To Tell the Truth

Inside the Portable Abode, the gramophone puffed steam, blissfully slurping a soul. On the wooden cabin's second floor, Li Banfeng held a mop, miserably scrubbing away the blood. Blood was truly difficult to clean. Of those four men, only their big brother had been sensible enough not to leave any bloodstains behind. It went to show why a man like him could become the leader—he had good awareness. Once the blood was scrubbed clean, Li Banfeng still had to deal with that pair of leather shoes. The shoes were stuck fast to the floorboards; not even prying with a knife could budge them. With no other choice, Li Banfeng could only slice off the uppers, leaving the two soles behind, and find some junk to cover them up. According to Ma the Fifth, the bonding mud would dry out after a full day and night. He would deal with them once it dried. He had just finished tidying up when he heard someone knocking at the door. Li Banfeng went downstairs and found Landlord Wei. "What are you here for? It's not rent day yet." Landlord Wei said, "Didn't I tell you? As long as you two stay here, you don't need to pay me rent. I heard gunshots earlier and came by to see if anything happened to you." Li Banfeng put on a look of surprise. "You heard gunshots too? I was asleep and woke up with a start. I thought I was dreaming. Whose place were they shooting at?" "I thought it was yours! Well, as long as you're fine, that's a load off my mind. Where is Young Master Ma?" "At the Jiqing Troupe, having some fun." "Good to know you're all right. See you around." Landlord Wei left. Li Banfeng stood in the doorway, watching Landlord Wei's retreating figure for a moment. The gunshot had gone off half an hour ago. And he chose this exact moment to show up. *** Ten minutes or so later, Ma the Fifth returned. "Brother Li, how did it go?" Li Banfeng said calmly, "The matter has been settled." "And those men?" "They've gone somewhere else. They shouldn't be back anytime soon." Li Banfeng spoke rather veiledly. "Brother Li, did you ask who sent them?" "I did. Their leader said the Eldest Miss of the Ma family sent them." "Eldest Sister..." Ma the Fifth pursed his lips. "I really didn't expect it to be her." Li Banfeng said, "Don't misunderstand. What I said was that the leader claimed the Eldest Miss of the Ma family personally sent them. Who actually sent them is still unknown." Ma the Fifth froze. "Brother Li, you mean he lied?" "I'm not certain either. I don't know how noble families handle these matters, but I feel that with the status of those few men, they wouldn't even be able to see your Eldest Sister." Li Banfeng did not believe what the grey-clad man said was true. Everything the man had said back then was just stalling for time. As for the supposed grudge between the Eldest Miss of the Ma family and Ma the Fifth, it was most likely fabricated on the spot. With Li Banfeng's reminder, Ma the Fifth thought a layer deeper. He was someone who mingled easily and never put on airs like a wealthy young master, having frequent dealings with underworld figures. His Eldest Sister, however, was not that type of person. She was a proper, sheltered lady of a grand family; how could she personally meet with such underworld hoodlums? Ma the Fifth couldn't make sense of the ins and outs. Li Banfeng prompted him: "Think back carefully. Who have you crossed?" "Crossed?" Ma the Fifth pondered thoroughly. "Discounting petty squabbles, I don't seem to have any deep grudges with my brothers or sisters." Li Banfeng frowned. "Stop constantly dwelling on your siblings. They might not necessarily want to kill you. You have zero chance of inheriting the family estate anyway, so killing you does them no good." Ma the Fifth rubbed his forehead, his thoughts growing clearer. Li Banfeng was right. He had been suspecting his family all along, but his family had no reason to hound him to death. With him already reduced to this state, continuing to push him would be of zero benefit to his siblings. "Yet if you speak of grudges with outsiders, I don't seem to have any either..." Li Banfeng gave a wry smile. "Then this gets tricky. I think we can question Landlord Wei. He heard the commotion, and half an hour later, he came looking for me. "He lives less than a two-minute walk from here. If we shout outside our door, he can hear it from inside his room. "If he genuinely cared, he should have come long before. If he was afraid of trouble, he shouldn't have come at all. Yet he chose to appear half an hour later—it looks more like he came to scout out the situation." Ma the Fifth's eyes flashed, and he nodded repeatedly. "Brother Li makes sense. I'll go question him right now." Li Banfeng shook his head. "Brother Ma, if you just go find him like that, I'm afraid you won't get anything out of him. "Landlord Wei is a clever man; he must be on guard by now. Even though he didn't seem very strong during that chaotic fight, he survived a duel in the wilderness, so he surely has other tricks up his sleeve. You might end up getting ambushed by him." Ma the Fifth knew Li Banfeng was right, but he couldn't think of a plan right away. Li Banfeng offered a hint: "Setting bait and hunting are what you do best. As for what bait to set, that depends on what Landlord Wei wants." Ma the Fifth thought for a moment, and an idea came to mind. *** Deep in the night, Landlord Wei gripped a revolver, sitting silently in a reclining chair. Staggering footsteps came from outside, followed by urgent knocking at the door. Landlord Wei placed his finger on the trigger. "Who is it!" Ma the Fifth's voice drifted in. "It's me... Save me..." His voice was exceedingly weak. Holding the revolver, Landlord Wei opened a crack in the door, only to see Ma the Fifth standing outside, covered in bruises and wounds, looking ready to collapse at any second. Landlord Wei caught him, quickly put away the gun, and helped Ma the Fifth into the bedroom. "Fifth Young Master, what happened?" Ma the Fifth sighed. "I was set up again. Just made a little money over the past couple days, and I was robbed clean again." Landlord Wei smacked his lips. "Who could have done this? Won't they let a man live? What about that boss living with you? I'll go call him over." Ma the Fifth shook his head. "Don't go to him yet. Something's fishy about this." "Fishy how?" Landlord Wei's cheek twitched, and his hand unconsciously rested on the revolver again. Panting, Ma the Fifth said, "I've always wondered about this—why is it that every time I make some money, someone comes to rob me?" Landlord Wei's eyes widened. "Fifth Young Master, are you saying the guy living with you sold you out?" "I didn't suspect him at first. Tonight I went with him to the Jiqing Troupe to have some fun, and he claimed he wasn't feeling well and left early. "He was hale and hearty when we set out, but the moment we reached the Jiqing Troupe, he fell ill. Tell me, isn't there something foul about that?" Landlord Wei sighed. "Fifth Young Master, I think you should be prudent about this. This friend of yours lent you a helping hand when you were in trouble; a man can't act without a conscience." Ma the Fifth nodded. "I won't forget the kindness I owe, but if he came here to plot against me, I won't let him off either. Boss Wei, do you have any weapons? Lend me one. I'm going back to demand an explanation from him." Landlord Wei restrained him. "How is that asking for an explanation? You're clearly throwing your life away! If he harbors no ill will, you'll be wronging a good man. If he does harbor malice, could you even make it back alive? "How about this, Fifth Young Master—don't be rash. I'll go with you. If there's reason to be had, we'll talk reason; if there's business to settle, we'll talk business. You saved my life once, so if it comes down to a fight, I won't hesitate either." Ma the Fifth led Landlord Wei out the door and marched aggressively toward the cabin where he and Li Banfeng lived. Stepping into the parlor, Ma the Fifth shouted, "Boss Wei is here! Let's get things straight!" Li Banfeng walked down the stairs and nodded. "Indeed. Let's make things completely clear." Landlord Wei's face turned pale as he realized something was wrong. His feet were stuck fast; he couldn't move. Yet Ma the Fifth moved freely. There was bonding mud on the floor, and Ma the Fifth was wearing iron overshoes. Landlord Wei glanced back and forth between Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth, panic rising in his chest. "Gentlemen, what is the meaning of this?" Li Banfeng smiled faintly. "Nothing much. We just want to invite Boss Wei for a cup of tea, and there are a few matters we'd like Boss Wei to enlighten us on." "If you have something to say, say it! Why did you ambush me?" Landlord Wei reached for the revolver at his waist. Li Banfeng aimed his gun at Boss Wei first. "In Puluo Province, bullets work sometimes and fail sometimes. Care to wager a shot?" Landlord Wei didn't dare move another muscle. Because Li Banfeng was a Tier 2 Dwelling Cultivator, people had always overlooked him. Only today did Landlord Wei pay attention to his face. Li Banfeng usually wore a fedora and kept the brim pulled very low. Today he wore no hat. His features looked familiar, as if Landlord Wei had seen them somewhere before. As if he had seen them in a photograph. While he was pondering, Ma the Fifth spoke up. "Boss Wei, from my very first day in Lanyang Village, I rented a place from you, didn't I?" Landlord Wei nodded. "That's right. You wanted a place back then, and I charged you eight hundred dollars a month. That place had two rooms; the price was hardly expensive. "Later, when you couldn't pay the rent, I threw you out. Young Master Ma, let's be clear on this: you can't blame me for being ungenerous. Renting out rooms is my business, my livelihood. You can't fault me for that." Ma the Fifth shook his head. "I don't blame you. There's just one thing I can't figure out. On the first day I moved into your place, I paid you a month's rent. Two days later, I was robbed. After I was robbed, you specifically came to see me and even brought some healing powder. That happened, didn't it?" Landlord Wei nodded. "It did! You were the tenant, I was the landlord—the goodwill was there!" Ma the Fifth nodded. "A month later, I paid the rent, and within three days, I was robbed again. Did that happen?" Landlord Wei frowned. "I wasn't the one who robbed you. How can you pin that on me? Besides, in the days before you got robbed, did you only run into me and nobody else?" Landlord Wei had actually hit the mark; Ma the Fifth had encountered many people before getting robbed. If not for Li Banfeng's reminder, he truly wouldn't have suspected Landlord Wei. But now that suspicion had taken root, certain coincidences had to be connected. "After the second month, when I couldn't pay the rent, you threw me out. I went to pick through scrap under the overpass, earning a hundred-odd dollars, barely enough to buy food. "That day in the noodle shop, I bumped into you and chatted a bit. Because I had no place to live, you mocked me. I even said back then that next month, I'd rent from you again. And what happened? Just a few days later, I was robbed again, left without even meal money. How do you explain that?" Landlord Wei shook his head and sighed. "Fifth Young Master, it's just pure coincidence! Maybe our fortunes clash—whenever you run into me, bad luck follows. But that isn't my fault, is it? "Every time you offloaded goods at the Song family's place and met their people, you made plenty of money. You got robbed right after making money; why don't you suspect the Song family?" This question genuinely stumped Ma the Fifth. Li Banfeng chimed in from the side, "You even know he offloaded goods to the Song family?" Landlord Wei replied, "That's the rule in Lanyang Village. Anyone hunting in the newland has to sell to the Song family." Li Banfeng asked again, "You also know he was hunting in the newland?" Landlord Wei said, "In Lanyang Village, isn't the newland the only way to make a living? What else could anyone earn money from?" Landlord Wei managed to smooth over his words. Yet his heart was already in his throat. Hearing this, Li Banfeng said to Ma the Fifth, "What he says makes a lot of sense." Ma the Fifth said, "It does make sense. How should we handle him?" Li Banfeng smiled. "Since he makes so much sense, let's just kill him." Ma the Fifth was stunned. Landlord Wei's eyes widened round. "I explained everything clearly, and you still want to kill me?" Li Banfeng looked bewildered. "Just because you explained things clearly means we don't have to kill you? What kind of logic is that?" "T-That's basic reason!" Landlord Wei didn't know how to respond for a moment. Ma the Fifth also felt Li Banfeng wasn't quite right in the head. Li Banfeng, however, felt he was entirely reasonable. "Boss Wei, back when Ma the Fifth rented your place, got robbed, and couldn't pay the rent, he explained the situation clearly to you, didn't he?" Landlord Wei nodded. "He did." Li Banfeng continued, "Then since he explained it clearly, why did you still refuse to rent to him?" Landlord Wei glared. "Like I just said, I rent out rooms to make money. He had no money, so why on earth should I rent to him?" "Exactly. That's the logic. I invited you over to question you, and you haven't said a single useful thing. Why on earth shouldn't I kill you?" Li Banfeng cocked the hammer of his revolver. "Whether your words make sense or not, whether you explain things clearly or not, what you say has zero value to us. It's just like renting a room without paying rent—mere reasoning won't buy your life." Landlord Wei panicked. He realized Li Banfeng wasn't crazy at all. "B-Bosses, th-this matter... you can't ask me! H-He has to ask the Eldest Miss of the Ma family!" Landlord Wei changed his tune. "You mean my Eldest Sister?" Ma the Fifth looked at Li Banfeng. This matched the grey-clad man's story completely. Since their stories matched, then what he said had to be true, right? Li Banfeng pulled the trigger directly. *Click.* The gun didn't fire; Landlord Wei was very lucky. *Splash—* Landlord Wei wet his pants in terror. Deadly pale, he looked at Li Banfeng and stammered, "I'll talk! I'll talk! It wasn't the Eldest Miss of the Ma family, it was the Fourth Young Master!" Ma the Fifth was startled yet again. *My Fourth Brother?* *How did I overlook Fourth Brother...?* Fourth Brother had always been overlooked in the family. Ma the Fifth rubbed his forehead. In all other matters, he could see right through things, but when it came to family affairs, he was utterly blind. *Click.* Li Banfeng fired again. Landlord Wei's luck was truly something; the gun failed to go off again. With a thud, he dropped to his knees, both knees sticking fast to the floorboards. "Masters, I'll tell the truth! I'll tell the real truth! It was Yang Yanzheng who had me scout out information on you!" Ma the Fifth blinked. "Who is Yang Yanzheng?" Li Banfeng smiled. Ma the Fifth asked, "You know Yang Yanzheng?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "Never heard of him. But that sounds like the truth."