The middle-aged man, now eyeless, let out a loud wail.
Li Banfeng said to the middle-aged man, "How can this Boundary be deactivated?"
The middle-aged man truly had guts. Upon hearing this, he shouted loudly, "Deactivate the Boundary! Can’t you hear?"
The three subordinates all looked towards the one holding the control mechanism.
That subordinate did not move. He indeed had experience; as long as the Boundary wasn’t deactivated, Li Banfeng couldn’t escape. And as long as Li Banfeng couldn’t escape, the middle-aged man had a chance to live.
The subordinate with the mechanism said to Li Banfeng, "Don’t even think about leaving! Release our Hall Master immediately, or you won’t be able to compensate with a hundred lives!"
Li Banfeng looked at the middle-aged man and said, "He’s from the Defense Agency, yet he can still be your Hall Master?"
"That’s none of your business! I’m telling you now, I can’t deactivate the Boundary. No matter what you say, it’s useless! If you don’t release our Hall Master now..."
The subordinate with the mechanism suddenly paused, feeling that something was not quite right.
The other three subordinates looked at him, not understanding why he had stopped talking. Li Banfeng watched the man with the mechanism remain silent for a long time. The situation was a bit awkward, so he spoke for him, "I didn’t say you should deactivate the Boundary. I asked *how* to deactivate it. Just tell me how to use this thing."
Li Banfeng grabbed the middle-aged man’s hair with one hand and held the mechanism with the other.
All the subordinates were stunned.
The so-called mechanism was just a plastic box with a lever on top. Plastic was rare and expensive in Puluo State, and this item was finely crafted, obviously from the Outside Provinces. But the Boundary was surely not created by this plastic box; the box must be a remote control.
Gloves whispered into Li Banfeng’s ear, "Boss, let’s grab the lever and give it a random pull."
Li Banfeng replied, "What if we try the wrong thing and all end up stuck here?"
Gloves shook his index finger. "Boss, if we really try the wrong thing, these guys will definitely warn us. They surely don’t want to die. Let’s give it a try."
Li Banfeng thought Gloves made sense. He had Gloves grab the lever of the mechanism and pull it back.
The subordinate who had been controlling the mechanism was shocked. He hadn’t expected Li Banfeng to operate it so accurately; this one pull had deactivated the Boundary.
Everyone watched Li Banfeng, fearing he would escape.
A Light Halo shone from Li Banfeng’s chest, blinding one of the subordinates.
It was the Projector. The Projector had been hiding in Li Banfeng’s inner pocket, quietly capturing the scene. With the sun about to set, the angle was perfect. The Projector adjusted its lens slightly, focusing on this subordinate’s eyes.
The timing of the Projector’s action was apt, and Li Banfeng was truly lucky!
The blinded subordinate hadn’t realized what had happened when Li Banfeng suddenly disappeared from his line of sight.
The subordinate panicked. Before he could react, his body exploded into a spray of blood.
At the same time, Li Banfeng, still holding the "Hall Master," had already rushed out of the Boundary’s control range.
The remaining three subordinates desperately chased after him. They had to chase with all their might; otherwise, with a Traveling Cultivator’s speed, the "Hall Master" would be gone in the blink of an eye.
Li Banfeng pushed the lever and reactivated the Boundary.
The Light Halo flared, and one of the subordinates, running too fast, couldn’t stop in time and crashed right into it. It really wasn’t his fault. To save the Hall Master’s life, he had to chase with all his might. They often used this Boundary to ambush others, but they had never been ambushed by it themselves. Their tactics had no contingency for such a scenario.
Within the Light Halo, the subordinate seemed to fall into magma. His body sparked and turned to ash in an instant.
Only two subordinates were left, trapped inside the Boundary, watching Li Banfeng escape helplessly.
One subordinate looked towards the peep show cart. The peep show operator had been scared witless and was cowering behind the cart, wetting his pants.
That subordinate said, "We could grab these kids. Maybe we could force him out that way?"
The other replied, "Would he care about these kids? They’re children from poor families, unrelated to him."
"I think he seemed quite concerned just now," the first one countered.
"We can try," the second conceded. "Otherwise, how long will we be trapped here? If we don’t resolve this, how will we live after this?"
The two men rushed towards the cart with the children.
Suddenly, the Light Halo disappeared. The two were startled; this move puzzled them once more. As their attention was fixed on where the Light Halo had been, a large object suddenly flew towards them. Li Banfeng had thrown their Hall Master back!
One very loyal subordinate rushed to catch the Hall Master, disregarding his own safety. The other remained relatively calm, concentrating on Li Banfeng.
The subordinate catching the Hall Master managed to grab him, but because his attention was so focused, he also failed to clearly see Li Banfeng’s movements.
He wasn’t too worried because Li Banfeng had already used the Passing Glance Technique once. According to experience, even high-level Traveling Cultivators found it difficult to use the Passing Glance Technique consecutively, as the Technique was too draining.
But he didn’t realize Li Banfeng’s Footwork was different from ordinary people; the toll of his Passing Glance Technique wasn’t that great. By the time this man caught the Hall Master, Li Banfeng’s gaze was fixed on both of them.
This loyal guard exploded along with the Hall Master.
The last remaining subordinate, predicting Li Banfeng’s position, suddenly lunged behind him. He knew the Hall Master was dead and that Li Banfeng’s cultivation level was likely higher than his.
The subordinate seized the opportunity well and was not slow, rushing to Li Banfeng’s back. His two arms transformed into a pair of sharp shovel-blades; this subordinate was a Mole Cricket. He thrust both blades at Li Banfeng’s back. Li Banfeng stood still, unmoved, and forcibly withstood the strike.
The shovel-blades struck sparks on Li Banfeng’s body but failed to break his skin, not even tearing his clothes.
No matter how he tried, the Mole Cricket could never have imagined this was the Benevolent and Righteous Technique, because a Home Cultivator couldn’t possibly practice Dual Cultivation with a Traveling Cultivator.
The Mole Cricket raised his arms to chop once more, but Li Banfeng had already dodged, not giving him another chance.
The Mole Cricket attempted to pursue, which was an overestimation of his own strength. Before he could get close to Li Banfeng, a longsword was already pointed at the top of his head.
"Beheading with Every Blow!" the Tang Sword cried out loudly. Its tip couldn’t pierce the Mole Cricket’s skull; the creature’s armor was tough.
"Useless thing," the Sickle flew over, slicing open the Mole Cricket’s neck. The wound was shallow, but it was poisoned.
Li Banfeng was taken aback. It wasn’t the wound that surprised him.
"Kiddo, make your move!" the Wine Gourd took the opportunity to douse the subordinate with a mist of wine.
Li Banfeng struck a match and flicked it onto the Mole Cricket’s body. It was Elder Yao’s Medicinal Liquor. The Mole Cricket struggled for a moment against the deadly poison and fierce flames before the Tang Sword pierced his skull.
All four subordinates were dealt with. Li Banfeng’s actions were indeed decisive. However, considering the cultivation level and experience of these four men, to be able to dispatch them in such a short time, Li Banfeng’s luck was also truly good.
Looking at the bloody scene, the peep show operator had a mental breakdown. No longer hiding, he stood up, shouting as he ran for his life, "Murder! Our Hall Master has been killed! Does anyone care? I’m from the Jiang Xiang Gang! I was ordered by our Hall Master to kidnap children! I only took five kids, and he wants to kill me!
"I was raised by my own parents too! Am I not human? What right does he have to kill me? Does anyone care?"
He had completely lost his mind.
Li Banfeng stepped forward, grabbed the peep show operator, and casually tossed him into the Portable Residence.
"My dear," Li Banfeng said, "we can eat later. I still have some questions for him."
"Oh, my dear husband," came the reply from within, "don’t worry. Your Little Servant doesn’t quite fancy such filthy prey."
He collected the corpses of the Hall Master and the four subordinates into the Portable Residence. Then, Li Banfeng, device in hand, reactivated the Boundary. He picked up a branch and threw it at the Light Halo. The branch passed through the Light Halo and turned into fine dust. This was very similar to what Li Banfeng had seen around the Border Line.
Choosing a suitable location, he used the Path-breaking Technique. A trench split open beneath his feet, a path carved by Li Banfeng’s Technique. But this newly opened path was also blocked by the Light Halo. Li Banfeng intensified his Technique, widening the trench. The Light Halo that lay across it extended as well, continuing to bar the trench and preventing Li Banfeng from escaping along this new path.
After maintaining it for a moment, Li Banfeng discontinued his Technique, and the newly opened trench vanished.
Li Banfeng asked Gloves, "Can you smell any treasure?"
Gloves shook a finger. "Boss, I also suspect there’s something good down there, but I truly can’t smell anything."
Since even Gloves couldn’t detect anything, there was no need for Li Banfeng to keep trying. Moreover, he couldn’t waste too much time here; who knew if that Hall Master had other reinforcements.
He deactivated the Boundary, sent the remote control back into the Portable Residence, and after a simple fix to the peep show cart, he took the children and returned them to Willow Pond Village.
As he approached the village, Li Banfeng asked Clock Pendulum to apply some makeup to his face.
The sky had darkened. Several families, frantic over their missing children, had called on relatives and friends and were searching with torches. In the dark of night, upon seeing a figure shaking a rattle enter the village, a few villagers rushed over.
"It’s the peep show operator!"
"Our children were watching his show, and then they just disappeared!"
"What is this..."
Li Banfeng left the cart at the village entrance and walked away.
"He’s not the peep show operator! That man didn’t have this build."
"Who is this person then?"
"He brought the children back!"
"With his face all painted, is he human or a ghost?"
"Could he be a demon?"
"Don’t talk nonsense! He rescued the children! He’s our Benefactor!"
Although a little frightened, the villagers were overjoyed to have the children back.
An elder shouted, "Benefactor, could you leave us your name? We shall never forget your kindness!"
Li Banfeng turned around and said, "My surname is En. Call me Benefactor En."
After speaking, he lowered the brim of his hat and disappeared into the night.