The Overlord of Puluo

The Jiangxiang Gang’s main hall had been completely wiped out. He Yuxiu suggested, ”Why don’t we burn this wretched place down and leave nothing but ashes behind?”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”It would be a shame to burn down such a nice estate. Big Sis Yuxiu, haven’t you been working on a secondary residence lately? Why don’t I just give you this place?”

”No!” He Yuxiu waved him off. ”I don’t like this place. It’s unlucky, and that’s not the only problem.”

She left the rest unsaid. Saying it out loud would have made her sound a little less imposing.

Miss Chu said it for her. ”Big Bro Qi, the Jiangxiang Gang might only be a second-rate organization, but they have a lot of followers spread across a wide area. A centipede can keep wriggling even after it’s dead. Their branch halls and sub-branches in other places could still rise again. If the Jiangxiang Gang ever tries to take revenge, their old main hall will definitely be one of their main targets.”

This was a serious matter, and Li Qi had already made plans for it. ”Old Luo, you know the Jiangxiang Gang better than anyone. Starting today, I want you to get to work and wipe them out completely from Puluo Province.”

Wiping them out completely was the proper way to handle things. Luo Zhengnan really agreed with Li Qi’s decision, but there were some things he needed to make clear first. ”Master Qi, this won’t be easy.”

Li Qi nodded. ”I know it would indeed be difficult. I will give you all the manpower and money you need. Just focus on getting it done.”

With that assurance, Luo Zhengnan felt at ease. He Yuxiu spoke up from the side. ”Old Qi, you can’t shoulder this alone. Count the He Family in too. Your big sis wants a share of the credit.”

She was being completely straightforward about it. He Yuxiu really did want the reputation that came with this.

Did reputation matter to the He Family? It hadn’t before, but things were different now. After everything the Great Families had been through, their standing in Puluo Province was nowhere near what it used to be. Taking down the Jiangxiang Gang would be a major accomplishment and could help the Great Families rebuild their prestige.

Lu Chunying said, ”Count the Lu Family in as well.”

Miss Chu smiled. ”Naturally, I will be following Big Bro Qi.”

Everyone contributed money and manpower, giving Luo Zhengnan their full support in dealing with the remaining members of the Jiangxiang Gang.

Once everything was settled, He Yuxiu said, ”Old Qi, let’s all head home for dinner tonight. We can get together again another day.”

Everyone was hungry. Other than Cedric, none of them had eaten much that evening.

After the others left, Luo Zhengnan took Li Banfeng around the main hall. They searched the storerooms and hidden chambers from top to bottom, but aside from the land deeds and property deeds, they found nothing of value.

Li Banfeng handed the deeds to Luo Zhengnan. ”This place is yours from now on. If you really don’t want it, you can always sell it.”

Luo Zhengnan gave a bitter smile. ”I am afraid no one would dare buy this place anyway. The Jiangxiang Gang committed far too many terrible deeds. I am thinking of opening a charity hall here. At least that way, we can help them atone for some of their sins.”

Li Banfeng nodded. ”Let’s do that. I will pay for it. Also, let our newspaper know that the Jiangxiang Gang has been wiped out. I want the news in print as soon as possible.”

After leaving Jiangxiang Garden, Glove said to Li Banfeng, ”This doesn’t make sense. A gang this big had nothing valuable in its main hall? Even if there weren’t any enchanted artifacts, there should at least have been some gold and silver!”

Li Banfeng wasn’t surprised. ”Xiao Zhenggong wanted to get rid of the Jiangxiang Gang name altogether. He had no use for this main hall either. Anything valuable was moved out long ago.”

Back in the Pocket Dwelling, Wifey had already devoured Xiao Zhenggong’s soul completely. ”Hey, Husband dear. Judging by the quality of this soul, he should have reached level nine. I can’t see his cultivation level, so I might be wrong by a few levels.”

Xiao Zhenggong wasn’t very old, yet his cultivation was already this high. Even among the powerful families of Puluo Province, that was extremely rare. Had this advantage come from the Inner Provinces, or had the Outer Provinces given it to him?

Once the Gramophone finished eating, the others picked up their chopsticks. Although Xiao Zhenggong’s cultivation level wasn’t low, it wasn’t a cultivation level at the Cloudborne Layer. And so, no one fought over the food, and the whole family simply treated it like an ordinary meal at home.

Glove wasn’t in any hurry to eat. Instead, he spent a long time rummaging through Xiao Zhenggong’s clothes.

Li Banfeng asked, ”What are you looking for?”

Glove pressed his thumb against his index finger and fell into thought. ”Boss, it makes sense that there was nothing valuable left in the main hall if Xiao Zhenggong had already given up on the place. But he should have had something valuable on him, shouldn’t he? There was no need to move away any enchanted artifacts he carried with him.”

Glove had a point. Given Xiao Zhenggong’s status, there was no way he wouldn’t have had at least a few enchanted artifacts with him.

Li Banfeng searched through Xiao Zhenggong’s clothes again, but Glove shook his index finger. ”No need. I have already checked twice. He didn’t even have a wallet on him. Even if he were the gang leader of a beggars’ gang, he would still carry a couple of banknotes. Something’s not right here.”

As Glove racked his brain over it, a roar suddenly came from inside the Pocket Dwelling.

”Glove! How long are you planning to hold on to that thing?”

Ahh... We almost forgot to hand it over to the Pocket Dwelling.

Li Banfeng and Glove went into the third room together. The Pocket Dwelling gave a faint shudder, clearly impatient and eager for what they had brought back.

Glove took his time. He handed the pair of stone awls to Li Banfeng first. Even if the Pocket Dwelling Old Man himself was asking for them, the head of the house still came first.

Li Banfeng set the stone awls on the floor. Little by little, the stone coating flaked away, revealing what had been hidden underneath. They weren’t stone at all. They were made of iron and looked remarkably similar to the iron ruler Li Banfeng had once bought from Feng Chongli.

The two treasures slowly melted into the floor until nothing remained. The Pocket Dwelling could no longer hold back and burst into booming laughter.

”Hohohoho! That’s eight now!”

His laughter made Hong Ying jump. ”’Eight Bamboo’? What, are we playing mahjong now? Nine Dots next?”

In the third room, Li Qi asked the Pocket Dwelling, ”Old Man, now that you’ve got eight iron rails, you have leveled up, haven’t you?”

The Pocket Dwelling didn’t answer right away. Instead, he said to Glove, ”Glove, go eat.”

Glove didn’t respond.

”Glove? Glove! What’s on your mind?”

Glove looked up. ”Sir, were you calling me?”

”I told you to go eat!”

”Alright!” Glove answered, then headed back to the main room.

The Pocket Dwelling asked Li Banfeng, ”What’s gotten into him?”

Li Banfeng said, ”We didn’t find anything valuable at the Jiangxiang Gang’s main hall, and their gang leader didn’t have anything good on him either. He’s still hung up on it.”

The Pocket Dwelling snorted. ”I can’t stand thieves like him. They don’t care if they miss a meal, but if they miss out on one good item, it’s suddenly like the end of the world.”

Li Qi laughed. ”Let’s talk about the iron rails first.”

The Pocket Dwelling cut everyone else inside the Pocket Dwelling off from the conversation and spoke to Li Banfeng alone. ”Now that I have eight iron rails, I should be able to break through one of the boundary lines.”

”What boundary line?”

”The one stopping us from going to the Inner Provinces.”

Li Banfeng was startled, then his face lit up. ”If we can get into the Inner Provinces now, does that mean we can rescue Old Train?”

The Pocket Dwelling fell silent for a long moment before asking, ”You want to save Old Train?”

”I do.” Li Banfeng didn’t hide it. ”He saved my life. I have to get him out.”

The Pocket Dwelling let out a long sigh. ”I want to save him too, but now isn’t the time.”

”But if we can reach the Inner Provinces now, why isn’t it the right time?”

”Because neither of us is ready. Your cultivation is still too low. Until you reach the Cloudborne Layer, I won’t dare let you go to the Inner Provinces. And I only have eight iron rails. That’s not enough either.”

”Eight still isn’t enough? Then how many do you need?”

The Pocket Dwelling counted it over. ”There are twelve iron rails in total. It would be best if we could find all of them. Otherwise, even if we make it into the Inner Provinces, getting back out won’t be easy.”

”My Wifey has already reached the Cloudborne Layer, and she’s not just an ordinary Cloudborne cultivator. With her helping us, we would have a much better chance of getting it done.”

The Pocket Dwelling laughed. ”Qi, don’t talk to me about true feelings, and don’t tell me that husband and wife stand together as one. I don’t believe in any of that.

”Even if the two of you really are husband and wife, even if what you feel for each other is real, I still wouldn’t trust it. It’s too hard for me to trust anyone. As long as she’s still a dwelling spirit here, I won’t let her leave so easily.

”It’s partly because of the rules, and partly for your sake. Getting these two iron rails brought back some memories. After remembering those things, I trust relationships even less than I did before. One more thing. Tell the Film Projector to stop bothering the person in the fifth room.”

This was the first time the Pocket Dwelling had brought up the fifth room on his own.

Li Banfeng asked, ”Who exactly is the person in the fifth room?”

”I only have a vague impression of her. She seems to be one of the passengers, but I can’t remember who she really was. I only know she stayed on the train for a long time. I have no idea what she has become now. Still, these are some things you don’t need to worry about. As long as she’s still on the train, she won’t be able to do whatever she wants. But the Film Projector should stay away from her. His cultivation isn’t high enough, and he doesn’t always know where to draw the line.”

Li Banfeng asked, ”Am I a passenger too?”

The Pocket Dwelling chuckled. ”You are not a passenger. You never were.”

Li Qi left the third room and found the whole family busy eating. Only Glove sat there staring blankly at Xiao Zhenggong’s clothes. He really had taken it hard. He couldn’t even bring himself to eat.

When Li Qi reached the fifth room, the Film Projector was casting an image onto the wall. A beautiful woman in a white dress sat by the sea, playing the piano. The film had no sound, yet Li Banfeng could almost hear the music. He could even imagine the waves rolling back and forth across the beach.

Dozens of sheets of oiled paper were neatly stacked beside the Film Projector. They had once been used to wrap candles.

Film canisters were piled against one corner of the room. The Film Projector had already used up nearly all the film in the house.

”Brother, it’s time to eat.” Li Banfeng sat down beside the Film Projector.

The Film Projector replied, ”Director Qi, I am not hungry. I want to work on the script with you.”

Li Banfeng nodded. ”This room’s a little messy. Let’s go somewhere else to talk about it.”

”Then let’s go to the eighth room.” The Film Projector turned to the woman on the screen. ”That’s all for today.”

The woman turned toward the camera with a smile, nodded, and closed the piano lid.

The Film Projector covered his lens, plunging the image into darkness. Then he floated into the air and followed Li Qi to the eighth room.