Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'-Chapter 582 - 403

Having delivered the items into his Portable Residence, Li Banfeng returned to Xiaoyao Lodge. Ma Wu brought over an invitation, "The Chief Defense Envoy invites you to dinner, the day after tomorrow evening, at the Defense Agency."

Li Banfeng glanced at the invitation and handed it back to Ma Wu. "Not going."

"Old Qi, Liao Zihui personally invited you, and you won’t give him the honor?"

"It’s not about giving honor. If I went to the Defense Agency, I would kill him."

Ma Wu laughed. "Don’t say such angry words. We still need to rely on the Border Defense Envoy for our future business."

Li Banfeng didn’t smile. "They are not words of anger. If I went to the Defense Agency, he might kill me. Rather than waiting for him to kill me, I might as well kill him first."

This was Li Banfeng’s logic, and Ma Wu couldn’t find any flaw in it.

"How about this? I’ll invite Liao Zihui to Xiaoyao Lodge. If he’s willing to come, you meet him."

"That works."

Ma Wu took out another invitation. "Boss Li from Lotus Study invites us to gather at his place. He also scheduled it for the day after tomorrow. I told him we had other commitments, so he proposed tomorrow. Shall we go?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "We can go to that."

Ma Wu sighed. "I really don’t get it. In your opinion, Li Haoyun carries more weight than Liao Zihui?"

"Lotus Study is a good place, isn’t it?"

Ma Wu nodded repeatedly. "A good place indeed. Once you go, you won’t want to leave."

"Why should I go to the Defense Agency when there are better places to be?"

Ma Wu blinked, finding Li Banfeng’s reasoning very sound.

...

At midnight, Li Banfeng went to the back building of Xiaoyao Lodge. Upon reaching the third floor, he entered his private suite, hid the key well, and returned to his Portable Residence.

Feeling good today, Li Banfeng, carrying the Oil Pot, headed straight for his lady.

The Phonograph quavered, "My Lord, listen first! My Little Servant has urgent matters..."

"Indeed urgent!" Li Banfeng embraced the Phonograph from behind. "Come, my lady, tell me slowly."

...

「Two o’clock in the morning.」

The door to the suite was opened.

The doors and locks to Li Banfeng’s room were specially made. They were difficult to break even with force, let alone open so silently.

The person who unlocked the door wore a ring on their index finger—a precious tool for picking locks.

Dressed in black, this person entered the room without making the slightest sound. Not even a high-level Peeping Cultivation practitioner, if present, could have heard any noise.

It wasn’t just because this person’s cultivation level was high; their shoes and clothing were also treasures. The soles of their shoes made no sound on the floor, and their clothes made no noise when they moved.

After briefly scanning the room and finding it empty, the black-clothed person took a colorful feather from their sleeve and tossed it into the air.

Thief Cultivation Technique: The Skill of Leaving No Treasure Behind.

This was the method Thief Cultivation practitioners used to search for treasures. The higher the cultivation level, the more exquisite their treasure-hunting methods.

For someone with the black-clothed person’s cultivation level, finding treasures on a person was simple. They could use a bit of dust, observe where it settled, and deduce the treasures’ location.

But Li Banfeng’s suite was large. To accurately locate treasures in such a big room, external help was necessary.

This feather was a specially customized Thief Cultivation tool. It fluttered in the air for a moment before landing on the safe beside the bed.

The black-clothed person twisted the dial, turned it twice to find the correct combination, and effortlessly opened the safe using a tool on their finger, revealing the checks, Gold Bars, and Silver Yuan packed inside.

Are these treasures?

To a Thief Cultivation practitioner, they absolutely were. But these were not the black-clothed person’s target. They touched nothing else, to avoid complications.

After closing the safe, the black-clothed person threw the feather into the air again. The feather drifted for a moment, then flew towards the underside of the bed.

There’s a treasure beneath the bed.

The black-clothed person bent down, reached under the bed, and found a key in a crack in the floorboards.

Holding the key, they pondered for a while, trying to deduce its purpose. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Since this key is considered a treasure, its value definitely isn’t in the key itself but in what it’s related to.

This key could unlock a door—perhaps a room door, a cupboard door, or even a crate door. The real treasure must be behind that door.

But where is that door?

Using The Skill of Leaving No Treasure Behind again, the black-clothed person searched every corner of the suite but found no other treasure.

They checked all the boxes and cupboards again but still didn’t find what they were looking for.

This needs further investigation. Until things are clear, the key can’t be moved; it has to be returned to its original place.

Not just the key, everything in this room must be put back exactly as it was.

The black-clothed person stood in the room and gently waved their sleeve. A small whirlwind manifested, erasing all traces within the room, even gathering the dust they might have brought from outside into their sleeve.

Thief Cultivation Technique: Traceless as a Passing Goose.

Once everything was properly dealt with, the black-clothed person left Li Banfeng’s suite, returned to their room downstairs, changed clothes, and went to sleep, planning to find clues from Li Banfeng the next day.

At three in the morning, the Phonograph cried in the Portable Residence, "You shameless madman! You’ve taken Joy Soil again and tormented your Little Servant for three whole hours!"

Li Banfeng gently caressed the horn and said with a smile, "My dear, wait for your husband to visit the privy. I’ll be right back."

"What? You want more?" The Phonograph trembled as it watched Li Banfeng’s retreating back.

She turned and grabbed Hong Ying, who struggled fiercely.

"You wicked woman! He’s your man! Why are you taking it out on me?"

"You slut! Didn’t you say you grew a door? Keeping it unused, isn’t that a waste too!"

Li Banfeng returned to the suite and went to the bathroom to relieve himself.

The Gloves wandered around the room and said to Li Banfeng, "Boss, someone has been in here."

Li Banfeng was startled and quickly looked under the bed for the key.

The key was still in its original place. Li Banfeng heaved a sigh of relief.

But the Gloves shook their index finger, "No, the key isn’t where it originally was. Someone has tampered with it."

Li Banfeng felt his own powers of observation were quite strong. He hadn’t noticed the key had been moved, but he trusted the Gloves.

"Boss, come take a walk with me."

Li Banfeng took the key and followed the Gloves out the door.

The Gloves felt around in the corridor for a moment before arriving at the stairway.

Going down to the second floor, the Gloves motioned for Li Banfeng to be silent. They walked along the corridor for a while before slipping into a room.

Two minutes later, the Gloves returned to Li Banfeng’s pocket, and he went back to his suite with them.

The Gloves said to Li Banfeng, "I’ve taken care of that old fellow. Boss, we can relax and rest easy now."

Fearing it wasn’t entirely safe, Li Banfeng returned to the Portable Residence to inform his wife he wouldn’t be sleeping there that night.

His wife breathed a sigh of relief and released Hong Ying.

Hong Ying scoffed, "He’s ingested Joy Soil. Aren’t you afraid he’ll sneak into someone else’s bed?"

"I’m not scared. It’s better than him pestering me!" the Phonograph, still rattled, said. "With a door in place, life might get a bit easier."

"Didn’t you say you could grow a door?"

The Phonograph sighed deeply. "That’s what I said, but where am I to find that drop of blood?"

...

Li Banfeng pocketed the key and spent the night in Jiang Mengting’s room.

Jiang Mengting worried Li Banfeng would get cold. She took off all her clothes, draped them over him, and then held him tightly in her arms.

In winter, two people sleeping together was truly warm.

...

The next day before dawn, Xie Juncong, Head of the Ghost Hand Sect, opened his eyes, ready for action.

There was something very important he had to do today.

What was it?

Xie Juncong sat on the edge of the bed for a long time but couldn’t remember.

Where is this place?

It seems to be Xiaoyao Lodge.

Why did I come to Xiaoyao Lodge?

Xie Juncong looked around. He didn’t remember why he was here. It seemed he was missing a piece of his memory.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

Someone was knocking on the door.

Xie Juncong was startled. He was guessing who the visitor could be when the Xiaoyao Lodge cleaner, an old lady in charge of the guest rooms, pushed the door open and came in.

"Oh my! Shameless old man!" Seeing Xie Juncong unclothed, the old lady hurriedly closed the door.

Xie Juncong was bewildered. Then he realized he was naked.

Where are my clothes?

Where are my shoes?

Where is my ring?

Where are my feathers?

Where are all my personal treasures?

The old lady outside continued to scold. Xie Juncong hurriedly tried to think of what to do.

Where’s the sheet?

Where’s the quilt?

A towel would do! Just to wrap around myself for now!

PS: Can a towel even cover it?