Li Banfeng felt a faint unease creep into his chest.

Something about this doesn't feel right. Could someone who needs a crowbar just to pry loose a rock on the cliff… be that same person who can climb down dozens of meters and kill a third-level Homebound Cultivator?

Li Banfeng didn't believe it at all! He suspected that the one who killed Old Hu wasn't outside. They were inside Iron Gate Fort.

Old Hu had refused to pay and had even wanted to fight back against the bandits from Flying Eagle Mountain. On top of that, he was old and had arrived at Iron Gate Fort earlier than most, even earlier than the Fort Lord himself. A person like that could easily become a target of the Fort Lord.

Old Hu was dead., so who would be next?

In Li Banfeng's view, it would most likely be Wu Yongchao.

Wu Yongchao had voted to fight back. More importantly, his cultivation was high. He was obviously a threat to the Fort Lord.

Why had Li Banfeng placed all his suspicions on the Fort Lord? In his eyes, there was no one more suspicious in Iron Gate Fort right now than the Fort Lord himself.

The Fort Lord was a level-eight Homebound Cultivator… and he couldn't even stop a bunch of bandits from getting in? That just didn't sound right. Either his cultivation was fake… Or he was working with them, teaming up with the bandits to prey on these honest people together.

Li Banfeng repeatedly warned, "Before you hear me knocking on the door, you must not go out."

Wu Yongchao didn't understand.

Just then, the dwelling spirit reminded him, "Kid, listen to him. As long as you stay inside the house, those bastards won't dare touch you. And even if they dared to come in, the two of us will fight them together!"

Wu Yongchao thought Li Banfeng couldn't hear a thing, but Li Banfeng caught every word. He possessed the ability of Perceiving the Spirit's Melody, which allowed him to hear spirit voices as clearly as if they were spoken aloud.

This honest man really was quite lucky. He had met a good dwelling spirit, and he had also run into a good "Peddler."

Li Banfeng was just about to leave when Wu Yongchao hurriedly stopped him. "Don't go out. Just stay here for now. If the Fort Lord finds out…"

Li Banfeng smiled. "It's not a good habit to let an outsider stay the night without asking your dwelling spirit. Don't worry. I have my ways of keeping your Fort Lord from finding out. Just remember this. You must not open the door until you hear me at the door."

If the Fort Lord were really a level-eight Homebound Cultivator, I would have already been caught

, Li Banfeng thought.

But if his cultivation isn't too high, I will have some fun with him.

At three in the morning, Li Banfeng gripped a sickle and began climbing the cliff, relying on the agility of a Wanderlust Cultivator.

The cliff was nearly vertical, and every step was a struggle as Li Banfeng scraped his hands against the rock until they bled.

The liquor gourd whispered in his ear, "Little bro, are you really going to get involved in this?"

"I am," Li Banfeng replied without a trace of hesitation.

"These honest folks might not be of any use to you in the future."

"That has nothing to do with whether they are useful or not."

Li Banfeng climbed onto the platform and slipped into his Pocket Dwelling to rest. When he came back out, it was close to six in the morning.

When he returned to the platform, there were already people there. There were eleven of them. Ten laborers, and one small foreman keeping watch over them as they carefully prepared the stones.

The moment they saw Li Banfeng, the foreman at the front jolted and lowered his voice. "Who are you?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and glared at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng lowered his voice. "The boss sent me to check on things. Just keep working and stay quiet."

The foreman looked him over. "Sent by the boss? Why haven't I seen you before?"

Li Banfeng frowned. "Of course you haven't seen me. You weren't supposed to. Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Which chief do you work under?"

"How dare you still ask?" Li Banfeng's frown deepened.

The foreman felt a flicker of fear. There was something about Li Banfeng that made a person's spine go stiff without quite knowing why. And really, it only made sense. In a place like this, anyone you didn't recognize was far more likely to be important than ordinary and not someone to be casually questioned.

"W-well… you'd best say what branch you are on. If the boss asks, I need something to tell him."

"One-Foot Door[1]," Li Banfeng replied.

Showing the branch and tracing the root was basic gang slang, and Li Banfeng could still understand it.

"Got it." The foreman didn't dare press further and quickly waved his men back to work.

Their task was simple. Once the gun captain, Luo Dagui, gave the word, they would start hurling stones down below.

There were eleven of them. It was not a small number. Li Banfeng was worried that he would have to take them all on at once without causing any noise. But when he saw that they went back to work, he no longer worried.

Just as he had expected, anyone who needed carrying poles and crowbars to move stones wasn't likely to be skilled. Judging by their strength alone, they weren't even cultivators.

With a single Traceless Quick Step, Li Banfeng slipped behind the foreman. His left hand clamped over the man's mouth as his right hand flashed, slicing his throat.

The others were still focused on their work. Li Banfeng moved through them one by one, cutting them down in silence. By the time anyone reacted, nearly half were already dead.

"What are you…"

Li Banfeng thrust out his iron ruler and pierced the man's throat. The remaining five men rushed him together, fighting with desperate force.

Li Banfeng raised his mandarin-duck axes and cut them down one after another. The dead and the half-dead alike were swept into his Pocket Dwelling.

Once he cleaned up the scene, Li Banfeng turned and headed down the mountain.

***

At six o'clock, Ma Dingfu came knocking again. Wu Yongchao stayed behind the door, not daring to make a sound.

"Wu, you are a grown man. Hiding like this won't solve anything. I know you are short on money, so tell me how much you can give me. If you don't have enough, I can lend you. But it's not right for you to keep hiding like this. We are Homebound Cultivators and we are not spineless cowards. If you really can't afford it, you can move out. Staying here and risking everyone's lives isn't something a man should do!"

However, no matter what Ma Dingfu said, Wu Yongchao just wouldn't come out.

***

At the mouth of the ravine, Sui Donglan hid in the tall grass, waiting for the "Peddler" to appear. By the time it was nearly eight, he still hadn't shown up.

Woooo! Woooo!

The whistle shrieked, and the great steam gate slammed shut.

This is bad

, Sui Donglan thought.

The bandits are here.

She wanted to run, but her legs had gone weak. After steeling herself for a long moment, she finally forced herself to stand. Only then did she see more than a dozen burly men approaching from afar.

These men wore thick changshan, large fur hats, and fierce-looking masks. They carried a massive wooden chest, about one meter high and wide and over two meters long, as they arrived at the valley gate.

Sui Donglan scrambled deeper into the grass, clamping a hand over her mouth as tears streamed down her face. A faint rustling came from her pant legs as she lost control and wet herself.

These are the bandits from Flying Eagle Mountain

, Sui Donglan thought.

That damned Peddler told me to wait here, and now I've walked straight into them!

Clang!

Several burly men set the large wooden chest on the ground, opened the lid, and began turning a handle. From within, a massive horn nearly eighty centimeters across slowly rose up.

What is that thing?

Sui Donglan muttered inwardly.

The burly men looked around, appearing to be checking if there was anyone else nearby.

Sui Donglan bit her lip until it bled, not daring to make a sound.

"Fort Lord Zhou, are you home?" Luo Dagui was calling out.

A voice suddenly boomed from the horn. It was so loud it made Sui Donglan's chest ache.

So that's what they were using to shout

, Sui Donglan thought.

No wonder it's so loud.

Sui Donglan thought back to the times Flying Eagle Mountain had massacred entire villages. Each time, the voices had been just as loud, loud enough to frighten people half to death.

She had always thought it was some technique used by high-level cultivators. Now she realized it all came from this device.

Sui Donglan finally stopped wetting herself. Somehow, she didn't feel quite as afraid anymore.

"Fort Lord Zhou, yesterday you asked for a few more days to gather the money. I agreed, didn't I? And look, I haven't killed a single one of your people today.

"But let's be clear. When you say 'a few days,' what exactly are you planning? You can't give me ten thousand silver dollars, but you should have at least three thousand, right? I will take three thousand today."

Inside the fort, the Homebound Cultivators exchanged quick looks, a small spark of hope passing between them.

There's room to negotiate! The Fort Lord really is impressive. He managed to bring the price down. Three thousand silver dollars isn't hard to gather. It's just ten from each household.

Just as they were celebrating, another shout came from outside. "Fort Lord Zhou, no answer? Then don't blame me for doing this the hard way!"

Why isn't Fort Lord Zhou responding? Does he not even want to give the three thousand silver dollars? Luo Dagui said he wouldn't play nice anymore. Is he going to start throwing stones again?

The Homebound Cultivators were terrified. Yet no matter how afraid they were, they did not step outside. Even if the stones crushed them where they stood, they refused to abandon their homes.

Ma Dingfu stood in the middle of the road, calm as ever. He knew the stones would start falling soon. These Homebound Cultivators just needed a good beating.

But even after waiting for quite some time, not a single stone came.

Ma Dingfu felt a flicker of confusion. Outside the gate, Luo Dagui was no less bewildered.

These birdbrains! Did they not hear me or what?

"I really won't hold back!" he shouted again. Behind him, someone cranked the box, amplifying his voice until it rang even louder than before.

They waited for a long time, but still no stones came.

Luo Dagui panicked. He realized something might have gone wrong.

"Forget it, Fort Lord Zhou. I won't make things ugly today. I'll come back tomorrow for three thousand silver dollars, and a few days later, I'll take another three thousand. If you keep dragging this out, we will go back to collecting one head a day!

Fort Lord Zhou finally spoke. "Gun Captain Luo, you are ruthless. I, Zhou, know to fear you now. Tomorrow, I will personally deliver the three thousand silver dollars."

The Homebound Cultivators inside the fort were all stunned.

What does that mean? How is that considered ruthless?

No stones had fallen from the cliff, and no one in the fort had died. So how was that ruthless?

Sui Donglan found it strange. She had always thought that Fort Lord Zhou negotiated face to face with Luo Dagui. Yet, she didn't see him anywhere here and only heard his voice.

Was Fort Lord Zhou shouting from inside the fort? He didn't dare come out? That made him seem far less impressive.

Luo Dagui flicked his hand as if shooing away flies, and his men hurried off at once.

Sui Donglan sagged where she stood and let out a long, shaky breath. For a moment, she really believed she had escaped this whole mess.

Clink-clank, clink-clank!

The moment the rattling reached her ears, Sui Donglan nearly jumped out of her skin.

Damn it. Why does he have to show up now of all times?

There he was. Li Banfeng strolled over with a sack slung across his back, casually shaking his rattle drum as he came to a stop before Luo Dagui and the others.

"Don't rush off just yet," Li Banfeng said, perfectly serious. "Let's talk a bit more. One head a day is a bit much, don't you think? How about one every two days?"

Luo Dagui jolted in surprise and barked angrily, "Who are you?"

"I am the Peddler," Li Banfeng said with a smile. "The people of Iron Gate Fort are too honest to bargain, so I will do it for them. One head every two days, what do you think?"

Luo Dagui said nothing. The dozen or so men beside him quietly drew their weapons.

Li Banfeng smiled. "Since you are not saying anything, I will take that as a yes. Go on, count them. See if these heads are enough to cover what we owe you."

He tossed the sack to the ground. Thud. Eleven heads rolled out.

"One every two days," Li Banfeng went on cheerfully. "That's twenty-two days. Gun Captain Luo, the math checks out, doesn't it?"

"Get him!" Luo Dagui roared.

More than a dozen burly men rushed forward at once.

Li Banfeng swung his sickle straight at one man's face, forcing the man to jerk back to dodge. He twisted his wrist and swept horizontally, slicing the man's throat.

The fellow's quick dodge told Li Banfeng everything. Oh yes, this one had some cultivation. And judging by the look of the others, they weren't exactly ordinary either.

Then Li Banfeng suddenly bellowed, "Open the gates and fight them!"

He had planted himself right next to the horn, you see, and the thing carried his voice everywhere. Every last person inside the fort heard him, clear as day.

He was actually calling for the gates to be opened!

Inside his house, Wu Yongchao heard every word.

The dwelling spirit muttered, "When he said he would call at the door, I thought he meant our door. Who would have guessed he meant the fort gate? What are we supposed to do now?"

"I am opening it!" Wu Yongchao snapped. That was the sort of stubborn streak only a Homebound Cultivator could have.

"No, don't act rashly. Be careful of your Fort Lord!"

"I have to open the gate for him!" Wu Yongchao dashed out of the house, charging straight toward the boiler room.

Ma Dingfu jumped. "What are you trying to do?"

"Open the gate and fight the bandits!"

"No! I am telling you! You can't do that! Without the Fort Lord's order, no one is allowed…"

Ma Dingfu didn't finish. Instead, he slipped in behind Wu Yongchao, quiet as a shadow, a dagger clenched in his hand.

They were less than ten steps apart when Wu Yongchao suddenly turned. The brush in his hand flicked forward and struck, driving straight into Ma Dingfu's chest.

Ma Dingfu clutched his chest and dropped, the dagger slipping from his fingers.

"Trying to ambush me?" Wu Yongchao said through clenched teeth. "You think you are capable of doing that?"

Wu Yongchao was an honest man. But just because he was an honest man did not mean that he was stupid!

Li Banfeng had warned him again and again. How could he not be on guard?

"You bastard! Was it you who killed Old Hu?" Wu Yongchao stepped forward and kicked Ma Dingfu, but there was no response. It seemed he was already dead.Wu Yongchao rushed straight into the boiler room and shouted at the others, "Open the gate!"

The others exchanged confused looks. What was Wu Yongchao talking about?

Wu Yongchao didn't explain. He lunged forward and seized the valve.

At once, several boiler workers rushed in to stop him. "No! You can't do that! This needs the Fort Lord's order!"

And just like that, the boiler room turned into a mess of pushing and grabbing as they struggled over the valve.

***

The fight outside grew wilder by the second.

Li Banfeng swung his sickle and cut down two men in quick succession. Two more tried to sneak up behind him, but the Tang saber leapt from its sheath all on its own. One swing, a head. Another swing, another head.

Then, as it snapped back, it took yet another, slicing clean through a man charging straight at Li Banfeng.

"One swing, one head!" the Tang saber chirped, then promptly shrank and slipped back into Li Banfeng's pocket.

The teapot wasn't about to be left out. It tipped itself and splashed out a wave of scalding tea, dropping two men where they stood.

Next came the liquor gourd. It sprayed a fine mist into the air. Li Banfeng struck a match and three of them went up in flames.

Then the pendulum swung in. It struck one man in the neck and drained him dry in an instant, before swinging back and cracking another across the skull.

None of these men had cultivation beyond the second level while Li Banfeng was cultivating two paths at the fourth level. In the blink of an eye, over a dozen burly men were lying on the ground, not moving at all.

Only Luo Dagui was left. And oddly enough, he looked quite calm.

"Impressive," Luo Dagui said. He calmly turned the crank, drawing the horn back in and cutting off the sound, as if tidying up after a small chore. Then he looked at Li Banfeng. "What path are you on?"

Li Banfeng gave his rattle drum a little shake. "I am the Peddler. Of course I walk the Peddler's path."

Luo Dagui nodded slowly. "There are no grudges between us. When I first entered the path, I even used your medicinal powder. You could say we share a bit of… history."

"Is that so?" Li Banfeng raised his brows, pretending to be surprised. "Then you were probably using my junior brother's powder. Now, what path are you actually on? You don't fight like a Martial Cultivator. You are a Deception Cultivator, aren't you?"

Luo Dagui nodded. "You got it right. I am a level-seven Deception Cultivator."

Seven!

Li Banfeng thought.

Luo Dagui lied about his cultivation path, but he wasn't lying about his cultivation level. This dude is really at level seven.

Li Banfeng took half a step back. Luo Dagui let out a laugh. "Friend, whether you are a senior or junior, you have taken enough advantage today and made your point. I advise you to stop while things are still good for you.

"You call yourself the Peddler, but if I am not mistaken, you are nowhere close to the level of the Peddler. If I really make a move, you wouldn't last a single exchange. The reason I haven't acted is because I suspect you might have ties to the real Peddler. I don't want to offend him over such a small matter like Iron Gate Fort. You know Flying Eagle Mountain's reputation around here. There's no need for us to make enemies for life. Let's each take a step back and end things here today, what do you say?"

The oppressive aura pressed down on him, making Li Banfeng's hands tremble ever so slightly.

Level four Homebound. Level four Wanderlust… would that be enough to beat a level seven?

Four plus four makes eight, doesn't it?

What nonsense. It doesn't work like that.

His gaze flicked back to Luo Dagui.

But is he really level seven?

Would a true level-seven cultivator bother bringing along so many useless lackeys just to fight?

As Li Banfeng was still thinking, he suddenly heard the steam gate rumble.

Huff! Huff! Huff!

Inside the boiler room, Wu Yongchao had already knocked the workers flat and thrown open the main gate.

Li Banfeng clenched his teeth!

Two to three hundred Homebound Cultivators… on their own ground. The strongest among them is only level four. Do they even stand a chance of winning?

Li Banfeng let out a long sigh. "Fine. Let's both take a step back today."

"Good!" Luo Dagui nodded, quite pleased. "You are a sensible man. You know when to advance and when to retreat. In time, you'll surely become someone who—"

Before he could finish, Li Banfeng used Traceless Quick Step and appeared right in front of him.

If Homebound Cultivators can't even defend their own homes, then what kind of Homebound Cultivators are they? Fight it out!

Li Banfeng swung his sickle toward the man's throat. He didn't expect the strike to land, he only wanted to seize the initiative.

This Luo Dagui is most likely not truly seventh level. I'll make a move first, then when the Homebound Cultivators rush out, we will attack from both sides and try to—

The head fell. Li Banfeng's blade swept past, and Luo Dagui's head dropped.

This guy…

Li Banfeng picked up Luo Dagui's head and stared at it for quite a while, thoughts tumbling over one another in his mind.

How could someone at this level be the gun captain of a bandit stronghold? Are bandits really this poorly chosen these days? And that aura just now… where did it even come from? Could that be a trick of Deception Cultivation?

With a hiss, the steam gate swung open.

Wu Yongchao stood at the entrance, staring nervously at the "Peddler." Behind him, a crowd of Homebound Cultivators gathered, all of them watching with the same tight, uneasy tension.

Li Banfeng lifted Luo Dagui's head high and shouted, "The gun captain of Flying Eagle Mountain is dead!"

The Homebound Cultivators couldn't believe the "Peddler" had killed someone from Flying Eagle Mountain.They didn't understand why the "Peddler" would help them. They didn't even dare believe the head in his hand truly belonged to Luo Dagui.

Seeing the doubt in their eyes, Li Banfeng pulled off Luo Dagui's mask. "Take a good look. Do you recognize him? Do you remember him?

"You are Homebound Cultivators. Whoever comes knocking at your door, you take their head. Defend your home. That's your dignity!"

The words hit harder than expected. Several Homebound Cultivators trembled and many even burst into tears.

Li Banfeng paused. He had to admit that he had given such an emotion-stirring speech

Just then, a woman suddenly cried out, "Fort Lord!"

Li Banfeng froze.

What lord? They are calling me Fort Lord? This is a bit too…

For the first time, Li Banfeng actually felt a little embarrassed.

Wu Yongchao said in a trembling voice, "You killed the Fort Lord."

He meant… that this is the Fort Lord?

Li Banfeng stared at Luo Dagui's head for a moment. He said with deep feeling, "You have got to be joking… "

Author's Note:

PS: How could he be the Fort Lord? Wasn't the Fort Lord just speaking earlier?

1. Probably just something he made up ☜