Chapter 294: Residence and Traveler: Opposing Yet Complementary

Late at night, Ma Wu had finished setting up the cinema and was about to leave when he saw a woman with refined features walking toward him.

The woman was strikingly beautiful, but her expression was rigid; encountering her in the dead of night was genuinely chilling.

"Junyang, it's been a long time."

Does she know me?

Ma Wu also found the woman vaguely familiar, but he couldn't recall who she was.

Zuo Wugang immediately recognized her: "Miss Dongchun!"

The woman was Lu Dongchun; she rarely left her home and had met Ma Wu only twice, so it was natural he didn't remember her.

But Zuo Wugang had once been Lu Dongliang's senior retainer and had met Lu Dongchun many times.

Lu Dongchun was the daughter of Lu Maoxian, who had always been at odds with Seventh Master; Zuo Wugang feared Lu Dongchun might harm Ma Wu and signaled for him to keep his distance.

Lu Dongchun stared at Ma Wu without expression; her eyes were so clear that Ma Wu could see his own reflection in her pupils.

"Can we find a place to talk?" Lu Dongchun asked.

Ma Wu led Lu Dongchun into the cinema and opened a private room, while Zuo Wugang stood by his side without leaving his side.

Lu Dongchun looked at Ma Wu and spoke in a flat tone: "I've come to discuss avenging my father."

Ma Wu understood the rules—he had paid tribute to the Lu family and was considered an external force of the Lu clan; when the Lu family needed aid, he was expected to respond.

But external forces differed from the main family; if Ma Wu didn't wish to act, he had grounds to refuse.

He followed the main line of the Lu family and had no obligation to obey Lu Maoxian's orders.

He could even go further—declare he no longer needed the Lu family's protection and sever ties entirely.

But Ma Wu was cautious; Lu Dongchun's arrival was sudden, and he had no preparation—he never made decisions unprepared.

"Miss Dongchun, let's have a drink first," Ma Wu said, reaching to pour her wine, but Zuo Wugang stopped him, signaling not to pour for Lu Dongchun.

Lu Dongchun's eyes never left Ma Wu, making him deeply uneasy.

He set down the cup and dropped the formalities: "Let me think this over carefully—I'll give you an answer within the next day or two."

After seeing Lu Dongchun off, Ma Wu found Li Banfeng and told him what had happened.

"Old Seven, should we get involved in this?"

"Of course. If we walk away right after the Lu family's trouble, who'll dare deal with us again?"

Ma Wu understood the logic, but he was resentful: "I truly don't want to help that old dog Lu Maoxian."

"Who said we're helping him? We have our own people."

Ma Wu froze: "You mean Lu Chunying?"

Li Banfeng nodded: "She's the main branch. Qiu Zhiheng will have to bring her along—it's a perfect chance to establish her authority."

Ling Miaoying is watching us now; this is the ideal moment to deal with him."

Ma Wu nodded: "To take down Ling Miaoying, Zuo Wugang alone won't be enough. I'll go to Zhengjing Village and consult Qiuluoye, then borrow A Qin and the Shouting Woman—they're both skilled."

The plan settled, Ma Wu went to Zhengjing Village that night. When he found Qiuluoye and explained the situation, Qiuluoye thought carefully:

"The man you're targeting is a Seventh-Level Watcher, ruthless and armed with numerous magic treasures."

"A Qin and the Shouting Woman are both Sixth-Level. Sending them two alone, you won't gain the upper hand—I'll find you a better fighter."

Such enthusiasm from the Earth Spirit made it hard for Ma Wu to refuse; he feared Qiuluoye might send some strange being like a Cloak Moth Lady, unsuitable to bring into Green Water City.

But Qiuluoye had thought it through thoroughly—he brought a tall, sturdy woman, around thirty, strikingly beautiful.

"Her name is Huo Ling. She's a Fire Spirit, Seventh-Level in cultivation, with excellent combat skills and an advantage in Daoist arts—rarely challenged in my territory. I lend her to you. Later, build me a few more small houses here to bring more life—consider it thanks."

Qiuluoye was always efficient. Ma Wu took Huo Ling to Shui Yongquan to conceal her strange aura.

Shui Yongquan recognized Huo Ling and led Ma Wu to a secluded spot, asking alone: "Why are you taking her to the True Ground? What are you planning?"

Ma Wu didn't hide it—he gave a general account of the situation.

Shui Yongquan frowned: "This should be A Qin's job. She's the top assassin. The Shouting Woman would do too—she's careful and leaves no traces."

Ma Wu said: "Qiuluoye says Huo Ling has higher cultivation and is more powerful—she'll have better odds."

Shui Yongquan clicked his tongue: "In my mortal days, I handled many such tasks. Choosing people requires insight—not the strongest are always the best."

"Since you and Big Elephant Qiuluoye have already decided, I won't interfere. But you must treat Huo Ling well—her temper isn't good."

Shui Yongquan concealed Huo Ling's aura.

Her temper truly was bad. Shui Yongquan was a Water Cultivator, and his techniques annoyed Huo Ling; they argued twice, but he ignored her.

This was Ma Wu's first meeting with Huo Ling. Her disposition wasn't easy to get along with; they barely spoke on the journey, only dozing fitfully in the carriage.

After returning to Xiaoyao Wu, Huo Ling found the carriage too bumpy and slept poorly. They found a room and slept again.

After two sleeps, the tension between them eased.

In the afternoon, Ma Wu received a message from Lu Dongchun: they would strike Ling Miaoying that night.

Ma Wu thought the timing too rushed, but Huo Ling didn't agree: "Get it over with, finish it, then go back to sleep."

"Killing one or two people—why are you making such a fuss? With this much effort, I could wipe out a whole square mile!"

Li Banfeng, upon hearing the news, felt the timing was perfect: "If we delay further, Ling Miaoying will get wind of it. Though the Lu family gathered many hands, Ling Miaoying is a Watcher, armed with many treasures and followers. If he prepares fully, victory isn't certain."

He returned to Suishenju to prepare for the night's battle.

Staying inside the residence before battle preserved peak combat readiness and maintained the trait of being overlooked.

Last time he met Ling Miaoying, Li Banfeng had been outside Suishenju for over seven hours—he'd fooled Tu Yinghong, but not Ling Miaoying's eyes.

If he emerged from the residence just now, perhaps Ling Miaoying wouldn't notice him at all.

If he had just stepped out of the house, perhaps Ling Miaoying wouldn't have noticed him the moment he appeared.

Li Banfeng suddenly sat up on the bed.

What's the difference between "not noticing" and "not seeing"?

Conceptually, there's a difference: "not seeing" means never appearing in the opponent's line of sight.

"Not noticing" means appearing in their sight, but they didn't pay attention.

But essentially, the effect is the same: the opponent perceives no presence.

Is the effect the same for the Horse-Viewing Technique?

If I had stared at Tu Yinghong yesterday, would I have blown her apart?

Is it truly only mutual suppression between Residence Cultivators and Travelers?

Could there also be mutual enhancement?

There's no one to ask—Residence and Traveler cultivation normally can't be practiced together; few precedents like Li Banfeng exist.

Can't ask, but can test. Tonight's revenge on Ling Miaoying is the perfect chance—even if we can't defeat him yet, we can test his subordinates.

If the Horse-Viewing Technique and the Residence Cultivator's trait of being overlooked complement each other, Li Banfeng stands to gain immensely!

If the skill of riding past like a galloping horse and the Zhaixiu 's tendency to be overlooked complement each other, Li Banfeng stands to gain big!

The Horse-Viewing Technique requires not just speed and invisibility, but also keen eyesight.

How to train vision?

Li Banfeng lay flat on his bed, letting his blood flow freely, focusing his mind on his eyes, and pulled out the photos taken at Heishi Slope.

Trainee Eunuch said that at a certain level, Travelers don't walk on the ground—I looked at these photos and sensed slow cultivation growth. This must be the right way to train vision.

As he stared at the photos, he recalled the scenes, trying to pierce through them with his eyes and see the moment as it was.

Remarkably, his cultivation seemed to rise faster—this method worked!

His wife beside him teased: "Husband, don't stare so hard—you'll drop your eyeballs into that girl's peach."

His wife reminded him from the side: "Hey, husband, don't stare so wide—watch out, your eyeballs might fall into that girl's peaches."

Li Banfeng's thoughts broke, and his cultivation growth halted.

He switched to another photo, then suddenly felt something was wrong.

His wife's voice just now was off.

It was much weaker than usual.

"Wife, are you hungry again?" Li Banfeng had been buying groceries often, but the food was poor—only two thugs had improved, the rest were white lambs.

His wife chuckled weakly: "Don't worry, husband, your servant isn't hungry."

The feeble tone made Li Banfeng ache.

Hong Ying laughed beside him: "Wicked woman, if you don't eat a proper meal soon, you won't even be able to take him along?"

The phonograph snorted: "Ignore this bitch. Your servant truly isn't hungry."

Li Banfeng gently stroked the phonograph tray: "Wife, don't rush. Tonight, I'll buy good food and bring it back."

He lay back down and continued training his vision with the photos.

He lay back on the bed and continued training his eyesight with the photograph.

On Ma Wu's side, he distributed his spiritual items and magic treasures to Zuo Wugang and Huo Ling. Huo Ling found them burdensome and returned them to Ma Wu.

"These things are useless. When the fight starts, you'll see my methods."

"These things are useless—when the fighting starts, you'll see what I'm capable of."

Qiu Zhiheng arrived at a residence in the eastern city with Tan Fu.

Lu Chunying and Xiao Yeci waited in the hall.

Xiao Yeci was terrified: "Master Qiu, you must protect Nannan! You promised you'd only let her show up—you can't let her fight!"

Qiu Zhiheng nodded: "Don't worry."

Lu Chunying said: "Big Brother Qiu, if it comes to fighting, don't bother with me. I can't say I'm strong, but I can run. Just take care of yourself—don't get hurt."

Qiu Zhiheng smiled without speaking. Tan Fu added: "Miss Chunying, your two brothers call him Uncle Qiu. Why do you call him Big Brother Qiu? Is that appropriate?"

Qiu Zhiheng smiled but said nothing; Tan Fu said beside him, "Miss Chunying, your two older brothers call him Uncle Qiu—why do you call him Brother Qiu? Is that appropriate?"

Lu Chunying straightened her chest and said, "We don't judge by seniority—we judge by feeling!"

Qiu Zhiheng nodded with a smile and led Lu Chunying away from the mansion, arriving at Lu Maoxian's residence to meet Lu Dongchun.

……

Li Banfeng checked the time, adjusted his clothes, and touched the horn of the phonograph: "Wife, bear with me a little longer—fine dishes will be here soon."

The phonograph was worried; Li Banfeng had stared at photos for hours, and she feared his body was weakening: "Husband, please be careful."

Li Banfeng put on his hat, pulled the brim low, stepped out of Suishenju, and reached for his keys.

Where are the keys…?

Li Banfeng stared at the ground for a long while and realized this wasn't the wooden floor of Xiaoyaowu—it was the red brick floor of a factory.

This isn't Xiaoyaowu…

A familiar voice came to his ear:

"Come on, lift your hair, don't block your face, lower your waist a bit more, lift the peach a little higher…"

Click, click!

The shutter kept firing.

Li Banfeng walked over and asked, "Qiusheng?"

Bai Qiusheng put down the camera and turned his face: "Seventh Master, what are you doing here?"

PS: What if the photos weren't of Heishipo?

(End of Chapter)