Night had fallen, and Tail Lane was almost empty of passersby. Whether Chubby Qin would get his first bite of food for the day depended entirely on the man in the mandarin jacket.

The man in the mandarin jacket was eating a bowl of mutton noodles. Half of the soup was meat broth, and the other half was rendered mutton fat that floated with bright red chillies. He was sweating from the heat as he ate.

The aroma of the mutton and chillies drifted into Chubby Qin's nostrils, slowly eroding the last of his dignity bit by bit.

"Kowtow to me. If you kowtow to me, I'll give you a sip of soup," said the man in the mandarin jacket as he carried the bowl over to Chubby Qin.

Nevertheless, there was no way Chubby Qin would kowtow to him.

The man in the mandarin jacket slurped a mouthful of scalding soup. "You've been kneeling here all day, yet you're not willing to kowtow to me?"

Chubby Qin was kneeling because he had been hit by a spell. His lower body was immobilized, and only some joints in his upper body could move. Otherwise, he would have fought the man in the mandarin jacket to the death, even if he only had one breath left in him.

The man sighed. "I know about you Gourmandism Cultivators. Go a day without eating, and your stomach catches fire. The flames burn all the way up to your throat, spreading inch by inch through your heart, liver, and spleen. Sounds awful just thinking about it."

He slurped another mouthful of soup. "I really do pity you. Give me a sincere kowtow, and I'll give you a sip of broth right away. I guarantee it will keep you alive another day,

"Kowtow. Hurry up and kowtow. Don't think that just because you want to die, I'll let you die today. If you don't drink this soup, I'll make you eat something else.

"See that latrine over there? I can fetch you a bowl from it. If you won't eat it, I'll force it down your throat. The young master said I have to keep you alive for at least three days."

Chubby Qin closed his eyes. The man in the mandarin jacket was not wrong. His stomach and intestines were burning;the fire was eating through his organs.

The man in the mandarin jacket really would scoop out a bowl of shit and feed it to Chubby Qin. The bastard was capable of anything.

However, Chubby Qin would not kowtow.

A man walked down the lane in a red suit and a red fedora, carrying a bag of fried dough twists. He glanced in Chubby Qin's direction.

Then he pulled out a dough twist and held it out to Chubby Qin. "This is for you."

The scent of the dough twist made Chubby Qin open his eyes. He lifted his head and looked at the man in front of him.

The light was behind the man, so Chubby Qin could not make out his face, but Chubby Qin thought the man's build looked rather familiar.

Chubby Qin reached out to take the dough twist, but the man in the mandarin jacket suddenly raised his hand and swatted it away.

This outcome was what Chubby Qin had expected, so he closed his eyes again.

However, the man in the red suit looked very surprised. "What are you doing? I just gave a beggar something to eat..."

"Who told you that you could give him anything?" the man in the mandarin jacket said with the trademark grin of a ruffian.

The man in the red suit blinked, puzzled and scared. "What's wrong? He's a beggar. I gave him something to eat. What's the problem?"

The man in the mandarin jacket's grin vanished. "I don't want you to give him anything. Is that not okay?"

"I… I only gave him a little something to eat. W-what did I do wrong? We should at least talk this out..." the man in the red suit stammered. He was so frightened that he could not speak clearly. Despite his obvious fear, he still tried to reason with the man in the mandarin jacket.

The man in the mandarin jacket hated people like that the most.

"You're the only one who knows how to talk reason, huh. Where in the world is there so much reason? Who the hell are you to lecture me? I'll beat your shit out of you and feed it to him. How's that for reasonable?"

The man in the mandarin jacket slowly rose to his feet. He was going to teach the man in the red suit a lesson.

He moved from a squat to halfway up.

His center of gravity is extremely unsteady, and his height is just right.

I thought I would need to provoke him a few more times before he would stand. Didn't expect him to be so cooperative. I only spoke twice, and here he is standing up already.

Li Banfeng had been waiting for this very moment. He lifted his foot and kicked the soup bowl.

The scalding noodle soup, along with the chili oil, splashed all over the face of the man in the mandarin jacket.

The man in the mandarin jacket had thought he was dealing with someone who liked to talk reason and was easy to bully.

People like that were perfect for him to take out his frustrations on.

That meant he had been completely unguarded toward Li Banfeng. Even when the hot soup hit his face, he still had not realised what was happening.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

The man in the mandarin jacket screamed in agony. The chili oil seared into his eyes, bringing tears streaming down his face.

Despite the surprise attack, he didn't lose his composure. A layer of oil instantly oozed out from his body.

Nevertheless, his eyes still burned with unbearable pain from the chili oil.

Watching him grimace and bare his teeth in agony, Li Banfeng almost felt a pang of pity.

What could he do?

Chilli oil had gotten in the eyes of the man in the mandarin jacket, but he couldn't rub them. And there was no water nearby for him to wash the chilli oil out. Was Li Banfeng supposed to just watch the man suffer like this?

Li Banfeng flicked his sickle out from his sleeve, stepped forward, and gouged out the man's left eye. He offered a word of comfort: "It doesn't hurt now, does it?"

With the eye removed, Li Banfeng figured the man shouldn't be in pain anymore.

The man in the mandarin jacket was a level-one Oil Cultivator with a strong physique, so he didn't faint.

He fixed his remaining eye on Li Banfeng, baffled at how Li Banfeng had known about his weak point.

It was pointless for Li Banfeng to strike the man in the mandarin jacket anywhere else. He was covered in slick grease that caused ordinary blades to slide right off without leaving a mark.

Lightbulb, the agent from the Dark Star Bureau, had also used this greasy ability to defend himself against Li Banfeng.

People like them were called Oil Cultivators, relying on their oil to overcome foes.

As an Oil Cultivator, the man in the mandarin jacket could exude oil all over his body, but his eyes were the slowest to exude the oil. Combined with the damage from the chili oil, the effect of his ability on his eyes was slowed down further, giving Li Banfeng the chance to gouge out his left eye.

When Li Banfeng tried to take his other eye, the man in the mandarin jacket blocked Li Banfeng's sickle with his arm. The sickle sliced across it and slid away, leaving no wound at all.

If blades didn't work, then what about punches and kicks?

They were even more useless. Every strike slipped right off without landing properly.

That was what made Oil Cultivators so troublesome. Anyone encountering one for the first time would struggle to find a successful way to attack them.

But how did an Oil Cultivator attack others?

If his hands were slick with oil, wouldn't his blows slide off too? And wouldn't he be unable to hold a weapon?

An Oil Cultivator could release or retract their oil at will. The man in the mandarin jacket drew the oil back from his right hand, pulled out a machete, and slashed down toward Li Banfeng's forehead.

Li Banfeng had anticipated it and dodged with ease.

Seizing the moment when Li Banfeng was focused on evading, the man in the mandarin jacket immediately turned and fled.

Losing an eye was a grievous injury. He couldn't continue fighting.

Oil spread across the soles of his shoes, sending him gliding forward as if on ice skates.

Li Banfeng stretched his legs and gave chase.

The man in the mandarin jacket tensed up, realizing that Li Banfeng was likely a Wanderlust Cultivator.

Wanderlust Cultivator couldn't be fought head-on;a surprise attack was the best bet.

Li Banfeng quickly drew alongside the man in the mandarin jacket. He did not strike the man. He simply ran with him, giving him no opening to sneak a surprise attack.

The man in the mandarin jacket panicked and changed tactics, attempting to negotiate with Li Banfeng as he ran,

"Oi, cobber[1], whose lot you chiv in with? I'm a support hook[2] for the Geng Family's medicinal trading house. You'd best ask around. We're no pushover. Since we're in Medicine King Gully, let's not meet in the dark of the night but in the light of the day. We'll eat from the kiln before slamming our plates. How about it?"

What he meant was that they should stop fighting for the night and meet at a restaurant during the day tomorrow. He would treat Li Banfeng to a meal, and they could talk things out.

It was just a stalling tactic. Li Banfeng had taken one of his eyes. They couldn't possibly resolve a grudge that deep just by talking.

Still, since Li Banfeng had come to rescue someone, the man in the mandarin jacket was certain Li Banfeng would not kill him. He planned to play a soft game, survive this ordeal, and hunt down the man in the red suit for revenge later.

"Oi, cobber, yes or no? Give me a word!" the man in the mandarin jacket said, waiting for Li Banfeng's reply.

"I don't understand," Li Banfeng answered.

The man in the mandarin jacket nearly slipped.

"You're not from the underworld?"

"What are you talking about?" Li Banfeng asked blankly.

"Let me put it this way. I'm from the Geng Family's medicinal trading house. Our shopkeeper is with the Jiangxiang Gang. You'd better think twice about making an enemy out of us. How about you just take that fatty away, and we call it quits for tonight? What do you say, can we talk it over?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "We can talk it over. But should we talk while we're standing or while we're running?"

The man in the mandarin jacket was speechless. Li Banfeng clearly wanted to drag this out!

Regardless of whether they talk while standing or running, the man in the mandarin jacket absolutely could not afford to let this drag out.

The real meaning behind his offer was that this confrontation should end here and that Li Banfeng should stop chasing him.

Sliding forward along the ground in his oil-coated state might seem to cost less energy than running like Li Banfeng, but maintaining it actually consumed enormous stamina.

With his current cultivation level, he could only maintain the state for a little over five minutes. He was already nearing his limit.

On the other hand, Wanderlust Cultivators had great stamina. Li Banfeng was still far from reaching his limit.

Be it standing or running, the man in the mandarin jacket would be drained of his stamina in a few minutes, and all the oil covering him would be gone.

Before a Wanderlust Cultivator, an Oil Cultivator without his oil could only wait for death.

To conserve stamina, the man in the mandarin jacket quietly withdrew the coating of oil on his body, leaving only a thin layer on the soles of his shoes.

In this state, he could last for more than half an hour, enough time for him to run back to the Geng Family's medicinal trading house.

Once he reached the medicinal trading house, he would have plenty of people to help him. They would surely be able to deal with Li Banfeng.

After absorbing the oil back into his body, the oily sheen on his skin disappeared, leaving it looking duller than before.

He thought Li Banfeng would not notice such a minor change.

However, to his surprise, Li Banfeng did notice.

He had been staring at the oily sheen on the face of the man in the mandarin jacket. The instant he saw the sheen turn dull, he hooked his sickle into the man's cheek.

"

AAAAAHHHHH!

" The man in the mandarin jacket screamed in agony, hurriedly exuding oil from his cheek to slide the blade out.

What the hell's with this kid?

He knows way too much about Oil Cultivators!

There was now a gaping hole in his cheek, and the searing pain was unbearable. Cold air whistled straight into his mouth.

The man in the mandarin jacket was already in agonizing pain, but worse things still awaited him.

Up ahead lay the only path back to the Geng Family's medicinal trading house. It was a straight path that ran for 1.5 kilometers, with not a single connecting side path.

There was no way for him to shake off Li Banfeng. Yet, he had no choice but to take this path. The oil covering his body was thinning fast;he couldn't maintain it for much longer.

Seeing Li Banfeng raising his sickle again, the man in the mandarin jacket stopped sliding across the ground and prepared to fight Li Banfeng to the death.

"You little bastard. Since you're so eager to die, then this grandfather will grant your wish today!"

He withdrew every drop of oil covering his body and drew a machete from his waist.

"Come on, no more tricks. Let's fight head-on!" yelled the man in the mandarin jacket. He was ready to fight Li Banfeng head-on.

This strategy made no sense.

Without his protective oil barrier, an Oil Cultivator was no match for a Wanderlust Cultivator in close combat.

What good could this desperate tactic possibly do?

Li Banfeng raised his sickle higher and shouted, "Come on then, let's go head-on!"

He charged forward.

Oil suddenly leaked out from the soles of the man in the mandarin jacket, and he spun in place rapidly.

As he spun, the hundred-odd darts he had concealed under his clothes shot out like bullets.

This was his ultimate life-saving move.

In a critical situation, he would first retract his oil barrier, feigning desperation to lure his opponent into close combat.

Then, once his opponent got close enough, he would exude his oil again, spin at high speed, and launch all the darts concealed under his clothes.

Despite how simple the move was, he had used it to kill many powerful opponents.

In a life-or-death struggle, no one would think that far ahead. They had to seize the opportunity to attack, lest it slip away in an instant. There wouldn't be any time to make a careful analysis.

Yet, Li Banfeng had seen through the act.

The man in the mandarin jacket put on a great performance, a convincing declaration that he would fight to the death.

However, Li Banfeng's acting was even better. He dashed forward as if to clash head-on with the man in the mandarin jacket, but after taking two steps, he veered off sharply and rounded past a corner wall in the distance to hide from the darts.

Clang, clang, clang!

As the man in the mandarin jacket spun, the momentum hurled out every last dart he had.

Then he stopped spinning to search for Li Banfeng's corpse, but despite searching for a while, he saw no trace of Li Banfeng anywhere.

Where had Li Banfeng gone?

Could the darts have failed to kill him?

Startled, the man in the mandarin jacket immediately covered himself in oil again, preparing to defend against any attacks.

Who the hell is this little bastard?

How was he able to defend against my ultimate killing move?

In any case, I can't stay here. I can't keep up my oil barrier for much longer. I have to hurry back to the medicinal trading house!

Just as he was about to flee, he smelled smoke. Someone else had already thought of a way to deal with him.

This was the only road back to the Geng Family's medicinal trading house.

Someone had been waiting there for him for a long time.

Yu Nan took a drag from her cigarette and exhaled toward the man in the mandarin jacket.

The smoke coiled around him, enveloping him completely.

Covered in oil, he instantly burst into flames.

1. Definition: Friend ☜

2. Definition: House guard ☜