The Overlord of Puluo

Chapter 295: Ambush

Late at night, Li Banfeng tore down the railway tracks like a madman, running even faster than the train.

The main reason he needed to take the train was to cross the border. He could have found someone to arrange a travel permit and simply run straight back across the border as well.

However, the border checkpoints only opened at fixed times, their locations constantly changed, and identity checks were extremely strict. Li Banfeng was in a hurry to find the key and did not want to waste time on such matters.

The train had departed at five in the afternoon. Under normal circumstances, it should still be within Blackstone Slope. Whether he could catch up to it depended on Li Banfeng’s abilities.

He had always taken the train when traveling between Greenwater City and Blackstone Slope. As a Wanderlust Cultivator, Li Banfeng knew the route very well. After running for over two hours, he finally caught a faint glimpse of the train around ten o’clock.

He adjusted his steps while silently reciting the chant, chased the train to its rear, and leaped onto the last carriage.

After boarding, Li Banfeng kept reciting the chant. ”Don’t run into the conductor. Don’t run into the conductor...”

His luck was not bad. The train traveled for over an hour and left Blackstone Slope’s border without him running into the conductor.

***

As midnight approached, everyone in the Lu Family’s main hall was still waiting.

Ling Miaoying’s dinner had yet to end. After dinner, he accompanied the Border Controller to the opera house to watch a performance.

Tan Fucheng said to Ma Wu, ”Master Wu, looks like nothing’s happening tonight. If Ling Miaoying takes the Border Controller to a brothel afterward, we could wait until dawn for nothing.”

Ma Wu nodded. ”We definitely can’t get the Outer Provinces involved in this. As long as the Border Controller is still with him, they definitely won’t dare make a move.”

Tan Fucheng ended up being right. Ling Miaoying accompanied the Border Controller at the opera until two in the morning, then immediately headed to the Fusheng Literati House.

Literary houses were a special kind of establishment in Puluo Province. In such places, the women were referred to as ”scholars.” Tea cost three yuan, drinking companionship cost three yuan, and staying the night also cost three yuan. Because of this, such establishments were also known as ”Changsan Literary Houses.”[1]

The ”three yuan” here referred to three silver dollars. In Puluo Province, prices like these were far higher than ordinary establishments, placing such venues among the highest class.

Once Ling Miaoying and the Border Controller entered the literary house, there really was no chance of anything happening that night. However, Lu Dongtang refused to give up and still had his spies continue gathering information.

***

Inside the Fusheng Literary House, Ling Miaoying settled the Border Controller in properly, changed into a different set of clothes, then quietly slipped out through the rear entrance. After passing through two alleyways, he entered a small building.

Tu Yinghong had been waiting inside the building the entire time. She was dressed in a black Zhongshan suit and wore a flat cap, disguising herself as a man.

When she saw Ling Miaoying, she lowered her voice and asked, ”The Lu Family has been watching you the whole time. Are we still making a move tonight?”

Ling Miaoying let out a scornful laugh. ”You think I don’t know all their little tricks? As long as the Border Controller is still there, all they can do is wait.

”Ma Wu has also gone to the Lu Family estate. Li Qi is the only one left at Freewind Wharf. We have to retrieve the item tonight!

”I also prepared two helpers. They are waiting across the street right now. I will bring them along later.”

Tu Yinghong shook her head. ”No. No one else can know about the iron rulers.”

Ling Miaoying nodded. ”Then we will have them stay here as backup.”

The two left the small building and arrived at Freewind Wharf at half past three in the morning.

The dance hall had already emptied out long ago, and most of the support hooks had followed Ma Wu to the Lu Family estate. Only a few guards remained at Freewind Wharf.

Ling Miaoying found a secluded spot, took out a music box, wound it up, and placed it on the ground.

He and Tu Yinghong covered their ears together. The tiny figure on the tray spun for a while as the spring turned, and the music box began to play.

It was playing a Western tune. The sound was not loud, but it seemed to carry a touch of spirit essence as it drifted toward the entrance of Freewind Wharf.

The guards at the door were already drowsy. When they heard the music box, they weren’t suspicious at all. Instead, they fell asleep one after another.

Ling Miaoying put away the music box, led Tu Yinghong into Freewind Wharf, crossed the dance hall, and went up to the second floor.

He had a spy in Freewind Wharf, so he knew which room Li Qi usually stayed in.

When they reached the door, Ling Miaoying took out a palm-sized projector and set it against the corridor wall. He lit the candle inside the projector, wound it up, and flipped the switch. The projector began to turn, casting an image of Ling Miaoying in front of the door.

The image held a key in its hand, gently inserted it into the lock, and opened the door.

This image had a physical form and could even use a master key to open doors!

If the person inside noticed something and hid behind the door to launch a surprise attack, he would only be able to hurt the image, not Ling Miaoying.

The door opened. Ling Miaoying sent the image inside to scout around and found that there was no one in the room. He and Tu Yinghong exchanged a glance, then entered the room together.

Li Qi was indeed not in the room. Ling Miaoying retrieved the projector from outside, shut the door, and searched the room with Tu Yinghong. After searching for a long time, they found neither the iron rulers nor the pistol.

Tu Yinghong said, ”Are we in the wrong room? There aren’t even many clothes here. It doesn’t look like someone lives here regularly.”

Ling Miaoying shook his head. ”The room can’t be wrong. I trust my men. What worries me is that Li Qi may have carried everything on him.”

Tu Yinghong said, ”If he carried them with him, that’s fine too. We will wait for him here.”

Ling Miaoying frowned. ”Could he have gone to the Lu Family’s residence too? If that’s the case, how long will we have to wait...”

Halfway through his sentence, Ling Miaoying suddenly stopped.

His ear twitched, and he said to Tu Yinghong, ”There’s movement outside!”

Li Banfeng arrived at the entrance of Freewind Wharf, panting heavily.

He had run all the way back.

This freight train’s route was very unusual. After leaving Blackstone Slope’s border, it passed through Yellowclay Bridge’s territory, crossed Greenwater Bay’s border, and headed straight to the rail yard to unload its cargo.

Li Banfeng did not even wait until the train reached the rail yard. The moment it crossed Greenwater Bay’s border, he jumped off and ran toward Greenwater City. After running for over two hours, he entered the city and rushed to Freewind Wharf.

His legs were about to give out.

Grandpa Train had always looked down on the rickshaw driver’s footwork, but if not for that footwork, Li Banfeng would never have had such incredible stamina.

He pushed the main doors open and strode quickly into the dance hall. At this point, the guards at the door had all fallen asleep.

Did Li Banfeng not notice? He did, but he just did not care. It was perfectly normal for guards to doze off at night.

Halfway up the stairs, the Threaded Earring suddenly gave a warning. ”Master, there’s someone in your room.”

The Threaded Earring’s cultivation level was far below Ling Miaoying’s. It was only able to pick up Tu Yinghong’s faint breathing because it was so close.

”How many?”

”One.”

High-level Spycraft Cultivators had methods to conceal their presence. Back in the New Land, the Threaded Earring had been able to detect Lu Xiaolan’s location, though only faintly. As for Ling Miaoying, it could not sense his presence inside Freewind Wharf at all.

Li Banfeng did not stop and continued upstairs.

Ling Miaoying took out a spool the size of a thumb from his robes, pulled a strand of silk thread from it, and hung it on one corner of the doorframe. He wrapped the other end around a table leg.

Throughout the entire process, Ling Miaoying still did not make the slightest sound.

The silk thread was extremely fine and very hard to see. If Li Banfeng opened the door and walked straight in, his head would be sliced in half.

Ling Miaoying and Tu Yinghong pressed themselves against the wall and waited in silence for Li Banfeng to open the door.

The footsteps drew nearer and nearer until they finally stopped right outside.

Ling Miaoying and Tu Yinghong were both ready to strike the instant the door opened.

Unless they had no other choice, they did not intend to kill Li Qi immediately. First, they wanted to pry out the whereabouts of the iron ruler and the pistol.

Tu Yinghong carried more than a dozen weapons on her person. Given a few minutes, she could make Li Qi beg for death instead.

But to their surprise, Li Qi never opened the door. His footsteps passed right by and continued deeper into the corridor.

What is going on?

Clatter, clatter, creak.

It sounded like he had opened another door.

Tu Yinghong looked at Ling Miaoying.

Ling Miaoying frowned slightly, realizing that he might really have entered the wrong room.

Did my spy get the wrong information? Did we enter the wrong place? Or is the person outside not Li Qi at all?

There was no way to verify it at the moment. Ling Miaoying signaled for Tu Yinghong to stay still. He could move without making any sound, but Tu Yinghong could not.

Ling Miaoying gently pushed the door open and walked alone toward the end of the corridor.

Judging from the sound he had heard earlier, that person should have entered the room at the end of the corridor.

Ling Miaoying arrived at the door without a sound and placed the projector on the floor, once again projecting the image to open the door.

The figure in the projected light opened the door with the master key and Li Banfeng was indeed waiting inside the room.

The image looked so real that Li Banfeng could not spot a single flaw. Thinking that Ling Miaoying himself had entered the room, he raised the pistol and fired first.

Click!

The gun did not fire. In Puluo Province, gunpowder only worked when it felt like working. However, Ling Miaoying heard the sound. It was the sound of the hammer striking.

Ling Miaoying knew that sound all too well. It was the distinct click of his own pistol’s hammer.

Li Qi was inside the room after all. His judgment had been correct.

Since the first bullet had failed, Li Qi should logically pull the trigger again immediately. The second shot would only hit the projected image. There was no way it could hurt Ling Miaoying himself.

A smile appeared on Ling Miaoying’s face. He planned to let the projected image keep Li Qi occupied first, then have Tu Yinghong join in and completely subdue him.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, a sudden howl erupted from inside the room.

”HOOOOWAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Li Banfeng did not fire a second shot. If it was against others, Li Banfeng would have definitely fired again. However, he had other ways to deal with Ling Miaoying.

Ling Miaoying was a Spycraft Cultivator, so Li Banfeng used the Deep Court Domain to channel his wifey’s power into that howl. The scream could damage a person’s hearing, and it was especially devastating against Spycraft Cultivators.

Li Banfeng had already tested this move on Lu Xiaolan before, so he was naturally confident in it. Actually, this move had also been tested on Ling Miaowen once already, but Li Banfeng simply had no idea.

The instant Ling Miaoying heard the howl, his vision blurred. He covered his ears as blood flowed between his fingers.

The bleeding itself was not a big issue. Li Banfeng’s voice was nowhere near as terrifying as Wifey’s, and he had not been given the chance to sing a full song. The attack was not enough to seriously injure Ling Miaoying.

But the blurred vision? That was a real problem.

Li Banfeng still could not tell whether the figure before him was real or fake. He drew the Tang saber, and the blade swept straight toward Ling Miaoying’s projected image, severing its head in a single slash.

”With every slash, a head is taken!” the Tang saber crowed proudly.

However, Li Banfeng had no time to listen to it show off. He immediately rushed out of the room to check whether Ling Miaoying had brought any accomplices with him.

Yet, he saw another Ling Miaoying crouching outside the door.

How can there be two Ling Miaoyings? Is the one from earlier fake? Is this one real? Isthe real one lying in ambush here?

Li Banfeng felt every hair on his body prickle. His pupils shrank to tiny dots as panic flashed through him.

He immediately used the special footwork Grandpa Train had taught him. His toes pulled his ankles, his ankles pulled his calves, and his calves pulled his thighs. The whole movement flowed together naturally as he shifted out of the way to dodge Ling Miaoying’s ambush.

Li Banfeng moved incredibly fast. Ling Miaoying’s vision was already blurred from the injury, so he completely lost sight of him.

Thud!

Li Banfeng stumbled forward. His legs suddenly gave out beneath him, and he almost crashed to the floor.

Splurt!

A dull, heavy sound echoed through the room.

Blood sprayed everywhere as Ling Miaoying’s stomach burst open on the spot.

Author’s Note:

PS: It’s Li Banfeng’s first time using the ability, so the energy consumption is still a bit too much.

1. First mentioned in chapter 206. Refer to footnotes in this chapter. ☜