The Mole Revealed

The passenger in the Second Chamber intended to teach the mole a technique. Zhao Xiaowan wanted to listen in on the key points, but silence fell inside the Second Chamber. There was no need to speak them aloud; the mole could understand just by looking. He shared an innate rapport with the passenger in the Second Chamber. Zhao Xiaowan had already deduced the source of that rapport: the occupant of the Second Chamber was a shadow cultivator, and the mole was Li Banfeng's shadow! Was this shadow the "Banfeng B" her husband often spoke of? Whether it was him or not, she could ask later. Zhao Xiaowan returned into the gramophone's body. Two vinyl records rested on the turntable tray. Once the shadow emerged, she was confident she could capture him alive. He had to be taken alive. She had to interrogate him to find out where the key was; otherwise, her husband wouldn't be able to return home. As for the passenger in the Second Chamber, Zhao Xiaowan couldn't yet gauge their cultivation level. She would exchange a few blows first, and if necessary, wake Hong Ying so they could join forces to eliminate this evil spirit. With everything prepared, the gramophone steadied its firelight and waited quietly by the bed. The door to the Second Chamber cracked open, and the shadow slipped out. The firelight flickered slightly. The first record should have gone flying, yet it remained pinned firmly to the platter. Startled, the gramophone spun its platter rapidly, but the record still wouldn't budge. What was going on? Had the Second Chamber intervened? Had he dispelled the technique on the record? That shouldn't be. There was no movement within the Second Chamber; the evil spirit shouldn't have noticed anything yet. Nor did the shadow leave the companion dwelling right away. He rummaged through the bookshelf for a moment and took a test tube with him. The gramophone wanted to spew steam to trap the shadow, but the fire in her chest simply wouldn't flare up, and the steam pressure couldn't build. Who had stepped in this time, powerful enough to suppress even the gramophone's flames? The shadow exited the companion dwelling—just like that, he got away! In the companion dwelling, only one person was capable of neutralizing the gramophone's techniques twice in a row. The Old Master! The gramophone couldn't understand why he would intervene at a moment like this, or why he would let the mole go. Vaguely, she heard the companion dwelling's voice: "Lass, don't fret." The gramophone pondered for a moment and grasped the Old Master's intention. She went over to the bookshelf and found that the reagent she had recently prepared was missing. She had cracked the Dark Star Bureau's formula and brewed this Brawler guiding reagent, though she had no idea whether it was effective. Even if it wasn't, it didn't matter. At worst, the potion would just lack potency; it wouldn't take a life. But what did the shadow want with this reagent? ... At eight in the morning, Li Banfeng woke Liangwucai. Rubbing their eyes, the two sisters looked at Li Banfeng with aggrieved expressions. In the washroom, Liangchai washed her face while Liangwu brushed her teeth, both still brooding over what had happened the previous night. "Seventh Master really is something. He just slept the whole night and didn't touch either of us once!" Liangwu rinsed her mouth and wiped the toothpaste foam from her lips. "Perhaps that's precisely what we like about him—that gentleness beneath the coldness, that detachment within uprightness!" Liangchai rinsed the soap lather from her face with clean water and patted it dry with a towel. Liangwu wiped her body down with a towel again. "He felt so cool to the touch. I feel like my own skin has turned cold." Liangchai sniffed herself. "Not just cool, but there's a unique fragrance too. Don't wipe me down—that scent belongs to him, and it belongs to me." The projector didn't agree in the slightest. That fragrance belonged to a muskmelon. Should it tell them the truth? Better not. The truth might deal them severe emotional trauma. It might as well record this segment too. With proper editing, this tale would become art of entirely different styles in the eyes of different audiences. ... Li Banfeng went to check out with the restaurant owner, Chen Yongnian. Chen Yongnian took out eight hundred yuan from a large wooden chest behind him, money he had scraped together by borrowing from all around: "Honored guest, I'm still fifty short. Please give me another half day." Li Banfeng refused to take Chen Yongnian's money. "Bao Yaocheng and I are friends. Neither of us recognized each other at first, but once we did, he gave me my money back. And your rent isn't going up this month either, so don't worry about it." "Honored guest, please don't joke like that. You helped me immensely. I can't take advantage of you—you must take this money." Li Banfeng frowned in annoyance. "I told you, Bao Yaocheng returned the money to me. Why won't you believe me? Go on, get back to business!" Tan Jinxiao chimed in with advice: "Old Chen, even if you don't trust others, don't you trust me? Bao Yaocheng isn't such a bad sort. He was just in a rush to collect rent yesterday and got a bit hot-headed in how he spoke and acted. Don't take it to heart—he knows he was wrong." Bao Yaocheng knew he was wrong? Chen Yongnian stared at Tan Jinxiao in disbelief, having no idea what he could possibly mean. ... Bao Yaocheng swayed with every step as he led his men into the Green Garden Building. The name was an awkward mix—a garden was a garden, and a building was a building. What did combining them even mean? There was actually a reason for it. Because height in the Underground City was limited, measuring only about five meters from floor to ceiling, looking at the Green Garden Building from the outside revealed only a single story. The structure was enclosed by blue-gray brick and surrounded by various flowers and shrubs, making it resemble a garden. Hence, it was called the Green Garden. In reality, however, the building was far from a single story. Dozens of floors were hidden above the ceiling, invisible to outsiders, making it very much a true multistory building. When Bao Yaocheng entered the ground floor, the guard at the entrance stepped forward to greet him: "Foreman Bao, you're back!" "Foreman" was Bao Yaocheng's status in the Underground City, which could also be understood as his post in the Green Garden Building. The guard sounded rather nasal—not because he had a cold, but because he was actively holding his breath as he spoke. The smell coming off Bao Yaocheng was quite overpowering. Bao Yaocheng pressed the lift button, and the steam-powered lift carried the group up to the eighteenth floor. Stepping out of the lift, Bao Yaocheng entered the second room along the corridor. It was a three-room suite where Zhu Yugui—the chief of the Underground City's Human Market and head of the Green Garden Building—worked. Before Zhu Yugui even saw anyone, the smell reached him first. Looking up, he saw Bao Yaocheng grinning and greeting him: "Master Gui, I'm back! *Burp*—*gurgle!*" Bao Yaocheng let out a full burp. The stench nearly knocked Zhu Yugui flat. "What on earth did you eat? And did you get plastered?" Zhu Yugui said, deeply displeased. "What time do you think it is? I sent you out on urgent business, and you had the nerve to go drinking?" "Drank quite a lot, indeed!" Bao Yaocheng let out another burp. "Master Gui, we took care of everything!" "You collected all the rent?" "Collected every bit! Have a look for yourself!" Bao Yaocheng pulled two lumps of "gold" from his breast and set them before Zhu Yugui. Zhu Yugui took three full steps back and stared up at Bao Yaocheng. Pointing at the "gold," Bao Yaocheng said, "Master Gui, look at the size, the color, the weight, the thickness! This gold has a greenish tint to the yellow, full measure and full weight!" Zhu Yugui stared at Bao Yaocheng for a long time before asking, "You ate Golden Slurry and Jade Nectar?" "Sure did!" Bao Yaocheng nodded vigorously. "Ate it with a smile?" "Sure did!" Bao Yaocheng was still smiling right now. "Did you run into Tan Jinxiao?" "Tan Jinxiao?" Bao Yaocheng shook his head. "Didn't run into him!" Zhu Yugui recognized it; this was Tan Jinxiao's technique. "It really was Tan Jinxiao! I knew that man was unreliable!" Zhu Yugui's expression darkened, and he had someone summon Nie Congyang. Nie Congyang was another foreman under Zhu Yugui. He hadn't gathered enough rent yesterday either, but he hadn't forced the shops that couldn't pay. In his view, hiking the rent without warning was unjustifiable to begin with. He had assumed Zhu Yugui was going to chew him out, but unexpectedly, Zhu Yugui summoned him only to assign a task: "Congyang, go to the Garrison Office and tell Envoy Cai that that bastard Tan Jinxiao has turned traitor. Have him prepare countermeasures immediately." Nie Congyang was a cautious man. After some thought, he asked, "Master Gui, you say Tan Jinxiao turned traitor, but who did he turn to? We need to know who's on the other side before we can explain things to the Garrison Office." Zhu Yugui pondered for a moment, then looked back at Bao Yaocheng. "Who is Tan Jinxiao's accomplice?" "Accomplice? What accomplice?" Grinning from ear to ear, Bao Yaocheng looked at the golden lumps on the desk, seemingly developing an appetite. Zhu Yugui pressed further: "Do you know who Tan Jinxiao is working for? When you collected rent yesterday, who did you clash with?" Bao Yaocheng couldn't answer, and his men were in the same state, unable to give a straight answer. They couldn't get anything out of him, nor was there any way to investigate. Zhu Yugui had raised rent on short notice, and Bao Yaocheng had been ruthless yesterday—plenty of people had clashed with him. Who could tell which one was Tan Jinxiao's partner? Zhu Yugui told Nie Congyang to clean up the golden lumps. Holding his breath, Nie Congyang found some paper, wrapped the lumps up, and threw them out. Seeing the golden lumps gone, Bao Yaocheng felt distressed and began fussing with Zhu Yugui: "Master Gui, give me back my gold! That's the rent I collected!" Zhu Yugui waved a hand and had Nie Congyang send Bao Yaocheng and his crew away to find a healer to treat them. The stench coming from them nearly made Nie Congyang vomit up his breakfast. Once he finally got them all settled, Zhu Yugui had devised a plan. "Congyang, take the boys to the streets Yaocheng was responsible for and cut all their smoke pipes." Zhu Yugui had three foremen under him: Bao Yaocheng was one, Nie Congyang was another, and each had their own turf. Nie Congyang didn't rush to leave. First, he reminded Zhu Yugui: "Master Gui, I heard that Yaocheng collected all the rent yesterday. Most of the shops paid in full, and those that couldn't scraped up every copper they had. They paid their money, yet we're going to cut off their smoke pipes? That doesn't seem right, does it?" "What do you mean, 'doesn't seem right'?" Zhu Yugui glared at Nie Congyang, who quickly lowered his head. Zhu Yugui continued, "You keep saying the money was collected, so I'm asking you: where is it? Were those two lumps of gold you took away money?" Nie Congyang didn't want to contradict the chief, but he felt he had to make the reason clear: "Master Gui, the money didn't make it back, but that's not the shopkeepers' fault. Yaocheng lost the money himself!" *Smash!* Zhu Yugui slammed down his teacup. "You came here to lecture me on reason? You came here to tell me how to run things?" Nie Congyang shook his head. "I wouldn't dare." "Wouldn't dare? If you wouldn't dare, why the hell do you have so much to say?" Zhu Yugui slammed the desk. "The Master needs money right now, and we have to do whatever it takes to raise funds for him! Who did I raise rent for? For myself? Do you even have the Master in your heart? Do you have any vision at all in how you handle affairs?" Nie Congyang didn't dare speak. Zhu Yugui continued his berating: "Now trouble has broken out on Yaocheng's turf, and he's been ruined into that pathetic state. I'm ordering you to cut their smoke pipes precisely to flush out Tan Jinxiao, and to flush out the instigator behind him! And what do you do? Never mind failing to grasp my intentions—you stand here trying to argue reason with me! Where do you get off with all your reasons? What's your problem? What are those shopkeepers to you? If your heart's so tender, why don't you open a charity soup kitchen? Get out there right now and handle it! I want word by noon today!" Nie Congyang was silent for a moment before looking up. "Master Gui, I really can't go today. My elderly mother is ill. I was originally planning to ask you for leave today." "What's that supposed to mean?" Zhu Yugui's brows shot up. Nie Congyang's expression remained calm. "Nothing else. I'm telling the truth. My mother is ill." Zhu Yugui slammed the desk once more, then fell silent for over a minute. Because Nie Congyang was staring straight at him. Zhu Yugui was the chief and Nie Congyang was a foreman; in terms of rank, Zhu Yugui was higher. However, Nie Congyang was a seventh-tier martial cultivator, while Zhu Yugui was a seventh-tier cold cultivator. At that moment, the distance between them was rather close. Zhu Yugui pointed toward the door. "Go on back and tend to your mother first." Nie Congyang expressed his thanks and walked out. The moment he exited, Zhu Yugui smashed his teapot and tray to pieces. At the doorway, two guards muttered in low voices: "What's got into Foreman Nie today? Why butt heads with the chief like that?" "Beats me. Isn't it just cutting smoke pipes? There's nothing hard about a little chore like that." "Foreman Nie is a smart man. I reckon something really did happen at home, and he lost his head from worry." "No matter how worried you are, you can't talk back to the chief. Mark my words, the chief won't let him off easily this time." "I'm guessing his days as a foreman are numbered. The Green Garden won't be feeding him anymore." While the two were gossiping, they suddenly heard Zhu Yugui shout from inside, "Fetch Lv Qingfu!" Lv Qingfu was also one of the three great foremen. He hadn't collected all his rent either and had braced himself for a scolding upon entering. Hearing that he was merely being sent to cut off smoke pipes, Lv Qingfu gladly set off with a grin. It was simple work, far easier than collecting rent: just open the sheet-metal box and turn off the valve. As for whether the shopkeepers would have grievances, Lv Qingfu didn't give it a thought. What could they do with their grievances? At most cry a bit, and Lv Qingfu enjoyed watching them weep. Besides, it wasn't his turf anyway. No sooner had Lv Qingfu departed than Zhu Yugui's advisor, Du Zhihuan, received word and came to Zhu Yugui's office. "Master Gui, I heard that Foreman Bao was quite ruthless yesterday, and now you're sending Foreman Lv to cut the pipes today. I'm afraid this might spark trouble." Zhu Yugui sneered. "You've come to tell me how to run things too?" "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare," Du Zhihuan waved his hands repeatedly. "I merely wanted to give you a reminder!" Zhu Yugui shook his head. "No need for your reminders. I see this clear as day: those shopkeepers can't stir up any trouble. If you don't believe me, let's wait right here. It's nine-thirty in the morning now. Let's wait until six in the evening and see if those shopkeepers dare make a fuss with me! If they do make trouble, I'll step down as chief right then and there. We'll pick a suitable replacement together, and I'll abdicate in favor of someone better!" "Master Gui, please don't talk in anger like that. That wasn't what I meant at all just now..." Zhu Yugui chuckled. "I can't tell what any of you mean anymore. Old Du, you've been with me for a long time, haven't you? Right now, all I want is to flush out Tan Jinxiao and the man behind him. Can you understand that?" "I understand, I do, but Tan Jinxiao is a cultivator above the clouds, and the Master isn't here right now. Going head-to-head with him won't do us any good." Zhu Yugui sighed. "There are some things I shouldn't tell you, but I didn't send Lv Qingfu alone. I had Huan Wuchang go with him." "Huan Wuchang?" Du Zhihuan thought for a moment. "Master Gui, will he obey us?" "He carries the Master's mark on him; he has no choice but to obey. And let me tell you this too: Tan Jinxiao carries the mark as well. As long as he dares come looking for me, I can take him down. I want him to confess who's pulling his strings right to my face!" As he spoke, Zhu Yugui squeezed a teacup. The tea inside froze into a solid lump of ice. ... Underground City, Human Market, White Beard Alley. Tan Jinxiao and Li Banfeng stood looking at a young man collapsed by the wall. The residents of this alley were all elderly folks. Too old to find work, they relied on what meager savings they had to buy a bit of grain and scrape by. Once their savings ran out, it would be time to depart this world. Conserving energy meant conserving food, so the elders living in White Beard Alley rarely went outdoors. The young man had been lying in the alley for over an hour without a single person noticing him. "Just endure it," Tan Jinxiao sighed. "Endure it for another hour or so until the other two heads finish growing, and then he'll be fine." The young man's shoulders were a mangled mass of blood and flesh—the sign that three heads were about to sprout. Li Banfeng asked, "What kind of person ends up growing three heads in Santoucha? And what kind of person steps onto the path of a physical cultivator?" Hearing this, Xiao Yeci quickly took out her paper and pen to record it diligently. Tan Jinxiao shook his head. "No one can say for sure. Some claim that those with strong physiques become physical cultivators, yet I once saw a frail sickly fellow who wobbled when he walked stay in Santoucha for two and a half years. He didn't turn into a three-headed person—he turned into a spider. That's a genuine physical cultivator! Others say those with great comprehension can become physical cultivators, and I once met someone with great comprehension: I taught him the essentials of Phlegm Cultivation and he mastered them all. I was planning to take him to the peddler for powder, but who knew that after staying in Santoucha for less than three days, he turned into a three-headed person." Xiao Yeci felt an itch at the back of her neck. "Does turning into a three-headed person in three days count as fast?" "Not fast at all! There are folks much faster than that. The fastest one I ever saw was a young lady too—she stayed in Santoucha for five minutes, and two heads sprouted straight from her shoulders." At those words, Xiao Yeci's neck itched even more furiously. Tan Jinxiao chuckled. "No need for you to be scared. You're no raw beginner. Anyone with cultivation who comes to Santoucha won't turn into a three-headed person!" Xiao Yeci looked at the young man and asked in a low voice, "He isn't moving at all. Is his life in danger?" Tan Jinxiao shook his head slightly. "Hard to say. Sprouting those two extra heads is like taking a trip through the gates of hell; losing one's life is a common occurrence. Finding his way to the Underground City was good fortune for this lad, but sadly, that fortune fell just one step short." As he spoke, Tan Jinxiao glanced over at Juanzi in the distance. Juanzi hung her head, Mengzi gritted his teeth, and Xiaoshan closed his eyes, all stirred by terribly painful memories. Xiao Yeci turned her gaze to Li Banfeng. Holding a tube of reagent, Li Banfeng walked over to the young man, pried his mouth open, and poured the concoction down his throat. Tan Jinxiao froze in surprise. "What the hell did you feed him? At this stage, living or dying comes down purely to fate. Giving him medicine won't do any good." Li Banfeng didn't answer, keeping his eyes fixed on the young man. Blood occasionally spurted from the young man's shoulders, looking as though the two heads were about to burst forth at any second. After waiting for over half an hour, the bleeding stopped. Tan Jinxiao thought the lad had bled dry and perished. Yet stepping closer to inspect, the young man was still breathing, his breath remarkably steady. "Asleep?" Tan Jinxiao looked at Li Banfeng, then at the test tube in his hand. Looking back at the young man's shoulders, the originally swollen, everted wounds were gradually contracting, showing signs of healing over. "Good grief!" Tan Jinxiao was even more astonished. "You can force extra heads back in?" Juanzi also looked at Li Banfeng, a faint yearning in her eyes. Mengzi grew extremely tense: "Sis, what are you thinking of doing?" Li Banfeng asked Juanzi, "Do you want to enter a pathway?" "Seventh Master, you... what do you mean?" Juanzi didn't understand. Before Li Banfeng could explain clearly, wailing and crying drifted from the distance: "Master Lv, I really don't have any money left! I paid my rent yesterday, not a copper short! You can't do this, you can't cut off our smoke pipe!" Tan Jinxiao looked at Li Banfeng. "Brother, was yesterday just an impulse of righting an injustice along the way, or are you seeing this through to the very end?" Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat. "Can't both be true?" "Both work too. Lv Qingfu also hails from the Green Garden, but let me put this out there first: I'm a guide, but I cannot take you to the Green Garden. I have my own difficulties." Li Banfeng didn't ask what those difficulties were. He walked straight toward the direction of the crying. "Can't we just find someone else to lead the way?" Exiting White Beard Alley, Li Banfeng headed outward. Two paces in, a row of ceramic tiles suddenly appeared on the dirt path underfoot. Where would ceramic tiles come from in an alley? Li Banfeng paused in surprise as the scenery around them transformed. Lights flickered, and chaotic music blared deafeningly. The earthen walls on either side of the alley were now lined with dark-yellow wallpaper, and private karaoke booth doors appeared one after another along the walls. A karaoke parlor? Tan Jinxiao gasped, "Watch out, this is an illusion!" Liangwucai touched a light switch on the wall. With a sharp click, the switch startled Liangwucai into a shiver. The towering Juanzi reached up to touch a lampshade on the ceiling, but the sudden flicker of light frightened her into instantly snatching her hand back. Xiao Yeci didn't dare touch anything recklessly. Looking at the wallpaper, she asked Li Banfeng, "Benefactor, is this from the Outer Province? I've seen things like this in books!" Li Banfeng nodded. "It's the Outer Province. This is an underground karaoke lounge." "Is it a place like Xiaoyaowu?" "A bit like it..." Li Banfeng walked forward step by step. He had been to this karaoke lounge before. Tan Jinxiao called out, "Brother, can we stop walking? The fellow using this illusion is no pushover!" Ignoring the warning, Li Banfeng continued forward. From a private booth deep down the corridor came a woman's laughter: "Boss Wang, have another drink! Just one!" "Who's Boss Wang?" Li Banfeng turned his head to look at Tan Jinxiao. "What kind of question is that? Could it possibly be me?" Tan Jinxiao was on edge, bracing himself to deal with a formidable foe. Li Banfeng recalled for a moment and said, "You say it's not you, and he said it wasn't him either. Then who on earth could it be?" The corridor lights flickered dimly, like ghostly whispers echoing around their ears. "Boss Wang, have a drink." "Boss Wang, I missed you so much." "Boss Wang, how long has it been since you last visited?" "Who on earth is Boss Wang?" Li Banfeng asked once more. He strode forward, intending to see what was inside the booth! A sigh pierced the stillness, sending ripples through the corridor. The dazzling lights twisted and shattered, the noisy singing faded into the distance, and the illusion dissipated. "Gone?" Tan Jinxiao exhaled a long breath. "I thought the old bastard was going to have it out with me." Li Banfeng looked up and once again saw the alley ahead. A restaurant manager was clinging to Lv Qingfu's leg, weeping and wailing: "Master Lv, you can't cut off our smoke pipe!" Lv Qingfu yanked the manager's hair, kicking and punching him. "Let go! Let go of me this instant! Did I give you too much face?" Li Banfeng beckoned to Lv Qingfu. "Come here." Lv Qingfu looked up, looking Li Banfeng up and down. "You talking to me?" "Who else?" Li Banfeng grabbed Lv Qingfu by the head and slammed him into the ground. ... Zhu Yugui checked his pocket watch and said to his advisor, Du Zhihuan, "See that? It's already six o'clock, and nobody's making trouble outside." Du Zhihuan hurriedly poured tea for Zhu Yugui. "Master Gui has great vision; this old man bows in admiration." Zhu Yugui lifted his teacup and laughed. "This crowd in the Underground City may look like the sort to guard their food, but they haven't got the spine for it. They'll squat by their doorways, happily eating a bowl of rice. If you snatch the whole bowl away, they might dare scrap with you. But if you take just a spoonful of rice out of their bowl, they won't dare make a peep. "If you can take one spoonful, you can take two. If you can take half a bowl, you can take seventy or eighty percent. Leave them a bit at the bottom of the bowl—as long as you keep them from starving to death, they'll endure it." Du Zhihuan nodded. "You speak the truth, but we still have to leave them something. As you said, we can't take it all." Zhu Yugui lit a cigarette. "Going hungry for an occasional meal is no big deal. Afterward, give them another spoonful of rice, and they'll still be overflowing with gratitude to us." Du Zhihuan didn't know how to respond. "Yes, you're quite right..." *Knock, knock, knock!* Someone was knocking at the door. Zhu Yugui said, "That should be Qingfu finishing up his business. I reckon Tan Jinxiao ought to be here soon too." *Clang!* Lv Qingfu shoved the door open and walked in. "Master Gui, I took care of everything! *Burp*—*gurgle!*" He let out a burp. From the smell alone, Zhu Yugui knew something was amiss. "You came back alone?" "All my boys came back too." Lv Qingfu's men followed him into the office. Zhu Yugui scanned them for a long time, not seeing the expert he had sent out. "Where's Huan Wuchang? You didn't see him?" "Didn't see him! We ate some fine delicacies on the road and brought some over specially for you!" Lv Qingfu opened his mouth, vomiting yellow-green bile as he strode toward Zhu Yugui. P.S. The character Boss Wang previously appeared in Chapter 535, titled "The Vengeful Spirits of the Underground City." The mole had revealed himself.