Chapter 325: Turning the Hand to Become Clouds

The next day, Ma Wu had largely recovered, so Li Banfeng immediately discharged him from the hospital.

Zuo Wugang exclaimed, "The medical skills at this hospital are truly divine! It’s just that what happened last night made things a bit unsettling."

Cui Tike and Wan Jinxian had clashed at the hospital, and Zuo Wugang had noticed.

Huoling dismissed it, "They can fight all they want; it has nothing to do with us. But if they dare involve Wulang, they can just try it."

Ma Wu looked at Huoling, shaking his head repeatedly.

Shui Yongquan hadn't been wrong after all; Huoling was neither suited to be an assassin nor a support.

However, Huoling truly loved Greenwater City, and Ma Wu couldn't bring himself to send her back.

Huoling was a very enthusiastic person; she was exceptionally fervent.

Upon returning to Carefree Dock, Ma Wu recounted the events: a middle-aged man had spoken a single sentence to him, and Ma Wu had immediately fallen ill.

Li Banfeng knew that the middle-aged man Ma Wu described was Cui Tike's senior disciple, that he was targeting Li Banfeng himself, and that he was one of He Jiaqing's subordinates.

But who exactly was this senior disciple?

Zuo Wugang, however, had some recollection: "I caught a glimpse in the hallway yesterday; the man was covered in an awful rash. But from his back, he looked like Wan Jinxian."

Huoling was surprised, "Who is Wan Jinxian?"

"He's Lu Dongjun, the Second Master Lu's strategist. That old fox is incredibly cunning; Lu Dongliang often warned us to be wary of him."

Li Banfeng listened quietly. Combining this with the conversation between Cui Tike and Wan Jinxian from the previous night, a clue slowly began to emerge in his mind.

It was a very vague clue, seemingly traceable yet intermittent.

He needed to properly sort this out.

Ma Wu was still somewhat weak, so Li Banfeng told him to rest early. He himself returned to his personal residence and carefully went through last year's newspapers.

In Medicine King Gully, Li Banfeng had first gained a comprehensive understanding of Puro Province by buying a stack of old newspapers from Lu Family Study. Since then, he had developed a habit of keeping newspapers.

During the disaster at Haichi Ridge, it was Lu Dongjun's moment of glory. He frequently appeared in newspapers of all sizes, and Li Banfeng found a lot of news related to him.

But the crucial question was: which person was Wan Jinxian?

He finally found him.

In a local Haichi Ridge newspaper, Li Banfeng saw an article mentioning Wan Jinxian, who at the time was distributing food to some disaster victims on behalf of Lu Dongjun.

Lu Dongjun had gained a good reputation in the early stages of pest control, likely using Wan Jinxian's virus. However, the mosquitoes later mutated, leading to Lu Dongjun's failure.

But couldn't Wan Jinxian come up with any solutions at that time?

He surely could have found a way; creating another epidemic could have curbed the mosquito population. While this method would have been a temporary fix, it could have at least bought Lu Dongjun some time.

Yet, Wan Jinxian didn't do so, and Lu Dongjun disappeared completely not long after.

From the very beginning, Wan Jinxian had no intention of helping Lu Dongjun control the pests. He merely tricked Lu Dongjun into going to Haichi Ridge, first allowing him to enjoy immense glory, then causing his utter ruin.

What was the purpose of his actions?

To be precise, this wasn't Wan Jinxian's goal; it was He Jiaqing's. Wan Jinxian was He Jiaqing's subordinate.

Li Banfeng spread out the newspapers one by one, specifically searching for news from Haichi Ridge during that period.

After more than half an hour of searching, Li Banfeng found a crucial piece of information in the news.

Business.

Business at Haichi Ridge!

After Lu Dongjun achieved success in pest control at Toudao Ridge, he acquired numerous businesses. News articles from that time showed many photos of Lu Dongjun signing contracts; many businesses in Haichi Ridge had fallen under his ownership.

But where did all these businesses go afterward?

Li Banfeng continued to flip through the newspapers and discovered that these businesses had been sold off again by Lu Dongjun.

Shen Rongqing, Qian Xiangjun, Duan Shuqun…

Li Banfeng had never heard of any of these businessmen.

Lu Dongjun acted like a middleman, acquiring businesses only to disperse them all again within a short period.

What was the reason for this?

Business…

It seemed a major deal had been made around that time.

By whom?

Chu Er!

Flipping further back in the newspapers, Li Banfeng discovered that before going to Haichi Ridge, Lu Dongjun had also sold off many of the Lu family's businesses in Greenwater City. The most notable transaction was Lu Dongjun selling the 'Hundred Pleasures Gate' to Chu Er!

Later, most of these businesses were reacquired by Qiu Zhiheng, but some were bought by other people.

By whom?

Shen Rongqing, Duan Shuqun…

It was these same people again!

Li Banfeng stared at the newspapers, his thoughts racing.

"Oh, my dear husband, why are you so studious today? Come try on this armor, it's quite a rare sight…"

"My precious wife, let's leave the armor for now. Please sing me a cheerful song."

"Husband, are you in such a good mood today?"

"It's not a good mood; it's that I'm about to fall ill."

What a massive scheme.

What an elaborate setup!

Li Banfeng's brain was nearing overload.

As soon as she heard Li Banfeng say he was about to fall ill, the phonograph quickly began to sing 'Stars Aligned'.

"A star in the sky shines upon my heart, and my heart reflects a person too. They nourish me when I'm parched, guide me when I'm lost…"

Accompanied by a violin and piano, the phonograph's tender song quickly calmed Li Banfeng, allowing him to gradually consolidate the information.

He Jiaqing had used Wan Jinxian to trick Lu Dongjun into going to Haichi Ridge.

During this period, Lu Dongjun acted like a mere tool, gathering a large sum of businesses for He Jiaqing.

Including the businesses mentioned in these newspapers, and factoring in the Ling family, He Jiaqing's current assets were no less substantial than those of the Four Great Families.

Was this his capital to rebuild Puro Province?

More than that!

During their conversation last night, the two had spoken about He Haiqin.

He Haiqin had fallen ill because Wan Jinxian had harmed him.

If Wan Jinxian was merely Lu Dongjun's strategist, his actions would have been logical.

But if this was at He Jiaqing's instruction, the situation became more complex.

Li Banfeng had bought three and a half years' worth of newspapers from Lu Family Study at that time. Among these, he found news of He Haiqin's severe illness.

It was at this exact time that Wan Jinxian inflicted the illness upon He Haiqin.

Before He Haiqin fell ill, news coverage mostly focused on the rivalry between the He and Lu families. From the overall trend, the He family had a slight advantage at that time.

After He Haiqin became ill, the Lu family became dominant. This meant that from that point on, He Jiaqing had already begun manipulating the power dynamics of Puro Province.

What came next?

Then I arrived.

Li Banfeng spread out the newspapers one by one, from the main room all the way to the seventh room.

The phonograph sang again and again, afraid Li Banfeng might have an episode, but he remained unusually calm.

The clues were becoming increasingly clear.

After Li Banfeng arrived in Puro Province, waves of turmoil followed one after another, almost without interruption. Once Lu Dongliang died, the Lu family fell into disarray, and the Ling family seized this opportunity to rise.

Was all of this within He Jiaqing's control?

Not necessarily.

Lu Dongliang's death certainly wasn't within He Jiaqing's control; he could never have anticipated Lu Dongliang dying by my hand.

However, the great chaos in the Lu family was definitely related to him. From the news at the time, the Lu and He families had openly turned against each other over the Red Lotus.

Whether it was He Yuxiu or Lu Dongjun who attacked Lu Dongliang could be set aside for now; as long as trouble arose between the Lu and He families, He Jiaqing's objective would be achieved.

Was this why he made me bring the Red Lotus back to Puro Province?

Logically, it made sense.

He Jiaqing's identity was too prominent. If he had personally brought the Red Lotus back, the news would surely have leaked, the He family would have been besieged, and he himself couldn't have remained aloof, likely becoming the main target of the siege.

But there was a problem with the process.

He didn't have to bring the Red Lotus back.

He could have kept the Red Lotus in an outer province.

He had already used the 'Farewell for a Thousand Miles' technique to trap Lu Xiaolan in the He family's old residence, and he had successfully feigned being a victim, lying in the hospital.

He only needed to spread news that the Red Lotus had been stolen by Lu Xiaolan, that Lu Xiaolan had gone missing. The Lu family would be unable to defend themselves and would fall into a predicament.

And He Jiaqing could have remained in Yue Province, holding the Red Lotus, refining elixirs to his heart's content. Wouldn't that have been the most perfect outcome for him?

Why did he insist on me bringing the Red Lotus back?

Why did the Red Lotus *have* to return to Puro Province?

The clues weren't fully sorted out yet.

When did He Jiaqing start setting up this scheme?

Did he begin after going to Yue Province, or did it start while he was still in Puro Province?

Li Banfeng no longer had newspapers from further back.

He should have bought more old newspapers back then; their value was immense.

Was there a similar place in Greenwater City?

Li Banfeng affectionately embraced the phonograph for a moment. Once certain Li Banfeng wasn't having an episode, the phonograph relaxed.

Leaving his personal residence, Li Banfeng asked Zuo Wugang, "Is there a place in Greenwater City that sells old newspapers?"

"Newspapers, about newspapers…" Zuo Wugang, being semi-literate, didn't read newspapers much, so this question stumped him.

Chu Xuan, a singer at Carefree Dock, enjoyed reading newspapers and knew of a place that sold old ones.

"On Wansheng Road, behind the Ningshou Restaurant, there's a Lu Family Study. I've been there once; they sell old newspapers."

Li Banfeng knew Ningshou Restaurant; he had gone there for drinks before.

Just as Li Banfeng was about to leave, he turned back and asked, "Which study did you say?"

"Lu Family Study."

The place that sold old newspapers in Medicine King Gully was also a Lu Family Study.

How was it that even in Greenwater City, it was still called Lu Family Study?

Was it a chain store?

Li Banfeng soon arrived at the Lu Family Study. The study wasn't large, but it looked familiar. Its facade and signboard were identical to those of the Lu Family Study in Medicine King Gully.

Could a chain store be *this* standardized?

Not only was the exterior identical, but the layout inside the study was also precisely the same.

"Are you here to buy books?" Manager Lu stepped forward to greet him.

Even the manager was identical!

Li Banfeng asked, "Weren't you doing business in Medicine King Gully before?"

The manager's eyes lit up. "You recognize me? I was indeed in Medicine King Gully before. My business got better and better, so I moved to Greenwater City."

So that was the situation.

Li Banfeng nodded. "I want to buy newspapers."

"This way, please."

"These are the newspapers you requested. Please check the dates." Manager Lu handed a stack of newspapers to Qiu Zhiheng. Qiu Zhiheng paid and took the newspapers back to Qiu's Pharmacy.

His wife said from beside him, "Why did you bring back so many old newspapers?"

Qiu Zhiheng replied, "I haven't really managed the businesses in Medicine King Gully before, so I need to carefully examine the situation here."

His wife chuckled, "You've been through so many ups and downs in your life; can't you just see the situation in Medicine King Gully at a glance?"

Qiu Zhiheng shook his head. "At best, you can only get a general idea at a glance. If you miss something, the trouble can be huge."

Just as they were speaking, the medicine delivery person arrived.

His wife smiled. "That little girl who delivers the medicine is so adorable. I'll go see her."

Qiu Zhiheng casually asked, "Which little girl?"

"The one from Old Xue's family in Sanpu Village, Outer Gully. Her name is Xue Yingying."

Qiu Zhiheng thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Has she been here before?"

"Of course she has! She delivered the medicine last time. Her nickname is Caoye."