Zhou Yujuan awoke with a start. She heard noises in the hallway, sounding like a scuffle.
She wasn’t mistaken. In the moments before their deaths, two of Du Hongxi’s subordinates had fought with Li Banfeng.
Slipping on her robe, Zhou Yujuan cautiously approached the door.
As she placed her hand on the doorknob, just about to push the door open, she retracted her hand.
Through the door, she heard breathing.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
The sound of knocking echoed.
Zhou Yujuan retreated to the side of the bed and pulled a pair of scissors from the drawer beside her pillow.
A First Layer Peeping Cultivation practitioner, Zhou Yujuan was not skilled in combat and had spent a substantial amount of money on this special Weapon.
The scissors, over twenty centimeters long, were pitch-black save for a few dark red bloodstains along the blade’s edge.
The knocking ceased. Zhou Yujuan listened intently, noting that the breathing outside the door continued.
CLICK!
The doorknob turned. The person was about to enter.
CREAK. The door was pushed open.
Immediately, Zhou Yujuan slashed her palm with the scissors and threw the bloodied blades toward the doorway.
The scissors instantaneously lengthened, their nearly meter-long blades swinging wide, severing the head of the person standing outside the door.
This attack was swift and precise. As long as the timing was right, most Cultivators of the First and Second Layers had no chance to dodge or parry.
When Zhou Yujuan no longer heard any noise from the corridor, she cautiously went to the door and picked up the severed head.
Zhou Yujuan stared at the head for a long while.
In her panic, Zhou Yujuan cried out, "Really, it wasn’t me!"
"Don’t be afraid. It wasn’t you."
"It wasn’t me!"
"I know it wasn’t you."
"Really, it wasn’t me."
Li Banfeng consoled her from the side, "Don’t be afraid, it wasn’t you. Really, it wasn’t you. It was me. He was already dead. I killed him."
Zhou Yujuan suddenly snapped to her senses. Using all her limbs, she tried to crawl toward the scissors.
Li Banfeng got to the scissors first. "This thing is quite dangerous. I’ll hold onto it for you. Now, tell me where the money is?"
"What money?" Zhou Yujuan looked bewildered.
Li Banfeng’s eyes bulged. "My money! You took a lot of it from me tonight. Have you forgotten so quickly?"
Zhou Yujuan was stunned for a good ten seconds before she finally understood.
Seeing Li Banfeng’s gentle smile, Zhou Yujuan didn’t dare ponder further.
"I haven’t forgotten, I haven’t! I’ll go get it right now!"
With tears in her eyes, Zhou Yujuan led Li Banfeng to the counter on the first floor.
Under the counter was a mechanical cash register. CLICK, CLACK. She entered the password and pulled the lever forcefully. The grinding of gears and the driveshaft filled the air as the cash drawer popped open.
Zhou Yujuan grabbed two stacks of banknotes and handed them to Li Banfeng. "This is all your money, sir. Please take it."
Li Banfeng glanced at it and frowned. "How much is this?"
"This is... 2,000." Zhou Yujuan had extorted 2,000 from Li Banfeng, and now the money in her hand was considerably more than that.
"Do you think 2,000 is enough?" Li Banfeng’s tone was exactly like Zhou Yujuan’s when she had extorted him earlier.
"It’s not enough, not enough." Zhou Yujuan emptied all the money from the cash register and handed it to Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng asked in the same tone, "Do you think this money is enough?"
"No, it’s not enough..." Zhou Yujuan, being sensible, led Li Banfeng to the third floor and opened the safe.
Inside the safe was over 300,000 in cash. Zhou Yujuan found a box, packed the cash, and handed it to Li Banfeng. "All the cash is here. The rest of the money is in the Silver Shop; I can take you there to withdraw it."
"Do you think it’s appropriate to go to the Silver Shop?" Li Banfeng couldn’t possibly go with her to the Silver Shop. If he stepped out that door with her, his life might be forfeit.
Zhou Yujuan steeled herself, retrieved a key from a hidden compartment under the bed, and unlocked a hidden door behind the bookcase.
Behind the secret door was a hidden cabinet containing over a dozen Gold Bars. "Sir, these are my savings from over ten years. I’m giving them all to you."
Li Banfeng frowned. "Is this enough?"
Zhou Lijuan burst into tears. "I’ve given you all my money, I really have! Please, let me go, I beg you..."
Li Banfeng snorted coldly and sneered, "You? Beg me? Are you worthy? Why don’t you take a piss and look at yourself..."
WHOOSH.
After saying that, Li Banfeng regretted it.
As the saying goes, ask for a hammer and you get a hammer; ask for pee and you get pee.
A spreading puddle soaked Li Banfeng’s shoe soles.
DRIP!
Li Banfeng lifted his foot; his shoe sole was dripping.
"Did you actually pee yourself?" Li Banfeng was thoroughly annoyed. He picked up Zhou Yujuan and threw her into the Portable Residence.
The Phonograph chirped, "Oh, my dear husband has bought groceries again! Let me see what he got this time..."
The Phonograph was initially delighted, but soon its voice turned into an angry scold, "Ah! What kind of filthy woman is this, daring to urinate in my house? Husband, even when you get a chicken, you have to pluck its feathers first! Yet you didn’t clean her up properly before sending her in!"
Li Banfeng collected all the banknotes and Gold Bars into his Portable Residence.
Besides the banknotes, there were other good things.
Zhou Yujuan had a lot of fine jewelry, which Li Banfeng also took.
Two sets of exquisite solid wood tables and chairs were also taken by Li Banfeng.
A bookshelf, Li Banfeng took it, books and all.
The candlesticks were taken, along with the candles.
The wardrobe was taken, but not the clothes. Du Hongxi’s clothes were too small, and Li Banfeng had no use for Zhou Yujuan’s clothes, nor did the Phonograph currently.
A sofa set was taken.
Two high-quality vases were taken—not the flowers, just the vases. They could be useful for holding feather dusters.
There were several oil paintings on the wall. Just as Li Banfeng moved them into the Portable Residence, the Steam Phonograph scorched them beyond recognition.
"These shameless women, not wearing a stitch, posing and acting coy! What an outrage to public decency!"
Li Banfeng heaved a sigh. "You shrew, you don’t understand art!"
Li Banfeng moved the hand-cranked phonograph into the Portable Residence. The Steam Phonograph immediately dismantled it, warning Li Banfeng, "Husband, it’s one thing to listen to music outside, but you dare bring this thing home?"
He wanted to move more things in, but the Phonograph protested, "Oh, husband, if you keep moving things in, you won’t even have a place to sleep!"
The outer chamber and the main room were completely filled.
Li Banfeng brought out the explosives he had bought from Shopkeeper Feng and placed them in various corners of the dance hall.
With everything properly arranged, Li Banfeng woke up Old Gu, who was in charge of the phonograph.
Seeing the Iron Ruler in Li Banfeng’s hands, Old Gu was scared out of his wits. "My good man, I’ve never done anything wrong! I’m just here to earn a living."
Li Banfeng pulled out a Pocket Watch and said to Old Gu, "I believe you haven’t done anything wrong. Take a good look at this watch. I’ll give you ten minutes to evacuate everyone from the dance hall. If a single person is left behind, your life will pay for it."
"Okay! Okay! That’s easy enough!"
This task wasn’t difficult for Old Gu at all.
Apart from operating the phonograph, he had another job. At two o’clock every afternoon when the dance hall opened, Old Gu had to call the girls out to meet the customers.
Usually, he would play a piece of music first. Hearing the music, the girls would all come downstairs.
If any of them lingered in bed and refused to come out, Old Gu would play a bugle. The bugle was loud and would definitely wake all the girls.
No music was needed today. Old Gu blew the bugle directly, and in less than two minutes, everyone in the building was awake.
Old Gu shouted at the top of his lungs, "Fire! Everyone out, quickly, quickly!"
Hearing there was a fire, some customers didn’t even bother with their clothes, rushing out with the girls, stark naked.
Once outside on the street, they didn’t see even a spark. The girls complained to Old Gu, "Are you out of your mind? Where’s the fire?"
Old Gu didn’t know how to respond.
Someone else nearby asked, "Where’s our boss? Why haven’t we seen her come out?"
"Master Du hasn’t come out either! Old Gu, are you damn well messing with us?"
On the first floor, in the lobby, Li Banfeng struck a match and lit the fuse on the floor.
He raised his collar, pulled down his top hat, put his hands in his pockets, and silently left the dance hall.
When he had gotten halfway down the street, Li Banfeng struck another match and lit a cigarette for himself.
The cigarette was lit.
Flames erupted inside the dance hall.
After a loud explosion, nearly a third of the explosives detonated, destroying half of the dance hall.
The customers and girls who escaped were scared out of their wits. Some who were standing close were hit by flying stones and debris, leaving them covered in blood.
"Run! Run for it!"
They no longer blamed Old Gu. They even forgot about Old Gu. They forgot everyone around them and just ran for their lives.
Li Banfeng watched the Xianle Dance Hall, a slight smile playing on his lips.
BOOM! Another explosion rang out. One of the charges that hadn’t detonated earlier suddenly went off. A burst of flame shot out, instantly swallowing Li Banfeng.
When the flames dispersed, Li Banfeng patted down the smoldering spots on his clothes and hair.
He wanted to take another puff of his cigarette to maintain his composure, but it had been burned to ash.
Li Banfeng picked up his top hat, which was half-burnt. He blew out the flames on it and placed it on his head, from which wisps of acrid smoke rose from his singed hair. He then silently vanished into the night.
PS: Regarding the issue of Zhou Yujuan’s ears in the last Chapter, many readers believe it’s a talent of Peeping Cultivation—having larger ears.
I think such a conjecture is a bit too hasty. The issue might not necessarily lie with Peeping Cultivation. It could also be that Du Hongxi is rather small, which might be the price paid for Nightmare Cultivation.