The Overlord of Puluo

The middle-aged man had lost both eyes and was howling at the top of his lungs.

Li Banfeng looked down at him. "How do you shut off this boundary line?"

The middle-aged man had some backbone after all. The moment he heard that, he shouted, "Shut off the boundary line! Are you deaf?"

His three subordinates all turned to look at the one in charge of the device.

Yet that subordinate didn't move. He was experienced enough to understand the situation. As long as the boundary line stayed up, Li Banfeng couldn't escape. And as long as Li Banfeng couldn't escape, the middle-aged man still had a chance to live.

The subordinate in charge of the device looked at Li Banfeng. "Do not even think about leaving. Let our hall master go right now, or you will not have enough lives to pay for this."

Li Banfeng looked at the middle-aged man. "He is from the Border Control Office, and he still gets to be your hall master?"

"That has nothing to do with you. I will tell you the truth right now. There is no way I will shut off the boundary line. Nothing you say will make any difference. If you still refuse to let our hall master go..."

The subordinate in charge of the device suddenly stopped.

Something felt wrong. Where was the device in his pocket?

The other three subordinates looked at the man in charge of the device. None of them understood why he had suddenly gone quiet.

Li Banfeng watched him stand there in silence. After a while, the scene became rather awkward, so Li Banfeng spoke for him. "I never told you to shut off the boundary line. I asked how it could be shut off. All you have to do is tell me how this thing works."

Li Banfeng gripped the middle-aged man's hair with one hand and held the device with the other hand.

All the subordinates stared in shock as they wondered, When did he get his hand on the device? Did it happen when he knocked them all down?

The so-called device was just a plastic box with a lever on top. Plastic was rare in Puluo Province, and expensive as well. This thing was finely made too. One glance was enough to tell that it had come from the Outer Provinces.

However, this plastic box definitely did not create this boundary line, which meant that this plastic box should just be a remote control.

The glove whispered beside Li Banfeng's ear, "Boss, why don't we hold the lever and give it a pull?"

Li Banfeng said, "And if we pull it the wrong way, won't we all die here?"

The glove wagged its index finger. "Boss, if we really are about to pull it the wrong way, these people will definitely warn us. They do not want to die either. Try it and you will see."

Li Banfeng thought the glove had a point. He had the glove grip the lever on the device and pull it back.

The subordinate who had been controlling the device was startled. He had not expected Li Banfeng to get it right so easily.

With that single pull, the boundary line shut down. Everyone stared at Li Banfeng, afraid he would run.

A beam of light suddenly shone from Li Banfeng's chest and struck one of the subordinates in the eyes.

It was the Film Projector.

The Film Projector had been hidden inside Li Banfeng's inner pocket the whole time, quietly recording everything.

By chance, the sun was just about to set, and the angle was perfect. The projector shifted its lens ever so slightly and focused the light straight into the subordinate's eyes.

The Film Projector had chosen its moment well and Li Banfeng's luck was quite good too!

The man whose eyes had been dazzled still had not understood what had happened when Li Banfeng suddenly vanished from his sight.

A high-level Wanderlust Cultivator had suddenly vanished from his sight. That was a very serious thing.

The subordinate panicked. Before he could react, his body burst into a spray of blood.

At the same time, Li Banfeng had already grabbed the so-called "hall master" in one hand and rushed beyond the boundary line's range.

The remaining three subordinates chased after him with everything they had.

They had to chase with all their strength. With the speed of a Wanderlust Cultivator, that so-called "hall master" would be gone in the blink of an eye.

Li Banfeng pushed the lever and restored the boundary line. The glow lit up again.

One subordinate had been running too hard. The boundary line appeared right in front of him, and even though he tried to stop, he could not brake in time. He slammed straight into the glow.

It was not really his fault. If he wanted to save the Hall Master's life, he had to chase with everything he had.

They often used the boundary line to trap other people, but they had never been trapped by it themselves. There was nothing in their tactics for this.

The subordinate landed on the glowing line as if he had fallen into molten lava. Sparks burst from his body, and in the blink of an eye, he was reduced to ash.

Only two subordinates remained, trapped inside the boundary line. They could only watch helplessly as Li Banfeng escaped.

One of the subordinates turned toward the peep-box cart.

The peep-box performer had long since been scared witless. He was crouched behind the cart, wetting himself.

The subordinate said, "If we grab those children, maybe we can force that man to come back."

The other subordinate said, "Would he really care about these children? They are just poor people's kids. They are not related to him."

"He looked like he cared just now."

"Then it is worth a try. Otherwise, how long are we supposed to stay trapped here? And if we do not give an explanation for what happened, how are we supposed to live after this?"

The two men headed toward the cart full of children.

Suddenly, the glow vanished. Both of them froze. This made even less sense to them.

Their attention was fixed on the glow when something large came hurtling toward them.

Li Banfeng had thrown their hall master back.

One of the subordinates was terribly loyal. Without thinking of his own safety, he rushed forward to catch him. The other subordinate was calmer and fixed all his attention on Li Banfeng.

The one who rushed to catch the hall master did catch him. However, because he was too focused on that task, he didn't get to keep Li Banfeng's figure clearly in sight.

Was this subordinate not afraid of Passing Flowers on Horseback? He wasn't really worried as Li Banfeng had activated this ability before.

Based on this subordinate's experience, it would be very difficult for a high-level Wanderlust Cultivator to activate Passing Flowers on Horseback twice in a row. The ability consumed far too much energy.

However, he had no idea that Li Banfeng's footwork was different from the others. His activation of Passing Flowers on Horseback did not consume nearly as much energy.

By the time that man caught the hall master, Li Banfeng's gaze had landed squarely on both of them.

This very loyal bodyguard exploded along with his hall master. And now, only one subordinate remained. He guessed where Li Banfeng would appear and suddenly rushed behind him.

Li Banfeng had activated Passing Flowers on Horseback twice in a row and killed two of his companions one after another. It would be a lie to say he was not afraid.

However, the hall master was dead, and he had to give the Border Control Office an explanation. Otherwise, there would be no place for him in Puluo Province anymore.

Even if he chose to run now, there was no guarantee he could get away.

The man before him was a Wanderlust Cultivator. Turning his back on a Wanderlust Cultivator was the worst choice he could make.

His only chance of survival was to seize this opening and risk everything on one strike.

He had chosen his moment well, and he was quick too. In a flash, the subordinate slipped behind Li Banfeng.

His arms transformed into a pair of bladed digging claws. The subordinate was a mole cricket!

Both claws chopped toward Li Banfeng's back at once. Li Banfeng stood where he was without moving, taking the blow head-on.

The blades struck Li Banfeng and threw off sparks, but they didn't break his skin. They didn't even cut through his clothes.

How was that even possible? How could a Wanderlust Cultivator be this hard to hurt?

Those iron claws had been tempered through who knew how many years of training. If the angle was right, he could dig his opponent's organs straight out of their body.

Could his clothing be an enchanted artifact? But Wanderlust Cultivators usually refrained from wearing heavy armor because of how it would affect their speed.

No matter how hard the mole cricket thought, he would never have guessed the truth.

This was the Homebound Cultivator ability, Homebound Heart and Thickset Body. After all, a Wanderlust Cultivator couldn't possibly be a Homebound Cultivator.

If one slash did not cut through, then he would slash again.

The mole cricket raised his arms for another strike, but Li Banfeng had already moved aside. There was no chance he would let him try a second time.

The mole cricket tried to follow up with another attack. That was a mistake. He had badly overestimated himself.

Before he could even reach Li Banfeng, a long saber had already driven into the top of his head.

"With every slash, a head is taken!" the Tang Saber shouted loudly. Unfortunately, its tip failed to pierce the mole cricket's skull, which was very hard.

"Useless thing," the sickle said. It flew over and sliced open the mole cricket's neck.

The cut was shallow, but it was poisonous.

Li Banfeng froze. The wound was not what caught his attention. It was the voice that caught his attention.

Who just spoke? Li Banfeng thought. That was a woman's voice? Why did the sickle fly over by itself?

"Little bro, now!" the liquor gourd shouted and seized the moment to spray the subordinate with a mist of liquor.

Li Banfeng struck a match and flicked it onto the mole cricket.

This was Old Mister Yao's medicinal liquor.

Caught between deadly poison and roaring flames, the mole cricket held out for only a moment before the Tang saber finally stabbed right through his skull.

All four subordinates had been dealt with.

Li Banfeng had acted decisively, but given the cultivation and experience of those four men, it was really because he had some good luck that he had been able to take them down so quickly.

The peep-box man, who had been hiding behind the cart, looked at the blood all over the ground and broke down completely.

He stopped hiding, scrambled to his feet, and ran for his life, screaming as he went.

"Murder! Murder! Our hall master has been killed! Is anyone going to do something?

"I am from the Jiangxiang Gang! My hall master had ordered me to kidnap some kids. I only kidnapped five children, and he wants to kill me for that? I was born to parents too! Am I not human? What right does he have to kill me? Is anyone going to do something?"

The man had completely lost his mind.

Li Banfeng stepped forward, grabbed the peep-box performer, and tossed him into the Pocket Dwelling.

"Wifey, eat him later. I still have a few questions for him."

"Heyaaa~ Husband dear~ Rest easy. A filthy dish like this is hardly worthy of this little wifey's appetite."

Li Banfeng gathered the hall master's corpse and the three subordinates' bodies into the Pocket Dwelling. Then he took the device and lit up the boundary line around him again.

He picked up a branch and threw it at the glow. The branch passed through the light and instantly crumbled into fine ash.

It was very similar to what Li Banfeng had seen near the regional borders. He chose a spot that looked suitable and activated Severing Paths to Forge a Way.

The ground beneath his feet split open into a trench. This was the path Li Banfeng had forged with his ability. However, the newly forged path was blocked by the glow as well.

Li Banfeng poured more strength into the ability, and the trench opened wider.

However, the boundary line widened with it. The glow still lay across the trench, blocking the path no matter how much space he carved out. There was no way to create a path past the boundary line.

After holding it for a moment, Li Banfeng withdrew the ability, and the newly created trench vanished with it.

It seems like Severing Paths to Forge a Way can't break through the boundary line, Li Banfeng thought. But where did this boundary come from? Is something buried underneath?

Li Banfeng asked the Glove, "Can you smell any trace of treasure?"

The Glove wagged a finger. "Boss, I also suspect that something good is buried underground, but I really cannot smell a thing."

If even the Glove couldn't find it, there was no point for Li Banfeng to try. Plus, he couldn't waste too much time on this as there was no telling whether the hall master had called for reinforcements.

Li Banfeng deactivated the boundary line and placed the remote control back into the Pocket Dwelling. He made a simple repair to the peep-box performer's cart, then pulled the cart with the five kids back to Willow Pond Village.

When they were almost at the village, Li Banfeng had the Pendulum do a little make up on his face.

By then, night had already fallen. The families who had lost their children were nearly mad with worry. They had called their relatives and friends, lit torches, and were searching everywhere.

In the darkness, they saw someone shaking a rattle drum as he entered the village. Several people rushed over at once.

"It is that peep-box performer!"

"The children were watching pictures in his cart earlier, and then they vanished in the blink of an eye."

"Wait, he is..."

Li Banfeng left the cart at the village entrance, turned around, and walked away.

"That is not the peep-box performer! The peep-box performer did not have that build."

"Then who is he?"

"He brought the children back!"

"His face is painted all over. Is he a human or a ghost?"

"Could he be some kind of demon?"

"Stop talking rubbish. He helped us rescue our children. He is our benefactor!"

The villagers were still a little frightened, but now that the children had been found, they were overjoyed.

An old man called after him, "Benefactor, could you leave us your name? We will never forget this kindness!"

Li Banfeng looked back. "My first name is Bene and my last name is Factor. You can call me Benefactor!"

With that, he lowered the brim of his hat and disappeared into the night.