At dawn, two Supports were patrolling the territory of Qiu Luoye when they suddenly noticed a plump figure, accompanied by a dozen people, walking on a newly constructed path by the Three-Headed People.
Sensing that something was amiss, the Supports hurried off to find Ma Wu.
Ma Wu pushed aside the spotted snake on his bed, got dressed, and headed to the residence of the Three-Headed People.
Upon seeing the plump figure, Ma Wu’s heart skipped a beat.
He brought over a dozen subordinates with him, all of whom held ranks within the Defense Agency. Cai Junshan, the Border Defense Envoy of the City of Sinners, was also among them.
Cai Junshan called over Juanzi and instructed her, "You’re the leader here, right? Get everyone out here. It’s time to go back."
Juanzi was terrified, struggling even to breathe. She recognized Cai Junshan and had witnessed his various methods. She knew that he had made countless Three-Headed People wish they were dead—the fear was deeply etched into her marrow.
Even the usually reckless Mengzi was silent, beads of sweat on his forehead outnumbering Juanzi’s.
Seeing that Juanzi didn’t dare respond, Aunt Fang spoke up, "Lord Border Defense Envoy, we will go back as you wish, but there are some matters that you perhaps need to clarify first..."
Cai Junshan glanced at Aunt Fang. "I wasn’t speaking to you!"
Aunt Fang bowed her head in silence. Cai Junshan turned to Juanzi and said, "This is your last chance. If Lord Chief Envoy hadn’t come, I wouldn’t even bother to glance at you. I would have ordered your indiscriminate execution by now! Pack up, and follow me!"
The several Three-Headed People all looked toward Juanzi. With her not moving, they remained still as well.
Cai Junshan frowned. "What’s the matter? Didn’t you understand what I just said?"
Ma Wu approached with a smile. "Lord Border Defense Envoy, let’s talk things over gently, no need to spoil the mood."
Cai Junshan eyed Ma Wu. "And you are?"
Liao Zihui chuckled beside them. "Junshan, he’s a friend of mine."
Cai Junshan shot a glare at Ma Wu but said no more.
Although the City of Sinners was quite far from Greenwater Bay, he must have seen Ma Wu in the newspapers.
This was an order from Liao Zihui: to intimidate Ma Wu as they met, to keep him from intervening.
Then Liao Zihui would step in with a few consoling words, allowing Ma Wu to save some face, and Ma Wu would no longer speak up.
"Chief Envoy Liao," Ma Wu looked at Liao Zihui, "what do you think this is about...?"
Liao Zihui sighed softly as he looked at Ma Wu. "Junyang, you should stay out of this. It’s not your place to interfere."
Cai Junshan faced the crowd of Three-Headed People. "Look closely. No one here can help you today; the only one who can is me. I’m giving you thirty seconds. Within thirty seconds, gather here immediately, or else I won’t be polite..."
Before he could finish, Cai Junshan fell to his knees with a THUD, kowtowing to the crowd of Three-Headed People.
Juanzi was stunned, as were all the Three-Headed People.
Because Li Banfeng was pressing down on his head.
Cai Junshan raised his head, about to shout, but Li Banfeng pressed his head down for another kowtow.
A few bodyguards rushed forward. Seeing Cai Junshan’s head held firmly in Li Banfeng’s hand, they were unsure how to react and looked to Liao Zihui for guidance. Liao Zihui ordered all the bodyguards to raise their Steam Guns.
In Puluo State, gunpowder could be unreliable, but Steam Guns, which relied on high-temperature, high-pressure steam, were very stable.
Li Banfeng acted as if he saw nothing, continuing to press Cai Junshan’s head down onto the ground, kowtowing three times and breaking the skin on Cai Junshan’s forehead.
Cai Junshan’s eyes rimmed with red, whether from fright or pain.
Li Banfeng threw Cai Junshan aside and asked, "Xiao Shan, why are you crying?"
Cai Junshan clenched his teeth. "I’m not!"
"I wasn’t talking to you." Li Banfeng turned to Juanzi’s third head, the child named Xiao Shan. Wiping the boy’s tears, Li Banfeng said gently, "What are you afraid of, eh? No need to cry now."
The child called Xiao Shan sobbed. "With Seventh Master here, I’m not afraid."
Cai Junshan, behind Li Banfeng, gnashed his teeth. "Did you just hit me?"
Li Banfeng turned around. "And who might you be?"
Cai Junshan shouted, "I am the Border Defense Envoy of the City of Sinners!"
"What’s the Border Defense Envoy from the City of Sinners doing here? Is this the City of Sinners?"
Cai Junshan replied, "I am here on the orders of the Lord Chief Envoy..."
"Who’s your lord? Didn’t they teach you any manners? Such impoliteness when speaking!"
Unable to contain himself any longer, Cai Junshan pointed at Li Banfeng. "Li Qi, I’m talking to you as a courtesy. Who do you think you are..."
SLAP!
Li Banfeng slapped Cai Junshan; the force of the blow peeled off a layer of skin from Cai Junshan’s left cheek.
"Is this your ’face’?" Li Banfeng looked at the skin in his hand.
Covering his face, Cai Junshan mumbled something unintelligibly.
"I don’t like this ’face’ of yours. You keep it."
SLAP!
Li Banfeng slapped Cai Junshan again, sticking the peeled skin back onto Cai Junshan’s right cheek.
Cai Junshan couldn’t restrain himself any longer and burst into tears.
He was a ruthless man, one who had taken lives with ease.
But having spent so much time in Puluo State, Li Banfeng had come to realize a pattern. Ruthless people like Cai Junshan, whose faces always seemed to carry a fierce determination, usually hadn’t been beaten up before.
Li Banfeng was right; Cai Junshan had never been beaten from childhood to adulthood. As he cried his heart out, the Projector diligently recorded the precious scene unfolding before it.
The bodyguards behind Liao Zihui didn’t move. Cai Junshan’s two personal bodyguards wanted to rush forward but felt they were no match for Li Qi. They knew confronting him would put them at a disadvantage.
Protecting Cai Junshan was their duty, and these thoughts clearly weren’t theirs to consider.
Chu Er gave Li Banfeng a subtle signal with her eyebrows from a distance. Just moments ago, she had used the Bitter Cultivation Fourth Layer Technique, Sorrowful Thoughts, on these two bodyguards. It silently plunged them into a state of passivity and pessimism.
Liao Zihui ordered his men to take Cai Junshan back to the car.
He looked up at Li Qi on the hillside and said calmly, "My coming here today may have been presumptuous, but we need to make things clear. If our attitude was wrong, we can apologize to you. However, your harboring criminals from the City of Sinners is incorrect."
Li Qi looked down at Liao Zihui and asked, "What crimes have they committed?"
Liao Zihui laughed. "Let’s not talk about their crimes for now. Let’s talk about how you shouldn’t be harboring criminals."
Li Qi shook his head. "Let’s not talk about whether I’m harboring criminals. I’m asking you, what crimes have they committed?"
Li Banfeng didn’t buy into the "let’s not talk about this first" approach, which put Liao Zihui at a disadvantage.
So, he had to change his approach. "Whether this group of people has committed crimes or not is not for me to decide. That is..."
"If you can’t decide, then why are you talking to me?" Li Banfeng interrupted Liao Zihui directly. "Have your superior come find me, the one who actually has a say."
Liao Zihui’s temples throbbed with irritation. The remarks were infuriating—more than he had anticipated.
Why was he so annoyed?
Because Ma Wu was "advising" him from the side.
"Chief Envoy Liao, please calm down. What Old Qi said wasn’t uncalled for; it makes a lot of sense. Who exactly has the final say among you?" He was using the Lust Cultivation Technique.
"Chief Envoy Liao, you can’t always rely on your authority to silence others," Lu Chunying said, walking over with Tan Fucheng and Lu Yuanxin. "Now tell us clearly, what crimes have they actually committed?"
"I went to bed late last night and was hoping to catch up on some sleep, but it’s been such a commotion this morning," He Yuxiu yawned, coming to Li Qi’s side.
Seeing Liao Zihui, He Yuxiu smiled. "Oh, isn’t this Chief Envoy Liao? You still haven’t managed to kill me after all these days. Are you getting anxious?"
The He Family, the Lu Family, the Ma Family, and the Chu Family were all present. Ma Wu might not be considered a traditional member of the Ma Family, but Liao Zihui was keenly aware that Ma Junyang’s current status in Puluo State was higher than his father’s, Ma Chunting.
Having all Four Great Families standing by Li Qi’s side gave Liao Zihui an unprecedented sense of pressure.
Liao Zihui shouted, "Is the Local Deity present?"
"Here!" Qiu Luoye responded.
"Can you say something?"
"Yes!" Qiu Luoye responded again.
Liao Zihui continued, "I have stated before that no one should harbor criminals from the City of Sinners. Now that they have all come to your territory, don’t you think you owe me an explanation?"
"Scram!" was Qiu Luoye’s blunt explanation to Liao Zihui.
Liao Zihui still didn’t give up. "Are you saying that you want these criminals to scram from your territory?"
"I’m telling *you* to scram!" Qiu Luoye was forced to clarify.
Liao Zihui’s temples throbbed again, and everyone around him braced for a confrontation.
Li Qi advised him, "Zihui, go home. It’s quite humiliating to stay here."
The glint in Liao Zihui’s eyes turned frosty as he looked at Li Qi. "Just for these three-headed people, just for these monsters, you’re really pushing things this far?"
Li Banfeng said, "Don’t casually call others monsters; it easily reveals your lack of manners."
Liao Zihui raised his voice. "They *are* monsters! In Puluo State, they have been called this for many years. You have a lot of rules to learn, and there are too many things you don’t understand!"
He was deliberately trying to incite Li Qi.
Without getting angry, Li Banfeng advised earnestly, "The environment in Puluo State has changed, and you seem to be struggling to keep up with these changes."
Liao Zihui shook his head. "I’m someone who doesn’t like change, nor do I adapt well to it."
Li Banfeng continued to advise, "One should not expect the environment to adapt to them; instead, one must actively adapt to the environment. Zihui, you really need to learn to adapt in the future."
Liao Zihui’s cheeks twitched. Those words, which he often used himself, had always seemed sensible and forceful.
Yet now, hearing these words, he found them utterly detestable, and they echoed relentlessly in his mind.
Liao Zihui gave the command, leading his people away from Qiu Luoye’s territory.
Juanzi kneeled before Li Banfeng with a THUD, about to kowtow.
Li Banfeng pulled her up. When the other Three-Headed People also attempted to kneel, he shouted, "Don’t kneel! Stand up and talk!"
"It’s almost dawn." He Yuxiu looked up at the sky, where more and more Heavenly Light filtered through, leaving little trace of the fading mist.
Lu Chunying said, "Brother Seven, my mother has found many books lately and has read numerous records about turning New Land into Proper Land. Some things need preparation sooner rather than later."
Xiao Yeci nodded. "Benefactor, we need to gather ten thousand people as soon as possible. The original beings of the New Land also need to be settled quickly."
Qiu Luoye appeared beside Li Banfeng. "Is there a way for me to keep a few of my old friends? I can’t bear to part with them."
Li Banfeng looked at Xiao Yeci, who nodded. "There is a way, but it’s a bit troublesome according to the rules."
PS: Thanks to the Alliance Hierarch demolition expert Hao Ren for the support and encouragement to Shala.