CLANG!
Li Banfeng threw Bao Yingchen into the Portable Residence.
The Phonograph exclaimed, "Beloved husband, beloved husband, listen to me..."
CLANG!
Li Banfeng didn’t come in; he closed the door.
Outside, there were still over thirty tough fighters from the Three Heroes Gang, and more than a hundred people from Xiaoyao Lodge were backing them up. Li Banfeng couldn’t return yet.
After inspecting Bao Yingchen’s injuries, the Phonograph confirmed that Li Banfeng had used the Eighth Layer Technique of Home Cultivation.
"What should we do, Old Man?" the Phonograph asked Bao Yingchen.
"I’ll try to call him back."
WHOO-WHOO! The Portable Residence sounded its steam whistle.
Li Banfeng didn’t respond.
In severe pain, Li Banfeng’s consciousness blurred, and he didn’t hear the whistle.
The Phonograph shouted, "Open the door, I’ll call him back!"
The Portable Residence became angry. "This isn’t a train station! You think you can just say ’open the door’ and it will open?"
...
"Should we open the door?" a Disciple of the Three Heroes Gang asked Yang Xingbo, the third in command.
Yang Xingbo was also hesitant. The Head of the family had been inside for quite a while, and suddenly, it had gone quiet.
A Peeping Cultivator whispered, "I heard someone saying not to come over. It sounded like the Head of the family’s voice."
Yang Xingbo became anxious. "Brothers, you are the pillars of our Gang! At a critical moment, the pillars must not waver! Follow me, let’s break through the door!"
While speaking, Yang Xingbo scanned the crowd.
Veins bulged on everyone’s foreheads, their fighting spirit high.
This was the Inspiration Technique of Lust Cultivation; the group was ready to charge through the door.
Inside, Li Banfeng looked composed as he glanced at the Light Halo beneath his feet.
The Light Halo flickered and extinguished.
Li Banfeng was no longer composed.
The Door-Closing Technique was hugely draining, and in his current state, Li Banfeng couldn’t sustain the Technique for long.
The people outside were about to break in.
Li Banfeng could enter the Portable Residence. If he was worried about not being able to hide properly, he could also find a way to escape through the walls. With Bao Yingchen gone, Li Banfeng had plenty of options.
But Li Banfeng had never considered abandoning the more than one hundred people supporting him.
As he counted the Magical Treasures on his person and pondered tactics, he suddenly heard a barrage of swearing from outside. "Making a ruckus in the middle of the night, breaking into someone’s home – are you here to steal or to rob outright? The Three Heroes Gang is supposed to be reputable; why do you always do these shady things?"
The voice belonged to an elderly woman.
The Swearing Woman had arrived!
The old lady, tremulous and unsteady on her feet, climbed the stairs. Despite her advanced age and difficulty walking, her scolding voice was formidably loud.
Yang Xingbo was shocked, knowing this elderly woman was no ordinary person. He had intended to ask about her background, but the old lady kept cursing, stoking his rage.
While Yang Xingbo was still trying to stay calm, a thought suddenly popped into his head.
"Fight her! She’s insulting him so badly, and he’s not fighting back? He has so many brothers watching; how will he hold his head up after this?"
"Look at him, cowering, wishing he could just bury himself in a hole! He’s scared witless; he wouldn’t dare to fight!"
A pretty woman, about twenty-five or twenty-six, was muttering to herself beside the Swearing Woman.
Li Banfeng heard the voice and smiled.
Liang Wucui had arrived. The sister pair shared one body and two heads, each speaking her own mind, but their true appearance was masked by the ever-changing Techniques of Shui Yongquan.
Yang Xingbo was a Seventh Layer Lust Cultivator and normally had some resistance.
But under the joint provocation of the Swearing Woman and Liang Wucui, Yang Xingbo completely lost his temper.
In fact, his choice wasn’t wrong. Both the old and the young women were clearly tough cookies, and a fight was inevitable, sooner or later. Taking the initiative wouldn’t put him at a disadvantage.
He glanced at the Swearing Woman and Liang Wucui first.
The Swearing Woman was older and no longer interested in such matters, so she wasn’t greatly affected.
Liang Wucui, in the prime of her life, shuddered when he glanced at her and couldn’t help but squeeze her legs a bit tighter.
Yang Xingbo shouted, "Charge!"
His dozen or so subordinates rushed towards the Swearing Woman and Liang Wucui. The old lady swung her cane to fight them off, while Liang Wucui held a sword in her left hand and a Curved Blade in her right.
These three weren’t just good with words; they possessed real skill. A Fourth Layer Body Cultivator who got close was jabbed to death by the Swearing Woman’s cane.
A Fifth Layer Body Cultivator transformed into a bright green, spike-covered caterpillar and wriggled close to Liang Wucui.
Liang Wucui recognized this creature, scientifically known as a stinger moth, commonly called "foreign chili pepper." One must never let it touch them, for its spikes could cause unbearable pain.
Despite the foreign chili pepper’s slow wriggling, it attacked quickly with a pair of sharp fangs, its head darting back and forth as it tried relentlessly to bite Liang Wucui.
But it couldn’t land a bite. Liang Wucui was a Mental Cultivator and always managed to distract the foreign chili pepper at crucial moments.
Moreover, Liang Wucui’s attacks were bizarre; the sword in her left hand and the Curved Blade in her right moved with no connection between their forms. The foreign chili pepper struggled to defend itself and was slashed several times by Liang Wucui.
Realizing it wouldn’t gain an advantage if the fight continued this way, the foreign chili pepper stopped the head-on confrontation, retreated half a step, and its body quivered as its spikes stood on end.
It took a deep breath, and its huge body began to shake. All the Disciples of the Three Heroes Gang quickly backed away; the foreign chili pepper’s spikes were about to fly out.
Liang Wucui grew fearful, knowing that even if she managed to kill the foreign chili pepper with one strike, getting hit by its spikes would mean prolonged suffering.
As the foreign chili pepper’s shaking grew more intense, a stout woman stepped in front of Liang Wucui, opened her mouth wide, and swallowed the creature whole.
The foreign chili pepper was about the size of an average person, and no one around could understand how the woman had managed to swallow such a large bug.
"Spicy, so pleasantly spicy!" Chi Liuhe, the Food Cultivator, arrived. She licked the spikes from around her mouth, still feeling unsatisfied.
Duan Wuchou, the Nightmare Cultivator, also arrived, with over twenty Ghost Servants shuttling back and forth among the crowd.
A Martial Cultivator stepped forward and chopped off Duan Wuchou’s head, but she paid no heed, continuing to command her Ghost Servants in the fight.
That wasn’t her real head, as she didn’t have one. It was a Blinding Technique created by Shui Yongquan’s ever-changing Technique; after drinking more water, she could grow it back again.
Bai Shoulian wielded a pair of Plank Axes as he battled the crowd. When his axes were blocked, he pulled out a pair of hammers; when the hammers were blocked, he produced a pair of Wolf Fang Clubs...
The corridor plunged into chaos. Yang Xingbo, the third in command of the Three Heroes Gang, was looking for an opportunity to strike when He Yuxiu jumped in through the corridor window and grabbed his hair.
"Old Qi!" He Yuxiu shouted, "Are you alright?"
"I’m fine, nothing’s wrong," Li Banfeng said, standing in the middle of the dance floor and letting out a sigh of relief.
He took out his key, unlocked the door to his Portable Residence, and staggered back inside, collapsing onto the bed.
The Phonograph urgently said, "Beloved husband, oh beloved husband, didn’t I tell you not to sneakily learn Techniques? Why don’t you ever listen?"
Hong Ying murmured, "I think I understand what ’opening both doors’ means now."
"Why talk about this now?" the Phonograph said angrily. "Give me a hand, I need to help him advance!"
Hong Ying said, "He just advanced to the Seventh Layer, and now he’s going to the Eighth Layer—can his body withstand it?"
"What else can we do? He used a Technique above his level! If he doesn’t advance, he’ll die!"
Hong Ying helped Li Banfeng up, and the Phonograph gently sang, "Beloved husband, bear with the pain a little, you’re about to advance."
Li Banfeng was perplexed.
"Give birth? Giving birth is a good thing, so why am I the one who has to endure the pain?"
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