t think it’s all your man’s doing; without this house, he couldn’t have done it!"
"Let me tell you, wretch, soon enough, even without the house, he’ll be able to do it, because he’s my man!" The Phonograph’s singing crescendoed even more.
PS: Charge, Ban Feng, and burst through the Deathgate Formation!