Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'-Chapter 826 - 498: Life or Substitute? (4)

Ma Wu sat next to Li Qi and handed him a cigarette, "I don’t care what others do, I can’t leave you behind."

Li Qi took the cigarette and took a puff, "You go back first, I can handle this by myself."

"What are you going to do to handle it? We’ve been through thick and thin together, if the sky falls, we’ll hold it up together."

"The sky hasn’t fallen, it’s just a dead Bird Person!" Li Banfeng looked at Ma Wu and said, "What did we say before? When big things happen, don’t you always listen to me?"

Ma Wu was speechless.

He Yuxiu said, "Old Qi, if there’s something, we’ll face it together..."

"Xiuer, have you forgotten the family rules?" Li Banfeng glared at He Yuxiu, and she fell silent.

Chu Er lowered his head and said, "No matter what you say, I’m definitely not leaving."

Li Banfeng said, "If you really care about me, go find Second Aunt and let her help us, that’s the right thing to do."

Chu Er thought for a moment, realizing Li Banfeng had a point.

Li Banfeng continued to look at Ma Wu, "Old Five, take them away, your family is here, your roots are here, if this doesn’t get resolved,

it’s only me alone, this matter happened because of me, I’m the only one who can bear it!"

Everyone was silent but still stood where they were, not moving.

If they don’t leave, then we have to think of a way to make them leave.

"I’m a Traveling Cultivator, you know that, right?"

Lu Chunying said, "I’m a Traveling Cultivator too."

"Your level is too low, not counting you for now," Li Banfeng continued, "Traveling Cultivators are hard to catch, I can run fast and pass through walls, if I want to get away, I have ways, if you stay, you’ll just be a burden,

you go back to Greenwater City, I’ll stay here to tire them out, once things settle down, I’ll go back to Greenwater City to find you, won’t that solve everything?"

After finishing, Li Banfeng looked at Yang Yanzheng, "Brother Yang, you’re also a Traveling Cultivator, you understand this reasoning, right?"

We need to find a witness.

Chu Er killed the Chief Defense Envoy, Yang Yanzheng was in a mess, hearing Li Qi’s question, he nodded to Chu Huaiyuan, "Seventh Master makes sense."

Words Carved in Stone and Ironclad Evidence as Firm as a Mountain, Li Banfeng finally persuaded the group to leave.

Resting for a moment in the courtyard, Li Banfeng leaned on the Tang Sword, left the courtyard, and walked onto the street.

Unexpectedly, just after getting to the Cloud Top First Layer, such a big incident happened.

The Bridge Yesong is so big, where should I go?

Not only do I have to stay on the Bridge Yesong, but I also have to show my face periodically to keep the attention of the Defense Agency focused there.

If we fight, let’s fight to the end!

Li Banfeng only hoped that before the decisive battle, he could ascend to the Cloud Top First Layer.

...

In Greenwater City, Ma Wu, He Yuxiu, and Lu Chunying gathered all their forces, ready to fight against the Defense Agency.

Chu Er stayed at Bitter Vegetable Manor, following the strategy decided with Li Qi, first to seek Bitter Granny’s help.

Li Qi said this just to persuade Chu Er to leave, knowing in his heart that Bitter Granny didn’t owe him anything and had no reason to lend a hand.

After listening to Chu Er’s story, Bitter Granny grabbed a stick, "Go, lie on the bench yourself, five hundred sticks, after the beating, we’ll talk!"

Chu Er pleaded bitterly, "Granny, let’s wait two more days for the punishment, after Li Qi is safe, I’ll take the stick myself for punishment, five hundred is fine, even a thousand, you say how many and I’ll take it."

Bitter Granny poked Chu Er’s forehead, "Look at your worthlessness, hoping you can win your man back, but you let yourself be won over by others!"

Chu Er cried, "Granny, it’s a disaster I caused, please help us this time!"

Bitter Granny snorted coldly, "Why should I help him? Is he my disciple? If he wants to avoid disaster, he can come hide at Bitter Vegetable Manor, why stay on the Bridge Yesong?"

...

"Old Qi is something else, what’s he doing on that broken Bridge Yesong? Come back to our own home, those bastards from the Outside Provinces, if one comes, I’ll chop one."

In Qi Qiu City, Qiu Luoye is mostly recovered and is helping the Three-Headed People gather weapons.

Juanzi said, "Master Qiu, if it really doesn’t work out, we should fight to the Bridge Yesong, we can’t let Seventh Master fall into the hands of the Outside Provinces."

Qiu Luoye bit his long teeth, truly having the impulse to send out the troops.

Shui Yongquan arrived in Qi Qiu City and persuaded Qiu Luoye, "Old Five explained everything to me, you must not act carelessly, you have to trust Old Qi, he must have a way."

Qiu Luoye said: "Then I can’t just wait here, I can’t watch Old Qi bear the brunt of the whole Outside Provinces alone."

Shui Yongquan said: "It’s not about waiting around, you need to find a way to hold Qi Qiu City, I’ll find a way to hold Zhengjing Village, we need to leave a retreat for Old Qi!"

...

"This is Seventh Master’s escape route!" Qin Bulou instructed his daughter Xiao Qin, "You have the old brothers at North Bridge watch the Defense Agency. If Seventh Master comes back, we must receive him. If the Defense Agency cuts off Seventh Master’s retreat, we’ll fight them!"

Xiao Qin said: "Dad, we’ve always got along with the Defense Agency, if there’s an issue, we can negotiate it well."

Qin Bulou shook his head and said: "Girl, as long as there’s no fighting, anything can be negotiated. On the day it comes to fighting, it’s life or death, no negotiation then.

Seventh Master helped us keep the territory, we must help Seventh Master keep his life."

...

"This territory is as good as lost," Sun Tiecheng tossed the newspaper onto the table, "The brat, just ascended Above the Clouds, and already caused such a big mess, only this one disciple left, if it really doesn’t work, I’ll bring you back to Fool’s City."

Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter!

The streets of Fool’s City echoed with the sound of rattles, an old lady took a piece of soap from the peddler’s cart and turned away.

The peddler got anxious: "Sister, that’s not right, I won’t fuss about the amount, but you at least have to give something!"

The old lady snorted and gave him twenty cents.

The peddler took the money and asked: "Is your City Lord home?"

"Not here!" The old lady ran off.

The peddler sneered: "Seeing you run so fast, I know he must be home." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Sun Tiecheng sat in the house, sneering to himself, "So what if he’s home? Wants to take Red Lotus back? Not a chance!"

...

Defense Agency, Dumpling returned to the office in work clothes, Light Bulb was surprised as he approached: "You’re here personally for work?"

Dumpling frowned and said: "When do I not work? Have I not been following Li Qi’s matters? What’s the situation now?"

Light Bulb paused: "What’s the situation?"

"Hasn’t something happened to him?" Dumpling lowered his voice, "What’s the Agency’s stance?"

Light Bulb blinked: "Why are you asking that?"

Dumpling lowered his voice further: "I’ve been investigating Li Qi, if something really major happens, I need to be prepared beforehand, don’t want to get hurt by my own people then."

Light Bulb nodded: "Things do need to be clarified, although I don’t have much information either."

Dumpling thought for a moment: "You have a good relationship with Deputy Envoy Tang’s secretary, she often praises you for being handsome,

right now Deputy Envoy Tang is in charge, can you get any information from his secretary?"

Light Bulb shook his head: "Deputy Envoy Tang also doesn’t know much, I heard Chief Envoy Liao is back."

Dumpling was startled: "Isn’t Chief Envoy Liao ill?"

...

"Are you better?" Li Banfeng put down the book in his hand and took the teapot from the tea stove.

"Not really, but had to come back for work." Liao Zihui entered the Lu Family Bookstore, sat opposite Li Banfeng, and poured himself a cup of tea.

Li Banfeng laughed: "Seems the Defense Agency truly can’t do without you."

"Stop teasing me, they originally planned for me to leave the Defense Agency to make way for Xia Shumin,

now Xia Shumin has sparked a fire, burned himself into it, flames out of control, they’re forcing me back to put out the fire."

Li Banfeng asked directly: "You came to find me, it’s about Xia Shumin?"

Liao Zihui drank some tea: "This matter needs an explanation."

"How to explain? Want me to pay with my life?" Li Banfeng laughed, "This life definitely won’t be given to you!"

Liao Zihui shook his head: "It’s not about paying with your life, it’s about compensating with a person."

"What person?" Li Banfeng thought he meant Chu Er.

Liao Zihui put down his cup and said word by word: "Xia Shumin is dead, I can explain that, but Puluo State is out of control, that I can’t explain,

Outside Provinces hopes Puluo State restores balance, so you need to compensate with a Balancer, brother, I’ve said this much, you should understand now?"

PS: Does Ban Feng potentially have Arrow Cultivator talents?