Lu Maoxian had no idea who had ambushed him. Just as he was about to call for reinforcements, the Tang dao twisted its blade and delivered another slash.
Ever since the Portable Abode's temper changed, wherever Li Banfeng thought of, stepping out the door would lead him right there.
This had caused Li Banfeng plenty of trouble before, but this time, he truly reaped the benefits of the Portable Abode.
Before stepping out, he had scrutinized Lu Maoxian's bedroom over and over until its image filled his mind. And sure enough, the moment he walked out, he arrived right in Lu Maoxian's bedroom.
A Dwelling Cultivator who had just stepped out of the door was exceptionally easy to overlook. Coupled with Lu Maoxian's weakened body, the Tang dao struck true on the very first blow.
Lu Maoxian cried out, "To fight without declaring war is—"
Li Banfeng suddenly showed himself and slit Lu Maoxian's throat outright.
He would have loved to drag Lu Maoxian back into the Portable Abode to interrogate him at leisure, but he couldn't return to the Portable Abode right now; the key was still in Heishi City.
Lu Maoxian, the Lu family's old patriarch and once a formidable hegemon of his time, clutched his neck, struggled for a few moments, and died just like that.
A pity.
A pity about the wife's meal.
Li Banfeng did not linger. This was Lu Maoxian's residence; he had to leave as quickly as possible.
Carrying a mountain of magical treasures on him, he had expected a brutal battle, never imagining that Lu Maoxian was already gravely wounded to begin with and almost completely incapable of fighting back.
With all the estate's staff sent away, Li Banfeng's exit went smoothly as well.
Yet there was still one thing Li Banfeng hadn't figured out.
Why on earth did he pin me down?
Leaving the estate, Li Banfeng headed back toward Xiaoyaowu first. By his reasoning, Lu Maoxian had pinned him down most likely to eliminate Ma the Fifth.
Running near Xiaoyaowu, Li Banfeng stopped in his tracks.
It was a little past eight in the evening.
The gas lightbox at Xiaoyaowu's entrance was lit, people were coming and going, and business was booming.
To the east of Xiaoyaowu was Poplar Teahouse, which should also have been open for business at this hour.
Yet the teahouse was closed.
Xiaoyaowu operating as usual proved Ma the Fifth was safe.
A teahouse closing wasn't anything new—perhaps it was for cleaning, perhaps for renovations.
But with so much happening today, Li Banfeng felt there was another possibility: someone had bought out the teahouse and was watching Xiaoyaowu.
I was pinned down in Heishipo, and Ma the Fifth is being watched, so who is the real target?
Li Banfeng asked the glove, "Who do you think it could be?"
The glove panted for a moment and said, "Who? It wasn't me! You need proof to catch a thief!"
"Why are you panting like that?"
"Panting? Probably because I was running too fast just now!"
"Asking you is a waste of breath. Better go ask them instead."
Li Banfeng silently approached the teahouse, drew out the music box, and wound it up fully.
***
Inside Lu Chunying's residence, Lu Maoxian's daughter Lu Dongchun and son Lu Dongtang had already stormed into the parlor with assassins.
Lu Chunying was not in the parlor. Sitting on the sofa was only a single person: Lu Dongliang's principal wife, Duan Shaoxia.
What was she doing here?
The blame was originally supposed to be pinned on her; now that she was here, how were they supposed to handle it?
Lu Dongtang froze for a moment.
Lu Dongchun did not let the opportunity slip, ordering them to strike immediately.
Kill her!
Say both sides fought, and Duan Shaoxia and Lu Chunying both perished—that would make sense too!
As far as Lu Dongtang knew, Duan Shaoxia was just a white lamb. Killing her wouldn't be difficult.
Duan Shaoxia looked up, sweeping her eyes over each of them, a faint shimmer of tears in her gaze.
For an instant, everyone hesitated. They felt they shouldn't harm such a pitiful woman.
Only Lu Dongchun did not hesitate. Flicking her hand, she sent a dozen sewing needles darting toward Duan Shaoxia.
Duan Shaoxia did not dodge. She simply sat where she was, her face showing fear, grievance, and a resolute fortitude kept up with sheer effort.
The sewing needles did not hit Duan Shaoxia. Two vases plummeted from the second-floor stairhead, blocking all the needles like two bodyguards.
The vases shattered, sending porcelain shards flying and wounding several subordinates rushing at the front.
It was Zuo Wugang!
He was behind the second-floor railing.
The madam acting as bait on the first floor while the guards held them off from the second?
This setup was beyond Lu Dongtang's understanding.
Vases crashed down one after another, forcing the subordinates to fall back.
Lu Dongchun did not retreat.
A porcelain shard struck Lu Dongchun in the face, seemingly embedding into the flesh.
Lu Dongchun pulled the shard from her cheek; a wound showed across her face, yet not a single drop of blood flowed, nor was there the slightest trace of pain on her delicate features.
Lu Dongtang leaped up to the second floor to take on Zuo Wugang.
Lu Dongchun continued her assault on Duan Shaoxia. Duan Shaoxia produced a handgun, clutching the grip with both trembling hands as she aimed it at Lu Dongchun. Judging from her expression, she wanted to shoot, yet seemed to lack the nerve.
To onlookers, this was a woman driven to desperation making her final stand.
All the assassins felt hesitant about whether they should lay a hand on Duan Shaoxia.
Only Lu Dongchun did not hesitate, nor was she afraid of bullets.
Yet after Duan Shaoxia fired, Lu Dongchun regretted it.
What came out of Duan Shaoxia's gun wasn't bullets—it was oil.
From this water-gun-like pistol sprayed a glob of oil.
Oil was exceptionally rare in Puluo Province, for it was hard to preserve.
Yet this struck sheer terror into Lu Dongchun. She tried to strip off her clothes, but Duan Shaoxia, tears in her eyes, hurled a candlestick over.
A helpless woman resisting frantically, throwing whatever she could grab—it made total sense.
Lu Dongchun's clothes were coated in oil. Meeting the candlestick, they caught fire.
Catching fire didn't matter; Lu Dongchun had ways to deal with it.
She shed her outer coat, but the oily liquid had seeped into her shirt, still burning.
She stripped off the outermost shirt, yet the oil had soaked into the second shirt, still burning.
Lu Dongchun stripped off over a dozen shirts one after another before the flames finally went out.
Oil could never penetrate that fast. Even with special ingredients added, it shouldn't have seeped through Lu Dongchun's clothes so quickly.
Lu Dongchun looked at Duan Shaoxia and said tonelessly, "You have cultivation. This is your technique."
Tears streaming, Duan Shaoxia shook her head repeatedly.
She was merely a weak woman; how could she possibly use techniques?
Hiding on the second floor, Lu Chunying watched Lu Dongchun and asked in a low whisper, "Mom, what kind of cultivation does she have?"
Xiao Yeci, completely baffled, shook her head as well.
Today's Madam Duan made no sense to her at all.
On the second floor, the fighting was fierce. Lu Dongtang and his subordinates clashed with Zuo Wugang and the other guards in a chaotic, pitched brawl.
On the first floor, the situation was comparatively simple: a one-on-one duel between Lu Dongchun and Duan Shaoxia, yet not a single one of the subordinates stepped up to assist.
To say nothing of them, when Duan Shaoxia exerted her technique, even Lu Dongjun hadn't been able to bring himself to harm her.
Lu Dongchun, however, had no such qualms, striking with vicious cruelty. Her sleeves and lapels extended and retracted at will, nearly throttling Duan Shaoxia several times.
Duan Shaoxia barely held her ground, brandishing a pair of scissors with her eyes closed. What looked like wild, aimless stabbing actually targeted vital points with every strike.
Lu Dongchun was covered in cuts, but they didn't hinder her movements in the slightest. Neither blades nor fists seemed capable of hurting her.
She soon backed Duan Shaoxia into a corner.
There was only a final bit of oil left in the pistol. Duan Shaoxia fired it through her tears, but missed.
Having fallen victim to Duan Shaoxia's sneak attack once, Lu Dongchun wasn't going to be fooled a second time.
Shivering, Duan Shaoxia had nowhere left to run. Lu Dongchun unclasped her garment, which flew through midair as if alive and draped itself right over Duan Shaoxia's head.
"Ah—!" Duan Shaoxia screamed, flailing her arms with all her might as if in helpless struggle.
Two silk threads shot out from the garment into Lu Dongchun's hands. Lu Dongchun yanked fiercely, attempting to cinch the garment tight.
If she truly managed to cinch it, Duan Shaoxia's head would be crushed to pulp.
Rrrrip!
The garment shredded.
Duan Shaoxia burst free from the clothes!
Lu Dongchun's face remained blank, but her eyes were wide.
She was stunned; her garment could never tear so easily.
Watching the fluttering shreds of cloth before her, Lu Dongchun noticed several small black holes.
Lu Dongchun's pupils contracted. She quickly looked down at the clothes on her body.
She scrambled back several steps, reacting just as she had when she caught fire.
For Lu Dongchun, the current situation was even more perilous than catching fire.
Many small black holes had appeared on her clothes, and inside them, something was wriggling.
Clothes moths!
The reason the garment had shredded was that it had been gnawed through by clothes moths.
Lu Dongchun hurriedly stripped off several layers of garments, but it was futile; the bugs had already burrowed deep.
Where did clothes moths come from?
Lu Yuanxin, a rank three Bug Cultivator, was hiding on the second floor, manipulating the bugs.
From the moment he spotted Lu Dongchun, he had been summoning all the clothes moths in the area.
These clothes moths ate quickly, but moved slowly. Duan Shaoxia trading blows with Lu Dongchun had all been to lure Lu Dongchun near the clothes moths.
Strengthened by the Bug Cultivator's invigoration, the insects were ravenously devouring Lu Dongchun's garments.
Lu Dongchun held on for a moment longer before jumping out the window to flee.
For her, the damage she was suffering now was exceedingly lethal.
With Lu Dongchun gone, Lu Dongtang grew flustered.
According to the plan drawn up beforehand, all the variables in the battle were to be resolved by Lu Dongchun.
Lu Dongchun dealing with Duan Shaoxia should have been an easy victory, yet she hadn't won.
Now that she had suddenly fled, Lu Dongtang was left locked in a brutal clash with Zuo Wugang.
A head-on clash was the best possible scenario for Zuo Wugang, because it required no strategic decisions.
Lu Dongtang and Zuo Wugang were comparable in cultivation, but Zuo Wugang had crawled along the edge of blades his entire life, and Zhen Jincheng and Cao Zhida had built their reputations on slaughter as well; they held the advantage in sheer experience.
The battle ground to a stalemate, and Lu Dongtang's struggle grew increasingly bitter.
On the first floor, Duan Shaoxia wept at the assassins, crying out, "How could you? How dare you?"
The men stood utterly bewildered when Duan Shaoxia's gaze suddenly settled, as if a silhouette had flashed past.
A silhouette had indeed flashed past. Duan Shaoxia saw it, though most of the assassins didn't.
After the silhouette vanished, a succession of loud bangs tore through the parlor, and several bodies burst into mangled flesh and blood.
The technique of Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse.
Li Banfeng had arrived.
Having dealt with the flunkies at Poplar Teahouse, Li Banfeng had pried the truth out of them, notified Ma the Fifth to gather men, and immediately rushed over to Lu Chunying's residence.
He swiftly went up to the second floor, escorted the mother and daughter, Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying, into the bedroom, and led them to the window.
Xiao Yeci said in surprised delight, "Benefactor, you're here! The two of us truly owe you far too much."
Li Banfeng signaled them to be quiet. His eyes remained fixed outside the window, prepared to activate the Severing Paths to Open Roads technique.
There was still an unpredictable factor, and a massive one at that.
Dealing with this bunch of assassins was not difficult, but there were others outside the courtyard who would not be so easy to handle.
Where did these people come from?
***
On the first floor, the assassins were terrified by the exploded remains on the ground.
Some among them had seen the rank five Journey Cultivator technique and knew it was Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse.
Yet a rank five Journey Cultivator technique was immensely costly to use; that the opponent dared unleash it proved his cultivation was vastly higher than theirs.
Under such circumstances, the assassins had no stomach left for battle and bolted out of the house in droves.
They made it out of the house, but they couldn't make it out of the courtyard.
Zhang Xiuling, sect master of the Baihua Sect, had surrounded the residence with her subordinates.
Zhang Xiuling gave the order: anyone who came out of the house was to be executed without mercy.
Not a single assassin fleeing the house got away; Zhang Xiuling wiped them out clean.
Zhang Xiuling shouted from the front door, "Elder Sister, I'm here! Do I come in now or not? Give the word!"
Duan Shaoxia shouted back, "Little Sister, come in quickly! These beasts are trying to kill me!"
Li Banfeng frowned.
Zhang Xiuling had actually come for Duan Shaoxia.
Seeing Zhang Xiuling lead her men into the residence, Lu Dongtang was scared out of his wits. They had already been losing ground, and now they didn't even have the numbers.
Lu Dongtang wanted to flee, but escaping wasn't so easy.
Zuo Wugang seized the opening, kicked Lu Dongtang over, and pinned him under his boot.
The other assassins stopped fighting, not daring to move.
Duan Shaoxia called out, "Chunying, come out. I have something to say to you."
Zuo Wugang paused, startled. The house was now filled with Baihua Sect members.
When Madam Duan had gotten involved with the Baihua Sect, Zuo Wugang had no idea.
Xiao Yeci held Lu Chunying tight. "Nannan, you can't go out."
Lu Chunying looked toward Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng asked, "Do you dare go out?"
Lu Chunying was silent for a moment, then looked up and said, "If we fight, we fight this once; if we run, we run for a lifetime. With Seventh Brother here, I dare!"
Li Banfeng pulled down the brim of his hat. "Go on, then."
P.S. At Lu Maoxian's residence, Lu Yuanxin had once been humiliated by Lu Dongtang.
Chapter 330