Chapter 462: Holding the Reins

Ma Wu purchased over twenty cartloads of coal from the coal bosses at Huangtuqiao and quickly sold them.

Coal from Huangtuqiao was cheap, but after factoring in transportation costs, there was little profit left. However, Li Qi and Ma Wu had an agreement with the Customs and Defense Office, which halved their shipping fees, allowing them to make a significant amount of money.

Ma Wu calculated the figures and suggested, "Old Qi, why don't we just stick to being middlemen? It's much less trouble than digging coal ourselves."

Li Banfeng replied, "We still need to dig our own coal; we're not just here for this small business."

Ma Wu was just making a casual remark; the main priority was still to boost Huangtuqiao's prosperity.

With the train repaired, buyers contacted, and enough coal excavated, Ma Wu immediately arranged for loading and delivery.

By evening, all twenty train cars were full. Ma Wu sat in the driver's cabin, while the rickshaw puller walked alongside the train, pulling his rickshaw.

Li Qi hadn't arrived, so the rickshaw puller asked, "Brother Ma Wu, did Old Qi run into some trouble?"

Ma Wu replied, "Old Qi said he'd come, but he had a couple too many drinks tonight and fell asleep. I figured he was really tired, so I didn't wake him."

The rickshaw puller nodded, "Let him rest. It's just one coal delivery; we two can handle it."

Ma Wu looked at the rickshaw puller and asked, "Big Brother, why do you insist on pulling your rickshaw? Wouldn't it be better to ride on the train?"

The rickshaw puller laughed, "I feel more secure pulling this. Don't worry, I walk faster than your train!"

The small train puffed steam and passed West Bridge, moving relatively smoothly. But upon reaching the town, it suddenly slowed down.

Ma Wu asked the driver what was wrong.

The driver, sweating profusely, couldn't find the cause. His coal shovels were almost sparking from use, yet the train's speed wouldn't increase.

The rickshaw puller, who had been jogging alongside the train, was now walking. Seeing the train's trouble, he sensed danger. "Old Wu," he urged, "tell your men to fix the train quickly. We need to leave this place as soon as possible."

Soon after, the train stopped. Ma Wu called for the technicians to repair it, while the rickshaw puller, pulling his rickshaw, used his geomancy skills to sense where the danger was coming from.

Chuanzi quickly found the problem: a bearing in the locomotive had lost its balls, preventing the axle from turning. It was like driving with the brakes on, so naturally, it couldn't go fast.

"Good thing we found it early; the main axle is fine!" Chuanzi took out a spare part from the carriage, replaced the bearing, and the train continued its journey.

Not long after starting, the boiler began to leak, and the steam pressure instantly dropped, rendering the train immobile again.

The rickshaw puller, pulling his rickshaw, said, "Brother Ma Wu, didn't I tell you I walk faster? Your train is utterly useless."

Ma Wu was used to it; delivering coal in Huangtuqiao had never gone smoothly.

The one good thing about steam locomotives was that they could be repaired immediately if they broke down.

Chuanzi climbed onto the boiler, found the leak, and, relying on his cultivation, endured the high temperature and pressure to seal the leak directly with adhesive.

With coal and water added, the train resumed its journey.

After less than three hundred meters, the carriages decoupled from the locomotive.

The rickshaw puller put down his rickshaw handles and chuckled, "I've never been fond of this train. It's slow and has so many issues. Don't rush the journey. Have the brothers thoroughly check it out. If it really can't move, I'll pull the train myself."

The rickshaw puller wasn't bragging; he truly could pull the train.

In fact, he genuinely wanted to try pulling it. With so many carriages behind him, it would clearly be more satisfying than pulling his rickshaw.

As everyone inspected their respective malfunctions, a cold breeze swept by, carrying a melody accompanied by singing to their ears.

The tune was pleasant, and the singing even more so. Everyone listened for a while, captivated, and in the blink of an eye, a large number of them fell asleep.

Ma Wu forced himself to stay alert, using his Cultivation of Joy technique to encourage those around him not to fall asleep.

With four layers of cultivation, he was considered a mid-level cultivator. Influenced by his technique, a few people around him indeed resisted the urge to sleep.

While they struggled to stay awake, the rickshaw puller, pulling his rickshaw, had already found the source of the singing.

The singing came from a teahouse on the street that had been abandoned for many years.

In Puluo Province, teahouses usually had young women singing songs, mostly playing the pipa, some playing the sanxian, but rarely the erhu, as it was very difficult to learn.

This young woman was indeed playing the pipa and singing, currently performing "A Crow Marries a Phoenix." The rickshaw puller stood at the teahouse entrance, quietly waiting for the song to finish, then called out, "Miss, your song is excellent, truly skillful and masterful. We're busy with business today and truly don't have time to listen to music. Once our business is done, I'll come support you and have you sing a hundred songs straight, a silver dollar per song. How does that sound?"

The pipa music ceased abruptly. The rickshaw puller sneered, "Miss, I see you're still reasonable. I'm letting you off the hook today; don't cause me any more trouble in the future."

The rickshaw puller pulled his rickshaw back to the railway. The train was repaired, those who hadn't slept were no longer drowsy, and those who had fallen asleep were now awake.

Ma Wu asked the rickshaw puller, "Did you find the singer?"

The rickshaw puller nodded, "Found her. I gave her a stern talking-to; she won't dare come again."

"Won't dare come again..." Ma Wu looked into the distance. "But what about this time?"

Behind the locomotive, it was empty.

Twenty carloads of coal, along with their carriages, had vanished.

Li Banfeng sat in his Portable Residence, opening his pocket watch and calculating the time.

The old man coughed and said, "No need to calculate; we've arrived."

This was rare; the old man seldom reminded Li Banfeng of the outside situation when he was in the Portable Residence.

The current situation indeed warranted a reminder, because if he didn't, the key would be hard to find.

Before the coal train departed, Li Banfeng feigned drunkenness and pretended to be asleep.

In reality, he wasn't asleep. He had hidden the key in the coal pile and traveled with the small train to the station.

Li Banfeng suspected that these twenty carloads of coal might be stolen, so he simply decided to travel with them to see who would steal the coal and where they would take it.

Now that the old man said they had arrived, Li Banfeng immediately stepped out of the Portable Residence and plunged into the water with a splash.

"That old geezer, he tricked me again!"

Li Banfeng poked his head out of the river. At first, he thought the Portable Residence was playing another trick, but only when he found the key in the water did he realize the old man hadn't been wrong; he really had arrived at his destination.

This was Meisha River.

Li Banfeng had stayed in the Portable Residence and didn't know the exact process, but one thing was certain: the opponent had stolen the coal. All twenty carriages and twenty carloads of coal were stolen and then dumped into Meisha River.

This river, laden with a large amount of mud, sand, and coal slag, had become their fencing location.

Tucking away the key and wiping his face, Li Banfeng swam to the shore from the freezing river water.

He took off his top hat, squeezed out the muddy water, put it back on, patted his Tang saber, and chuckled, "Brother, I understand your difficulties now."

The Tang saber said feelingly, "My lord, they didn't dare to use brute force, which proves they can't defeat us. But now, we don't know who to fight."

Li Banfeng was quite confident, "We'll find them soon. Once we do, we must act quickly. Their schemes are too meticulous; we can't give them time to prepare."

Entering the Portable Residence, Li Banfeng changed his clothes and asked the old man, "Who was it that stole the coal just now?"

"Ah Qi, I have my rules. Inside the carriage is inside, outside the carriage is outside. Have you ever seen a train that tells passengers everything happening outside?"

Li Banfeng said, "Isn't this still your fault?"

"Why blame me?"

"If you had windows, I wouldn't need to ask you; I could see it myself from the window."

"If you can get windows, that would be quite a feat!"

So there really are windows?

"Where would I even get something like that?"

The old man snorted, "Wherever you go, I follow. Only if you encounter it can I see it."

"The key is, you need to give me some clues so I know where to look."

"Clues?" The old man gave a wry smile. "If I remembered the clues, that would be great. I've even forgotten what a window looks like."

Li Banfeng lay on the bed for a short nap when the projector walked over. "Director Qi, I have something to show you."

"What is it?"

The projector mysteriously went to Room Eight, and Li Banfeng followed.

"Don't you usually stay in Room Five? Why come to Room Eight?"

The projector replied, "This footage is best not viewed in Room Five."

Li Banfeng chuckled, "What unsavory things have you filmed now?"

Lights flickered behind the lens, and the image was projected onto the wall.

It was a coal pile.

The coal pile was moving forward on the small train. From the perspective of the coal pile, the scenery on both sides of the railway was slowly receding.

Upon reaching the town, the small train began to slow, stopping and starting intermittently, as if experiencing a malfunction.

During one of the stops, a figure appeared by the roadside: average build, with a long hem on their clothes, who circled the carriage.

He seemed to have seen this person somewhere before.

Li Banfeng watched carefully for a moment, then the screen suddenly went dark.

After waiting for over a minute, the image reappeared. A shimmering light rushed towards the screen, and the perspective plunged into a river.

The image froze, and that was the end.

Li Banfeng looked at the projector and asked, "Is this a scene from outside the house?"

"It should be."

"How could you possibly record scenes from outside the house?"

After careful consideration, the projector replied, "Director Qi, you've always said that the young woman wasn't my imagination, and I think you're right."

Li Banfeng's cheek twitched. "That young woman let you see scenes from outside the house?"

"I can't say exactly what happened. At the time, she and I were filming a beautiful love story. I was taking a close-up of her face, and in the reflection of her pupils, I discovered this footage. I had always believed this young woman was a figment of my imagination, thinking it was artistic inspiration blooming in my mind and reflecting in her eyes. But this footage was so clear and vivid, yet utterly unrelated to my thoughts. I realized it might be a real scene. I quietly recorded this scene. No one knows about it, not even the young woman—the potentially real Room Five girl."

The Room Five girl...

Who exactly was she?

Why could she project her sight beyond the Portable Residence?

If this footage was real, the crucial clue lay with the man who appeared by the carriage, the man with the very long hem.

He must have used some kind of magic artifact or spiritual object to transport the carriages and coal into Meisha River.

Li Banfeng left the Portable Residence and followed the railway tracks to the incident site.

After searching near the tracks for a long time, he found nothing unusual.

Just as he was about to leave, a scratch on the rail caught his attention.

Was this a scratch left by a train malfunction?

No.

This scratch was clear and straight; it certainly wasn't left by a train wheel.

Someone had made a mark here.

This was the spot the opponent had chosen in advance to act, having prepared their magic artifact nearby.

Steam trains, affected by inertia, require some time to stop.

What kind of cultivator was this person? How could they calculate the exact spot to act so precisely?

Li Banfeng returned to the mine and saw Ma Wu sitting in the shed, drinking his sorrows away.

Seeing Li Banfeng, Ma Wu recounted the entire incident: "We clearly saw the singing woman, and that rickshaw puller brother went up to reason with her. She had already attacked us, and he still had the composure to reason with her. I truly don't know what to say about it. If Brother Qiu had been here, that woman would have had her bones taken apart!"

Some of the rickshaw puller's actions also made Li Banfeng somewhat dissatisfied.

Bringing up the singing woman, Li Banfeng asked, "Did you find out who she is?"

Ma Wu shook his head, "At the time, only the rickshaw puller went to the teahouse entrance to negotiate. He didn't enter the teahouse; he was just doing his 'Jianghu' routine outside the door. But I suspect this woman is Miss Xiao Qin, whom those coal mine bosses mentioned. She's the mastermind behind them. Her purpose is very clear: first, to control Huangtuqiao's prosperity, making it impossible for the rickshaw puller to secure his position as the Local Deity. Second, to control Huangtuqiao's economy. All coal business in Huangtuqiao must go through these coal mine bosses, otherwise, it's impossible to ship goods smoothly."

After having a few drinks with Ma Wu, Li Banfeng found an opportunity to return to the Portable Residence.

Through Ma Wu's description, Li Banfeng largely reconstructed the scene.

He took the projector to Room Eight and wrote down Ma Wu's description on paper.

With a scan of the lens, the paper entered the projector's body, and the entire scene was displayed on the wall.

The train stopped, Miss Xiao Qin began singing, and most people fell asleep, while a few struggled to stay awake. This suggested that Miss Xiao Qin was likely a Sleep Cultivator or Dream Cultivator.

The rickshaw puller went to the teahouse to negotiate with Miss Xiao Qin.

This move both diverted the rickshaw puller and captured everyone's attention.

A person with a very long garment hem seized the opportunity to use a technique and transported all the train carriages to Meisha River.

The train's stopping had to be extremely precise, firstly because the mysterious person was ambushed nearby, and secondly because the stopping location needed to be at an appropriate distance from the teahouse.

It couldn't be too far from the teahouse, or Miss Xiao Qin's singing wouldn't be heard.

Nor could it be too close, otherwise the rickshaw puller wouldn't go far, leaving no space for the mysterious person to act.

He calculated with incredible precision.

This mysterious person was likely a Calculation Cultivator.

A subordinate of Xiao Qin?

Or the true mastermind?

Li Banfeng told the projector, "Reconstruct the entire process again. We need to devise a strategy."

The projector reconstructed the entire process again. This opponent was very unusual; not a single detail could be missed.

The garment hem was very long.

Wait.

That didn't look like a hem.

It was an apron!

Where had he seen this apron?

The next morning, Ma Wu changed into a white suit, black shirt, and white tie. Dressed impeccably, he prepared to depart.

Seeing his attire, one could immediately guess where he was going.

"You're going to see Miss Xiao Qin."

Ma Wu nodded, "This woman stole my things; she has to return them."

"You definitely can't go alone."

"I know her cultivation isn't low, but I have my methods. I have to get this off my chest." Ma Wu was getting worked up.

Li Banfeng said, "Even if she's unwilling to kill you, she won't be manipulated by you. You might not get this off your chest, and you could even lose your life. She also has many subordinates, including some ruthless ones. Since we're going to act, we should take them all out."

Ma Wu was indeed not calm at this moment, but no matter how impulsive he got, he still listened to Li Qi.

"Alright, we brothers will go together. I'll bring all the men."

Li Banfeng shook his head, "The men don't need to go yet; have them guard the mine. We don't want our backyard burned down when we're fighting. I'll call the rickshaw puller and have him come with us."

Ma Wu sighed, "I truly don't trust that rickshaw puller."

Li Banfeng said, "He has Cloud-level cultivation. With him, we won't be at a disadvantage in terms of combat power."

With the strategy decided, the rickshaw puller, pulling his rickshaw, set off with Li Banfeng and Ma Wu.

Sitting in the rickshaw, Ma Wu looked helpless. "Big Brother, we have important business today. Can you please not pull this rickshaw?"

The rickshaw puller laughed, "The more critical the moment, the more I need to bring this rickshaw."

"Is your rickshaw a magic artifact or a weapon?"

"It's more important than any magic artifact or weapon. With it by my side, I feel confident."

Ma Wu looked around. "Rickshaws aren't common in Huangtuqiao. Pulling it like this will be too conspicuous."

The rickshaw puller shook his head, "Not conspicuous at all. You two just sit and enjoy the scenery; others won't see you, nor will they see my rickshaw."

The rickshaw puller possessed true skill. He concealed both Li Banfeng and Ma Wu so that ordinary people couldn't see his rickshaw, nor even clearly discern his figure.

As they neared North Bridge, the rickshaw puller turned back to the two of them. "Brothers, although we're prepared for a fight, once we meet them, let's try to explain things clearly. If we can avoid a fight, let's avoid it."

Ma Wu rubbed his forehead, not wanting to speak.

Li Banfeng said, "Big Brother, this matter can't be talked out. Since we're here, there must be a resolution."

The rickshaw puller sighed, "We can't kill everyone in North Bridge, or the territory won't be defendable."

Ma Wu said, "I've read in books that as long as there are a hundred people in a 'Proper Land,' it won't turn into 'Old Earth.' Big Brother, we have over two hundred miners, what are you afraid of?"

The rickshaw puller whispered, "They are newcomers; this number might not be enough."

Newcomers?

So there's a distinction between newcomers and old-timers?

The rickshaw puller didn't elaborate further. Near the town, the two men got off the rickshaw.

Li Banfeng walked ahead, leading the rickshaw puller and Ma Wu to a jianbing stall. The rickshaw puller ordered a jianbing guozi and casually asked about Miss Xiao Qin's residence.

The uncle selling jianbing guozi wiped his hands on his apron and pointed to a small courtyard by the street. "Gentlemen, Miss Xiao Qin lives in that courtyard. When you go in, don't say you're there to listen to music; say you're there to buy wine. The young lady will warm a pot of good wine for you three, and make a couple of dishes to go with it. While you eat and drink, Miss Xiao Qin will sing for you. If you like her singing, give her a bit more money. If not, just pay for the wine when you leave; it won't cost much."

As he spoke, one jianbing guozi was already eaten. The rickshaw puller told the uncle, "Make another one."

The uncle repeatedly thanked him, took a brush, swiped it on the griddle, cracked an egg, sprinkled green onions, and asked, "Do you want thin crispy crackers or fried dough sticks?"

"A fried dough stick."

Once a jianbing was rolled, the uncle added a reminder, "Miss Xiao Qin earns a living with her voice, not by being a 'dark door' girl. The three of you should be mindful of what you say."

The rickshaw puller nodded repeatedly, and in a few bites, another jianbing was gone. "Make another one."

Li Banfeng chuckled, "Didn't we have breakfast before we left?"

The rickshaw puller mumbled while eating, "Delicious, his is too delicious."

Yes, this jianbing was delicious.

The last time he came to North Bridge, Li Banfeng also found it delicious.

The ingredients certainly weren't precious; it was mainly the seasoning and the cooking temperature, which were mastered perfectly. Even a little too much or too little would not result in this flavor.

How could he control the seasoning so precisely?

How could he calculate so accurately?

After eating three jianbing guozis, the rickshaw puller still wanted more. Li Banfeng told him, "We'll go to Miss Xiao Qin's place and order some dishes. You can eat slowly here."

The rickshaw puller nodded, "You go ahead!"

The two left. The jianbing vendor wiped his hands on his apron and asked the rickshaw puller, "Are you full now?"

The rickshaw puller wiped his mouth, looked at the jianbing vendor, and chuckled, "Your apron is quite long; it's dragging on the ground."

The jianbing vendor lifted his apron, "It's clean; it hasn't touched the ground."

The rickshaw puller said, "Make me another one."

The uncle quickly scooped batter. The rickshaw puller lowered his voice, "Friend, this territory is mine. Once you've made this jianbing, you should leave."

The uncle was stunned. "I've been setting up my stall here for many years."

The rickshaw puller pulled out a hand-rolled cigarette, tapped it twice, put it in his mouth, and said, "No matter how many years you've been here, this territory has an owner now. The deed is with me. Don't you understand this rule?"

"The rule you're talking about, I truly don't quite understand."

While the rickshaw puller and the jianbing vendor were still talking, Ma Wu had already entered Miss Xiao Qin's courtyard.

"Miss Qin, wine."

Miss Xiao Qin came out of the house. She was wearing a purple floral cotton-padded jacket and had two braided pigtails. Though not a top-tier beauty, she was a pretty girl-next-door.

"Sir, how much wine would you like?"

Ma Wu said, "Half a catty to taste first, then two small dishes."

The young woman and Ma Wu met each other's gaze for a moment, then she smiled sweetly and went back to the kitchen to cook.

Li Banfeng didn't go to Miss Xiao Qin's courtyard. He went to Hu Manchun's small building. Hu Manchun, all smiles, came out to greet him, "Boss Li, are you here to buy coal again?"

Li Banfeng nodded, "I need to buy coal, and I'd also like to buy two cartloads of yellow soil."

Yellow soil referred to the yellow loess, a specialty of Huangtuqiao.

"Yellow soil is easy to get; there's plenty of it. But soil also varies in quality. Please wait while I fetch a sample."

As Hu Manchun went to get the soil sample, Li Banfeng prepared to act.

The battle strategy had been pre-arranged, divided into three fronts.

First front: Ma Wu would try to stall Miss Qin for as long as possible.

Second front: The rickshaw puller would deal with the jianbing vendor.

Third front: Li Qi would deal with the group of coal mine bosses.

No excessive killing; only the leaders would be killed. Subordinates willing to surrender would be pardoned for past actions.

After dealing with the coal mine bosses, Li Banfeng would immediately go to support Ma Wu.

Ma Wu would certainly be able to hold his own for a while. Miss Xiao Qin's singing hadn't managed to knock Ma Wu out, indicating their cultivation levels weren't too far apart.

Whether the rickshaw puller could deal with the jianbing vendor depended on his own skill. If he couldn't even manage that, it would prove he was not worth relying on, and Li Banfeng would immediately retreat with Ma Wu, ending this business venture.

In Miss Xiao Qin's courtyard, the wine and dishes were served. Ma Wu didn't touch his chopsticks, his eyes fixed on the young woman.

Miss Xiao Qin, blushing, said, "I'll go get my pipa and sing a song for you, sir."

Ma Wu shook his head, "No rush to sing. Please just chat with me for a bit first."

The young woman bit her lip. "Sir, I'm not a 'dark door' girl."

Ma Wu smiled, "You're a respectable young woman, I can see that. I just want someone to talk to."

The young woman looked up at Ma Wu, a streak of blood appearing in her eyes.

Ma Wu poured a glass of wine and offered it to the young woman, "Will you have a drink with me?"

While Ma Wu had his wine and dishes ready, Hu Manchun still hadn't brought the soil sample.

Li Banfeng didn't wait any longer. He walked from the living room, around a screen, to the back hall, finding no one there.

He went upstairs via the staircase; the second and third floors were also empty.

This guy ran away!

Li Banfeng ignored Hu Manchun's whereabouts and immediately went to Song Shilong's house, barging directly inside.

How strange.

Song Shilong's house was also empty.

The rickshaw puller was still questioning the jianbing vendor, who no longer concealed anything and spoke plainly, "Sir, with your skills and that rickshaw, where couldn't you earn cultivation? Why bother fighting over this dilapidated place?"

The rickshaw puller frowned, "How can you call this fighting? This is originally my place; my deed is buried right here."

The jianbing vendor chuckled, "You could dig up the deed, keep a piece on your rickshaw—your status wouldn't drop, and you could cultivate elsewhere."

The rickshaw puller froze for a moment, then chuckled, "Alright, you know me well. My cultivation wouldn't drop, but why should I dig up the deed?"

The jianbing vendor neatly placed his spatula on the rack, extinguished the fire, put away the batter, and, as if with OCD, tidied up the stove, then smiled at the rickshaw puller and said: "Sir, if you won't leave, then I will."

The rickshaw puller said, "I'm looking forward to you leaving. The farther you go, the better. Take that Miss Xiao Qin with you too, and don't let me see you again in the future."

The jianbing vendor chuckled, "If I leave, everyone in North Bridge will be gone. They're all at the train station now. At my command, they'll get on the train and leave. Then Huangtuqiao will become 'Old Earth.' Once Huangtuqiao truly becomes 'Old Earth,' your status will drop. With a dropped status, you'll be greatly weakened. If we fight then, it'll be hard to say who wins or loses."

The rickshaw puller sneered, "Are you trying to scare me?"

"I'm not trying to scare you; this is what I calculated," the jianbing vendor looked earnestly at the rickshaw puller. "I've been working on this problem for a long time. If your status truly drops, I'm confident I can defeat you."

The rickshaw puller gritted his teeth and said, "There are two hundred workers at the mine. By the rules, a territory only becomes 'Old Earth' if there are fewer than a hundred people within a hundred li."

The jianbing vendor laughed, "Don't try to fool me with that. Newcomers establish new lands; old-timers defend old lands. One hundred native-born Huangtuqiao people can truly defend Huangtuqiao as a Proper Land. Two hundred outsiders probably aren't enough, are they? They have no roots here. I've carefully calculated it for you: you need to find 3,368 newcomers to defend this territory. Are over three thousand people that easy to find? If they were, you would have found them long ago, wouldn't you?"

Sweat appeared on the rickshaw puller's face.

The jianbing vendor loosened his apron. "Sir, I'll say it again: you have true skill, you can make a living anywhere. As long as you're willing to give this place to me, I have good things to offer you as a tribute."

The rickshaw puller spat, "Do you think I'm that easily handled?"

Li Banfeng visited over a dozen coal mine bosses' homes; all of them were empty, not a single person left.

Realizing something was wrong, Li Banfeng quickly went to Miss Qin's house to get Ma Wu. At the young woman's doorstep, Li Banfeng saw the uncle who sold jianbing.

The uncle cupped his fist and said, "Master Qi."

Li Banfeng smiled, "You recognize me?"

"I wouldn't dare say I recognize you, but I've heard of your reputation. In Puluo Province, you're a hero. In our hearts, you're like this!" The uncle gave Li Banfeng a thumbs-up.

Li Banfeng frowned, "Enough with the pleasantries. I came today, and you were already prepared. It seems I have a mole among my subordinates who leaked the information."

The uncle shook his head, "Master Qi, your subordinates are clean; no one has dealings with me. You can rest assured on that point. The reason I made preparations in advance is because I calculated that you might be coming these days."

"Calculated?" Li Banfeng scoffed, "You can also tell fortunes?"

"Not fortune-telling, but arithmetic," the uncle shook his head. "I've hijacked your coal twice. Based on Master Qi's past actions, you definitely wouldn't tolerate this. According to the rumors I've heard, after careful calculation multiple times, you would certainly come to North Bridge within three to five days. And when you came, there would definitely be bloodshed. So, I prepared in advance and sent everyone from North Bridge to the train station. I just didn't expect you to arrive so quickly. As soon as you showed up, you found me, handed me over to the rickshaw puller, had Master Wu deal with Miss Qin, and you'd finish off a few of my leaders, essentially wiping us out."

Li Banfeng frowned, "You calculated all of this?"

The jianbing vendor pulled out a stack of papers from under the batter. "The calculations are here; you can take a look. Unfortunately, you act too fast, and I calculate too slowly. Today, I almost met my end at your hands."

Li Banfeng nodded, "Indeed a Calculation Cultivator, and particularly skilled at calculating probabilities. Since we've laid our cards on the table, let's settle this today."

The uncle shook his head, "Master Qi, if we settle the score this way, both our families will lose. If you insist on fighting me, I'll immediately send someone to the station to tell that group from North Bridge to board the train. Once they leave, your over two hundred outsiders won't be able to defend Huangtuqiao. Huangtuqiao will turn into 'Old Earth,' and no one will profit from this business!"

Li Banfeng chuckled, "I'll go to the station right now and stop them from leaving."

"Master Qi, the station is foreign territory. Do you dare to act there?"

Li Banfeng said calmly, "What is there to fear?"

"I'm impressed! I truly am," the uncle nodded. "But I have a better idea. I wonder if Master Qi would like to hear it?"

"What idea?"

"Business is business, no matter who it's with. Now that the rickshaw puller is gone, we can pick up the business and discuss it properly. I also don't want Huangtuqiao to become 'Old Earth.' I want to ascend to the Cloud-level here, and I also want to boost this place's prosperity."

Li Banfeng frowned, "What good is telling me this? The rickshaw puller and I have a contract. This business can only be done with him; he's the Local Deity here!"

"Master Qi, your contract might be invalid now. The rickshaw puller has already run away; he breached the contract first."

"Ran away?" Li Banfeng didn't believe it.

The rickshaw puller had Cloud-level cultivation; there was no reason for him to run.

The jianbing vendor held out an iron tablet. "This is the deed for the Huangtuqiao territory. You should recognize this. If you still don't believe me, I also have a paper contract left by the rickshaw puller. If you still don't believe, there are rickshaw wheel marks on the ground leading all the way to South Bridge. South Bridge connects to the New Land. If my calculations aren't wrong, the rickshaw puller has already walked far into the New Land!"