Li Banfeng didn’t ask any further questions. He just grabbed a sickle and charged forward, striking at the Black Glove.
The Black Glove moved behind the White Glove and shouted, "Don’t be impulsive! I have good stuff here, Xiao Zhenggong’s good stuff. Let me go, and I’ll give it to you!"
Li Banfeng dodged the White Glove and continued to chop with his sickle.
Suddenly, the figure of the Black Glove disappeared. The White Glove yelled, "Boss, watch out!"
Li Banfeng sensed the malice and swiftly dodged. The Black Glove threw a dagger, but it missed him.
This dagger was well-crafted. When it struck the table, it split it in two, and the sleeping Judge’s Pen rolled onto the floor.
There wasn’t such a fine dagger in the Portable Residence. The Gloves’ earlier speculation was correct: this dagger must have come from Xiao Zhenggong. All his belongings had been taken by the Black Glove.
Li Banfeng turned to strike at the Black Glove, but he disappeared again.
The White Glove quickly sensed the Black Glove’s location and clashed with him. The Black Glove shouted, "Even if you kill me, you won’t get his things!"
Li Banfeng swung his sickle. The Black Glove’s shadow disappeared again, the attack almost hitting the White Glove, so Li Banfeng hurriedly retracted his strike.
The Black Glove took the opportunity to reappear before Li Banfeng, dodging his attacks while saying, "Instead of us both suffering losses, why don’t we make a deal right here?"
The White Glove picked up a shovel and struck at the Black Glove. The Black Glove circled Li Banfeng, making it difficult for the White Glove to attack. While the White Glove hesitated, the Black Glove slipped behind him, scraped a finger across his back, and with a tearing sound, a cut opened on the White Glove’s back.
The White Glove trembled, in too much pain to stand steady. The Black Glove stretched out two fingers, intending to snip off the White Glove’s fingers.
Li Banfeng moved quickly to rescue the White Glove. Turning, he swept his sickle, barely missing the Black Glove, who disappeared once more.
Both Li Banfeng and the White Glove were incredibly fast. This was happening in Li Banfeng’s own home; as a Home Cultivator, Li Banfeng had a significant advantage.
But the Black Glove would appear and disappear unpredictably, always finding cover for himself, managing to hold out against two adversaries for so long.
Hong Ying wanted to capture the Black Glove but was stopped by the Phonograph. "Girl, don’t be reckless."
Hong Ying was puzzled. "What’s so reckless about this? I can run him through with one thrust of my spear!"
Zhao Xiaowan said, "This fiend is too cunning; he’s always near my husband. I’m afraid you might hurt my husband by mistake."
"Don’t worry, I know my limits. If I make a mistake, you can spank me."
"What good would spanking you do? Could it bring my husband back if he were killed? You haven’t fought in years; I can’t trust you!"
Although the Black Glove was difficult to deal with, he lacked lethal attacks. It would also be very difficult for him to injure Li Banfeng.
Zhao Xiaowan patiently watched her husband dealing with him, waiting for the right opportunity to subdue the Black Glove.
The Black Glove appeared from the ground and, in the blink of an eye, flew to the ceiling. He said to Li Banfeng, "I know you folks are ruthless, but killing me won’t be so easy. I could hide in your house for another ten days or even half a month. You might not find me, and I’m sure I could find a chance to escape. When that time comes..."
The Black Glove suddenly stopped talking.
His strategy was to stay as close to Li Banfeng as possible, making it inconvenient for both the White Glove and Li Banfeng to attack.
But now that he had flown to the ceiling, things were not looking good.
While he was puzzled, the Judge’s Pen lying on the ground scoffed, "Hmph."
The Black Glove turned pale with shock. He hadn’t paid attention to the Judge’s Pen. Last night, the Judge’s Pen hadn’t bothered to eat and had been lying on the table the whole time; he had thought it wasn’t a living thing.
Just then, Li Banfeng swung his sickle and leaped over. As the Black Glove was about to disappear, he heard the Judge’s Pen say, "Return my capital!"
The Black Glove’s movements instantly became sluggish.
Li Banfeng hooked the Black Glove down with his sickle and pinned him to the table.
The Black Glove howled in pain, shouting, "Let me go! Otherwise, I’ll destroy all of Xiao Zhenggong’s treasures!"
Li Banfeng nodded. "Go ahead and destroy them. I’m not interested."
The Black Glove was shocked. He was worldly and knew which words were threats and which were spoken in earnest.
Seeing that Li Banfeng was serious, the Black Glove quickly changed his tune. "I was just anxious earlier and spoke without thinking. Seventh Master, from now on, I’ll work for you. Whatever you ask me to do, I’ll do it."
Li Banfeng smiled. "You’re too kind. We’re not that close."
"Seventh Master, listen to me. You’re surrounded by capable people and are surely destined for great things. But that White Glove of yours won’t cut it. He’s passable at ’flipping skylights’ (rifling upper pockets) and ’digging tunnels’ (emptying trouser pockets), but for Breaking into the Kiln Hall and ’setting up scaffolds’ (obstructing views), his skills are far inferior to mine. Seventh Master, if you don’t believe me, just try me out for a while. If I can’t outperform that White Glove, I’ll be at your mercy from then on."
The White Glove stood on the ground, a long gash on his back, with threads sticking out.
He lowered his index finger, not making a sound.
The Black Glove was right. He knew it himself; he really wasn’t as good as the Black Glove.
He too had once lurked in the Portable Residence for some time without Li Banfeng noticing him.
But that was only because Li Banfeng hadn’t noticed.