Was this man the Fort Lord of Tiemenbao?
The man wanted him to lead his men and attack Tiemenbao?
What was he thinking?
What on earth was he trying to do?
He Zhenlei was thoroughly torn.
His knocked-out teeth were still lying on the bed.
He pushed open his bedroom door and looked outside—several guards had vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind, neither living men nor dead bodies.
Scared out of his wits, He Zhenlei curled up on his bed and didn't sleep a wink all night.
At daybreak the next morning, he led his men down the mountain and headed for Tiemenbao.
He had figured it out.
This man must have killed Xiao Mazi and taken his place as fort lord.
He probably had the same idea Zhou Anju once had: using the threat of Feiying Mountain to intimidate the Dwelling Cultivators inside Tiemenbao so he could rake in a fortune for himself.
It was just that his methods were somewhat rough.
Regardless, the fact that he could slip onto Feiying Mountain unnoticed and strike with such ruthless violence proved he was truly a capable man. Someone like that was not to be offended. Better to do as he said and make a trip to Tiemenbao.
Led by He Zhenlei, over a hundred bandit fighters arrived before the gates of Tiemenbao, where a crowd of Dwelling Cultivators stood in battle readiness.
In terms of sheer cultivation strength, it went without saying that the Dwelling Cultivators of Tiemenbao far outclassed the bandits of Feiying Mountain.
Yet they had virtually never fought a battle. Seeing such a large-scale formation, the Dwelling Cultivators were exceedingly nervous.
The sentries stationed on the lookout platform banged on gongs and beat drums relentlessly to sound the alarm throughout the fort. Li Banfeng frowned and said, "Yongchao, tell them to stop that racket! The enemy is already right in front of us—what's the point of sounding the alarm now?
"Tell the brothers in the boiler room to be ready. If they storm the main gates, unleash the steam immediately—scald to death as many as come!
"The rest of you, grip your weapons. If the gates fall, we wage street-by-street guerrilla fighting inside the fort. Show everything you've got! The time has come to play for keeps!"
Wu Yongchao passed down the orders, and every Dwelling Cultivator braced themselves.
Bandit Chief He Zhenlei rode up to the gates and shouted in a booming voice, "Friends of Tiemenbao! We've been neighbors for all these years, minding our own business and keeping peace between our waters!
"Yet you have repeatedly stirred up trouble for Feiying Mountain. Since you were in the wrong first, you can't blame me, He, for setting morality aside!
"I give you three days to scrape together ten thousand silver dollars and deliver them up the mountain! If you're short by even a single coin, don't blame my heavy hand when I slaughter every last dog and chicken in this place!
"Retreat!"
With that, He Zhenlei withdrew his men.
He retreated!
Li Banfeng flew into a towering rage!
That very night, Li Banfeng climbed Feiying Mountain once more.
He Zhenlei had thought the matter was settled and that he could finally enjoy a good night's rest. Instead, Li Banfeng strode into his room, dragged him off the bed, pinned him to the floor, and beat him within an inch of his life.
He Zhenlei was a tier-three Martial Cultivator. In front of Li Banfeng, was there truly no room for him to resist at all?
If he dared to fight, he could actually have traded a couple of moves. The crux was that he truly didn't dare.
Li Banfeng wore Zhou Anju's belt, and the aura of dread projecting from him was far more terrifying than Zhou Anju had ever been in his prime.
"What on earth do you want?" He Zhenlei genuinely had no idea how to communicate with this Fort Lord.
"What do I want?" Li Banfeng drove a fist right into He Zhenlei's face. "I told you to lead your troops to attack Tiemenbao! You didn't even lift a finger, spouted a few lines of hot air, and walked away? You fucking dare play me? Who gave you the guts?"
"Friend, I was only following your intent to intimidate them—"
"Who's your friend? Who the fuck are you intimidating?" Li Banfeng slapped He Zhenlei across the face again. "Let me tell you: lead your troops back tomorrow and fight for real! Put every ounce of strength you have into it! If you dare play me again, tomorrow I'll hang your head from your own mountaintop!"
Li Banfeng left. Battered and bruised, He Zhenlei sat on his bed and remained frozen in a daze the whole night through.
The next day, he led his men back to Tiemenbao. This time he didn't dare pull any tricks; he charged straight toward the fort with his men.
The Three Great Methods of a Deception Cultivator:
First Method: As long as you never make a move, the deception remains real.
Now He Zhenlei had made his move.
Over a hundred bandits rushed toward the gate without any siege engines, nor any respectable numinous artifacts or treasures, charging head-on with sheer flesh and blood.
Second Method: As long as the move is not seen, the deception remains real.
Now every Dwelling Cultivator saw it clearly. The bandits charged to the gate, howling in agony as they were scalded by steam. Even those who weren't scalded to death could do nothing against the iron doors.
Third Method: Even if the move is seen, as long as others cannot understand it, the cultivation remains real.
Now the Dwelling Cultivators understood it completely; they saw right through it.
A single charge of over a hundred bandits left more than thirty dead. Had their chief not held the line, the band would have collapsed on the spot.
That was all Feiying Mountain amounted to. The Deception Cultivator's illusion was shattered.
All these years, Feiying Mountain had reigned supreme in the region not by genuine skill, but because Tiemenbao served as its foil.
Everyone knew Tiemenbao was easy to defend and hard to attack, boasting considerable strength.
Everyone knew Tiemenbao willingly endured Feiying Mountain's bullying without daring to offer the slightest resistance.
Everyone assumed Feiying Mountain's power far exceeded Tiemenbao's.
Today, the lie was thoroughly exposed.
Seeing that the bandits of Feiying Mountain no longer dared storm the gate, Li Banfeng commanded, "Open the gates! Go out and fight!"
With a heavy rumbling, all eight iron doors swung wide open. Li Banfeng charged out at the head of over a hundred Dwelling Cultivators.
In this first charge, Li Banfeng had no confidence, and the Dwelling Cultivators had even less. Many among them hadn't set foot outside the fort for years; once past the iron gates, they couldn't even tell north from south.
Their formation was chaotic, and their techniques were scattered. The tier-four Dwelling Cultivators were relatively composed, executing the technique Golden House Conceals a Beauty to send clay figures, stone figures, and paper figures charging at the front.
The tier-one and tier-two Dwelling Cultivators fought entirely on physical instinct, charging forward recklessly.
Several tier-three Dwelling Cultivators saw that the fight wasn't going according to plan. In their panic, they activated Heart Arrowing Home and turned on their heels, trying to sprint straight back home.
This first battle for the hundred-plus Dwelling Cultivators was far from pretty, barely drawing upon thirty percent of their true strength.
Yet even that thirty percent easily repelled the bandits.
The bandits possessed combat experience, but only when it came to tormenting commoners who lacked cultivation.
He Zhenlei fled at the front with his personal guard, while the bandits wailed for their mothers, scrambling after him.
Their eyes bloodshot, the Dwelling Cultivators raised their weapons and gave chase in hot pursuit.
Pushing the windmill gramophone, Li Banfeng blasted battle hymns as he led the cultivators forward.
"Flags flutter proudly, steeds neigh aloud! Guns on shoulders, blades at waists, hot blood surges like a raging tide..."
This battle song was potent at boosting morale, and what was more, his wife's singing could gather departed souls.
The souls of the slain bandits all congregated beside the gramophone, and when the chance arose, Li Banfeng swept them all into the Portable Abode.
The wife feasted to her heart's content, while He Zhenlei fled in utter misery. Nearly all the men he had brought along were wiped out.
Back on Feiying Mountain, a head count revealed that even including the gate guards and handymen, barely seventy men remained on the mountain.
He Zhenlei let out a long sigh. It seemed this livelihood was finished.
After this battle, Feiying Mountain's reputation was completely ruined.
All he could do now was rest on the mountain for a few days, then find somewhere else to make a living.
Yet Li Banfeng gave him no opportunity to rest. That very night, he returned.
"You did well today. Tomorrow, bring your men and fight again."
"Fight again?" He Zhenlei dropped to his knees with a thud. "Lord Fort Lord! I'll call you Grandfather! I can't fight anymore! Please, just leave me a way out!"
Li Banfeng slapped him across the face. "Refusing to fight, are you? Didn't you miss Xiao Mazi? Shall I take you to see him?"
He Zhenlei wept. "Grandfather, I'll fight! Tell me how you want it fought! Just how hard do I have to fight for you to spare my life?"
The attitude was passable enough. Li Banfeng agreed: as long as he gave it his all in one more battle tomorrow, the matter would be settled.
He Zhenlei agreed. Li Banfeng pulled out a sheet of blank paper and said, "Write a covenant deed, so I don't have to come looking for you again."
A battle needed a signed covenant deed...?
Holding the brush, He Zhenlei pondered for a long time, having no idea what to write.
Li Banfeng slapped him. "Write! Are you illiterate?"
"I... I really..." He Zhenlei broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
Li Banfeng slapped him once more. "Cry! Cry harder! Writing it while weeping shows more sincerity!"
At daybreak the next morning, He Zhenlei went.
He didn't know what qualified as giving it his all, but he knew that if he didn't go, the fort lord who went by Fort Lord would never let him off alive.
Having seen through Feiying Mountain's true capability, the Dwelling Cultivators abandoned defensive positions entirely this time, marching straight out to clash. The battle lasted little more than ten minutes before the forces of Feiying Mountain were completely annihilated.
He Zhenlei was slain by Wu Yongchao. In his dying moments, he didn't seem to be in much pain; a faint look of relief even lingered on his face, as if he had finally been unburdened.
Li Banfeng was very satisfied with the Dwelling Cultivators' performance. He paid out of his own pocket and had Wu Yongchao purchase ingredients to host a victory banquet tonight.
Upon returning to the Portable Abode, Li Banfeng was enveloped in a cloud of warm steam.
"Oh, my dear husband... Ever since I consumed the Profound Accumulation Pill last time, this humble servant's body has been rather frail. But now that my husband has bought such a bounty of crisp, delightful ingredients, this humble servant has regained quite a bit of vitality. It is time we shared our affection as husband and wife."
"I'm ready." Li Banfeng smiled calmly and stretched his head into the horn of the gramophone.
Half an hour later, with a flush on his face, Li Banfeng wiped away a brow of sweat and sat beside the gramophone, listening to his wife sing Song of the Four Seasons:
"Spring arrives, greens fill the window,
A maiden embroiders mandarin ducks beneath the sill,
Sprawling compounds boast scenery so fine,
Husband sings, wife accompanies, deep affection entwined!"
Tier five of Dwelling Cultivation!
Li Banfeng burst into hearty laughter.
He went first to the fifth room, and at the end of the room, he found the entrance to the sixth.
Hiss, hiss...
The Red Lotus hissed, offering its congratulations to Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng smiled knowingly and moved the Red Lotus into the sixth room.
The Red Lotus felt that in this lifetime, it would never make it to the main room.
In fact, it probably wouldn't even make it back to the second room.
Returning to the main room, Li Banfeng asked his wife, "The Sprawling Compound technique carries the lady's strength outside the dwelling. I wonder what kind of strength my lady will let me take out?"
Chhh, chhh...
To a slow beat, the gramophone sang, "Precious husband, you have just reached tier five. Among the common masses of living beings, you are already high-ranking.
"Yet, not to boast, but of this humble servant's many methods, there are still plenty that my husband cannot wield just yet.
"Cultivation must proceed step by step. Let this humble servant teach my husband to sing first—it is this humble servant's specialty."
Li Banfeng knew how formidable his wife's singing was. If he could master this method, he wouldn't need to push the windmill gramophone around wherever he went.
"Wife, let's learn Pretending to Be Decent. That's my favorite."
The gramophone taught him line by line, and Li Banfeng sang along line by line.
After half an hour of singing, his wife's breathing grew somewhat labored.
Huuu... chhh, chhh...
"Husband, please stop singing for now. This humble servant's heart hurts."
Li Banfeng paused in surprise. "Wife, do you think I sang poorly?"
"My husband sang very well; it's just this singing voice..." The gramophone replied in a strained tone, "This is not my husband's fault. Perhaps the song Pretending to Be Decent is unsuited to you."
Li Banfeng stood up. "Merely singing really isn't enough to bring it out. I can dance, too! Let me dance a number for you to see..."
Watching Li Banfeng dance, his wife's condition deteriorated drastically: "Husband, please don't dance! Husband, put down the feather duster first...
"Watching you makes this humble servant's chest ache all over again. Husband, let us switch to a different song another day; this piece truly does not suit a man.
"As for the tier-five technique, my husband has already grasped its essentials. When unleashing the technique, you must keep this humble servant's vocal style in your heart.
"As long as my husband holds the right thought, you will naturally sing it right."
"Hold the right thought, and I'll sing it right..." Li Banfeng seemed to grasp something. Picking up the feather duster, he said, "Wife, let me accompany it with the dance and sing it once more. If anything is off, just point it out."
"No hurry... another day, husband, another day..."
...
The following day, Li Banfeng stepped out of the Portable Abode. As he strolled through the fort, he suddenly noticed it was unusually desolate.
Wu Yongchao approached him. "Fort Lord, the merchants didn't come today. Not a single one."
Li Banfeng asked, "Could it be that the fighting over the past two days scared them off?"
Wu Yongchao replied, "Yesterday, when I went to the market to buy food and drink for the victory banquet, I told all the vendors that the trouble had passed. They even promised to come over today to do business."
Standing before the iron gates, Li Banfeng gazed out at the empty road ahead. He seemed to catch a familiar scent in the air.
A scent he had once caught before Yu Nan's fabric shop.
"Tell everyone in the fort to heighten their guard. No one is to leave without good reason over the next two days."
Wu Yongchao asked, "Should we shut the main gates?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "We can't shut them. Once they're closed, opening them again won't be easy. Call over a few tier-four Dwelling Cultivators. We're going to have a little fun with these bastards."
Chapter 223