Chapter 80: I want to see if you know what pain is

Zhou Yujuan awoke from her sleep, hearing movement in the corridor that sounded like a fight. She had heard correctly; Du Hongxi's two subordinates had engaged in a brief battle with Li Banfeng just before their deaths.

Slipping on her bathrobe, Zhou Yujuan cautiously approached the door. With her hand on the doorknob, she was about to push the door open but pulled her hand back. Through the door, she heard breathing.

Was it Du Hongxi? It didn't sound like him. The breathing was lighter and seemed to come from a higher position than Du Hongxi's.

*Knock, knock, knock!* A knock sounded at the door. This wasn't Du Hongxi; Du Hongxi never knocked.

Zhou Yujuan retreated to her bedside and took a pair of scissors from the drawer next to her pillow. As a Level One Observer-cultivator, Zhou Yujuan wasn't adept at combat, so she had paid a hefty sum for this special weapon. The scissors, over twenty centimeters long and entirely black, had only a few dark red bloodstains on their blades.

The knocking stopped, and Zhou Yujuan listened intently, realizing the breathing outside the door was still present.

*Click!* The doorknob turned; the person was coming in.

*Creak,* the door was pushed open.

Zhou Yujuan immediately slashed her palm with the scissors and hurled the blood-stained weapon towards the doorway. The scissors instantly elongated, their nearly meter-long blades opening wide to sever the head of the person standing outside the door. This attack was swift and precise; as long as the timing was accurate, most Level One and Two cultivators would have no chance to dodge or parry.

Hearing silence in the corridor, Zhou Yujuan cautiously approached the doorway and picked up the severed head. Who could this be? Was it that idiot who came to cause trouble earlier tonight? This fool clearly didn't know his place, daring to seek revenge. Severing his head was letting him off too easily. Old Du should have dealt with him, made him suffer a tortured death, and after dying, turn him into a ghost servant, and then make him...

Zhou Yujuan stared at the head for a long moment. This head had no hair. This head... it looked like Old Du's... How could it be his? Old Du was just sleeping in her bed; how could his head be severed? Did I cut it off?

No, not me! "It really wasn't me!" Zhou Yujuan cried out in a panic.

"Don't be afraid, it wasn't you."

"It wasn't me!"

"I know it wasn't you."

"It really wasn't me."

Li Banfeng, standing nearby, comforted her, "Don't be afraid. It wasn't you, truly it wasn't. It was me. He was already dead; I killed him."

Someone was in the room! Zhou Yujuan suddenly snapped back to reality, using all her limbs to try and crawl toward the scissors.

Li Banfeng got to the scissors first. "This thing is quite dangerous," he said. "I'll hold onto it for you. Now, tell me where the money is?"

"What money?" Zhou Yujuan asked, bewildered.

Li Banfeng's eyes widened. "My money," he said. "You took a lot from me tonight. Have you forgotten so quickly?"

Zhou Yujuan stood stunned for about ten seconds before realization dawned on her. She remembered who he was. Wasn't this the fool who had caused all the trouble earlier? How did he come back?! He killed Old Du? Seeing Li Banfeng's gentle smile, Zhou Yujuan dared not dwell on it.

"No, no, I didn't forget! I'll get it right now!"

With tears still clinging to her lashes, Zhou Yujuan led Li Banfeng to the first-floor counter. Beneath the counter was a mechanical cash register. With a *click-clack*, she entered the password, then pulled the lever hard. The whirring of gears and transmission shafts sounded as the drawer popped open. Zhou Yujuan grabbed two stacks of banknotes and handed them to Li Banfeng. "This is all your money, sir. Please take it."

Li Banfeng glanced at the money, then frowned. "How much is this?" he asked.

"This is... two thousand." Zhou Yujuan had originally extorted two thousand from Li Banfeng, but the money in her hand now was considerably more than that.

"Do you think two thousand is enough?" Li Banfeng's tone was an exact replica of Zhou Yujuan's when she had extorted him.

"No, not enough..." Zhou Yujuan quickly emptied all the cash from the register and handed it to Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng's tone remained unchanged. "Do you think *this* money is enough?" he pressed.

"No, no..." Zhou Yujuan, understanding the implication, led Li Banfeng to the third floor and opened the safe. The safe contained over three hundred thousand in cash. Zhou Yujuan found a box, packed it, and handed it to Li Banfeng. "All the cash is here. The rest is in the bank; I can take you to withdraw it."

"Do you think going to the bank is appropriate?" Li Banfeng had no intention of accompanying her to a bank; leaving this building with her might cost him his life.

Steeling herself, Zhou Yujuan pulled a key from a secret compartment under the bed and opened a hidden door behind the bookshelf. Inside the hidden door was a secret cabinet containing over a dozen gold bars. "Sir," she said, "these are my savings from over ten years; they're all yours."

Li Banfeng frowned. "Is this enough?" he asked.

Zhou Yujuan cried. "I've given you all the money, truly all of it! I beg you, please let me go, I beg you..."

Li Banfeng snorted coldly, pursing his lips. "Do you even have the right to beg me? Are you worthy? Why don't you go take a piss and look at your reflection—"

*Splash!* The moment he finished speaking, Li Banfeng regretted it. As the saying goes, "ask for a hammer, get a hammer," or in this case, "ask for piss, get piss." A puddle of liquid covered Li Banfeng's shoes. *Drip!* Li Banfeng lifted his foot; water was dripping from his sole.

"You actually peed?!" Li Banfeng was utterly annoyed. He grabbed Zhou Yujuan and tossed her into his portable dwelling.

"Oh dear~ My husband has brought home groceries again! Let me see what we have..." The gramophone was initially delighted, but before long, an angry scolding erupted: "Oh my! Where did this filthy woman come from, daring to urinate in my home?! Husband, when you buy a chicken, you at least pluck it first! You didn't even clean her up before bringing her in!"

...

Li Banfeng put all the banknotes and gold bars into his portable dwelling. Besides the money, there were other valuable items. Zhou Yujuan had a large collection of fine jewelry, all of which Li Banfeng took. He also collected two sets of exquisite solid wood tables and chairs. A bookshelf, which Li Banfeng took along with all its books. The candlesticks were taken, and the candles with them. He took the wardrobe but not the clothes; Du Hongxi's clothes were too small, Zhou Yujuan's were useless to Li Banfeng, and the gramophone had no use for them either. A sofa set was taken. Two high-quality vases were taken (the flowers discarded), to hold feather dusters. Several oil paintings hung on the wall. The moment Li Banfeng stored them in his portable dwelling, the gramophone scorched them to smithereens.

"These shameless women, not wearing a stitch, posing suggestively! What kind of decorum is this?!"

Li Banfeng sighed deeply. "You shrew, you don't understand art!"

Li Banfeng brought the hand-cranked gramophone into his portable dwelling, but the steam-powered gramophone immediately dismantled it on the spot, admonishing Li Banfeng: "Husband, listening to music outside is one thing, but how dare you bring *this* into our home?!" He wanted to move more items in, but the gramophone complained, "Oh dear, husband, if you bring any more things in, you won't even have a place to sleep!" The outer room and the main chamber were already completely full. How wonderful it would be to have another room!

Li Banfeng took out the explosives he had bought from Shopkeeper Feng and placed them in various corners of the dance hall. His university knowledge wasn't entirely useless; Li Banfeng knew exactly where to place the explosives for maximum effect. Explosives from Puluo Province were notoriously unreliable, so he needed to place extra at crucial points.

With everything in place, Li Banfeng woke up Old Gu, the man in charge of the gramophone. Seeing the iron ruler in Li Banfeng's hand, Old Gu was scared senseless. "Sir," he stammered, "I haven't done anything wrong; I just earn my living here."

Li Banfeng pulled out a pocket watch and told Old Gu, "I believe you haven't done anything wrong. Look at this watch, look very closely. I'm giving you ten minutes to get everyone out of this dance hall. If even one person is left behind, you'll pay with your life."

"Alright! Alright! That's easy enough!"

This task was actually not difficult for Old Gu. Besides operating the gramophone, he had another duty: every day at two in the afternoon, when the dance hall opened, Old Gu had to summon the girls to greet the patrons. Usually, he would first play a tune, and upon hearing it, the girls would come downstairs. If any were still lingering in bed and wouldn't come out, Old Gu would play a blast on his trumpet; its loud sound was sure to wake all the girls. Today, there was no need for a tune. Old Gu simply blew his trumpet. In less than two minutes, everyone on every floor was awake.

Old Gu yelled at the top of his lungs, "Fire! Everyone, get out, quickly, quickly!" Upon hearing "fire," some guests didn't even bother to put on their clothes, rushing out naked with the girls. By the time they reached the street, not even a spark was visible. The girls grumbled at Old Gu, "Are you still half-asleep? Where's the fire?!" Old Gu didn't know how to respond. Others standing nearby also asked, "Where's our boss? Why haven't we seen her come out?"

"Master Du hasn't come out either! Old Gu, are you messing with us?"

...

On the first floor, in the lobby.

Li Banfeng struck a match and lit the fuse on the floor. He pulled up his collar, pulled down his top hat, shoved his hands into his pockets, and silently left the dance hall. When he was halfway down the street, Li Banfeng struck another match and lit a cigarette. The cigarette caught. Flames also erupted from the dance hall.

Following a tremendous roar, nearly thirty percent of the explosives detonated, blowing apart half of the dance hall. Half blown up was fine; the remaining half could serve as a memento for the Jiangxiang Gang. The fleeing guests and girls were terrified, their souls nearly leaving their bodies. Those who had been standing nearby were covered in bloodstains from flying stones and debris.

"Run! Run!" They no longer blamed Old Gu; they even forgot him entirely. They forgot everyone around them, focusing solely on running for their lives.

Li Banfeng looked at the Xianle Dance Hall, a faint smile on his lips.

*Boom!* Another massive explosion. The explosives that hadn't detonated before suddenly went off, and a ball of flame shot out, instantly engulfing Li Banfeng. When the flames dispersed, Li Banfeng calmly patted out the lingering embers on his clothes and hair. Either explode promptly or don't explode at all; he really hated these duds. Fortunately, as a Traveler, he was quick on his feet and unharmed. He wanted to take another drag from his cigarette to maintain his composure, but it had burned down to nothing but ash.

Li Banfeng picked up his half-burned top hat from the ground, blew out the flames, and placed it on his still-smoking head before silently disappearing into the night.

Jiangxiang Gang, if you haven't learned your lesson, we'll keep fighting!