In the Garrison Office, Liao Zihui looked over the report, his brow tightly furrowed.
Not long ago, the Garrison Office had just established contact with Sage Peak. There had been plenty of room for their relationship to grow, yet who could have guessed such a massive catastrophe would strike out of nowhere?
Sage Peak was gone, the Sage's fate was unknown, and all of Jianrengang was now overrun with Daolao ghosts. No matter how much Liao Zihui wracked his brain, he couldn't understand how so many crises could have erupted in just a few short days.
All their previous efforts had gone down the drain. Just as Liao Zihui was pondering how to answer to his superiors, Deputy Chief Envoy Xia Shumin walked in. "Chief Envoy, still no word on Lightbulb."
Liao Zihui sighed and stared at Xia Shumin for a long while.
He knew Xia Shumin's background was far from simple, and he knew that once he retired, Xia Shumin would most likely take over as Chief Envoy. Whenever he spoke with Xia Shumin, he had always kept his temper in check, but this time he truly couldn't hold back.
"Xiao Xia, why did you have to send Lightbulb to spy on Li Seven? This is Lightbulb's first time in Puluo Province—what did you expect him to do around Li Seven? Did you think his life was too long?"
Xia Shumin lowered his head. "I didn't think this through carefully enough, but now that mishap has befallen Lightbulb, shouldn't Li Seven be made to answer for it?"
"Who said mishap has befallen him?" Liao Zihui snapped furiously. "Have you seen his corpse? If you haven't seen a corpse, then he's still alive! Get out there and look for him! Dig three feet into the earth if you must, but bring him back!"
Xia Shumin left Liao Zihui's office. Beneath his crestfallen expression flickered an imperceptible smile.
Liao Zihui was rattled.
Good. Let him be rattled.
Once he was rattled, he would take the bait!
Lightbulb was definitely dead. Whether they found a corpse or not hardly mattered; it was just a matter of how much longer Liao Zihui could hold out.
...
Holding a small knife, Lightbulb clumsily peeled the hide off a fish-faced mantis and gingerly hung it up before the tent entrance. With a grin, he called out, "Uncle Shen, the hide is all dressed!"
Every year, the Dark Star Bureau sent personnel to Puluo Province for further training. Chunibyo had signed up but didn't get picked. Lightbulb hadn't wanted to come at all, but he had been forced into it.
After arriving, he received orders from the newly appointed Deputy Chief Envoy, Xia Shumin, to go to Xiaoyaowu and keep an eye on Li Seven. The result? Li Seven shipped him straight off to the newland, where he ran into a ferocious chimera. Following a harrowing battle, he was rescued by an old hunter named Shen Xueyong.
Over these past days, he had been eating and sleeping alongside Shen Xueyong in the newland. While learning the ropes of survival out here, he had also worked as Shen Xueyong's helper, skinning catches being part of his daily chores.
Shen Xueyong stepped out of the tent, pinched the hide, and gave it a glance.
The pelt had plenty of nick marks. Frowning, Shen Xueyong said, "This was a first-grade pelt. In your hands, it turned into third-grade trash. You really aren't cut out for this trade."
With an ashamed look, Lightbulb replied, "There are still two mantises left. I'll practice some more."
Shen Xueyong waved his hand dismissively. "Don't you dare practice on those! You'll ruin this whole haul for me. Head east for twenty li, and you'll hit Lanyang Village. Once you're there, find yourself a carriage and hurry on to Lüshui City."
Lightbulb rubbed his hands together. "Don't do that, Uncle Shen! Take me with you! Twenty li is so far. What if something happens on the road..."
Shen Xueyong spat on the ground. "Twenty li, and you still need me to take you? Do you need me to spoon-feed you your meals too?"
Lightbulb made a pitiful face. "This is the newland! If I run into chimeras, I really can't handle them!"
"This area is very close to the proper land. There aren't any formidable chimeras around."
"That red dragon I met before was pretty terrifying! That thing nearly took my life!"
"What red dragon?" Shen Xueyong scoffed with utter disgust. "That was just an earthworm! I wouldn't even need a blade to deal with that thing!"
"Uncle Shen, you must have seen wrong. How could that be an earthworm? Every twitch it made tore up the earth!"
Shen Xueyong didn't even know what to say. "I'm a body cultivator! My original form is an earthworm! Do you think I could mistake my own kind?
"You're a grown man. If you dare to venture into the newland, shouldn't you have some real skills? Even if you don't have real skills, you ought to have at least a shred of guts!
"There's only one road to Lanyang Village. If you're any sort of man, walk there yourself. If you're truly too chicken, go kowtow and beg someone else to take you. I'm done babysitting you!"
Shen Xueyong drove Lightbulb away. The old hunter had both guts and craftsmanship, enjoying quite a reputation among hunters. Back when Li Banfeng went to the Orange Grove, he had relied on Shen Xueyong for directions. Dragging Lightbulb along wouldn't just cost him money—it would be an utter embarrassment.
Helpless, Lightbulb followed the map Shen Xueyong had given him, plucked up his courage, and headed all the way toward Lanyang Village.
He encountered a few chimeras along the way, but after training under Shen Xueyong for a while, Lightbulb wasn't as terrified anymore. Some chimeras were timid and could be scared off; some understood human speech and could be reasoned with; and when he met unreasonable ones that refused to be intimidated, Lightbulb greased his soles and bolted like the wind.
When he finally reached Lanyang Village, he saw houses and villagers.
Now this was a place fit for human living. Run-down as it was, it was far better than the newland.
Lightbulb's mood lifted, and his confidence swelled to bursting.
He had survived the newland! What hurdle couldn't he overcome now?
Puluo Province wasn't all that much after all!
During all those days in the newland, he had eaten nothing but dry rations with Shen Xueyong. The two cans of food Li Seven had given him had been snatched away by the earthworm.
Up ahead stood a noodle shop. Smelling the rich, enticing aroma, Lightbulb strode inside, pulled out a chair by a table, sat down, and said to the waiter, "Bring the menu."
The moment he asked for a menu, the waiter knew.
This fellow had never been here before.
"Honored guest, we don't have menus here. Just name what you'd like to eat. We don't have mountain delicacies or seafood, but our home-cooked fare is guaranteed to please."
Lightbulb nodded. "What's your specialty?"
"We're a noodle shop, so our specialty is mutton noodles."
"How much?"
"Twenty for the noodles, fair price for young and old alike. Would you like a large bowl or a small one?"
"Give me a large bowl, extra mutton."
The waiter paused. "You want extra mutton?"
Lightbulb chuckled. "What's the worry? I'll pay you extra, that's all. Fry up two side dishes for me as well."
The waiter paused again. "You want dishes too?"
Lightbulb frowned. "Can't you cook home-style dishes?"
The waiter gave a simple, honest-looking smile. "Just name the dishes, sir."
"Cook whatever you think is best. Just make two tasty specialties!"
"Right away, sir!" The waiter happily hurried to the kitchen, while the surrounding customers stared at Lightbulb in astonishment.
Lightbulb knew there was a catch here and knew this meal wouldn't come cheap.
But even if it wasn't cheap, how expensive could it possibly get?
As long as they didn't go too far, he would just pay them. If they crossed the line, he'd throw down. Did they think he was afraid of them?
He was a Dark Energy user, which in Puluo Province made him a cultivator!
Lightbulb picked up his chopsticks, determined to feast to his heart's content today!
An hour later.
Lightbulb walked out of the noodle shop wearing only boxer shorts, his face covered in bruises and cuts.
The noodles had been priced by the strand, and the mutton by the shred. That was something Lightbulb had never imagined in his wildest dreams.
There was no getting his money back, and Lightbulb had even wondered if he could at least talk them into giving him an article of clothing.
Holding a cleaver, the shopkeeper wiped the blood from his own face and grinned at Lightbulb. "Honored guest, fancy another bowl of noodles?"
They had fought a battle, and a bloody one at that.
If it had been a fight to the death, Lightbulb might not have lost to the shopkeeper.
But Lightbulb felt that a single meal wasn't worth throwing his life away for.
Besides, they had numbers on their side. Who could have guessed that every patron in the room was the shopkeeper's lackey?
Walking a safe distance away, Lightbulb looked back at the noodle shop and spat on the ground.
Just wait until I get back to the Garrison Office and report this to Chief Envoy Liao. I'll tear your damn shop down to the ground!
But how was he supposed to get back to the Garrison Office?
At the village entrance stood horse carriages. Lightbulb walked over and asked, "Any carriages heading to Lüshui City?"
A carter chuckled. "Lüshui City is easy enough, but do you have any coin? You've only got underpants left on you—what, are you gonna pawn those?"
Lightbulb said, "Take me to Lüshui City. Once we arrive, I'll pay double the fare."
The carter laughed. "And if we get to Lüshui City and you can't produce a single copper, who am I supposed to collect from? Haul you all the way back here?
"Young man, you're young and fair-skinned. Go find an honest trade and make some money. Strutting around the village entrance in nothing but underwear—aren't you embarrassed?"
The other coachmen nearby all laughed at Lightbulb.
Lightbulb gritted his teeth, leapt forward onto the carter's back, and clamped one hand around his throat.
After what happened at the noodle shop, Lightbulb understood: if you wanted to survive in Puluo Province, you couldn't be a nice guy!
Seeing this, the other carters swarmed over, yelling, "What are you doing? Can't afford the fare and want to act like a thug?"
Lightbulb said, "I never said I wouldn't pay! Once we reach Lüshui City, I'll double it! I'm asking you one last time—are you driving or not?!"
The carter said quickly, "Easy there, little brother, cool down! I know you've hit hard times. What I said earlier was just a joke! Never mind double fare—even if you don't pay a cent, what's a ride between friends?
"I've got a sheepskin coat in the carriage. If you don't mind, drape it over yourself for warmth. I happen to be heading to Lüshui City to pick someone up anyway, so I can give you a lift along the way!"
Lightbulb released the carter. In a place like Puluo Province, fists were what talked in the end.
The carter set off immediately, driving from afternoon all the way into the dead of night.
"Young man, my gig tonight is urgent, so I have to travel through the night. If you're tired, just sleep in the back."
Lightbulb acknowledged him, but how could he dare to sleep? His eyes remained wide open the entire way, never leaving the carter for a second.
As they crossed a ridge, the carter cracked his whip sharply. "Hold on tight, lad!"
The moment the words left his mouth, both carriage horses reared up on their hind legs.
The carriage jolted, tossing Lightbulb out onto the ground. When he tried to get up, the sheepskin coat the old man had lent him bound tight around his body like ropes, leaving him unable to move.
The old man drove off in the carriage. Lightbulb secreted grease all over his body, and using the slickness, slipped out of the sheepskin coat.
He concentrated the slick grease under his feet and was about to pursue the old man when a group of people suddenly charged down from the roadside, surrounding him in their midst.
The man leading them was dark-faced, named Kang Qihai. He was the head of a branch under Jiangxiang Gang's Lüshui Head Hall. The night Li Seven slaughtered his way through Jiangxiang Gang, Kang Qihai had been away on business and escaped the purge. Gathering the remnants, he had set himself up as a bandit in the mountains here.
Lightbulb never imagined that coachman could be so vicious, delivering him straight into a bandit den!
Seeing the band of menacing bandits surrounding him, Lightbulb puffed out his chest, hitched up his boxers, and said, "I don't have a single copper on me. See for yourselves if there's anything left to rob!"
Kang Qihai looked Lightbulb up and down, then let out a laugh. "He's quite a handsome one."
Lightbulb froze. What did that mean?
The surrounding bandits burst into laughter. Such things weren't uncommon among mountain bandits.
The crew moved forward, tied Lightbulb up, and hauled him back to the stronghold. They originally thought their chieftain just wanted to have some fun, but unexpectedly, Kang Qihai was dead serious.
He didn't touch Lightbulb that first night. The next day, he set up several banquet tables in the stronghold, snatched a matchmaker from a nearby village, and specially prepared a bridal sedan chair and a bridal chamber.
He was going to marry him with full formal rites!
Dressed in bright red wedding garments and draped with a red bridal veil, Lightbulb was bound and hoisted into the bridal sedan chair, carried from outside the stronghold into the inner courtyard. Every single customary step was followed to the letter.
By nightfall, Kang Qihai was drinking merrily. The sounds of drinking games and boisterous cheers came loud and clear into the room where Lightbulb sat.
What should he do?
In a little while, he would come in to consummate the marriage!
Escape?
Lightbulb had tried. Slipping free of the ropes wasn't hard; the hard part was escaping the stronghold.
Greasing his feet made him run fast, but halfway through, he'd get intercepted and dragged back by the bandits—partly because his oil would run out, and partly because he didn't know the paths.
Hearing the main hall quiet down bit by bit, Lightbulb braced himself to fight to the death.
A messy flurry of footsteps sounded, and Luo Zhengnan led a dozen men into the bridal chamber.
Peering out through a crack in the veil, Lightbulb realized something was off.
A different person?
Where was Kang Qihai?
What about his band of bandits?
Earlier, Luo Zhengnan had gathered a group of friends at Jiangxiang Gang's Head Hall to discuss exterminating bandits, specifically targeting the gang's remnants. Kang Qihai had been one of his targets.
As a former branch head of Jiangxiang Gang, Kang Qihai was considered formidable among common bandits, but before Luo Zhengnan, his tricks weren't even worth mentioning.
In under two days, Luo Zhengnan had mapped out the mountain paths. Tonight, taking advantage of Kang Qihai's wedding celebrations, Luo Zhengnan led his men up the mountain, wiped out the stronghold, and took Kang Qihai's head.
Entering the bridal chamber, Luo Zhengnan lifted Lightbulb's veil, looked at him for a moment, and praised, "He really is handsome."
Lightbulb gritted his teeth, slipped his bonds, and dashed for the door.
Several henchmen tried to grab him, but couldn't get a grip—his body was exceptionally slippery.
Luo Zhengnan glanced at a Fire Cultivator under his command. Understanding the cue, the Fire Cultivator conjured a wall of flame, sealing the doorway.
Lightbulb dared not run further, shivering in the center of the room.
Luo Zhengnan chuckled. "An Oil Cultivator. You don't see this pathway often."
A henchman remarked, "Oil Cultivators are great! Nice and slick!"
Luo Zhengnan instructed, "Keep him alive for now. Seventh Master might have a use for him."
The henchman asked in bewilderment, "Seventh Master is into this kind of thing too?"
Luo Zhengnan frowned. "Cut the nonsense. Lock him up first."
Lightbulb shouted, "The Seventh Master you're talking about—is it Li Seven? I know him! We're acquaintances! Let me see him!"
Luo Zhengnan was taken aback. "You know Seventh Master?"
"I do! Just mention me to him, he definitely knows who I am!"
Luo Zhengnan thought for a moment, then found a fishing net, shoved Lightbulb inside, and hoisted him up to the bridal chamber's roof beam.
...
At Huangtu Bridge, Li Seven handed over the more than ten thousand refugees he had brought out of Jianrengang to Qin Bulou.
Truth be told, Qin Bulou didn't want to accept them.
He was a ninth-layer calculation cultivator, and had remained at the ninth layer for many years. A man like that was naturally very knowledgeable, and he knew a fair bit about the situation in Jianrengang.
"Seventh Master, whatever you order, I will certainly carry out. But these people... I might not be able to manage them."
"Even if you can't, you must manage them. These people can help you hold this territory, so you have to take them in. But if anyone dares to preach the Sage's doctrines in Huangtu Bridge, execute them on sight without mercy."
Qin Bulou agreed and began arranging lodgings for them.
Li Banfeng took a walk along the various streets of Huangtu Bridge. Under Ma the Fifth's management, Huangtu Bridge had shown some improvement, but progress remained quite limited.
Beiqiao was somewhat livelier than before, and West Bridge had the mines, barely showing signs of life. East Bridge and South Bridge were still desolate. East Bridge in particular had empty streets, virtually indistinguishable from how it had looked in the past.
Walking down the street, Li Banfeng spotted a café and pondered whether to step inside.
In Puluo Province, coffee was a rare luxury. Huangtu Bridge had once possessed cafés, testaments to this place's former glory.
Yet now, pulses of menace radiated from this abandoned café, piquing Li Banfeng's curiosity.
Just who would try to ambush me here?
Li Banfeng walked past the café. His pace didn't pause or slacken, as if he hadn't noticed the building at all.
From the second floor of the café, a man leapt down, rapidly lunging toward Li Banfeng's back.
He didn't need to make physical contact with Li Banfeng; so long as he got within a suitable range, he could infect Li Banfeng with his pathogen.
Li Banfeng cast a backward glance. Wan Jinxian—another disciple of the Lüshui Beggar, Lu Dongjun's advisor, and one of He Jiaqing's most loyal subordinates. According to Critick's description, he was a seventh-layer Disease Cultivator.
Back when Li Seven killed Tu Yinghong, Wan Jinxian had tried to assassinate Li Seven from the shadows. Li Seven had hidden inside the companion dwelling and escaped, but Ma the Fifth had contracted a severe illness as a result.
In Wan Jinxian's impression, Li Banfeng was a fifth-layer Travel Cultivator. To this day, Wan Jinxian's understanding of Li Seven was frozen at that time—the stage where Li Seven hadn't dared face him head-on.
If he knew that the current Li Seven had attained the eighth layer in both Homeland and Travel pathways, he would never have dared to launch an ambush.
Li Banfeng had many ways to kill Wan Jinxian. The simplest was to vanish from Wan Jinxian's line of sight and blow him to pieces on the spot.
However, doing so carried a steep cost. If Wan Jinxian exploded, cleaning up the remains would be extremely difficult. The slightest mishap could spark a plague. East Bridge would have to remain an uninhabited wasteland for a long time to come, and if a plague spread, all of Huangtu Bridge would be plunged into dire straits.
Although Critick had said Wan Jinxian's pathogen wasn't as potent as the Lüshui Beggar's, Wan Jinxian's body still harbored a portion of the Beggar's power.
The best approach was to haul Wan Jinxian directly into the companion dwelling and leave the rest to his darling wife and the Red Lotus. They would thoroughly scrub away both soul and flesh, and after a good blast of steam, everything would be spotless.
Li Banfeng waited for Wan Jinxian to close in while secretly pulling out his key, preparing to open the companion dwelling.
Wan Jinxian closed in from behind. An intense sense of danger flooded Li Banfeng's mind. At the right moment, Li Banfeng would dodge aside, letting Wan Jinxian rush into the companion dwelling on his own momentum, and then slam the door shut.
Yet right now, Li Banfeng faced a serious problem.
Which way should he turn the key?
Had he fallen ill? How many times had he unlocked the companion dwelling's door—did that question even require thought?
Yet Li Banfeng truly couldn't remember.
Left or right?
Which side was left?
Wan Jinxian drew closer and closer. Li Banfeng had to dodge, or he would be infected by Wan Jinxian's pathogen.
Seeing Li Banfeng dart away into the distance, Wan Jinxian said with a trace of regret, "Travel Cultivators pursue fortune and avoid calamity. That trait really is a pain to deal with. But then again, I didn't intend to kill you. I only want to ask you one thing: what exactly is your connection with He Jiaqing?"
"Why ask that?" Li Banfeng smiled, but inside he was tense.
It wasn't that he forgot how to unlock the door—he couldn't tell left from right. In an instant, it was as if he had lost the very concept of direction.
Not just direction; his grasp of distance was also hazy. He couldn't be sure whether the distance between him and Wan Jinxian was safe, didn't know if his next step would move forward or backward, and even worried that he had already caught Wan Jinxian's pathogen.
Did Wan Jinxian possess a pathogen that disrupted senses of direction and distance?
It was possible. Li Banfeng had seen Critick inflict vertigo on He Caiyuan's avatar.
His current condition bore some resemblance to vertigo. Direction and distance were the foundation of Travel Cultivators; if he lost those senses, his combat effectiveness would take a severe hit.
Wan Jinxian was in no hurry to strike Li Banfeng down. Before killing him, he needed to extract some information.
"He Jiaqing always talks about reclaiming the Red Lotus, and he knows full well it's in your hands. Yet every time he acts against you, he's cautious to an extreme. I don't know why that is. Could you enlighten me?"
Li Banfeng smiled faintly. "I suspect the Red Lotus isn't in my hands at all, but rather in his own. He doesn't want his cover blown, so he doesn't want you people dealing me a lethal blow."
Expressing this so clearly led Li Banfeng to believe he most likely hadn't fallen ill.
Wan Jinxian nodded. "I thought as much. He Jiaqing doesn't want to bring out the Red Lotus, so he used you as an excuse. But if that's truly the case, then you're of no use to me."
"Don't be so quick to say that," Li Banfeng replied with a smile. "You're still of some use to me. How did you know I was at Huangtu Bridge? Did you plant a spy by my side?"
Wan Jinxian's brow furrowed slightly. "Li Seven, why are you always so arrogant? Don't you know you're already considered a figure of note in Puluo Province? Why do you still insist on operating alone?"
"Perhaps it's the nature of a Travel Cultivator."
Wan Jinxian laughed. "Cut the crap. I've seen plenty of renowned Travel Cultivators, and all of them keep guards by their side. Take the Great Gold Seal of Sanying Gate, Bao Yingchen, for example.
"Speaking of Bao Yingchen, rumors had it that you fought him for days and nights to a draw and ended up becoming friends. At first, I actually believed it.
"Looking at you now, you clearly never had that kind of ability. How did Bao Yingchen actually die? Would you care to tell me?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. You'd better ask him yourself down below."
Wan Jinxian's expression darkened. "I'll ask you one last thing. Did you know about He Jiaqing going to Sage Peak? Why did you bring the people of Jianrengang to Huangtu Bridge? Does this have anything to do with He Jiaqing?"
Li Banfeng sighed. "You talk too much. Anything else you need to get off your chest? Once you're done, it's time for you to hit the road."
"Fine, you've got guts!" Wan Jinxian lunged violently at Li Banfeng.
His speed was astonishing because a nail was driven into his heel—a Travel Cultivator artifact.
Despite his provocative words, Wan Jinxian had no real measure of Li Seven's true strength. Had the Lüshui Beggar not backed him into a corner with no way out, he wouldn't have wanted to face Li Seven head-on either.
Li Banfeng retreated rapidly, doing his utmost to maintain a safe distance from Wan Jinxian. Because he had lost his sense of direction and distance, his movements were somewhat sluggish.
Wan Jinxian pressed forward relentlessly. So long as he could make Li Seven cough just once, the upper hand would be his.
The two danced around each other for a long while. Li Banfeng decided to use the technique Mind Traversing a Thousand Mountains to relocate a perilous location here and end the battle swiftly.
Where would be suitable to bring over?
After a moment's thought, Li Banfeng decided to bring over Daoguiling.
Even if the technique couldn't bring the Daolao ghosts along, Daoguiling itself was a special location. The mountain was densely forested with no paths. No matter how fast Wan Jinxian was, he lacked path-severing or trail-blazing techniques. With the terrain advantage, Li Banfeng was confident he could slay Wan Jinxian.
Just as Li Banfeng was about to execute the technique, he felt a vibration against his chest.
It was Old Luo's telephone.
The technique was interrupted, but his sense of direction had recovered significantly. Li Banfeng could seemingly distinguish left from right again.
Disregard the plague for now and blast him to death with Viewing Flowers from Horseback?
No.
His sense of distance was still slightly off. Li Banfeng didn't dare use Viewing Flowers from Horseback recklessly; he feared that if he suddenly appeared right in front of Wan Jinxian, far from breaking the man's line of sight, he would instead expose himself to his pathogen.
Wan Jinxian moved faster and faster, while the telephone on Li Banfeng's chest continued to vibrate.
Why did an incoming call restore his sense of direction?
While parrying and evading, Li Banfeng whispered, "Answer the phone."
Glove moved swiftly, pulling the circuit board from Li Banfeng's chest, installing the battery, and inserting the antenna.
The call connected.
At that exact moment, Wan Jinxian suddenly closed the distance right up to Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng instinctively kicked Wan Jinxian.
Before Wan Jinxian could even unleash his pathogen, Li Banfeng's kick sent him flying far into the distance.
Just how far?
Wan Jinxian couldn't estimate it himself. He kept flying and flying. During his flight, he slammed through several buildings in succession, yet the buildings remained undamaged, and he himself was completely unharmed.
He flew faster and faster. The surrounding scenery shifted from clear to blurry, until it vanished from sight entirely.
He realized he had flown across the boundary of Huangtu Bridge, yet was still unhurt.
What technique was this?
Parting by Ten Thousand Li?
Li Seven knew Parting by Ten Thousand Li?!
In utter despair, Wan Jinxian flew on and on. The moment he finally crashed to the ground, he found himself amidst a dense forest.
What was this place?
"Screeech!"
Wan Jinxian heard a shrill shriek.
...
Luo Zhengnan got through on the telephone, but heard no sound from Li Seven.
A reception issue?
He adjusted the antenna on his head, repeating over and over, "Seventh Master? Seventh Master? Can you hear me?"
"I can."
The voice didn't come from the phone.
Luo Zhengnan shuddered and whipped his head around, only to see Li Banfeng standing right behind him.
"Seventh Master, how... how did you get here?"
Li Banfeng didn't know how he had gotten here either.
"Weren't you looking for me?" Li Seven brushed it aside. "What is it?"
"Well, er..." Luo Zhengnan took a moment to compose himself, pulled the antenna out of his head, and led Li Banfeng into the bridal chamber.
Lightbulb was hanging from the roof beam in the fishing net. Luo Zhengnan ordered his men to lower him down and let him out.
Li Banfeng lifted Lightbulb's bridal veil, took a look, and chuckled softly. "Well, I'll be. He really is handsome!"
Chapter 481