Li Banfeng was very nervous. Two minutes were almost up; why hadn’t the Contract Book changed?
Li Banfeng used the Golden Gaze Autumn Hair Technique to look at the Contract Book again.
At the bottom of the Contract Book, he saw a line of text:
"Qiu Luoye defeated Qiu Daxiang. Qiu Daxiang shall cede all territory within a hundred miles in every direction to Qiu Luoye."
Li Banfeng looked toward the Sweet Melon, bursting into loud laughter. "The deed is done, Qiu Daxiang. Travel well on your journey."
As his voice fell, Li Banfeng stomped, invoking Trample Over Thousands of Rivers. The Sweet Melon, Qiu Daxiang, immediately exploded.
Li Banfeng immediately opened the Portable Residence and handed the Contract Book to the Phonograph. "My dear, the deed is done."
The Phonograph said, "Hurry and give the Contract Book to the Old Man!"
Li Banfeng took the Contract Book to the Third Room and threw it onto the floor.
"Old Man, please destroy this Contract Book."
"Are you sure this Contract Book has nothing to do with Qiu Luoye now?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "Nothing at all."
"Then I will begin!"
The Contract Book lay on the ground, still carrying lingering Steam. A cold wind swept through the Third Room, dispersing all the Steam and revealing the Contract Book’s original appearance.
Li Banfeng wondered.
"Hehehe, just playing with them!" the Portable Residence laughed sinisterly.
The Contract Book on the ground flickered with light. Li Banfeng didn’t understand the Portable Residence’s intent.
HISS. A plume of green smoke rose from the Contract Book.
Li Banfeng didn’t know where the smoke came from. The Portable Residence said, "Use the Insightful Spirit Sound Technique and listen. Let’s listen together and see if we can hear them bustling about. Their noise is quite delightful to hear!"
With the help of the Portable Residence, Li Banfeng used the Insightful Spirit Sound Technique and heard a scream coming from the Contract Book.
The voice was deep and powerful, belonging to a man.
Li Banfeng asked, "Who is this person?"
"That’s the person watching over the Contract Book in Inner State. He touched my fire, hehehe..." the Portable Residence laughed even more sinisterly. "Listen, there seems to be another one!"
Another scream came from within the Contract Book, also a man’s voice, though much raspier than the first.
The Portable Residence continued, "Good! Let him get what he deserves for his meddling hands. Touching my fire means death! Burn these bastards!
"Ah Qi, you don’t know. The guards of the Contract Book, if not lackeys, are all pure Inner State People.
"Old Train used to enjoy killing these pure Inner State People. These bastards are the worst; killing them is the most satisfying!"
Li Banfeng also became excited. "Pure Inner State People? Are they Chu Shaoqiang’s masters?"
"Yes, the masters of those lackeys!"
"Where did they come from?"
"Old Train has been investigating but never found out. They are not people of our world!"
Li Banfeng gritted his teeth. "If only I could personally kill one of them!"
The Portable Residence laughed. "Ah Qi, these two were killed by your own hand. The idea was yours, you did the work. At least seventy percent of the credit is yours!"
"Good! I love hearing that!" Li Banfeng was elated when he suddenly heard another scream from the Contract Book.
"Another one, HAHAHA!" the Portable Residence exclaimed.
The Old Man and Li Banfeng laughed together, their laughter echoing through the Portable Residence.
The Old Man sighed. "It’s a pity this Contract Book can’t hold up anymore, otherwise we could’ve baited a few more over."
As they spoke, Qiu Daxiang’s Contract Book had already melted into molten iron and rapidly evaporated into nothingness.
Li Banfeng said, "Don’t worry. We still have plenty of opportunities to kill those bastards until they no longer dare to reach out to Puluo State!"
"Good lad!"
"HAHAHA!" Laughter once again echoed from the Portable Residence.
Hong Ying shivered.
She shivered again.
Hong Ying couldn’t see it, but she felt a cold gleam on her back.
The Phonograph was right behind her. Taking advantage of Hong Ying’s distraction, it injected a burst of Steam into her body.
Hong Ying couldn’t move anymore.
The Phonograph carried her into the Second Room.
Hong Ying gritted her teeth. "What are you going to do?"
The Phonograph took out a wooden box. "That madman is so happy, I’m sure I can’t escape tonight.
"We sisters have fought battles all our lives; tonight, you can’t let me suffer alone!"
Hong Ying wanted to shout,
The Phonograph gagged Hong Ying, stuffed her into the box, and set her up as a decoy.
the Phonograph thought.
「...」
Li Banfeng left the Portable Residence and rushed towards the bathhouse. Halfway there, he was stopped by Chuanzi’s men.
"Seventh Master, you can’t go there! That Boundary has appeared again."
Li Banfeng picked up a stone from the ground and threw it across the Boundary.
The stone flew over, undamaged.
The men were astonished. The Boundary had clearly appeared just moments ago; how had it vanished?
Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat and smiled. "From now on, there’s no Boundary. From now on, there’s only one piece of land. This is Qi Qiu City!"
「...」
In the bathhouse, Qiu Luoye felt increasingly that there was something wrong with the flesh on his body. "Old Five, why does it feel like I’m wearing clothes?"
Ma Wu shook his head. "There are no clothes. Who wears clothes in a bath?"
"There’s definitely something wrong with my body. I’m feeling very uncomfortable." Qiu Luoye kept scratching his skin and flesh.
Ma Wu tried to stop him. "Brother Qiu, you’ve been poisoned! You mustn’t scratch haphazardly. Just endure it for a while; it’ll be fine soon."
Qiu Luoye couldn’t bear it any longer. "This isn’t my body! This definitely isn’t my body! Old Five, what on earth has happened? Are you all hiding something from me?"
With Li Banfeng not there, the Ironclad Evidence as Firm as a Mountain technique had failed, and Qiu Luoye was gradually becoming lucid.
He kept patting his skin and flesh, which began to slowly swell.
"Brother Qiu, don’t—listen to me, just wait..."
BANG!
Qiu Luoye exploded, splattering Ma Wu’s face with Sweet Melon pulp.
"Brother Qiu! Oh, Brother..." Ma Wu wiped away the Sweet Melon pulp, only to see a gaunt, skinless man standing before him, all his flesh exposed and oozing.
The man turned his face to Ma Wu.
Ma Wu was stunned for a long while before tentatively asking, "Brother Qiu, is that you?"
Qiu Luoye touched his own flesh, still perplexed. "Is this me? Where has my skin gone?"
Ma Wu was overjoyed but then realized that Qiu Luoye was in a bad way.
As his thoughts gradually sank into chaos, Qiu Luoye’s body swayed, and he collapsed into the water.
Ma Wu helped Qiu Luoye up. This was a sign of Soul instability.
Ma Wu carried Qiu Luoye out of the water and laid him on a lounge chair. Not knowing what else to do, he could only wait for Li Qi to return.
A few minutes later, Li Banfeng burst into the bathhouse. He saw the skinless Qiu Luoye barely clinging to life.
"Brother Qiu, think about your own territory! Stabilize your Soul!"
"Territory? Are you talking about Wuqin Village?" Qiu Luoye was somewhat dazed; he couldn’t remember anything.
"Not Wuqin Village! Think only of your own territory—the one you’ve guarded for so many years!"
"My own territory..." Qiu Luoye didn’t understand.
"The territory you know best! Think hard!"
After a moment of thought, Qiu Luoye’s eyes widened as his own territory slowly reappeared in his mind.
From every mountain and stream to every blade of grass and tree, he was intimately familiar with that place.
The more he thought about it, the clearer his mind became, and his body also began to regain some strength.
Qiu Luoye sat up. His Soul had stabilized.
PS: Dear readers, such an attractive "Lord of Puluo" is ranked thirtieth-something on the monthly ticket list.
Dear readers, Shala is feeling so distressed. Please offer Shala a word of comfort.