Night, 9:50 PM, Toudaoling Station.
Still dressed as a guard, Lu Dongjun walked onto the platform.
Ever since arriving in Haichiling, Wan Jinxian had purchased over seventy businesses on his behalf, and now had sold all seventy-plus of them to others.
Each business had gone to a different buyer, yet every single transaction had been covered in the press as being personally handed over by Lu Dongjun, complete with photographs.
Lu Dongjun had no idea where those photos had come from, but he knew one thing: here in Haichiling, he was left with nothing.
He couldn't withdraw the hundreds of thousands of silver dollars sitting in the bank—at least not in Haichiling.
He had taken some loose cash from the manor, and over the past few days had scrounged up another thousand-odd silver dollars from various places; these were all the usable assets he had left.
Lost money could be recovered, but a lost reputation was not so easily restored.
In Haichiling, Lu Dongjun was reviled by all. He had plunged the region back into famine without warning, and even the courtyard manor where he had lived had been burned to the ground by an enraged mob.
Lu Dongjun was not a cautious man, but he could sense the danger closing in. He had originally intended to publish a few more articles in the newspapers to buy himself a little more time in Haichiling.
Now, however, he realized a hard truth: he couldn't hold on any longer.
The newspapers were out to ruin him, the major sects and gangs were out to ruin him, the great families were out to ruin him, and even the common folk would not tolerate him.
Though he hadn't brought enough money, there was one thing he never parted with.
It was an anonymous, indefinite travel permit—one that allowed Lu Dongjun to travel anywhere in Puluo Province under any identity.
This was a privilege granted to noble families by the Outer States. When Lu Dongjun produced the permit, the ticket clerk asked no questions and immediately issued him a ticket.
Passing through the ticket gate, Lu Dongjun headed toward the platform.
He had never taken a train alone before, nor was he used to checking the platform signs. The platform felt somewhat farther than usual.
A scattering of passengers was boarding and disembarking.
Lu Dongjun hadn't bought a private compartment; that would draw too much attention.
He found a window seat in the hard-seat carriage, pulled his fedora down over his face, and tried to calm himself down amidst the shrill whistle of the steam locomotive.
The last time he had ridden in a hard-seat carriage had been with Lu Dongliang.
Back then, Lu Dongjun had just turned thirteen. After a fight with his father, terrified of getting a beating, he had snuck away from home.
Lu Dongliang had tracked him down and told him that if he was going to run, he should run far.
Even back then, Lu Dongliang loved to wander, always carrying a travel permit on him. He had bought two hard-seat train tickets and taken Lu Dongjun all the way to Kudaikan.
Kudaikan really was a wonderful place...
In truth, Lu Dongliang had always treated him well.
When it came to being the family head, anyone would want the position. But following Lu Dongliang and living as the Second Master of the family hadn't been bad at all.
Why had he turned on Lu Dongliang?
In the past, he'd only dared daydream about it. Where had he found the nerve?
Because of Zhuo Yuling?
She was pretty, and great in bed.
But it wasn't as if he'd never had a woman before.
Because of Wan Jinxian?
Ever since that bastard gained his trust and favor, his life hadn't seen a single peaceful day.
Wan Jinxian certainly had a hand in it, but the blame couldn't rest entirely on him either.
Was Lu Dongliang still alive?
If he offered a sincere apology, could this matter be put behind them?
Why the hell was he even thinking about this?
*Whooo—*
*Chuff-chuff-chuff—*
The train had already set off.
Feeling stifled and hot, Lu Dongjun pulled the fedora off his face.
Outside the window, the scenery slowly receded: houses, farmland, woods.
Lu Dongjun wanted to open the window for some fresh air, but couldn't find the latch.
His mood soured; he felt an urge to shatter the window with a punch!
No, he couldn't act recklessly. This wasn't the Lu family's private train.
On a train like this, one couldn't cause trouble, and above all, one couldn't cross the train attendants.
Amid his irritation, he suddenly noticed something odd about the carriage.
He was the only passenger left.
Impossible. When he boarded, at least a third of the seats had been occupied.
Where had everyone gone?
*Clang!*
The carriage door swung open. A man in a gray suit, a cigarette held between his fingers, walked in and sat down across the aisle in the adjacent row.
"Second Brother, it's been a while."
Third Brother He?
Lu Dongjun put his fedora back on his head, bracing for a fight. "You've got the wrong man."
He Haisheng smiled. "Why bother? I've already recognized you. There's no point in keeping up the act."
With that, He Haisheng offered Lu Dongjun a cigarette. "Have a smoke."
Lu Dongjun didn't take it. His eyes remained fixed on the half-smoked cigarette in He Haisheng's hand.
He Haisheng was a Smoke Cultivator. According to Lu Dongjun's intel, He Haisheng was at the seventh tier.
Lu Dongjun was at the eighth tier, giving him a distinct advantage.
Yet Lu Dongjun would not underestimate his opponent.
When it came to strategy, Lu Dongjun wasn't particularly sharp.
When it came to running a business, Lu Dongjun was practically useless.
But when it came to a life-and-death brawl, Lu Dongjun feared no one.
When Lu Dongliang had fought He Yuxiu, Lu Dongjun had found an opening to grievously wound Lu Dongliang in a single strike. Though he had capitalized on a sneak attack, it was also thanks to his innate instinct for seizing opportunities in combat.
Even with his guard up, Monkey Qiu had been beaten so badly by Lu Dongjun that he couldn't fight back, all because Lu Dongjun had handled the encounter with precision—though Duan Shaoxia's methods had admittedly been far too bizarre.
Facing He Haisheng today, Lu Dongjun maintained a clear plan of action.
"Old Third He, I'm down on my luck and just want to head back to Lüshui City to make a living. We grew up together and bear no grudge against each other. You shouldn't make things hard for me now, should you?"
As Lu Dongjun spoke, he observed the position of He Haisheng's seat.
He Haisheng took a deep drag of his cigarette, then exhaled quickly, his entire body enshrouded in smoke.
"Since you bring up grudges, there's actually something I wanted to ask you. Back when you treated my brother to dinner, he fell ill right after returning home, breaking out in rashes all over. He almost died. You remember that, don't you?"
Watching the drift of the smoke, Lu Dongjun gauged the draft inside the carriage. "I remember. Your family tried to pin it on me back then. I even told your sister, He Yuxiu, to her face that it wasn't my doing, and she believed me at the time."
He Haisheng nodded. "Actually, even I believed you back then. It wasn't until I came to Haichiling this time that I realized something was off. That advisor at your side, Wan Jinxian—he's a Disease Cultivator, isn't he?"
Lu Dongjun remained silent. The truth was out.
He Haisheng continued, "My brother's illness back then was practically incurable, but later a foreigner healed him. We thought he was some miraculous doctor from abroad, but after looking into him, we learned he was a Disease Cultivator. His method of treatment was extracting the root of the illness from the patient's body.
"I've investigated this matter thoroughly. The root of the illness that foreigner extracted had been created by another Disease Cultivator. Disease Cultivators in this world are practically an endangered breed. How could it be such a coincidence that there happened to be one by your side too?"
Lu Dongjun shook his head. "Wan Jinxian, you mean? He's no Disease Cultivator. He's a Poison Cultivator."
He Haisheng held the cigarette between his teeth and laughed. "Second Brother, we've come this far, and you're still hiding it from me? If you hadn't run off to Haichiling to kill mosquitoes, our He family would probably still be kept in the dark. The mosquitoes in Haichiling died of disease, not poison. In Puluo Province, who else could infect mosquitoes with disease? Now that things have reached this point, what else do you have to..."
Lu Dongjun had nothing more to say.
He threw a punch straight at He Haisheng.
The fist didn't land on He Haisheng's body, striking instead into a cloud of smoke—seemingly hitting nothing.
Yet Lu Dongjun knew he hadn't missed.
Smoke Flies and Stars Scatter—a seventh-tier Smoke Cultivator technique that allowed the body to disperse into smoke to negate a portion of incoming damage.
Only a portion, however.
He Haisheng took the brunt of Lu Dongjun's punch, and it hurt immensely.
The smoke drifted through the carriage and abruptly vanished.
Lu Dongjun surveyed his surroundings. Suddenly, the smoke coalesced right above his head. He Haisheng reformed into human shape, and the cigarette in his mouth transformed into a serpent of fire, thrusting swiftly toward the crown of Lu Dongjun's head.
Dodging the fiery serpent, Lu Dongjun reached up and snatched He Haisheng down from the carriage ceiling.
Having fought Smoke Cultivators many times, he was familiar with their movement habits after turning to smoke, and he knew how their path was affected by wind direction.
Relying on his past combat experience, Lu Dongjun had pinpointed He Haisheng's striking position in an instant.
He Haisheng's body rapidly heated up, bursting into fierce flames to force Lu Dongjun to let go.
Lu Dongjun had no intention of holding on to him anyway, slamming him directly into a corner of the carriage.
*Crash! Crash! Crash!*
A row of seats shattered in his path as He Haisheng slammed into the corner, but Lu Dongjun did not rush in to follow up with another strike.
The seats were destroyed while the carriage wall remained intact, marked only by scorch marks—proof that He Haisheng had already dissolved into smoke by the time he hit the ground.
Charging in now wouldn't inflict serious damage, but would instead put Lu Dongjun at a disadvantage.
Standing where he was, Lu Dongjun threw a slap through the air.
What was he trying to do?
Slap him from a distance?
Was this some kind of joke?
He Haisheng found it baffling as well, until he suddenly felt a violent gale erupt within the carriage.
Shocked, He Haisheng realized the danger too late.
The gale was extraordinarily fierce, powerful enough to scatter He Haisheng in a matter of moments.
He was already a Smoke Cultivator, so wasn't his body meant to disperse into smoke?
Dispersing into smoke was indeed an advantage for a Smoke Cultivator, but only up to a certain degree.
Lu Dongjun had seized upon the defining trait of Smoke Cultivators: while He Haisheng was discorporated into smoke, he intended to blow him completely apart until he vanished into nothingness.
He Haisheng strained with all his might to solidify his body, but Lu Dongjun's gale was too ferocious for him to withstand.
His cheeks cracked open, blue smoke billowing from the fissures. Wounds manifested across his entire form as plumes of smoke drifted away from his body.
Just as He Haisheng's body hovered on the brink of collapse, the carriage door suddenly swung open, and He Haiqin stepped inside.
Lu Dongjun froze, bewildered as to why He Haiqin was on this train.
Had he been lying in ambush the whole time?
Then why hadn't he shown himself sooner?
Lu Dongjun swung his palm rapidly, wanting to finish He Haisheng off as quickly as possible.
As the howling gale rushed forward, He Haiqin opened his mouth and inhaled the gale right into his gullet, together with a portion of the smoke, chewing it briefly before swallowing it down.
Ninth-tier Food Cultivator technique: Swallowing Mountains and Rivers.
"Damn it all!" He Haiqin cursed. "I rushed all the way here, only to get a bellyful of cold wind!"
Chapter 165