The Overlord of Puluo

Three days later, early in the morning.

After the doctor finished his ward rounds and left, He Jiaqing opened his eyes. There were a few things he needed to confirm with Ling Miaoying.

”My friend is a Wanderlust Cultivator,” He Jiaqing said. ”He has an ability called Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity. Have you made preparations for that?”

”Don’t worry. I have a method to conceal my malicious intent. Until the moment I make my move, your friend won’t sense anything.”

He Jiaqing still felt uneasy. Li Banfeng had already surprised him more than once. ”Wanderlust Cultivators are known for their speed. You should still be more careful.”

”You don’t need to worry about your friend,” Ling Miaoying replied. ”No matter how fast he is, it won’t matter. Once he boards my train, even if he grows wings, he won’t be able to escape.”

”Ma Wu is the troublesome one. He’s now quite the figure in Greenwater City and has dealings with the Border Controller. If we kill him at the station, it could anger the Border Controller.

”I have already made arrangements outside the station. The moment he leaves, we’ll act. Neither he nor the support hooks under him will get away.”

”I don’t care about the others,” He Jiaqing said. ”But keep my friend alive. The item is what we are after.”

”Don’t worry,” Ling Miaoying replied. ”I will bring him back alive.”

”We must keep this low-key and secret. Don’t let anyone unrelated know about it.”

”Since Ma Wu isn’t coming, I will handle it alone this time. Aside from informing the people at the station, no one else knows.”

With everything arranged, He Jiaqing ended the communication and waited for news from Ling Miaoying.

***

Li Banfeng had just finished packing and was about to head out when Ma Wu appeared, already fully dressed and ready to leave.

”Where are you going?” Li Banfeng asked, feeling puzzled.

Ma Wu lifted the backpack in his hand. ”I will see you off at the station. I packed some food for you too.”

”I already brought food.” Li Banfeng pointed to his suitcase. ”No need to see me off. I know the way.”

Ma Wu fell silent for a moment before looking up. ”Old Qi, I have thought it over carefully. We already have plenty of business. We can barely manage Blue Poplar Village and Properfolk Village as it is, and now we have added Freewind Wharf on top of that. There’s no need to rush into business at Blackstone Slope. We don’t even have the capacity to handle it right now. You better not go.”

Li Banfeng frowned slightly, then smiled. ”What’s gotten into you? What are you worried about?”

”I just feel it’s not safe for you to go to Blackstone Slope alone,” Ma Wu said. A sense of dread tugged at him, just like the feeling he had when Shui Yongquan and Qiu Luoye were about to go to war.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen. The last time that uneasy feeling had crept into his chest was before he went to Hundred Vines Gorge. Now it had returned, whispering that Li Banfeng might run into trouble again.

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”If you go to the station to see me off, that’s exactly what will make things unsafe. Do you know how many people in Greenwater City are watching you?”

After thinking it over again and again, Ma Wu still insisted. ”I will disguise myself. I won’t feel at ease until I see you board the train.”

Just then, Little Chuan ran in to report. ”Master Wu, Master Si[1] is here again, and he’s brought people with him. He says he won’t leave unless he takes you back home today.”

Ma Wu looked at Li Banfeng. ”Old Qi, my family is stirring up trouble again. You can’t leave yet. Let’s deal with this first.”

Li Banfeng fell silent for a moment before speaking. ”Old Wu, when we were activating land in the New Land, you told me you were my brother. A brother who could stand on his own feet. I believed you then, and I still believe you now. You can handle this. You don’t need me to step in.”

Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat, picked up his suitcase, and walked out of Freewind Wharf.

Watching Li Banfeng’s departing figure, Ma Wu suddenly felt as though he might never see him again.

Little Chuan urged from the side, ”Master Wu, Master Si is getting impatient.”

”If he’s in such a hurry, he can get lost! If he wants to see me, he can wait!” Ma Wu snapped impatiently, then lifted his cup and drained it in one gulp.

***

Outside Freewind Wharf, an odd-job man pushed a cart to a corner, seemingly cleaning up trash.

He was actually passing along a message with his broom. His movements were extremely discreet, and no one around him noticed.

After receiving the message, Ling Miaoying immediately informed He Jiaqing. ”Ma Wu didn’t go. Ma Junjiang showed up instead and probably held him back. This morning, only one person left Freewind Wharf and headed for the train station. That should be your friend.”

”What does he look like?”

”He’s wearing a fedora with the brim pulled low, so you can’t see his face. He also has a big beard.”

He Jiaqing thought for a moment before speaking. ”It’s just as well that Ma Wu didn’t go. Focus on dealing with him. Remember, I want him alive.”

***

When he arrived at Greenwater City Station, Li Banfeng presented his ticket and travel permit and walked straight into the departure lounge. He let out a long breath.

The last time he had taken a train was when he traveled from Yuezhou Province to Puluo Province. In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had passed.

Greenwater City Station was the largest station in Puluo Province, yet the departure lounge was far from crowded.

In Puluo Province, anyone who wanted to take a train needed a travel permit. Very few people could obtain one, so only a few dozen passengers sat in the departure lounge. Some were reading books, some were reading newspapers, and some were simply in a daze.

Electronic display boards were out of the question. Li Banfeng kept glancing at his pocket watch, worried he might miss the boarding time. Soon, however, he realized his worries were unnecessary.

Ma Wu had bought him a first-class sleeper ticket. With such an expensive ticket, someone was assigned specifically to assist him.

”Sir, your train has arrived. Please follow me to Platform Three to board your train.”

The station attendant led Li Banfeng onto the platform, where a steam train was already waiting.

Li Banfeng glanced around. Seven or eight others were boarding along with him. Two or three looked like they were just seeing someone off. A young woman was crying in a man’s arms, tears streaming down her face.

Wait... isn’t that line a little too straight? Li Banfeng thought as he caught a glimpse of a black line flashing across the girl’s face.

Was that a tear? It wasn’t a tear. Li Banfeng had seen black lines like that before. He Jiaqing liked film cameras and old movies shot on film.

Once, when Li Banfeng watched a movie with him, he asked, ”Why do these old films always have black lines and white specks on the screen?”

He Jiaqing explained it carefully. ”That’s caused by wear and oxidation on the film. A strip of film runs through twenty-four frames every second. When it’s projected onto the screen, those imperfections appear as specks and thin lines. This was very common in old movies shot on film.”

Movies shot on film! Li Banfeng’s mind jolted, and a chain of thoughts flashed through his head.

Lu Xiaolan had gone to cause trouble for Properfolk Village. There had been a mole in Properfolk Village. That mole turned out to be a gramophone, and there was a hook on the gramophone.

The Ling Family, Li Banfeng thought. Ling Miaoying of the Ling Family specialized in film techniques!

Li Banfeng kept himself perfectly still and showed no sudden reaction. In that instant, he understood that he had already fallen into a trap. The platform was fake, the train was fake, and even the station attendant standing before him was fake.

The station attendant said to him, ”Sir, your ticket shows that you are in Carriage Three. Please board as soon as possible.”

Li Banfeng lowered his head and looked at his shoes, then handed the suitcase to the attendant. ”Could you hold this for a moment?” he said. ”My shoelace has come loose.”

The attendant took the suitcase. Li Banfeng crouched down, suddenly pulled out a sickle, and slashed at the attendant’s ankle.

This was one of Li Banfeng’s killing moves. An ordinary person would have had no chance to evade it. Yet the attendant casually lifted his foot and avoided the strike.

Was his reaction really that fast? Was he really that quick? It wasn’t speed or reflex. It was a prediction. The moment Li Banfeng drew his blade, it made a faint sound, and the station attendant caught it.

The station attendant was actually Ling Miaoying, a level-seven Spycraft Cultivator. If he had wanted to kill Li Banfeng, Li Banfeng would already be dead. However, He Jiaqing had ordered that Li Banfeng be captured alive.

To be safe, Ling Miaoying planned to get him onto the train first. It was the same method he had used against Lu Dongjun. He lured Li Banfeng to an abandoned platform and tricked him into boarding a specially prepared train.

This fake train had originally been a prop Ling Miaoying used for filming, but it was also a high-level enchanted artifact. The inside was filled with mechanisms and several layers of traps and restraints. With Li Banfeng’s current cultivation, once he boarded the train, escape would be impossible. What Ling Miaoying had not expected was that Li Banfeng had already seen through the trap.

If Li Banfeng refused to board the train, another method would be needed. Ling Miaoying had prepared thoroughly. Even if Li Banfeng refused to board, he had other measures ready. Enchanted artifacts had been set up on the platform as well.

But before Ling Miaoying could make a move, the suitcase suddenly burst apart. The Tang Saber shot out from inside and slashed straight toward Ling Miaoying’s face.

Li Banfeng had no need for a suitcase. He had his Pocket Dwelling and never carried luggage when traveling. The suitcase existed purely as a disguise. First, it made him look like an ordinary traveler. Second, it allowed him to launch a surprise attack at the crucial moment.

Ling Miaoying hurriedly dodged, but the Tang Saber still left a cut across his face. Fortunately, his cultivation was high enough that he heard the movement inside the suitcase in time. If he had reacted even a moment slower, half his face would have been cut off.

The Tang Saber swept sideways and slashed toward Ling Miaoying’s throat again. The saber struck him, yet his body suddenly shattered and vanished.

What is going on? Did he use Traceless Quick Steps? What’s with the body shattering? Li Banfeng had no time to think further. He took the Tang Saber back and immediately sprinted toward the platform exit.

He’s that fast? Is he really a Wanderlust Cultivator?

It was impossible to escape through the platform exit, so Li Banfeng turned and ran toward the tracks.

He dashed to the front of the steam train, jumped down from the platform, and landed on the wooden ties between the rails.

Ling Miaoying appeared in front of him again. Li Banfeng suddenly stomped down. The stones beneath the wooden ties shattered under his foot.

He used the level-three Wanderlust Cultivation ability, Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers. The shattered stones shot forward like bullets and struck Ling Miaoying, yet he remained completely unharmed. Even if his body could withstand it, could his clothes really be that tough?

A barrage of stone fragments had struck him, yet not a single rip appeared. There was only one explanation. Ling Miaoying had moved so fast that he dodged every fragment, slipping beyond Li Banfeng’s line of sight.

A level-seven Spycraft Cultivator who was also a Wanderlust Cultivator, and whose Wanderlust Cultivation surpassed his own? Li Banfeng felt a wave of despair. If Ling Miaoying truly was a high-level Wanderlust Cultivator, he would have no chance of escaping.

Ling Miaoying smiled faintly. He seemed in no hurry to act, as if waiting for Li Banfeng to give up resisting on his own.

The Threaded Earring suddenly spoke. ”Master, he has no footsteps.”

No footsteps? No matter how fast a Wanderlust Cultivator moved, they couldn’t possibly make no sound at all.

The Threaded Earring might not be very high level, but she had eaten the flesh of the Insect Overlord and gained some growth from it. She wouldn’t miss something as obvious as footsteps.

He wasn’t a Wanderlust Cultivator.

This was still a film. What Li Banfeng was seeing was most likely just Ling Miaoying’s projection. With that thought, Li Banfeng no longer panicked and charged straight toward Ling Miaoying.

Ling Miaoying’s figure suddenly stretched outward, transforming into three walls. One stood in front, one to the left, and one to the right, blocking Li Banfeng’s path.

Whatever it was, Li Banfeng raised the Tang Saber and slashed straight at it. If it was truly Ling Miaoying, he would kill him. If it was only a projection, he would pass straight through.

Clang!

The Tang Saber struck the wall and sent sparks flying. Li Banfeng felt dumbfounded.

The wall is real!

After three strikes, the Tang Saber slipped back into Li Banfeng’s pocket.

Ling Miaoying smiled and thought, Do you really think everything in a film is fake?

In a corner of the platform stood a projector. It was Ling Miaoying’s enchanted artifact. Some of the images it projected could become real objects.

Li Banfeng had been pushed into a desperate situation. Walls closed in from the front, the left, and the right. Behind him was the locomotive.

Based on Ling Miaoying’s judgment, the only way Li Banfeng could escape was by climbing onto the train.

The train was filled with traps and mechanisms. The moment Li Banfeng climbed aboard, he would be trapped. But unexpectedly, Li Banfeng charged straight at the wall.

This was the level-four Wanderlust Cultivation ability, Path of Unhindered Steps. Li Banfeng passed straight through the wall and sprinted along the railway tracks.

A level-four ability? Ling Miaoying thought and frowned. He Jiaqing said his friend’s cultivation wouldn’t be above level three, but it seems his estimate was wrong. Whatever. I have made other preparations.

Immediately, Ling Miaoying went chasing after Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng heard footsteps closing in. This time, it really was Ling Miaoying. The shoes on his feet were special. It was one of his props, a spirit-bound item that greatly enhanced his speed.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them had sprinted more than a hundred meters along the tracks, leaving the projector’s control range behind.

The once gleaming rails lost their disguise, revealing themselves to be rusted and decayed. This was an abandoned railway.

Beside the abandoned track ran a newer one. That was the line still in service.

A coal train was coming straight toward them along the active track. This one was real.

Ling Miaoying frowned deeply. He was worried that Li Banfeng might try to jump onto the train.

He could not hesitate any longer. He had to strike, even if it meant potentially killing Li Banfeng. As long as Li Banfeng stayed alive long enough to reveal the whereabouts of the Crimson Lotus, even crippling him would be acceptable.

Ling Miaoying pulled a pistol from his coat. It too was a spirit-bound item. Once the gunpowder ignited, the bullet would strike its target without fail, carrying immense force.

A single shot would be enough to cripple Li Banfeng and leave him unable to move for the rest of his life.

The only drawback of the gun was its noise. On the railway tracks, Ling Miaoying had not wanted to cause such a commotion. The railways were controlled by the Outer Provinces, and he had no desire to offend the Border Controller over it. He had intended to capture Li Banfeng quietly, but now he could no longer afford to worry about that.

Click!

The first shot did not fire. The train roared past beside them. Ling Miaoying was about to fire a second shot when Li Banfeng suddenly vanished from sight.

Where did he go? Had he jumped onto the train?

Ling Miaoying immediately stopped and watched the train roar past. He saw no sign of Li Banfeng and heard nothing from him either. But a moment earlier, he had heard the sound of metal striking metal.

Li Qi seems to have thrown something on that train, Ling Miaoying thought. He was about to jump aboard to investigate when he suddenly noticed a uniformed man standing at the edge of a carriage, watching him coldly.

A train conductor. Ling Miaoying frowned and took a few steps back from the tracks. Under no circumstances should one provoke a train conductor. In Puluo Province, it was a hard rule for survival.

The conductor walked along the train, inspecting each carriage. Finding nothing unusual, he returned to his rest cabin, brewed a cup of tea, and continued reading his newspaper. He did not notice that an extra key now lay in one of the coal cars.

Sixteen hours later, Li Banfeng appeared inside the train car and picked up the key.

Author’s Note:

PS: Coal cars are open at the top, which is how the key could be thrown inside.

1. Si means four. This is referring to Ma Junjiang. The fourth son of the Ma Family and Ma Wu’s elder brother ☜