Li Banfeng revealed his true face, and An Zongding also guessed that this person was Li Qi.

Li Banfeng asked again: "Why are you investigating me?"

An Zongding shook his head repeatedly: "We’ve never investigated you..."

Riiiip~ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Old Teapot poured a kettle of water down, scalding An Zongding so badly he rolled all over the floor.

Having followed Li Banfeng for so long, there were some things Old Teapot would do on his own without needing instructions.

Looking at An Zongding’s miserable state, Old Teapot sighed: "Even after getting Above the Clouds, a Nightmare Cultivator’s physique really isn’t much to look at."

Li Banfeng smiled as he looked at An Zongding: "Still not planning to tell the truth?"

"I’ll talk," An Zongding panted for a long while and said, "this was Lord Feng’s order."

"Which Lord Feng?"

"Lord Feng Chongli. His status in Snowflake Beach is higher than mine. Whatever he orders, I have to carry out."

Li Banfeng’s heart tightened. Why would Feng Chongli be investigating him?

The only interaction he’d ever had with Feng Chongli was buying a pair of Iron Rulers from him, and that pair of Iron Rulers was actually the tracks for the Portable Residence.

Could it be that Feng Chongli knows what the Iron Rulers are for, and that’s why he’s set his sights on me?

If you think of it that way, this becomes terrifying.

Up to now, the Portable Residence and everything inside it was the very foundation of Li Banfeng’s survival; if someone set their sights on the Portable Residence, that person had to be eliminated. If an organization set its sights on the Portable Residence, that organization had to be eliminated.

Li Banfeng asked An Zongding: "Where is Feng Chongli?"

An Zongding answered honestly: "In Greenwater Beggar’s residence."

"Why did he go to Greenwater Beggar’s residence?"

"To dig out Greenwater Beggar’s Contract Book. The news was sent to him by Hundred Flowers Fine Painting Mu Yuejuan."

Hong Ying said from the side: "I know Hundred Flowers Fine Painting, that vixen who screwed my second brother over. Qi Lang, you bring that slut back home to me, I want to see exactly how lovable this woman is."

Li Banfeng really did have that plan.

"What Taoist Sect is Feng Chongli from, what’s his cultivation level?"

An Zongding replied honestly: "Feng Chongli is a Business Cultivator, and his cultivation level is already Above the Clouds."

"What about Mu Yuejuan?"

"She’s also Above the Cloud."

That made things rather troublesome.

Thinking again of Feng Chongli’s age, he should be not yet sixty. To reach Above the Cloud at that age, this man was quite something.

"What are they going to Green Flower’s residence to do?"

"To look for Green Flower’s Contract Book and seize the territory of Greenwater Bay."

"What do you want Greenwater Bay’s territory for?"

An Zongding said: "Greenwater Bay is the most prosperous place in Puluo State. All these years it’s been left in Greenwater Beggar’s hands, wasting time and light—truly boiling a crane for soup and burning a zither for firewood, truly casting pearls before swine, truly squandering heaven’s gifts; it is a great misfortune for Puluo State."

Li Banfeng kicked An Zongding: "Stop speaking in black jargon!"

An Zongding translated it: "Greenwater Bay is such a fine place, putting it in Green Flower’s hands is like sticking a fresh flower into a cow pat.

We want to give Greenwater Bay a better future, and also give Puluo State a better future, so we want to rescue Greenwater Bay from Greenwater Beggar’s hands."

"Bullshit!" Li Banfeng kicked An Zongding again.

Greenwater Bay was never some fresh flower to begin with; it was a gathering place for beggars.

Greenwater Beggar was Li Banfeng’s enemy, that much was true, but Li Banfeng had never questioned Greenwater Beggar’s abilities.

"So you’re saying, you’re seizing Greenwater Bay purely for money?"

An Zongding shook his head: "We’re not short of money. Snowflake Beach has never been short of money."

"Then why are you taking the Souls you abduct from Puluo State and selling them to the Outside Provinces?"

An Zongding sighed and said: "These Souls know things they shouldn’t know. They really shouldn’t be left in this world, but they haven’t committed any great sin. To let them scatter into dust and smoke would weigh on our conscience, so sending them to the Outside Provinces is to leave them a path to live. That’s what’s called thunderous methods, a bodhisattva’s heart."

Li Banfeng said to Teapot: "Scald his entire bodhisattva heart for me!"

Teapot started boiling water, and Sickle stepped forward to slice his belly open.

An Zongding shouted: "I’m telling the truth!"

Li Banfeng kicked him in the face: "What you’re doing is no different from Human Traffickers, and you dare talk to me about a bodhisattva’s heart?

Since you’re people of Snowflake Beach, since you’re in charge of minting money, why do you still have to sell Souls to the Outside Provinces for profit? Can you understand my question?"

An Zongding pondered for a moment and said: "Snowflake Beach isn’t short of money, but sometimes we are short of money. We also have to make a bit up for ourselves..."

By his account, he was just working for Snowflake Beach.

The organization Snowflake Beach itself wasn’t short of money, but they needed to earn some extra on the side. That reason was actually quite reasonable.

"Is Chu Zikai also one of Snowflake Beach’s people?"

An Zongding feigned surprise: "Who is this Chu Zikai?"

Li Banfeng frowned: "Do you believe I won’t turn you into a Guokui?"

"You mean that Sound Cultivator from the Outside Provinces," An Zongding remembered, "he’s also one of Snowflake Beach’s people. We have quite a few operatives in the Outside Provinces as well."

An Zongding even wanted to use Snowflake Beach’s power to intimidate Li Qi. What Li Qi was paying attention to wasn’t Snowflake Beach’s influence, but Chu Zikai’s situation.

As a member of a secret organization, he shouldn’t be so high-profile as to be a singer.

And judging from the fact that he personally took part in black-market deals, what he lacked clearly wasn’t just a bit of extra cash.

Is working for Snowflake Beach really that poorly paid?

Li Qi looked at An Zongding: "Are you really telling me the truth?"

An Zongding nodded repeatedly: "Every word I’ve said is true, without the slightest deceit."

Li Banfeng took out a blank sheet of paper and a pen and handed them to An Zongding: "Write down every Snowflake Beach member you know on this sheet."

An Zongding looked at the paper and pen and silently nodded.