Lu Dongjun stumbled backward repeatedly. In his memory, He Haiqin was supposed to be an eighth-tier Food Cultivator—how could he have learned a ninth-tier technique?
When had he advanced?
As the violent gale died down, He Haisheng rose from the floor and fell in behind He Haiqin.
He Haiqin chided He Haisheng, "Third Brother, your temper is too rash. Didn't I tell you to stall him here for a bit? Why did you jump straight into a fight with him?"
"Brother, your temper isn't much better—you swallowed all my smoke." That smoke was the equivalent of He Haisheng's flesh and blood.
"I thought the damn stuff choked me half to death," He Haiqin wheezed, coughing twice.
He Haisheng ground his teeth. "Brother, he's the one who harmed you! His strategist Wan Jinxian is a Disease Cultivator!"
He Haiqin gritted his teeth as well. "I know that now. You don't need to lift a finger—today I'm going to skin him alive with my own hands!"
Lu Dongjun remained calm, showing no signs of panic.
He Haiqin glared at Lu Dongjun. "Little Jun, you and I go back quite a ways. When you invited me out for that meal back then, I even poured my heart out to you. If you wanted to be head of the Lu family, I genuinely intended to help you take the seat! How could you let that bird-brained bastard Wan Jinxian poison me?"
Lu Dongjun shook his head. "Brother Haiqin, I truly knew nothing about this. If Haisheng hadn't just brought it up, I wouldn't even know your illness back then had anything to do with Wan Jinxian. I'm not a clever man, Brother Haiqin, but you have sharp eyes—you really can't pin this on me."
Did Lu Dongjun really not know that Wan Jinxian had planted the seeds of disease in He Haiqin?
Nonsense!
How could he not know?
It was an order from Lu Dongliang—except Lu Dongliang hadn't told him to infect He Haiqin with an illness; he had ordered him to kill He Haiqin outright. If Lu Dongjun succeeded, Lu Dongliang promised to cede half the family estate to him.
Lu Dongjun had originally planned to use brute force. Back then, He Haiqin was still an eighth-tier cultivator; with Lu Dongjun's strength, killing an eighth-tier Food Cultivator wouldn't have been particularly difficult. But he hadn't anticipated that He Haiqin would bring He Yuxiu along.
That made things far more difficult. He Yuxiu was also an eighth-tier Martial Cultivator. Though she wasn't as formidable a fighter as Lu Dongjun, her baseline combat prowess was undeniable, so Lu Dongjun naturally didn't dare make a move.
Seeing that the task was falling through, Wan Jinxian had volunteered. During the banquet, he disguised himself as a server and quietly planted the seeds of disease within He Haiqin.
It was from that moment on that Wan Jinxian gained Lu Dongjun's deep favor and trust.
Two days later, He Haiqin fell gravely ill. Thinking the deed was done, Lu Dongjun waited for Lu Dongliang to hand over half the family assets.
Who could have guessed that He Haiqin, relying on his robust physique and assisted by the Medicine Cultivator Chu Peiying, would stubbornly cling to life for two whole years?
Since He Haiqin hadn't died, Lu Dongliang had no reason to fulfill his promise, and naturally refused to hand over the family property.
Yet over those two years, taking advantage of He Haiqin's grave illness, Lu Dongliang reaped immense benefits. Under his suppression, the He family gradually declined, and the Lu family became the preeminent house of Puluo Province.
Lu Dongjun saw it all and seethed inside. Even though He Haiqin hadn't died, Lu Dongjun had performed a great service; he shouldn't have been left with nothing.
Add to that Wan Jinxian's repeated egging on, and the intent to murder Lu Dongliang was born.
Now that the plot against He Haiqin had been exposed, Lu Dongjun was still making excuses, but He Haiqin couldn't be bothered to listen.
The crowd of guards usually surrounding Lu Dongjun wasn't here. It was a rare chance to catch him alone—if not take his life now, then when?
He Haiqin charged directly at Lu Dongjun, throwing a punch.
Lu Dongjun didn't dodge; beating him to the punch, he kicked He Haiqin square in the chest.
He Haiqin stumbled back several paces. If not for a Food Cultivator's formidable constitution, that blow might have killed him.
"Little Jun, ruthless bastard! You really can fight—no wonder Lu Dongliang met his end by your hands!"
Regarding Lu Dongliang, He Haiqin naturally believed He Yuxiu.
Even with a tier advantage, going one-on-one gave him no upper hand.
He Haiqin changed his tune: "Brother, let's take him together!"
He Haiqin and He Haisheng closed in on Lu Dongjun together.
When a Food Cultivator was well-fed, their speed, strength, and resilience were astonishingly high.
A Smoke Cultivator possessed tactics for both melee and range, appearing and vanishing unpredictably.
Under such circumstances, was there still a chance to turn the tables?
Yes!
Lu Dongjun ripped up two rows of seats in the carriage and hurled them at He Haiqin and He Haisheng simultaneously.
Martial Cultivators possessed no spell techniques, yet their combat power was unmatched, relying purely on martial arts. The two heavy rows of benches flew with deadly accuracy toward the brothers.
He Haiqin smashed through the bench with his raw body, shattering it to splinters, and charged straight for Lu Dongjun.
He Haisheng dodged to the side, evading the bench.
Here lay the opening—the brothers reacted differently to the heavy assault.
Within the narrow carriage, Lu Dongjun leaped onto the seatbacks, darting past He Haiqin in a flash and lunging straight for He Haisheng.
He Haisheng prepared to dissolve into smoke—his standard tactic.
With He Haiqin pursuing from behind, Lu Dongjun spun and threw a kick, stirring up a blast of gale-force wind to block He Haiqin.
He Haiqin opened his mouth and swallowed the gale, but He Haisheng no longer dared to turn into smoke.
Earlier, part of his smoke had been blown apart by Lu Dongjun, and another part had been swallowed by He Haiqin.
That smoke was He Haisheng's body and his very life; if He Haiqin swallowed another mouthful, He Haisheng would be grievously injured.
In that split second of hesitation, Lu Dongjun seized He Haisheng by the head, intent on crushing his skull.
Once he took out He Haisheng, dealing with He Haiqin alone would be vastly easier.
He was hopeless at everything else, but when it came to fighting, he was a master.
Just as Lu Dongjun was about to crush He Haisheng's head, the train suddenly jolted.
Lu Dongjun lost his footing, allowing He Haisheng to slip free. He Haiqin kicked Lu Dongjun off his feet from behind, and He Haisheng spat out a cigarette, the glowing cherry burning clean through Lu Dongjun's chest to expose white bone and internal organs.
Clutching his chest, Lu Dongjun tried to rise, only for He Haiqin to stomp him down to the floor. "You son of a bitch! You ruined me for two whole years!"
He Haiqin brought his fist down onto Lu Dongjun's face. Lu Dongjun's left cheek caved in, his skull fracturing.
"You dare commit murder on a train? Don't you know the train's rules? Aren't you afraid of the conductors?" This was the final struggle Lu Dongjun could muster.
"Conductors?" He Haiqin laughed out loud. "What train? Open your eyes and take a good look, so you can die knowing what really happened!"
Lu Dongjun looked around the carriage.
Seats, small tables, floorboards, ceiling—this was clearly a train carriage.
He looked out the window. Outside, dimly lit scenery rushed past—cottages, farmland, woods...
A cottage?
Lu Dongjun had seen that cottage before—right when he first boarded the train.
Was it the same one?
Beyond the cottage lay endless fields; the scenery outside the window had actually repeated itself.
Could it be... that he had been duped from the very beginning?
No wonder He Haiqin had suddenly appeared inside the carriage.
It wasn't a train at all...
How could it look so real?
Just like those photographs, identical to reality.
As Lu Dongjun stared out the window in horror, He Haiqin brought his fist crashing down, smashing Lu Dongjun's head to pieces.
Flicking the blood from his hand, He Haiqin shouted, "Old Third Ling, come collect the corpse!"
A window opened, and Ling Miaoying, the third brother of the Ling family, vaulted inside through the opening. He rolled up the carpet from the floor, wrapping Lu Dongjun's corpse in it, and tossed it out the window.
Outside the window, the landscape was still rushing backward. Even with the window open and leaning out to look, it seemed remarkably real.
The only unreal detail was that no wind blew through the window—because the carriage wasn't moving at all.
That was why the windows couldn't be opened earlier.
Outside the carriage, another scene unfolded: the train was stopped at a platform, the locomotive spewing steam, poised to depart; travelers bustled about boarding and disembarking; conductors stood at carriage doors checking tickets.
Was this a real scene?
No.
Ling Miaoying ordered all the shadow projectors around the train shut down, and the true scene was finally revealed.
No passengers, no conductors.
Only an abandoned platform, an abandoned train, and an abandoned stretch of track.
Everything had been a shadow play—a performance outside the carriage, and a performance within.
Beneath the carriage sat gramophones custom-made by Ling Miaosheng.
The chugging and hissing of the steam engine, the blast of the whistle, the clatter of wheels on iron rails, the chatter of passengers—all sounded genuine.
Steel cables hung all around the carriage; as the cables vibrated, the carriage trembled slightly along with them.
Just moments ago, when Lu Dongjun made his desperate fight for life, Ling Miaoying had severed one of the cables to make the carriage pitch violently, saving He Haisheng's life.
Ling Miaoying, a top-tier Scrying Cultivator, had fooled Lu Dongjun with a shadow play.
From the moment Lu Dongjun left the tannery, he had been watched. It was only because he was so formidable in combat that no one wanted to move against him lightly.
From the moment he passed the ticket gate, he had followed this shadow play all the way into the trap laid by Ling Miaoying and He Haiqin.
He Haiqin stepped out of the carriage and snorted at Ling Miaoying. "You damn well have some skill. When I arrived just now, I thought it was a real train too."
Ling Miaoying tipped his hat in a bow. "A trivial trick. I'm embarrassed you had to see it."
"Embarrassed? You think I can laugh this off? My brother was nearly beaten to death by Lu Dongjun, and you didn't even lift a damn finger to help!"
Ling Miaoying had been right outside the carriage back then, and he indeed hadn't stepped in.
"According to the time we agreed upon, Master He should have arrived a step earlier. I didn't expect an unexpected turn of events, nor did I dare intervene rashly."
"So you're blaming me, dammit? My train was delayed by an hour! The moment I got off, I ran all the way here at full sprint!"
Ling Miaoying offered a humble smile. "I don't blame you. It's my fault—I was too rigid."
He Haiqin waved his hand dismissively. "Cut the useless chatter. Let's talk business. The businesses in Haichiling get split fifty-fifty—that was our agreement."
Ling Miaoying nodded. "Naturally."
"The cleanup is for you brothers to handle; I won't touch it."
"That was also agreed upon."
"From start to finish, Lu Dongjun's matter has nothing to do with us. If the secret leaks, you take the fall."
"Rest assured, leave everything that follows to us."
He Haiqin nodded, then left the abandoned platform with He Haisheng.
Once outside the railway station, He Haisheng looked up at the sky full of mosquitoes and said to He Haiqin, "Eldest Brother, Haichiling is finished. Even if we get our hands on the businesses here, they probably won't be of much use."
He Haiqin laughed. "Silly boy, do you really think your big brother cares about these measly businesses in Haichiling? Haichiling is ruined, so we'll just sell the businesses to the Ling family for whatever they're worth. That bastard Lu Dongjun kept me bedridden for two whole years; I nearly lost my life! To slaughter that son of a bitch with my own hands—do you have any idea how good that feels?"
...
After packing up all the equipment, Ling Miaoying sat alone in the abandoned carriage. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sent a message to He Jiaqing:
"The deed is done."
Lying on his hospital bed, He Jiaqing replied, "Keep Lu Dongjun's body safe. It will be of great use for your future advancement."
"However, the mosquitoes in Haichiling will be difficult to deal with."
"Have Old Wan make a trip to Lüshuiwan to see if he can move his grandmaster."
"He already pleaded. Lü Huazi refuses to get involved."
"Go plead again. If it really comes down to it, I'll go in person."
Chapter 166