Early in the morning, two guards were on patrol across Qiu Luoye's territory when they caught sight of a rotund figure leading more than a dozen people along the path newly built by the three-headed people.
Not far ahead lay their lodgings. What was this crowd planning to do?
Judging by their attire, these visitors were clearly not here to clear land. Sensing trouble, the guards rushed to find Ma the Fifth.
Ma the Fifth pushed the spotted snake off his bed, threw on his clothes, and made his way to the lodgings.
The sight of that rotund figure gave Ma the Fifth a jolt.
Chief Garrison Commissioner Liao Zihui—he had actually come in person.
He had brought over a dozen subordinates, each of them a figure of stature within the Garrison Office. Among them was Cai Junshan, Garrison Commissioner of Sinner City.
Cai Junshan summoned Juanzi and ordered, "You're the one leading them, aren't you? Call everyone out. It's time to head back."
Juanzi was terrified, barely able to draw breath. She recognized Cai Junshan. She had witnessed his various methods and knew firsthand that he had made countless three-headed people wish they were dead. That terror was carved deep into the marrow of her bones.
Even Mengzi, usually so rash, fell silent. The beads of sweat on his forehead were thicker than Juanzi's.
Seeing Juanzi too intimidated to answer, Auntie Fang spoke up from the side: "Lord Garrison Commissioner, it would be fine for us to go back, but shouldn't certain things be made clear first..."
Cai Junshan swept a glare across Auntie Fang. "I wasn't speaking to you!"
Auntie Fang lowered her heads and said nothing more. Cai Junshan turned his eyes back to Juanzi. "This is the last chance I am offering you lot. If the Chief Commissioner hadn't come personally, I wouldn't have spared you a second glance. I would have simply ordered you all killed on sight!
"Pack your things and follow me!"
Several three-headed people looked toward Juanzi. Juanzi did not move, and neither did they.
Cai Junshan frowned. "What's this? Did you not understand what I just said?"
Ma the Fifth stepped forward, smiling cordially. "Lord Garrison Commissioner, let's talk things over calmly. No need to let tempers flare."
Cai Junshan looked at Ma the Fifth. "And who are you supposed to be?"
Liao Zihui chuckled from the side. "Junshan, he is a friend of mine."
Cai Junshan glared at Ma the Fifth and said nothing further.
Did he truly not recognize Ma the Fifth?
Though Sinner City was quite a distance from Lüshuiwan, he had certainly seen Ma the Fifth in the newspapers.
This had been Liao Zihui's instruction: right off the bat, knock Ma the Fifth down a peg to keep him from interfering.
Then Liao Zihui would step in with a couple of soothing words to let Ma the Fifth save some face, ensuring Ma the Fifth would keep his mouth shut after that.
"Chief Commissioner Liao," Ma the Fifth said, looking at him, "what is the meaning of this...?"
Liao Zihui glanced at Ma the Fifth and let out a soft sigh. "Junyang, stay out of this matter. You shouldn't be meddling in it anyway."
Cai Junshan turned back to the crowd of three-headed people. "Look closely. No one can help you today—the only one who can is me.
"I am giving you thirty seconds. Within thirty seconds, assemble here immediately, or I won't be polite..."
Before the words had even settled, Cai Junshan dropped to his knees with a loud thud and kowtowed toward the crowd of three-headed people.
Juanzi froze. All the three-headed people stood stunned.
Why was the Garrison Commissioner being so extraordinarily polite today?
Because his head was being held down by Li Banfeng.
Cai Junshan lifted his head, about to scream, but Li Banfeng shoved his head down into another kowtow.
Several bodyguards lunged forward, but seeing Cai Junshan's head gripped firmly in Li Banfeng's hand, they froze, unsure of what to do. They glanced toward Liao Zihui, who immediately barked an order for all bodyguards to raise their steam guns.
In Puluo Province, gunpowder was notoriously fickle, but steam guns relied on high-temperature, high-pressure steam, making them exceptionally reliable.
Li Banfeng acted as though he had seen nothing at all. Gripping Cai Junshan's head, he slammed it into the ground three more times, breaking the skin on his forehead.
Cai Junshan's eyes reddened—whether from terror or sheer pain, no one could tell.
Li Banfeng tossed Cai Junshan aside and asked, "Xiaoshan, why are you crying?"
Cai Junshan ground his teeth. "I'm not!"
"I wasn't talking to you." Li Banfeng turned toward Juanzi's third head and gently wiped away his tears. The child was named Xiaoshan. "What's there to be afraid of? Don't cry now."
Xiaoshan sniffled. "With Seventh Master here, I'm not scared."
Behind Li Banfeng, Cai Junshan grated his teeth in fury. "You just hit me?"
Li Banfeng turned back. "And who are you?"
Cai Junshan snapped in rage, "I am the Garrison Commissioner of Sinner City!"
"What is the Garrison Commissioner of Sinner City doing here? Is this Sinner City?"
Cai Junshan said, "I came under orders from the Chief Commissioner—"
"And who is your master? Did he never teach you manners? How can you speak so crudely?"
Pushed beyond endurance, Cai Junshan pointed at Li Banfeng. "Li the Seventh, I speak to you here only to give you face! Just what do you think you—"
*Smack!*
Li Banfeng slapped Cai Junshan across the face. Putting a bit too much force into it, the strike peeled away a layer of skin from Cai Junshan's left cheek.
"This is your face?" Li Banfeng looked at the sheet of skin in his hand.
Cai Junshan clutched his cheek, whimpering incoherently through his throat.
"I don't care much for your face. Keep it to yourself."
*Smack!*
Li Banfeng delivered a backhand slap, sticking the peeled skin squarely onto Cai Junshan's right cheek.
Cai Junshan could bear it no longer and burst into loud wails.
He was a ruthless man, one who had slaughtered without batting an eye.
Yet during his time in Puluo Province, Li Banfeng had noticed a pattern: ruthless men like Cai Junshan, carrying menace written all over their faces, had usually never taken a beating in their lives.
Li Banfeng had guessed correctly. Cai Junshan had never been struck once from childhood to adulthood. Now he wept with tears and snot running together, while the projector faithfully recorded the precious scene.
The bodyguards behind Liao Zihui did not budge. Cai Junshan's two personal bodyguards considered rushing in, but sensing they were no match for Li the Seventh, they knew charging would only mean suffering a beating.
Suffering a little would have been fine—it was a bodyguard's duty, after all. But Li the Seventh hit terribly hard; offending him would surely bring a great deal of agony.
Why endure so much pain just to work as a bodyguard?
The salary from the Garrison Office wasn't all that high to begin with. Was so much suffering really worth it? What if they ended up crippled, or even threw away their lives—could it ever be worth it?
Why were these two bodyguards overthinking things so deeply? Protecting Cai Junshan was their job; these were clearly not thoughts they ought to be entertaining.
From a distance, Chu the Second gave Li Banfeng a knowing twitch of her eyebrows. Just moments before, she had used her Tier 4 Bitter Cultivator technique, Sorrowful and Bitter Thoughts, silently plunging both bodyguards into a swamp of bleak pessimism.
Liao Zihui ordered his men to take Cai Junshan back to the car. Wailing like that was simply too humiliating.
Looking up at Li the Seventh on the slope, Liao Zihui said calmly, "My arrival today might have been a bit abrupt, but the facts must be stated clearly.
"If our attitude was improper, we can apologize to you. But harboring criminals from Sinner City—that is where you are in the wrong."
Li the Seventh looked down at Liao Zihui. "What crime did they commit?"
Liao Zihui smiled. "Let us set aside what crimes they committed for a moment, and speak first of how you should not harbor criminals."
Li the Seventh shook his head. "Let's set aside whether I harbored criminals or not, and let me ask you: what crime did they commit?"
Li Banfeng refused to play along with setting things aside, putting Liao Zihui at an immediate disadvantage.
He had no choice but to shift his approach: "Whether these people are guilty is not for me to decide. That is..."
"If it's not up to you to decide, why are you blabbering to me?" Li Banfeng cut Liao Zihui off directly. "Have your master come find me. Bring the master who actually has the final say."
The veins on Liao Zihui's forehead throbbed. The remark was infuriating enough on its own, but he had never expected to feel this furious.
Why was he so riled up?
Because Ma the Fifth was right beside him, chiming in with "comforting" words.
"Chief Commissioner Liao, cool your temper. What Old Seven said isn't out of line in the slightest. In fact, it makes plenty of sense. Which of you actually has the final say?"
He was using a Joy Cultivator technique.
"Chief Commissioner Liao, you can't always rely on having the louder voice to keep others from speaking. Spell it out clearly: what crime did they actually commit?" Lu Chunying walked over, flanked by Tan Fucheng and Lu Yuanxin.
"I went to bed late last night and thought I'd sleep in today, yet here's a ruckus first thing in the morning." He Yuxiu yawned as she arrived at Li the Seventh's side.
Catching sight of Liao Zihui, He Yuxiu smiled. "Oh, well if it isn't Chief Commissioner Liao! Haven't seen you in so many days, and you still haven't managed to get me killed. Must be getting quite anxious, aren't you?"
The He family, the Lu family, the Ma family, the Chu family.
Ma the Fifth might not represent the traditional Ma family, but Liao Zihui knew full well that Ma Junyang's current standing in Puluo Province already surpassed that of his father, Ma Chunting.
With all Four Great Families standing beside Li the Seventh, Liao Zihui felt an oppressive weight he had never experienced before.
Liao Zihui called out loudly, "Is the local spirit here?"
"Here!" Qiu Luoye's voice called back.
"Can we exchange a word?"
"We can!" came Qiu Luoye's second reply.
Liao Zihui said, "I stated before that no one is permitted to shelter criminals from Sinner City. Now that they have come onto your territory, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"
"Get lost!" Qiu Luoye delivered his explanation.
Liao Zihui still refused to give up. "Are you telling these criminals to get lost from your territory?"
"I'm telling you to get lost!" He simply had to force Qiu Luoye to spell it out so bluntly.
The veins on Liao Zihui's temple throbbed once more, and everyone around him braced for a fight.
Li the Seventh offered him some advice: "Zihui, go home. You're making quite a spectacle of yourself here."
A cold glint flickered in Liao Zihui's eyes as he stared at Li the Seventh. "Just for this bunch of three-headed people, just for these monsters, you really intend to push things this far?"
Li Banfeng said, "Don't go tossing the word 'monster' around so casually. It only makes you look thoroughly uncultured."
Liao Zihui raised his voice: "They are monsters! That's what they've been called for years in Puluo Province! There are still plenty of rules you need to learn, and far too many things you don't understand!"
He was deliberately trying to provoke Li the Seventh.
Li Banfeng showed no anger, merely offering earnest counsel: "The environment in Puluo Province has changed. You're lagging behind it a bit."
Liao Zihui shook his head. "I happen to dislike change, and I don't adapt to it very well."
Li Banfeng continued his advice: "A person cannot expect the environment to adapt to them; one must take the initiative to adapt to the environment. Zihui, from now on, you really have to learn to adapt."
A muscle in Liao Zihui's cheek twitched. Those were words he himself had often spoken in the past, believing them both sensible and forceful.
Hearing them now, he found the statement profoundly hateful, yet it lingered stubbornly in his mind.
Giving the order, Liao Zihui led his people away from Qiu Luoye's territory.
Juanzi dropped to her knees before Li Banfeng, about to kowtow.
Li Banfeng pulled her back up. As the other three-headed people prepared to kneel as well, Li Banfeng barked, "No kneeling! Stand tall and speak!"
"Dawn is nearly here." He Yuxiu tilted her head toward the sky. The Heavenly Light was growing brighter, leaving scarcely any dark mist behind.
Lu Chunying said, "Seventh Brother, my mother has been going through a great deal of books lately, studying records about transforming newland into proper land. There are preparations we need to make early on."
Xiao Yeci nodded. "Benefactor, the ten thousand people must be assembled as quickly as possible, and the original creatures of the newland need to be settled without delay."
Qiu Luoye materialized beside Li Banfeng. "Is there any way I can keep a few of my old brothers around? I can't bear to let them go."
Li Banfeng looked at Xiao Yeci. Xiao Yeci nodded. "There are ways, but when it comes to the rules, things get rather troublesome!"
Chapter 420