Chapter 295: Ambush

Late at night, Li Banfeng sprinted along the railway tracks, running faster than the train. The main reason he intended to take the train was to cross the border.

He could have also gotten a travel permit and run straight back to cross the border. However, border checkpoints were only open at fixed times, their locations varied, and identity verification was extremely strict. Li Banfeng was in a hurry to find the key and didn't want to waste time on this.

The train had departed at 5 PM. Under normal circumstances, it should still be within Black Rock Ridge territory. Whether he could catch up depended on Li Banfeng's abilities. Having traveled between Greenwater City and Black Rock Ridge by train before, Li Banfeng, as an itinerant cultivator, was very familiar with the route. After running for over two hours, by 10 PM, he vaguely saw the train's shadow.

As he adjusted his pace, he silently recited an incantation, then caught up to the rear of the train and leaped onto the last car. Once aboard, Li Banfeng continued to mutter his incantation: "Don't run into a conductor, don't run into a conductor..." He was quite lucky; the train traveled for over an hour, leaving Black Rock Ridge territory, and he didn't encounter any conductors.

As midnight approached, everyone in the Lu family's main hall was still waiting. Ling Miaoying's engagement hadn't concluded yet. After dinner, he had accompanied the Commissioner to a theater to watch a play. Tan Fucheng said to Ma Wu, "Fifth Master, it seems like nothing will happen tonight. If Ling Miaoying takes the Commissioner to a brothel, we'll be waiting in vain until dawn." Ma Wu nodded, "This matter cannot involve an outside province. As long as the Commissioner is here, they definitely won't dare to act."

Tan Fucheng was proven right. Ling Miaoying watched the play with the Commissioner until 2 AM, then proceeded to the Fusheng Academy. An academy (*shuyu*) was a unique establishment in Puluo Province. In such places, the women were referred to as "teachers." Tea cost three yuan, drinks cost three yuan, and an overnight stay also cost three yuan, hence they were also known as "Three-Yuan Academies." The "three yuan" mentioned here referred to three silver dollars. In Puluo Province, such fees were significantly higher than other venues, classifying them as top-tier establishments.

With Ling Miaoying and the Commissioner entering the academy, there truly wouldn't be any action that night. But Lu Dongtang was unwilling to give up and had his spies continue to gather information.

Inside Fusheng Academy, after settling the Commissioner, Ling Miaoying changed clothes and silently exited through the academy's back door. He passed through two alleys and entered a small building. Tu Yinghong had been waiting in the small building. She wore a black Zhongshan suit and a baseball cap, dressed like a man. Upon seeing Ling Miaoying, Tu Yinghong lowered her voice and asked, "The Lu family has been watching you. Are we still acting tonight?"

Ling Miaoying scoffed, "Do you think I don't know their petty tricks? As long as the Commissioner is here, they can only wait. Ma Wu has gone to the Lu family, leaving only Li Qi at the Carefree Villa. We must get the item back tonight! I've also arranged for two helpers; they're waiting across the street. We'll bring them along shortly." Tu Yinghong shook her head. "No, others cannot know about the iron ruler." Ling Miaoying nodded. "Then let them serve as a backup here."

The two left the small building and arrived at Carefree Villa at 3:30 AM. The dance hall had long closed. Most of the associates had followed Ma Wu to the Lu family, leaving only a few guards at Carefree Villa.

Ling Miaoying found a secluded spot, took out a music box, wound it up, and placed it on the ground. He and Tu Yinghong both covered their ears. The small figurine on the tray rotated for a moment as the spring unwound, and the music box began to play. It played a Western tune, not loud, but seemingly imbued with a certain spiritual quality, as it drifted towards the entrance of Carefree Villa. The few guards, already drowsy, heard the music box. Far from becoming suspicious, they instead drifted off to sleep one after another.

Ling Miaoying retrieved the music box and, with Tu Yinghong, entered Carefree Villa, walked through the dance hall, and ascended to the second floor. He had spies at Carefree Villa and knew which room Li Qi usually stayed in.

Reaching the room door, Ling Miaoying took out a palm-sized projector, placed it against the corridor wall, lit the candle inside, wound the spring, and flipped the switch. The projector started to turn, casting an image of Ling Miaoying onto the room door. The image held a key, gently inserted it into the keyhole, and opened the door. This image was tangible; it could even use a master key to open doors. If anyone inside the room became aware and hid behind the door to ambush, they would only harm the image, not Ling Miaoying himself.

The door opened, and Ling Miaoying sent the image inside to scout, discovering that no one was in the room. He and Tu Yinghong exchanged a look, and both entered the room together.

Li Qi was indeed not in the room. Ling Miaoying retrieved the projector from outside the door, closed the room door, and along with Tu Yinghong, searched the room. After a long search, they found neither the iron ruler nor the pistol. Tu Yinghong said, "Did we come to the wrong room? There are barely any clothes in here; it doesn't look like anyone lives here regularly." Ling Miaoying shook his head. "It's not the wrong room; I trust my subordinates. I just worry Li Qi took everything with him." Tu Yinghong said, "If he has them on him, that's fine; we'll just wait for him here."

Ling Miaoying frowned, "Could he have gone to the Lu family too? Then we'd have to wait until..." He stopped mid-sentence. His ear twitched, and he said to Tu Yinghong, "There's movement outside!"

Li Banfeng arrived at the entrance of Carefree Villa, panting. He had run all the way back. The route of this freight train was very peculiar: after leaving the Black Rock Ridge border, it passed through Yellow Earth Bridge territory, crossed the Greenwater Bay border, and went directly into the train depot for unloading. Li Banfeng didn't even wait for the train depot. After passing the Greenwater Bay border, he immediately jumped off the train and ran towards Greenwater City. After more than two hours of running, he entered the city and reached Carefree Villa. His legs felt like they were about to give out. Train Master had always disdained the pace of coachmen, but if it weren't for a coachman's footwork, Li Banfeng would not have had such good endurance.

Pushing open the main gate, Li Banfeng quickly walked into the dance hall. The guards were all asleep. Did Li Banfeng not notice? He did. But he paid no mind. It was perfectly normal for guards to doze off at night.

Halfway up the stairs, his Silk-Thread Earrings suddenly issued a warning: "Master, there's someone in your room." The Silk-Thread Earrings were far less advanced than Ling Miaoying, only barely picking up Tu Yinghong's breathing from this close distance. "How many people?" "One." High-level Perception Cultivators possessed methods to conceal their presence. While the Silk-Thread Earrings could faintly sense Lu Xiaolan's location in the New Land, they couldn't detect Ling Miaoying at all within Carefree Villa. Li Banfeng didn't stop, continuing up the stairs.

Ling Miaoying took a thumb-sized spool of thread from his pocket, pulled a silk thread from it, attached one end to a corner of the door frame, and wrapped the other end around a table leg. Throughout this entire process, Ling Miaoying remained completely silent. The thread was extremely fine, almost invisible. If Li Banfeng were to push the door open and walk straight in, his head would be sliced in two by the thread. Ling Miaoying and Tu Yinghong stood by the wall, quietly waiting for Li Banfeng to open the door.

The footsteps grew closer, now right outside the door. Ling Miaoying and Tu Yinghong were both ready to act. Unless absolutely necessary, they didn't want to kill Li Qi immediately. They would first try to force him to reveal the whereabouts of the iron ruler and the pistol. Tu Yinghong carried over a dozen weapons with her, capable of making Li Qi wish he were dead within minutes.

However, unexpectedly, Li Qi didn't open the door. His footsteps moved further down the corridor. "What was happening?" *Clatter, clatter.* He seemed to have opened another room door. Tu Yinghong looked at Ling Miaoying. Ling Miaoying frowned slightly, realizing he might have indeed gone to the wrong room. Had the spy gotten the information wrong, or had he simply gone to the wrong place himself? Or perhaps the person outside the door wasn't Li Qi at all.

There was no way to verify it now. Ling Miaoying gestured for Tu Yinghong not to move; he could move silently, but Tu Yinghong could not. Ling Miaoying gently pushed open the door and walked deeper into the corridor alone. According to the sounds he had just heard, the person must have entered the room at the end of the corridor. Ling Miaoying silently approached the door, placed the projector on the ground, and again sent the image to open the door.

The image opened the door with a master key, and Li Banfeng was waiting inside the room. The image was so lifelike that Li Banfeng indeed saw no flaw, believing it was truly Ling Miaoying entering the room. He raised his pistol and fired first. *Click!* The pistol didn't fire. In Puluo Province, gunpowder was unreliable. But Ling Miaoying heard that sound. It was the sound of a hammer striking. Ling Miaoying was too familiar with that sound; it was the unique striking sound of his own pistol. Li Qi was in the room; his judgment was correct.

One shot failed to fire; normally, Li Qi would certainly fire a second shot immediately. The second shot would only hit the image, definitely not harming Ling Miaoying. Ling Miaoying smiled, preparing to have the image engage in preliminary combat, then call Tu Yinghong to completely subdue Li Qi. Just as he made a mental move, he suddenly heard a howl from inside the room: "Hoo-ya-ya-ya!"

He didn't fire a second shot. Against others, Li Banfeng would certainly fire a second shot. But against Ling Miaoying, Li Banfeng had another method. Ling Miaoying was a Perception Cultivator. Li Banfeng used a technique from the "Deep Mansion" style, drawing on a portion of the Lady's power to emit a howling sound. This type of howl could damage others' hearing, and its harm was particularly severe for Perception Cultivators. This move had been tested on Lu Xiaolan, so Li Banfeng was naturally confident. In fact, it had also been tested on Ling Miaowen, but Li Banfeng was unaware of that.

Hearing the howl, Ling Miaoying's vision blurred. He covered his ears, and blood flowed out. Bleeding ears were not a major concern; Li Banfeng's voice was not as potent as the Lady's, and he hadn't had the chance to sing a full song, so this wouldn't severely injure Ling Miaoying. But blurred vision, that was a problem.

Before Li Banfeng could discern the image's authenticity, he drew his Tang blade. The Tang blade sliced directly at Ling Miaoying's image, severing its head with one strike. "Every slash takes an enemy's head!" The Tang blade was feeling proud when Li Banfeng swiftly rushed out of the room to see if Ling Miaoying had any helpers. To his surprise, he saw another Ling Miaoying crouching outside the door.

How could there be two Ling Miaoyings? Was the previous one fake? Was this one real? Was the real one ambushing him here? Li Banfeng's hair stood on end. In extreme tension, his pupils constricted violently. He used his toes to move his ankles, his ankles to move his calves, and his calves to move his thighs, employing the special footwork taught by Train Master to quickly adjust his stance and evade Ling Miaoying's ambush. Li Banfeng was incredibly fast. Ling Miaoying, whose vision was blurred due to the injury, didn't see Li Banfeng's figure.

*Thud!* A stumble. Li Banfeng's legs were weak, and he almost fell. *Squish!* A dull thud. Blood gushed from Ling Miaoying, and his stomach exploded.