Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'-Chapter 594 - 413: He’s Still Alive (May guaranteed, all for Shala)
Chu Er was here to open up new land, which left Ma Wu at a loss for how to continue.
"Miss Chu, don’t joke. If you really want to open up wasteland, just go by yourself. We can’t afford to pay you a reward."
Chu Er’s expression remained earnest, and her tone was very serious. "Young Master Wu, I’m not joking. I don’t want your reward money. If I open up the land, it will all belong to Li Qi, as a way of repaying him."
Chu Huaiyuan has truly changed, Ma Wu thought. She had become someone that made him feel somewhat awkward, hesitating even to crack a joke with her.
Chu Er continued, "Young Master Wu, I’m not very familiar with the area you’re planning to open up. Could you tell me about it? If it’s too much trouble, never mind; I’ll ask someone else."
What was that supposed to mean? Ma Wu made a welcoming gesture. "Miss Chu, please come inside."
Chu Er followed Ma Wu into the Xiaoyao Lodge, and a man dressed in a gray-white coat followed them silently.
In the private room, Ma Wu took out a map and briefly described the features of the territory within the Qiu Luoye region.
Chu Er weighed her options and selected a piece of land with a one-mile radius.
After choosing, Chu Er felt a bit embarrassed. "I’ve taken up so much of your time only to open up such a small piece of land. If the one-mile plot is successfully opened, then we’ll open three more miles."
"Don’t worry about it; as long as it’s opened up, I’ll thank you on behalf of Old Qi in advance."
Ma Wu was still deliberating whether his words were appropriate when Chu Er had already stood up to take her leave.
Escorting her out of the private room, through the crowded dance floor, a drunken guest bumped into Chu Er, knocking off one of her cufflinks.
The drunkard was cursing, "Are you blind? Don’t you look where you’re going?"
Ma Wu frowned and, with a wave of his hand, called over Zuo Wugang who was behind him.
Does he really need to bring in Zuo Wugang to deal with a drunk?
It depended on the circumstances.
Beside Chu Er stood Yang Yanzheng, Wen Hongyan, and her senior sister, Xiang Fenglan.
With so many skilled individuals around, anyone bumping into Chu Er and managing to knock off her cufflink was no ordinary person.
Just as Wen Hongyan moved to protect Chu Er, the previously ferocious-looking drunkard’s expression suddenly became vacant. He then stumbled towards the exit as if sleepwalking.
Ma Wu had Zuo Wugang follow the man out. By the time Zuo Wugang reached the entrance of Xiaoyao Lodge, the individual had vanished.
While everyone remained on high alert, a man in a gray coat picked up the cufflink from the floor and handed it to Chu Er.
"Miss, this is yours."
Chu Er eyed the man for a while before finally accepting the cufflink and uttering a word of thanks.
As the dance music started and the guests began to dance with their partners, the man turned and left, disappearing into the crowded dance floor.
Ma Wu’s nerves tensed. It seems Xiaoyao Lodge has attracted quite a few formidable people today.
Chu Er offered a word of advice, "Young Master Wu, be extra careful."
Ma Wu nodded. "You head back first. I’ll take care of things here."
Once outside Xiaoyao Lodge, Yang Yanzheng said, "Miss, that man from earlier looked very familiar."
Chu Er nodded. "I feel I’ve seen him too, but I just can’t remember where."
Just as Chu Er left, Ma Wu immediately called over the manager. "For the next song, have Jiang Mengting sing ’When Will You Return,’ and clear out the place immediately afterward. We’re closing early today."
In front of Xiaoyao Lodge stood a beggar.
Others might not see him, but he saw someone—the man in the gray coat.
"He has now achieved Cloud Top Cultivation," Green Flower remarked, his eyes narrowing. "I thought he was dead. It turns out he went to the Inner State to be a lackey."
Wan Jinxian commented from nearby, "Ancestral Master, he was the person with Zhong Huairen."
"He’s sent from the Inner State, and he came along with Zhong Huairen. What are they doing in Greenwater City?" Green Flower squeezed a pustule, and green pus oozed out.
Wan Jinxian dodged the spurting pus and whispered, "Disciple overheard him talking to Zhong Huairen earlier. They’ve been keeping an eye on the recruitment for opening up wasteland and mentioned something about it being ’almost there.’"
Green Flower nodded. "’Almost there.’ Indeed, it is almost there. With so many people opening up new land, Qiu Daxiang’s territory will soon be opened up. I said it didn’t make sense for Li Qi to do this; it turns out the Inner State instructed him. The Inner State has always wanted a Proper Land of their own. They previously wanted Greenwater Bay and discussed this with me several times. I’ve been dragging it out, but now they proceed without even informing me."
Wan Jinxian didn’t understand Green Flower’s relationship with the Inner State, but Green Flower’s words sent shivers down his spine.
Green Flower continued to mutter to himself, "That wretch on Cheap Person Ridge must have figured out that I wasn’t interested in dealing with him and thought about finding a new ally. But why replace the ally with Li Qi? What dealings does Li Qi have with him? Because of Benefactor... He Jiaqing is the Benefactor, right?"
Green Flower looked at Wan Jinxian, who shook his head repeatedly. "I’ve never considered He Jiaqing as my Benefactor. My only Benefactor is you."
"Only me?" Green Flower laughed. "How do you prove that?"
Wan Jinxian was full of regret! How good it would have been if I had gotten a tattoo over my heart just now!
"I, this, in my heart..."
He didn’t know what to say, and Green Flower didn’t care to listen; he was still pondering.
"The Benefactor is He Jiaqing. Li Qi wants to deal with He Jiaqing, and Cheap Person Ridge wants to deal with the Benefactor; they share the same enemy. I was wondering why this is all so suspicious. They are actually in cahoots. Why didn’t I think of this?"
Wan Jinxian also didn’t know what to think or say.
Green Flower looked at the people lining up to sign up for opening new land, observing them form a long queue stretching down the entire street.
Green Flower chuckled. "They come to my territory without notifying me, poach so many Pioneers in my presence; all the Cultivators from the bottom are being snatched up by them. And the Cultivators above? The major families are now cozying up to Li Qi; they’re being lured away too. Once all Cultivators are gone, they’ll go after White Lamb. With enough human energy, they can turn Qiu Daxiang’s territory into Greenwater Bay. What will they do to me next? They don’t trust me and feel I know too much; they’re probably getting ready to silence me. I owe this to your junior brother; otherwise, I would have been truly unprepared. But speaking of which, since you’ve heard so much too, maybe I should silence you as well?"
As soon as the words were spoken, Green Flower grabbed Wan Jinxian’s face.
Wan Jinxian didn’t dare struggle and managed to say with difficulty, "Ancestral Master, I am wholly loyal to you. Whatever happened today, I won’t tell a soul."
"It’s fine; you just want to tell He Jiaqing, right?" The Greenwater Beggar kneaded Wan Jinxian’s face. "Tell him, and while you’re at it, add that I’m open to doing business with anyone. Let’s see what kind of offer he can make."
"As long as the Ancestral Master commands, I will surely deliver the message," Wan Jinxian said.
"No rush. Let’s deal with these two pieces of trash first," the Greenwater Beggar said with a smile, his teeth gritting. "Almost forgot, not two, but three. That one in the white outfit is really troublesome to handle."
...
「Outside Greenwater City, in a wild field.」
The man in the gray-white coat patted the drunkard’s face.
The drunkard regained consciousness. Upon seeing the man in front of him, he scrambled back two steps and said, "Sir, who are you? What are you going to do?"
The man in the gray-white coat, his face expressionless, asked, "Why did you cause trouble with Chu Huaiyuan just now at Xiaoyao Lodge?"
"Who is Chu Huaiyuan?" The drunkard shook his head. "I don’t know her."
The man in the gray-white coat shook his index finger. With a THUD, the drunkard’s right arm broke off at the shoulder. It was bloodless, only showing a gray-white wound.
The drunkard cried out in shock but felt no pain. "Sir, what kind of Spell is this? I really don’t know Chu Huaiyuan."
With another tremor of the man’s finger, the drunkard’s left arm also broke.
"Sir, please spare me! You’re too frightening!" The drunkard was almost in tears.
"You think it’s fake? Just because it doesn’t hurt, you think it’s fake?" The man made a chopping gesture with his hand, waving it lightly through the air, and the drunkard’s legs were severed at the root.
The drunkard broke down.
Though it didn’t hurt, he had lost all feeling in his limbs. He suspected that this might not be fake.
"Sir, please spare me! I’m telling the truth! I was sent by the Border Defense Envoy. He ordered us to cause a scene at Xiaoyao Lodge, to keep Ma Wu pinned down there."
"You all?"
"There are three more of us: two on the main dance floor, and one in a private room ready to set a fire."
"Are these them?" The man pointed to the side.
The drunkard noticed three people beside him—his three companions—all with severed limbs, lying next to him with blank stares.
"Sir, what are you going to do? Have mercy!" the drunkard wailed miserably.
The man asked, "What was the purpose of detaining Ma Wu?"
"I really don’t know, sir! We just took on this one job!"
The man asked expressionlessly, "Is that the truth?"
"I’m telling the truth!"
"You can go."
The man waved his hand, and the limbs of the four men reattached to their bodies, leaving no scars.
The drunkard stood up shivering, and the other three also got up.
The drunkard said, "Then, we’ll be leaving."
"Get going," the man nodded.
The drunkard and his three companions fled, feeling as if they had just had a nightmare.
After a short distance, the four men fell to the ground, their limbs detaching from their bodies, blood spurting out.
Not a dream? It was real!
The four men cried out together. Zhong Huairen said to the man, "Mr. Chu, they might really have been sent by the Border Defense Envoy. If we deal with them this way, I’m afraid it might damage the good relations between our two sides."
"The Border Defense Envoy? Liao Zihui?" The man was very familiar with this Chief Defense Envoy. "He’s no good."
"I know you have some old scores to settle with the Chief Defense Envoy, but right now we..."
"You think I’m pursuing a personal vendetta?" The man looked at Zhong Huairen.
Zhong Huairen shook his head repeatedly. "That’s not what I mean."
The man said expressionlessly, "These people simply haven’t told the truth. If they wanted to detain Ma Wu, they could have acted at any time. It’s too much of a coincidence that they bumped into Huai Yuan right then."
Zhong Huairen was startled. "You mean..."
"Liao Zihui already knows I have arrived, or at least he has received the message. He wants to find out something through Huai Yuan. This Bird Man always acts so vilely."
Zhong Huairen grew more worried. Judging from Liao Zihui’s attitude, the Outside Provinces were not friendly towards them. He asked, "Mr. Chu, we have been in Greenwater City for two days now. Should we tell the Greenwater Beggar about this?"
The man shook his head. "I am here not just to investigate the pioneering matters but also to investigate the Greenwater Beggar. I’ve heard that he has mishandled some matters."
Zhong Huairen nodded. "Indeed. Especially regarding Lu Maoxian’s issue, the Greenwater Beggar is work-shy, which greatly dissatisfies the Master."
The man sighed. "The Greenwater Beggar is fickle. It’s difficult to say if he has any connection with that Benefactor. We must get to the bottom of this. Find someone who can speak to Huai Yuan and persuade her. She’s the only daughter I have left; this matter can’t involve her."
...
Cui Tiq arrived in Blue Poplar Village, entered New Land, and pulled the nail from his heel.
This was a Magical Treasure of the Traveling Cultivators, borrowed from Wan Jinxian. It was indeed very fast, but Cui Tiq was exhausted. The boots required a great deal of his stamina.
And having a nail in the heel really hurt.
Cui Tiq saw a beggar by the roadside and noticed a row of bumps on the beggar’s face.
He recognized those bumps; they were marks left by the Greenwater Beggar.
The Greenwater Beggar had ordered him to kill someone here, but who could it be?
...
Inside his Portable Residence, Li Banfeng sat on the edge of the bed, mumbling to himself, "Yuan Showu has blocked my way. This can’t be tolerated. If it can’t be tolerated, I’ve got to deal with him."
