Chapter 626: The Guest in the Portable Residence

"Within my domain, I am the master! Hahahaha!" Li Banfeng burst into laughter.

A shadow walked up to him and said, "That's enough laughing. Come give me a hand; these many corpses are hard to move!"

Li Banfeng had thoroughly dealt with over sixty three-headed creatures. After the bodies were moved, the Glove quickly tidied up the battlefield.

The Glove sighed, "Boss, it's really hard work. Why don't you teach me your Shadow-Puppetry technique? I could make a few clones too. It's just too tiring doing all this by myself.""Do you want to learn Shadow-Puppetry?" Li Banfeng asked the Glove seriously.

"Sure," the Glove replied, thinking it was just a joke and not to be taken seriously."Then you'll have to become my disciple!"

"No problem," the Glove said, not really minding the idea of becoming the boss's disciple."Alright, let's get ready then. You can become my disciple right now!" Li Banfeng became increasingly serious.

"Boss, stop messing around. Now is not the time for a discipleship ceremony!"

"It's not the time?" Li Banfeng grew angry. "If your desire to learn is insincere, then I won't teach you."

The Glove carefully observed Li Banfeng, realizing he wasn't joking. His mental state seemed peculiar, somewhat resembling his state in Gourd Village. The 'Mad Cultivation Technique' appeared to have lingering effects; Li Banfeng hadn't yet shaken off its influence.

"Boss, isn't the battle over? These shadows should probably be recalled now."

"Why recall them? It's rare for everyone to gather like this; it's so lively!" Li Banfeng, accompanied by dozens of shadows, galloped across the wilderness. Along the way, the shadows chatted and laughed, the atmosphere as festive as New Year's.

"By the way, is it New Year's today?""Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, so not today."

"How can it not be? It's the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, time to pay respects to Old Man Seven. We're all Li Seven, so for us, it definitely counts as New Year's today.""I really want to go see the temple fair! At Sandaoling, we Li Seven would definitely be the most dazzling guys!"

"You were really bright just now!"

"Was I?" The shadow looked himself over carefully. "I think I might have absorbed some celestial light."

Li Banfeng turned back and said, "You're not allowed to go home for a while. Digest that celestial light completely first!"

Everyone rushed towards the boundary. Not far into their sprint, they saw the Coachman and Lu Qianjiao surrounded by over two hundred three-headed creatures.

The Coachman clutched the carriage shaft and used 'Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers' to try and push back the three-headed creatures. However, the power of his kick was quite limited; to Li Banfeng, it wasn't much stronger than a large firecracker.

Although Li Banfeng was not in his right mind, he knew he couldn't openly mock the Coachman. The Coachman's willingness to act was a significant gesture.

Li Banfeng charged into the crowd with his shadows and yelled to the Coachman, "You go first; don't worry about me. I have a way to escape, that... " Before he could finish, the Coachman had already left.

After Li Banfeng and his shadows charged in and disrupted the three-headed creatures' formation, the Coachman immediately seized the opportunity to escape without the slightest hesitation. Lu Qianjiao glanced at Li Banfeng and said, "Brother, your..."

"Don't say anything, just go quickly!" Li Banfeng waved his hand impatiently. Lu Qianjiao had to keep an eye on the Coachman, fearing he might abandon the carriage and run, so she quickly chased after him. Li Banfeng, alone with his shadows, fought against the two hundred-plus three-headed creatures. The Captain immediately ordered, "The..."

He wanted to say "first tactical set," but before he could finish, three shadows charged forward, each taking a head, severing all three necks. According to tactical regulations, with the Captain gone, the Vice Captain would assume command.

The remaining two Centurions looked at each other but didn't speak.

It seemed speaking would mean death. No matter how strong their execution capabilities were, no one was fearless of death.

With no one to command them, the combat effectiveness of these two hundred three-headed creatures was greatly reduced, and they descended into a chaotic brawl with Li Banfeng's shadows. When it came to a chaotic fight, no one was a match for Li Banfeng. The two hundred suffered more and more casualties as the battle progressed. Just as he was about to break through the encirclement, a group of people suddenly appeared running in the distance.

The Centurion shouted, "Reinforcements are here! Brothers, fight him!" Reinforcements had indeed arrived.

There were indeed more than three thousand Sinless Army soldiers nearby; over eight thousand were already tied up by the Peddler. They had originally planned a full-scale assault tonight. If they had truly managed to attack the mountain, not a single one of the ten thousand three-headed creatures there would have survived.

Now, even the Peddler couldn't hold them back. He had merely been circling on the mountain, neither advancing nor retreating, and the three-headed creatures had realized something was amiss. They had sent people to pursue him.

The Glove wasn't worried. The battle was currently in their favor, and Li Banfeng had plenty of opportunities to escape. "Let them chase us," he said. "We can shake off these three-headed creatures now. As for the ones coming later, they'll be exhausted and still won't catch up to the boss!"

Li Banfeng disagreed.

"Run? Why run? If we run, won't we lose our momentum?"

"Boss, what are you doing? Boss, you can't be like this, boss..."

Li Banfeng didn't run. He left some of his shadows to continue fighting in place and took the remaining ones, charging straight towards the three-headed army. "No, boss!"

They faced an army of thousands!

The Glove despaired, unsure what to do with all his magical artifacts.

Seeing Li Banfeng charging head-on, the three-headed army froze, unable to comprehend his tactic.

It didn't matter if they couldn't understand it; the three-headed creatures had standard counter-strategies. The Captain ordered the execution of the third tactical set. The critical components of this set were for the armored units to block and the combatants to form an encirclement. This was a crucial tactic for dealing with enemy charges.

The armored units were a very special type of dark energy practitioners. There were no corresponding Daoist sects for them in Puro State. They were actually a type of body cultivators with special external armor, including those resembling shrimp, crabs, beetles, and scorpions.

Their dark energy abilities were relatively simple: they covered their bodies with a rough, thick layer of armor and increased their own weight, using their heaviness and durability to withstand enemy impacts.

These dark energy practitioners played a crucial role in resisting enemy charges. At Three-Headed Fork, many three-headed creatures, when desperate for survival, would choose to fight to the death. But when facing the armored units, their full-force charges would be directly blocked, and once surrounded by the combatants, highly efficient encirclement and slaughter awaited them.

Faced with such a simple and effective tactic, Li Banfeng's counter-strategy was to kill the Captain.

He flew up, soared over the armored units, and approached the Captain. Then, he used 'Path Breaker' to clear a path through the surrounding soldiers, simultaneously dismembering the Captain's body. Li Banfeng found the Captain to be a very interesting existence.

Within the Sinless Army, the Captain was the only one in the entire system who needed to make judgments and think. Of course, if the Captain was killed, there would be a Vice Captain, and if the Vice Captain fell, others would take over.

Even with replacements, this move would still be effective. Just like when dealing with the ambush, killing them one by one would cripple the enemy's command system. However, Li Banfeng's response this time was flawed; in his abnormal mental state, his thinking was clearly not thorough enough.

No Vice Captain came to take over the Captain's command because the Captain's current command had no problems. The Captain was dead; how could there be no problem?

This was the Sinless Army's fixed strategy for when a commander fell: if the commander's tactical deployment before their death still suited the current battle situation, the tactic would continue to be executed. He had ordered the use of the third tactical set to surround Li Banfeng, and Li Banfeng was currently surrounded, so the tactic was flawless.

Li Banfeng, caught in the heavy encirclement, had to break out. The surrounding scholars and judges unleashed their techniques towards him like a tsunami: "Determine victory or defeat, decide life or death, not a single step back!" Seeing how smoothly moral cultivation techniques and literary cultivation techniques were used together, combining 'Virtuous Thought' and 'Common Rules'.

Amidst the wave of voices, Li Banfeng abandoned the idea of breaking out and prepared to fight head-on.

He didn't want to use 'Expand Territory.' He even abandoned all his techniques, having no tactics in his mind, only wanting to engage in a close-quarters battle to the death.

All the shadows, along with all the magical artifacts around him, lost their minds amidst the wave of voices. Now, they only possessed fervent fighting spirit, ready to fight alongside Li Banfeng until the last soldier.

This was the combat power of the Sinless Army.

The irrational Li Banfeng paid no mind to his injuries or the number of enemies, only focusing on fighting desperately. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he died amidst the chaotic army.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Peddler, who had broken through the encirclement on the mountain, saw the large number of people here and came to investigate, encountering Li Banfeng, whose eyes were bloodshot from fighting. Hearing the sound of the rattle drum, the Sinless Army's offensive slightly eased, and Li Banfeng also regained a bit of his senses.

The Peddler grabbed a handful of pepper powder from his cart and scattered it into the air.

Thousands of three-headed creatures choked, their noses running and eyes watering, unable to speak for a moment. The Peddler pushed Li Banfeng, "Leave this to me, hurry and go!"

Li Banfeng nodded, "Okay."

The now clearer Li Banfeng could have used 'Path Breaker' to break out, but he didn't. He pushed the Peddler's cart and left.

Because he wasn't fully lucid.

The Peddler froze for a moment, then shouted at Li Banfeng, "What are you doing with my cart?" Li Banfeng didn't explain.

He had wanted that cart for a long time.

Just imagine how interesting that cart was! It had such a large cabinet, and inside the cabinet was everything imaginable. He had always wanted to try pushing it, but he was worried the Peddler wouldn't allow it. Today, he felt it was the perfect time.

Was it appropriate to snatch the Peddler's cart during a battle?

Perhaps not, but the current Li Banfeng wasn't thinking about such things. He was simply very happy!

He pushed the cart and plunged into a group of shadows. The Peddler, helpless, chased after him into the same group of shadows.

After catching up to Li Banfeng, the Peddler snatched his cart back. He looked at their surroundings, then turned to Li Banfeng and asked, "Why did you bring me here?" It was a rectangular room with a bed, a shelf, and a coffee table.

This was a carriage of the little train, which the Peddler had given to Li Banfeng. The Peddler was very familiar with it.

"Since you're here, have a seat," Li Banfeng said, pouring the Peddler a cup of tea from an old teapot, then continued holding the cart. A group of shadows surrounded the Peddler, gesturing for him to sit.

"I'm not in the mood to sit right now. We'll settle accounts later," the Peddler said, pulling the cart and trying to leave, but he found that the door of the Portable Abode wouldn't open. The Portable Abode spoke, "Don't be so formal; it's not your first time here."

The Peddler frowned and asked, "Little Train, what's the meaning of this?"

The Little Train chuckled, "No special meaning, just catching up. We haven't seen each other in so long."

Outside the Portable Abode, a group of three-headed creatures wondered what had happened. The Peddler was gone, and the madman was gone too.

And a group of pitch-black madmen had also vanished.

Just as they were wondering, a pitch-black madman suddenly leaped from the ground and used the 'Path Breaker' technique.

A path was cleared through the center of the three-headed creatures who had formed a tight encirclement. The pitch-black madman sprinted like the wind, running out along the newly opened path.

Had they been even slightly prepared, this group of three-headed creatures would never have let the madman escape. A single wave of concentrated attacks would have shredded the madman's flesh—assuming he actually had flesh.

This madman was one of Li Banfeng's shadows.

Banfeng had said that one shadow was not allowed to go home because it was suspected of having absorbed celestial light.

Though they usually joked around, they were never ambiguous about serious matters. If Banfeng said not to go home, that shadow truly could not go home.

This shadow couldn't fly, nor could it use the 'Riding the Wind and Clouds' technique. But in terms of speed, these three-headed creatures truly couldn't catch him. He clutched something very important in his hand, sprinting wildly towards the boundary.

Zhao Xiaowan and Hong Ying were still waiting by the boundary. Vaguely, they saw someone approaching from the other side. Zhao Xiaowan made a quick adjustment and immediately fired the cannon; a shadow streaked across the boundary.

Lu Qianjiao followed the Coachman onto the Dark Bridge. As they hurried along, Lu Qianjiao felt as if someone was outside the Dark Bridge. "Coachman Wu, don't you feel like someone's around here?"

"What if there is?" the Coachman replied, disinclined to care. "This bridge is about to collapse; you'd better hurry!" The Coachman wasn't exaggerating; the Dark Bridge was indeed on the verge of collapse.

According to the Peddler's plan, the 'Sea-Eating Old Cart,' carrying over ten thousand people, weighed as much as a hundred people. Li Banfeng had said the Dark Bridge could support a hundred people, which seemed perfect for the Peddler. In reality, however, the Dark Bridge's safe carrying capacity was eighty people; a hundred people was already its absolute limit.

The Coachman was terrified; his instinct for self-preservation told him the bridge was about to collapse.

Zhao Xiaowan was also worried. She couldn't guarantee the Dark Bridge would hold. According to the instrument readings, the Dark Bridge's condition was not good; many components had already malfunctioned.

The Dark Bridge Cannon emitted a low hum, indicating the Dark Bridge was giving way.

The shadow on the boundary trembled constantly, and the Dark Bridge within the wormhole shook incessantly.

Lu Qianjiao was a little panicked, but the Coachman remained calm: "Run with all your might! Once you're out, you'll be fine!"

After all, he was the top coachman in Puro State. Coachman Wu pulled the Sea-Eating Old Cart and, together with Lu Qianjiao, burst out just before the Dark Bridge collapsed. Dropping the carriage shaft, the Coachman sat on the ground to rest for a long while, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

Lu Qianjiao, having fought all the way, was also exhausted and sat by the roadside, gasping for breath.

Zhao Xiaowan was still maintaining the Dark Bridge. She turned to the two and asked, "Where's my husband?" The Coachman said nothing.

Lu Qianjiao whispered, "He hasn't come out yet..."

Hong Ying raised her long spear, pointing it at Lu Qianjiao, and demanded, "Wretch, you're out, so why isn't Qilang out?" Lu Qianjiao couldn't answer.

She was a renowned general of her generation, yet now she had escaped the battlefield while leaving a young man behind. *Little brother, where are you now?*

Li Banfeng, still clutching the cart, was inside the Portable Abode, drinking tea with the Peddler. A woman in her twenties, dressed in a green gauze dress with her long hair swept up, sat beside the coffee table, smiling eerily at the Peddler.

The woman had a slightly long face, willow-leaf eyebrows, and almond-shaped eyes. When she spoke, her gaze flickered with her tone, her eyes full of spirit. She had a prominent nose bridge and luscious red lips. While her beauty couldn't compare to Zhao Xiaowan's and was barely on par with Hong Ying's, among ordinary people, she was a rare beauty, one in ten thousand.

"Hehe!" The beauty chuckled at the Peddler, who nearly spat out the tea he was halfway through drinking.

After composing himself, the Peddler said to the woman, "Let's be clear about this. It's not my fault your dad didn't become sworn brothers with you all!" The woman nodded and said, "That's not your fault."

"And it's not my fault that Old Train didn't marry your sister!"

Miss Nine thought for a moment. "That *does* have something to do with you!"

The Peddler refused to admit it. "Don't be ridiculous! What does Old Train's refusal have to do with me?"

Miss Nine sighed. "Fine, let's just say it's not your fault!"

The Peddler continued, "And it's not my fault your sister established her own school, Mad Cultivation. She had sufficient cultivation, and her sect was truly viable, so I should have given her the medicinal powder."

The woman nodded. "Alright, that's not your fault either!"

The Peddler frowned. "Then what do you want?"

Miss Nine frowned, her face darkening. "I just want to ask you one thing: was it your fault that Fool's City was destroyed?"

The Peddler was silent for a moment, then looked up at Li Banfeng. "Brother, what's this about? Did you specifically bring me here to accuse me?"

"I just invited you for tea; I didn't expect Little Nine to appear," Li Banfeng said, opening a drawer on the cart. He stepped on a switch, and the drawer closed again. The cart was so much fun; he could play with it forever.

The Peddler nodded. "So she's your ninth-ranked family member!"

Miss Nine yelled at Li Banfeng, "I told you not to call me Little Nine! It sounds like I'm your concubine, and the youngest one at that!" The Peddler asked, "If not the youngest, then which one are you?"

"I am his..." Miss Nine wanted to say "senior sister" but thought it best not to tell the Peddler about Foolish Cultivation. "I am his ninth."

Miss Nine gritted her teeth and conceded.

Li Banfeng climbed inside the cargo compartment. "Senior Brother, I don't know what grudges you two have from the past. Before you came, I had never even met Little Nine. This is the first time she's revealed her true form."

The Peddler snorted. "So what if she's revealed her true form? Does she want to fight me?"

Miss Nine said resentfully, "If I couldn't beat you, I would have fought you long ago."

The Peddler chuckled. "If you're afraid to fight, then don't talk about it. Come find me when you've gotten stronger."

The Portable Abode asked, "Old Train is trapped in Neizhou; is that your fault?"

The Peddler said nothing.

The Calculating Cultivator from the Eighth House shouted, "I calculate problems for them every day, and if I can't solve them, they beat me. Is that your fault?" The Peddler remained silent.

The man from the Seventh House shouted, "I don't know how long I've been here; I almost forgot my own Daoist sect. Is that your fault?" The Peddler lowered his head.

The girl from the Fifth House shouted, "I've forgotten my Daoist sect, I've forgotten everything! I don't even remember if I've ever met you. Is that your fault?"

The Peddler slammed the table. "You don't even remember if you've met me, and you're still blaming this on me!"

Li Banfeng, still holding the cart, shouted, "Everyone, stop arguing! I invited Senior Brother here to share a cup of tea and then leave Three-Headed Fork, not for you to talk about all this rotten stuff, and certainly not for me to mess with Senior Brother's cart."

The Peddler nodded. "That sounds more like it. Now, get off my cart."

Li Banfeng got off the cart and sat opposite the Peddler.

The Peddler asked, "Did you fight a bloody battle with the Sinless Army to meet me?"

After a moment's thought, Li Banfeng changed his approach. "Senior Brother, I didn't know when you would arrive, but as long as you hadn't, I was determined to fight them to the end and absolutely wouldn't leave!"

In a way, that was also true.

The Peddler was also moved. He picked up his teacup and drained it. "Alright! I didn't recognize this brother for nothing." After two more cups of tea, the Portable Abode reminded them, "We're almost there."

Li Banfeng said, "There's another friend here. Would you like to meet them?" The Peddler asked, "Is it an old friend?"

"Yes, an old friend, a very close old friend of yours. I'll bring over Hua Jiuer." The Peddler looked at Miss Nine. "You're Jiuer, so who is Hua Jiuer?"

Miss Nine chuckled, "Red Lotus, of course! Aren't you two old acquaintances?" The Peddler looked at Li Banfeng in surprise. "Red Lotus is with you?"

Li Banfeng frowned. "Why are you pretending so well, as if you don't know?"

The Peddler waved his hand. "Don't tell anyone about this sort of thing. I have an urgent matter, and Red Lotus is gone anyway. I'll take my leave first."

With that, the Peddler pushed his cart towards the door. Li Banfeng quickly stepped forward to stop him. "If you don't want to see her, don't. Just wait a little longer, until we've crossed the boundary."

Hong Ying was on the verge of fighting Lu Qianjiao, but Zhao Xiaowan didn't even glance at them.

She stood by the boundary, gazing across, yearning, waiting only for Li Banfeng to return. Hong Ying pressed Lu Qianjiao, "Where exactly is my Qilang?"

Lu Qianjiao couldn't answer. Zhao Xiaowan prepared to fire another shot: "Yingying, I'm going through from here in a moment. You help me control the Dark Bridge Cannon. I'll go find my own man myself!" Hong Ying walked to the boundary and said, "Stop talking nonsense. I don't know anything about Dark Bridge Cannons. Just fire a shot now and send me over; I'll bring Qilang back!"

As they were speaking, a figure appeared on the other side of the boundary.

Hong Ying exclaimed happily, "Xiaowan, look! Isn't that Qilang?"

Zhao Xiaowan looked closely for a long time. "His build is like Qilang's, but why is this person so dark?"