Chapter 218: Senior Brother, Don't Go!

Luo Dagui is Fort Master Zhou?

They are the same person?

What kind of logic is this?

Li Banfeng had no time to think about logic now; a group of angry Residential Cultivators rushed over, and Li Banfeng carried the head and ran wildly.

"Catch him!"

"Avenge the Fort Master!"

"He runs so fast, he's clearly a Traveling Cultivator; there's nothing good about Traveling Cultivators!"

Li Banfeng ran for over ten *li* and finally shook off the group of Residential Cultivators.

Sitting on the hillside, Li Banfeng looked at Luo Dagui's head in his hand, carefully organizing his thoughts.

It makes no sense.

In front of Tiemenbao, Luo Dagui was still talking to Fort Master Zhou; how did he become the Fort Master in the blink of an eye?

What is the inside story here?

Now that group of Residential Cultivators all think I killed Fort Master Zhou; how should I explain this to them?

Almost forgot, there's still an eyewitness.

Luo Dagui didn't know Sui Donglan was hiding in the grass because his cultivation wasn't high enough.

Li Banfeng had the Silk Earring; he could hear even the sound of her peeing yellow soup clearly.

He went directly to Sui Donglan's residence.

Seeing Li Banfeng, Sui Donglan smiled: "You're here."

"I'm here," Li Banfeng nodded. "Did you see everything that happened during the day?"

"Day? What happened during the day? I've been at home all day, waiting for you to come."

Li Banfeng blinked: "What are you talking about? I'm talking about the Tiemenbao matter!"

"Tiemenbao, what kind of place is that? Are you willing to take me there? I want to go with you."

Is this woman crazy?

Li Banfeng looked at Sui Donglan and sighed lightly: "I originally planned to give you a cup of wine to remove the characters on your face."

Sui Donglan said with a dull smile: "What characters? Are there characters on my face?"

Li Banfeng shook his head: "Since you're already crazy, I'll leave these two characters for you as a keepsake; maybe you'll be able to wake up later."

Having said that, Li Banfeng got up and left.

Sui Donglan crawled on the ground and immediately hugged his leg: "Master Peddler, you can't go! Have pity on me!"

Li Banfeng snorted coldly: "Pretending to be crazy with me, do you think you're pretending very well? Did you see everything that happened during the day?"

"I saw it," Sui Donglan cried. "Luo Dagui is Fort Master Zhou; I was scared crazy when I saw it at the time."

"Since you saw it, come with me to Tiemenbao and explain things clearly."

"Master, it can't be explained clearly. Why would Tiemenbao believe my words? I'm an outsider, and a swindler; nothing I say is useful."

That's really the truth.

Forget it, if it can't be explained clearly, it can't. Anyway, that swindler Fort Master Zhou is dead, and the gunnery chief of Flying Eagle Mountain is also dead.

Everything that needed to be done has been done; the rest depends on their own fortune.

It's just that I don't know if this will implicate Wu Yongchao.

Wu Yongchao was indeed implicated a little, just a little.

Ma Dingfu didn't die; he was the first to stand up and convict Wu Yongchao: "You wanted to open the big gate; you wanted to let that Peddler in. You are an accomplice; together you killed Fort Master Zhou!"

He fabricated a series of charges, but Wu Yongchao only explained one sentence: "I heard someone fighting bandits and was going out to take a look; what's wrong with that?"

"There's plenty wrong. Why did you open the big gate, why..." Ma Dingfu's voice grew quieter.

He realized one thing: Zhou Anju was already dead.

Wu Yongchao is a fourth-layer Residential Cultivator, and Ma Dingfu is a third-layer Body Cultivator. If they really fought, he wouldn't have the advantage and might even lose his life.

What about those former subordinates of Fort Master Zhou? Couldn't they back Ma Dingfu up?

It seems they can't for now.

There is a Butler He, fifth-layer cultivation, staying in Fort Master Zhou's house, but he never goes out; this is Zhou Anju's order.

The other subordinates all came from Flying Eagle Mountain, and they are all lying outside Tiemenbao.

Ma Dingfu insisted that these were all people from Tiemenbao, all killed by the Peddler, but the wooden box with the large horn was hard to explain, and the clothes and masks on their faces were also hard to explain.

Although the matter was hard to explain, Residential Cultivators are easy to deceive.

Ma Dingfu concentrated his firepower on cursing the Peddler, cursing until he was tearful and gnashing his teeth.

"Fort Master Zhou died unjustly; this grudge must be avenged!"

The emotions of the Residential Cultivators were all stirred up, and they followed along in cursing.

Only Wu Yongchao didn't curse.

He is honest, but he isn't stupid, and many things were being connected by him bit by bit.

The crowd retrieved Fort Master Zhou's corpse and were planning to handle the funeral when they suddenly heard drum sounds from outside the valley:

"Foreign soap, snowflake cream, silk scarves, handkerchiefs, needle and thread kits, leather buckets, iron water buckets, foreign matches, foreign candles, foreign iron shovels..."

The Peddler pushed his cart, passing by Tiemenbao, and saw a group of people rushing out.

So many people!

The Peddler was pleasantly surprised: "Business is good today. Do you want to buy something... what are you... what do you want to do?"

A group of Residential Cultivators roared: "Catch him, kill him!"

"Quick, avenge the Fort Master!"

"It's not him, it's his senior brother!"

"No matter who it is, there's nothing good about them!"

"Everyone be careful, his cultivation isn't low!"

"Don't be afraid, we Residential Cultivators aren't spineless!"

Li Banfeng let Sui Donglan choose herself: either leave the characters on her face, or have her face hurt for an hour every day. In any case, the previous swindling couldn't just be let go.

Sui Donglan begged to no avail and finally chose to keep the characters.

Li Banfeng gave Sui Donglan a cup of wine, relieving her pain.

Following the route pointed out by Wu Yongchao, Li Banfeng found Peach Huahu. Circling half the lake, Li Banfeng found the large rock.

He touched the temperature of the lake water, considering whether to jump in.

Li Banfeng can swim, but he doesn't know the situation at the bottom of the lake.

These clothes aren't suitable for going into the water either, but it seems there are no swimsuits in the Personal Residence.

Should I wait a bit longer?

Forget it, I won't wait. Sooner or later I'll have to go back. The matter of Ling Miaoying should also be dealt with. He sneak-attacked me, and I can't spare him. Don't look at his high cultivation; there's always a way to deal with him.

He looked back at Tiemenbao, feeling he couldn't let go in his heart.

While hesitating, he suddenly heard someone shout in his ear: "Senior Brother, where are you going?"

Senior Brother?

Is this calling me?

Li Banfeng turned his head and saw a man with a bruised and swollen face standing behind him.

Someone who could come behind Li Banfeng without a sound is definitely not an ordinary person. Li Banfeng retreated two steps and shouted: "Who are you?"

The man laughed: "Senior Brother, don't recognize me so quickly?"

Li Banfeng carefully distinguished the voice; the other party's speech was a bit slurred.

"Peddler? How did you get like this?"

The Peddler laughed even more heartily: "Senior Brother, you have to ask yourself about this!"

"You, don't keep calling me Senior Brother," Li Banfeng was quite embarrassed. "There's a misunderstanding here."

The Peddler nodded: "The misunderstanding here is huge; it can't be explained clearly. Let's put other things aside first. Let's talk about this Senior Brother matter. Tell me, where did this Senior Brother come from?"

While speaking, the Peddler was rolling up his sleeves.

Li Banfeng realized the situation was not good and quickly reached his hand into his pants pocket.

"Don't, absolutely don't take out the key," the Peddler grinned hideously. "Others don't know your means, but don't I know?"

"Well, listen to me, I was also doing a good deed..."

"You speak, you speak slowly. Ruining my reputation and impersonating my Senior Brother, let's see how you explain it!" The Peddler pulled a feather duster from the cart.

Half an hour later, both of them were bruised and swollen, sitting together by the lake.

Li Banfeng sighed: "With your cultivation, how could you be beaten by that group of Residential Cultivators?"

The Peddler gave a bitter smile: "They are all sentient beings of the mortal world; could I really deal heavy blows to them?"

Li Banfeng rubbed his face: "You dealt quite heavy blows!"

The Peddler looked at Peach Huahu: "Why, going back to Green Water Bay?"

Li Banfeng hesitated for a moment: "I want to go back, but I feel I can't go back. The Tiemenbao matter, I always feel it's not finished.

They are honest people, but why should honest people be bullied? You managed the famine in Sea-Eating Ridge; why don't you manage the matter of Tiemenbao?"

The Peddler laughed: "The famine in Sea-Eating Ridge was caused by the Insect Chief. What is the Insect Chief's cultivation? He attacked mortals, so I couldn't not manage it.

The matter of Tiemenbao was caused by a group of swindlers, a group of swindlers with no cultivation who cheated them. How do you want me to manage it?

Zhou Anju relied on a big iron gate to collude with the bandits of Flying Eagle Mountain, easily cheating this group of Residential Cultivators for decades.

You go ask that group of Residential Cultivators, have they ever seen the bandits of Flying Eagle Mountain? Would those petty thieves of Flying Eagle Mountain dare to go to Tiemenbao?

Residential Cultivators are best at guarding their own doorsteps; that's their nature. But they are also too outrageous. If a cat or dog barks twice, they can take it for a tiger here.

Today Zhou Anju came and could cheat them; tomorrow if Pei Anju comes, can he cheat them too? Can I manage all of it?"

"You can't manage it, so the Local Deity doesn't manage it either?"

"Why should the Local Deity manage it? As long as there are people on the land, that's enough. Aren't swindlers people too?"

Li Banfeng pondered for a moment and asked: "Is there really a path called Deception Cultivator?"

The Peddler stared at Li Banfeng: "Are you asking about Foolish Cultivator or Deception Cultivator? You wouldn't have met a Foolish Cultivator, would you?"

Li Banfeng shook his head repeatedly: "No, I heard Foolish Cultivators went extinct long ago."

"It's good you didn't meet one. You must stay far away from the path of Foolish Cultivator."

Only reminding me now...

Li Banfeng hurriedly changed the subject: "What I just said was Deception Cultivator."

"The path of Deception Cultivator, how should I put it?" The Peddler's tone was quite profound. "To say it exists, it really does; to say it doesn't, it really doesn't."

"Can you be more straightforward?"

"This has to start from the source of Deception Cultivator. Years ago, a swindler appeared in Puluo Continent, claiming to be a ninth-layer Deception Cultivator. He fabricated a background and rhetoric for himself. Because cultivation is invisible, this rhetoric cheated countless people.

Ordinary people were one thing, but even many famous families were cheated by him. He built a family business and established a large path, roaming Puluo Continent for decades, with no one able to expose him."

"No one exposed him for decades?"

The Peddler sighed: "He had three cultivation rules, which were quite remarkable.

First, as long as you don't make a move, the cultivation is real.

Second, as long as the move isn't seen, the cultivation is also real.

Third, if it's seen but others don't understand, the cultivation is still real.

For decades, ninety-nine percent of people couldn't see through these three rules. A very small number of people saw through them after being cheated, but they couldn't say it."

"Why couldn't they say it?"

The Peddler looked at Li Banfeng: "If you were a high-level cultivator and were cheated by a swindler with no cultivation, what would you say?

You would definitely say, 'I carelessly fell for his technique,' otherwise where would you put your face?"

"Knowing you lost face, you should kill the swindler!"

The Peddler gave a bitter smile: "The world isn't like that. Knowing they were cheated, they still hope others will be cheated again. Seeing others cheated, they actually feel quite happy themselves. People are just like that."

Hearing this, Li Banfeng was speechless for a long time.

The Peddler continued: "Using these three rules, combined with rhetoric, strategy, power, and psychology, plus a group of helpers and various magic props, it became a unique path in this lineage.

You say it's not a path, but this swindler's cultivation rules are indeed effective, and the longer you practice, the more refined the deception becomes.

You say it is a path, but it doesn't have real cultivation, so Deception Cultivator is an unclear place."

Li Banfeng was deeply touched.

It sounded earth-shattering, yet when asked, no one had seen it. Li Banfeng discovered Zhou Anju's cultivation was indeed not low; no wonder he could roam Tiemenbao for decades.

The Peddler got up: "There are too many swindlers in this world; some swindlers even I cannot distinguish.

There is no utopia in this world. You killed one Fort Master, and tomorrow another Fort Master will come. If the Residential Cultivators of Tiemenbao want to survive, they still have to rely on themselves."

Li Banfeng also stood up: "They should rely on themselves, but someone should also help them. This matter is still not finished."

The Peddler was right; Tiemenbao was electing a new Fort Master.

As an old subordinate of Fort Master Zhou, Ma Dingfu logically became the next Fort Master.

Wu Yongchao was a bit unwilling. He had no interest in the position of Fort Master, but he always felt Old Man Hu's death had something to do with Ma Dingfu.

Not just Old Man Hu; he even felt the bandits of Flying Eagle Mountain had ties to Ma Dingfu.

But he couldn't produce solid evidence, and other Residential Cultivators didn't care much about the Fort Master's affairs. This Fort Master Ma Dingfu seemed about to be confirmed.

But things must be done in a legitimate way; Ma Dingfu also had to hold a banquet to confirm his status as Fort Master.

Late at night, Wu Yongchao was struggling with whether to go to this banquet.

If he didn't go, he would be ostracized later; if he went, seeing Ma Dingfu's face made him feel disgusted.

While struggling, he heard someone knocking on the door again.

Wu Yongchao opened the door peephole and discovered it was the "Peddler."

"Listen to my explanation first, regarding your Fort Master..."

"No need to explain, come in first," Wu Yongchao immediately opened the door. "I trust you!"

With these words, things were much easier to handle.

"Do you know where your Fort Master lives?"

PS: An honest person was cheated; this is not the honest person's fault.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 219 =====

(End of Chapter)