Ambush

Late at night, Li Banfeng sprinted at full tilt along the railway tracks. He was running faster than a train. The main reason he needed to take a train was to cross the border. He could have also crossed by having someone arrange a travel permit and running straight back on foot, but the border checkpoints were only open at specific times, their locations were not fixed, and identity verification was exceedingly strict. Li Banfeng was in a hurry to find the key and did not want to waste time on all that. The train had departed at five in the afternoon. Under normal circumstances, it should still be within Heishipo territory. Whether he could catch up to it came down to Li Banfeng's capabilities. In the past, whenever he traveled back and forth between Lüshui City and Heishipo, he had always taken the train. As a journey cultivator, Li Banfeng was intimately familiar with the route. After running for more than two hours, by ten o'clock, he could faintly make out the silhouette of the train. Adjusting his stride while silently chanting his mnemonic, he caught up to the rear and leaped onto the caboose. Once aboard, Li Banfeng kept chanting the mnemonic: "Don't run into a conductor, don't run into a conductor..." His luck held up fairly well. The train ran for over an hour and crossed the Heishipo border without him encountering any conductors. *** With midnight fast approaching, everyone was still waiting in the Lu family hall. Ling Miaoying's gathering had yet to break up. After finishing dinner, he had accompanied the Garrison Commissioner to a theater to watch an opera. Tan Fucheng said to Ma the Fifth, "Fifth Master, looks like nothing is happening tonight. If Ling Miaoying takes the Garrison Commissioner to a brothel next, we'll be waiting in vain even if we stay until dawn." Ma the Fifth nodded. "This matter can't involve the Outer States. As long as the Garrison Commissioner is around, they definitely won't dare make a move." Tan Fucheng's prediction proved true. Ling Miaoying accompanied the Garrison Commissioner at the theater until two in the morning, and then went on to Fusheng Shuyu. A shuyu was a specialized establishment in Puluo Province. In places like this, the women were addressed as xiansheng. Having tea was three yuan, banquet accompaniment was three yuan, and staying the night was three yuan as well; hence, they were also called "Changsan Shuyu." The "three yuan" referred to here meant three silver dollars. In Puluo Province, such rates were far higher than at ordinary venues, making these the most exclusive, high-class establishments of their kind. Now that Ling Miaoying and the Garrison Commissioner had entered the shuyu, nothing was truly going to happen tonight. Yet Lu Dongtang was unwilling to give up, and had his spies continue gathering intelligence. *** Inside Fusheng Shuyu, once Ling Miaoying had settled the Garrison Commissioner in, he changed his clothes and slipped soundlessly out the back door. Cutting through two alleys, he entered a small building. Tu Yinghong had been waiting inside all along. She wore a black Zhongshan suit and a flat cap, dressed as a man. Upon seeing Ling Miaoying, Tu Yinghong lowered her voice. "The Lu family has eyes on you the whole time. Are we still making a move tonight?" Ling Miaoying sneered. "With those meager tricks of theirs, do you think I wouldn't notice? As long as the Garrison Commissioner is around, they can only sit and wait. "Ma the Fifth went to the Lu mansion too, so only Li the Seventh is left at Xiaoyaowu. Tonight, we must take back what's ours! "I've also lined up two helpers waiting across the street. We'll bring them along in a moment." Tu Yinghong shook her head. "No. No one else can know about the iron rulers." Ling Miaoying nodded. "Then we'll have them stay here as backup." The two left the building and arrived at Xiaoyaowu at three-thirty in the morning. The dance hall had emptied long ago, and most of the guards had accompanied Ma the Fifth to the Lu residence, leaving only a few watchmen at Xiaoyaowu. Finding a secluded spot, Ling Miaoying produced a music box, wound its spring, and set it on the ground. He and Tu Yinghong plugged their ears. The figurine on the tray spun as the spring unwound, and music began to play. It played a Western tune. The sound wasn't loud, yet it possessed a curious spiritual quality, drifting toward the entrance of Xiaoyaowu. The watchmen were already feeling drowsy. Hearing the music box, far from growing suspicious, they drifted off to sleep one after another. Ling Miaoying retrieved the music box and led Tu Yinghong into Xiaoyaowu, crossing the dance hall and heading up to the second floor. He had an informant inside Xiaoyaowu and knew which room Li the Seventh normally stayed in. Outside the door, Ling Miaoying produced a palm-sized projector, set it down against the corridor wall, lit the candle inside, wound the spring, and flipped the switch. The projector began to turn, casting Ling Miaoying's image onto the door. The projection held a key in its hand, slid it gently into the keyhole, and unlocked the door. This projection possessed physical substance and could even pick locks with a master key. Had anyone inside sensed something and hidden behind the door to launch an ambush, they would only harm the projection, leaving Ling Miaoying untouched. The door opened. Ling Miaoying sent the projection inside to scout, finding the room empty. Exchanging a glance with Tu Yinghong, the two entered the room together. Li the Seventh was indeed not in the room. Ling Miaoying retrieved the projector from outside, closed the door, and searched the room with Tu Yinghong. After searching for a long time, they found neither the iron rulers nor the pistol. Tu Yinghong said, "Did we come to the wrong room? There are barely any clothes here. It doesn't look like anyone lives here regularly." Ling Miaoying shook his head. "The room can't be wrong. I trust my people. I'm just afraid Li the Seventh has everything on him." Tu Yinghong said, "If he carries them on him, all the better. We'll just wait for him here." Ling Miaoying frowned. "Could he have gone to the Lu residence as well? In that case, how long will we have to wait..." Mid-sentence, Ling Miaoying abruptly trailed off. His ears twitched. He turned to Tu Yinghong and whispered, "There's movement outside!" *** Out of breath, Li Banfeng arrived at the entrance of Xiaoyaowu. He had run all the way back. This freight train's route was quite unusual: after crossing the Heishipo border, it passed through Huangtuqiao territory, traversed the Lüshuiwan border, and headed straight into the rail depot for unloading. Li Banfeng hadn't even waited for it to reach the depot. The moment it crossed the Lüshuiwan border, he jumped off and ran toward Lüshui City. Running for over two hours, he entered the city and hurried to Xiaoyaowu. His legs felt as though they were about to snap. Grandpa Train had always looked down upon the coachman's footwork, but had it not been for that very footwork, Li Banfeng would never have possessed such incredible stamina. Pushing open the front doors, Li Banfeng briskly walked into the dance hall. The watchmen were all asleep. Had Li Banfeng failed to notice? He had seen them. He just didn't pay it any mind. It was only natural for night watchmen to doze off. Halfway up the stairs, the Thread-Hook Earring suddenly gave a warning: "Master, there's someone in your room." The Thread-Hook Earring's cultivation tier was far below Ling Miaoying's; only at this close distance could she barely catch Tu Yinghong's breathing. "How many?" "One." High-tier Scrying Cultivators possessed methods to conceal their presence. While the Thread-Hook Earring had barely managed to sense Lu Xiaolan's location in the newland, inside Xiaoyaowu, she was completely oblivious to Ling Miaoying. Li Banfeng didn't break his stride, continuing up the stairs. Ling Miaoying drew a thumb-sized spool from his bosom, pulled out a thread of silk, and hooked it onto a corner of the doorframe. The other end was wound around the leg of a table. Throughout the entire process, Ling Miaoying did not make the slightest sound. The thread was exceedingly thin and virtually invisible. If Li Banfeng pushed the door open and walked straight inside, his head would be sliced in two. Standing by the wall, Ling Miaoying and Tu Yinghong silently waited for Li Banfeng to open the door. The footsteps drew closer and closer, already outside the door. Both Ling Miaoying and Tu Yinghong braced themselves for action. Unless forced to, they didn't want to kill Li the Seventh immediately; they intended to interrogate him first to uncover the whereabouts of the iron rulers and the pistol. Tu Yinghong carried over a dozen weapons on her, and within minutes, she could make Li the Seventh wish he were dead. Yet, to their surprise, Li the Seventh did not open the door. His footsteps moved further down the corridor. What was happening? *Rattle, clatter, creak...* It sounded like he had opened another room's door. Tu Yinghong looked at Ling Miaoying. Ling Miaoying's brows knitted. He realized he might truly have entered the wrong room. Had his spy gotten the information wrong, or had he mistaken the room himself? Or was the person outside not Li the Seventh at all? There was no way to verify it for now. Ling Miaoying signaled Tu Yinghong not to move. He could move without making any sound, but Tu Yinghong couldn't. Ling Miaoying pushed the door open gently and headed deeper down the corridor alone. Judging by the sounds he had just heard, the person should have gone into the room at the end of the corridor. Ling Miaoying reached the doorway without making a sound, placed the projector on the floor, and once again sent the projection forward to open the door. The projection picked the lock with the master key and pushed the door open. Li Banfeng was waiting right inside. The projection was so lifelike that Li Banfeng failed to notice any flaw whatsoever, believing it was truly Ling Miaoying entering the room. He raised his pistol and fired a shot. *Click!* The gun didn't go off. In Puluo Province, gunpowder worked only intermittently. Yet Ling Miaoying heard that click. It was the sound of the hammer striking. Ling Miaoying knew that sound all too well; it was the distinctive strike of his own pistol. Li the Seventh was inside the room. His judgment had been correct. A round had misfired. Logically, Li the Seventh would definitely fire a second shot in rapid succession. The second shot could only hit the projection, which wouldn't harm Ling Miaoying in the least. Ling Miaoying smiled. He prepared to have the projection tie Li the Seventh down in combat first, and then bring Tu Yinghong over to subdue him completely. Just as his mind moved to give the command, a shrill howl erupted from the room: "Hu—yayaya!" He hadn't fired a second shot. Against anyone else, Li Banfeng would have fired a second time without hesitation. Against Ling Miaoying, Li Banfeng had other methods. Ling Miaoying was a Scrying Cultivator. Using the technique of the Sprawling Compound, Li Banfeng drew upon a portion of the wife's power to unleash that shriek. This screech could damage anyone's hearing, but the damage was especially severe against Scrying Cultivators. This tactic had already been proven on Lu Xiaolan, so Li Banfeng was naturally confident in it. In truth, it had also been proven on Ling Miaowen, though Li Banfeng was unaware of that. Upon hearing the howl, Ling Miaoying's vision blurred. Clutching his ears, blood streamed down through his fingers. Bleeding from the ears was no great matter; Li Banfeng's voice couldn't match the wife's, nor did he have the chance to sing an entire song, so this wasn't enough to grievously wound Ling Miaoying. However, blurred vision was a serious problem. Before Li Banfeng could tell whether the projection was real or fake, he drew his Tang dao. The blade slashed directly toward Ling Miaoying's projection, severing its head in a single stroke. "Every strike takes an enemy head!" Just as the Tang dao gloated, Li Banfeng darted out of the room to see whether Ling Miaoying had any accomplices. Instead, he saw another Ling Miaoying crouching outside the door. How could there be two Ling Miaoyings? Was the one before fake? Is this one the real one? The real one is ambushing me right here? Li Banfeng's hair stood on end. In his extreme tension, his pupils shrank violently. He used his toes to drive his ankles, his ankles to drive his calves, and his calves to drive his thighs. Employing the special footwork Grandpa Train had taught him, he swiftly adjusted his stance to evade Ling Miaoying's ambush. Li Banfeng moved with blinding speed. Ling Miaoying, his vision blurred from his injury, couldn't see Li Banfeng's figure at all. *Thud!* A stumble. Li Banfeng's legs gave out from sheer exhaustion, nearly sending him tumbling. *Splosh!* A dull sound. Blood gushed from Ling Miaoying as his belly burst open.