The three-headed people who had walked out of Sinners' City were brought to the underground city by Qiu Zhiheng.
Every household in the underground city stuck their heads out to look. With so many people arriving all at once, where would they ever settle them?
In the past, the Mortal Market, the Soil Market, and the Sea Market had never lacked people, but things were different now—the business model had changed.
Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth had established a new trading company specifically in charge of commerce between Puluo Province and the Outer States. Many businesses where the Outer States had profited unilaterally were now transformed into mutually beneficial trade.
Take the quarrying business, for instance: Outer States enterprises quarried stone in Puluo Province, and they only needed to pay quarry rent to the Border Defense Bureau, while labor costs were practically negligible. Li Banfeng, Tangyuan, and Lightbulb had even worked in such a quarry.
Now, Li Banfeng did not permit selling raw stone. What he sold were preliminarily processed dark-energy carriers. The business yielded much higher profits and required far more hands.
Luo Zhengnan invited Zhang Fanglong to the Soil Market, where Zhang Fanglong improved the crop seeds, boosting grain yields.
Old Train delivered a batch of new ships from the sea: warships were kept in Baishun County for defense, while cargo vessels were sent to the Sea Market for transport.
Santoucha, a name that once struck fear into hearts and served as Puluo Province's living purgatory, was now gradually showing signs of vitality. Ma the Fifth even began discussing the expansion of the underground city with Li the Seventh.
"Expansion is the right move. The surface in Santoucha is far too perilous. We should strive to move all the surface residents down into the underground city." Ma the Fifth was full of confidence. "As long as we keep the railway running smoothly, the underground city will be more than capable of sustaining all of Santoucha."
Keeping the railway running smoothly—could that truly be guaranteed?
Standing by the tracks, Li Banfeng watched the speeding train, then looked up at the clouds in the sky.
He saw the sky-light falling from time to time, and a sliver of worry tugged at his heart.
The handover of the Sinless Army was also concluded swiftly. Li Banfeng entrusted the entire force to Tan Jinxiao. Once the situation had largely stabilized, Li Banfeng handed all other affairs over to Ma the Fifth and Qiu Zhiheng. Right now, he had an important task to see to—a task fraught with extreme danger.
Before setting to work, preparations had to be made.
The peddler had helped Li Banfeng plant many sunflowers in Santoucha, and by now their flower heads were heavy with divine effigies. Some effigies wore suits and fedoras, bearing a close resemblance to Li Banfeng; some possessed benevolent brows and kind eyes, looking gentle and mild; some had ferocious visages with three heads; and another sort was quite abstract, shaped like the numeral "7".
The effigies differed in appearance, but their mortal vitality was uniformly pure. Li Banfeng walked only halfway through Santoucha, yet the effigies he harvested were already enough for him to advance to the Fifth Tier.
This time he did not seek out A'yu, going straight to Jiang Ling'er instead.
Advancing under Jiang Ling'er's hands was a bit more agonizing, but if A'yu were to pull some trick and bump his Travel Cultivator path up another tier, Li Banfeng might lose his life.
Zhao Xiaowan agreed with Li Banfeng's line of thought. "Our own family is still the most reliable. Ling'er would never harm Hubby."
Jiang Ling'er took out a pair of shears, heated them over a fire for a moment, and stepped before Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng shuddered and buried his head in Zhao Xiaowan's embrace.
Zhao Xiaowan felt her heart ache at the sight. "Ling'er, you must be careful. Do not hurt Hubby."
Jiang Ling'er furrowed her brow and held the shears toward Zhao Xiaowan. "Why don't you do it then?"
To the side, Hong Ying chimed in, "We can't do this sort of thing. What proper woman does needlework all day? We sisters grew up brandishing blades and spears."
Jiang Ling'er lifted the shears, feeling a hint of hesitation herself. "Back when I was making the dwelling spirit for that old lady, I helped her advance from Cloud Three to Cloud Four, but going from Cloud Four to Cloud Five—I've never tried that."
Yucui Tower spoke up: "Girl, go ahead boldly. With me watching over here, nothing big can go wrong."
Jiang Ling'er gave a slight nod and made the first cut at his collarbone, extending all the way down to his navel, shearing through a layer of Li Banfeng's skin.
Sweat broke out on Hong Ying's face. "Ling'er, the mortal vitality is sufficient, so there's no need to supplement it with yang qi. Don't cut below the navel."
Two days later, Li Banfeng's advancement was a success. Though still wrapped in bandages, he could hardly wait to get on his feet.
With both his Dwelling Cultivator and Travel Cultivator paths reaching Cloud Five simultaneously, the backlash ceased. Li Banfeng was in fine condition and prepared to go find A'yu to learn the technique.
Zhao Xiaowan reminded him, "Darling Hubby, there's no rush to learn the technique. Your body hasn't fully recovered, so it's best not to seek out A'yu. Never mind that we fought a war together; no one can say for sure what she's plotting now."
Li Banfeng nodded. "Not seeing A'yu is fine too. For now, I have another urgent matter—"
Zhao Xiaowan grabbed his arm. "Hubby, you can't go looking for Old Train either!"
Li Banfeng said, "I'm not looking for Old Train. I want to check on the true forms of the Dark Star Bureau and that storage locker."
Zhao Xiaowan asked, "Hubby found a lead? I'll go with you."
Li Banfeng thought for a moment. "Darling Wife, accompany me from inside the companion dwelling. After all, that's someone else's house. If both of us pay a call in person, I'm afraid the host will grow suspicious."
Hearing the word "house," Zhao Xiaowan grew even more concerned. She could tell at a glance that this was what Li Banfeng had truly been fretting over all along. His eagerness to learn the technique had probably been to deal with the owner of that house as well.
"Hubby, let's wait until you've fully healed before going."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "We can't wait. I suspect that house holds some hidden secrets. Wife, you know that the Heavenly Maiden on A'yu's back cannot use sky-light. If she truly could, we might not have managed to hold her off that day."
Zhao Xiaowan understood what he meant. "Hubby is worried that there's another Heavenly Maiden in that house, and that she might be able to wield sky-light."
Li Banfeng nodded. "After all, Honglian and A'yu are both in our hands. If she senses them one day and blasts me a few times with that light, how could I possibly withstand it?"
Zhao Xiaowan felt the matter was not so simple. "Hubby, are you really only worried about the sky-light? If you want to avoid sky-light, we could hide in the Inner States, the Outer States, or Hulu Village. Why can't you wait a few more days?"
Li Banfeng shook his head repeatedly. "Some things cannot be avoided."
Zhao Xiaowan frowned. "Hubby is worried about the trains, aren't you?"
Hong Ying had been listening without fully understanding. "You two just said there are two Heavenly Maidens. Which one is the real one?"
Zhao Xiaowan explained, "Both are probably real. The Heavenly Maiden was likely split in two, just like Old Train. One was originally in the Outer States and later brought to Hulu Village by A'yu, while the other is here in Puluo Province."
Hong Ying said, "Since she's only half a Heavenly Maiden, there's nothing to worry about. Our whole family will gang up together and take her in too!"
Li Banfeng looked at Hong Ying and suddenly felt she looked exceptionally pretty today!
"Hubby, don't listen to Yingying's nonsense. Just go gather some information. Don't fight her rashly—it's hard to say which of the two Heavenly Maidens is stronger." Still uneasy, Zhao Xiaowan repeatedly urged Li Banfeng to be cautious.
Hong Ying thought Zhao Xiaowan was worrying too much. "A lad from a Travel Cultivator family needs to have this kind of guts! Hiding at home all day—what sort of look is that?"
Zhao Xiaowan slapped Hong Ying with her wooden clapper. "Is that something a dwelling spirit ought to say?"
Li Banfeng arrived at Green Water City and returned to Joyous Dock. He saw Manager Zhang leading people to clean up the grand ballroom, where shattered tables, chairs, and drinkware littered the floor.
Li Banfeng asked Manager Zhang, "What happened?"
Manager Zhang looked somewhat ashamed. "Seventh Master, some hoodlum came making trouble. Blame my soft heart for a moment—I didn't beat that bird-man to death. You don't need to worry about this; I'll definitely give you an accounting."
What sort of punk dared make trouble at Joyous Dock?
Li Banfeng instructed Manager Zhang, "If it was just an ordinary person, let it go. We haven't suffered any great loss, so there's no need to fuss over it. If some ruthless character came picking a fight, don't make a move lightly either. Let Qin Tianjiu know later and have him step forward to deal with it."
Manager Zhang gnashed his teeth in hatred. "Seventh Master, the more you say that, the more sorry I feel toward you. If I catch that bird-man, I'll never let him off!"
Li Banfeng asked no further questions, as he was in a rush to go to the peddler's house.
Reaching the top of the cloud, Li Banfeng arrived beneath the Western-style house and knocked on the door a few times. A response came from inside.
"Why are you here again?"
"I haven't seen you in days, Sister-in-Law, so I've missed you a bit."
"Your Senior Brother isn't home, yet you crawl into my room every day. What sort of propriety is this?"
Li Banfeng countered with a question: "Then tell me, when is Senior Brother ever home?"
That stumped the woman inside. "He's usually... not home much."
Li Banfeng asked again, "Then when do you think it's suitable for me to come?"
The woman pondered carefully. "I can't say for sure either..."
"I'm already at the door. Are you going to just leave me standing here?"
The woman chewed on her finger, realizing she was being discourteous. She cleared her throat and said, "Since you've already come, step in and take a seat."
Li Banfeng entered the house and sat down on the sofa in the living room. "Sister-in-Law, there isn't even a cup of tea on this table. You aren't treating me as a guest."
The woman grew a bit peeved. "You came empty-handed, yet you have the cheek to pick at manners?"
Li Banfeng pulled a feather duster from his sleeve and laid it on the table. "I brought you a gift."
An azure-glazed porcelain teacup appeared on the table, completely empty at first. After a moment, water churned, and the cup filled to seventy percent with tea, yet not a single tea leaf could be seen.
This certainly was not an illusion. Li Banfeng had been watching with Golden Eyes Piercing Autumn Down the entire time and still could not discern the origin of the tea.
Could this be the All Wishes Fulfilled technique?
If she could use All Wishes Fulfilled, it meant Wife's guess was correct: the Heavenly Maiden in this house was stronger than the one on A'yu's back.
"Sister-in-Law, I've been sitting here for quite a while. Aren't you coming out to meet me?"
The woman snorted. "A lone man and woman—why should I come out to see you? If you have something to say, say it in the bedroom!"
Li Banfeng picked up his teapot, took a slurp, and sipped. "I won't be entering Sister-in-Law's bedroom. If Senior Brother finds out, I fear he'd get suspicious."
"You actually know fear? Have you entered it few times?"
"Senior Brother must never hear such words. What I entered before wasn't Sister-in-Law's bedroom; the moment I crossed the threshold, I went straight to the Outer States." As he spoke, Li Banfeng pricked his fingertip and let a drop of blood fall to the floor.
An invisible halo rippled outward swiftly. Li Banfeng wanted to test Sister-in-Law's reaction.
Sister-in-Law had no reaction. "Speak if you have business. If not, finish your tea and leave."
"The tea is a bit hot. I need to sit a while longer." Li Banfeng took another sip of tea, activating the Sit Back and Relax technique.
The woman suddenly asked, "I hear your post in the Outer States isn't low. Did you run into A'yu at the Dark Star Bureau?"
A wave of perilous premonition washed over him. The woman seemed to have detected something amiss.
"Are you very close with A'yu?" Looking toward the bedroom door, Li Banfeng used Broadening the Bridal Chamber. He wanted to swap out the woman inside the room.
The final tenth of Broadening the Bridal Chamber's mastery was used within another's house. As for whether it would succeed, that depended on the strength of the Heavenly Maiden inside.
"A'yu and I are very close—as close as real sisters!" The woman inside exerted force abruptly, and Li Banfeng's swap failed.
"What a coincidence. I call A'yu sister too, so our bond is one layer closer." With the technique not yet terminated, Li Banfeng increased the force of Broadening the Bridal Chamber.
"Fine skill, Junior Brother!" The woman in the room gritted her teeth.
The bedroom door trembled violently, and Li Banfeng gained the upper hand.
Sheets of dust cascaded down, and the woman seemed unable to remain still. "Junior Brother, I don't want to come out. For you to drag and yank me like this—isn't that breaching etiquette?"
Li Banfeng did not reply. He was re-evaluating this Heavenly Maiden's combat prowess.
Her strength might not necessarily surpass the one on A'yu's back. The two Heavenly Maidens likely differed in their fields of specialty; this Heavenly Maiden's Broadening the Bridal Chamber was considerably inferior.
"Junior Brother, that's enough!" The woman sounded anxious. "I'm not threatening you. That teacup you just drank from is a precious treasure of our house. If you touch our house's treasures, you ought to consider the consequences."
It appeared Mysterious Light Slaying Evil was a technique this Heavenly Maiden specialized in.
However, if A'yu hadn't lied, this technique ought to be difficult to trigger.
According to A'yu's description, triggering Mysterious Light Slaying Evil required satisfying three conditions:
First, the teacup had to bear a spirit mark.
Second, the teacup had to be touched by someone else.
Third, after being touched, the Dwelling Cultivator had to sense it.
Li Banfeng said to the woman, "Sister-in-Law, you sensed that I touched your family's teacup?"
The woman chuckled. "What do you think?"
"I think you aren't the Heavenly Maiden!" Li Banfeng once again increased the power of Broadening the Bridal Chamber.
The woman was startled. She could not comprehend how Li Banfeng had seen through her identity.
"Sister-in-Law, I never touched your teacup at all. How could you possibly sense that I touched it?" Li Banfeng held his teapot and took another swig.
The woman was bewildered. Using the mirror in the room, she had clearly seen Li Banfeng drink from the teacup. Could it be a blinding trick?
This was no mere illusion.
Li Banfeng had asked for tea, so she had fetched him a cup.
When Li Banfeng drank tea, she assumed as a matter of course that he had handled the cup, so much so that she failed to see clearly what he was actually drinking from.
The reason she had failed to see clearly was that a Fool Cultivator technique was at work—Reversing Cause and Effect—deluding her.
Li Banfeng indeed drank tea, but he never touched her cup; he drank tea from his own old teapot.
For this woman to falsely claim she had sensed it proved she was not the Heavenly Maiden at all.
"Sister-in-Law, come on out!" Li Banfeng pushed Broadening the Bridal Chamber to its absolute limit.
The woman inside could resist no longer. "Junior Brother, I don't want to hurt you! I know you're the peddler's sworn brother. If I truly wanted to deal with you, I have plenty of ways. Don't force my hand!"
Li Banfeng ignored her and continued pouring power into the technique.
The woman shouted, "Junior Brother, listen to me! I'm not wearing any clothes! I can't come out to see you! Don't drag me out! Don't you regret this!"
*Boom!*
Li Banfeng swapped the woman out from the bedroom. She was short and thin, dressed in a short jacket on top and long trousers below.
Her hair hung down over her face, obscuring her features, but Li Banfeng saw a woman strapped to her back.
Needless to say, the woman on her back had to be the other half of the Heavenly Maiden. This Heavenly Maiden was remarkably pale—whiter even than the one on A'yu's back.
Why was she so pale?
Why was even her hair white?
*Crap! It's a stone statue!*
The statue was carved with uncanny realism, so much so that Li Banfeng hadn't distinguished it at first glance.
Now that he had, he sprang to his feet and ran.
"Want to run? Too late!" The woman tried to step forward to intercept him, but Li Banfeng glanced at her, and her feet tangled up, sending her crashing to the floor together with the stone statue.
The fall was utterly baffling; even the woman herself couldn't figure it out.
She had meant to block Li Banfeng, yet for some reason, while her feet walked toward the door, her upper body strained toward the stairs.
This resembled the Travel Cultivator technique, Hastening East and West.
The woman had only seen Hastening East and West once before. The technique lacked offensive power, but it was exceptionally swift to trigger and remained effective even against high-tier cultivators.
How had this kid managed to learn such an obscure technique?
Before she could even scramble to her feet, Li Banfeng had already dashed out of the house.
He had seen this stone statue before; it was the statue of the Heavenly Maiden.
When he saw it back at the Dark Star Bureau, the statue had been standing; today, it was lying prone.
Whether standing or prone, looking upon this statue brought dire consequences.
Rising to her feet, the woman looked out the window and laughed heartily. "Junior Brother, I told you not to force me. Brought suffering on yourself this time, didn't you?"
She put away the feather duster from the tea table. "You gave me a gift, and I gave you a return present. Even if the peddler blames me, I have an explanation to give. We're even now!"
Li Banfeng ran all the way to the edge of the cloud when his knee joints suddenly locked rigid, sending him crashing face-first to the ground.
Mortal vitality swelled violently throughout his body, and Li Banfeng felt as if he were about to burst.
What sort of method had that stone statue used? How could it be so terrifying?
The mortal vitality forced into him this time was vastly more than before. Fortunately, Li Banfeng's cultivation was higher than before, so his body could barely endure it.
He wanted to pull out the key and return to the companion dwelling, but every joint in his body was clamped shut, rendering him completely immobile.
"Ah Qi, don't panic! I'll find a way to pull you inside!"
For the companion dwelling, doing this was exceedingly risky. It might very well expose itself before the Heavenly Maiden, and potentially even expose Honglian along with it.
Yet seeing Li Banfeng in this state, the Old Master couldn't bother with risks. Just as he was about to open the carriage door, Li Banfeng's body suddenly contracted violently, then swelled up drastically.
*Boom!*
The mortal vitality inside Li Banfeng detonated, blasting him straight off the cloud.
"Ah Qi!" The companion dwelling gave chase with everything it had.
Li Banfeng's vision went black. He could only hear the Little Train's whistle growing fainter and fainter in the distance.
*Ding-clang! Ding-clang!*
Li Banfeng opened his eyes to see white clouds drifting across a clear, limpid sky.
He lifted his head and looked around, spotting toothbrushes, shears, combs, writing brushes, essential balm, cupping jars, and feather dusters.
With a smile on his face, Li Banfeng said, "Senior Brother."
The peddler pushed his cart under a willow tree, set up a pot, and began brewing medicinal soup.
Once the brew was ready, the peddler shoved a funnel into Li Banfeng's mouth and poured in a bowl of soul-returning soup.
The broth was scalding hot, making Li Banfeng shudder all over.
The peddler berated him, "Serves you right! Burning down my house at the drop of a hat, sneaking into my home to raise hell behind my back—look at you now! Feeling comfortable, are you?"
Setting down the soup bowl, the peddler sat in the shade to cool off.
Li Banfeng tried to get up, but after several attempts, he failed.
The peddler rolled a cigarette and took a deep drag. "Stop thrashing around. Move any more and your body will be finished. What were you thinking, daring to barge into my house? Do you even know who's inside?"
Li Banfeng said, "I only saw a woman and a stone statue. That statue is your wife, isn't it?"
The peddler pondered for a moment, finding it difficult to explain. "That's not entirely a stone statue. First tell me—what did you go to my house for?"
"I was worried the Heavenly Maiden would blast me with sky-light, so I went over to say hello."
The peddler chuckled. "You say hello, and she won't blast you? There's more to it, isn't there?"
"There is." Li Banfeng didn't deny it. "The railway just opened in Puluo Province. I didn't want the Heavenly Maiden ruining things."
The peddler spat out a bit of tobacco. "You worried the half of the Heavenly Maiden in my house could mess with the boundaries?"
Li Banfeng said, "Not only was I afraid she'd mess with the boundaries, I was also afraid she'd tamper with the conductors."
The peddler cast his mind back. "In my memory, the half of the Heavenly Maiden in my house doesn't wield Close the Doors and Bar the Gates or Harboring a Beauty in a Golden Mansion very well. She's far worse than the half in the Outer States."
Li Banfeng said, "I had a similar guess, but I couldn't afford to gamble. If I lost the bet, countless lives would be lost, and Puluo Province would lose its nerve."
The peddler rolled another cigarette and placed it into Li Banfeng's mouth.
The two finished their cigarettes together. The peddler took away the butt and wiped the ash from Li Banfeng's face. "To tell the truth, I was worried she'd ruin things too. If you hadn't gone looking for her, I really wouldn't have known what to do."
Li Banfeng froze. "You know what to do now?"
"I do!" The peddler was full of confidence. "You pushed her to that point, yet she still didn't use a boundary to lock you in. That proves she truly isn't skilled at Close the Doors and Bar the Gates."
Li Banfeng forced a bitter smile. "Why go through all that trouble? Couldn't you just go into the house and test her yourself?"
The peddler shook his head. "I've tested it many times, but I cannot enter that house. What would happen once I went in? Kill the Heavenly Maiden?"
Li Banfeng said, "Must meeting each other result in a duel to the death? Can't the agreement be renegotiated?"
The peddler shook his head. "There's no room for negotiation. She and I signed a covenant deed. Once we meet face-to-face, only one of us can live. We signed a covenant deed; if either of us violates our oath, both of us will be punished."
Li Banfeng found this claim absurd. How could the peddler possibly be constrained by a covenant deed? "Do you really have no way to circumvent the covenant?"
The peddler shook his head. "Others might have ways, but not me. This concerns my Dao gate."
"What Dao gate are you? A Covenant Cultivator?"
The peddler glared at Li Banfeng. "Why ask about my cultivation? Plotting to murder me?"
Li Banfeng flared up in exasperation. "With the friendship between the two of us, you still don't trust me?!"
"If I trust you, why would you still burn down my house?" The peddler brought the funnel over, shoved it into Li Banfeng's mouth, and poured in another bowl of soul-returning soup.
Li Banfeng coughed for a good while. "Can we skip this? Didn't I just drink a bowl?"
"You have to drink twelve bowls in total. Not a single one less."
Li Banfeng panted for a moment before asking, "Was that stone statue the Heavenly Maiden's technique? Why was it so formidable?"
"It isn't a technique of hers alone." The peddler added a medicinal packet, poured in water, and went on brewing.
Li Banfeng said, "There was another woman in her room. Is she your wife too?"
The peddler shook his head. "She's a grandmaster Thief Cultivator. Not of the same school as Smiling Thousand Hands. Her martial prowess isn't particularly great, but her attainments in the path are no less than Smiling Thousand Hands'. She is the Heavenly Maiden's dwelling spirit."
Li Banfeng said in surprise, "How many dwelling spirits does the Heavenly Maiden have?"
"How many dwelling spirits do you have? To win against the Bandit-Subduing Army, the dwelling spirits of your house performed tremendous service!"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "I wouldn't dare hoard that credit. Tou Youlu, Sun Tiecheng, Qiu Luoye, Cuilick, and the Baiji League were all helpers you recruited. Without them, there's no way we could have crushed the Hone-Blade Battalion, let alone the great altar in Hao City. I heard the Great Crucible in the Inner States was damaged as well—that was your doing too, wasn't it? You tied Qiao Yi's hands so he couldn't intervene, allowing me to fight with peace of mind in Dingye City. In this battle, the lion's share of the credit belongs to you."
The peddler laughed. "You kid, playing humble with me now?"
Li Banfeng considered it and said, "Then I won't be modest. We'll split the credit half and half."
The peddler laughed for a long time. After his laughter faded, he looked at Li Banfeng with a solemn expression. "While you were fighting for your life against the Bandit-Subduing Battalion, I was locked in bloody combat with Tufang State. Shan Chengjun recruited a whole bunch of helpers from Husheng Province and nearly took my life. Back then I kept thinking: what if both of us lost? What would become of Puluo Province?
"Brother, thank goodness we both held our ground and won our battles. I truly don't know what reward to give you."
Li Banfeng seized the chance to build a slope: "Talking about rewards with me is hardly appropriate, don't you think? I'm no ordinary man. Didn't you know right from the very first glance that I was extraordinary?"
The peddler blinked. "Actually, the first time I saw you, I thought you were quite ordinary."
Li Banfeng pressed on, continuing to build his slope: "Your appearance at Medicine King Ditch that day was definitely no coincidence. It was planned well in advance!"
The peddler replied in all earnestness, "That day, I truly just happened to pass through Medicine King Ditch."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Impossible. If you only treated me as a passerby, why would you entrust the companion dwelling to me?"
The peddler added a stick of firewood. "Because I had no choice."
Li Banfeng wore a look of shock. "How could you have had no choice?"
"No need to walk down that slope of yours," the peddler said, stirring the decoction in the pot. "Back then, you were carrying her on your back, so I had no choice."
Though his technique had been seen through by the peddler, Li Banfeng nonetheless pressed on, "Was the one I was carrying Honglian, or the Heavenly Maiden?"
The peddler ladled the medicinal broth into a bowl. "Let me put it to you this way: if she had fallen out of your backpack back then, Puluo Province's doom would have arrived right then and there."
Chapter 788