The Overlord of Puluo

Li Banfeng had once used the record Wifey made to search Freewind Wharf for hooks. He had checked the people, searched the rooms, and gone through almost every corner of the place.

When Li Banfeng checked the people, the cleaner did not have his broom with him. When Li Banfeng searched the rooms, the cleaner carried the broom and kept out of his way as much as possible.

Who would have thought the hook was hanging on the broom?

No wonder Ling Miaosheng had once said that placing a hook was all about finding the right opening. It was not just about the method. It also depended on how cunning the person behind it was.

He Jiaqing had most likely ordered the Ling Family to plant the hook. Still, better safe than sorry. It was better to check properly and be certain before acting.

”Can you trace the hook back to its source?”

”Yes,” Luo Zhengnan answered without hesitation.

Li Banfeng handed him five hundred silver dollars. ”Use this for now. If you need more money, just come find me.”

Luo Zhengnan was silent for a moment. Then he looked up. ”Master Qi, there is one more thing I should tell you. Young Master Wu of the Ma Family might be in trouble.”

”Tell me exactly what happened.”

”Do you know He Jiaqing? He Family’s eldest young master?”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”I have heard of him, but I don’t know him.”

”This eldest young master of the He Family recently released a new film, and Master Ma Wu ruined it for him. Yesterday, He Jiaqing contacted a woman. From what I heard, they might be planning to make a move against Master Ma Wu.”

***

Ma Wu sat in his room with an invitation in his hand, looking as pleased as if spring had come early. On the other hand, Huo Ling and Qin sat beside him with grim faces.

As soon as Li Banfeng walked in, Ma Wu hurried over to him. ”Old Qi, this is an invitation from Shen Rongqing. She has invited me to dinner at Peace Tower tonight!”

Qin gave a cold snort. ”Go on, then. Let that little vixen serve you properly.”

Huo Ling spat. ”Little vixen? That woman is almost forty. She is at the age where a woman is fierce as a wolf and hungry as a tiger. Just wait. She will squeeze you dry and leave you with nothing!”

Li Banfeng looked at the invitation and said, ”Old Wu, this woman is not simple.”

”Of course she is not simple. She is the current most talented woman of Puluo Province. Even Zhang Xiuling has to acknowledge her.”

”Yes, a talented woman,” Li Banfeng said. ”Not only is she a talented writer, but she is also good at managing. I used to think she only dealt in leather factories and paper mills, but it turns out she has a hand in the film business as well. The Ling Family’s film company should be under her control now.”

Ma Wu froze for a moment, and beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.

Qin quickly tried to stop him. ”Darling Wu, you cannot go. She is inviting you straight into a trap!”

Huo Ling was still mocking him from the side. ”Go on, then. If he dies beneath a beauty’s skirt, at least he can call himself a ladies’ man in the afterlife.”

Ma Wu gave a slight nod. ”Ling has a point. Dying beneath a beauty’s skirt, is it? We shall see who ends up dead.”

***

At seven that evening, Ma Wu arrived at Peace Tower for the banquet.

Peace Tower belonged to the Lu Family. It was the tallest building in Greenwater City, and perhaps even the tallest in all of Puluo Province. The whole building had thirty-six floors, with steam-powered elevators running between them. Inside were restaurants, a hotel, shops, a cinema, and a dance hall.

Lu Dongliang had been the one who built Peace Tower. He had once wanted to turn it into the greatest landmark in Greenwater City. Unfortunately, even on the day he was eaten by the Crimson Lotus, the ranking of Peace Tower was still slightly lower than the Paramount Club.

Ma Wu took the elevator to the sixteenth floor. A waiter led him to the private room Shen Rongqing had reserved.

This was the first time Ma Wu had met Shen Rongqing, the most talented woman in Puluo Province.

Was Shen Rongqing beautiful?

It depended on who she was compared with. Among ordinary women, she could be considered attractive. But beside great beauties like Jiang Mengting, Xiao Xiufei, and Tu Yinghong, she was still a little lacking.

Once she spoke, however, it was an entirely different matter.

Ma Wu knew Jiang Mengting and Xiao Xiufei very well. On some occasions, if they were invited to a banquet, someone had to prepare a script for them in advance. Otherwise, the moment they opened their mouths, they would ruin the impression their beauty had created.

When Shen Rongqing saw Ma Wu, she rose before him and gave a proper clasped-fist salute. ”I have long heard of your great name, Young Master Ma. To meet you today is truly my fortune.”

She spoke with the poise of a scholar and the confidence of someone used to command, yet there was a teasing brightness in her tone that kept the courtesy from turning stiff.

Ma Wu hurried to answer. ”You flatter me, Miss Shen. I have admired you for many years. To meet you at last today fills me with joy beyond words.”

They clasped their fists to each other and held each other’s gaze for a long while.

At last, Shen Rongqing could not help laughing softly. ”I have been writing a wuxia story lately. Do you not think those two lines of ours sounded rather like something out of the jianghu?”

With just one sentence, Shen Rongqing swept away every scrap of awkwardness that usually sat between two people meeting for the first time. Suddenly, they seemed like old friends who had not seen each other for years.

Ma Junyang said, ”Miss Shen, when will your new work be published? I have been waiting so eagerly that even sleep has turned its back on me.”

Shen Rongqing’s cheeks flushed slightly. ”It is my first time writing wuxia. I am only afraid others will laugh at my poor attempt.”

Ma Junyang gave a long, heartfelt sigh. ”So long as it is written by you, I can read it ten thousand times and never get tire of it.”

Shen Rongqing looked quite moved. ”Since we have such a rare chance to meet today, I would like to tell you the outline of my story. I only ask that Young Master Ma not repeat it to anyone else.”

Despite having exchanged only a few sentences, the two of them were already sharing a secret.

Ma Junyang nodded solemnly. ”Since Miss Shen trusts me, nothing said here today will reach a third person.”

Then the two of them began talking about the story.

The hero was named Nangong Xuan. If anyone else had chosen such a name, Ma Wu would have found it hopelessly vulgar. But when Miss Shen said it, the name somehow carried a grand and graceful air.

”Young Master Nangong met Yue Haitang, a woman of the jianghu, and asked her softly, ’Miss, where exactly are you going?’

”Yue Haitang answered, ’The world is wide, and the roads are many. Ma Junyang, stop doing business in films.’”

Ma Wu froze. The voice he had just heard was deep and resonant, and it struck straight into his mind. It did not sound like Shen Rongqing’s voice at all, but there was no one else in the room.

Ma Wu asked directly, ”Miss Shen, what did you just say?”

Shen Rongqing’s lips lifted slightly, and she looked a little unhappy. ”Yue Haitang said, ’The world is so vast. Surely there must be a place in it for me.’

”Young Master Ma, were you not listening properly? Or is my story not interesting?”

Ma Wu waved his hands again and again. ”No, no. The story is too wonderful. I was only a little carried away just now.”

Shen Rongqing continued telling the story. When she reached the reunion between the hero and heroine, her voice trembled slightly.

”Yue Haitang looked at him with sorrow in her eyes and said, ’Young Master Nangong, it has been more than ten years since we parted. Have you been well?’

”Young Master Nangong said, ’Ma Junyang, do not meddle in the film business again!’”

Ma Wu sat frozen at the table. For a long while, he said nothing at all.

Shen Rongqing smiled faintly and raised her cup. ”Young Master Ma, Young Master Nangong said, ’Twelve years have passed like another lifetime. Since fate has brought us together again today, we must not let this chance pass us by.’”

Ma Wu nodded blankly. Another red vein appeared in his eye.

This was an ability that Shen Rongqing created herself. It was called Make-Believe Love. By combining the abilities of Mentalism and Literary Cultivators with enchanted artifacts from Illusion and Love Cultivators, she had planted a fake love root in Ma Wu.

The Literary Cultivator ability helped Shen Rongqing build warmth and trust with him in the shortest time she could, which allowed her to pull Ma Wu into the trap as quickly as possible.

The Mentalism Cultivator ability planted a command in Ma Wu’s mind. From then on, he was never to interfere in the film business again, nor was he ever to make an enemy of Shen Rongqing.

The enchanted artifact of Illusion Cultivator could hide every little warning sign before the abilities took effect. Ma Wu would not guard against them, and even if he tried, he would have no way to notice anything was wrong.

With so many methods layered together, it should have been more than enough. So why did Shen Rongqing still need an enchanted artifact of a Love Cultivator?

The reason was simple. The abilities of Literary and Mentalism Cultivators wouldn’t last very long.

If Shen Rongqing had only used the abilities of these two paths, Ma Wu would loathe the film business after this meal. For the next three to five days, he would want nothing to do with it.

Once those three to five days passed, the abilities would weaken and Ma Wu would go back to running the film business sooner or later. He was a merchant, and chasing profit was part of his nature.

The Love Cultivator’s enchanted artifact was the thing that made the command stick. That was the clever bit about Love Cultivator abilities. The ability would make one cling, heart and soul, as if the thought had always belonged to him.

That was why Shen Rongqing had spoken of those twelve years, saying they felt like a whole lifetime ago.

It was not only a pretty phrase. With it, she planted a twelve-year love root in Ma Wu, and for those twelve years, he would not be able to put so much as a finger into the film business again.

Seeing that Ma Wu still looked dazed, Shen Rongqing raised her cup. ”Young Master Ma, you are drifting off again.”

Ma Wu rubbed his eyes, looking half asleep and half awake. ”I am a little tired today.”

Shen Rongqing saw that the time was about right and prepared to send him away. ”Since you are tired, Young Master, please finish this cup and go home early to rest. My story is not finished yet, so please do not mention it to anyone.”

Ma Wu agreed at once, again and again.

With that promise, nothing that had happened today would get out.

***

When it was early morning, Shen Rongqing gave a small yawn and opened her eyes. She looked to her side and saw Ma Junyang next to her.

Wait. Why is Ma Junyang beside me? And why are we on the same bed?

She slowly looked down beneath the quilt.

Why am I naked? Where are my clothes...

Ma Wu slipped an arm around Shen Rongqing from behind. ”One night, and it feels as if a whole lifetime has passed. Miss Shen, from now on, you are my woman.”

Shen Rongqing shuddered

Ma Wu looked perfectly calm, but truth be told, his heart was still thumping. Shen Rongqing was a level-five Literary Cultivator as well as a level-four Mentalism Cultivator. If she really decided to kill him, Ma Wu’s life would be in real danger.

It would be too late for her to kill Ma Wu now. She wouldn’t be able to do it.

She should never, ever have used a Love Cultivator’s enchanted artifact on Ma Wu.

After Feng Daiku’s second round of teaching, Ma Wu could now use the very nature of Love Cultivator abilities against her. Instead of letting the love root take hold in him, he shifted it onto her.

***

After leaving Peace Tower, Shen Rongqing returned to the film company in a daze.

She sat in her office with both hands buried in her hair, unable to think what she was supposed to do next.

Her secretary came in to report, ”That Mr. Zhong is here again.”

Shen Rongqing composed herself, then turned to the mirror and fixed her makeup, taking extra care with her lipstick.

My lips are a little swollen, but it’s probably not too obvious. I really shouldn’t have let him have one more go before I left...

Before long, the young man in white entered the office.

”Miss Shen, have you given any more thought to what we discussed?”

Shen Rongqing steadied herself and slipped back into her usual sharp, capable manner. ”Mr. Zhong, I have already passed along what you told me. However, we still know too little about your side, so it would be difficult for us to make a decision.”

”Then it seems I did not explain everything clearly enough.” The young man in white took out a handkerchief and offered it to Shen Rongqing. ”Please accept this, Miss Shen.”

Shen Rongqing took the handkerchief and examined it closely. It had a yellow background patterned with clouds. As the current most talented woman of Puluo Province, Shen Rongqing naturally knew where it came from.

The young man in white said, ”Miss Shen, the Sage thirsts for worthy talent. I hope you will not let his sincerity go to waste.”

***

He Jiaqing of the He Family had disguised himself as a repairman and slipped into the waiting hall of East Station in Yuezhou.

He knelt beside a row of seats and pretended to repair them. While no one was paying attention, he reached beneath one of the seats and pried loose a small magnet.

After putting the magnet away, he went to a hotel near the station and took out a second one.

The two magnets snapped together, and a white ring appeared between them. He Jiaqing placed the joined magnets against the top of his head.

After a bout of convulsions, He Jiaqing exhaled and sighed.

”Still too slow,” he muttered. ”No, the absorption is not slow. I am the one who is too slow. Why can’t I borrow Zhao Xiaowan’s Wanderlust Cultivator ability? Are Zhao Xiaowan’s abilities different from the other Wanderlust Cultivators?”

While he was still thinking it over, Shen Rongqing contacted him.

”Jiaqing, Zhong Huaien is here again. He brought a handkerchief with a yellow background and dragon patterns.”

He Jiaqing froze. ”Is that something the emperor uses?”

”That is right. I checked the quality myself. It really is something used by the emperor.” Shen Rongqing paused. ”Jiaqing, he still wants to recruit you. Do you want to meet him?”

He Jiaqing thought for a moment. ”No rush. Keep dealing with him for a little longer and see if you can learn more about their background.”

***

”The emperor? The Sage?” Luo Zhengnan blinked. ”Wait. Are we talking about the Sage from Vilefolk Hillock? No wonder Boss Xiao cared so much about that place.”