With his eyes gone, the middle-aged man wailed at the top of his lungs.
Li Banfeng asked him, "How do you turn off this Boundary?"
The middle-aged man certainly had guts—the moment he heard this, he hollered, "Shut down the Boundary! Can't you hear him?!"
The three subordinates all turned to look at the one holding the mechanism.
That subordinate did not budge.
He was indeed experienced. As long as the Boundary stayed active, Li Banfeng could not escape.
And as long as Li Banfeng could not escape, this middle-aged man had a chance of surviving.
The subordinate holding the mechanism said to Li Banfeng, "Don't even think about leaving. Release our Branch Master right now, or you won't have enough lives to pay for it!"
Li Banfeng looked at the middle-aged man. "He's from the Garrison Office, yet he gets to be your Branch Master?"
"That's none of your business. I'll tell you the plain truth right now: there is no way I'm taking down the Boundary. Nothing you say will work. If you don't release our Branch Master this instant..."
The subordinate holding the mechanism paused abruptly. He sensed that something was amiss.
Where had the mechanism in his pocket gone?
The other three subordinates looked at him, not understanding why he had suddenly stopped talking.
Seeing him freeze in silence for so long, making the atmosphere rather awkward, Li Banfeng spoke up on his behalf: "I didn't tell you to turn off the Boundary. I asked how to turn it off. Just tell me how this thing works."
Li Banfeng held the middle-aged man by the hair with one hand and held the mechanism in the other.
All the subordinates were dumbfounded. When had that thing ended up in his hands?
Could it have been when he knocked him down earlier?
The so-called mechanism was simply a plastic box with a lever on top.
Plastic was rare and expensive in Puluo Province. The craftsmanship on this was exquisite as well; one look told that it came from the Outer States.
Yet the Boundary certainly was not generated by this plastic box; the box was likely just a remote control.
The glove whispered by Li Banfeng's ear, "Master, why don't we just grab the lever and give it a tug to see?"
Li Banfeng said, "What if we get it wrong? Wouldn't we end up stuck here?"
The glove wagged its index finger. "Master, if we really mess up, these guys will definitely warn us. They sure don't want to die. If you don't believe me, let's just try."
Li Banfeng felt that the glove had a point. He had the glove grip the lever on the mechanism and pull it back.
The subordinate who had operated the device was startled. He had not expected Li Banfeng's operation to be so accurate; that single pull shut down the Boundary.
Everyone stared at Li Banfeng, wary that he might bolt.
A beam of light flared from Li Banfeng's chest, shining straight into the eyes of one subordinate.
It was the projector.
The projector had been tucked inside Li Banfeng's inner pocket all along, quietly filming the scene. As the setting sun was dipping below the horizon, the angle was just right; the projector adjusted its lens slightly and focused squarely on that subordinate's eyes.
The projector's timing was impeccable, and Li Banfeng's luck was truly extraordinary!
Before the blinded man could even realize what was happening, Li Banfeng abruptly vanished from his sight.
When a high-tier journey cultivator suddenly vanished from one's sight, the consequences were dire.
Panic seized the subordinate's heart, but before he could react, his body erupted into a burst of bloody gore.
At the same time, Li Banfeng, hauling the "Branch Master," had already burst out of the Boundary's area of control.
The remaining three subordinates gave chase with all their might. They had to push themselves to the absolute limit; otherwise, at a journey cultivator's speed, their "Branch Master" would be gone in the blink of an eye.
Li Banfeng pushed the lever forward, resetting the Boundary.
A glowing barrier flared up. One subordinate was running too fast; when the Boundary sprang up right in front of him, he could not brake in time and slammed directly into the glow.
It truly was not his fault.
To save the Branch Master's life, he had to give chase at full speed.
They often used this Boundary to ambush others, but they had never been ambushed by it themselves. In their tactics, there had never been a contingency plan for being caught by their own Boundary.
Upon touching the glowing barrier, sparks erupted from the subordinate's body as though he had fallen into molten lava, and in the blink of an eye, he was reduced to ashes.
Only two subordinates remained, trapped within the Boundary, watching helplessly as Li Banfeng got away.
One subordinate looked toward the peep show cart.
The peep show operator had long since been scared out of his wits, cowering behind the cart and wetting his pants.
That subordinate said, "If we grab these kids, maybe we can force that guy back out?"
The other replied, "Would he care about these kids? They're all from poor families, no relation to him whatsoever."
"Looked to me like he cared quite a bit earlier."
"Might as well try. Otherwise, how long will we be trapped here? If we don't bring back an explanation for this, how are we going to survive from now on?"
The two charged toward the cart of children.
The glowing barrier suddenly vanished.
Both were startled. This move baffled them once again.
Their attention had been fixed on the light when a massive object suddenly came flying toward them.
Li Banfeng had thrown their Branch Master back.
One subordinate was fiercely loyal and lunged forward heedless of his own safety to catch the Branch Master.
The other subordinate was relatively calm, keeping his focus fixed on Li Banfeng.
The one who caught the Branch Master caught him securely, but because his eyes were focused so intently on the catch, he failed to keep Li Banfeng in sight.
Wasn't he afraid of Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse?
This subordinate had not been overly worried, because Li Banfeng had already used Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse once before.
Experience dictated that even high-tier journey cultivators could rarely use Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse consecutively; the technique was simply too draining.
Yet he never expected that Li Banfeng's footwork was different from ordinary cultivators. His Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse did not consume nearly as much energy. By the time the man caught the Branch Master, Li Banfeng's gaze was locked right onto the two of them.
This loyal guard exploded right along with his Branch Master.
The last remaining subordinate anticipated Li Banfeng's position and suddenly rushed behind him.
He knew the Branch Master was dead, and he knew Li Banfeng's cultivation was likely superior to his own.
Having seen Li Banfeng execute Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse twice in succession and slaughter two of his companions, saying he was not afraid would be a lie.
Yet with the Branch Master dead, he had to give the Garrison Office an account, or there would no longer be any place in Puluo Province for him to exist.
Besides, even if he chose to flee right now, his chances of success were slim.
His opponent was a journey cultivator. Leaving one's back exposed to a journey cultivator was the most foolish choice possible.
Seizing this prime opportunity to fight for his life was his only chance of survival.
He had indeed timed the opportunity well, and his speed was far from slow as he seized the space behind Li Banfeng.
His two arms transformed into a pair of blade-spades; this subordinate was a mole cricket.
The pair of blade-spades shoveled together toward Li Banfeng's back. Li Banfeng stood in place, unmoving, taking the strike head-on.
The spades struck sparks off Li Banfeng's body, yet they could not even break the skin—they had not even torn his clothes.
How could that be?
How could a journey cultivator take a beating like that?
These iron spades had been tempered through who knows how many years; given the right angle, this mole cricket could gouge out an opponent's internal organs directly.
Could his clothes be a magic treasure?
Yet journey cultivators rarely wore heavy armor, as heavy armor hindered their speed.
Never could this mole cricket have guessed that this was the Benevolent Dwelling Heart technique, for it was impossible to cultivate both Dwelling Cultivator and journey cultivator disciplines simultaneously.
If one blow could not breach it, strike again.
The mole cricket raised his arms to slash again, but Li Banfeng had already slipped away. How could he give him another chance?
The mole cricket attempted to pursue, but that was overestimating himself.
Before he could get close to Li Banfeng, a long blade was thrust down right onto his crown.
"Every strike claims a head!" the Tang dao shouted loudly, though the tip failed to pierce the man's skull; this mole cricket's armor was quite tough.
"Useless thing."
The sickle flew over, slitting the mole cricket's throat.
The wound was shallow, but poisonous.
Li Banfeng froze. He did not care about the wound; what caught his attention was, who had just spoken?
It sounded like a woman.
More importantly, how had the sickle flown over on its own?
"Little brother, strike!" The liquor gourd seized the moment to drench the subordinate in a spray of wine mist.
Li Banfeng struck a match and flicked it onto the mole cricket.
This was Old Yao's medicinal liquor. After enduring the lethal poison and blazing flames for a fleeting moment, the mole cricket had his skull run through by the Tang dao.
All four subordinates had been dealt with.
Li Banfeng's strikes had indeed been decisive, but given the cultivation and experience of these four men, dispatching them so quickly meant his luck was truly extraordinary.
Looking at the blood covering the ground around him, the peep show operator cowering behind the cart suffered a total mental breakdown.
No longer hiding, he scrambled to his feet and ran for his life, screaming as he fled: "Murder! Our Branch Master has been killed! Is anyone going to do something?!
"I'm from the Jiangxiang Gang! I was only kidnapping kids on our Branch Master's orders! I only snatched five children, and he wants to kill me!
"I was raised by flesh-and-blood parents too! Am I not human?! What right does he have to kill me?! Won't somebody do something?!"
He had gone completely mad.
Li Banfeng stepped forward, seized the peep show operator, and tossed him into the Portable Abode.
"My wife, hold off on eating him for a bit. I still have questions for him."
"Aiya, husband, rest assured. Such filthy fare is hardly worth this humble servant's notice."
After collecting the corpses of the Branch Master and the four subordinates into the Portable Abode, Li Banfeng took the mechanism and lit up the surrounding Boundary once more.
Li Banfeng grabbed a tree branch and threw it at the glowing barrier.
The moment the branch passed through the glow, it turned into fine dust.
This was remarkably similar to what Li Banfeng had seen around the border lines.
Selecting a spot that looked suitable, he executed the Severing Paths to Open Roads technique.
The ground beneath his feet split into a trench—a path Li Banfeng had carved out with his technique.
Yet this newly opened path was intercepted by the glow all the same.
Li Banfeng pushed the technique further, widening the trench, but the glow stretched across the trench along with it, continuing to block the way. Li Banfeng could not escape along this newly forged path either.
After maintaining it for a moment, Li Banfeng withdrew the technique, and the freshly opened trench vanished.
It seemed this Boundary could not be broken with Severing Paths to Open Roads.
Where did the Boundary come from in the first place?
Was something buried underground?
Li Banfeng asked the glove, "Can you smell the scent of a treasure?"
The glove wagged a finger. "Master, I suspect there's good stuff under the ground too, but I really can't catch a scent."
If even the glove could not locate it, there was no point in Li Banfeng trying any further.
Besides, he could not waste too much time here; it was hard to say whether that Branch Master had other reinforcements on the way.
He took down the Boundary, sent the remote control back into the Portable Abode, made some quick repairs to the peep show cart, and pulled the cart with the children back to Liutang Village.
As he neared the village, Li Banfeng had the clock pendulum paint some disguise makeup on his face.
Night had already fallen. The families who had lost their children were beside themselves with anxiety; they had rallied relatives and friends, lighting torches to search everywhere.
In the dark of night, spotting someone shaking a pellet drum as he entered the village, several people rushed forward at once.
"It's that peep show guy!"
"The children were watching his peep show earlier, and the next thing we knew, they were gone!"
"What is he..."
Li Banfeng set the cart down at the village entrance, turned, and walked away.
"He's not the peep show guy! The peep show man wasn't built like him."
"Who is this guy?!"
"He brought the children back!"
"His face is painted all colorful—is he a human or a ghost?"
"Could he be a demon spirit?"
"Shut your damn mouth! The man rescued our children for us—he's our benefactor!"
Though somewhat fearful, everyone was overjoyed that the children were back safe and sound.
An elder shouted, "Benefactor, could you leave your name? We will never forget your kindness!"
Li Banfeng looked back and replied, "My surname is En, and my name is En Gong."
With that, he pulled the brim of his hat low and vanished into the night.
Chapter 362