Chapter 706: She Came

Chapter 707: She Has Arrived

Zhong Er stood in the courtyard, seeing only raging flames and thick smoke billowing from the window. The figures of Big Face and Shu Wanjuan were nowhere to be seen.

The fire was peculiar; it burned only within that single room. None of the dozen or so other rooms in the mansion were affected, and not even a hint of smoke could be smelled.

Zhong Er looked towards Deng Pao's room, worried something might happen to him.

Deng Pao came to the window, waved at Zhong Er, signaling that he was fine.

Deng Pao had woken up long ago and had hidden in the room, not daring to come out.

It was wise not to come out at this moment. Big Face could no longer look after the two brothers; he and Shu Wanjuan were about to begin their decisive battle.

Shu Wanjuan was burning in the fire, but it was unclear what spell he was using, as his skin, hair, and clothes were all unharmed.

If it were anyone else, they would have sought out Shu Wanjuan's weakness now, broken his spell, and let him burn to death in the fire.

But if Big Face had done that, he would have fallen right into Shu Wanjuan's trap.

Finding Shu Wanjuan's weakness was incredibly difficult. Shu Wanjuan would intentionally reveal a false weakness to Big Face, and if Big Face fell into that trap, no one could save him.

Because of his deep understanding of Shu Wanjuan, even at this critical juncture, Big Face's strategy remained unchanged. He maintained a seven-point advantage from the outset by concentrating the oil and intensely burning Shu Wanjuan, to see how he would cope.

Shu Wanjuan indeed found it hard to counter. There was no place to write at the moment, and ink splattered couldn't adhere. He successively released more than a dozen books, all of which burned to ash. By the time the paper ash dispersed, Shu Wanjuan's face was blackened by smoke.

Big Face laughed, "Storyteller, can't you take it anymore?"

He truly couldn't endure it any longer. This was Puluo Prefecture's finest oil, and burning in flames of such intensity, Shu Wanjuan's spell had reached its limit.

He couldn't easily escape. In this oil-filled room, any movement became extremely difficult. Under these circumstances, he was forced to reveal his pre-prepared fallback: an arched iron plate.

"An iron book? Is that all you've got?" Big Face said with disdain, but inwardly, he was tense.

He had seen this iron book before. Its shape was similar to the Local Deity's covenant, but its material was far superior.

Now Shu Wanjuan intended to fight Big Face using the characters on the iron book. How should Big Face respond?

The method of response remained unchanged: no matter how good the material was, if he melted this iron book, everything would be fine.

Big Face guided the flames to scorch the iron book.

Shu Wanjuan's eyebrow twitched; the battle was about to be decided.

Since Shu Wanjuan's appearance, and after dozens of exchanges, this was the first mistake Big Face had made.

He shouldn't have used fire.

Big Face's fire was indeed powerful, but this iron book was for Shu Wanjuan's life-saving purposes. It wouldn't melt in a short time.

Shu Wanjuan held the carving knife and carved the character "忠" (loyalty) onto the iron book.

Composed of "中" (middle) above and "心" (heart) below, the character itself wasn't special, but when inscribed on an iron book, it was a different matter entirely.

Shu Wanjuan looked at Big Face. Big Face felt a chill in his chest as the character "中" pierced his chest, heading straight for Big Face's heart.

A large amount of oil appeared in Big Face's chest cavity. The "中" character slid past his heart, saving his life this time. But Big Face was injured; the "中" character churned around in his chest cavity and passed through his body, leaving countless wounds.

"Does it hurt?" Shu Wanjuan smiled. He held the carving knife, ready to carve another character, but this time the knife slipped, and nothing was carved.

Big Face realized. He truly shouldn't have used fire earlier; he should have stuck with oil. He hadn't expected Shu Wanjuan's iron book to be blank; otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed Shu Wanjuan to carve a single character.

But it was too late now. The character "忠" couldn't be used just once; inscribed characters on the iron book could be reused. A swarm of "忠" characters attacked, breaking down into individual strokes, all stabbing towards Big Face's heart.

Big Face's chest was pricked like a hedgehog, relying entirely on his oily slipperiness to narrowly avoid vital points.

Shu Wanjuan shook his head repeatedly. "Brother Lian, this won't do. I feel like I'm bullying you by fighting like this. How about we move to a more open area to spar?"

"Change places? What are you thinking?" Big Face certainly couldn't change places. This room full of oil was his advantage. If he moved, how could he possibly defeat Shu Wanjuan?

"If you can't bear to leave this place, that's fine," Shu Wanjuan said, looking at Big Face's bed. "Come down from the bed, and we'll have a proper fight. At least you'll have some room to maneuver, instead of just cowering in your quilt and taking a beating."

Get off the bed?

Big Face glanced under the bed. It was completely covered in paper ash.

All this paper ash came from Shu Wanjuan's books. Even burned to ash, it was hard to say they were useless.

Big Face stayed on the bed, "If you've got the guts, come over and kill me!"

Shu Wanjuan couldn't cross either. A slight movement and he'd slide to an unknown location. The two remained in a stalemate.

But Big Face knew clearly he couldn't outlast Shu Wanjuan in a stalemate. Big Big Face wasn't here, and he didn't have much oil left.

Where was the Peddler?

Didn't he see the big fire?

Why wasn't he here yet?

The Peddler was also anxious. He was holding a feather duster and fiercely beating Shan Chengjun. Dozens of feathers pierced through Shan Chengjun's body. Shan Chengjun was covered in bloody holes, picking up weapons from all directions and fighting desperately to resist.

Patriarch Feng Xiu, Song Xianyao, clutched the wound on his chest and shouted, "Brother, I've taken so many hits for you, and you're not fighting back at all!"

"How could Brother treat you badly!" The Peddler casually grabbed a handful of vanishing cream and threw it at Song Xianyao.

Song Xianyao quickly dodged. The Peddler also knew Feng Xiu techniques. If he accepted the Peddler's vanishing cream, who would owe the reward was uncertain.

But it wasn't easy to dodge the Peddler's vanishing cream. The white cream chased Song Xianyao. Despite his dodging, some still stuck to his qipao.

Song Xianyao wanted to run far away and drag the technique with him. The Peddler grabbed Shan Chengjun and yelled at Song Xianyao, "Stop!"

The Feng Xiu technique took effect, and Song Xianyao stopped, unable to move. Cao Xiu, Lian Baizi, summoned a patch of tangled grass, attempting to entangle the Peddler. The Peddler opened his mouth, extended his tongue, and devoured the grass and leaves completely.

Lian Baizi charged forward again. The Peddler chopped off one of his arms and swallowed it whole.

Lian Baizi stopped charging and glanced to the side.

Many people had come today. He needed to give others a chance to fight.

Lv Xiu, Bu Baikai, was injured by the Peddler and temporarily dared not step forward.

Huo Xiu, Shao Bujin, had over ninety percent of his fire seeds plucked away by the Peddler, leaving only a few flickering embers. He also dared not make a move.

Over a dozen other leaders remained. All were injured and stood watching from a distance.

Only Shan Chengjun, covered in wounds, still fought to the death. He grabbed a roof tile and slammed it onto the Peddler's head.

The Peddler wiped the blood from his head and praised, "That's what I admire about you! When it's time to risk your life, you truly don't hesitate!"

At this praise, Shan Chengjun's heart truly blossomed with joy, then burst open. Shan Chengjun's chest bloomed open, blood flowing freely. He had been struck by the Peddler's Sound Cultivation technique.

The Peddler was about to finish off Shan Chengjun when he suddenly felt a tingling numbness in his muscles and bones.

He turned his head and looked. An old man was holding a bowl, saying, "It's all given!"

Inside his bowl was a small piece of vanishing cream.

The Peddler gritted his teeth, "Old Beggar, you've come to join the fun too!"

In Big Face's room, the fire was dwindling.

Shu Wanjuan chuckled, "Out of oil?"

Big Face remained silent, his body covered in bloodstains.

Shu Wanjuan's iron book had been melted by him, but the characters left behind earlier had severely wounded Big Face.

Having fought to this point, if the Peddler still didn't arrive, Big Face realized his chances of winning were slim.

After a brief moment of perseverance, Big Face shouted out the window, "Run!"

Zhong Er looked at Deng Pao. The two brothers didn't know what to do.

Shu Wanjuan waved his hand, "No need to run."

Big Face yelled, "Don't listen to him! Run quickly! I can still hold him off!"

Shu Wanjuan sighed, "Brother Lian, why don't you trust me? As long as you come back to Chaoge with me, I won't make things difficult for these youngsters."

"But I often make things difficult for seniors."

*Clatter!*

Shu Wanjuan's right arm fell from his shoulder, spattering blood all over the floor.

Big Face was overjoyed.

Fighting Shu Wanjuan, the most frustrating thing was never being able to hurt him. He possessed the Heaven-Concordance technique, with far too many ways to substitute for his injuries.

He didn't expect Shu Wanjuan to be hit by a sneak attack, losing an arm. This was a real arm, with blood and flesh. Although it was a sneak attack, it was a satisfying blow.

The Peddler had finally arrived. Why didn't he chop off Shu Wanjuan's head just now? Was he still thinking of old times? Who was this person?

This wasn't the Peddler.

Big Face scrutinized for a moment. In the firelight, he couldn't clearly see the person's face, but he could barely make out their silhouette.

"Brother, why are you here?"

Li Banfeng had arrived.

He had just tried to tear Shu Wanjuan apart with the Five Horses Dissecting technique, but Shu Wanjuan's body was too tough, so only one hand was torn off.

Tearing off one hand could be considered Li Banfeng's luck. If Shu Wanjuan hadn't been fully focused on Big Face, Li Banfeng wouldn't have had a chance for a sneak attack.

Shu Wanjuan shook his body, and blood splattered, forming a dozen or so "blood" characters that rushed towards Li Banfeng.

Big Face quickly used his oil to dissolve them, but these characters weren't so easy to dissolve. Blood writing "blood" characters, this was called a combination of real and illusory. It required time to dissolve. Shu Wanjuan had originally intended to save this technique for Big Face, but now he used it on Li Banfeng.

The "blood" characters fluttered around Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng slid on the ground, dodging and remaining unharmed.

The blood dissolved into the oil and fell to the ground, transforming into swimming snakes that coiled around Li Banfeng's legs.

Li Banfeng alternated his feet, his steps light. The swimming snakes couldn't even touch the soles of Li Banfeng's shoes.

Besides bloodstains, there was also paper ash on the ground. The paper ash gathered together, forming a hunting net, to ensnare Li Banfeng.

This was why Big Face dared not get off the bed. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he would be ensnared by this net.

But Li Banfeng wasn't afraid. He leaped step by step on the net. The hunting net opened and closed several times but simply couldn't catch him.

Shu Wanjuan was furious and stepped forward, flinging some blood from his wound.

*Plop!*

Shu Wanjuan slipped and fell to the ground. The blood couldn't form characters and was cleanly absorbed by the Pendulum.

Let alone walking, even flying was impossible. In an oil-filled room, not everyone could move freely. Li Banfeng didn't fall, partly due to his foundation as a Journey Cultivator and partly due to his unspoken understanding with Big Face.

Back when he was on Big Big Face's face, Li Banfeng was chased relentlessly by Small Big Face. Walking on oil was a skill he had already mastered at that time.

While Shu Wanjuan was on the ground, Li Banfeng used the Five Horses Dissecting technique again, tearing another large chunk of flesh from Shu Wanjuan's right leg.

Shu Wanjuan didn't stay down. He pulled a carving knife from his pocket.

The iron plate was burned, but the carving knife remained. Shu Wanjuan cut open his clothes and carved characters directly onto his chest.

He was truly resorting to extreme measures.

From his attire and cultivation path, Shu Wanjuan could discern that the man before him was Li Qi. But he wasn't familiar with Li Qi; when he was storytelling in the teahouse back then, he had only seen Li Qi's shadow once.

Shu Wanjuan couldn't judge Li Qi's true strength at that time, but just from these two exchanges, Shu Wanjuan could clearly feel his life was threatened.

And even now, he still didn't know how the flesh from his right hand and right leg had disappeared.

The knife blade flickered. Shu Wanjuan quickly recited, "Storytelling and opera for advice, three great paths meet in the middle. Good and evil will surely have their reckoning, the right way of the world is vicissitude!"

Big Face worried that Shu Wanjuan would use techniques like "Shared Text, Shared Rules," so he quickly used oil to block the sound transmission.

But stopping the sound didn't stop the characters. Li Banfeng didn't clearly see what characters Shu Wanjuan had carved on his chest. He only saw twenty-eight characters from the "fixed-point poem" flying out from his wound.

The twenty-eight blood-formed characters chased Li Banfeng, attacking him. Li Banfeng wasn't flustered at all. He easily parried with the Pendulum. The Pendulum was also decisive, devouring them one by one, absorbing them completely.

After consuming all twenty-eight characters, Li Banfeng dismantled Shu Wanjuan's move and prepared to use the Five Horses Dissecting technique again.

Killing Shu Wanjuan would certainly be good. If he couldn't, it wouldn't matter. He'd just tear off another piece from him and see how long he could last.

Shu Wanjuan was guarding against Big Face and also had to resist Li Banfeng, seemingly with no power to retaliate. But Li Banfeng didn't expect the Pendulum to change.

On its formerly smooth surface, a scene appeared, like a movie.

On the screen was a man, dressed in a long gown, holding a clapper, with a table in front of him. He was a storyteller in a teahouse.

The storyteller was telling a tale. Big Face used oil to block the sound transmission, causing Li Banfeng not to hear the content of the story clearly, nor did he notice the Pendulum's condition.

But the storyteller inside the Pendulum was speaking very earnestly. He was telling the story of a storyteller: "At that critical moment of life and death, the storyteller swung his folding fan, slashing from the black-clad man's shoulder to his waist. This fan was the craftsmanship of the renowned artisan Duan Wuhun, and it cut the black-clad man in half!"

The Pendulum felt a change in its body. It faintly heard the storyteller's voice and quickly warned Li Banfeng, "Master, be careful!"

Thanks to this warning, Li Banfeng instinctively used "Kind-Heartedness."

At the same time, Shu Wanjuan swung a folding fan towards Li Banfeng through the air.

Shu Wanjuan didn't touch Li Banfeng; the two were far apart.

But Li Banfeng was hit.

A gash appeared, tearing from his left shoulder to his waist. Blood gushed out. Li Banfeng stumbled two steps, almost falling to his knees on the ground.

How did that slash hit him? How did Shu Wanjuan strike? When did he use the technique?

Li Banfeng hadn't figured it out yet when he heard the Pendulum shout, "Master, someone is telling a story inside me. Listen!"

The storyteller inside the Pendulum said, "The iron folding fan failed to kill the black-clad man. The storyteller, unhurried, closed his fan and struck the black-clad man's head again!"

Shu Wanjuan raised his fan and struck Li Banfeng's forehead as well.

This time, Li Banfeng was prepared. He dodged in advance, avoiding the direction of Shu Wanjuan's fan swing.

As he dodged, Li Banfeng glanced at the Pendulum and indeed saw the storyteller's appearance.

This was Shu Wanjuan's technique, a technique created using his blood.

This storyteller had parasitized the Pendulum. According to Li Banfeng's judgment, Shu Wanjuan was cooperating with the storyteller inside the Pendulum. Whatever plot point the storyteller narrated, Shu Wanjuan would execute that move. The moves ignored distance but still originated from Shu Wanjuan. Therefore, the key to countering was Shu Wanjuan himself.

As long as he dodged Shu Wanjuan's attacks, he should be—

With a muffled thud, Li Banfeng's forehead bled.

He had dodged the direction of Shu Wanjuan's strike. Why was he still hit?

The storyteller inside the Pendulum still didn't stop, "The fan hit. It hit hard, shattering the black-clad man's skull."

His skull wasn't shattered. That was because Li Banfeng was a fourth-level Home Cultivator and endured it with his physical strength.

But the current problem was, how many more blows could Li Banfeng withstand?

Could it be that the focus wasn't on Shu Wanjuan, but on the storyteller inside the Pendulum?

Had that storyteller used "Words Come True" to make Li Banfeng get hit?

While Li Banfeng was occupied, Big Face used all his remaining oil, continuously intensifying the flames. Shu Wanjuan's clothes and hair began to catch fire.

Shu Wanjuan stopped engaging Big Face. He intended to focus on defeating Li Qi.

The storyteller inside the Pendulum was still narrating, without pause: "The storyteller unfolded his fan, and its surface stabbed directly at the black-clad man's throat."

Shu Wanjuan opened his fan and thrust it towards Li Banfeng's throat.

Li Banfeng didn't dare to be careless. He first dodged Shu Wanjuan's movement. Regardless of whether Shu Wanjuan's action was effective, Li Banfeng had to take precautions.

At the same time, the Pendulum flew to the edge of the room, creating distance from Li Banfeng, and frantically tried to spew out the absorbed blood.

Both sides dodged together. Could he dodge this strike?

He couldn't dodge it.

Li Banfeng's neck still took a slash. Blood flowed down his collar onto the ground.

This slash didn't severely wound Li Banfeng because Big Face had preemptively lubricated Li Banfeng's neck.

The Pendulum had indeed moved far away, but it didn't affect the effect of this slash. It desperately tried to spew out the absorbed blood, but after several attempts, it still couldn't.

Li Banfeng was still pondering a countermeasure. Big Face poured his last bit of oil onto the fire and shouted at Li Banfeng, "Don't try to counter his moves!"

What did that mean? Why not counter a hit?

This was Big Face's experience. When fighting Shu Wanjuan, never try to counter move for move. He had only ever used two moves against Shu Wanjuan from start to finish: either fire or oil. The reason was that he couldn't win by countering.

Shu Wanjuan's fighting style was ever-changing. Watching the storyteller inside the Pendulum continuously attack Li Banfeng with his narration, in reality, the attacks Li Banfeng suffered might not be directly related to the narration.

Even if he found the connection, it would be difficult for Li Banfeng to find a way to break it. He had taken three slashes so far, and these three slashes might not even be from the same technique.

Li Banfeng and Big Face indeed had an unspoken understanding. He understood what Big Face meant.

The storyteller inside the Pendulum was still narrating. The Pendulum was almost in tears, unable to figure out how to resolve it.

Big Face made a desperate gamble. Not a single drop of oil was left; he poured it all onto Shu Wanjuan.

Shu Wanjuan's folding fan never caught fire. He was ready to kill Li Qi with one blow. Li Banfeng looked down at the bloodstains on the ground, rubbed his foot, and a halo of light, concealed by the intense firelight, passed under Shu Wanjuan's feet.

The firelight was strong, completely obscuring the light of the boundary.

Li Banfeng controlled it with extreme precision. Shu Wanjuan was not harmed by the boundary, nor did he perceive its existence.

For an opponent of Shu Wanjuan's caliber, the boundary's damage was too limited. Rather than alerting him, it was better to win with a single decisive strike.

Now that Shu Wanjuan was within the boundary, Li Banfeng first used the "No Worries" technique to adjust his own state to the best possible.

Before striking, Li Banfeng activated another technique to weaken Shu Wanjuan's state to its lowest point.

Shu Wanjuan's physical condition indeed changed. His resistance to fire decreased, and the flames on his body were much fiercer than before.

The timing was right. Before Shu Wanjuan could react, Li Banfeng used the "Go It Alone" technique to charge towards Shu Wanjuan, elevating his own combat power by a level.

The final killing move was still the Five Horses Dissecting technique. If he could kill him, he would. If not, he would immediately use "Heart Like An Arrow" to send Shu Wanjuan into his Portable Residence.

Once inside the Portable Residence, the fight would continue.

Shu Wanjuan was a top-tier character. Wife, Hong Ying, Xiao Jiu, plus the rest of the family, all would have to go all out. Otherwise, they truly might not be able to defeat him.

But once he was inside, he would definitely not be allowed out. Even if they couldn't defeat him, they could exhaust him to death.

Which room would they enter after passing through the door?

In the past, this would have been much simpler. The main room would be right inside, and Wife and Yingying would be waiting, ready to fight him the moment he entered.

Currently, it was hard to say. Ever since he learned the "Endless Bridal Chamber" technique, Li Banfeng had messed up the order of his Portable Residence. If he remembered correctly, the first room upon entering should now be Room Seven.

Room Seven was a Peeking Cultivation room. Wife and Hong Ying usually didn't like to be in Room Seven. He didn't know where they were, nor did he know if they could join the battle immediately upon entry.

Li Banfeng was very nervous. The enemy he encountered this time was too powerful. This was the first time Li Banfeng felt he might not be able to defeat an opponent even if he dragged them into his home.

Overthinking was useless. The storyteller inside the Pendulum reached another climax: "The storyteller, holding his fan, pointed at the black-clad man and roared, 'Villain, where do you think you're going? This time, I must take your head to prevent you from committing further evil deeds in the future!'"

He couldn't delay any longer. If Shu Wanjuan struck first, Li Banfeng might not be able to withstand it.

Li Banfeng roughly envisioned the battle after returning home. Gritting his teeth, he strode towards Shu Wanjuan.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Li Banfeng charged three steps when he suddenly tripped over a chair.

Where did this chair come from?

Who set this trap?

Li Banfeng was feeling annoyed, but then he found the chair very familiar.

Isn't this my family's chair? The one from Room Seven—

Under the chair, there seemed to be something else: a rather short ornament.

Shu Wanjuan and Big Face only saw a chair suddenly appear. They hadn't seen the ornament yet. They had no idea what kind of tactic Li Banfeng was employing.

The moment he saw the ornament, Li Banfeng felt despair, but the ornament was very excited.

"Heaven has eyes!" The ornament was Red Lotus. Red Lotus slowly opened her lotus leaves. She had actually come out. What caused this?

Was it because he had inadvertently used the "Endless Bridal Chamber" technique again?

Could the "Endless Bridal Chamber" bring things from inside the house out?

Could they be moved back?

Li Banfeng quickly visualized the appearance of his Portable Residence in his mind. In a blink of an eye, Red Lotus and the chair all vanished.

Shu Wanjuan and Big Face hadn't seen Red Lotus and still didn't understand Li Banfeng's intention.

But Zhong Er, standing outside the window, looked up. He saw that the night sky tonight was surprisingly bright.