Chapter 134: Fierce Battle

Using his "Hundred Flavors Exquisiteness" skill, Li Banfeng tracked Liu Liangyi by following a faint scent of incense in the air. Liu Liangyi used this very scent of incense to control his ghost servants. As he had said, a surprise attack yielded the greatest advantage. Capitalizing on the fact that house cultivators are easily overlooked, and using his Portable Abode to cover some distance, Li Banfeng stealthily approached Liu Liangyi from behind and plunged a dagger into the back of his head.

Normally, such a blow would end a fight against an ordinary opponent. However, a Nightmare Cultivator was different; as long as Liu Liangyi still had a breath in him, he could retaliate with his ghost servants. Ten ghost servants, who had been guarding him, simultaneously charged at Li Banfeng. This was a tricky situation; Li Banfeng could see the spirits but couldn't harm them. Liu Liangyi seized the chance to break free from Li Banfeng and pulled the dagger out of the back of his head. He knew he might not survive, but he was determined to take Li Banfeng with him to the grave.

As one ghost servant swung its blade at the back of Li Banfeng's head, the Blood-Soaked Pendulum suddenly emerged, striking the ghost servant repeatedly until it instantly dispersed. Having consumed Lu Dongliang's blood, the Pendulum had evolved and could now harm spirits. Losing consciousness, Liu Liangyi decided to make a desperate, final stand. He expended all his remaining energy to summon all the surrounding spirits, along with his ghost servants, to swarm Li Banfeng.

Lan Yang Village, despite its outwardly simple folk customs, was a place where bloodshed occurred daily, and spirits were ubiquitous. Just as the Pendulum was about to be overwhelmed, Li Banfeng opened his Portable Abode, and his wife's singing echoed from within.

"Nights of red lanterns and green wine,By the hearth, dispelling winter's chill,Endless joy in whispers of love,Ethereal songs and graceful dances,Happiness greater than the immortals."

The spirits, weary of their desolate existence, were drawn by the enchanting melody. They marched in orderly fashion into the Portable Abode, eager to "talk about love" with the gramophone. Liu Liangyi's ghost servants lasted only a few more seconds before following the other wronged spirits into the Portable Abode.

What kind of magical artifact was this? Where were his ghost servants going? Liu Liangyi lit candles and burned talismans, using every method at his disposal, but he couldn't stop his ghost servants from leaving. Li Banfeng watched Liu Liangyi with a smile; things were much simpler now.

Liu Liangyi advanced with his dagger, determined to fight Li Banfeng to the death. Even if he hadn't been injured, a fourth-level Nightmare Cultivator who had lost all his ghost servants was no match for a third-level House Cultivator combined with a second-level Travel Cultivator. Li Banfeng dodged the dagger, seized Liu Liangyi by the hair, and with a swift motion, tossed him into the Portable Abode.

The gramophone chuckled, "Oh, another one? This 'dish' isn't particularly tender, but I've been hungry for so long, I won't be picky." The Copper Lotus, however, seemed displeased, its surface breaking out in dewdrops. In the entire room, Liu Liangyi was the only one deemed "edible."

Liu Changyu, Liu Liangyi's son, whose face had been peeled off by Chu Er, harbored deep resentment and sought revenge. Unable to confront Chu Er, he had sought out Ma Wu to vent his fury. Little did he know, Liu Changyu, despite having his face peeled, was actually quite fortunate.

Now, Liu Liangyi's consciousness lingered as his soul was meticulously dissected by the gramophone. Amidst the excruciating pain, a single thought surfaced in his mind.*It's this person.**Song Jiasen died at his hands.**I misjudged.**Ma Wu isn't the one to be wary of.*

Once inside the Portable Abode, Liu Liangyi lost all control over his ghost servants. At the Dream Spring Garden Dance Hall, the ghost servants stood bewildered, and the paper figures froze in place. Ma Wu seized the opportunity to lead everyone, following Xiao Genzi, as they burst out of the dance hall.

Xiao Chuanzi gritted his teeth and asked, "Young Master, what about the dance hall? It just opened today. Are we abandoning it?"

"If it's gone, it's gone. Life is long, and opportunities abound. Let's first hide in the large warehouse," Ma Wu replied. He had no magical artifacts, but the warehouse contained many spiritual objects that might buy them some time.

Everyone entered the large warehouse and began scavenging for supplies. After about ten minutes, Xiao Genzi suddenly poked his head outside.

"Young Master, listen," he whispered, "there's movement in the dance hall."

"What kind of movement?" Ma Wu worried that the paper figures might set the building on fire. While burning down just the dance hall wasn't the biggest concern, the surrounding taverns, inns, and opera troupes would all be implicated.

Leaning by the window, Ma Wu listened for a long time until he heard music.

"In last night's dream,Peach blossoms still greet the spring breeze,His affection, her intention, two hearts entwined,Waking, only to find it was all but a dream."

This song, "In Last Night's Dream," was Ma Wu's favorite. Who was playing music in the dance hall at this hour? It was Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng had placed the record, carved by his wife, onto the windmill gramophone. The ghost servants broke free from their paper figures and gathered around the gramophone, quietly listening to the beautiful song.

Although the scene appeared harmonious, the situation was, in fact, extremely dangerous. With the fourth-level Nightmare Cultivator dead, his ghost servants would become uncontrollable and very likely transform into malevolent spirits. A room full of uncontrollable ghost servants meant that the slightest misstep could cost Li Banfeng his life.

A single song lasted just over three minutes. As the music neared its end, Li Banfeng quietly opened the door to his Portable Abode. The singing in the dance hall ceased, and all the ghost servants turned to Li Banfeng, clearly agitated. Li Banfeng wiped the sweat from his brow, hoping his wife would quickly pick up the slack. Her singing from inside the Portable Abode immediately resumed.

"Are you foolish and dull,Or perhaps unromantic,Do you truly love me or not?Why do you leave me waiting in vain…"

Drawn by his wife's voice, the ghost servants eagerly rushed into the Portable Abode. Li Banfeng let out a long sigh of relief, then heard his wife exclaim loudly, "Oh, husband, quick, close the door! This place reeks to high heaven!"

Pushing open the dance hall door, Li Banfeng put on his top hat and walked over to the warehouse, addressing Ma Wu who was by the window: "You can send people to clean it up now."

All the ghost servants in the room were dealt with? Ma Wu couldn't believe his ears. He wanted to ask more questions, but Li Banfeng had already pulled down his hat brim and swiftly vanished into the night.

Xiao Chuanzi approached Ma Wu and asked in a low voice, "What exactly is that gentleman's name? I wanted to ask, but I dared not."

"Just call him Seventh Master. Don't ask anything else."

"Seventh Master? Is he your brother?"

"Didn't I just tell you? Don't ask anything!"

Ma Wu instructed everyone to clean the dance hall. Xiao Genzi, carrying a bucket and holding a scoop, led the way.

"Genzi!" Ma Wu caught up to him in two strides. "You don't need to do any cleaning. Go to the accounts office and collect five hundred silver dollars; you've earned the most merit tonight."

Xiao Genzi received the five hundred silver dollars and tucked them into his pocket. He patted the bucket on his back, then the scoop in his hand, walking with a distinct swagger. He decided that from now on, he would always carry his bucket, even when he slept! Since Xiao Chuanzi shared a room with him, he decided it was time to find new lodgings.

Back in his Portable Abode, Li Banfeng sorted through Liu Liangyi's possessions. Liu Liangyi, though a former bandit and quite renowned in the jianghu, carried less than two thousand cash and only a dozen silver dollars, a fact Li Banfeng found utterly contemptible.

Aside from the money, Liu Liangyi also carried a good amount of incense and candles. His wife exclaimed, "Oh, husband, these are the tools used by Nightmare Cultivators to control ghost servants. If you know the Nightmare Cultivation techniques, these items are incredibly useful. Even if you don't, they can still summon lonely spirits, saving you the trouble of 'grocery shopping.'"

Since his wife said they were useful, Li Banfeng naturally kept them. There was also a stack of yellow paper adorned with strange runes. The gramophone explained, "Husband, these are the contracts between Nightmare Cultivators and their ghost servants. Nightmare Cultivators usually carry them, but they aren't of much use to you."

Contracts? Li Banfeng paused, "When I dealt with Du Hongxi earlier, why didn't I find these?"

"They were there, but that vixen Red Lotus ate them."

Li Banfeng was taken aback and glanced at the Copper Lotus. "Why did you eat those?" The Copper Lotus didn't respond; even if it had, Li Banfeng wouldn't have understood. His wife answered for it, "Contracts possess spiritual energy and aren't considered mere goods. The Copper Lotus loves such things. It's actually fine for it to consume them; it can refine them into something. It's just that last time it ate too few contracts, probably not enough to produce a lotus seed."

Du Hongxi had only fifteen ghost servants, so there were only fifteen contracts. Liu Liangyi had sixty ghost servants, so if all sixty contracts were fed to the Copper Lotus, who knew what it might refine? Li Banfeng was about to hand the contracts to the Copper Lotus when he saw its petals had already opened.

His wife gasped, "Oh my! That vixen is sneaking a snack!" A whirlwind erupted from the lotus's core, devouring all the incense and candles Li Banfeng had just gathered! Before Li Banfeng could even react, the contracts in his hand were also consumed by the Copper Lotus.

"This is outrageous!" Li Banfeng fumed. "Starting without even a greeting!"

The gramophone was equally annoyed. "That little hussy deserves a beating, husband. If you don't enforce some discipline, our household will have no rules."

Just as the gramophone was about to erupt in anger, steam began to hiss, and the Copper Lotus opened again. Within the lotus's core were two lotus seeds: one was Liu Liangyi's corpse, still undergoing refinement, while the other was already ripe. Li Banfeng peeled the ripe seed. The lotus seed burst open, revealing ten sheets of white paper.

Li Banfeng frowned. "What are these for?" The Copper Lotus closed its petals, offering no response. His wife observed them for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, husband, these are contract papers!"

"What are contract papers?"

"Da da da tai!" The gramophone played an adagio, spewing steam as it sang, "Such treasures have been lost for decades! I never thought that vixen, the Copper Lotus, could still refine them."

Li Banfeng was still puzzled. "What exactly are they used for?"

"Their use is immense. Any contract made using these papers carries severe penalties for breach."

Li Banfeng was intrigued. "What kind of severe penalties?"

"That depends on the auxiliary materials you use, husband. For example, when you write a contract, if you place a poisonous substance on the contract paper, the paper will absorb it. Then, when the other party presses their handprint, if they breach the contract, they will die from the poison."

Li Banfeng pondered for a moment, then said to the gramophone, "I'll write a contract later. We, husband and wife, will live happily ever after. If you try to harm your own husband, then this contract shall..."

Before Li Banfeng could finish, a puff of steam scalded his face, turning it bright red.*Hiss! Hiss!*"Husband is using these things to guard against me! Husband is not kind to me! I won't sign this contract, I simply won't!"

"Alright, don't sign if you don't want to. There's no need to make a fuss," Li Banfeng said, rubbing his cheek before putting the contract papers away.

Three days later, Ma Wu returned with several newspapers and handed them to Li Banfeng. "Old shopkeeper Liu Liangyi of the Liu family has gone missing," he reported. "It must have been him who attacked us that night."

Li Banfeng offered no comment, instead asking, "The Si family is above the Liu family, what kind of person is the head of the Si family?"

"The head of the Si family is Si Wennian. He's rumored to be a five-level cultivator, though his sect is unknown. What is known is that he commands many ruthless individuals."

"Ruthless individuals..." Li Banfeng rubbed his forehead. "Did you take the elixir I gave you?"

Ma Wu shook his head. "Not yet. I'm a bit concerned about the potential side effects."

Li Banfeng let out a bitter laugh. "Just take it. After that, find a girl, and then focus on your cultivation. Brother Ma, you're good at making money, but with your current cultivation level, how do you plan to protect your home?"

With that, Li Banfeng departed. This was a genuine concern; Ma Wu was too weak, and Li Banfeng couldn't perpetually guard his residence.

Ma Wu sat in the wooden cabin, motionless for a long time. Seventh Master Li was right; this situation couldn't continue. He retrieved the Golden Yuan Elixir from under his bed and swallowed it with a gulp of water.

Si Wennian arrived at Lu Dongjun's residence and waited in the gatehouse for over an hour. The gatekeeper, Zhi Gua, offered a piece of advice: "Shopkeeper Si, please listen to me. Don't wait today; the Second Master is too busy."

Si Wennian sighed, "Something significant has happened to the Liu family. No matter how busy the Second Master is, I must see him."

Zhi Gua didn't bother to say more. After another hour, the strategist Wan Jinxian entered the gatehouse. "Shopkeeper Si, the Second Master requests your presence."

Si Wennian was delighted and quickly followed Wan Jinxian into the main hall. He greeted Lu Dongjun, but before he could speak, Lu Dongjun addressed him first:

"Old Si, you've arrived at just the right time. I'm about to visit the main residence to see my eldest sister-in-law. You'll come with me."

Si Wennian was dumbfounded. He had come seeking Lu Dongjun's backing, only to be assigned as his attendant.

"Second Master, I came to discuss matters concerning Lan Yang Village..."

"What's there to say about Lan Yang Village? How much is that damned village even worth? If you can help me accomplish my task today, I'll let you open two more businesses in Greenwater City!"

Lu Dongjun's outburst silenced Si Wennian, who then accompanied him to the main Lu family residence. Why was it essential to bring Si Wennian? In truth, Lu Dongjun originally didn't have a strong impression of Si Wennian; without Wan Jinxian's reminder, he wouldn't even have remembered such a person existed. Si Wennian was a Bitter Cultivator, and Bitter Cultivation inherently restrained Joy Cultivation. Lu Dongjun's visit was specifically aimed at Monkey Qiu, and Wan Jinxian's suggestion to bring Si Wennian served as an extra layer of security.

In recent days, Monkey Qiu had constrained Lu Dongjun in every family matter. The family's attitude was also strange; everyone, from top to bottom, still listened to Monkey Qiu, making it unclear who the outsider truly was. Today, he intended to settle matters with Monkey Qiu once and for all.

Upon reaching the main hall, Lu Dongjun first spoke briefly with Duan Shaoxia, Lu Dongliang's principal wife. Madam Duan, who spent her days weeping, had become significantly thinner.

"Dongjun, do you have any news of Dongliang? If you do, please tell me immediately; you mustn't hide anything from me."

"Sister-in-law, I've also been searching for Big Brother. Rest assured, nothing bad could have happened to him."

Seeing Duan Shaoxia's face streaked with tears, Lu Dongjun felt a pang of sympathy. Lu Dongjun himself found this odd. *Why did he feel sorry for her? She was just a middle-aged woman.*

After some small talk, Lu Dongjun turned to the main topic. "I came today to discuss some business matters with Butler Qiu. With Big Brother absent these past few days, the He, Ma, and Chu families are all eyeing us like tigers; we must be on guard!"

Hearing this, Duan Shaoxia quickly instructed her servants, "Go and find Butler Qiu; don't delay important matters."

Qiu Zhiheng entered the main hall and first bowed to Lu Dongjun. Lu Dongjun nodded, but didn't invite Qiu Zhiheng to sit. He directly asked, "I went to check the accounts at the Paramount yesterday, and a significant sum of money was missing. Monkey, do you know anything about this?"

Monkey Qiu was taken aback and slightly shook his head. "I haven't heard anything about it yet."

"You haven't heard?" Lu Dongjun smiled. "Since the family troubles began, you've been managing all the business. You should know where that money went, shouldn't you?"

Qiu Zhiheng's brow furrowed slightly. "Second Master, are you implying I took the Paramount's money?"

Lu Dongjun scrutinized Monkey Qiu, his face darkening. "Can't I ask a simple question? Who's in charge of this family? Why are you so temperamental?"

Qiu Zhiheng remained silent, his gaze fixed on Lu Dongjun's wrist. Duan Shaoxia interjected, "Dongjun, what's wrong? Butler Qiu didn't say anything amiss."

Lu Dongjun waved a dismissive hand at Duan Shaoxia. "Sister-in-law, stay out of this. Today, I must have a clear talk with him!"

Lu Dongjun had ostensibly come to visit Duan Shaoxia, but his sudden attack on Monkey Qiu was intended to catch him off guard. Duan Shaoxia assumed Lu Dongjun was merely having a temper tantrum and didn't intervene, unaware that Lu Dongjun's true intention this visit was to take Monkey Qiu's life.

What would be the consequences of killing Monkey Qiu? The consequences would be severe. The entire family would consider Lu Dongjun to be plotting ill, and he might even be ostracized. However, Wan Jinxian had analyzed the situation for Lu Dongjun: if Monkey Qiu wasn't killed, the consequences would be even graver. Monkey Qiu restricted Lu Dongjun at every turn, and as long as he was around, Lu Dongjun could never truly take control of the family's power. Furthermore, Monkey Qiu was secretly searching for Lu Dongliang, Zhuo Yuling, and Lu Xiaolan. If he found even one of them, the repercussions would be unthinkable.

Monkey Qiu hadn't expected Lu Dongjun to be so ruthless. He didn't mind being ridiculed by him; his attention was still fixed on Lu Dongjun's wrist. A scar seemed visible near the cuff. Was this the price Lu Dongjun paid for using the necklace? Had the earlier Lu Dongliang truly been Lu Dongjun in disguise?

Monkey Qiu wanted to confirm one more time when he suddenly heard Lu Dongjun ask, "What are you staring at? I'm talking to you. Did you hear me?"

Qiu Zhiheng's eye twitched. He now saw it clearly: there was indeed a scar on Lu Dongjun's wrist. Monkey Qiu remained expressionless, planning to first see Lu Dongjun off, then consult with key family members about countermeasures. But Lu Dongjun had no intention of leaving. He suddenly lunged and punched Monkey Qiu. "I think you've truly forgotten your place!" he snapped.

Monkey Qiu was a seventh-level Joy Cultivator. Although he wasn't adept at close-quarters combat, his cultivation level was, after all, very high. Moreover, whenever Qiu Zhiheng faced Lu Dongjun, he was inherently on guard. Lu Dongjun's punch missed. Duan Shaoxia quickly grabbed him. "Dongjun, this is improper," she said.

Seizing the opportunity, Qiu Zhiheng swiftly retreated, putting over five meters of distance between himself and Lu Dongjun. Lu Dongjun pushed Duan Shaoxia aside, pointed at Monkey Qiu, and declared, "Today, I'm going to teach you some manners!" With that single point, he pointed at Monkey Qiu's chest from over five meters away. Monkey Qiu felt a sharp pain in his chest. His breathing became labored, and his face turned purplish-blue.

Lu Dongjun stood his ground and delivered an air kick. Monkey Qiu barely managed to dodge, but the blow grazed his chin, sending him stumbling and nearly toppling over. Lu Dongjun lunged two steps forward, preparing to throw another punch. Monkey Qiu's gaze swept over him, and Lu Dongjun felt his qi and blood surge, causing a slight hesitation in his attack.

Qiu Zhiheng immediately let out a whistle, and a dozen or so gatekeepers, both inside and outside, rushed in. Wan Jinxian pulled a stone lion figurine from his robe, while Lu Dongjun quickly pulled a false tooth from his mouth and inserted it into the stone lion's mouth. The lion's eyes glowed, and inside and outside the room, the dozens of gatekeepers seemed to collide with an invisible barrier, unable to enter the main hall.

Monkey Qiu was startled; he had never seen this magical artifact before. Duan Shaoxia's eye twitched, and a hint of cold light flickered in her gaze.