Chapter 359: The Seven-Layer Yu Zhaixiu Technique

Xiao Zhenggong drove all the way to Tulou Village at top speed.

Tulou Village started demolition and relocation two years ago; the whole village moved out, and last year the developer ran off, leaving the project half-finished.

From inside the construction site, gusts of dust drifted up from time to time, accompanied by bursts of roars.

A cordon had been set up around the site. Old Chen had assembled over twenty team members and was deploying the operation. Seeing Xiao Zhenggong arrive, Old Chen laughed and said, "Captain Xiao, what a rare guest."

When on a mission, Xiao Zhenggong really did rarely show his face.

Xiao Zhenggong glanced at the construction site and, catching the scent, immediately knew what was inside.

"There's a donkey in there, isn't there?"

Tang Yuan shook his head and said, "Captain Xiao, what's inside is a Mammalia Vermiform-class mutant. Its head looks like a mammal, but its body is more like a worm."

Xiao Zhenggong snorted a laugh: "That's a donkey-head maggot. I'm used to calling the thing a donkey. In Pulo Province, they use these things as livestock."

What was inside the construction site was not what Xiao Zhenggong cared about; what he cared about was Chen Zhangrui: "Captain Chen, when did you get here?"

"Been here a little while now, Captain Xiao. You're so well-informed and experienced—why don't I just hand this job over to you!"

The corners of Xiao Zhenggong's eyes drooped, and a flash of cold light glinted in his gaze.

"Old Chen, if you have something to say, say it to my face; if you have something to do, do it out in the open. Don't try to trip me up behind my back.

It's not that I'm afraid of you—it's that I see you're old, so I let you have your way. I'm worried that when I really make a move, you won't be able to take it."

Chen Zhangrui pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and said with a smile on his face: "Xiao Zhenggong, I have real work to do right now and no time to deal with you. Get as far away from me as you can."

Xiao Zhenggong wasn't angry: "You want me to leave that badly? You don't want me to stay on the security team? Let me tell you—I won't leave. I'd like to see what you can do to me."

The two stared at each other, and the team members were terrified, genuinely worried the two would come to blows on the spot.

Only Qin Minghui's eyes stayed fixed on the construction site; he was worried the strange beast inside might charge out at any moment.

Xiao Zhenggong actually wanted to see how Chen Zhangrui would respond.

If Chen Zhangrui swallowed it, Xiao Zhenggong would keep on provoking him, to see whether Chen Zhangrui could still hold his head up in front of the team.

If he couldn't stand it and struck Xiao Zhenggong, Xiao Zhenggong could force Chen Zhangrui out of the Dark Star Bureau.

Chen Zhangrui knew Xiao Zhenggong's scheming. In the past, he would simply have ignored him.

But right now they were on a mission, and the donkey-head maggot was running wild inside the construction site. Chen Zhangrui didn't want to get tangled up with Xiao Zhenggong.

Seeing Old Chen stay silent, Xiao Zhenggong smiled and was about to keep provoking him when his phone suddenly rang.

The caller was Song Yuwei, the Hall Master of Haichi Ridge.

Song Yuwei was still out of province; he had just received the news as well: "Gang Leader, the Haichi Ridge branch hall has been wiped out."

Xiao Zhenggong's head buzzed.

Another branch hall gone!

Old Chen was a Peeping Cultivator; he could hear every word on the phone perfectly. He asked with concern, "Gang Leader Xiao, something's happened to your gang?"

Xiao Zhenggong put down the phone, looked at Old Chen, and said: "I need to see the Bureau Chief."

Old Chen laughed: "Go ahead, no need to ask my leave. Just don't cry when you see the Bureau Chief—it's too embarrassing."

Xiao Zhenggong drove off, and Old Chen led the men to deal with the donkey-head maggot.

……

Inside Leaving Leaving Suishenju, Li Banfeng was drenched in sweat. He gently stroked the gramophone and said: "Wife, slow down a bit."

"Oh, husband," the gramophone said softly, "you're already done after just this little while?"

"Done? How could I possibly be done? I just want to rest a moment…"

"A man should never say such things.

If you don't fight, fine; but if you fight, you must win. Husband, get up—let's go again.

When it comes to advancement, you have to strike while the iron is hot!"

As it spoke, the gramophone sucked Li Banfeng's head into the bell of the horn again.

This advancement took an especially long time. In the damp, sweltering environment, Li Banfeng kept twitching, until he heard his wife's sweet singing, and only then did his whole body relax amid the trembling.

"When winter comes and the snow lies deep,

I make a winter coat to send to my love,

May he settle down and find joy in his work, and live long years,

And take another wife for his household."

Leaving Leaving Suishenju now had eight rooms. Although each room had the same layout, Li Banfeng couldn't wait to take a look at the eighth room.

He tried to stand twice but couldn't get up. The gramophone hurriedly advised: "Oh, husband, you've just advanced—you shouldn't be walking about. Rest on the bed for a while, and let this little servant tell you about the techniques of the seventh-layer Yu Zhaixiu.

The seventh-layer Yu Zhaixiu technique is called 'Settling Down and Finding Joy in One's Work.' This layer's technique doesn't come from me—it comes from our home."

Settling Down and Finding Joy in One's Work—a technique that comes from the home itself.

Sounds a bit abstract.

His wife explained: "As the saying goes, only by settling one's home can one find joy in one's work. To put it plainly, it's about pleasing the home and earning good fortune."

Good fortune!

This technique is great!

"How do I please the home?"

"Oh, husband, settling down at home is how you please the home. As long as you and our home get along well, and you stay home, the home will naturally give you good fortune."

Hearing this, Li Banfeng wasn't so excited anymore. He couldn't stay home all the time.

"How many hours a day do I need to stay home?"

"Husband, you're already a seventh-layer Yu Zhaixiu. By reason, there are twenty-four hours in a day, and you should stay home for at least twenty of them."

Twenty hours?

That won't do!

The daily cultivation of a Travel Cultivator couldn't even be satisfied.

His wife went on: "Our home is generous and easygoing, so this point isn't really fussed over. But this little slave has calculated that Husband must stay at least twelve hours a day,

and once past twelve hours, every extra hour brings one point of fortune; if it's less than twelve hours, every missing hour costs one point of fortune."

Twelve hours — that wasn't a short stretch. Li Banfeng was a seventh-layer Travel Cultivator. By his own estimate, unless he was in danger or running hard, his daily time walking about outside couldn't be less than twelve hours either.

If some accident happened and he couldn't get back, wouldn't he lose fortune?

The incompatibility between Travel Cultivation and Home Cultivation was starting to stand out.

Was there a way to solve it?

Travel Cultivation could be propped up with pills, but that wasn't a long-term plan.

Through long-term pill use, Li Banfeng had summed up a pattern: after taking pills, a stretch of basic cultivation could indeed be offset, but that time was limited.

Three to five days without going out, the condition was still tolerable; past five days, Li Banfeng would feel agony, his limbs and torso would have an urge to separate from each other — very similar to cultivation backlash — and the longer he stayed, the worse the symptoms.

What would happen if he stayed in past ten days?

Li Banfeng hadn't tried it. The example of sprinter Qiao Yuesheng was still fresh before his eyes — this was a matter of life and death.

Was there any other way to maintain Travel Cultivation?

There was.

Looking at photographs, watching films — both could bring a Travel Cultivator some cultivation effect, but the effect was very limited.

Travel Cultivation didn't have many options; did Home Cultivation have any good ones?

"Besides staying home, is there any other way to please the house?"

"Oh Husband, you're already a seventh-layer Home Cultivator — if you're not at home keeping this little slave company, which wild woman are you going out to see?"

"Going out isn't necessarily about women. Maybe it's to buy groceries. If I run into a tough dish and can't get home, but my fortune still drops, wouldn't Husband be taking a huge loss?"

"What Husband says is right. There are still ways to please the house — Husband could acquire more household goods."

"What kind of household goods?"

"That's hard to say — it depends on the house's mood. If the goods are acquired right, even if Husband doesn't come home for a day, his fortune will still be full.

But if the goods are acquired wrong and the house doesn't like them, even if Husband stays home every day, he'll only earn the house's disgust."

This matter had risks!

What did Leaving Leaving Suishenju like?

He was a train — what did trains need?

Rails?

Those things were too expensive — two rails cost more than a Baile Sect.

And there was nowhere to buy them.

This needed careful thought.

After resting half a day, he left Leaving Leaving Suishenju, washed up at the inn, and Li Banfeng and Luo Zhengnan went to a restaurant.

In Haichi Ridge, people got hungry far too easily — he ate three whole big bowls of lamb paomo.

Full and satisfied, Li Banfeng and Luo Zhengnan went to the train station; both bought first-class seats, one private compartment each.

On the platform, Li Banfeng bought a newspaper — news of the Jiang Xiang Gang already filled the front page.

"How rare," Luo Zhengnan sighed softly. It was rare for anyone to pay this much attention to the Jiang Xiang Gang.

In the carriage, Li Banfeng asked Luo Zhengnan: "Are you familiar with the branch at Black Stone Slope?"

"I am." Luo Zhengnan nodded, marking the positions of each sub-branch on the map.

There were bloodstains on the map — left behind at the Haichi Ridge branch.

The branch master of the Haichi Ridge branch wasn't there, but his subordinates had all gone on ahead.

The Jiang Xiang Gang had twenty-two branches in Like Puluozhou in total; Li Banfeng had already wiped out two.

The Black Stone Slope branch had to be wiped out too — this was Li Banfeng's territory; he absolutely could not tolerate the Jiang Xiang Gang's existence.

This vengeance was satisfying. Luo Zhengnan firmly believed he had attached himself to the right man, and he described every sub-branch of Black Stone Hall in meticulous detail.

"Seventh Master, the people at Black Stone Slope have guts. The Jiang Xiang Gang's business isn't easy to do — their branch isn't big, only two sub-branches in total…"

……

In the Dark Star Bureau, Bureau Chief Director Director Shen Jingye was counseling Xiao Zhenggong: "Zhenggong, whatever grudge you have with Changrui, you can report it to the Bureau. Whatever demands you have, you can also raise them with the Bureau.

But during a mission, you and Changrui argued in front of the team — how bad does that look?

After discussion, the Bureau feels this must be dealt with strictly. Zhenggong, the Bureau feels you're not suited to remain in the Public Security Brigade."

Xiao Zhenggong looked at Director Director Shen Jingye and said: "You think the fault lies with me?"

"Let's not discuss whose fault it is for now. The relationship between you and Changrui has already reached this point — continuing to work together isn't good for the work either.

The Bureau has already arranged a more suitable position for you — higher rank, better treatment."

"Are you joking?" Xiao Zhenggong frowned. "Do I care about rank and treatment?

I'm not leaving. I'm staying in the Public Security Brigade — I'm not going anywhere.

I came to you to settle not the grudge between me and Chen Zhangrui."

Director Director Shen Jingye said: "You're talking about the matter in Like Puluozhou? I just heard about this myself.

I don't know the situation in Like Puluozhou very well, and I don't know much about your gang's affairs either.

I've already informed the Defense Commissioner about this matter. I trust he can give you a satisfactory answer."

"When will I receive an answer?"

Director Director Shen Jingye's brow furrowed slightly: "Zhenggong, there's a procedure to these things…"

"I don't want to wait for any procedure! I've lost two branches — my foundation is nearly gone!" Xiao Zhenggong pulled a seal from his chest. "I want to use the Balance Seal. I demand the immediate arrest of He Jiaqing, and the arrest of his subordinates in Like Puluozhou!"

Director Director Shen Jingye looked at the seal in Xiao Zhenggong's hand: "Have you thought this through?"

Xiao Zhenggong nodded and said, "I've thought it through very clearly."

PS: The price of the Balance Seal is truly very great.

(End of chapter)