The person coming for Qiu Luoye possessed cultivation above the clouds.
He would bring two helpers, who might also be above the clouds—or even if not, likely at the eighth or ninth level.
Even if Li Banfeng staked every technique at his disposal outside the companion dwelling, he could only tangle with a first level above the clouds; to actually win, he had to lure that expert into the dwelling.
According to Qiu Luoye's description, the person sent from the Inner States clearly was not at the first level above the clouds—his cultivation might even surpass Qiu Luoye's. Relying on Li Banfeng alone, the odds of victory were bleak, and there was no way he could handle the two helpers on top of that.
Did Li the Seventh have no helpers of his own?
He Yuxiu was one. She truly could fight, and she shared a natural unspoken chemistry with Li Banfeng.
This was a matter of risking one's life. It would be best if He Yuxiu was willing to step in, but Li Banfeng would never force her if she wasn't. Besides, he couldn't let Xiu'er help for nothing; in Qiqiu City, he would have to give her some properties.
Huo Ling was at the seventh level and could hold out for a while in a pinch.
Zuo Wugang, Ah Qin, the Street-Scolding Crone, Duan Wuchou, Liang Wucai, Bai Bilian, Kui Bafang, and Chi Liuhe—all of them were at the sixth level. Pool them together under He Yuxiu's command, and perhaps they could hold off one above-the-clouds expert.
That was enough to manage roughly two above the clouds. But if the opposing side had a third, how should they handle it?
Did Li the Seventh have any other fighting strength?
Tan Fucheng's cultivation was unknown, but his pathway was unique; perhaps he could take the field.
Lu Yuanxin was an insect cultivator, another unique pathway, but he was only at the fourth level.
Ma the Fifth was due to advance soon, but even if he did, he would only be at the fourth level. Putting him against an expert above the clouds would be sending him to his death.
These forces were not enough.
Go back to Zhengjing Village and invite Shui Yongquan?
It was too far; Shui Yongquan likely wouldn't make it in time.
Transport him using the companion dwelling?
The music box alone probably couldn't knock him out.
More importantly, Shui Yongquan was terrified of the Inner States; he might not even be willing to help in this matter.
In his mind, suggestion followed suggestion, each promptly rejected. Li Banfeng rubbed his forehead and shouted aloud, "Mind your speaking order!"
...
Juanzi had just boiled a pot of dumplings, and before she could even plate them, several gluttonous folks had already devoured half.
Before the New Year, Li the Seventh had sent over flour, rice, wine, meat, sweets, and tea. For these three-headed people, this was the happiest New Year of their lives.
Li Banfeng knocked on the door and walked into Juanzi's home.
Several three-headed people stood up one after another, greeting Li Banfeng and inviting him to sit.
Some poured wine, some offered cigarettes, and others came over to offer New Year greetings.
Looking at the lanterns outside the window, the paper-cuts on the panes, and the lavish spread of food and wine on the table, Li Banfeng hardly knew how to broach the topic on such a wonderful day.
He unslung his pack and poured out a bag of silver dollars.
Juanzi froze. "Seventh Master, what is the meaning of this?"
Li Banfeng said, "It's the New Year. This is a red packet for everyone. Beyond that, there's a matter I must trouble you all with."
"Seventh Master, take this money back," Juanzi pushed the silver dollars back toward him. "Whatever you need, just give the word."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "It's not an order, nor do I have the right to order you. I wanted to ask: among all of you, is there anyone who wants to make some quick money?"
The phrasing was awkward, but Li Banfeng didn't know how else to put it.
Juanzi didn't understand. "Seventh Master, are you sending us to rob someone?"
"It's not robbery. These days I rarely... well, I never really did that before anyway... Tomorrow, a few ruthless characters are coming to seize this territory. I have to fight them, and I'd like to hire some help. The pay will certainly treat everyone well. If anyone is willing to go, come find me tomorrow night over by the woods."
Juanzi fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Seventh Master, do you have weapons?"
"I do. I can provide one or two hundred weapons. If you can help me find thirty to fifty people, that would be plenty; a dozen or twenty would do as well. If you really can't find any, that's fine too. Those willing to go will receive a generous additional reward once the battle is over."
Li Banfeng produced covenant deeds and handed them to Juanzi. This was a matter of risking lives; there could not be the slightest ambiguity about how much each person would be paid.
Juanzi took the covenant deeds and nodded. "Seventh Master, wait for my word."
...
Back in the companion dwelling, Li Banfeng said to his wife, "Darling sweetheart, I need to fight three experts above the clouds right now. Got any good ideas?"
"Three above the clouds?" Hong Ying was stunned.
The gramophone vented steam and said, "Darling husband, it's the middle of the New Year, what are you trying to do?!"
"Someone has brought the fight right to our doorstep. If I don't drive them off, there's no spending this New Year."
"Three above the clouds attacking right to our doorstep together? Where did they come from?"
"From the Inner States. They want to seize the territory I just opened up."
Silence fell over the room. Hong Ying said to the companion dwelling, "Old thing, let me out. I'll fight alongside Seventh Brother. How do you expect Seventh Brother to take on three above the clouds on his own?"
The companion dwelling made no sound. Though Hong Ying could not see, she felt as if eyes all around were scrutinizing her.
"You don't trust me?"
"Indeed, I do not," the companion dwelling replied simply.
The gramophone let out a cold sneer. "Slut, you stab me in the back—how could the Old Master ever trust you? Old Master, let me out to lend my husband a hand."
"I don't trust you either."
The gramophone was struck speechless. Hong Ying laughed loudly. "Vicious shrew, you think you're some kind of saint?"
The companion dwelling let out a long sigh and asked, "Ah Qi, must this battle be fought?"
"It must!"
The companion dwelling sighed. "Since you have made your decision, this old man cannot stop you. At the critical moment, this old man will make accommodations."
The gramophone said, "Darling husband, you can't be stubborn when fighting a war. If you can't win, husband, by all means retreat back here! First tell me what tricks your opponents have, and your humble servant will advise you."
Tricks?
Li Banfeng only knew that one of them was a craft cultivator.
...
Night fell on the first day of the New Year.
In Qiu Luoye's courtyard, the covenant-guarding spirits were busy at work.
Yesterday, they had all been tending to Qiu Luoye and had no time for New Year preparations.
Now on New Year's Day, everyone had put up spring couplets, hung red lanterns, and changed into new clothes.
Qiu Luoye bound his wounds tight, held a pair of spiked maces, and stood in the courtyard with a smile on his face. "The New Year ought to look like the New Year. Even if this is our last, we must celebrate it properly and with dignity."
A python lit a pair of lanterns. Hanging down with its tongue flicking, it said, "Master Qiu, let's not speak of bad omens. Tonight we'll fight them to the finish, feast on their flesh to go with our wine, and celebrate the New Year in high spirits!"
"Well said!" Stone called out from the side. "Even in death, a tiger doesn't collapse its frame—let alone our Master Qiu, who's an elephant!"
What kind of talk was that...
Qiu Luoye and the tiger each kicked Stone once.
Qiu Luoye lowered his voice and asked the tiger, "Did you look closely? Did Old Seventh and the others truly leave?"
The tiger nodded. "Saw it clearly. He took his people and, as you instructed, went to hide in Wuqin Township first."
"Good that they hid. I only feared that kid would act rashly and throw his life away for nothing." Qiu Luoye gritted his teeth, tightened his bandages, and said to the tiger, "You lot ought to be leaving soon too."
"Master Qiu, we aren't leaving! If we die, we die together!" The tiger roared and stood upright.
"Nonsense! We share good fortune together, but death is no good thing—why follow me to the grave? Get out of here, now!"
The tiger wouldn't leave.
There was something he didn't dare say yet:
Li Banfeng hadn't left either.
He was lying in ambush in the woods ahead of the courtyard. Qiu Luoye was too heavily injured to sense him.
He Yuxiu crouched in a tree and said, "Old Seventh, didn't you go find those three-headed people? Not a single one showed up? You did them a huge favor back then."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "If not for them, this land never would have turned into proper land. I've thought it over again and again: they probably contributed ninety percent of the human presence here. As far as I'm concerned, that debt of gratitude has been repaid. Xiu'er, that little debt you owe me was paid off long ago too. If things go south in a bit, take them and run."
"Bullshit!" He Yuxiu glared at Li Banfeng. "If they want to run, let them run. We kowtowed and swore an oath together—how could that be the same?!"
...
On Junyang Avenue, Ma the Fifth settled Lu Chunying and the others, instructing them: "I've already spoken with the Garrison Commissioner. If those bastards come charging over in a bit, go hide inside the Garrison Office. They definitely won't dare run wild in there."
Lu Chunying asked, "Fifth Brother, where are you going?"
"Up the mountain."
"Seventh Brother told you not to go."
Ma the Fifth laughed. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. If Old Seventh can come back, I'll come back with him. If he can't, then neither of us comes back."
"Fifth Brother..." Lu Chunying gritted her teeth. "I'm going up the mountain with you."
"Take care of these folks first. Where did Chu the Second go?"
"Sister Huaiyuan said she wanted to see your newly built restaurant."
"Couldn't she look at it any other time? Why did it have to be right now?!" Ma the Fifth frowned. "Besides, only the foundation of that restaurant has been laid. What is there to see?"
Lu Chunying said, "Sister Huaiyuan looked at the blueprints earlier. She said that restaurant was extraordinary."
At the mention of blueprints, Ma the Fifth paused.
He had almost forgotten—where did the person who drew the blueprints go?
...
The Scrying Cultivator Kui Bafang held up three fingers toward Li Banfeng.
The enemy had arrived—three in total.
Three indeed. Fortunately, there weren't more.
Chu Shaoqiang had a scrying artifact and also sensed the ambush. He walked slowly toward the trap.
Following behind him were two people. One wore an angled-lapel long gown, a round skullcap, and held a folding fan, dressed like a scholar; this man was named Guo Jinshi.
The other wore a front-buttoned short jacket, appearing simple and casual, but the fabric was actually lightweight, exquisitely tailored, and devoid of excess—the finest attire for a martial artist. This man was a martial cultivator named Tian Dasong.
As the Literary Cultivator Guo Jinshi walked, he remarked, "In the past, I only knew of 'gentlemen of the rafters,' but today I see gentlemen of the trees. Since you are gentlemen, you ought to be open and upright. Whichever of you hasn't been scared out of your wits, come down to meet face to face and exchange a word."
As soon as his voice fell, an impulse surged through everyone to jump down from the trees.
A technique of Common Script, Shared Rule.
Judging by the strength of the technique, this Literary Cultivator was at least at the eighth level. Whether he was above the clouds was another matter, but Li Banfeng and He Yuxiu could barely resist, while the others gritted their teeth and endured, their flesh feeling as though it were being torn apart inch by inch.
Guo Jinshi stood right at the edge of the ambush perimeter, not stepping inside, seemingly taking no precautions at all—a blatant mockery of them all.
"Aiyo, every bastard calls himself a gentleman these days! Since when did gentlemen become so cheap?"
The moment the Street-Scolding Crone opened her mouth, everyone's strain eased considerably.
The Crone continued cursing, "Open and upright, my ass! Why don't you strip open and show us? Let's see if you've got the shameless cheek for it!"
These hearty curses dispelled the Common Script, Shared Rule technique.
Guo Jinshi smiled faintly. "So you are a fellow traveler."
The Street-Scolding Crone was a Literary Cultivator?
Li Banfeng had assumed there was a specialized pathway for scolding.
"Bah!" the Crone spat. "Who the fuck is your fellow traveler? Shameless prick, what kind of pathway does a thief count as? A bandit cultivator thinks he's fit to share a road with this old lady?!"
Guo Jinshi chuckled. "You hide in the shadows, not daring to show your face, yet you have the nerve to call me a thief?"
The Crone yelled back, "Trespassing into people's homes at night makes you a thief!"
"Whose home did I trespass into? Are these mountain woods your house? Gathering in the mountains like a gang—are you not mountain bandits?"
The two traded insults back and forth, appearing to debate the definition of a "thief," but in truth, matters were not so simple.
The Street-Scolding Crone was fighting for her life.
The two were clashing with techniques.
The Crone wanted to enrage the opposing Literary Cultivator, luring him into the ambush perimeter.
Guo Jinshi wanted to use his Literary Cultivator techniques to force Li Banfeng and the others out of hiding.
Amidst the exchange of curses, the Crone vomited blood; her cultivation was inferior to his.
Guo Jinshi seized the opportunity to press his offensive, intending to finish her off on the spot: "Shameless virago, one foot in the grave, spewing foul filth like a mangy old bitch baring her teeth and howling madly! Old hound, save your breath. Knowing your days are numbered, there is still a bowl of hot soup waiting in the latrine at the foot of the mountain. Go eat your fill while it's warm, lest you become a hungry ghost on the road to the Yellow Springs! Old hound, why have you gone silent? Old hound, don't you go dying just yet..."
"Hu-ya-ya-ya-ya—!"
Li Banfeng suddenly leaped down from the tree, his piercing howl cutting Guo Jinshi short.
Seeing this, Guo Jinshi smiled. "Well come! Let's see where you can—"
Before he could finish, the Literary Cultivator felt his throat tighten abruptly.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A rapid, dense flurry of drumbeats struck Guo Jinshi dumb.
A knife seemed to churn violently through the core of his brain. Guo Jinshi couldn't keep his footing, nearly tumbling to the ground.
Chu Shaoqiang and the martial cultivator also felt their chests tighten and breath shorten, having no idea what technique the enemy had used.
Injured, blood pouring from both his eyes and ears, Guo Jinshi hadn't even regained his bearings when Li Banfeng mounted him, swinging the sickle down toward his face.
Knowing full well the myriad dangers, he still acted with reckless abandon. Li Banfeng's speed was so fast that Chu Shaoqiang couldn't even discern his tier in that instant as the sickle rained blows into Guo Jinshi's face.
Chu Shaoqiang and Tian Dasong tried to rush in and help, but an overwhelming aura of intimidation suddenly surged forward, forcing them both back while Guo Jinshi's body stiffened, suffering yet another heavy blow.
The drumming came from his wife; the intimidating aura came from Hong Ying.
The companion dwelling had opened its main door for a mere fraction of a second before shutting it again. It could only open for that fleeting instant; otherwise, the companion dwelling itself might be exposed.
The companion dwelling said to the gramophone and Hong Ying, "This old man has made accommodations. As for the rest, it depends on your man's own ability."
In that momentary accommodation, both his wife and Hong Ying had struck with full power, and the brunt of the damage was borne by Guo Jinshi alone.
Now Li Banfeng hacked relentlessly into Guo Jinshi's face. Guo Jinshi took countless blade strikes, unable to defend against them or break free.
Was this a journey cultivator?
Why would a journey cultivator fight like this?
He used no techniques, made no evasive maneuvers—just slaughtered like a madman?
This was the tactic formulated jointly by his wife and Li Banfeng.
If the enemies entered the ambush perimeter, terrain advantage and suitable distance would allow them to win through coordinated techniques.
If the enemies didn't enter the perimeter, the unfavorable terrain and positioning would prevent techniques from coordinating effectively, allowing the expert craft cultivator to dismantle them one by one.
Under such circumstances, they couldn't act conventionally; the best choice was to capitalize on the assistance of his wife and Hong Ying, using a journey cultivator's speed to take one enemy down right away.
Li Banfeng had chosen the Literary Cultivator Guo Jinshi, determined to eliminate him first.
Guo Jinshi was severely wounded, but his cultivation was high enough that the injuries were not yet fatal, leaving him with enough strength to retaliate.
Dipping his fingers in his own blood, he wrote the character "Blade" on Li Banfeng's body.
A sixth-level Literary Cultivator technique: A Word Worth a Thousand Gold!
That word "Blade" truly materialized into a knife, stabbing right into Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng neither dodged nor parried, taking the stab head-on, and hooked his sickle into Guo Jinshi's left eye.
Guo Jinshi wrote another "Blade."
Li Banfeng took another stab, swinging his sickle to hook into Guo Jinshi's right eye.
Trading blood blow for blow—what kind of fighting style was this?!
Tian Dasong charged forward to seize Li Banfeng, only to be kicked away by He Yuxiu.
Tian Dasong knocked He Yuxiu down, but Zuo Wugang and Bai Bilian desperately grappled Tian Dasong from behind, and the rest swarmed him in a joint assault.
Guo Jinshi wrote the character "Seize," snatching away Li Banfeng's sickle. Li Banfeng pulled out his shovel and slammed it into Guo Jinshi's skull.
Taking advantage of the opening, the Tang dao stabbed through Guo Jinshi's back right into his heart, while the pendulum slipped into his collar, slashing at Guo Jinshi's neck.
Using every ounce of strength he had left, Guo Jinshi wrote twelve "Ban" characters in a single breath. This move was terrifying—none of the artifacts or weapons could be used.
Li Banfeng clamped his teeth directly onto Guo Jinshi's neck, biting until blood gushed forth.
Chu Shaoqiang had remained calm throughout. He quickly deduced the enemy's tactic and prepared to use an artifact to dispatch the madman pinning Guo Jinshi down.
Wearing a smile, Chu Huaiyuan suddenly appeared right in front of Chu Shaoqiang.
Expressionless, Chu Shaoqiang said, "What are you doing here?"
Chu Huaiyuan smiled. "I came to fight you to the death."
Chu Shaoqiang remained placid. "You do not know who I am, nor do you need to know now. Leave here at once."
"I know who you are." Chu Huaiyuan's smile vanished instantly. She rolled her eyes upward, glaring at Chu Shaoqiang. "Dad, I really did come to fight you to the death."
Chapter 435