Late that night, Ma Wu finally finished decorating the cinema and was just about to pack up and leave when he spotted a woman with a delicate little face walking toward him at the entrance.

The woman was beautiful, but her expression was very stiff and awkward. Running into a woman like that in the middle of the night would make anyone feel uneasy.

"Junyang, it's been a long time."

She knows me?

Ma Wu also thought the woman looked a little familiar, but he could not immediately remember who she was.

Zuo Wugang recognized her instantly. "Miss Dongchun!"

The woman really was indeed Lu Dongchun. She hardly ever left her house, and Ma Wu had only met her twice before, so it was no surprise that he did not recognize her right away.

Zuo Wugang, however, recognized her instantly.

Back when Lu Dongliang was still alive, Zuo Wugang had served as his chief support hook. He had seen Lu Dongchun many times.

Lu Dongchun was Lu Maoxian's daughter, and Lu Maoxian had always been at odds with Master Qi. The moment Zuo Wugang recognized her, he became wary. He quietly signaled for Ma Wu not to get too close to her, worried she might suddenly make a move against him.

Lu Dongchun stared at Ma Wu expressionlessly. Her eyes were so clear, so strangely bright, that Ma Wu could see himself reflected inside them.

"Can we find somewhere private to talk?" Lu Dongchun asked.

Ma Wu led her into the cinema and opened one of the private rooms for her.

The whole time, Zuo Wugang stayed glued to Ma Wu's side like a watchdog. He did not leave him for even a single step.

Lu Dongchun looked straight at Ma Wu and said in that same flat, lifeless voice, "I came to discuss avenging my father."

Ma Wu understood the rules as well. He had previously paid tribute money to the Lu Family, which made him part of their outer family. If something happened to the Lu Family, he was technically supposed to assist them.

Of course, outer family forces were not the same as the main family. If Ma Wu really did not want to get dragged into this mess, he still had reasons to say no.

The people Ma Wu had followed all belonged to the Lu Family's direct bloodline. Strictly speaking, he had no obligation to obey Lu Maoxian's orders at all.

If he wanted to make things absolutely clear, he could even say it outright. From this day forward, he no longer needed the Lu Family's protection, and all ties between them would be cut clean.

However, Ma Wu was an extremely cautious man. Lu Dongchun had appeared too suddenly. He had not prepared for this at all, and Ma Wu never made rash decisions when caught unprepared.

"Aunt Dongchun, let's have a drink first."

Ma Wu reached for the wine bottle, intending to pour her a cup, but Zuo Wugang quickly stopped him with a look, warning him not to pour wine for Lu Dongchun.

Lu Dongchun kept staring at Ma Wu the entire time. Just staring with those clear, glassy eyes of hers until Ma Wu started feeling uncomfortable from head to toe.

In the end, he quietly set the wine cup back down and dropped the polite act altogether. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Let me think this matter over carefully," he said. "I will give you an answer in the next couple of days."

After seeing Lu Dongchun off, Ma Wu went to find Li Banfeng and told him everything that had happened.

"Old Qi, what do you think?" Ma Wu asked. "Should we get involved in this?"

"Of course we should," Li Banfeng replied. "If the Lu Family falls into trouble and we run off with our tails between our legs, who in the future would still dare work with us?"

Ma Wu understood the reasoning perfectly well, but the feeling in his chest still would not settle down.

"I just don't want to help that old dog Lu Maoxian," he muttered.

Li Banfeng snorted. "Who said we're helping him? We are helping one of our own."

Ma Wu blinked. "You mean Lu Chunying?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "She's part of the Lu Family's main branch. Monkey Qiu will definitely bring her along this time. It's the perfect opportunity for her to establish herself.

"Besides, Ling Miaoying already has his eyes on us. Since we are going to clash with him sooner or later, we might as well deal with him now."

Ma Wu nodded. "If we are going after Ling Miaoying, then Zuo Wugang alone definitely won't be enough.

"I will head to Properfolk Village and talk to Qiu Luoye. I will ask him to let Qin and the Street-Cursing Crone come with us too. Both of them are good fighters."

With the matter decided, Ma Wu headed to Properfolk Village that very night.

After finding Qiu Luoye, he explained the entire situation from beginning to end. Qiu Luoye listened quietly and spent a long time thinking about it.

"The man you are trying to deal with is a level-seven Spycraft Cultivator," he finally said. "He's vicious, ruthless, and carrying who knows how many enchanted artifacts on him.

"The Street-Cursing Crone and Qin are both only level six. Sending the two of them over probably won't give you much advantage.

"I will get you a better fighter."

Since the Land Deity was being so helpful, Ma Wu could not refuse. He was worried Qiu Luoye might find him some aberrant creature like Madam Bagworm Moth, as that sort would be difficult to bring into Greenwater City.

Unexpectedly, Qiu Luoye had considered things quite thoroughly. He brought over a tall, strong woman who looked around thirty and was rather beautiful.

"Her name is Huo Ling," Qiu Luoye said. "She's a fire spirit with level-seven cultivation. She's good in a fight, and her Daoist Path gives her a natural advantage. Even here in my domain, very few can match her."

"I will lend her to you. As for repayment, send your people over another day to build a few more small buildings around here. This place could use a bit more life to it."

Qiu Luoye handled matters in a wonderfully straightforward manner.

Afterward, Ma Wu brought Huo Ling to see Shui Yongquan so he could help conceal the aura she carried as an aberrant creature.

Shui Yongquan recognized Huo Ling right away. He immediately pulled Ma Wu aside to speak in private. "What are you bringing her into Proper Land for?"

Ma Wu did not try to hide anything. He briefly explained the whole situation to him.

Shui Yongquan frowned. "This sort of work should have gone to Qin. That girl's a first-rate assassin. The Street-Cursing Crone would have been fine too. She's a reliable one and won't expose her weaknesses easily."

Ma Wu replied, "Qiu Luoye said Huo Ling's cultivation is higher. She fights better, and her chances of success are greater."

Shui Yongquan smacked his lips thoughtfully.

"Back when I was alive, I handled plenty of jobs like this. Choosing the right people takes judgment. The strongest fighter isn't always the most useful one.

"But since you and Elephant Qiu already settled it, it's not my place to interfere. Just make sure you keep Huo Ling happy. That woman's temper is anything but pleasant."

Shui Yongquan concealed Huo Ling's aura.

Her temper, however, really was awful.

Shui Yongquan was a Water Cultivator, and the techniques he used clearly disgusted Huo Ling. The two of them even bickered for a short while during the process, though Shui Yongquan could not be bothered to seriously argue with her.

This was also Ma Wu's first time meeting Huo Ling.

From what he could tell, she was not an easy person to get along with. The two barely exchanged a few words on the road back. All they did was try sleeping with each other in the carriage for a while.

When they reached Freewind Wharf, Huo Ling complained that the carriage ride had been too bumpy and that she had not slept well at all. So the two of them found a room and slept with each other again.

After sleeping together twice, the awkwardness between them eased quite a bit.

That afternoon, Ma Wu received a message from Lu Dongchun. They were making their move against Ling Miaoying that very night.

Ma Wu felt the whole thing was moving far too quickly, but Huo Ling clearly did not agree.

"Finish the job quickly, wrap things up quickly, then hurry back to sleep.

"You people make such a fuss over killing one or two people. With the amount of time you have wasted talking, I could have already slaughtered everyone within half a kilometer by now!"

After hearing the news, Li Banfeng felt the timing could not have been better.

"If we drag this out any longer, Ling Miaoying will start catching wind of it too," he said. "Don't be fooled just because the Lu Family gathered a lot of people. Ling Miaoying is a Spycraft Cultivator. He's got plenty of enchanted artifacts and plenty of subordinates under him as well. If he gets enough time to fully prepare, then it's hard to say if we will end up winning."

He returned to the Pocket Dwelling to prepare for the fierce battle that night.

Staying inside the house before a major fight offered two advantages. First, it helped him preserve his condition at its peak. Second, it maintained that state where people naturally overlooked him.

The last time he encountered Ling Miaoying, Li Banfeng had already been outside the Pocket Dwelling for more than seven hours. Back then, he managed to fool Tu Yinghong, but not Ling Miaoying.

However, this time was different. If Li Banfeng stepped straight out of the Pocket Dwelling and into the fight, then perhaps even Ling Miaoying would fail to notice him at the very first instant.

Wait!

Li Banfeng suddenly sat upright on the bed.

What's the difference between not noticing something and not seeing it at all?

Conceptually, the two were different.

Not seeing something meant it had never entered the other person's field of vision in the first place. Not noticing something meant it had entered their sight, yet their eyes simply slid past it without paying any attention.

However, after thinking about it carefully, Li Banfeng realized the final result was actually the same. In both cases, the other side failed to perceive his existence at all.

What about the Passing Flowers on Horseback ability then? Would the effect be the same too?

If I kept staring at Tu Yinghong yesterday, could I have blown her apart on the spot?

And could it really be true that Homebound Cultivators and Wanderlust Cultivators only restrained each other?

Maybe there was another side to it as well. Maybe the two paths could actually complement and strengthen each other.

There was no one Li Banfeng could ask about this.

Under normal circumstances, the Homebound and Wanderlust paths could not be cultivated together at all. People like him were so rare they were practically nonexistent.

Still, even if there was nobody to ask, he could test it himself.

Tonight's attempt to kill Ling Miaoying was the perfect opportunity.

Even if he could not deal with Ling Miaoying himself yet, he could still experiment on Ling Miaoying's subordinates first.

If the Homebound Cultivator trait of being easily overlooked really complemented the ability Passing Flowers on Horseback, then Li Banfeng would gain a terrifying advantage from this discovery!

Oh right! Eyesight!

To use Passing Flowers on Horseback properly, speed alone isn't enough. Not only must I make sure that the target can't see me, I will also need powerful eyesight.

But how exactly am I supposed to train my eyesight?

Li Banfeng lay flat on the bed, letting the blood flow smoothly through his entire body. Then he focused all his concentration into his eyes and took out the photographs he had taken at Blackstone Slope.

Grandpa Train had once told him that when Wanderlust Cultivators reached a certain level, what they traversed was no longer just land and roads.

As Li Banfeng stared at the photographs, he could faintly feel his cultivation growing.

Hmm... Looks like this is a good method for training my eyes.

As he stared at the photograph, he began recalling the scenes from back then in vivid detail. He tried using his eyes to pierce through the photographs themselves, as though he could look straight through the paper and see the real scenes from that time.

And surprisingly enough, it worked. His cultivation truly did begin improving much faster than before.

The effect was astonishingly good!

Wifey suddenly chimed in from the side. "HEYAAAA! Husband dear~ Don't stare with your eyes open that wide. You better be careful! Just incase your eyeballs fall straight into that girl's butts."

Wifey's joking around again, Li Banfeng thought. But whatever his wifey said interrupted his thoughts and the steady growth of his cultivation came to an abrupt stop.

He switched to another photograph and was just about to continue when he suddenly felt that something was not right.

Wifey's voice sounded strange. She sounded much weaker than usual.

"Wifey, are you hungry again?"

Recently, Li Banfeng had been going out often to buy groceries for her, but the quality really had not been very good. Out of all the street thugs he brought back, only two had reached level one. The rest were nothing more than ordinary Bleaters.

Wifey let out a soft little laugh. "Husband dearrr, worrry not~ This little wifey isn't hungry."

Even so, Li Banfeng could hear how weak and spiritless she sounded, and it made his heart ache.

Hong Ying laughed from the side. "You wicked woman, if you keep refusing to eat a proper full meal, forget helping him reach level six. At this rate, you won't even be able to hold onto your own cultivation."

The Gramophone immediately let out a cold snort. "Don't listen to that wretched woman's nonsense. This little wifey really isn't hungry."

Li Banfeng gently stroked the Gramophone's turntable.

"Don't worry, wifey. Tonight your husband will go out and buy groceries for you. I'll bring back only the finest ingredients."

Then he lay back down on the bed, picked up the photographs once more, and continued training his eyesight.

***

Over on Ma Wu's side, he handed out the spirit-bound items and enchanted artifacts he carried to Zuo Wugang and Huo Ling.

Huo Ling merely glanced at the pile before wrinkling her nose in disgust. She shoved every single item right back into Ma Wu's arms.

"These things are useless," she said. "Once the fighting starts, you will see what I'm capable of."

***

Qiu Zhiheng brought Tan Fucheng to an estate on the eastern side of the city.

Inside the main hall, Lu Chunying and Xiao Yeci were already waiting for them.

Xiao Yeci looked terrified. "Steward Qiu, you absolutely must look after Nan'nan," she said anxiously. "You already promised me before. She's only there to show her face. You can't let her actually fight!"

Qiu Zhiheng nodded. "Don't worry."

Lu Chunying said, "Big Brother Qiu, if a fight really breaks out later, you don't need to worry about me. I can't say I am especially good at fighting, but I can definitely run fast enough. You should worry more about yourself and make sure nothing happens to you."

Qiu Zhiheng merely smiled without saying a word.

Tan Fucheng, however, could not help speaking up from the side. "Miss Chunying, both your older brothers called him Uncle Qiu, yet you are calling him Big Brother Qiu. Doesn't that mess up the whole generation order? Is that appropriate?"

Lu Chunying puffed out her chest proudly as she declared, "We don't care about seniority. What matters is the bond between us!"

Qiu Zhiheng smiled and nodded. Then he brought Lu Chunying out of the estate and headed for Lu Maoxian's residence, where Lu Dongchun was already waiting for them.

***

Seeing that it was about time, Li Banfeng straightened his clothes and gently touched the Gramophone's horn.

"Wifey, endure it just a little longer. Your husband will bring back some fine ingredients very soon."

The Gramophone still sounded worried. Li Banfeng had spent hours staring at those photographs earlier, and she feared he had exhausted himself too much.

"Husband dear, you must be careful."

Li Banfeng put on his fedora, lowered the brim slightly, and stepped out of the Pocket Dwelling to retrieve the key.

Where did the key go...

He stared at the ground for a long moment before suddenly realizing something was wrong.

This was not the wooden floorboards of Freewind Wharf. Beneath his feet lay the red brick floor of a factory building.

This isn't Freewind Wharf...

Just then, a familiar voice drifted into his ears.

"Come on, brush your hair aside so it doesn't cover your face. Lower your waist a little more. That's right. Lift your butt a bit higher..."

Click! Click!

The shutter of a camera snapped repeatedly.

Li Banfeng walked over and called out, "Qiusheng?"

Bai Qiusheng lowered the camera and turned around in surprise. "Master Qi, what brings you here?"

Author's Note:

PS: What if the photographs he had been staring at all this time were never from Blackstone Slope to begin with?