Lu Dongchun was Lu Maoxian's daughter.

Monkey Qiu was in his early forties, and Lu Dongchun was two years older than him. Even so, she looked no more than a woman in her twenties. Her skin was smooth and delicate, her features graceful and refined. She was the kind of beauty one rarely encountered.

She stood outside the Lu Family's main residence beneath a dark parasol, dressed in a neat Western-style gown. She did not complain. She did not knock impatiently on the gates. She did not even bring servants to fuss around her. How could such a beautiful and well-mannered lady provoke Duan Shaoxia so badly that Madam Duan detested even the sight of her?

"I am not seeing her. Send her away!" Duan Shaoxia snapped. She still refused to let Lu Dongchun in the house.

Monkey Qiu said, "Madam, she's here to gather people to avenge Grand Old Master."

Duan Shaoxia ground her teeth together. "She still dares to come looking for me? It's already merciful enough that I haven't gone to settle the score with them myself!"

Monkey Qiu shook his head. "Madam, those are the family rules."

Duan Shaoxia's expression darkened further. She understood the rules of a great family all too well. If Lu Maoxian had been wounded by someone within the Lu Family, the other branches would simply turn a blind eye and leave him to fend for himself.

However, if an outsider had injured him, especially to such a serious degree, then it became a matter concerning the entire Lu Family. Once the culprit was identified and Lu Maoxian called for revenge, every branch of the family would be obligated to answer that call.

Any branch that refused would be isolated by the family. At times like this, the main branch of the Lu Family especially had to take the lead. Whether they truly intended to help was another matter entirely, but at the very least, they had to make an appearance.

After a moment of thought, Duan Shaoxia turned to Monkey Qiu. "Zhiheng, with Yuanhai already in this condition and Huaiyi not yet officially part of the family, I, as a woman, have no ability to go out and fight battles myself.

"I will leave this matter to you. Just be extremely careful. Go over to Lu Maoxian's place and show your face. That's enough. If something happens to you too, our family won't be able to go on living."

Qiu Zhiheng nodded. "Miss Dongchun is still waiting outside. We should at least invite her in and speak with her properly."

"No!" Duan Shaoxia waved her hands repeatedly. "Host her in your little building instead. I don't want to see her. Just the sight of her makes my scalp crawl!"

Qiu Zhiheng personally went outside and escorted Lu Dongchun into the small building.

Lu Dongchun rarely left the house, and the servants in the small building had all been hired recently, so none of them knew her. The moment they saw a guest arrive, they hurriedly prepared tea for her.

Lu Dongchun lifted the teacup and took a delicate sip. "Zhiheng, Sister-in-law doesn't want to see me?"

Monkey Qiu nodded.

"It doesn't matter if she refuses to see me," Lu Dongchun said softly. "But I still need an answer. Are you people going to handle my father's matter or not?"

"We will!" Monkey Qiu answered at once, so quickly that it was almost as though the words had been waiting behind his teeth. "Once the time and place are decided, send word to me. I will personally make the trip."

"You?" Lu Dongchun blinked slowly.

Her eyes were clear and bright as polished glass beads, and when she looked at Monkey Qiu, he could see his own reflection sitting there inside them.

"Would you count as part of the outer family," she asked gently, "or the main family?"

"Does that really matter?"

"Oh yes," Lu Dongchun replied. "It matters very much. Those were my father's instructions. This time, when the Lu Family goes to settle accounts with the Ling Family, the inner and outer branches must be kept very clearly apart."

Grand Old Master wanted the inner and outer branches clearly separated this time, which meant the rules had changed.

The main family referred to the actual members of the Lu Family itself. The outer family, meanwhile, referred to the many forces and followers who operated under the Lu Family's banner. For example, Si Wennian, the Mentalism Cultivator, and Tan Fucheng, the Devotion Cultivator, were both part of the outer family.

Monkey Qiu's situation, however, was somewhat special.

If he went as a representative of the main family, then he had to bring along at least one legitimate member of the Lu Family. Even if that person merely stood there silently and watched the whole affair without lifting a finger, their presence alone would make it official.

If Monkey Qiu represented the outer family instead, things would become much simpler. However, that would also mean Lu Dongliang's direct bloodline had failed to send a single representative, which would not truly resolve the matter at hand.

Monkey Qiu answered without hesitation, "The main family."

"Good." Lu Dongchun lifted her teacup and took another tiny sip. "Then when the time comes, we had better see an actual member of the main family there."

Monkey Qiu picked up his teacup, a polite gesture meant to send the guest on her way.

Lu Dongchun stood up to take her leave. Yet no matter how she moved, her eyes never shifted. Her gaze remained fixed on Monkey Qiu the entire time.

Monkey Qiu personally escorted Lu Dongchun to the door.

A short while later, the servants came over to clear away the tea. The moment one of them picked up Lu Dongchun's teacup, he noticed that the cup was still completely full.

That should have been impossible. The servants had all clearly seen her take two sips from it only moments earlier.

While the servant was feeling puzzled, Monkey Qiu instructed, "If she comes again in the future, don't serve her tea."

***

Ma Wu was busy preparing the premiere ceremony for The Legendary Bloodspear Detective IV when a swarm of reporters suddenly burst into the cinema while the decorations were still only half finished.

Ma Wu initially intended to have Cao Zhigang bring some men over to chase them out, but he quickly realized these were no ordinary reporters. Their movements were far too sharp and fierce.

These people had come looking for trouble.

A man and a woman entered the cinema alongside the reporters and walked straight toward Ma Wu.

Who's this? Ling Miaoying and the award-winning actress Tu Yinghong? Why are the two of them here?

Realizing this was not something his subordinates could handle, Ma Wu personally stepped forward to welcome them, with Zuo Wugang following closely behind him.

Ling Miaoying pulled out a cigarette, lit it leisurely, and took a long drag before exhaling the smoke straight into Ma Wu's face. "Boss Ma, business seems to be booming!"

Ma Wu did not get angry. He calmly pulled out a cigarette of his own and lit it.

"Boss Ling," he replied, "you flatter me. Mine is only a small-time operation. Compared to your business, it's hardly worth mentioning."

"No need to be modest." Ling Miaoying said. "I admire you. Truly admire you from the bottom of my heart."

"I have got several new films about to start shooting," Ling Miaoying said. "If you think highly enough of me, come over to my studio and help review the scripts and offer a few ideas. Let's make some proper films together and earn money side by side."

Ling Miaoying's intentions could not have been more obvious. He wanted to take over Ma Wu's business.

Previously, Ma Wu had the Lu Family standing behind him and protecting him. However, the main bloodline of the Lu Family had collapsed and Lu Maoxian himself had been severely injured. And truthfully speaking, even if Lu Maoxian had not been injured, he likely would not have continued protecting Ma Wu anyway.

Ma Wu no longer had anyone backing him. This was the perfect chance to swallow up Ma Wu's business in one gulp. And if they could use the opportunity to deal with Li Qi as well and snatch that precious item away, then perhaps they would finally no longer have to live under He Jiaqing's thumb.

Ma Wu lowered his head with a smile and said, "Boss Ling, you must be joking. How could a tiny little business like mine possibly catch your attention?"

Ling Miaoying simply stared at him. "I only want to know one thing. Do you agree or not?"

Ma Wu shook his head slightly. "I think it would be better if we each minded our own business."

Ling Miaoying slowly rolled the cigarette between his fingers. "So in other words... you refuse."

Zuo Wugang sensed something was wrong and immediately stepped in front of Ma Wu.

Yet Ling Miaoying merely smiled.

"We are only discussing business," he said. "There's no need to make such a fuss. If Young Master Wu isn't interested, we can simply leave."

Even though he said that, he had no intention of leaving. He had no intention of killing Ma Wu, but he still needed to teach Ma Wu a lesson.

While Ma Wu was distracted, Tu Yinghong prepared to make her move and kill Zuo Wugang. She slipped one hand into the folds of her red dress, reaching for the weapon hidden beneath it. But just as she was about to move, Ling Miaoying suddenly lifted a hand and stopped Tu Yinghong.

What is going on? Tu Yinghong thought. Didn't we already discuss this and agree to do this before coming here?

Why had Ling Miaoying suddenly changed his mind? It was not that he had changed his mind. Ling Miaoying had simply noticed that someone was approaching.

Only after several moments did Tu Yinghong finally realize that someone else was already standing beside them.

The man wore a black suit and a fedora pulled so low that the brim almost completely hid his face.

"Boss Ling, lend me a cigarette," Li Banfeng said.

At some point, Li Banfeng had already taken Ling Miaoying's metal cigarette case without anyone noticing. He casually pulled out a cigarette, stuck it into his mouth, lit it, then tossed the case back to Ling Miaoying.

Ling Miaoying could feel sweat slowly trickling down the sides of his face.

After everything that had happened to the Lu Family, Li Banfeng had already guessed that Ling Miaoying would probably try something like this sooner or later, so he had prepared for it in advance.

"I just overheard you talking business," Li Banfeng said. "Boss Ling, sounds like you have stumbled onto some profitable opportunity. Why not let me in on it too? If there's money to be made, we might as well earn it together."

Ling Miaoying fell silent for a moment before smiling at Li Banfeng. "Master Qi, every screening of your movie sells out completely, while mine can barely fill sixty percent of the seats. If we are talking about making money, I should be the one asking you for advice."

Li Banfeng smiled modestly. "I wouldn't dare say we could give you proper advice, but we can always find a place to sit down and have a good talk."

Ling Miaoying glanced around at the half-finished decorations scattered throughout the cinema. "You two seem pretty busy today. Let's talk another time."

Ling Miaoying left the cinema with the group of reporters trailing behind him.

The moment he left, Zuo Wugang wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered, "Good grief! Not a single one of those people would be easy to deal with!"

Zuo Wugang was right. Those so-called reporters were nothing more than ruthless men working under Ling Miaoying.

Ma Wu gritted his teeth in anger. "Now that the Lu Family has fallen, I never expected Ling Miaoying to become this arrogant. He's really nothing like his older brother."

"At the end of the day, the only reliable support is yourself," Li Banfeng said. He was very calm. As a level-six Wanderlust Cultivator and a level-five Homebound Cultivator, he knew that he could depend on himself.

Li Banfeng left the premiere preparations to Ma Wu and headed back to the Pocket Dwelling in quite a good mood. This trip had been rather rewarding for him.

After all, Ling Miaoying was a level-seven Spycraft Cultivator, the sort of fellow who noticed things other people did not even realize existed. Even with Li Banfeng's ability to make himself easy to overlook, along with his frightening speed, sneaking up beside Ling Miaoying without being noticed had still been no simple matter at all.

The only reason Li Banfeng had managed to steal Ling Miaoying's cigarette case was because of the yarn glove. And naturally, once the glove decided to steal something, it never stopped after taking just one item. Along with the cigarette case, it had also stolen Ling Miaoying's handgun.

Li Banfeng recognized the handgun. Back at the train platform, Ling Miaoying had nearly crippled him with this very weapon.

"A handgun that big could fit in there too?" Li Banfeng muttered in amazement. At this moment, he developed an entirely new level of respect for the glove's storage abilities.

The Gramophone happened to know quite a lot about firearms. Using her phonograph needle, she lifted the handgun and inspected it from every angle.

After a long while, she finally spoke. "This gun is a spirit-bound item. As long as the bullet fires, it will definitely hit the target. If it strikes a vital point, any cultivator below level three will die without question. As for cultivators above level three, they would still be injured. Naturally, the weaker the cultivation, the worse the injury would be."

What a nice item! Li Banfeng thought.

The glove spat out another item next.

This time, it was a wallet, which also belonged to Ling Miaoying. Li Banfeng opened the wallet and found dozens of Huan banknotes stuffed inside.

"Not bad. You have earned a huge merit today!" Li Banfeng praised the glove. He pulled all the Huan notes from the wallet and stuffed them right back into the glove as a reward.

After receiving the money, the glove sincerely said, "Thank you, Boss!"

Li Banfeng went back to studying the handgun while the glove went back to the third room to rest.

***

Ling Miaoying hurried back to the film company looking as though someone had reached into his stomach and given his insides a hard twist.

Tu Yinghong sat beside Ling Miaoying and asked, "Who was that man in the fedora just now?"

"Li Qi," Ling Miaoying muttered. "That man is an absolute nightmare to deal with."

Tu Yinghong responded, "Weren't we supposed to be dealing with Ma Wu? Where did this Li Qi fellow suddenly come from?"

"Ma Wu only handles the business side of things," Ling Miaoying said. "That guy is really the one who calls the shot."

Tu Yinghong still looked stunned. "That man moves absurdly fast."

"He's a Wanderlust Cultivator," Ling Miaoying replied. "I fought him once before, and compared to back then, he's become even faster now."

Ling Miaoying was still wondering whether he should report the matter to He Jiaqing when his hand brushed against the buttons on his chest. Suddenly, he realized something was missing from inside his clothes.

"My gun!" he shouted. "Where's my gun?!"

The color drained straight out of his face. That spirit-bound handgun was not just expensive. It was very important to him.

The moment Tu Yinghong realized Ling Miaoying had lost something, she instinctively checked inside her dress as well.

"Oh no! My iron rulers are gone too!"

Ling Miaoying's eyes widened at once. "If we don't have the iron rulers, we can't move the building, right?"

Tu Yinghong clenched her teeth so hard her jaw nearly creaked. "That Li Qi definitely stole them. No matter what, we have to get those items back!"

***

Inside the third room of the Pocket Dwelling, the glove waited until it was absolutely certain nobody else was around. After confirming there were no other enchanted artifacts in the room, the glove quietly spat out a pair of iron rulers. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The pair of iron rulers was so massive that it was hard to imagine how the glove had swallowed them in the first place!

"Hehehe!" The glove let out a low chuckle.

You madman! You actually thought that the handgun is the real treasure. HAH! These weapons are the actual good stuff. Though I don't know how to use them, they are definitely worth countless times more than that handgun.

The glove placed the iron rulers on the floor, ready to examine them properly.

The moment the rulers touched the ground, they suddenly melted like butter tossed onto a hot stove. They seeped straight into the floor and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The glove let out a miserable shriek. "My precious..."

Li Banfeng shoved the door open and snapped, "What are you yelling about? What treasure?"

The glove fell silent for a long moment. Its heart ached so badly it nearly cried.

Finally, in a trembling voice, it said, "My precious Boss... I just dozed off and dreamed about you."