Carrying Teacher Song on his back, Li Banfeng left Jianrengang behind. After traveling over a hundred li, he came to a stop.
They were both hungry and thirsty. Teacher Song downed half a flask of water and coughed a few times, but didn't throw it back up.
This proved that the medicine was taking effect, and her symptoms were gradually subsiding.
Sitting across from Li Banfeng now, Teacher Song felt a pang of shame. "About certain things... I didn't hide them from you on purpose. I've never mentioned them to anyone."
Li Banfeng sighed. "I didn't expect the situation either. Who would have thought you had a birthmark on you as well?"
"Th-that isn't the point." Teacher Song worried that her true identity might be too much for Li Banfeng to accept. "Banfeng, ask whatever you want. If I can tell you, I will do my best to explain."
To her surprise, Li Banfeng didn't ask about her identity. Instead, he asked about the daolao ghost. "How did you know a daolao ghost had appeared on Shifeng Road? Who gave you that information? Was it Shen Jingye?"
Li Banfeng needed to trace the source of that report. If it came from Shen Jingye, he would demand an explanation from him.
The answer was entirely unexpected.
"My information didn't come from Shen Jingye. The report Shen Jingye received probably came from me. Yesterday afternoon, after we parted ways, I went to the campus supermarket and retrieved a flash drive..."
Teacher Song recounted the sequence of events in full.
Li Banfeng said, "In other words, the news of the daolao ghost originated from a video sent by He Jiaqing."
Teacher Song nodded. She was somewhat reluctant to bring up He Jiaqing's name, fearing Li Banfeng might react excessively.
Yet Li Banfeng remained remarkably calm, not pressing for elaborate background details. He merely asked about the act itself: "What was He Jiaqing's motive in sending that video?"
Teacher Song pondered for a moment. "He probably wanted to give me a heads-up."
"And what was his motive for giving you a heads-up?"
"Perhaps he didn't want the situation to spiral out of control either. After all, this was a catastrophe that could threaten the entirety of Yuezhou."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Under no circumstances would He Jiaqing ever care about the survival of the Outer States. If you truly knew him, you would understand he wouldn't tip you off about something like this—unless his own interests were at stake. But where do his interests lie?"
***
"Right up ahead," He Jiaqing said, pointing toward a barren mountain in the distance as he spoke to Datou. "In the barren mountains where you often cultivate. I've prepared clothes and food there. We'll arrive shortly."
Datou turned to his wife. "Ruifang, once we get there, we'll change into dry clothes."
Miao Ruifang held their child by the hand, remaining silent for a long time.
Because of Datou's actions, Miao Ruifang had been locked up for a lengthy period, and only today had she finally managed to see her child.
Ordinarily, this would have been a joyful occasion, but who could have foreseen that their current status was now that of fugitives?
They had jumped into Peach Blossom Lake, nearly drowned beneath the waters, and after great difficulty finally breached the surface—only to emerge into a place like this: a place so pitch-black that no light could be seen at all, and so grim and eerie that mother and son could hardly breathe.
Upon reaching the cave, the family of three changed into fresh clothes. Miao Ruifang broke into tears. "Zou Guoming, make this clear to me right now! I've spent a lifetime with you—what on earth did I get out of it?
"In all these years of marriage, I never even knew what you were doing out there! First, I got arrested out of nowhere and locked away for all those days, and now I've somehow become a fugitive! I don't even know what law I broke! What the hell is going on here? You have to give me a straight answer!"
Datou didn't know what to say.
He Jiaqing stepped in to smooth things over. "Sister-in-law, please don't get upset yet. Once we reach Puluo Province, we'll explain everything to you slowly."
"Why should I listen to you? Who are you? Do I even know you?" Miao Ruifang snapped at He Jiaqing.
Datou felt his face burning with embarrassment. "Ruifang, Jiaqing was the one who rescued us! Otherwise, we'd still be locked up inside!"
"Then why don't you explain why we were locked up in the first place?! Tell me! Give me the truth!"
While husband and wife argued inside the cave, He Jiaqing walked outside, unrolled an ink-wash painting, and dragged a tricycle out from the scroll.
The tricycle was quite large, fitted with a wooden carriage cabin, glass doors, and two rows of passenger seats.
He Jiaqing arranged for Datou's family to sit inside the carriage while he took the front seat to pedal.
The vehicle had been crafted by an Artisan Cultivator, and with He Jiaqing possessing a cultivation base above the clouds, the moment he started pedaling, the tricycle shot forward faster than an automobile.
Miao Ruifang had no idea how the contraption worked, and her heart pounded with terror the whole time. Datou's son, Zou Xiaohao, on the other hand, was full of curiosity.
Poking his head out the window, he called out in admiration, "Uncle, you pedal so fast!"
He Jiaqing chuckled. "Once we pass this slope, the ground levels out. I can pedal even faster then."
Zou Xiaohao wanted to chat further with He Jiaqing, but Miao Ruifang yanked him back inside. "Don't talk to him!"
Zou Xiaohao protested, "What's wrong with saying a few words?"
Miao Ruifang flared up in anger. "You still have the heart to chatter away? You won't have a place to live anymore, you won't have school to attend, and from now on you'll be living in fear, running for your life alongside your father! Don't you understand that?"
Zou Xiaohao proved considerably more optimistic than his mother. "Mom, you don't need to scare me. There will definitely be a place to live. Dad wouldn't let us suffer.
"As for school, I don't think it's any great loss. My teachers and classmates didn't like me anyway. Studying was pretty boring in the first place."
"Why don't you ask yourself why people didn't like you? It's all because your father stirred up trouble!"
Feeling bitter inside, Datou looked back at He Jiaqing. "Jiaqing, take a breather. Let me pedal."
He Jiaqing shook his head. "You aren't from this pathway, so your feet can't pedal as fast as mine. Just relax and keep your wife and son company."
The family sat inside the carriage, bickering intermittently. After traveling for roughly half a day, they arrived at Tiemen Fort.
With thirty li remaining until the exit of the newland, He Jiaqing announced to everyone, "Get ready to go into the water."
Miao Ruifang grew furious. "Into the water again? If you want to jump, you go ahead! My son and I definitely won't! Neither of us knows how to swim, and we don't want to drown here!"
"Just how long are you going to keep making a scene?" Datou finally reached his limit and was about to blow his top.
"Who's making a scene? Why don't you talk about the mess you made?! How did you ruin our family like this?"
A voice outside the window shouted, "Yeah! How did he ruin it, exactly?!"
Datou yelled at his wife, "Whenever you take a loss, I hear you screaming, but why don't you say a word when you're taking advantage of the perks?"
Another person chimed in outside the window: "Yeah, why don't you say anything when you're taking advantage?!"
Miao Ruifang grew even angrier. "What perks did I take advantage of?! Zou Guoming, make it clear right now! I've endured so much grievance being with you—what benefits did I ever get from you?!"
A woman appeared outside the window, glaring at Zou Guoming. "Make it clear! What advantages did she ever take from you?!"
Datou retorted, "Why do you think the hotel insisted on making you lobby manager? Where do you think that elite school slot came from? Did you really think such a huge pie would just fall out of the sky for you to eat?!"
An old man sighed outside the window: "It isn't easy for a man to struggle and make a living out in the world!"
The old man's booming voice broke the concentration of Datou and his wife amidst their heated argument.
They glanced out the window and discovered dozens of people—men, women, young, and old—sprinting alongside the carriage.
Miao Ruifang was terrified. In a hushed voice, she asked, "Who are these people?"
A tricycle traveling as fast as an automobile had already exceeded Miao Ruifang's understanding of reality, but as long as Datou was sitting beside her, she could manage to keep her seat.
Now, however, a crowd of people was keeping pace with the speeding tricycle on foot. Miao Ruifang could no longer sit still.
Datou felt uneasy as well. He sensed that these people were far from normal.
"Jiaqing, what's going on?"
He Jiaqing said, "We've likely run into Demonic Cultivators."
Miao Ruifang asked in a whisper, "What's a Demonic Cultivator?"
Datou wrapped several lengths of iron wire around the door frame. "A spirit medium."
"Wh-what's a spirit medium?"
"Don't you read novels all the time? Haven't you ever heard of channeling spirits?" Datou had no time to explain. He could sense that the combat strength of every ghost servant outside the tricycle was no lower than his own.
Hugging her son, his wife asked, "You... what you just said... were ghosts?"
Datou nodded.
"Eeeek—!"
His wife let out a piercing shriek. Outside, the ghost servants mistook it for an attack by a Sound Cultivator. After a momentary surge of caution, they launched a concerted assault on the tricycle.
Some tried to wrench the doors open, some smashed the glass windows, and others directly grabbed weapons to jam the wheels.
A whole crowd worked at it for ages, yet the tricycle remained completely undamaged. An elderly ghost servant felt something was amiss.
No matter how sturdily this tricycle was constructed, given their cultivation bases, it couldn't possibly remain unscathed after such prolonged pounding.
The old man peered into the distance and caught a faint glimpse of another tricycle speeding eastward.
"Stealing the beams to swap the pillars!" the old man bellowed. "We're at the wrong place! The real vehicle is over there!"
The throng of ghost servants charged toward the eastern tricycle, while the original tricycle continued hurtling forward.
Yet when the ghost servants encircled the eastern tricycle and pounded on it for a long while, they still couldn't leave a scratch on it.
The old man shouted, "He switched them back again!"
The ghost servants split their forces into two groups to attack both tricycles simultaneously. Both vehicles came to a halt.
A ghost servant stepped forward, seized He Jiaqing, dragged him off the seat, and began beating and kicking him.
He Jiaqing refused to back down, parrying blows while striking back.
After brawling for a brief moment, both tricycles collapsed onto the ground, crumbling into two piles of rocks.
The He Jiaqing who had been fiercely fighting turned into a length of wood.
Farther in the distance, a horse carriage was galloping furiously, already putting considerable distance between itself and the ghost servants.
Yet another carriage had appeared?
Where had that carriage come from?
The ghost servants were about to give chase when Song Qianhun called out, "Let him go!"
Hearing Song Qianhun's voice, the ghost servants withdrew one after another.
Song Qianhun had pursued Li Banfeng all the way and had only just reached Tiemen Fort. By rights, he shouldn't have been so slow, but as ill luck would have it, both of his Traveler Cultivator magical artifacts had broken down.
Over a dozen Traveler Cultivator ghost servants had taken turns carrying Song Qianhun on the run, but who could have guessed that halfway through, they would run into a grove of grinning locust trees?
These were a type of wandering monster native to the newland. They resembled locust trees, but fissures ran along their bark, lined with serrated shoots. Viewed from afar, it looked as though the bark bore a wide, gaping mouth packed with fangs.
Grinning locust trees moved in packs—at least several dozen, and often up to thousands. They roamed across the newland, feeding neither on humans nor on beasts, but exclusively on deceased spirits. They were the natural bane of Demonic Cultivators.
Song Qianhun had run into terrible luck today. The grove of grinning locust trees he encountered numbered over twenty thousand, completely blocking the path with nowhere to detour around them!
The dice cup had even mocked Song Qianhun: *"Didn't you say you never take a loss in high-stakes gambles? Does your daughter count as high-stakes or low-stakes? Looks like you took a loss this time, didn't you!"*
Song Qianhun had no idea where the grove of trees had come from. With his ghost servants frozen in terror, Song Qianhun had been forced to take matters into his own hands and battle the swarm of grinning locust trees himself. After fighting for hours, he finally drove the wandering monsters off.
Because of that delay, by the time he reached Tiemen Fort, he crossed paths with He Jiaqing.
This stretch of newland served as a secret passage linking Puluo Province to the Outer States, holding extraordinary significance for Song Qianhun.
Song Qianhun had always believed he was the only one who knew about it, until he later discovered Li the Seventh knew as well.
Li the Seventh was one of his own, so it was fine for him to know. But now, several more people had learned of it.
This matter could not be brushed aside lightly. Had time permitted, he would have had a serious showdown with He Jiaqing.
However, time was scarce, and Song Qianhun was still anxious about his daughter's safety. Seeing that He Jiaqing had fled, he had no interest in giving chase and promptly leaped into the lake to continue his journey.
He Jiaqing was in no hurry either. He waited until Song Qianhun had been gone for a while before leading Datou's family into the water.
Zou Xiaohao said to Miao Ruifang, "Mom, are you coming with us, or staying here by yourself?"
Having just seen actual ghosts, how could she dare remain behind?
Miao Ruifang gave Zou Xiaohao a kick, pulled on her diving equipment, and hastily followed Datou into the water.
After emerging from Peach Blossom Lake and reaching Tiemen Fort, He Jiaqing unrolled his painting, pulled out the tricycle once more, and carried the family through various detours until they arrived at the train station.
Datou felt somewhat uneasy. "Jiaqing, given my current situation, isn't taking a train inappropriate?"
What kind of fugitive rode a train?
Even Miao Ruifang found it unbelievable.
He Jiaqing smiled. "Don't worry. We have legal identities."
Looking at the steam locomotive, Miao Ruifang recalled memories from her childhood. "What era is this that people still use trains like that? What kind of backward dump is this?!"
Datou frowned. "Could you talk less? Are you hoping someone will come arrest us?"
Once aboard, He Jiaqing took a private compartment for himself, Datou had a separate compartment, and Miao Ruifang and Zou Xiaohao shared another.
Riding a train in a private compartment was a luxury Miao Ruifang had never experienced before.
"Not bad, I suppose. At least we can get some rest." Utterly exhausted, mother and son climbed onto the berths and fell asleep.
With Miao Ruifang finally ceasing her complaints, He Jiaqing stepped into Datou's compartment to discuss their next steps. "Once we reach Lushui City, help me manage some business affairs, and help me manage some people."
Datou felt that wasn't suitable. "Jiaqing, I don't understand business. Lushui City is too prominent a place, and in my current condition, I'm afraid I'll bring you trouble."
He Jiaqing shook his head. "Who would cause trouble for you? Liao Zihui? He doesn't have the leisure for that! This is Puluo Province, where the rules aren't the same as in the Outer States.
"You've been to Puluo Province before, so you should understand how things work. You can learn the business side gradually; you'll pick it up in no time. I told you before: as brothers, we're going to live with dignity."
***
"I ran into He Jiaqing."
Pushing forward at full speed, Song Qianhun had finally intercepted Li Banfeng and Teacher Song midway. Learning that his daughter was safe and sound, Song Qianhun was finally able to put his mind at ease, and he recounted what he had witnessed on the road.
Li Banfeng asked, "Big Brother, are you certain that was He Jiaqing?"
Song Qianhun said, "I've collaborated with the Dark Star Bureau many times. While He Jiaqing was hospitalized, I met him under the identity of Kang Zhenchang. I definitely couldn't mistake him.
"That kid is a Thief Cultivator with a very high cultivation base, and his moves are seasoned and mature. He truly doesn't seem like someone his age."
Teacher Song kept her head down in silence. She had once trusted He Jiaqing deeply, and thinking back on it now only made her regret it all the more.
Li Banfeng was more concerned about the family riding the tricycle. "What was the identity of that family? Why would He Jiaqing bring them to Puluo Province?"
Song Qianhun didn't know Datou, so he naturally couldn't answer.
Li Banfeng placed Teacher Song in Song Qianhun's care so she could rest and recover in Puluo Province for a couple of days.
He returned to Yuezhou alone and headed to the Dark Star Bureau, calling Shen Jingye into his office. "Xiao Shen, I looked into the matter. The incident on Shifeng Road appears to be an isolated case. That unidentified organism likely wasn't a daolao ghost, and there is currently no sign of a large-scale daolao ghost invasion."
"Good... that's good." Shen Jingye wore a dazed expression; the news Li Banfeng brought seemed of little consequence to him.
Li Banfeng studied Shen Jingye closely. "Xiao Shen, did you catch what I said? I said the daolao ghost issue is essentially resolved."
"Great. Wonderful."
"Don't just say 'great.' Don't you need to submit a report to higher-ups?"
"Yes, I definitely have to submit a report. I'll find my secretary in a moment and have him draft it..." Shen Jingye's voice grew fainter and fainter.
"Xiao Shen, did something happen?" For once, Li Banfeng showed some concern.
In front of others, Shen Jingye had to maintain an aura of calm and detachment, never letting anyone glimpse the slightest hint of vexation or dejection.
Yet the moment he saw Li the Seventh, Shen Jingye suddenly broke down.
He didn't share that deep of a friendship with Li the Seventh—in fact, they had plenty of friction—yet for reasons unknown, perhaps just as Du Wenming had remarked, he felt a certain sense of reliance on Li the Seventh. Taking a deep breath, he let out all the misery pent up in his chest: "The Dark Star Bureau was hit by a thief! They stole Zou Guoming away, took twenty-three dark-energy carriers, and over two hundred classified documents! What on earth am I supposed to do?!"
Li Banfeng was taken aback. "When did the thief break in?"
"The very day we went to Shifeng Road! Taking advantage of the fact that the bureau was empty, the thief broke inside and made off with so much all at once!
"I've thought it over—this had to be He Jiaqing's doing! I'm going to contact Liao Zihui right away, head to Puluo Province to find him, and fight him to the death!"
"Xiao Shen, calm down first. Hey, Xiao Shen, don't cry! Wait until I close the door!
"Xiao Shen, control your emotions! Stop banging against the desk—you're going to break my desk!"
With such a massive disaster occurring at the Dark Star Bureau, Shen Jingye's position was precarious in the extreme.
A promotion was completely out of the question.
A disciplinary sanction was practically guaranteed.
Whether he could even hold onto his current post would depend on his luck.
Now Li Banfeng had pieced together the entire course of events. He Jiaqing had first planted something at Hesheng Residential Compound on Shifeng Road—a creature of unknown origin that bore a striking resemblance to a daolao ghost.
Then he sent a video to Teacher Song, indicating that a daolao ghost was invading Yuezhou.
Teacher Song passed the video to the Dark Star Bureau, which verified its apparent authenticity and mobilized all combat personnel to the construction site. With the diversion succeeding in luring the tiger away from its mountain, He Jiaqing took the opportunity to rescue Zou Guoming and his family, grabbed a hefty haul of loot from the Dark Star Bureau along the way, and turned around to head straight for Puluo Province.
Just what had he planted at Hesheng Residential Compound?
Teacher Song possessed a cultivation base above the clouds. Even though she had suffered an attack of her illness at the time, the creature had still managed to ambush her, demonstrating that it was far from ordinary.
Not only was its combat strength remarkable, but before striking, it had concealed its malice so completely that Li Banfeng hadn't sensed it at all.
A puppet? A machine? Or perhaps one of He Jiaqing's accomplices?
Unfortunately, the creature's corpse had already been incinerated by Shen Jingye. If Li Banfeng could have taken it home, his household would probably have liked it.
***
At the Lushui City train station, He Jiaqing hired rickshaws to carry Datou's family to a mansion on Guofeng Road.
Standing at the courtyard gate, Miao Ruifang looked at the Western-style building before her. She found the architecture a bit rustic, but the surroundings were quite pleasant.
She asked Datou, "Which room will we be staying in?"
Datou smiled without answering; he had been to Puluo Province before.
Beside them, He Jiaqing said, "Sister-in-law, this entire residence is yours."
Miao Ruifang pursed her lips, hardly daring to step into the courtyard.
Datou took her hand, led her through the courtyard, and entered the main hall.
Looking up and pacing around the hall, Miao Ruifang lowered her voice. "Such a huge place isn't necessarily a good thing. It'll be so inconvenient to clean..."
No sooner had she spoken than a housekeeper stepped forward. "Madam, the bedrooms have all been tidied up. Would you like to take a look?"
Zou Xiaohao grinned. "Mom, you won't have to do any cleaning."
Miao Ruifang went silent.
The housekeeper then turned to Zou Xiaohao. "Young Master, the tutor hired for you will arrive at six o'clock tomorrow morning. The textbooks have already been placed in your bedroom."
Zou Xiaohao stopped smiling.
He Jiaqing chuckled. "I've ordered a banquet from Qianyue Restaurant; it will be delivered to the house shortly. Sister-in-law, let us share a few drinks so I can formally offer you my apologies in person."
***
Aboard the train, Li Banfeng chatted casually with Liao Zihui while Shen Jingye sat nearby, staring blankly in silence.
The disciplinary action had come down, the dust had settled, his current post was preserved, and his promotion was dead in the water.
Some had protested on Shen Jingye's behalf, arguing that under urgent circumstances, Shen Jingye had exerted every effort to address the daolao ghost incident and achieved effective results. Given that the Dark Star Bureau had suffered a sneak attack under such conditions, the responsibility could not be placed entirely on Shen Jingye's shoulders.
However, the incident's fallout was far too severe, and being able to retain his post was already a stroke of immense good fortune for Shen Jingye.
Li Banfeng had also received word that ten thousand three-headed people had been counted and were gathered at Santoucha, ready for departure.
That the Outer States had fulfilled their promise so swiftly was largely tied to the incident on Shifeng Road. To the leadership, Li the Seventh was the one who had resolved the daolao ghost threat through his investigation, and they clearly recognized the immense value of that service.
When the train arrived in Lushui City, Liao Zihui said to Shen Jingye, "Old Shen, when I invited you to dinner before, you refused no matter what. Today I'm inviting you once more—you can't brush off my face this time, can you?"
Shen Jingye stood up. "Are you mocking me? Chief Envoy Liao thinks highly enough of me to invite me—when would I ever dare disrespect you?"
With that, Shen Jingye followed Liao Zihui off the train.
For some reason, after going through such an ordeal, Shen Jingye had become somewhat more carefree.
Liao Zihui turned to Li Banfeng. "Brother, Director Shen has honored me with his presence—you must join us as well!"
Li the Seventh smiled. "Chief Envoy Liao, I truly have urgent business to attend to. Once I wrap things up, I'll host you both at Xiaoyaowu to return the hospitality."
Li Banfeng genuinely had pressing matters: those ten thousand three-headed people still needed to be dispatched.
Five thousand would go to Ma the Fifth, and five thousand to Chu the Second, each sent to their respective territories to begin land reclamation.
***
Inside a private dining room at Qianyue Restaurant, Liao Zihui and Shen Jingye drank together. Shen Jingye alternated between gulps of liquor and floods of tears, weeping with utter misery:
"Tell me, did I ever mistreat Zou Guoming all these years? Even when I knew he was up to something, I never finalized the charges against him! I still wanted to protect him, but instead he ran off with He Jiaqing and sold me out!"
Liao Zihui sighed. "Zou Guoming... Zou Datou. I remember that man. When he came to Puluo Province for advanced training, I paid special attention to him. Capable and steady.
"He worked at the Dark Star Bureau for around ten years, didn't he? I heard he achieved quite a few accomplishments. What post did he hold?"
What post?
He wasn't even a team leader.
Shen Jingye straightened his expression. "Promotions cannot be based solely on work performance; we must evaluate candidates comprehensively. Besides, he had no right to abandon his professional ethics and bottom line just over an issue of rank!"
Liao Zihui sighed. "Forget it, don't dwell on these things anymore. Staying at the Dark Star Bureau is fine too. Doing our duty honestly and responsibly—isn't it the same anywhere?"
Shen Jingye glared at Liao Zihui. "How many years have I waited for this opportunity? How many years have I toiled at the Dark Star Bureau? And you talk to me with this nonsense?"
Liao Zihui laughed and poured Shen Jingye a cup of wine. "Drink up, Old Shen. You deserve a drink! You truly do!"
Shen Jingye tossed back the cup in a single gulp. "Old Liao, where on earth is Zou Guoming? You have to help me find him! No matter what, I must find him!"
Liao Zihui shook his head. "Puluo Province is so vast. Where do you expect me to look?"
Zou Guoming was actually very easy to find: he was right here at Qianyue Restaurant, on the floor above.
Seated across from him was Tie Hongjian, leader of the Tieyuan Gang. The Tieyuan Gang was a minor faction that had recently been causing a great deal of trouble for He Jiaqing's businesses.
Zou Guoming had a subordinate place a box of silver dollars before Tie Hongjian. "Leader Tie, those businesses under my care are small-scale operations. As a magnanimous man, please let them off the hook."
Tie Hongjian opened the box, glanced at the number of silver dollars inside, and sneered, "Just this much? Are you tossing scraps to a beggar? Even if I wanted to grant you face, how am I supposed to feed my brothers with this?"
Zou Guoming's brow furrowed slightly. "So you won't agree?"
Setting the silver dollars aside, Tie Hongjian drew a dagger from his waist, twirling it deftly in his hand. "It's not that I won't agree. Hand over an extra three hundred silver dollars each month, and this matter is open for discussion."
"Three hundred? Isn't that a bit much?" Zou Guoming picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a piece of spare rib.
Tie Hongjian laughed. "If you can't even produce three hundred silver dollars, you want to do business in Lushui City? Are you joking?"
"Fair point." Zou Guoming nodded. With a flick of his chopsticks, the spare rib flew out and embedded itself directly into Tie Hongjian's eye socket.
Clutching his eye, Tie Hongjian let out a wretched wail: "What are you trying to do?! My brothers are all right here!"
The five or six men standing behind him were just about to strike when Zou Guoming swept his hand. The chopsticks shot forth, piercing straight through Tie Hongjian's skull.
Chaos erupted throughout the private room. Downstairs, Shen Jingye started in surprise and asked, "What's that racket upstairs?"
Liao Zihui laughed. "Rackets are a dime a dozen in Puluo Province. Let's just enjoy our meal and pay it no mind."
Chapter 556