"As winter comes and snow blankets all,
My lord endures, my heart does fall,
With earnest love, does he perceive,
Another chamber will I weave."
The phonograph finished its song, and with steam, Hong Ying’s face turned bright red, "You wretch, why didn’t you sing along with me?"
Hong Ying retorted angrily, "After attending to him all night, going up and then down, and now I’m supposed to sing for his pleasure, too? What do I owe him?"
"You wretch, serving your own man, and you feel wronged? Sing with me, sing louder, or it’s a hundred Military Stick lashes! I’ll beat you to death, you wretch!"
...
Amidst their quarreling, Li Banfeng fell into a deep sleep, and it lasted three days.
After three days, Li Banfeng woke up, looked at the Month Plate, and asked Meng De, "What time is it now?"
"Sir, it’s a quarter past midnight."
It was a quarter past midnight, when Xiaoyao Lodge was at its liveliest.
The key was still in Xiaoyao Lodge. In the past, Li Banfeng would have avoided appearing there at such an hour. But times had changed.
Li Banfeng had now reached the Eighth Layer of Home Cultivation. Even if he appeared directly in the great dance hall of Xiaoyao Lodge, ordinary people would not notice him.
To be on the safe side, Li Banfeng did not appear on the dance floor. Before leaving, he recalled the backstage area of the main dance hall. There was a large wardrobe there, and emerging from it would be less conspicuous.
After leaving his house, Li Banfeng found something was amiss. He had indeed emerged from a wardrobe, but it wasn’t the large one backstage. Instead, it was the one in Jiang Mengting’s private dressing room.
Jiang Mengting was changing clothes in the dressing room, having just performed on stage. She had sung five songs in a row and was sweating profusely. Now she was changing completely, with nothing left on her body.
Li Banfeng made no sound, lowered the brim of his hat, planning to pass directly through the wall and leave, when suddenly Jiang Mengting called out, "Seventh Master!"
As far as Li Banfeng knew, Jiang Mengting was not supposed to have any cultivation level.
In reality, Jiang Mengting hadn’t noticed Li Banfeng. She had been in a daze recently, seeing Li Qi in everyone. When alone, she often muttered "Seventh Master."
But ignorant of the situation, and since he believed he was discovered, Li Banfeng straightforwardly admitted his presence.
"It’s me." Li Banfeng nodded.
Hearing Li Qi’s voice, Jiang Mengting trembled, staring at Li Qi for a long while, up and down.
"Seventh Master, is it really you..."
Li Banfeng raised a finger to his lips, signaling Jiang Mengting to stay quiet.
Jiang Mengting covered her mouth, nodding vigorously, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Li Banfeng was somewhat surprised; he and Jiang Mengting were acquainted, but he was the boss, and she was a singer. Besides that, there didn’t seem to be any other interaction.
Where? From sharing life and death.
Forget all the romantic promises and oaths; Jiang Mengting had seen too much of that. The men who knelt and vowed to marry none but her were countless.
When they had faced life and death, Seventh Master had not abandoned her. This was a bond she truly couldn’t forget.
Jiang Mengting wiped her tears and hugged Li Banfeng, "Seventh Master, I may be overstepping, but let me hold you for a while."
Li Banfeng’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Holding me for a while is okay, but put on your clothes first."
While Jiang Mengting got dressed, Li Banfeng left the dressing room and quickly headed for the backstage exit.
The backstage exit led to a side door. Jiang Mengting poked her head out from the dressing room and whispered, "Seventh Master, please be very careful. I don’t know what’s going on, but recently, after going out this side door, nobody seems able to come back."
Li Banfeng promptly left the backstage. Inside the dance hall, guests were dancing.
He first retrieved a key from between the floorboards, then heard a resolute, low chant, "Even as the stage falls dark, the art persists."
Li Banfeng had slept for three days, and the projector had stood its ground here for three days.
"Brother, it’s my fault." Li Banfeng pocketed the projector.
Jiang Mengting got dressed, putting on a white coat and a white top hat with a veil attached, and stood at the backstage entrance, waving at Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng took Jiang Mengting to a private room and asked, "Where’s Ma Wu?"
"Master Wu has been looking everywhere for you. So has Miss He Yuxiu of the He Family, the Border Defense Envoy, and the Three Heroes Gang. The whole Greenwater City is talking about you."
"What are they saying?"
"Some say you killed the Head of the family of the Three Heroes Gang; others say their Head of the family killed you. Zhang Xiuling said that perhaps you and Bao Yingchen, the Head of the family of the Three Heroes Gang, hit it off and became sworn brothers, both retiring from the Jianghu to avoid strife."
Li Banfeng was helpless. He could not understand the thought process of this talented woman.
"What’s the situation with the Three Heroes Gang? Why are you spacing out? I’m asking you a question."
Jiang Mengting had been staring at Li Banfeng, somewhat lost in thought. "Ah, the Three Heroes Gang. Now Shen Jinzhong, the second-in-command, is in charge, but he’s just effectively the manager; he can’t become the Head of the family."
Li Banfeng frowned, "What about Yang Xingbo, the third-in-command of the Three Heroes Gang?"
"Yang Xingbo was killed by He Yuxiu. It’s said to have been a gruesome death. In her efforts to find you, He Yuxiu had him tortured by her people for an entire day."
Li Banfeng didn’t understand.
Jiang Mengting, however, had some insight into the Three Heroes Gang’s upheaval. "Chu Huaijun recommended an elder from the Three Heroes Gang to take over as third-in-command."
"The Three Heroes Gang still has elders?"
"Those are essentially Silver Seals who couldn’t be promoted to Gold Seal, so they became elders. This particular elder’s name is Dong Kaibin. His cultivation level and seniority are both very high; he’s rumored to have joined the gang even earlier than the second-in-command."