Ma the Fifth accepted the invitation, but he did not agree to attend the banquet.
Yang Yanzheng glanced toward the stairs and smiled faintly. "Fifth Master, I hear a friend of yours has come by—someone quite capable. Might you introduce us?"
Ma the Fifth shook his head. "My friend isn't here today. Come back another day."
Yang Yanzheng nodded with a smile. "It seems your friend is indeed quite capable. Fifth Young Master, on the day of the young mistress's birthday, I'll be waiting for you."
Leaving Lanyang Village, Yang Yanzheng hurried the whole way and made it back to Lüshui City in under fifteen minutes—such was the capability of a fourth-tier journey cultivator.
Arriving at the residence of Second Young Mistress Chu, Chu Huaiyuan, Yang Yanzheng recounted the matter in full.
Second Young Mistress Chu pricked her fingertip with a silver needle, slowly drew it out, sucked the blood from the tip, switched to another finger, and pricked it again.
"He didn't agree on the spot, and even said he'd consider it?"
Yang Yanzheng nodded. "That was his reply."
Chu the Second sneered. "Does he think killing those few ruffians puts an end to this? He's supposed to be a clever man—does he really need me to teach him something so simple? If he doesn't show up on my birthday, tell Song Jiasen that Ma the Fifth has been hunting in Lanyang Village's newland and hasn't been selling the goods through his family. I have proof."
Yang Yanzheng bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Song Jiasen loves money like his own life. If we tell him this, the Fifth Young Master will hardly escape disaster."
Chu Huaiyuan gave a cold laugh. "That old dog Song Jiasen wouldn't dare kill Ma the Fifth, but he'll take half his life. I gave Ma the Fifth face, but he didn't want it. Losing half his life serves him right. A person like that needs to suffer a bit more before he can appreciate what's sweet."
***
Li Banfeng sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.
The more he rubbed, the more excited he became, unwilling to stop even after rubbing both eyes red.
Sensation had returned to his body—his eyes could feel, and his hands could feel.
*Chi, chi—*
The record turned slowly on the turntable, and the gramophone sang softly, "Husband, why did you take so many pills yesterday?"
This question required a careful answer.
With a solemn expression, Li Banfeng said, "Pills are intensely nourishing. I figured taking them couldn't hurt."
*Chi, chi—*
*Da-da-da-da—tai!*
A cascade of gongs and drums rattled before the gramophone continued its questioning: "Husband, why do you need nourishment?"
"Because I've been overworking myself lately."
"Husband, what have you been toiling over?" the gramophone pressed on.
"It's all to put food on the table for the family."
"Husband, given your wealth today, is feeding the household still such a hardship?"
*Si, si—*
The bronze lotus, refining pills in the outer room, broke out in beads of dew.
She broke into a cold sweat on Li Banfeng's behalf.
Whatever he did, he must never mention being a journey cultivator!
Otherwise, Li Banfeng would die right on the spot, and no one would ever make it out again!
Li Banfeng answered calmly, "My wife, do you really think I picked up a ninth-tier journey cultivator like Lu Dongliang purely through luck?"
*Da-da-da-da—tai!*
The gramophone's singing softened: "How could such precious ingredients ever be found by chance? They must have been earned through my husband's desperate struggle. This humble servant was out of line; please don't take offense, Husband. It is only that Husband swallowed so many Golden Origin Pills without warning, which truly baffles this servant."
Li Banfeng said evenly, "Last night, I ran into a formidable enemy. I couldn't beat him, nor could I shake him. In my desperation, I took thirty-eight Golden Origin Pills, hoping to advance my cultivation by a tier before fighting him again. But after taking the pills, I suffered from pill poison. Far from fighting any better, I couldn't even move. Fortunately, I had the technique Heart Arrowing Home, which allowed me to flee back home."
As he spoke, steam lingered around Li Banfeng, detecting nothing amiss.
She was testing whether Li Banfeng was lying.
In fact, Li Banfeng had spoken entirely the truth.
That formidable enemy was cultivation backlash.
The gramophone caressed Li Banfeng's cheek. "Good master, this humble servant has said many times that pills are of no use to a Dwelling Cultivator's cultivation. Why won't you believe me?"
Li Banfeng snorted. "Every other pathway takes pills. Why shouldn't I? I always felt you were deceiving me."
The steam coiled gently around Li Banfeng's body. "Foolish husband, who else in this world could treat you with such sincerity as this humble servant? Though these Golden Origin Pills offer no benefit to your cultivation, they can at least strengthen the body. The pills refined by the Red Lotus are far purer than ordinary ones, and their toxicity isn't severe, so what's done is done. But you must never ingest pills refined anywhere else, Husband. Some pill poisons aren't dispelled so easily. You must listen to this servant's words; everything I do is for your own good, and my heart is yours alone..."
Beneath the soft, tender whispers lurked murderous intent; the gramophone had been testing him all along to see if he was telling the truth.
Yet as the steam circled down below his waist, it came to an abrupt halt.
"Husband, did you find your release again?"
Li Banfeng sighed softly. "With my wife caressing me like this... I really couldn't help it."
"Weren't these trousers just washed the day before yesterday?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "I've worn them for two days. They were about due for a change anyway."
"Easy for you to say! You're not the one washing them!" The gramophone flew into a rage, filling the entire room with swirling steam. "Always going on about consummating our marriage! With your meager staying power, even if we did consummate it, what could you possibly accomplish?!"
Li Banfeng quickly changed his clothes and left the Portable Abode.
"To the ends of the earth, searching for a kindred soul~"
Singing a little tune, the gramophone set about washing Li Banfeng's clothes first.
In the outer room, the dew on the bronze lotus gradually dissipated.
The Tang dao snorted and muttered under its breath, "So it turns out there are things the mistress of the house doesn't know."
Having often fought alongside Li Banfeng outside, it suspected that Li Banfeng was very likely cultivating as a journey cultivator as well.
*Si, si—*
The bronze lotus's petals slowly unfurled, and a whirl of wind rose from the center of the bloom.
The Tang dao shuddered and shrank into the corner. "I don't know anything either. Nothing at all."
***
Returning to the wooden cabin, Li Banfeng looked at the sky and realized he had slept in the Portable Abode for the entire night.
Heading downstairs, he found Ma the Fifth sitting quietly in the living room, brow furrowed with worry.
Li Banfeng glanced at the newspapers on the table and feigned surprise. "So something happened to the Lu family!"
More than just something happening—Lu Dongliang was already dead; it was just that, apart from Li Banfeng, nobody knew it yet.
Ma the Fifth spread out the newspapers one by one and said to Li Banfeng, "Trouble for the Lu family means great upheaval is coming to the whole of Puluo Province. This is news about the He family. Judging by He Haiqin's stance, the He family is going to fight the Lu family to the bitter end. Word has it even his younger brother, He Haisheng, has returned from the Outer States."
He Haisheng? Wasn't that He Jiaqing's third uncle? Since he was able to return, that proved He Jiaqing was largely fine.
Ma the Fifth brought over another stack of papers. "This is news on the Ma family—all about opening up wasteland and buying land. Right now, the Ma family just wants to pull all their businesses and funds out, avoiding any entanglement with the Lu family as much as possible. And this is news of the Chu family. Unlike the Ma family, the Chu family wants to expand their business. Second Young Mistress Chu has stretched her hand into the Paramount; she's trying to fish in troubled waters."
After scanning the newspapers, Li Banfeng nodded. "The situation is chaotic, but it doesn't seem to have much to do with us."
"It does—it has everything to do with us!" Ma the Fifth took out the invitation. "Second Young Mistress Chu's birthday is the day after tomorrow, and she wants me to attend the banquet at her house. Tell me, do I go or not?"
Li Banfeng said in astonishment, "She's still pestering you? She must have genuine feelings for you!"
"What feelings could she possibly have for me? She wants to use me to drag the Ma family into this! Brother Li, can't you see that?"
Li Banfeng really hadn't seen it. "Weren't you driven out of the Ma family?"
"But my surname is still Ma!"
"Then just grit your teeth and take the surname Li with me!" Li Banfeng's surname came from the gatekeeper at the welfare home; he didn't put much stock in what family name one carried.
"The surname isn't the point," Ma the Fifth said, temporarily at a loss for how to express his present predicament. "I just don't want..."
Li Banfeng said, "You don't want to drag the Ma family into it?"
Ma the Fifth shook his head. "I'm not considering the Ma family—I'm not worthy of that. I'm thinking of myself. When two great clans clash and I'm caught in the middle as a marionette, Brother Li, you know what the outcome would be. If either titan exerts the slightest pressure, I'll be crushed to pieces."
Li Banfeng could imagine Ma the Fifth's plight, so he simply held the invitation over the candlelight and burned it. "Since you've thought it through, don't go."
Ma the Fifth looked at the burning invitation. "The Chu family steward, Yang Yanzheng, came by. He said if I don't go, the suffering I endured before will happen all over again."
Li Banfeng was taken aback. "Robbing you again? Is this Second Young Mistress Chu really that vexing?"
Ma the Fifth sighed. "I've been thinking all night and still haven't come up with a way to deal with her."
"Then stop thinking about it. Pack your things, and let's go hunting in the newland. We even handled Madam Bagworm Moth—what makes you think we can't handle her?"
***
At the Chu family estate, Second Young Mistress Chu was celebrating her birthday, and the guests were waiting in the main hall.
Yet Ma the Fifth hadn't arrived.
Sitting in her bedroom and looking into the mirror, Chu Huaiyuan first dabbed on some rouge.
Then, aiming right at where the rouge was, she drove a dagger into her cheek.
Steward Yang Yanzheng reminded her from the side, "Miss, you still have guests to see shortly."
"No matter." Chu Huaiyuan pulled out the dagger, wiped away the blood on her face, and used a layer of special scented powder to stop the bleeding and conceal the wound.
She turned back and glanced at Yang Yanzheng. "What are you standing there for? Go to Lanyang Village!"
***
Inside his mansion, Lu Dongjun had sat in silence through the entire night.
He Yuxiu had sent him an invitation demanding he attend a banquet tomorrow at Qianyue Restaurant for an in-person confrontation over who had harmed Lu Dongliang.
Lu Dongjun had summoned a clan council for this, waiting until dawn without a single person responding.
Some rumors were indeed true: Lu Dongjun's standing within the family couldn't even match Monkey Qiu's!
His advisor, Wan Jinxian, cautioned, "Master, if you have absolute certainty, going to Qianyue Restaurant is fine. But if you lack certainty, you must under no circumstances go."
Lu Dongjun had no certainty, but could he afford not to go? How could he establish any footing in the Lu family in the future?
He turned to Wan Jinxian and smiled. "Old Wan, I'm tired and want to rest a while. Keep watch over the door for me. Let no one enter my room—don't even send in food."
Wan Jinxian was startled. "Master, what are you..."
"Just do as I say." Lu Dongjun returned to his bedroom, retrieved a stone lion over a foot tall from the closet, and placed it at the door.
He removed a false tooth from his mouth and placed it into the lion's mouth. The lion's two eyes lit up.
So long as the false tooth wasn't taken out, the lion's eyes would remain lit, and no one besides Lu Dongjun could easily enter or leave the room.
Having made his preparations, Lu Dongjun took out a necklace.
***
At noon, twelve o'clock, He Yuxiu had reserved all of Qianyue Restaurant, waiting for Lu Dongjun to attend the banquet. Quite a few figures of status from both great clans had arrived as well.
He Yuxiu sat upright in the head seat, dressed in a fur coat, and ordered her subordinates to play a tune.
A subordinate took a record, placed it on a gramophone, and put on "Full Moon and Blooming Flowers."
She wanted to calm the fury in her heart, but even after several songs played, the fire within would not subside.
Today, if Lu Dongjun spoke the plain truth, there might still be room to defuse the situation. But if he dared slander He Yuxiu again, she was prepared to take his life.
After waiting more than a quarter of an hour, He Yuxiu glared at the Lu family members and said, "Does Lu Dongjun have a fucking pair between his legs or not? If he doesn't dare show up today, his conscience is guilty, and Lu Dongliang fucking died by his hand!"
Before her words had even settled, a subordinate came up to report: "Eldest Aunt, the Eldest Master of the Lu family has arrived."
"Good! Have him come right up, let him..." He Yuxiu froze. "Who did you say arrived?"
"The Eldest Master of the Lu family, Lu Dongliang!"
Chapter 120