Chapter 323: Craft Cultivator

"There is a warehouse behind Xiaoyao Wu. Most of the storerooms are in disrepair and have been abandoned. I heard Ma Wu intended to build a restaurant there, but construction has been delayed indefinitely.

My spies have seen Seeing Ling Miaoying there more than once. At first, I thought he was there to deal with Li Qi, but now it seems he frequents that warehouse often. This makes me suspect that Seeing Ling Miaoying might be colluding with Li Qi."

While speaking, Wan Jinxian kept watching Tu Yinghong's reaction. If Tu Yinghong jumped up to defend Seeing Ling Miaoying, it would prove that there was genuine affection between her and Seeing Ling Miaoying.

However, Tu Yinghong appeared very calm, which verified He Haiqin's guess: Tu Yinghong's repeated attacks on Xiaoyao Wu were for the sake of that object.

Tu Yinghong lit a cigarette, looked at Wan Jinxian, and said, "What is the use of telling me this? I don't believe Miaoying is colluding with Li Qi. I really want to find him and ask him face-to-face, but I can't even get out of this building."

"You indeed cannot get out, because I cannot let you out. I am just telling you this matter." After saying this, Wan Jinxian left.

Tu Yinghong sat in the room, lost in deep thought.

Is Seeing Ling Miaoying really still alive?

Why would he collude with Li Qi?

Could it be for my iron rulers?

Is he lying to me?

Are he and Li Qi working together to deceive me?

Seeing Ling Miaoying had shown interest in the iron rulers more than once. The fact that the Shadow Play Building could move relied entirely on this pair of iron rulers.

But Tu Yinghong had never let him touch the iron rulers; they were a treasure she had obtained at a very high price.

When she met Li Qi at the cinema, this pair of iron rulers was lost.

Later, when she went to Xiaoyao Wu with Seeing Ling Miaoying to look for Li Qi, both of them disappeared together.

Li Qi took my iron rulers, and Seeing Ling Miaoying knows how to use them. They might have reached some kind of cooperation, wanting to use my iron rulers to do something.

What do they want to do?

What kind of matter could be worth Seeing Ling Miaoying abandoning his family business and even choosing to fake his death?

Could it be that they found out the origin of the iron rulers?

The more Tu Yinghong thought about it, the more nervous she became.

She took a cloth bag out of her skirt, fumbled in it for a moment, and pulled out an iron elbow guard.

After the elbow guard came knee guards, followed by shoulder guards, an iron helmet, a breastplate...

She pulled out more than a dozen pieces in succession, pieced them together, and they became a suit of armor.

Tu Yinghong hadn't worn this armor for a long time because it was very heavy.

But she had to wear it today; the time to fight for her life had arrived.

She could lose anything, but this pair of iron rulers absolutely could not be lost!

She took a hairpin out of the cloth bag.

This was a spiritual object of a Peeping Cultivator; to deal with Seeing Ling Miaoying, she had to have this item.

She also took a fishing net out of the cloth bag; this was prepared specifically for Li Qi.

She opened a hidden compartment on her sleeve and stuffed various weapons and magic tools into it one by one.

After tidying up all her weapons and spiritual objects, Tu Yinghong quietly left her room.

Standing in the corridor, she could clearly see the guards in front of the building's entrance.

Relying on these guards alone could not stop Tu Yinghong, because the building had more than one exit, and some exits were known only to Tu Yinghong.

But ever since that person from the Outer Continent arrived, all the exits could no longer be found.

Now that the person from the Outer Continent has left, shouldn't his magic be dispelled?

Tu Yinghong looked out the window, thinking about what Wan Jinxian had just said.

Wan Jinxian told me about this matter; he must have his own plans.

He wants to investigate the matter between Seeing Ling Miaoying and Li Qi clearly, but he doesn't want to get involved, so he wants me to act in his stead?

In that case, I have been used by him...

Tu Yinghong doubted Wan Jinxian's motives, but she had no other choice.

No matter the cost, she had to find the iron rulers.

While pondering, Tu Yinghong fumbled along the corridor wall and soon found a hidden door on the wall.

Found it, she really found it!

Wan Jinxian really wanted to let me out on purpose!

But he certainly wouldn't expect that once I get out, he will never be able to find me again.

Tu Yinghong slipped into the hidden door, touched her breastplate, and a layer of gauze appeared on her body.

Covered by the gauze, her body gradually became transparent, and one minute later, she disappeared completely.

Outside the Shadow Play Building, Wan Jinxian gripped a blind man's cane, motionless.

This blind man's cane was a spiritual object of a Peeping Cultivator; through it, Wan Jinxian clearly heard Tu Yinghong's footsteps.

Tu Yinghong crawled out from a rainwater well outside the Shadow Play Building. Wan Jinxian couldn't see her, but he could judge the direction she left in through her footsteps.

An old woman picking up trash nearby stared at Wan Jinxian for a long time.

This person is clearly not blind, so why must he carry a blind man's cane?

Wan Jinxian smiled at the old woman, took a 100-yuan Huan State banknote out of his pocket, and stuffed it into the old woman's hand.

The old woman was startled; she wanted to say she wasn't a beggar.

But 100 yuan was not a small amount to her; even if she were treated as a beggar, she really wanted to accept the money.

She thanked Wan Jinxian repeatedly, but Wan Jinxian had already walked far away.

The old woman held the Huan State banknote and looked at it carefully several times.

It was real money.

She was lucky today.

She carefully put the money into her pocket and continued picking up trash.

The dust in the trash pile was heavy, and the old woman coughed twice inadvertently.

Once she started coughing, she couldn't stop.

Her throat was very itchy, her chest felt very tight, and with every light breath, her whole body trembled.

The old woman sat beside the trash pile, covering her chest and coughing incessantly.

She coughed until her throat tasted salty, and blood flowed down the corners of her mouth continuously.

What is happening?

Am I sick?

How did I suddenly get sick?

Wasn't today quite good? Someone even gave me 100 yuan; isn't that quite good?

With money, I can eat something good today...

The old woman collapsed into the trash pile, and after a bout of violent coughing, she stopped breathing.

At 1:00 AM, Li Banfeng shivered in the warehouse.

Danger was approaching; this was his Skill of Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Calamity giving a warning.

He knew Tu Yinghong would launch a night raid. He had slept in his Suishenju in the morning, gathered information in Green Water City in the afternoon, completed his Traveling Cultivator practice, and had been guarding the warehouse all night.

The bait had been cast; he knew Tu Yinghong would definitely come.

He had expected to wait a few more days, but he didn't expect her to come tonight.

Is she really coming to avenge Seeing Ling Miaoying?

Is their affection that deep?

After checking all his magic treasures and weapons, Li Banfeng whispered a reminder: "Everyone, you've had plenty of oil and water recently, and your methods have all improved. Tonight, we must finish the battle quickly; no one is allowed to drag their feet."

The Phonograph had warned Li Banfeng never to get into a stalemate with a Craft Cultivator.

There is a saying on the battlefield: "A Craft Cultivator has a hundred blades."

Craft Cultivators fear being caught off guard the most; their adaptability is not strong.

But once they stand their ground and fight move by move, a Craft Cultivator's good weapons emerge one after another. The longer the stalemate, the more dangerous it becomes for Li Banfeng.

The Projector spoke up: "Director Seven, Tu Yinghong is no ordinary person. For the sake of safety, we should call for more help."

The Glove slapped the Projector's casing: "You're confused. Xiaoyao Wu has spies, and we haven't found out who they are yet. We must not let the news leak at this time, otherwise we will suffer a great loss."

The Glove was particularly proactive tonight.

He had to be; if he couldn't kill Tu Yinghong as soon as possible, his theft of the iron rulers might be exposed.

Less than ten minutes later, the Earring whispered in his ear: "Master, there are footsteps."

Li Banfeng pressed his palm down, signaling all the magic treasures to be quiet.

The footsteps gradually approached and stopped outside the door.

Tu Yinghong's hairpin also had senses; she observed footprints outside the door.

There is someone in this warehouse.

How many people are there?

If there is only one, it depends on whether it is Li Qi or Seeing Ling Miaoying.

Tu Yinghong was very familiar with all of Seeing Ling Miaoying's combat techniques, including the weapons and spiritual objects on his body; she was confident she could capture Seeing Ling Miaoying alive.

If it were Li Qi, she would have to prepare for a fierce battle. A Traveling Cultivator strikes fast; she couldn't be suppressed by a single wave of his attacks. She had to drag out the battle and prevent Li Qi from escaping.

If both were there, it would prove that Seeing Ling Miaoying and Li Qi were indeed colluding.

In this situation, Tu Yinghong would choose to retreat; fighting two against one, she basically had no chance of winning.

Tu Yinghong listened carefully in front of the door, but the hairpin couldn't hear how many people were in the room.

Why couldn't it hear?

According to Tu Yinghong's judgment, there should only be one Seeing Ling Miaoying in this room.

Seeing Ling Miaoying was a seventh-layer Peeping Cultivator; he had heard the movement, concealed his aura, and made preparations, to the point that the hairpin couldn't sense him.

This was within Tu Yinghong's expectations.

No matter how Seeing Ling Miaoying prepared, Tu Yinghong was certain he couldn't escape her grasp.

Tu Yinghong first pulled at her collar to make herself invisible.

She then pulled a wooden puppet out of her left sleeve.

The puppet unfolded its curled body and stood on the ground, similar in height to Tu Yinghong.

How could such a large puppet fit in a sleeve?

This was the method of a high-layer Craft Cultivator.

According to Tu Yinghong's tactics, she would let the puppet push open the door, and Seeing Ling Miaoying would attack the puppet first.

Taking this opportunity, Tu Yinghong would directly capture Seeing Ling Miaoying alive.

Prepared, the puppet reached out to push the door.

Just as its hand touched the door panel, a roar was heard. The door panel shattered, the puppet shattered along with it, and a pile of broken wood slammed into Tu Yinghong.

Tu Yinghong was startled, thinking Seeing Ling Miaoying had fired a gun.

Seeing Ling Miaoying's handgun had great power, but Tu Yinghong was wearing heavy armor this time. Although her movements were a bit slow, she could block Seeing Ling Miaoying's bullets.

Strange, this didn't look like bullets; it looked more like buckshot.

Countless stones and mud flew toward her face, clanging against the armor.

Tu Yinghong was startled; this was a Traveling Cultivator's "Breaking Wan Chuan" technique!

The person inside wasn't Seeing Ling Miaoying; it was Li Qi!

He is a Traveling Cultivator; how could he dodge the Peeping Cultivator's hairpin?

Tu Yinghong never expected that Li Banfeng was also a high-layer Residential Cultivator with the characteristic of being overlooked. When fully prepared, he could dodge the spiritual objects of a Peeping Cultivator of the same layer.

Tactics must be changed!

Tu Yinghong had also made targeted preparations for Li Qi. The best way to deal with a Traveling Cultivator is to control his footsteps.

This was the time to rely on the fishing net!

As long as the fishing net was successfully cast on Li Qi, the tactics would be 70% successful.

The problem now was how to cast the fishing net.

Li Banfeng didn't give Tu Yinghong a chance to catch her breath at all.

Although he couldn't see Tu Yinghong, Li Banfeng determined her position through the impact of the sand and stones.

He stared at Tu Yinghong and rushed out of the warehouse quickly.

Tu Yinghong stared tightly at Li Banfeng, not daring to be distracted in the slightest; she was afraid Li Banfeng would use "Looking at Flowers from Horseback."

Li Banfeng swung his sickle, slashing horizontally and vertically, cutting Tu Yinghong's invisibility cloak into rags.

Tu Yinghong appeared, and the Tang Dao took the opportunity to slash down at Tu Yinghong's back.

This heavy armor on Tu Yinghong had condensed a great deal of her heart's blood. If it were the old Tang Dao, it would not only fail to cut through the armor but might even crack its own blade.

But the Tang Dao was no longer what it used to be; having eaten too many good things with Li Banfeng, it was no longer at its original level. With one slash, it cut a gap more than half a foot long in the armor.

The armor cracked, but Tu Yinghong didn't panic. The Tang Dao was stuck in the crack and couldn't exert force, only causing her some superficial wounds.

The Tang Dao pulled itself out and slashed a second time at the same spot, only to find that the wound it had cut in the armor had disappeared.

The armor actually healed?

The Tang Dao didn't think much and slashed down a second time.

The crack was still half a foot long. As the Tang Dao pulled out, the Pendulum followed up, taking advantage of the armor not yet healing, and slashed at Tu Yinghong's body.

The armor closed, fiercely clamping onto the blood-stained Pendulum.

The Pendulum endured the sharp pain and began to suck blood.

Tu Yinghong had no time to care about this minor injury.

At this moment, Li Banfeng's figure flickered back and forth before her eyes; if Tu Yinghong were the slightest bit careless, she would lose her life to "Looking at Flowers from Horseback."

But as long as she defended against "Looking at Flowers from Horseback," Tu Yinghong wasn't worried about Li Qi's other techniques. Even if Li Banfeng used "Breaking Wan Chuan" again, this armor could absolutely block it.

The most urgent matter now was to trap Li Qi with the fishing net.

Staring at Li Banfeng, Tu Yinghong fumbled for the fishing net in her sleeve.

Where is the fishing net?

Tu Yinghong fumbled for a long time and found that the fishing net was gone.

Was it stolen by Li Qi again?

Is he a Traveling Cultivator or a Thief Cultivator?

Taking advantage of Tu Yinghong fumbling for the fishing net, the Wine Gourd flew up and sprayed wine mist at Tu Yinghong.

Li Banfeng struck a match and flicked it out with a single finger; he wanted to see if Tu Yinghong's armor could block the flames.

Tu Yinghong really did block it.

She pulled a cloak out of her sleeve, and the cloak bounced the flames back onto Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng dodged the flames, stepped forward with a "Quail Step," and shattered the cloak with his sickle.

The Old Teapot flew into mid-air and splashed tea at Tu Yinghong.

A porcelain bottle flew out of Tu Yinghong's sleeve and sucked the tea clean.

Li Banfeng used the "Quail Step" again, trying to dodge Tu Yinghong's line of sight.

Tu Yinghong's hairpin constantly peeped at Li Banfeng's actions, helping Tu Yinghong keep her line of sight locked on Li Banfeng.

The porcelain bottle sprayed a wave of heat at Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng dodged to the side, and the heat wave drifted onto the warehouse behind him, setting it on fire immediately.

The porcelain bottle hung in mid-air, the heat wave covering the space of several dozen meters around, leaving Li Banfeng nowhere to hide.

Li Banfeng really wasn't afraid of this move; he was used to being scalded by his wife. Thinking of the appearance of a steam train, he used the "Residential Heart is Kind and Thick" technique to bear the blow head-on.

He bore it, but Li Banfeng lost the initiative.

A long spear, a short blade, and a meteor hammer—dozens of weapons flew out of Tu Yinghong's sleeve, surrounding and attacking Li Banfeng.

Tu Yinghong pulled a needle-and-thread box out of her sleeve. More than a dozen spools shuttled back and forth on the ground; if Li Banfeng were tripped even once, he would be wounded by the weapons.

The battle fell into a stalemate, gradually favoring Tu Yinghong.

Li Banfeng didn't panic, jumping back and forth among the silk threads while dodging the weapons around him.

Tu Yinghong didn't dare to be the slightest bit careless, her line of sight always locked on Li Banfeng.

Wan Jinxian watched the battle from afar, the corners of his mouth curling up, revealing a smile.

Li Banfeng had fallen into a disadvantage.

Tu Yinghong's methods were also about used up.

No matter who won or lost, he would be the one to reap the benefits.

He must capture Li Qi tonight; capturing him meant obtaining the Did Honglian.

He Haiqin always said the Did Honglian would be in hand soon, but Wan Jinxian didn't want to wait any longer.

Perhaps the Did Honglian was no longer that important to He Haiqin, but it was very important to Wan Jinxian. He was not young, yet his cultivation was still at the seventh layer.

As the battle raged, Tu Yinghong, who had the upper hand, suddenly felt her vision blur.

The reason for the blur was excessive blood loss.

The blood-stained Pendulum stuck in the armor had been sucking blood the whole time; because it caused almost no pain, it had been ignored by Tu Yinghong.

She wanted to pull the Pendulum off, but it was stuck very tightly in the armor. This armor could heal itself, but it couldn't split itself open.

Must end the battle as soon as possible!

Tu Yinghong prepared to take out all the remaining weapons, when suddenly she heard Li Qi shouting repeatedly: "Hu ya ya ya!"

The hairpin on Tu Yinghong's head snapped; Li Banfeng's shouting caused great damage to the Peeping Cultivator's spiritual object.

Tu Yinghong, whose vision was already blurred, had now lost the hairpin, and her vision couldn't keep up with Li Qi's figure.

In a trance, Li Qi suddenly disappeared.

Oh no, "Looking at Flowers from Horseback"!

Tu Yinghong was shocked, but it was too late. Her skull suddenly exploded, and brains and blood splashed everywhere.

Wan Jinxian was stunned; he didn't expect Li Qi to be the one who won in the end.

It's better if he wins; it saves me from having to snatch people away from Tu Yinghong.

Wan Jinxian observed the situation. Tu Yinghong had dropped a pile of good weapons; Li Qi would definitely go to pick them up. This was the best time to capture Li Qi alive.

He didn't expect Li Qi not to pick up the weapons; he hoisted Tu Yinghong's corpse and suddenly fled.

Wan Jinxian frowned, realizing where the problem lay.

He had just revealed his malice, and it had been sensed by Li Qi.

A Traveling Cultivator's footsteps are fast, but Wan Jinxian's footsteps were not slow either. He drove a nail into his heel; this was a magic treasure refined from the soul of an eighth-layer Traveling Cultivator, enough for him to catch up to Li Qi.

After chasing for several dozen meters, Li Qi disappeared.

Where did he go?

He didn't even see a shadow; how could he run so fast?

PS: If you want to fight, fight to the death; if you want to watch, watch to your heart's content!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 324 =====