Chapter 768: Madman

When he first came to Puluo Prefecture, the conductors left a deep impression on Li Li Banfeng, especially the iron rods in their hands, which were almost Li Li Banfeng's nightmare during the Earth-Skin stage.

Even after reaching Cloud-Ascension, Li Li Banfeng had once been forced to jump off the train under the siege of a group of conductors. He could not understand the combat power of the conductors at all; why would cultivators of this level be engaged in such arduous and dangerous work on the train?

Now Li Li Banfeng finally understood.

This conductor before his eyes was not a cultivator at all; he was a product of the technique of "Golden House Hiding a Beauty," a train manager manufactured by some Residential-Cultivator.

But there were two problems before his eyes that exceeded Li Li Banfeng's scope of understanding.

The first problem: what was the lifespan of these conductors? With Li Li Banfeng's current cultivation, even if he combined the technique of "Golden House Hiding a Beauty" with Zhang Wanlong's seeds, the strongest and most resilient melon-people he grew could not live for very long.

The second problem: if the conductors made using the technique of "Golden House Hiding a Beauty" were this powerful, then how high must this Residential-Cultivator's combat power be?

Could this Residential-Cultivator be the Heavenly Lady?

If so, why would she use her own technique to manufacture conductors for the Outer Prefecture?

Li Li Banfeng took out a piece of paper and recorded a series of clues.

There was a woman on the clouds whose identity was unknown; she could open the passage to the Dark Star Bureau.

Inside the Dark Star Bureau were A-Yu and the Heavenly Lady; among them, A-Yu was a top-tier Specter-Cultivator, and the Heavenly Lady could control the boundaries of Puluo Prefecture.

There were conductors manufactured by "Golden House Hiding a Beauty" on the trains of Puluo Prefecture.

Li Li Banfeng connected every detail he had experienced in the past and thought about it repeatedly, when he suddenly heard the conductor announce: "The road ahead is bumpy; please return to your seats, do not walk around at will. Passengers by the window, please ensure the windows are in a closed state."

In Puluo Prefecture, passengers who often take the train all know that the reason for the so-called bumpy road is only one: the train is about to cross the boundary.

At this moment, the train had already arrived at the boundary between Green Water Bay and Pants-Belt Ridge. Clang, clang—two bumps, and Li Li Banfeng sobered up quite a bit.

This sound was produced by the train wheels hitting the broken ends of the rails.

Judging from the interval of the sound, this break was very large.

Why was the train bumpy?

Because the rails were not continuous.

Why were the rails not continuous?

Many Puluo Prefecture people said that walking along the rails could cross the boundary, but it required strict inspection, so not many people tried this method of crossing the border.

In order to undergo such strict inspection, was it because the rails themselves could not cross the boundary? At the boundary, the rails themselves were interrupted.

To pass through the boundary, one still had to rely on the Barrier Defense Hall's equipment to send a signal to A-Yu, let A-Yu contact the Heavenly Lady, and temporarily lift a part of the boundary?

The rails had no special features at all; the Outer Prefecture had not made too many precautions on the rails, to the extent that the 1160 train had actually had a derailment accident.

The rails were not special; was it the train that was special?

But Li Li Banfeng often took the train, and the Leaving Suishenju had studied the train quite a bit, but he seemed not to have discovered anything special either.

Was the train also just an ordinary train?

Inferring from this, the one that could truly carry the train across the boundary was the conductor on the train!

What maintained Puluo Prefecture's transportation capacity were the "Charming Ladies" hidden on the train by the Heavenly Lady, the special abilities bestowed upon them by the Heavenly Lady.

Was all this the real situation, or just a speculation?

That would depend on whether only one conductor had words on him, or if all conductors came from "Golden House Hiding a Beauty."

Li Li Banfeng walked out of the carriage and saw the conductor Iron Law-Born patrolling the aisle. This was the "patrolling the carriage" described in the text on him.

"Sir, please return to your carriage!"

"I'm coming out for some fresh air." Li Li Banfeng handed the conductor a cigarette.

"Sir, please return to your carriage as soon as possible!" This conductor did not smoke.

"I want to go to the hard-seat carriage to look around; I have a friend there." Li Li Banfeng pulled out a banknote and gave it to the conductor.

"Sir, please return to your carriage immediately!" This conductor did not accept money either.

Li Li Banfeng returned to the carriage and muttered to himself: "Iron Law-Born, this name wasn't given wrongly."

Puluo Prefecture's conductors all followed the rules, but in Li Li Banfeng's impression, it was rare to see one as rigorous as him.

Were all conductors the same?

Li Li Banfeng remembered another description: "Patrolling the carriage until the fifth watch."

The fifth watch was from 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM. At this time, the conductors should be changing shifts.

Li Li Banfeng returned to the Leaving Suishenju to sleep for a while. At 3:30 AM, Li Li Banfeng came out of the carriage door again and saw another conductor this time.

He recognized this conductor. When he first came to the train, he entered the Leaving Suishenju and overslept. When he left the Leaving Suishenju, he found two women sleeping in the carriage. Because he couldn't give a reasonable explanation, Li Li Banfeng was fined three thousand, received no receipt, and was poked off the train with a rod. This matter was done by this conductor.

The conductor saw Li Li Banfeng come out and hurriedly shouted to stop him: "This gentleman, please return to your own carriage."

"I want to come out for some fresh air." Li Li Banfeng handed the conductor a cigarette.

The conductor took the cigarette, lit it, and said with a dark face: "Don't stay for more than ten minutes."

This conductor was clearly different from Iron Law-Born.

After the cigarette was finished, the conductor urged: "Hurry back."

Li Li Banfeng gave the conductor another cigarette: "Can I stay a little longer? It's too stuffy in that little room."

The conductor looked at Li Li Banfeng's cigarette case.

Li Li Banfeng gave the rest of the cigarette case to the conductor. The conductor nodded and said: "Just about enough, go back and rest."

The conductor lit another cigarette and continued to smoke. This time the time spent together was relatively long, and Li Li Banfeng saw quite a few words on him:

There is a conductor, named Iron Face-Born.

His appearance is as stern as a frost-covered blade, his voice as sharp as a golden hammer. Yet he is stern on the outside and soft and cunning on the inside, secretly harboring street-smart tricks, skilled in taking a secret path.

Checking luggage, his shouting is like a drum; checking sleeping berths, he recites regulations like a stream. Yet when a purse falls, his eyelashes droop slightly; if a small gift is offered, he will consider being accommodating.

Patrolling the carriage late at night, seeing a cigarette case left on the berth, he puts it into his bosom, saying: "This object is dangerous; I will keep it temporarily to avoid fire hazards."

Checking tickets midway, encountering passengers traveling beyond their station, he must punish them with heavy money, saying: "Not for wealth, but to manifest the law as a warning to others."

Li Li Banfeng couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Iron Face-Born frowned, his face gloomy: "What are you laughing at?"

Li Li Banfeng shook his head: "It's rare to come out for some fresh air, my heart is happy, so I laughed out loud, hehehe!"

He kept laughing like that, and was still laughing when he returned to the carriage.

"Iron Face-Born, this name wasn't given wrongly either."

After laughing for a long while, Li Li Banfeng suddenly gritted his teeth and cursed: "Damn it, back then he took my money and still poked me off the train with a rod. How do I settle this account?"

This matter happened more than two years ago.

The first problem was answered: this conductor manufactured using the technique of "Golden House Hiding a Beauty" had lived for at least two years.

Along the way, Li Li Banfeng successively encountered seven conductors and one train captain. Each of them had words on them, and each description was different.

This basically confirmed Li Li Banfeng's speculation: all the crew members on this train were manufactured using the technique of "Golden House Hiding a Beauty."

And being able to manufacture crew members with such high combat power, in such large numbers, and living for so long, it could basically be determined that this person was the Heavenly Lady.

Li Li Banfeng sat in the carriage, looking at the scenery outside the window, and couldn't help but laugh out loud again.

This time he was laughing at himself.

He wanted to go to the Dark Star Bureau, not taking the peddler's house, because he didn't want the woman on the clouds to notice.

Not taking the shortcut of the Iron Gate Fort, because he didn't want A-Yu to notice.

Not taking a special train, because he didn't want the Dark Star Bureau to notice.

And now looking at it, it was all in vain.

These crew members were all manufactured by the Heavenly Lady; through them, the Heavenly Lady definitely had a way to know that Li Li Banfeng had come to the Outer Prefecture.

If the Heavenly Lady knew, A-Yu would know.

As for whether A-Yu would tell the Dark Star Bureau, it completely depended on her mood.

After laughing, Li Li Banfeng felt sentimental; the gap between him and the Heavenly Lady was a bit large.

Jiang Linger had once said that if the attainment of "Golden House Hiding a Beauty" had ten parts, Li Li Banfeng might not even have two.

Later, he obtained the "Picture of Beauties," and Li Li Banfeng felt he had about eight parts. Now looking at it, if judged by the Heavenly Lady's standard, eight parts was still far off; three parts was about right.

After getting off the train, Li Li Banfeng went to the Dark Star Bureau, arrived at the office, and first called Chen Chen Zhangrui: "You have an urgent matter to find me for?"

Chen Chen Zhangrui said: "Yes, quite urgent. I... Li Bureau, when did you return? I didn't even know!"

"You didn't know?" Li Li Banfeng laughed, "Come, tell me if you have something to say."

Chen Chen Zhangrui arrived at Li Li Banfeng's office and reported the work in detail. The most urgent work currently was dealing with the Bandit-Quelling Battalion.

Li Li Banfeng looked happy: "You are also paying attention to the movements of the Bandit-Quelling Battalion? Can you find out the location of the Bandit-Quelling Battalion now?"

Chen Chen Zhangrui was stunned: "Li Bureau, the Bandit-Quelling Battalion is in the Shang Kingdom; we haven't carried out corresponding investigation work."

"Then how do you plan to respond?"

Chen Chen Zhangrui took out several plans: "These are the corresponding plans for evacuating personnel and materials from Puluo Prefecture, this is the defense deployment plan at Three-San San San Tou Cha, and this is the overall defense deployment plan for the Ban Yue Prefecture after Three-San San San Tou Cha falls."

Li Li Banfeng took the plans and looked at them, asking Chen Chen Zhangrui: "Running away as soon as you start—didn't you think about fighting together with Puluo Prefecture?"

Chen Chen Zhangrui could understand Li Li Banfeng's feelings: "Li Bureau, this plan wasn't decided by me; we can only strictly execute it. Actually..."

Chen Chen Zhangrui stopped mid-sentence.

Li Li Banfeng laughed: "Actually, these plans shouldn't have been seen by me, right?"

Chen Chen Zhangrui nodded slightly; this matter made him bear a great risk.

Li Li Banfeng locked the plans into the safe, and he specifically felt around the safe.

"So clean?" Li Li Banfeng looked at his fingers, "It really is spotless."

Chen Chen Zhangrui answered very solemnly: "Creating a good working environment is the foundation for improving work efficiency."

"Haven't been sweeping the streets lately?"

Chen Chen Zhangrui did not avoid this matter at all: "There has been a lot of work lately. When I get through this busy period, I really want to do some cleaning work on the nearby streets."

Besides loving cleanliness, it seemed he had no other faults.

Li Li Banfeng walked around the bureau. The situations of the others were the same as Chen Chen Zhangrui's. Besides caring about hygiene, no other abnormalities appeared. The security team that had just finished their mission was covered in dust, but they wouldn't dare not enter the office building because of this; they would just change their clothes in the locker room immediately after reporting the mission.

When it was time to get off work in the evening, every department would still take the initiative to take away the trash. When the people had basically left, Li Li Banfeng went to the stairwell and pinched the gold bar.

"Sister, I'm here."

"What are you here for?"

"I brought you something delicious."

"Come to the nineteenth floor."

Li Li Banfeng went up to the nineteenth floor, pushed open the large iron door, and saw bright sunshine and a large patch of blooming flowers.

This was a garden. Although Li Li Banfeng didn't know much about flowers, he knew that in late autumn, there shouldn't be so many flowers blooming.

Where did the sunshine come from? Although the thirty-sixth floor was the top floor, it was not an open-air roof. This was clearly an illusion, or some other means.

Li Li Banfeng walked deep into the garden. The layout of this garden was very complex. After walking not far, Li Li Banfeng arrived at a fork in the road, with three directions to go.

Walking to the left, there was a pine forest. The pine trees were all of the same variety, almost the same height and thickness, and all were covered with white snow.

Walking straight ahead, there was a pond. There was a small boat on the pond, and the pond was covered with lotus flowers, which extended to the opposite side of the pond, where there was a patch of dazzling flowers and thick fog.

To the right was a long corridor, made of wooden beams and pillars. The beams and pillars were covered with purple vines. Some vines had flowers blooming, looking full of vitality, while some vines had been dead for many years, as if they were ropes tied to the skeleton.

The corridor was about eight meters wide, and wooden pedals were laid on the gravel road. This unique design made Li Li Banfeng feel somewhat familiar. He was thinking about which road to take when a train whistle suddenly came from the corridor.

Toot—the old train was in the corridor?

The corridor turned in the flowers, and Li Li Banfeng could not see the end. He walked along the corridor, carefully perceiving the direction of good and bad luck.

There was danger, the degree was not low, but it was within the range he could bear.

The scenery of the corridor was very beautiful. The deeper he walked, the denser the vines, and the more types of flowers on the vines.

But the sound and the scenery were very uncoordinated. In a long corridor full of fresh flowers, the whistle became more frequent, and he could hear the sound of the train head venting gas from time to time. Listening with his eyes closed, he would think he had arrived at a train station.

The most distorted thing was the smell: the heat waves of steam, the pungent machine oil, mixed with bursts of flower fragrance, blowing on Li Li Banfeng's face with the breeze in the long corridor.

Li Li Banfeng wanted to withdraw his "Hundred Flavors Baiwei Linglong" technique; the chaotic smell was affecting his cognition.

But if he really ignored his sense of smell, which judgment—Golden-Eyed Autumn-Hair or Insightful Spirit Sound—was real?

Walking to the end of the corridor, Li Li Banfeng saw a curtain wall made of fresh flowers. The heat wave disappeared, the whistle disappeared, and the smell of machine oil disappeared. Everything related to the station disappeared.

But the danger was approaching.

Li Li Banfeng suddenly rose into the air.

Almost at the same time, the curtain wall shattered, and a pitch-black steam train broke through the wall.

The train's exhaust port suddenly sprayed a large amount of steam, like a silver dragon, chasing Li Li Banfeng in the air.

Li Li Banfeng was not in a hurry to dodge; he didn't even activate "Residential Heart, Human Kindness." He rushed toward the train against the steam.

There was something inside this train.

Behind him, the green vines on the beams and pillars were growing wildly. This was clearly a trap that had been set up. If Li Li Banfeng had dodged the steam, he would have been entangled by the vines.

But Li Li Banfeng felt that this steam didn't need to be dodged at all. The temperature was a bit high, but not enough to hurt Li Li Banfeng. He stood calmly on the train head, watching the vines constantly attacking and chasing from all around.

The vines were not fast. They looked dense, but actually had many gaps. Li Li Banfeng could easily dodge them with his steps, not even needing to use the "Carefree and Unrestrained" technique.

Li Li Banfeng used the "Hundred Flavors Baiwei Linglong" technique to carefully distinguish the flower fragrance. The flowers on the vines were poisonous, but the toxicity was not strong enough. Even if he didn't return to the residence, he could carry it with the physique of a Residential-Cultivator.

All the offensives in this garden were aimed at this train.

This train's shell was extremely hard. The Tang Dao, modified by the Red Lotus, could easily pierce through a magic-treasure-level armor.

He slashed the train once, leaving only a scratch.

"Is this bullshit?" The Tang Dao doubted itself and also doubted its cognition of hardness.

The sickle exclaimed: "This is the strength of the old train; we can't understand it at all."

Li Li Banfeng stared at the train without speaking.

He was very certain that the train under his feet was definitely not the old train, although the toughness of the shell also made Li Li Banfeng somewhat surprised.

He was also certain that the owner of this garden was not well-prepared. The other party didn't expect a strong enemy to appear. The situation was made very large, but the means were very hasty.

As long as he left this train, he seemed to be able to shake off the siege of this garden.

But Li Li Banfeng always stood on the train, observing the internal structure of the train with Golden-Eyed Autumn-Hair.

The internal structure of this train was very special. He couldn't see connecting rods and pistons, and couldn't even see coal and fire. Li Li Banfeng pushed Golden-Eyed Autumn-Hair to the limit, but some places were still unclear.

The train passed through the corridor and turned into the pond, driving from the water surface to the bottom of the pond.

Li Li Banfeng grabbed the train and fell into the pond water. If he let go now, he was worried the train would disappear immediately.

The pond was cold and slippery, but Li Li Banfeng's clothes didn't get wet. This water was fake and also had toxicity. Li Li Banfeng held his breath, followed the train through the pond, and leaped out of the water surface.

When the train rushed to the shore, the flowers on the shore burned one after another. The train covered in "pond water" immediately caught fire, entering the pine forest with raging flames.

The entire forest was ignited. Except for thick smoke, there were flames everywhere. Li Li Banfeng stared at the train without blinking, concentrating all his attention on Golden-Eyed Autumn-Hair.

Why couldn't he see clearly?

Why was it hidden so well?

A small mountain piled up by lava appeared at the end of the forest. The train was about to crash into the mountain body.

Li Li Banfeng couldn't be bothered to look at that mountain. He had only one thought now:

What exactly was inside the train? He had to see it clearly this time!

Rumble!

Li Li Banfeng stepped through the square river with one foot and stepped on the train.

If he wanted to see the other side of the mountain, he would flatten the mountain peak; if he wanted to see what was inside the train, he would stomp through the train.

The entire garden shook because of this, and even the Dark Star Bureau building outside the garden was shaking.

Ayi shouted: "What is this for? Making such a big commotion, how many people will this attract?"

Haizhangguo was responsible for being on duty in the bureau. This rumble really gave her a fright.

She picked up the duty phone, about to report the situation, when she suddenly found a stain on the phone.

When was this left?

When Orange returned from the mission, she was covered in mud and had touched Haizhangguo's desk phone.

This girl really didn't care about things!

Haizhangguo hurriedly took a rag to wipe the phone. After wiping for a long time, it was finally clean.

But the phone was clean, and several handprints were left on the table by Orange.

Haizhangguo picked up the rag and continued wiping.

Ayi whispered: "Wipe, girl, wipe as clean as possible, hurry and forget what just happened."

Other departments also had duty personnel, and they were all busy cleaning now.

In the garden, having been stepped on by Li Li Banfeng, a hole the size of a watermelon broke in the train's shell.

The lava mountain collapsed with a rumble. The teapot had already prepared defenses, ready to use a water curtain to block the lava.

He thought the scorching lava would destroy the entire garden, but he didn't expect that after the lava landed, it turned into pitch-black stones and red bricks, scattering everywhere.

Along with the lava, the iron shell of the train head also scattered.

Ai ga ga ga~ Mi dang~

The train head also turned into a pile of black stones. Amidst a pile of stones, a woman clutched her chest, containing blood foam,

struggling to get up, and struggling to run toward the sea of fire in the forest.

She was the key to the train, because she was the train's power source and material source.

This woman was someone Li Li Banfeng knew; she was the Painting-Cultivator Mu Yuejuan!

Lakes, forests, corridors, trains, lava mountains—all were painted by Mu Yuejuan. The black stones and red bricks falling on the ground were solidified ink and cinnabar.

The reason this train was so solid was because Li Li Banfeng was in Mu Yuejuan's painted world. In this world, the ink used by Mu Yuejuan was the most solid material.

Mu Yuejuan manufactured a solid train to create a hiding place for herself. This hiding place was discovered by Li Li Banfeng, so she concentrated all offensives around the train, aiming to cause shock and lethality to the intruder.

This move was hasty, but in fact, Mu Yuejuan still had confidence in succeeding. First, the train was hidden very deeply. Under normal circumstances, a cautious person arriving in a strange territory would not go to the end of one path, especially that eerie corridor; one should have turned back halfway.

He didn't expect Li Qi not to turn back and just kept walking until he discovered the train.

Discovering the train didn't matter either. Mu Yuejuan concentrated all offensives on the train, firmly believing that even if she couldn't hurt Li Qi,

she could scare Li Qi away.

But Li Qi was not scared away, nor was he hurt. He didn't even pay too much physical strength and energy for this.

With the situation like this, Mu Yuejuan had to do something ruthless. She used cinnabar and ink to manufacture a lava mountain; she wanted to take Li Qi for a spin in the lava.

This was a lava mountain she painted; it wouldn't burn her. Even if some lava occasionally went out of control, Mu Yuejuan's train was so solid that it could withstand it. But Li Qi was flesh and blood after all; how long could he last in the lava?

Who would have thought that Li Li Banfeng's "Step Through Ten Thousand Rivers" would have such great power, directly crushing the train and also injuring Mu Yuejuan.

The injured Mu Yuejuan was unable to maintain the lava mountain and could only flee deep into the forest. Li Li Banfeng arrived in front of Mu Yuejuan and shouted: "Old Senior, don't be in such a hurry to leave; I have no malice toward you."

Mu Yuejuan did not allow any explanation, grabbed a ball of ink in her hand and threw it at Li Li Banfeng, her slender jade fingers trembling. She used finger painting to draw hundreds of black snakes, surrounding Li Li Banfeng.

This was finger painting. When Li Li Banfeng learned painting from Hong Ying, he had also come into contact with some. He had never seen painting skills as exquisite as Mu Yuejuan's.

Mu Yuejuan flicked her finger, without any extra movements. One snake, from head to tail, was lifelike, even the tongue and fangs in its mouth were drawn clearly.

The ink she used was poisonous, and these hundreds of black snakes were also poisonous. With Li Li Banfeng's cultivation, being bitten once wouldn't be fatal,

but his actions would inevitably be affected.

After finishing the poisonous snakes, Mu Yuejuan continued to flee, but saw Li Li Banfeng disappear from the pile of poisonous snakes.

Not good, "Galloping Horse Watching Flowers"!

Mu Yuejuan did not go to track Li Li Banfeng's traces. She splashed a large piece of ink, wanting to hide her figure.

As long as she hid, she would not be watched by Li Li Banfeng, and the "Galloping Horse Watching Flowers" technique would not be effective.

The train of thought was correct, but the premise was that she had enough speed. The ink was flying in the air, not yet falling, when Mu Yuejuan had already exploded.

From the back of her head to her waist, her entire back was blown into a bloody mess.

Having just eaten one "Step Through Ten Thousand Rivers," she ate another "Galloping Horse Watching Flowers." Mu Yuejuan was not lightly injured this time; her steps were a bit unsteady.

She waved her hand and summoned the small snakes she had drawn. The small snakes densely stuck to her back.

This was a painted world; all painted things were favorable to Mu Yuejuan. These small snakes were poisonous things in front of Li Qi, but became healers on Mu Yuejuan's body, able to stop bleeding and heal wounds.