Chapter 307: Who Stole the Oil

Li Banfeng drove his cart to Xiaoyao Wu, loaded with Song Zhigang, two Wu Xiu, and several cultivators among the enforcers.

Ling Miaoying's adhesive patches were truly effective; applied to wounds, they not only stopped bleeding but also temporarily controlled the injuries—these men could no longer move, yet they still clung to life.

At eight p. ., Li Banfeng drove his cart to Xiaoyao Wu; at this hour, the place was bustling with people, lively and vibrant.

Li Banfeng drove the cart around to the storage shed at the back of Xiaoyao Wu and, while no one was watching, had the projector summon a helper to unload the cargo.

The projector had learned from past mistakes and dared not call out any girls—he always found that the girls he summoned would strip first before working.

The film reels recorded by Ling Miaoying were still intact; the projector displayed her image and helped Li Banfeng move the dozen or so men into the warehouse.

After unloading, Li Banfeng returned to his room, found the key beneath his bed, went back to the warehouse, recorded a segment of footage with the projector, then opened the door to the Body Dwelling.

The phonograph barked: "Hey, you madman, where have you been gallivanting again? Do you even care for me? Do you have any thought for this home? Your heart, your heart… you've worked hard, husband!"

Seeing Li Banfeng had brought back a dozen men, the wife's tone instantly softened.

"Husband, come sit over here,

Husband, first have a cup of hot tea,

Husband, your clothes are covered in mud—let your little servant wash them for you,

Husband, don't tickle my armpits, I'm terribly sensitive to it…"

The phonograph enveloped Li Banfeng in steam, fearing the dwelling might lash out at him.

After waiting a long while without movement from the dwelling, the phonograph asked curiously: "Why is the dwelling so unusually quiet today?"

Li Banfeng sneered: "What if he's not quiet? If he hadn't stirred up trouble, would I have been wandering outside for so many days?"

The wife fell silent for a moment; from Li Banfeng's words, she sensed he understood more about this dwelling than he let on.

Seeing Li Banfeng still angry, the wife asked gently: "Husband, what happened these past days?"

Li Banfeng asked: "Do you know this person called 'Face Not Big'?"

Huhhh~

"Face Not Big? Is that a person's name? I've never heard of it."

Li Banfeng turned to Hong Ying: "Have you heard of him?"

"I haven't either," Hong Ying replied sharply, her tone crisp yet tense.

Li Banfeng stared at Hong Ying for a moment, then asked: "Why are you wearing pants?"

"I'm a girl—shouldn't I be wearing pants?"

"Why do you have a red tassel on you now?"

"It's a red tassel on my spear—spearheads have red tassels, aren't they pretty?"

Hong Ying hadn't worn a red tassel before; this one had just been tied on, meant to conceal her conscience and arms.

"Why are there black threads inside your tassel?"

These black threads were Hong Ying's own growing hair.

"If tassels were all red thread, they'd be too dull," Hong Ying was barely holding her lie together.

The wife stepped in to defend Hong Ying: "Husband, ignore that lowly woman—the food's getting cold."

"Wife, don't rush. Let me ask them a few questions."

Li Banfeng first looked at Song Zhigang and had the wine gourd feed him a sip.

With the wine, Song Zhigang regained some vitality and could barely speak.

Li Banfeng lit a candle and placed it before Song Zhigang: "Master Song, I've brought you into my home to speak—this shows sincerity. Tell me plainly today: who sent you to cause trouble in Lanyang Village?"

Song Zhigang gasped: "Seventh Master, it was Old Master Lu who sent me—I told you the truth earlier."

Was it Lu Mao?

Lu Mao had indeed caused Li Banfeng no small amount of trouble; given Li Banfeng's close ties with Monkey Qiu, it fit Lu Mao's interests to stir up trouble for him.

But why target Lanyang Village?

Lanyang Village held no special value for Lu Mao; if he wanted to disrupt Li Banfeng's business with Ma Wu, the Black Stone Slope would've made far more sense.

There was another motive here.

Li Banfeng asked again: "Did you personally see Lu Mao?"

Song Zhigang replied: "Old Master Lu's status is too high to meet me himself—it was these two Zhi Guai who came to me and ordered me to reclaim Lanyang Village!"

Li Banfeng looked at the two Wu Xiu—they were the Zhi Guai Song Zhigang mentioned.

The one with the severed throat couldn't speak, but the one with the broken spine could still make noise.

Li Banfeng tore off the adhesive patch from his mouth, had the wine gourd give him a drink, and asked: "Did Lu Mao send you two to find Song Zhigang?"

"It wasn't Old Master's direct order—it was the chief steward, Xu Yangbo, who gave us the command."

Lu Mao's chief steward?

Li Banfeng had never dealt with this man directly; he'd only heard from Monkey Qiu that this steward enjoyed Lu Mao's deep trust.

If this wasn't Lu Mao's own will—if the chief steward had his own agenda—his goal was clearly to inflame the conflict between Li Banfeng and Lu Mao.

What benefit would that bring him?

If he was acting under someone else's orders, who was that someone?

These men could reveal only so much; Li Banfeng had no desire to waste more words: "Wife, let's eat."

"Thank you, dear husband!" The wife eagerly began eating, while the projector quietly recorded the scene.

The wife snapped: "What are you doing?"

The projector flinched and quickly turned its lens away.

The wife hooked the projector with her needle, yanked out the previously recorded film, and snipped it into shreds—the projector trembled with grief.

Fortunately, he'd recorded more than one segment—he'd documented everything from these past days.

"Each scene is only two minutes long; if I had more film, I could've recorded even more."

Li Banfeng wanted the wife to see what "Face Not Big" looked like; the projector played the scene from the Oil Lake—but the screen was filled only with oily yellow, nothing discernible.

"How is this possible!" the projector cried out. "I recorded it carefully!"

Li Banfeng deduced the reason: "Face Not Big holds a high position—he doesn't want you to capture his true face. 'Face Not Big' isn't even his real name."

Frustrated, the projector opened the second clip.

The Earth God Meng Yuchun, facing away from Li Banfeng, removed his long robe to reveal the scars on his body.

The wife coughed lightly: "Husband, is this girl 'Face Not Big'? I didn't see her face, but these peaches are truly large—not just large, but white too. Husband, you've worked hard these seven days!"

Li Banfeng kicked the projector: "Stop showing just this! Show me how I fought the strange beings on the earth mound!"

The projector replied loudly: "I didn't record any of that!"

Li Banfeng kicked the projector aside and prepared to recount his experiences in detail to his wife.

Just as he mentioned the Oil Lake, a voice came from the third room: "Master, you wronged me! It wasn't me who stole the oil! Someone else took it—here it all is!"

Li Banfeng entered the third room and saw bottles, jars, pots, buckets, water vats—every container capable of holding liquid was filled with oil, identical to the oil he'd seen in the Oil Lake.

Li Banfeng looked at the glove and asked: "Where did this oil come from?"

The glove snapped: "Definitely not me! How could I possibly hold this much? Whoever took it shouldn't blame me!"

Li Banfeng touched one of the oil-filled bottles, when suddenly a withered voice whispered beside his ear: "Be careful—don't spill it."

"Who?" Li Banfeng cried out, bracing for battle.

The phonograph shouted: "Husband, don't be angry—it's the dwelling speaking!"

The room fell utterly silent.

Previously, only the wife, Hong Ying, and Honglian could hear the Body Dwelling's voice, because others lacked the necessary position.

But today, everyone heard it—the Body Dwelling had changed how it spoke.

After a silence of over ten seconds, Li Banfeng suddenly asked: "Why did you steal oil?"

"Burn." The Body Dwelling replied with a single word.

The phonograph couldn't hear it; Honglian, Hong Ying, and all the magic treasures couldn't hear it either—only Li Banfeng clearly understood.

Hong Ying, fearing Li Banfeng was arguing with the dwelling, told the phonograph: "Wicked woman, persuade that madman—don't provoke him! He's no match for the dwelling—he couldn't withstand even one blow!"

Before the phonograph could respond, Li Banfeng asked again: "Why don't you burn coal?"

This stunned the wife.

Burn coal?

Why would the dwelling need to burn coal?

For warmth?

The withered voice spoke again: "I've been running after you every day—there wasn't enough coal to burn."

The phonograph still couldn't hear—she couldn't make out either the dwelling's words or Li Banfeng's; a low, persistent noise always interfered with her hearing.

"Husband, you shouldn't…"

Li Banfeng pressed on: "You took me to the Oil Lake—was it just to steal oil?"

"You went to the Oil Lake yourself—I just took the oil along the way."

"You used to follow the key—how did you learn to move on your own?"

"Because there are rails now, hehehe!" The Body Dwelling laughed.

"When did the rails appear?"

The Body Dwelling gave no reply.

The phonograph, still unable to hear, whispered softly: "Husband, don't provoke him anymore—won't you let me oil the machine?"

…

In Yuezhou's Three Academies, He Jiaqing's button kept trembling, but He Haisheng sat right beside him—he couldn't answer.

After lunch, He Haisheng went to smoke; He Jiaqing clenched his buttons and heard Wan Jinxian's voice:

"Jiaqing, Ling Miaoying is still alive!"

"Alive?" He Jiaqing felt a surge of joy, then skepticism crept in. "Didn't the Lu family spread word that they'd taken Miaoying's head?"

"Our spy in Xiaoyao Wu saw him enter Xiaoyao Wu 's warehouse—last night."

"Xiaoyao Wu..."

What would Ling Miaoying be doing at Xiaoyao Wu?

Could it be that Ling Miaoying faked his death and is secretly watching Ma Wu?

He's not like Ling Miaowen—he can hide his schemes this deeply.

I'll need to be more cautious from now on, but for now, it's good news.

At least I no longer need to waste effort on Ma Wu; now I can focus entirely on Lu Mao.

Before He Jiaqing could reply to Wan Jinxian, a cloud of smoke suddenly drifted before him.

The smoke swirled around He Jiaqing for a long while; beads of sweat fell from his skin.

"Jiaqing?" He Haisheng's figure slowly materialized before He Jiaqing. "You're awake?"

He Jiaqing fell silent for a moment, then slowly opened his eyes: "Third Uncle, I'm awake."

He Haisheng stared silently at He Jiaqing; though he didn't want to believe it, this was the truth.

"Big Brother doesn't trust you—I argued with him. I said his own son would never lie to him. Isn't that just stupid of me?"

As he spoke, He Haisheng gritted his teeth repeatedly.

He Jiaqing said calmly: "Third Uncle, may I say something?"

"Speak. I'm listening."

PS: Hongying has grown hair again. I dare not imagine what else might grow next!

(End of Chapter)