Chapter 366: I Like Men With Balls

At dawn, Cheng Mingke, the Chief of Defense at Heishipō, had just woken up.

The Heishipō Defense Office had one Chief and twenty-eight Deputy Chiefs; all personnel, except those on field duty, lived and ate within the office, including the Chief.

Before Cheng Mingke could wash up, his secretary Tong Lingzhu reported an emergency: "Chief Cheng, Jiangxiang Bang has gone dark."

"Who went dark?" Cheng Mingke assumed his subordinate meant the newly appointed Hall Master, Fu Botai, who had been away these past two days to contact the Sage on Shengxian Peak—normal enough.

But Tong Lingzhu wasn't referring to Hall Master Fu Botai: "The entire hall has vanished. No one can be found. The two branch offices in town are also unreachable—only one branch outside the city still has people."

Cheng Mingke asked sharply: "What did the outer branch say?"

"They know nothing."

The outer branch wasn't lying—they had only one Branch Master and one Stick-Bearer.

No need to ask further; anyone could guess their status: the most despised in the hall, exiled to the outskirts.

Though shunned by the gang, fate had favored them: yesterday, the hall received orders for everyone to gather at the Grand Warehouse to link up with the Hall Master and the Sage.

A golden chance to earn merit—who would think of these two?

Precisely because they were forgotten, they'd survived.

Chief Cheng Mingke's expression turned grim. He immediately ordered: halt all outbound and inbound traffic at Heishipō, and search the entire city for Jiangxiang Bang members.

The order took effect instantly: trains and ferries stopped, border checkpoints shut down—this was the power of a Chief of Defense.

Every region of Pulu Province had boundaries; travel required a pass, and few people ventured out normally. Closing transport should've caused little disruption.

In Yaowanggou, shutting down for a while wouldn't matter.

But Heishipō was unique—a purely industrial city.

Factory products awaited shipment, piled high at the station.

Some raw materials Heishipō didn't produce had to be imported; now that transport was cut, many factories had halted production.

That wasn't the worst.

Heishipō had limited grain. A few villages lay far beyond the city, growing just enough to feed themselves. Heishipō's food came entirely from outside.

With transport cut, the city's food supply vanished.

Didn't the city have stockpiles?

Yes—but not in residents' hands.

Heishipō's citizens didn't store grain; they ate daily at factory canteens. When they had money, they dined out. Now, with no food arriving, canteens shut down, restaurants closed, and many faced hunger.

Chief Cheng Mingke had only recently arrived in Heishipō. His secretary Tong Lingzhu, fearing he didn't understand the situation, warned: "Chief Cheng, Heishipō's transport can't stay halted long. This city is unlike any other."

Cheng Mingke replied calmly: "I know transport is vital to Heishipō. Precisely because it is vital, they should learn to value it.

An entire hall has vanished. I refuse to believe no one knows anything. Yet notices have been posted for days—no response at all. This proves they don't respect the Defense Office."

Tong Lingzhu dared not press further—but where were the clues?

Jiangxiang Bang had little presence in Heishipō; their operations were always secretive. Most members disguised themselves as charlatans, temple attendants, vegetarian women, fortune-tellers, or medicine peddlers—who could recognize them?

Worse, the Defense Office didn't want to be linked to Jiangxiang Bang. The notices were vague, only stating that Fu Botai and others had disappeared. Citizens stared at the photos, baffled—they had no idea who Fu Botai was.

Yet Cheng Mingke was confident—he believed this case would be solved.

Tension gripped the city; the outskirts suffered too. Many powerful families relied on Heishipō for business.

Lu family's operations in Heishipō were entrusted to Li Ban and Ma Wu—but Ma Wu had no interest in business now.

He was fully focused on cutting film in Xiaoyao Wu.

Cutting film was a skilled task: one had to cut and glue. Ma Wu wasn't an expert, but this reel had to be cut by him—it was the film Li Ban had brought back.

The film recorded the entire process: the lantern-showman abducting children in Liutang Village and meeting Hall Master Fu Botai.

Yes—that Hall Master was Fu Botai.

Ma Wu had compared the film repeatedly with the photo on the notice.

He cut it himself to avoid exposing Li Ban's whereabouts.

He'd eliminated three Jiangxiang Bang halls in succession—he never imagined Old Seven had done it.

It was reckless, but since it was done, Ma Wu would follow Old Seven to the end.

After cutting the film, Ma Wu made a copy and gave it to Shen Rongqing.

Shen Rongqing watched the film—her veins bulged.

The film had no sound, but Shen Rongqing could read Fu Botai's lip movements.

"He says he can't see? Fine. Now let all of Pulu Province see! Print extra editions of the newspapers for the next few days!"

…

"Print extra editions!" Bai Qiusheng ordered the editor of *Ye Lai Xiang*. "Expose Fu Botai's past. Reveal everything Jiangxiang Bang has done over the years!"

Yuwen Qi worried: "Many families are barely eating. Rice prices have doubled. Who can afford newspapers now?"

"We're giving them away!" Bai Qiusheng slammed the newspaper on the table. "We'll hand them out free—we must make this clear!"

…

Chief Cheng Mingke slammed the newspaper on his desk: "Someone's stirring trouble. Shut down that newspaper office."

Tong Lingzhu hurried to dissuade him: "Chief Cheng, we can't interfere. Heishipō has no precedent. Neither does all of Pulu Province."

"They must learn reverence. I'll set the precedent." Cheng Mingke remained calm, gazing silently out the window.

Below the Defense Office, Li Ban looked up at the building, pulled his hat low, and slipped away quietly.

That night, many households in the city received a small sack of rice.

Not much—barely enough for two or three days. People debated who had sent it; some even claimed to have seen the messenger.

"He said his surname was En—En Gong."

But where had the rice come from?

…

At dawn the next day, before Cheng Mingke had fully woken, someone knocked again.

He assumed it was Tong Lingzhu, tidied his appearance before opening—only to find Du Chaohui, the Deputy Chief in charge of logistics.

"Chief Cheng, our canteen was robbed."

The canteen was robbed?

Cheng Mingke stared at Du Chaohui in disbelief. What kind of issue was this?

"Someone stole some food? Let it go. Just increase security next time."

"Not just some food. All our grain has been stolen."

Cheng Mingke froze and went to the storage room.

Oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar—all untouched. Not a grain of rice remained.

An entire warehouse of grain stolen?

Cheng Mingke grew angry: "How was so much grain moved out? What were your men doing?"

Du Chaohui was equally aggrieved: "I checked the warehouse last night…"

"Enough. Send people to buy grain immediately."

Du Chaohui personally led men to the rice shops. The shopkeeper laughed: "Deputy Du, you're buying rice? You eat too? That's novel.

I've no rice. Try elsewhere."

Du Chaohui was furious, but he'd lived in Heishipō for years—he knew its people were stubborn. Forcing purchases now would spark chaos.

He visited over a dozen rice shops. Not a single sack could he buy. No matter the price, all claimed to have no rice.

With no rice secured, Cheng Mingke remained unfazed: "Tonight, distribute canned food and biscuits. A trainload of grain arrives tomorrow morning—I'll assign a dedicated person to bring it back. Have your men guard the warehouse."

At eight a. ., the station, long idle, received a train.

The train carried grain, coal, medicine—all specially prepared for the Defense Office.

Li Ban disguised himself as a loader. Leveraging Yu Zhaixiu's innate ability to be overlooked, he hid in a corner of the platform, waiting for his chance.

This intelligence came from Luo Zhengnan—he'd just confirmed yesterday that a shipment was headed for Heishipō.

Li Ban had waited at the station all night, but the train arrived only now.

Earlier, stealing from the canteen had been easy: at night, he slipped into the warehouse, had his glove unlock the door, and transported the grain into his Personal Dwelling—effortless.

Now, daylight had broken. The station was heavily guarded.

A small train waited at the station entrance. Once the cargo was unloaded onto the platform, loaders would immediately transfer it to the small train for delivery to the Defense Office.

Once the grain entered the Defense Office, stealing it would be nearly impossible. They'd been burned once—they'd prepared thoroughly.

Should he strike on the platform or during transit? Li Ban needed to decide quickly.

As he observed, he noticed something wrong with the train.

Steam locomotives were hard to brake—they should've slowed long before entering the station.

But this train roared in with full force—huffing and puffing—as if it had no intention of stopping.

Where was it going?

Not just Li Ban was confused; station staff were equally baffled.

The flagman waved frantically, signaling the engineer to stop.

The engineer was terrified, waving wildly from the cab.

The train was out of control!

Several cultivators from the Defense Office stood nearby. One burly man leapt onto the tracks, roared, his body swelling twice in size, and braced both hands against the locomotive's front, trying to halt it.

"Strong guy," someone said beside Li Ban. "That's a bear."

Who?

Li Ban was startled.

How did he suddenly appear beside him?

From his face, the man looked to be in his early forties; his clothing suggested he was a technician.

He raised his eyebrows at Li Banfeng, signaling him not to worry.

His judgment was correct—the burly man who had charged onto the tracks was a body cultivator, and indeed, he was a bear.

The burly man slid dozens of meters, but the train didn't stop, not even slow down.

The burly man jumped off the tracks; he could no longer hold on.

Both his arm bones were broken; if he held on any longer, he'd be crushed beneath the train's wheels.

The train sped out of the station, and the middle-aged man and Li Banfeng quietly departed.

Outside the station, the middle-aged man led Li Banfeng in chasing the train; both leapt into the air, one after the other, landing atop the train.

Inside the carriage, the middle-aged man said to Li Banfeng: "Young brother, you're the benefactor, aren't you?"

Li Banfeng didn't answer.

He didn't know the man's identity, but he could tell this was a senior with no ill intent—if the man had meant harm, Li Banfeng would already be dead.

The middle-aged man chuckled: "I know 'Benefactor' isn't your real name—you should be called Night Boss."

Did he know this identity too?

Li Banfeng grew even more surprised, as the middle-aged man continued: "I'm Tang, Tang Shijiang. I admire men of grit. If you have any respect for me, call me Brother Tang."

By now, the train had traveled eight or nine li—this wasn't the speed of a steam locomotive.

Tang Shijiang pulled a handful of screws from his pocket; each screw moved on its own, each one embedding itself into a sack of grain, dragging the sack out of the carriage and soaring far down the tracks.

He was distributing the grain.

Li Banfeng said: "Brother Tang, these grains all belong to the Border Control Office—they'll definitely investigate each sack. You're just tossing them out without even changing the sacks. Who'd dare pick them up?"

"Dare?" Tang Shijiang laughed. "The people on my turf all have grit. If they're too scared to pick them up, they don't deserve to live in Black Stone Slope!"

(End of Chapter)