Li Banfeng rubbed his eyes vigorously, wanting to restore his sight as quickly as possible.
Yet this was not a problem that rubbing could fix. He rubbed several times, but everything before his eyes remained a blinding white.
His ears could not hear either, filled with waves of sharp ringing, but his technique of seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity warned him that danger was imminent.
Bei Wushuang climbed back to his feet.
His hump had been blown to pieces, leaving a massive crater on his back, but he could still move.
Objectively speaking, his mobility posed an immense threat to Li Banfeng.
Subjectively, however, Bei Wushuang harbored no thoughts of making a move against Li Banfeng.
Standing beside Bei Wushuang was Pan Dehai, and Bei Wushuang did not even consider striking him either.
Pan Dehai's cultivation was far too profound; though he currently stood motionless, killing him would still be no easy feat.
Meanwhile, Bei Wushuang had lost nearly all of his combat strength. He had to seize this narrow window of opportunity and flee for his life immediately.
Bei Wushuang swallowed a pill and sprinted at full tilt toward the southeast.
As long as he reached his lair, a glimmer of hope remained.
His residence contained numerous traps and mechanisms, as well as plenty of medicinal pills, which could sustain him for a while. Even if they held out for only three to five hours, he could recover ten or twenty percent of his strength.
Even if he failed to defend his territory, he could at least flee with his covenant deed. Even if his tier fell, he would still preserve his life.
Bei Wushuang had not run far before Pan Dehai moved.
Hadn't he been stunned unconscious by the blast?
He hadn't.
Meng Yuchun had genuinely fainted, but Pan Dehai had not.
Pan Dehai knew Bei Wushuang was a Sound Cultivator and had taken full precautions beforehand. The moment he saw the camel's hump swell, he combined two magic treasures with his own cultivation to nullify the technique once again.
He had feigned unconsciousness purely to visit Bei Wushuang's home.
Pan Dehai had a certain understanding of Bei Wushuang, but he did not know the location of his dwelling.
Meng Yuchun was even less of a resource on this matter; she rarely left her own dwelling and had not even known Bei Wushuang's pathway, let alone where he lived.
In a hundred-li territory, locating a local spirit's residence was extraordinarily difficult. Rather than wasting effort searching on his own, it was far better to have Bei Wushuang personally lead the way.
***
As Li Banfeng sensed the danger moving away, he had just breathed a sigh of relief when a train whistle suddenly sounded in his ears.
*Toot—toot—*
A train had arrived?
Amid the whistle, a sweet singing voice drifted out:
"A cozy bridal chamber brightly lit,
Hands on the railing looking closely around.
Ivory bed draped in red silk curtains,
Twin coral pillows embroidered with mandarin ducks."
*A Cozy Bridal Chamber*!
It was a song the wife rarely sang, because whenever she did, Li Banfeng felt an overwhelming urge to lubricate her gears.
Amidst the song, the blinding white before his eyes dissipated, and the sharp ringing in his ears faded away.
Li Banfeng stood up and ran back to the battlefield, but neither Bei Wushuang nor Pan Dehai was anywhere to be seen.
Where had they gone?
Had they won or lost this battle?
Li Banfeng called out to Meng Yuchun.
Meng Yuchun gave no answer. In a daze, holding her forehead, she retreated back into her dwelling. She truly could hold on no longer.
Li Banfeng looked at the flesh and blood scattered across the ground. He had no idea where all this gore had come from, but the blood mixed with generous amounts of fat gave off wafts of fishy stench.
He swiftly activated his Hundred Flavors Exquisite technique and followed the stench hanging in the air.
Before long, he caught sight of Bei Wushuang galloping along, with Pan Dehai trailing unhurriedly behind him.
This time, Bei Wushuang would have to be called "Bei Wufeng"—Hump-less Bei—since his only camel hump was gone.
*That old bastard Pan Dehai is dogging Bei Wushuang's heels; he's going in to reap the spoils.*
*Once he picks all the peaches, he'll brush Meng Yuchun and me off with a casual line about being a "paragon of virtue."*
*Like hell things will come so cheap for him!*
*I have to snatch those peaches back.*
*At the very least, I need to get that covenant deed. That's the most critical thing for me.*
Then again, why had he heard a train whistle just now, and why had the wife's singing accompanied it?
Could the Portable Abode have evolved?
***
Zhang Wanlong arrived on the battlefield and gathered up the scattered flesh and blood from the ground.
"Good stuff, Genzi! This is genuine, top-quality stuff!"
Xiao Genzi asked anxiously, "Didn't we agree we were going to save Seventh Master?"
"Don't rush!" Zhang Wanlong produced a seed. "This is a battlefield for big figures; we can't intervene directly and can only lend a small hand in secret. Seventh Master knows what he's doing, so there are things we needn't fret about. Wouldn't you say, Eldest Miss of the He family?"
He Yuxiu had also arrived.
She looked Zhang Wanlong up and down. "You know me?"
Zhang Wanlong chuckled. "Seen you in the newspapers. I was worried I might've mistaken you."
Youtao grew tense, not knowing what Zhang Wanlong meant by "Eldest Miss of the He family."
There was no time to explain to her now. Zhang Wanlong needed to hurry and find a suitable spot to sow this precious seed, into which he had poured so much painstaking effort.
***
Bei Wushuang's residence was not inside a house or a cavern; it was in a sand pit.
Reaching the edge of the pit, the heavily wounded Bei Wushuang leaped down recklessly.
Pan Dehai pushed his concealment techniques to their limit, hovering midair as he quietly observed the structure of the sand pit.
It wasn't particularly deep—under five meters by visual estimate—and its bottom was flat.
This was definitely not the core area of the residence; at most, it served as an entrance gate.
Standing at the bottom of the sand pit, Bei Wushuang stamped his front hooves, apparently trying to trigger a mechanism.
After two stamps, the mechanism failed to engage, and Bei Wushuang halted first.
Pan Dehai assumed he had exposed himself and was about to conceal himself more deeply when he noticed something odd along the walls of the pit.
Bei Wushuang shouted, "Come out!"
A woman's figure emerged from the wall. Judging by her attire, she looked like a fortune teller, carrying an enormous abacus on her back.
"Gao Shuxia," Bei Wushuang sneered. "You're here. Where's that sister of yours?"
The figure of another woman emerged as well. She wore a silver long gown, her hips swaying with exaggerated swings as she walked.
"Hundred-Eyed Fish, you came too!" Bei Wushuang laughed, as though he had already foreseen his fate.
Gao Shuxia looked at Bei Wushuang. "Brother, you appear to be injured."
Hundred-Eyed Fish sounded even more concerned. "Brother, is it severe? Quickly, let your little sister take a look."
Bei Wushuang glared at the pair and spat out a glob of saliva. "What, both of you want to snatch my covenant deed?"
Gao Shuxia shook her head repeatedly. "Brother, you misunderstand us. We heard you went to deal with that old thief Pan Dehai, and fearing someone might stir up trouble at your place, we specially came to watch the door for you."
Bei Wushuang laughed. "My, what hard work for the two of you. After searching all this time, have you still failed to find the covenant deed?"
Hundred-Eyed Fish praised him, "You've hidden it so deeply, Brother, that your little sister feels thoroughly reassured on your behalf."
Bei Wushuang looked at Gao Shuxia. "Aren't you skilled in divination? Could it be you couldn't divine it?"
Gao Shuxia shook her head repeatedly. "Brother's skills are profound; your little sister truly couldn't divine it."
Bei Wushuang glanced around. Needless to ask, in such a dire situation, his subordinates had long since fled.
"Cut the nonsense," Bei Wushuang snorted. "Are the two of you coming at me together, or one at a time?"
Gao Shuxia sighed. "Brother, why be so impatient? Just tell us where the covenant deed is. We sisters will look after it for you, and the moment your injuries heal, we'll return it immediately."
Bei Wushuang threw his four hooves into motion and charged headlong at Gao Shuxia.
Gao Shuxia did not dare block him head-on; she knew his strength was frightening.
Bei Wushuang had posed as a body cultivator for so many years not merely because of his camel appearance. His physical prowess was exceptional, and his hide was tough and thick, possessing many traits of a body cultivator.
Gao Shuxia dodged Bei Wushuang, and he spun around to attack Hundred-Eyed Fish.
With a twist of her waist and a giggle, Hundred-Eyed Fish circled effortlessly behind Bei Wushuang.
Bei Wushuang was wounded too severely. The cultivation of the two before him was only at the ground-crust level, yet he couldn't gain the slightest upper hand.
Gao Shuxia drew out a counting rod and thrust it into Bei Wushuang's body.
Hundred-Eyed Fish hitched up her long skirt, revealing a leg covered in eyes. Grazing against Bei Wushuang, she tore away a large slab of skin and flesh.
Pan Dehai marveled inwardly at how venomous these two women were. Their strikes were not fatal, yet they inflicted excruciating agony on Bei Wushuang.
Midway through the fray, Bei Wushuang's footwork became erratic as he wailed incessantly.
*Wuu-wuu-clop! Clop! Clop!*
*Wuu-clop-clop!*
Wait, it didn't seem so erratic after all.
Pan Dehai started. Amid the wailing and hoofbeats, he detected a trace of rhythm.
*This camel is about to execute a technique.*
*Wuu—*
With a prolonged roar from Bei Wushuang, a sandhole suddenly appeared in the ground.
The sandhole spun rapidly like a whirlpool, and Bei Wushuang slipped into the shifting sand below.
Pan Dehai's assessment had been correct: Bei Wushuang was indeed executing a technique.
However, this technique was not aimed at Hundred-Eyed Fish and Gao Shuxia; it was used to trigger a mechanism.
This sand pit was indeed the doorstep of Bei Wushuang's home.
Yet opening the entrance required using Sound Cultivator techniques to perform a piece of music.
Bei Wushuang's earlier stomps and wails, put together, formed a melodic rhythm. Only by opening the gate in the correct manner could one truly enter his residence.
Bei Wushuang dived into the sandhole, and Hundred-Eyed Fish hurriedly plunged in after him.
Before long, she floated back up alone.
"He's gone!" Hundred-Eyed Fish spat out a mouthful of sand. "He's wounded so badly, yet he runs so fast!"
Gao Shuxia raised her abacus, flicking the beads up and down. After calculating for more than half an hour, she finally arrived at a result.
Holding a wooden sword, she drew a mark on the ground and said to Hundred-Eyed Fish, "We burrow in here. We can find him right here!"
Hundred-Eyed Fish used a spell to burrow underground, and Gao Shuxia followed closely behind.
The paragon of virtue Pan Dehai remained hovering in the air, awaiting the outcome.
*These two women arrived at just the right time, saving this old man from braving danger in person.*
*If they can kill Bei Wushuang and dig up the covenant deed from his home, that saves a great deal of trouble—Pan Dehai can just snatch it straight from their hands.*
*If they can't defeat Bei Wushuang or are even killed by him, Pan Dehai can seek out Bei Wushuang again. By then, Bei Wushuang's combat strength will be weakened even further, and future trouble from these two women will be eliminated as well. Wouldn't that be having the best of both worlds?*
Pan Dehai watched from midair, while Li Banfeng watched from behind a sand dune.
Inside the sand pit, waves of sand surged up layer upon layer, showing that the battle below was fierce.
The technique of seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity continuously issued warnings, cautioning Li Banfeng not to approach the battlefield.
What was he to do?
What Li Banfeng wanted most was Bei Wushuang's covenant deed. Now, whether Bei Wushuang lived or died, it seemed impossible for the item to fall into his hands.
After waiting another hour or so, Gao Shuxia and Hundred-Eyed Fish crawled out of the sandhole covered in wounds.
They sat in the sand pit, panting heavily. Clearly, they had failed to defeat Bei Wushuang and had not obtained the covenant deed either.
The clash had likely ended with mutual injuries. According to Pan Dehai's reckoning, Bei Wushuang had virtually no combat strength left and could no longer pose any threat to him.
Slowly revealing himself in midair, he smiled down at the two women. "Ladies, you have worked hard."
The moment they saw Pan Dehai appear, Gao Shuxia nearly wet herself, while Hundred-Eyed Fish did so on the spot.
They raised their weapons, bracing for combat. Pan Dehai pressed a hand downward and said, "Ladies, calm yourselves. There is no enmity between Pan and you. I have come here solely to take Bei Wushuang's life."
Gao Shuxia pointed at the sandhole on the ground. "Bei Wushuang is right down there. Go find him yourself!"
Pan Dehai smiled. "This sand lair is intricate and treacherous. Both of you ladies are persons of virtue. I must trouble you two to lead the way for this old man."
Hundred-Eyed Fish shook her head. "Neither of us has the ability. If we go down there again, we probably won't come out alive."
Pan Dehai said, "Ladies, why be so modest? If we merely compare physical skill, even this old man considers himself inferior."
Hundred-Eyed Fish swung her hips and laughed coquettishly. "Senior Pan, thank you for thinking so highly of us, but we truly don't wish to cross hands with Bei Wushuang again. You'd better go yourself."
Pan Dehai's expression darkened, and he barked, "A woman whose words and deeds are so frivolous is devoid of virtue!"
As the words landed, Hundred-Eyed Fish staggered, nearly crushed to the ground.
Gao Shuxia gritted her teeth. "Old thief, we'll fight you to the death!"
Hundred-Eyed Fish grabbed Gao Shuxia, signaling her not to act rashly. The two of them were no match for Pan Dehai.
As the three remained deadlocked, a sound resembling shifting sand arose in the distance.
Pan Dehai looked into the distance and discovered a humpless camel galloping wildly across the desert.
Bei Wushuang had fled!
Pan Dehai dissolved into formlessness and gave chase.
Unwilling to concede defeat, Gao Shuxia and Hundred-Eyed Fish gave chase as well.
The sand pit was left completely deserted, with not a soul remaining.
On his own one-li plot of land, Zhang Wanlong said to Xiao Genzi, "Brother, let's see how long it can hold out. Every bit longer it lasts will help your Seventh Master that much more."
Chapter 385