Tang Shijiang manipulated the screw, throwing an entire carload of grain off the tracks. He then unloaded the remaining grain, coal, clothes, medicine, and groceries—everything was taken off the train.
After everything was offloaded, Brother Tang waved his hand, and two rivets flew from the direction of the locomotive, drilling into Brother Tang’s chest.
These two rivets were the very source of the train’s loss of control. Once they were pulled out, the train began to slow down, and Tang Shijiang, along with Li Banfeng, got off the train.
Walking down the road, Li Banfeng took a good look at this senior. From his speech and behavior, it was quite clear that he was Black Stone Slope’s Local Deity.
But unlike other Local Deities, even when he used the Golden Gaze Autumn Hair Technique at its fullest, there was not the slightest trace of Ghost Fire on him.
This indicated that he wasn’t a Lost Soul; his flesh was still intact.
Arriving at an abandoned factory, Tang Shijiang grabbed a package from next to a machine tool.
Opening the package, inside were two lunch boxes, one containing rice and the other containing dishes.
Tang Shijiang evened out the rice and dishes, handing Li Banfeng a lunch box, "Don’t mind it; let’s have a meal together."
Having worked on construction sites before, Li Banfeng felt an inexplicable fondness for the lunch box.
There was only one pair of chopsticks, which Tang Shijiang offered to Li Banfeng, while he found two sticks, making do as chopsticks.
"Little brother, those Bird People from the Outside Provinces are probably going to fight us for a while. We can’t show any weakness."
Li Banfeng nodded and said, "As long as Brother Tang isn’t weak, I’ll fight them to the end!"
Tang Shijiang laughed, "Don’t worry about that; I’ve never known the meaning of weakness since I was born!"
The two happily finished their meal, and Tang Shijiang gave Li Banfeng a box of screws: "Brother, take this. Even though you’re not part of our Taoist Sect, these screws are useful. They could serve as effective hidden weapons."
Li Banfeng didn’t lack for hidden weapons, but since Brother Tang had offered them, naturally, he could not refuse.
Brother Tang added, "Those Bird People from the Outside Provinces are growing hungrier by the minute. They’re sure to resort to force and will probably try something underhanded.
"Force isn’t scary; Black Stone Slope is a tough place. If anything like that happens, you don’t need to deal with it—and you really shouldn’t.
"What worries me is their sly tactics. Open spears are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to defend against. You must be exceedingly careful."
「...」
Tang Shijiang was right; the eyes of everyone in the Defense Agency were indeed turning green with hunger.
The canned food was gone, the biscuits were gone, and all hopes were on that trainload of grain, which had now gone to waste without a single grain making it back.
The next day, Cheng Mingke held an important meeting at the Defense Agency. In his speech, he mentioned the word "reverence" nine times.
He wanted Puluo State to have reverence for the Defense Agency, for the Border Defense Envoys, and especially for himself as the Chief Defense Envoy.
During the speech, several people fainted due to low blood sugar, which greatly displeased Cheng Mingke.
"We’ve only had a five-hour meeting, and these people can’t even sit through it. This is a classic issue of willpower."
Secretary Tong Lingzhu said, "Officer Cheng, many of them haven’t really eaten all day. It’s a physical issue that they can’t help..."
"Don’t give me any objective reasons! Look subjectively for causes! Look at the Deputy Defense Envoys; did any of them faint?"
Tong Lingzhu fell silent for a moment, then lifted her head to Cheng Mingke. "That’s because the limited food in the Defense Agency was all given to the Defense Envoys. They’re full, so naturally, they won’t faint."
Cheng Mingke looked at Tong Lingzhu in surprise. This beautiful and capable secretary had always been highly regarded by him, but he hadn’t expected her to talk back to him today.
Tong Lingzhu had held her patience for a long time. This new Border Defense Envoy was completely unaware of the situation in Black Stone Slope.
She had only just found out Cheng Mingke’s background today—not only was he unfamiliar with Black Stone Slope, but he didn’t even understand Puluo State very well.
This was his first post in Puluo State, and he was applying methods used in the Outside Provinces to Black Stone Slope.
He turned away, picking up his teacup and looking out of the window as usual, with calm indifference.
He asked Tong Lingzhu to leave.
Cheng Mingke immediately ordered Du Zhaohui, the Deputy Defense Envoy in charge of logistics, to go buy grain.
The mandate was clear: by whatever means necessary, the grain had to be purchased. He also sent two Fifth Layer Cultivators with Du Zhaohui.
His stance was clear. Du Zhaohui had no choice but to forcibly buy the grain, or he would fail the task.
However, in Black Stone Slope, forced purchases were not so easily accomplished.
The Rice Shop owner called all his assistants, armed themselves, and confronted Du Zhaohui at the entrance of the rice shop.
Whether in terms of cultivation level or equipment, there was a significant disparity between the two sides. The men from the Rice Shop were no match for a Border Defense Envoy.
However, the Rice Shop owner showed no fear, and not a single one of his assistants wavered.